Chapter 42

The Next Morning

Draco slowly but surely opened his eyes as the morning sun peered in through the window. As his senses returned to him, he felt something laying on his chest and looked down to see a welcoming sight. Rarity slept on Draco with a content smile, which only made Draco smile back at the sleeping beauty. He slowly brushed her hair with his hand until she started to awake as well.

“Mmm…good morning, my darling Draco,” Rarity said as she looked up at him.

“Good morning, my sexy marshmallow,” Draco teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

“My goodness, you truly were a beast last night,” Rarity said as she nuzzled Draco’s chest. “Yet you treated me like a proper lady at the same time. Truly, you are the stallion of my dreams~.”

Draco smiled before nuzzling back and kissing her right at the base of her horn making her squeak. “And you are my ivory goddess,” he said in a rather charming tone.

“By the way, I forgot to answer your question.” Rarity scooched herself up, so she straddled Draco, showing off the body he claimed. “I would love to join your herd.”

“Gee, what made you say yes?” Draco smirked up at his mare. “Was it the sex I wonder?”

“Oh stop, you!” Rarity said playfully. “I’m serious! You’ve won my heart in more ways than I can imagine. I just know you’ll treat me as well as your other mares.”

Draco chuckled and hugged his new marefriend, happy to have her in his herd. “I promise you three will get only the best from me.”

“Now then…” Rarity shoved Draco back down as she traced a circle around his chest. “When was this test supposed to start again~?”

“I told them today, but I’m giving them time to get prepared.” Draco sighed before pulling his pants off the floor and grabbing a small notebook from his pocket. “By the way, I have a favor to ask of you, my love.”

“For you, my darling?” Rarity leaned in, pressing her chest against his. “Anything~.”

Draco blushed before calming himself down. “As you may have already heard, we now are hosting some diamond dogs, and they have made me their Alpha ‘till we can rescue their king and queen.”

“I have heard, and if you trust them then I shall also learn to cope,” Rarity replied.

Draco nuzzled her to help ease her worries. “They aren’t anything like the ones you met before, that much I can assure you.”

“What is it you want from me?” Rarity wondered.

Draco flipped open the notebook showing the content. “Think you and Bismuth can make this for me? I wrote down everything he’ll need to know about the more complex stuff. All you have to do is make the base.”

Rarity took the notebook and went into fashionista mode. “Hmm, this is quite an interesting sketch. The style is unique, and it’s quite the charming appearance.”

“I’m gonna need this if I’m going to achieve my goal within the diamond dog kingdom.” Draco leaned in to kiss his marefriend before getting up to get dressed.

As Draco put on his pants, he glanced over his shoulder to see Rairty leaning on her elbow and her staring at him with a predatory gaze. The blanket hung off her body and slipped off her breasts to give him a nip slip.

“I can get used to seeing this every morning, darling~,” Rarity cooed.

Draco’s cheeks flushed as he still wasn’t used to this mare’s flirting, nor did he ever think he would. “I’m gonna need to invest in a large bed if all four of us are going to be sleeping together.”

“Ooh, how exciting!” Rarity sat up and clapped her hands. “This is my first ever herd I will be a part of! What should I wear for the announcement of my addition? Something fancy? Maybe laidback? What about something casual?”

Draco chuckled as he moved to putting on his armor next. “We’ll have to think about that later, my sweet.” Draco’s smiling vanished as he adopted a more serious look. “I think I kept everyone waiting long enough. It’s time to see if they have what it takes to take me on for real.”

Draco turned and nodded his head. “Will do.” He opened the door and began to make his way outside of the castle to begin.

Outside The Castle Gates

A group of five pony guards stood at attention and paced around the iron gates. Each pony was armed with blades and kept their heads on swivels for any intruder.

“This is nuts…” a guard said. “How’re we supposed to put ourselves up against the Knight of Chaos?”

“Keep on your guard!” Another pony said. “The princess has explicitly told us to be on high alert! This is a test, after all.”

“What kind of test?” Another wondered.

“To see if we are strong enough to handle an invasion of and when it does happen. It’s not like Sir Draco, Sir Dimitri, or even that Saint guy will be around forever to save our flanks.”

“Are we sure Sir Draco will even come this way?”

“I’ve spotted the Knight of Chaos!” The voice of another pony from down the hall shouted. “We require aid!”

The guards quickly opened the gates and ran down the hall towards the voice.

“How the hay did he get inside?! We have all the entrances covered!” One of the guards said.

“Doesn’t matter! We gotta stop him before he reaches the throne room!” Another ordered.

“First rule of warfare.” The guards all halted as a voice came from behind them. Before they could turn, they felt swipes at their necks, causing them all to fall to the ground lifeless. “Make sure the person calling isn’t a fake.”

The guards fell to the ground thanks to the magic Discord placed around the castle. The spell made it so that should anyone inside take a hit from these training weapons, the effects would be as though they were real. Should a guard be shot in the leg, that limb would become numb and difficult to use. Should they receive a blow that would be deemed fatal, they would fall down in a fake death.

“You guys need to be more careful on how you should act. While it’s true you should be on high alert. You should always take the time to consider your opponent and their skills. Like my voice changing abilities.” Draco advised.

The guards, still being able to hear, could only beat themselves mentally for falling for such a simple trick. Draco moved in to take one of the walkie-talkies off a guard before moving on.

Down another corridor three guards were patrolling up and down, making sure they kept their ears open for any signs of Draco.

“Why did we agree to this?” A guard said as he fiddled with his paintball gun. “These things are a little unnerving to hold.”

