A Dragon's Fate: The Fall

Hoof-steps echoed on the tiled floor as Princess Celestia paced the length of the throne room, her brow furrowed with concern. Her tail swished impatiently against the floor as she walked, and there was clear tension in the stiff way she carried herself that morning.

.....

The night prior, Celestia had awoken suddenly to find that she was no longer alone. A dragon stood over her, its spiked tail poised to deliver a killing strike as the princess lay sleeping.

In the blink of an eye, Celestia sprung clear of the danger and had cast a defensive spell only for the dragon to inexplicably turn tail and flee the chamber. Confused and outraged, Celestia had given chase, calling out for guards as she pursued her enemy through the corridors.

Eventually, the chase had come to a brief stop in one of the many windowed halls. Confronted by Celestia at the front and a mass of guards at its back, the dragon had hurled itself through the window. The glass shattered on impact, the jagged shards spilling down into the castle courtyard. Cursing loudly, Celestia was about to take flight when one of the captains, a grey unicorn stallion, stopped her.

"Take this, Your Highness," he said.

With a jolt, Celestia realized that he was holding her own sword, still sheathed in its scabbard and belt, which she had forgotten in her bedchambers. The need to catch the intruder must have driven it from her mind. Taking the sword from the stallion, Celestia nodded her thanks. Swiftly tying the belt around her waist, the princess took flight through the ruined window after the dragon.

The dragon had not gone far. Celestia soon found her, surrounded by guards on all sides as they fought furiously in the air against their enemy. Seeing Celestia approach, the guards scattered. The dragon experienced a brief moment of bewilderment as it turned, only to let out an ear-splitting roar of pain when Celestia struck; her blade delivering a devastating slash to the dragon's left shoulder. Then, as the dragon lunged to bite her, Celestia disappeared in a flash, only to appear at the dragon's back to strike with her sword again.

However, Celestia knew the fight was far from over. In the next instant she was forced to dodge as a jet of scorching blue flames erupted from the dragon's jaws, barely missing her by an inch. As she blinked from the brightness of the flames, she was nearly tackled from the sky as the dragon lunged at her, savage claws outstretched, fangs bared in a furious roar.

But the place guards were ready. Under the command of the captains they stood by, ready to fire nets to bring their
enemy down. Celestia saw this within seconds, and without a moment's hesitation gave the command they had been waiting for.

"FIRE!!!"

It happened so fast Celestia almost missed it. One moment she was staring into the glaring eyes of her enemy, the next the dragon had tumbled from the sky as the nets were released, trapping and entangling the dragon in thick black rope as it went crashing down into the courtyard. Even then the creature refused to give in. It writhed and slashed at the nets as the guards surrounded it, while Celestia alighted beside the creature.

Her sword was still wet with the dragon's blood. When the dragon made eye contact with her, it snarled in a language that sent shivers up Celestia's spine - she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end from it.

"Perfidae!" the dragon spat. "Vos, using a trap against me! Fatuus!"

Without warning, the dragon surged to its feet, the ropes tearing and giving way. Realizing what was about to happen, Celestia raised her voice to the others.

"TAKE COVER!"

Heat. Terrible, scorching heat. Celestia, casting a defensive spell, was able to protect herself and the guards nearest her, while the rest were forced to dive behind whatever cover there was to avoid being promptly burned alive. Squinting from the flames and smoke, Celestia's heart clenched as she saw the dragon rise into the air, the burnt ropes falling away from its body as it rose into the sky.

However, as the dragon flew away, she was unaware of the fact that one soldier remained on the castle walls. The stallion stood beside a giant crossbow of his own making, which when fired released a giant crossbow bolt. Now that he had a clear shot, the stallion took careful aim, lining the weapon up with the dragon's form on the horizon.

For a single heartbeat, the world seemed to slow. Then the crossbow was fired - the dragon abruptly lost its rhythm of flight, its distant roar of agony soon lost as it plummeted out of sight.

Within moments, Celestia had alighted beside the soldier. Scanning the horizon for any sign of the dragon, she frowned in frustration when she realized she couldn't see where it had gone down. Of all nights for it to be a full moon...

"Are you certain you hit it?" she said to the guard next to her.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said the guard. "It was a direct hit. Right in the rib cage beneath the wing."

"Your Highness," said one of the captains, coming to Celestia's side. "Should we send a scouting party out to find the dragon?"

Celestia hesitated, considering this. "No," she said finally. "We can't put the lives of more soldiers at risk by sending them to search the Everfree. Those woods are far too dangerous after darkness falls. We'll send them at dawn."

"Understood, Your Highness."

"And Captain," Celestia added. "It would be best that when you conduct your investigation to exercise discretion. We don't want the citizens of Ponyville to panic."

"Yes, Your Highness," answered the captain. He hesitated for a moment before asking his next question. "What about Princess Twilight?"

"That's not your concern," answered Celestia. "I will notify her of this myself in the morning."

Now that Twilight had been mentioned, Celestia was suddenly anxious about her sister, Luna. She was about to ask where her sister was when the sound of galloping hooves prompted her to turn around.

Celestia's heart sank. Running toward her was one of Luna's guards. The worried look in his eyes was enough to send Celestia running to meet him.

"Your Highness!" The guard panted. "There was an attack... Princess Luna - she's..."

Before he could finish, Celestia had disappeared in a bright flash. She reappeared seconds later inside Luna's bedchambers, only to find them empty. In a panic, she burst out onto the balcony - and stopped dead in her tracks.

Luna lay motionless on the ground, her chest rising and falling in slumber.

"Luna!" Celestia said, moving quickly to her sister's side. "Luna! Wake up! Wake up!"

Luna did not move. Bending low over her, Celestia felt a spike of horror as she realized there was a single puncture in her sister's shoulder.

"Oh no. No, no."

Reaching out, Celestia pulled Luna into a hug, cradling her sleeping sister against her shoulder as tears blurred her vision. How? How could she have allowed this to happen? How had she managed to fail her sister again?

It should have been me this time! Celestia thought bitterly. Why couldn't it have been me? Why must Luna always be the one to suffer such things? Why?!?

.....

Celestia blinked hard, forcing herself to swallow her grief. Luna was beyond her help for now. The only chance she had of helping her was to find that moon-damned dragon and somehow getting it to reverse whatever dark magic it had cast on her sister. She had sent a letter to Twilight, and the guards were already on their way to investigate the Everfree. With luck, they would be able to get to the bottom of this mess in no time.

However, Celestia couldn't shake the feeling that all would not go according to plan. But then, things rarely did. Either way, Celestia hardly cared. Nothing mattered now, except finding a way to bring Luna back.