“That kind of talk will get you killed, private!” the lead guard barked, causing the other guard to flinch. “This is a training exercise for when shit gets rough! And in case you need more of a reminder why we’re doing this, it’s because we’re at war! You heard what Sir Draco said, the caribou are the kind of creatures who would kill anypony in their way! I for one refuse to let our dear departed Captain Armor’s sacrifice be in vain! So, straighten yourselves up and keep your heads on swivels!”

“Sir, yes sir!” The guards saluted their superior.

CRAAASH!

The sound of something large breaking came from the end of the hallway where the guards were walking away from. Causing them to spin around and point towards the sound, guns at the ready.

The leader motioned his group to follow him as they aimed their guns. They walked down the corridor while watching each other’s backs, aiming at anything they saw twitch within their field of vision.

“Stay on your hooves, boys,” the leader said as he kept his breathing steady. “Sir Draco is quite the crafty one.”

Upon reaching the end, the group halted as the lead guard peeked around the corner to look down the hallway, he immediately saw one of the windows shattered to pieces with glass on the ground.

The leader arched a brow and motioned with his hand for the others to stay close and watch his back. They approached the broken window and the glass pieces on the floor.

“Strange, why would he break a window?” One guard asked.

“He’s already in the castle, right?” Another said. “Why would he break a window just to get out again?”

“How…the…buck?!” The leader groaned as he and his group collapsed to the ground.

In one of the towers both Ace and Cloud watched diligently as they waited for any sign of their target. Both are equipped with sniper paintball rifles, their fingers ready to pull the trigger to land their mark.

“This is Major Cloud, what’s the status? Over,” Cloud radioed the castle guards.

“There’s a situation, we found many of the guards dead in sector four. Over,” the two heard over the radio.

“Draco’s already quick to make moves, huh?” Ace said as he kept his aim towards the courtyards and windows.

“Alert!” One of the stallions on the radio shouted. “I just spotted Draco, he’s moving at high speed towards selector four! Get out of there!”

“Wasn’t he just there?” Swift asked Cloud. The two moved to the other side of the tower and aimed their rifles.

As they aimed their rifles, looking through their scopes they could see the group of guards huddled together keeping their eyes peeled for Draco. But after some time, there wasn’t any sign of him.

Suddenly the radio crackled. “We need support in sector seven, Draco is here and he’s tearing through our-aaahh!” The sound of a beast snarling came after the scream.

“He’s moving pretty damn fast! I’ll cover this side! You stay put!” Ace said as he repositioned himself again.

“Come on, Draco, where are you?” Cloud said to himself. “Sector seven! Report! Over!”

There was no response, only the sound of static. The radio buzzed as another voice of a guard came on. “We got him! Target has been neutralized! We won!”

At first Cloud and Ace just glanced at each other in shock. “You better not be lying, soldier! There’s no way Draco would let it all end that quickly!” Ace said as he kept his rifle aimed.

“We nailed him with a grenade sir! We have him here in sector eight. Arrogant bastard didn’t see it coming, haha!” The sound of other stallions’ voices agreeing came on shortly afterward.

For a moment, Cloud and Ace looked at each other again and dropped their guard and relaxed. Out of nowhere, something fell through the window and right between them. When they looked down, they saw a paintball grenade with the pin pulled.

“I hate this test,” Cloud deadpanned. “Really, I really do.”

KA-BOOM!!

The grenade exploded out, showering the entire room and both ponies in red thick paint.

Globs of paint dripped from the ponies, before Draco climbed into the window and held a walkie-talkie in his hand. “Yeah it’s over you guys, you never saw it coming.” Draco spoke in the stallion’s voice from before.

“Dude, I just bought these combat pants!” Ace complained.

Draco walked over to one of the sniper rifles and picked it up, checking the magazine before grabbing Ace’s radio. “This is Major Cloud, we just spotted Draco nearing sector five, advance forward with caution,” Draco spoke in Cloud’s voice.

“Just lay down, Ace, he got us already,” Cloud said as he lay down on the floor. Ace grumbled to himself and lied down on the floor with his partner.

Draco observed and he watched the group of stallions move into view, before firing the rifle. The sound of the stallion’s panicking as they were gunned down was all the two members of alpha squad could hear, before dead silence.

Tossing the gun aside Draco prepared to jump out the window. “I think I’m gonna use the voice change trick for a bit. Time to get up close and personal now.”

Draco swooped back down to the castle before crashing through a window. Several guards within the hallway fired their paintball guns at the sudden intruder, each missing their mark as Draco dove rolled behind a pillar.

Grabbing a grenade from his hip, he pulled the pin. “One Mississippi, two Mississippi.” Draco counted out loud as the guards carefully moved in. “Three Mississippi.” With a quick throw Draco tossed the grenade up into the air past his hiding spot.

BOOM!!

A loud explosion went off along with the sound of paint splurging into the room, and the cries of the guards as they were covered in paint.

Draco peaked around the pillar and saw all the ponies covered in paint and lying on the floor. He chuckled to himself as he left his hiding spot to revel in his handiwork.

“Fireball!”

Quickly doing so by a split second, Draco narrowly dodged a flaming ball aimed at his head. “Yeow! Hey, what part of no live ammunition did you not get, Berry!?” Draco shouted, turning to see both Swift and Berry down the hall.

“What? I wanted to test out my new sword,” Berry said with a shrug. “Not my fault this thing’s got a kick.”

Both he and Swift were decked out in heavy practice armor. Draco noticed Swift holding a war hammer and she twirled it with only one hand.

“You’ve already done quite a number on everypony, Lieutenant,” Swift said.

Draco smiled and shook his head. “You guys choose weapons that require you to fight in close combat and decked out in heavy practice armor.” Draco grabbed the last grenade from his hip. “What’s to stop me from pulling the pin in this and just letting you guys bite the dust now?”

“Hmm, why not just fight us fair and square?” Swift suggested. “You could just eliminate us from the test with that grenade, but that wouldn’t be very honorable of you, now, would it?”

Draco cocked a brow for a second before smiling and laughing. “Haha, well, you got me there I suppose.” Placing the grenade back on his hip, Draco folded his arms. “So how would you two like me to fight you exactly? consider it a reward for manipulating your opponent.”

Swift and Berry looked at each other and both smiled as they then both took stances at Draco.

“Hmm, so head on, I see. Very well. For this fight, I shall fight with no weapons.” Draco slowly adopted a fighting stance, before slowly advancing on the two ponies. “I’ll let you two make the first move.”

Swift and Berry charged at Draco. Draco expected them to attack at the same time, but they split apart and came at him from opposite sides.

“Ah, trying to divide my attention. Very smart indeed.” Draco shifted his stance as he watched both ponies quickly taking up positions on either side of him.

The three remained in their designated spots, before Swift and Berry slowly began to circle. This of course caused Draco to turn his body in order to maintain a decent awareness of his opponents. “So, which of you shall make the first strike? Better be careful with that sword, Berry, you throw a fireball, and I could dodge it, causing you to harm your marefriend.”

“I may have the sword you created, Draco, but it ain’t me you should keep your eye on,” Berry smirked.

Just as Berry said that, Swift twirled her war hammer and then cartwheeled behind Draco. She swung her hammer and aimed it to hit Draco’s side.

Draco smirked. In midair, he wouldn’t normally be able to move…if he was a normal man. Kicking off the nearest wall, Draco once again narrowly avoided the flames of Berry’s sword.

“Hot damn that was a good move!” Draco clapped his hands as his feet touched down on the ground. “I’ll give you both credit, that was an excellent combo move.”

“Watch your head, Draco,” Berry called out as he readied another swing.

Draco smiled before parting up close to Berry, pulling his right arm back. “Your left side is wide open.” The knuckles on Draco’s hand began to change, before he thrusted his fist forward.

The moment the punch connected the armor that Berry was wearing, began to dent inwards before the force sent the stallion flying back.

“Berry!” Swift yelled as Berry hit the wall fell slump onto the floor.

Swift knew that she had to stay focused and went to confront Draco again. She turned around but Draco was quicker and moved behind her. He grabbed her arm and head and put her in a hold. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw Draco’s jaw open over her neck as if he was going to bite her. It was for a brief moment, but Swift could almost swear she saw an unusual pair of fangs in his mouth. Swift winced and looked away as she closed her eyes.

She felt a light pinch on her neck and yelped. “Gotcha,” Orion said in a playful tone. When Swift opened her eyes, she saw him smiling down at him, as he had his hand gently pinching her neck. “You okay? You look pale.”

“I-I…” Swift tried to say as Draco let her go. “It’s nothing…”

Draco shrugged before pulling out his hand gun and shooting her in the head, and quickly turning his gun to the downed Berry, and shooting him as well. “Glad to know you two are okay,” Draco said.

Draco made sure Swift laid down in order to play dead and continued on. He snuck through the halls, eliminating any guards he encountered along the way, then found his way into the royal kitchen. As soon as he entered the kitchen, all doors leading outside slammed shut.

“Target secured,” a familiar female voice called out from nowhere.

“I was wondering when you would show up.” Draco quickly moved his head to the side as he barely dodged a paintball. “That one almost got me.”

“I was kinda hoping you’d test us like this one day, Draco,” Shadow said as he dodged another bullet. “Gives me an excuse to test out my new magic skills my secret mentor taught me.”

“Ooh? A secret mentor?” Draco smiled, as he began to carefully circle around in the kitchen. “And who might that be?”

A magical afterimage appeared in front of Draco revealing Shadow with her arms behind her back. She smiled sweetly at Draco until multiple cupboard doors opened and paintball guns popped out and aimed at Draco.

“Nightmare Moon herself,” Shadow answered as she snapped her fingers and she disappeared.

Ratatatatat!

Quickly grabbing one of the wooden tables, Draco broke it in half, using the broken pieces to shield his body from the onslaught of paintball guns. “Very cheeky, love!”

“Like it?” Shadow giggled as more cupboard doors and drawers opened to reveal more guns. “Moon crammed a variety of spells into my cranium, and still is! It’s amazing what you can learn from an actual alicorn.”

Draco slowly backed himself into a corner as he used the now paint covered pieces of table to protect him. “Speaking of drilling, did you ever get around to seeing if she would let you peg her? You know, with that strap on with the two dragon shaped cocks,” Draco called out.

“I’m getting around to it, but she’s pretty stubborn and loyal to the Captain,” Shadow admitted bluntly, then got an idea. “Y’know, Draco, I’ve been thinking. Since you’ve got a herd now, why not make things more interesting when Spring season is here?” Draco was confused as he tried to focus on trying not to get hit from the onslaught of paintballs. “Let’s have a foal!”

“Not ‘till the war is over, love. I’d rather not have any kids of mine growing up having to fear another invasion. Also, I’m gonna want twenty kids from you.” He called her bluff with one of his own.

“T-Twenty?!” Shadow yelped, Draco caught her magic on the guns flickering a bit. “Ahem…you better have the stamina to back up such a bold promise!”

“Naturally. Plus I’ll take some viagra, so get ready for a night of nonstop sex. I’ll even use the saber-tooth tiger cock you love so much!” He shouted her most embarrassing secret.

All at once, the guns stopped firing and Draco caught a whiff of a certain mare’s musk in the corner of the kitchen.

“W-Will you let me play out that fantasy I told you about?” Shadow asked.

“You mean where you pretend to be a helpless mare running from the horny beast?” Draco smirked as he could smell not just one scent, but two.

“Oh Celestia~,” Shadow moaned as Draco drew closer to where the smell was coming from.

Aiming his gun, he shot Shadow in the chest and moved to the hidden pony. “So did I give you an idea for when Lock gets back? I’m pretty sure he can shape-shift too, if I remember correctly. Moon.”

The spell wore off and next to the refrigerator revealed both Shadow and Moon. Shadow’s face was flushed red as Moon was blushing up a storm, no doubt imagining all the naughty things she wanted to do with Lock.

“A-A valiant effort, my student, until next time. I must now go find my herd sister, Twilight!” Moon said and teleported out of the room.

Shadow grabbed the underside of her shirt and pulled it up to flash Draco.

“Pants. Off.” Shadow demanded.

Draco smiled before moving in to kiss her cheeks. “Maybe later, when I win this. For now, see if you can get in with Moon and Twilight, they may let you join them.”

“Can you at least give my girls some love before you go?~” Shadow beckoned by cupping her bare breasts.

“Sorry, but no. Consider that for the whole foal’s joke.” Draco kissed his marefriend’s head before quickly exiting the room.

“Tease!” Shadow yelled at the door.

Draco was laughing to himself as he pressed on. He knew he was getting closer to the throne room as he checked all the rooms in case there were any guards lying in wait. It wasn’t until he rounded another corner did he find himself being surrounded by a dense fog.

“Well, either I left the oven running, or you’re trying to blind me, Zephyr.” Draco smiled as he kept all his senses on full alert. Draco said nothing as the fog grew more dense to the point when he could barely see in front of him.

“I can smell it, you know?” Draco spoke in a chilling voice. “Your fear. I can smell your fear, Zephyr. And I must say, it really whets my appetite.” Draco slowly began to walk through the fog without a care in the world. “It reminds me of back when I was hunting before you guys met me. Whenever I raided a caribou camp.” His voice became more ominous. “My favorite part is when I let a caribou get away, and they tried to hide from me. I could smell their fear and even hear their heart race when I hunted them.”

On the far end of the corridor, Zephyr swallowed a lump in his throat. He then waved his hands and made the temperature drop to colder levels.

Draco could feel the sudden change in temperature and let out a deep and menacing laugh. “Haha! Oh, turning down the temperature, are you?! Do you think by doing so I’ll avoid using any of my dinosaur forms?” Draco smiled as he sniffed the air before turning his attention to where Zephyr’s scent was the strongest. “Good trick, but I’m afraid that worked against you.” Draco’s eyes became slits like a snake, and even his tongue changed into a forked tongue. “Back in the prehistoric world, there was a massive breed of serpents that could even take on a full grown T-Rex. Its name was Titanoboa.” Through Draco’s eyes, he could see with thermal vision, and in the cold corridor, seeing Zephyr’s body heat was as plain as day. “Like any other snakes, they hunted through smell, and could see body heat.” Draco slowly began to stalk his way towards Zephyr.

Zephyr began to tremble a little and his eyes became more white. He clenched his fists and the temperature dropped drastically. Icicles formed on the ceiling and ice flakes floated around in the air. Zephyrs kept lowering the temperature further and further until it almost reached negative levels. Every step Draco took, even he had a hard time moving through the freezing temperatures.

“Now, this is very cold, Zephyr. In my current state, this is even more than I can bear.” Draco fell to his knees hard.

Zephyr watched Draco shiver in the cold, but knew it couldn’t be that easy. He remembered something Lock taught him some time ago, to always confirm the enemy is down and stays down. Not taking any chances, Zephyr strained his power as he blew out a cold breath and the temperature lowered considerably even more.

The more the temperature dropped, the more snow filled the room. Soon the floor was covered in four feet of snow, and Draco’s body was slowly covered.

Zephyr gulped again and slowly made his way towards Draco. Thanks to his powers, the temperature didn’t bother him much as he reached back and pulled out a paintball pistol. He saw Draco’s head poking out from the snow and pointed his gun. However, his arm was shaking due to a sense of dread and he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger.

“Come on…just shoot!” Zephyr said quietly to himself.

Without warning, something gripped the stallion’s legs and yanked hard. Zephyr fell back onto his back, before a massive body quickly pounced on top of him. With a powerful paw pushing down on his chest, while the other paw pinned the hand holding his gun, Zephyr looked up to see a giant saber-tooth cat snarling at him.

“Oh buck…!” Zephyr trembled as fear gripped his heart like a vice. He quickly flexed his hands and a massive gale blew forward and managed to push the beast off Zephyr, allowing him to scramble to his hooves. “N-Now take it easy, Draco,” Zephyr tried to say.

The tiger snarled as it began to circle the pegasus. Its massive fangs bared as he eyed Zephyr with a look that screamed murderous intent.

“Come on, Zeph, think!” Zephyr said as he flapped his wings and whipped his arms around. Large icicles sharply formed in midair and Zephyr hurled them down at Draco.

The massive fanged cat slowly easily jumped to one side, avoiding the icicles, before letting out an ear piercing roar that made Zephyr’s chest vibrate.

“Damn!” Zephyr held up his arms. “Alright, how’s this?!” Zephyr began flying in circles around Draco, the cold wind and snow whipped up all around Draco as the big cat struggled to push back against the whirlwind.

In his haste to avoid a fight with Draco, Zephyr’s snow storm slowly obscured his sight on the big cat. There was nothing within the eye of the storm from which he had thought he had trapped the big cat in.

“Did I get him?” Zephyr thought out loud but kept the storm going. His white eyes narrowed as he tried to locate Draco.

Scanning the snow for any sign of movement, Zephyr failed to see anything bigger than the four feet of snow and ice that had accumulated within the hallway.

“Must’ve buried him.” Zephyr slowly made the storm die down until only the snow and ice remained in the corridor. He landed gracefully onto the snow covered floor and looked around.

“Hey, I did it!” Zephyr said with a proud smile. It wasn’t until a large shadow rose from the snow and towered behind Zephyr did his face turn white as the snow. “Aw…crap.”

Standing nearly three times his height, Zephyr turned to see a massive bear staring down at him. Before he could so much as flinch his wings, the bear swiped one of its paws into the stallion’s chest. Zephyr was sent flying into the wall, leaving a hole in said wall.

Zephyr coughed loudly after getting the wind knocked out of him. He shakily crawled out of the hole, but landed face first into the snow and couldn’t manage to pick himself up. The bear stood trudged over to Zephyr and stood over his winded prey.

“Alright…alright!” Zephyr held up his hand in defeat. “I give! You win!”

Draco’s body slowly reverted back to his original form, before pulling out a pistol and shooting the stallion in the chest. As he watched Zephyr fall to his side, Draco kneeled down to speak.

“I hope you never give up on the battlefield like you just did now.” He glared at the stallion as he spoke. “If I was in your shoes, I would have kept fighting even if it meant I was gonna die.”

“Look, man, I’m still kinda new to all this fighting shit-ow!” Zephyr was cut off when Draco slapped him. “Did you just slap me?!”

“Is that gonna be your excuse when the caribou somehow get their hands on Rainbow Dash, and you could have stopped them? What then asshole?!” Draco roared in Zephyr’s face.

“I…” Zephyr looked away in shame and nodded. “Buck, I’m still a pathetic loser.”

“Yes, you are.” Draco stood back up as he dusted some snow off his body. “Which is why you need to train harder than you ever have in your life. You stop when things get too tough for you. When the going gets rough, that’s when you should strive to become better so it never feels that way.”

Zephyr nodded and laid down on his back to play dead. Draco turned to leave as he holstered his gun.

“Draco?” Draco looked over his shoulder at Zephyr. “Thanks for the fight.”

Draco nodded his head before looking forward. “You have potential, Zephyr. Mother Nature is cruel, so be just as cruel as her.” He said before moving on to his next target.

Draco continued his trek to the throne room and could tell he was getting closer to the more frequent groups of guards he shot down with his paintball gun. Draco was impressed by how seriously the ship’s crew, the guards, and Alpha Squad were taking this test. After turning a few more corners, Draco entered a room that looked like the castle library. Shelves of books stood all around him as he scanned the area for any patrols.

As he made his way deeper in, he noticed a good amount of rock flecks on the ground. Knowing full well how the ponies in this castle liked to keep it as clean as possible, Draco knew exactly who was in the room with him.

Moving to hide behind a shelf, Draco cupped his hands near his mouth as he spoke. “I know you’re here, Maud.” His voice bounced gently off the walls as it echoed within the library.

Draco saw the rocks float in the air and hover around, as if they were patrolling the library for Draco.

Carefully climbing up the shelf he was hiding behind, Draco continued his idol conversation. “I’m sorry I’m putting you through this, especially shortly after becoming a member of the herd.” Again he was using the room walls to echo his voice.

Some of the rocks stopped in midair and suddenly shot in random directions. They crashed into the walls and some through the shelves, one of them went flying right past Draco and missed his boot by a hair.

“Careful, love. These books are important, you know? And plus, you wouldn’t want Twilight seeing the damage done to a library,” Draco spoke as though he wasn’t in any danger.

Draco peered up from his hiding place and spotted Maud standing on a bigger boulder, floating in midair. She had some of the smaller rocks swirling around her boulder as she scanned the library for Draco.

Shapeshifting into a Coelurosauravus, Draco silently climbed along the shelves with ease, before gliding past Maud undetected. Changing back, Draco cupped his hands again. “I’m afraid you won’t be winning this fight, hon. You have one major disadvantage as we speak.”

“You talk too much,” Maud said. She fired more rocks in random directions and missed Draco once more, this time almost hitting his head.

“Your weakness is your emotions,” Draco stated bluntly as he repositioned himself to a spot she already checked. “I understand that the pain of loss has caused you to become more aggressive. It’s that very reason you won’t win, and if you’re not careful, it will lead you to an early grave.”

“Is this really the time to be talking about this stuff?” Maud said as she twirled her fingers and made the rocks spin like tops.

“Do you want to make your sister and mother mourn the loss of another family member?” Draco asked bluntly.

Maud stopped hovering and stood up straight. “I won’t let them die.”

“I’m not talking about them dying,” Draco sighed. “You’ve been rushing recklessly into the enemy any chance you get. Your attitude has become more violent. Which you have every right to.” Draco changed again and took up another hiding spot. “But unchecked, that rage will put you in harm’s way, especially now that we know the caribou have the means to harm devil fruit users.”

Maud swiped her arms and multiple spinning rocks went flying everywhere. They crashed through the walls, shelves, and kicked many books over. Draco had to duck a few times from getting hit.

“This is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. If you use moves like this on the battlefield when you have allies with you, then you'll be endangering them as well.” Draco let his voice echo.

“Quiet!” Maud snapped.

Draco felt a rock drop into the pit of his stomach, and it wasn’t because of Maud. “This won’t bring him back. He’s gone, Maud, and no amount of caribou blood will bring him home.” Draco held back the tears in his eyes as he spoke on. “I’m sorry I couldn’t have been faster that day. If I had, then maybe you wouldn’t have to bear this pain. It’s my fault that you are part of this war now. I can’t do anything more than to make sure you stay safe and alive.”

Maud couldn’t keep her boulder floating in the air anymore as she slowly descended. When Draco peeked out from his hiding place, he saw the sad sight of his marefriend sitting on her knees and buried her face in her hands as she wept.

Draco, leaving his weapons on the ground, made his way to his marefriend. He knelt down as he moved his arms to wrap around her and held her close. “I promised him that I would look after you, your sisters, and mother. I plan to keep that promise till my dying breath.” His arms stroked her back as he kissed the top of her head. “I will never let you suffer that pain again.”

“I…miss him.” Maud cried quietly.

“I know.” Draco continued to stroke his marefriend. “I know the pain you are feeling, more than you can ever know.”

Maud sniffled as Draco kept holding her and sat there until she eventually calmed down.

“I guess I failed…” Maud said sadly.

“Yeah. But better to fail when your life isn’t on the line. That’s why I’m putting guys through all this.” He moved his hands to stroke her cheeks. “Now I know you understand your weakness, and I know you’ll do everything in your power to conquer it.” Gently, he tilted her head to look up at him. “Because I know you are stronger than any mineral this world can offer.”

“That’s so cheesy,” Maud said, stifling a laugh as she rubbed her eyes.

“Don’t be like that, you know how sedimentary I am about my rocktacular jokes,” he teased as he kissed her cheeks.

“Just go finish this before I pounce you,” Maud giggled as she playfully pushed Draco away.

“Don’t worry, when this is over you, me and the others will have a little foursome.” He winked before moving onto his last enemy.

Draco exited the library and continued moving towards the throne room. There weren’t many guards left the rest of the way, which made his path easier. Right as he turned a corner, he saw Flash Sentry patrolling the hallway on the far side.

“Hmmm, my last hurdle.” Draco took the time to consider his options. He soon remembered that his workshop was close to his position, along with something special he’s been working on. “Yeah, that could help.” Carefully going back and avoiding getting spotted by Flash, Draco made his way to his workshop.

Flash walked cautiously through the halls and kept looking around for any signs of Draco. He checked his radio periodically for any reports, since he had heard a lot of commotion earlier, but had heard little to nothing for a while now.

“It’s a little too quiet for comfort,” Flash said aloud. “Maybe I should make a quick run around the castle to see if I can help?”

“Don’t bother.” The radio spoke up, with Draco’s voice speaking. “You’re on your own, my fast little friend.” Draco spoke in a confident manner.

“Draco?” Flash unclipped his radio. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Because you knew the outcome before it started.” Draco spoke, and despite not being able to see himself, Flash knew his opponent was smirking. “You all fell as expected. With the exception of Maud, that one hurt me more than any bullet could.” This time his voice was sadder, and almost a whisper. “But enough about me, let’s kill you.”

“You do realize I can outrun anything you could possibly turn into, right?” Flash said, small sparks crackling along his shoulders.

“Oh, I know. But then again, I don’t need to morph to have you at my feet dead.” Draco's cocky tone was back. “In fact, if you’re as predictable as I imagine, I won’t need to hide from you. So how about you turn left and start walking down that hallway?”

“You really think I’d fall for such a cheap bait?” Flash asked.

“Yes, because unlike most of the others who just wanted to stop me from going solo, you are in this to prove yourself.” Draco’s words cut like the sharpest knife.

“So what if I am?” Flash said, walking in the direction Draco said to.

“Well then I’m afraid your fate was sealed the moment this challenge even started. Because unfortunately for you, I’ve been holding back the entirety of this test,” Draco taunted. As Flash walked through the hallway, he made sure to check every corner he could. “There’s a major gap between us, and you are the one lagging behind.”

“And what’s that?” Flash asked as he turned the corner. As soon as he did, he saw Draco standing on the far end sitting on a chair.

“I’ve killed more than your mind can even fathom.” Draco was sitting casually in his chair down the end of a rather long hallway. On the floor in front of him was his gun. “I wanna play a game, Flash, are you interested?”

Flash knelt down in a running position as electricity crackled more violently along his arms, legs, and unfurled wings.

“Ah, I see you are already. Well then, here are the rules. I’ll sit here for ten whole seconds without moving. If you can reach me and grab the gun before time runs out, you win.” Draco leaned back into his chair propping one foot over his leg.

In an instant, Flash burst forward in a full-on sprint right towards Draco. Flash smiled as he cleared over half the distance between himself and Draco. He saw Draco sitting calmly in his seat, eyes closed and smiling. Something was wrong, this was too easy. Before he had time to reconsider his charge, Flash felt something snag on his hooves, prompting him to lose his balance as he began to fall forward. Flash tumbled hard across the floor until he landed hard on his face before skidding to a halt right at Draco’s feet. Flash groaned as he managed to pick himself off the ground and sit up.

“Ow…that hurt,” Flash said, rubbing his head.

Before he could say another word, Flash felt the barrel of a gun on his head.

“Like I said, dead at my feet dead.” With no further warning Draco pulled the trigger killing off Flash and watching his body fall down. “I hope you liked my new invention.” Draco walked around Flash to where he tripped. Flash caught a glimpse of Draco looking like he was picking something up. When Draco came back in his line of sight, he saw that there was nothing in his hands.

“What is that?” Flash asked.

Draco smiled before holding his hand above Flash’s hand and opening it. Immediately. Flash felt as though a large thick rope was suddenly dropped on his body. Yet despite the feeling, he couldn’t see anything. “Invisible rope. Me and Twilight used illusion magic to make it. I hadn’t figured out a use for it, but it sure did come in handy just now.”

“Damnit…” Flash cursed.

Draco knelt down to look Flash in the face. “There is a lesson to be learned here. Power is meaningless, if it’s in the hands of someone who can’t utilize it to its full potential. You figured that your speed would be all you need to win. Even before I explained the game, you prepared to fight without even thinking. This can be fatal in the real line of battle.”

Flash said nothing and turned his eyes away, discouraged in himself.

“I want you to remember these words, because when I get back from my mission, I’m going to drill you guys into the ground ‘till all your imperfections can become your greatest strengths.” He patted Flash on the back before he stood up.

“Wait!” Flash called out, stopping Draco from moving on further. “I have one question, something that has been bugging me for a long while.”

Draco looked over his shoulder and stared at the stallion’s lying face down. “And that would be?”

Flash tried to adjust himself to look at Draco. “Who were you really before coming here?”

Draco’s brow raised a little as he seemed rather confused. “I’m not sure I understand your implication. Elaborate.”

Flash tried to think how to better phrase his words. “You seem just as skilled as Lock and Phill, yet you were claimed to be a normal citizen before coming here. That’s what you told us.”

“Your point?” Draco asked curiously.

“My point is that Phill and Lock had battle experiences and were given special training and skills by the angels and the devil, but you never mentioned anything of the like. So how are you this skilled if not your powers from Discord?” Flash asked curiously.

For a good while, there was a dead silence as Draco stared at Flash, before turning around. “I think I’ve wasted enough time. I’m off to kill the princesses.”

The throne room was filled with at least three dozen of the princesses’ elite royal guards. Each stallion was lined up in rows, each armed with either a paintball rifle or a handheld weapon. Some of the soldiers had their radios tuned in to listen to what was happening outside of the throne room. Suffice to say, the room was filled with unease and tension.

“Draco seems to be having a field day out there,” Celestia said.

“True, it appears we have underestimated him,” Luna said. “It must be because we have been so used to Sir Dimitri taking the lead and fighting on the front lines for us and him being the main powerhouse.”

“Indeed, sister, but the test is not over yet,” Celestia said. “Draco still needs to get past our elite royal guards. He may be a talented warrior in his own right, but these stallions have been our loyal protectors for years.”

CRASH!

Just then, the double doors were kicked open abruptly, almost coming off their hinges. All the guards aimed their weapons as Draco strolled in with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey fellas, how’s the health plan?” Draco smiled as he strolled in before having all the elite guards turn their guns towards him. “Apparently, it’s great!” Pushing off the ground, Draco leapt high into their air before narrowly dodging the first wave of paintballs.

The guards kept on firing as Draco jumped and weaved in around the room. Unfortunately for him, there weren't very many places he could take cover in such an open area such as the throne room. Try as he might, Draco could not avoid the hail of the paintball bullets that were fired his way. All it took was a single misstep for his undoing. It started with one paintball hitting his shoulder, then his arm, then his legs, and soon dozens of paintballs riddled his body. Various colors of paint stained his body as he was pelted nonstop.

“Cease fire!” the leader of the royal elite guards ordered. The guards stopped firing and waited. Draco slowly fell to his knees and collapsed face first on the marble floor.
“Did we get him?” One guard asked, only to see no response from the man.

“We…we did it!” The guards started cheering.

“Buck yea! We beat the Beast!”

“So much for the Knight of Chaos!”

“You got that right! Not even the ability users could beat him, but he fell to us so easily!”

“Hmph, it seems I was wrong once again,” Luna scoffed.

“Heh…hehehe.” The celebration was soon silenced as Draco began to chuckle while on the ground. “How easily you celebrate your own demise.” Draco, with his remaining breath, slowly slipped his hand out, which grasped his last hand grenade, the pin already pulled out. “A gift from the Caribou, curiosity of the Sins.” Closing his eyes, Draco loosened his grip on the grenade, and everyone watched as it rolled out of his hand.

“Clever human…” Luna said bitterly as everyone braced.

KA-BOOM!!

Paint exploded everywhere and covered the whole group of guards and all over Celestia and Luna. They all stood there, still trying to process the fact that they’d been duped by Draco in his metaphorical death.

“Well played, Sir Draco,” Celestia said as she wiped some pain out of her eyes. “Well played, indeed.”

The spell that Discord had placed on the castle and all those within was lifted, as Draco and the guard slowly got to their feet. “Well, this was all part of the plan,” Draco said confidently.

“So instead of embracing defeat, you decided to take us down with you?” Luna said as she used her magic to remove the pain from her dress and fur and hair. “Bold move, but also quite drastic and foolish. Why risk it?”

Draco whipped paint off his face as he tried to speak. “Well, it wasn’t how I wanted to win, but still, a win is a win regardless.”

“You call this a win?!” One of the guards said. The double doors opened again to reveal Alpha Squad and the DF users.

“Woah, he won!” Flash said.

“I knew he would,” Shadow grinned.

“How is blowing yourself up when caught in a situation like this considered a win in your eyes?” The guard asked again.

“Say what? Draco blew himself up?” Zephyr asked.

“Yes, because I achieved my goal.” Draco smiled while pulling a rag out of his pocket to wipe off all the paint on his face. “Tell me something, suppose this was the real deal. What do you think would happen to the country with not only the princesses gone, but the elite guards, DF users, and Alpha Squad?”

“It’d fall almost immediately,” Luna said, feeling uncomfortable. “And we would be forced to…service that monster Dainn.”

“Correct, because in the end, the caribou win. The assassins fulfilled his role and the caribou can lay siege once again,” Draco said with a sad look on his face.

“So, why blow yourself up?” Berry asked.

“Since I was playing the role of the assassin, I had a reputation to uphold. I took a job I knew might end with my death. So naturally, I was prepared to take my own life, if it meant I got my job done and you all ended up going out with me,” Draco explained.

“That’s pretty dark, man,” Ace said.

“No, I think I’d do the same if I were Draco,” Flash said.

“Seriously?” Cloud asked.

“Yeah, I mean, I’d rather die than be captured and tortured for my secretes. Plus, I’d never sell anyone out for the life of me. Information can be just as powerful as conflict,” Flash said.

“While I doubt an assassin would be as compassionate, I’m glad to know you have that resolve, Flash.” Draco smiled, as he turned to face the princesses. “I’d like to run more drills like this when I get back. Not as big as this but now that we have these practice weapons, it should be a good way to help our forces get the edge they need on our enemies.”

“So, then I suppose it’s all settled?” Discord’s voice said as he appeared in a puff of pink smoke. “Tell me, Princesses, does this test prove that the boy can handle himself?”

“Indeed, it does,” Celestia said. Alpha Squad and the DF users looked as though they still wanted to protest, but it wouldn't be necessary at this point. “Draco Saurian, you have our permission to act on your own accord for this mission. You have proven yourself capable of handling such dangers on your own. However, I have one condition. For you to properly lead the army properly, you are in need of a proper title. So, from this day forth, I hereby grant you the rank of General. Do you accept it?”

“WHAT!?” Draco as well as everyone else in the room shouted in unison.

“General?! Draco?!” Flash cried out.

“Holy shit! That’s a hell of a promotion!” Zephyr said.

“We believe it is only fair, since Dimitri is already the Captain-Commander of the whole resistance. The army needs a leader too, and we believe you are more than capable,” Luna chimed in.

Draco, while surprised and somewhat apprehensive about the idea, sighed. “You won’t let me go unless I accept, huh?”

“Yes, but we mostly wish to bestow this rank to you because you deserve it,” Celestia said.

The rest of the ponies stared at Draco and looked like they were on the edge of their seat for his response.

Feeling somewhat defeated despite his win, Draco nodded. “Alright, alright, you got yourself a new general,” Draco said with a small sheepish laugh.

“Splendid!” Celestia said, clapping her hands. The rest of the group applauded Draco, and some do the elite royal guard saluted him. “Now then, we shall go over the formalities at a later time. For now, you must prepare for your mission.”

“So, this is it, huh?” Flash said with a serious expression. “We’re making our move against Gluttony?”

“One of many moves, Flash. With any luck, we can weaken his forces before he has a chance to strike at us.” Draco nodded to Discord, and with a snap of his fingers all the paint within the castle disappeared. “If all goes well, we can shift the tide of this war in our favor.”

“Then we wish you luck, Draco Saurian,” Luna said.

“Come, come, my boy,” Discord ushered Draco away. “We have some planning to do.”

When everyone left the throne room, leaving Celestia and Luna alone, both sisters sat down and took a sigh. “Sister, did you by any chance happen to notice it too?” Luna asked as she twirled some of her ethereal mane along her finger.

Celestia nodded. “I did. Though I haven’t noticed up until now, I believe it was partly due to him not showing his true colors.”

Luna sighed and eased into her seat. “For a moment I saw the look on his face, the look of somepony who’s lived far longer than he leads on and has seen more battles than I dare say we’ve seen.”

Celestia rested her head on her chin as she hummed to herself. “How old do you suppose he really is; I wonder?”

Author's Note

Draco’s test comes to an explosive conclusion.

Side Note:
I would like to take a moment and address something that I’ve noticed in the comments recently. I have learned to listen to people if they are confused or unsatisfied with the chapter and, if and when, they have some constrictive criticism for me. As an author, I want to try to ensure my readers have a good experience when reading my stories and will try to adapt to what they would like to see in each chapter. However, I will not tolerate someone who goes out of their way to slam my story and say that it sucks just because they feel like it. That’s unacceptable and is downright rude. To anyone who feels the need to slam my stories and be mean about it, please refrain from posting shit like that in the comments. If you no longer want to read my story, or don’t have anything nice to say about it or me, then you can simply not read my story anymore and move on. I’m just writing these stories as a hobby, a hobby that I genuinely enjoy doing in my spare time. I don’t need any negativity.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoyed.

~WurkyWilk has left the building…