Author's Note

Apologies for skipping through the story thus far, I am just trying to reach a point where Star Reaper is back to his normal self. I promise that I will provide more details about his adventures and cut down on the skipping.

7: A Dragon Defends the Empire

A few months pass by as Star Reaper soars through the sky, looking down at the ground below with a curious interest when a distant flash causes him to look in the direction. Seeing light glint off something in the distant horizon, he gives up on his search for the insect and makes his way there to check it out.

Celestia sifts through reports about the black dragon's activities, relieved to hear that it isn't causing too much harm to her subjects. She then sighs sadly when she reads a report about the dragon snatching a couple buffalo around Appleloosa when a guard gallops in, mentioning a report from Northern Equestria. She hands the reports off to her assistant and asks, "Yes?"

The guard takes off his helmet, with his ears laying back, saying, "I am simply to tell you...it...has returned, and the dragon that attacked during the wedding was headed in that direction."

With a gasp, she hastily turns to the guard on her right and says, "Find Princess Cadence and Shining Armor immediately." When the guard gallops off with the other two, she pulls out a quill to write a letter to Twilight.

An hour later, Celestia finishes telling Twilight about the Crystal Empire, saying, "Your Ponyville friends will be going with you upon your return, the black dragon that attacked during the wedding was heading that way as well. It is possible that you will encounter it again, but do not try to deal with it as I want you to prioritize protect the empire from King Sombra."

When Twilight returns to the station in Canterlot, she finds her friends already there, saying, "Girls, we're going to the Crystal Empire."

As the girls ride the train through the snowy lands of the Crystal Empire, Fluttershy shakes violently in fear, stammering, "We might encounter that terrifyingly ferocious, blue-fire breathing dragon at the Empire?"

She looks at the pale, terrified pegasus, saying, "Yes that is a possibility because he was headed in its direction, but I must focus on the Empire first."

The train pulls up to the station three hours later, letting the girls all get off as Shining Armor approaches the girls saying, "Twilight!" He then removes the scarf saying, "Twily, I'm so glad you made it!"

They walk toward the Empire through the blowing snow as Twilight asks, "Has the black dragon shown up yet?"

Shining Armor looks at his sister, nodding while saying, "It is certainly here alright, though it hasn't attacked at all. It does seem to find the barrier interesting as it frequently taps it with a claw or slaps its tail against it, finding some amusement at how the shield bounces back. I really hope it doesn't decide to attack the Empire."

She then asks her brother, "Do you know where it is at the moment?"

He nods his head and points to a small mountain a few miles away, saying, "It is on the peak of that mountain, looking at the barrier curiously." He then hears a distant howl over the blizzard and says, "We must get to the Crystal Empire now before the creature attacks us!"

Star looks at the barrier before a black mass catches his attention, turning his head to look at it curiously. When he spots a pair of bright green eyes, it reminds him of the insect that hurt him and leaps into the air to attack it. Climbing into the sky above it, he then dives down at it and breathes a blue fireball at it, shouting, "INSECT BURN!"

Shining Armor casts a protective shield over them all as he watches the blue ball of fire slam into the black mass and set it ablaze, causing the creature to howl in agony, saying, "Now's our chance! Get to the barrier while the dragon fights the shadow king!"

Sombra writhes and howls in agony, the flames refusing to go out in spite of his efforts. With no choice but to discard the burning layer, he darts after the ponies and leaves the burning shadow behind.

He watches as the insect burns, feeling something blast his neck. The attack causes a tingling sensation, which makes him see where it came from. He spots a light grey pony with a horn attacking the black mass, causing no damage when it engulfs them completely. Roaring in outrage, he flies toward the insect and bathes it in a stream of blue flames, causing the shadow to shriek and hurl the pony away. Not wanting to give the insect a chance to escape, Star circles around it while breathing blue fire at it.

As Twilight runs up to her brother, she sees his horn and says, "Oh no, your horn!" Turning her gaze to follow the dragon circling around the black mass, she thinks, 'I will have to find a way to thank them someday...'

After they make their way to the castle, Cadence and Twilight greet each other with their silly little dance as Cadence's magic fades out a little. Putting more effort into keeping it going, she maintains the barrier saying, "One of these days, we should get together when Equestria's fate isn't on the line."

When she asks if she is okay, her brother tells her she isn't and that she hasn't slept. Hearing that she barely eats causes her to worry more as her brother says she has managed to spread her love and light, which has been protecting the Empire so far.

Star huffs in irritation after the insect gave him the slip yet again, waiting at the top of the mountain closest to the city while keeping a sharp eye out for it to make an appearance again.

A few hours pass when he sees the pretty barrier disappear, followed by black clouds rolling in all around the strange city around the sparkly castle. Not wanting to allow it the upper hand, he dives off the top and races toward the unnatural things, preparing to breathe out a wide-range attack with his blue fire.

Shining Armor gasps and sees the dragon dart right past the castle, saying, "The Empire's under attack again." He then hurries to his wife's side and helps her up, encouraging her to continue on with an affectionate nuzzle.

Rainbow watches the black dragon breathe out a wave of blue fire with wide eyes, saying, "Woah, that dragon has some power..." She then sees the black clouds catch fire and draw a pained shriek from the shadow creature. The dragon then executes a loop-the-loop with a twist in midair to right itself, keeping Rainbow watching with rapt attention as the dragon performs the same attack again.

As his shadowy form burns, Sombra sees the barrier rise again and tries to get inside it but part of his horn is cut off by it. As the blue fire eats away at his form, he is forced to abandon part of it just to escape again.

Star keeps on attacking the insect, intent on completely burning it to dust and swoops down to strike it once more. When he sets another portion of the unnatural clouds ablaze, he banks around to the right to regain altitude and speed when he feels an attack strike his neck. The attack causes him to feel agony all over, drawing a pained roar from him as he feels something grow all along his scales and wings.

Applejack watches as the black dragon goes limp and heads towards the ground just outside of the city limits, gulping nervously, saying, "Ah hope that ya hurry up Twilight, that dragon was just taken out of the fight."

Once the Crystal Heart is finally returned to its rightful place and Sombra is defeated, Twilight looks down at Spike with a happy smile on her face, saying, "Good job Spike." A glittering, black form catches her attention outside of the Empire, making her turn her head to see the black dragon that kept fighting Sombra on the ground and unmoving. Wondering if the dragon is alright, she begins making her way back down to where her friends are.

When they all make their way to the outer limits of the city with Cadence and Shining Armor, they see the dragon still unmoving on the ground.

Rainbow Dash soon realizes just how massive the dragon is, saying, "Woah, this thing is gigantic! It is so large that it could pull a pine tree out of the ground and use it to brush its teeth if it wanted to!"

The farm pony looks at her and says, "Rainbow, would ya keep it down! This dragon could wake at any moment."

Seeing an aura surrounding him, Cadence turns to her husband and asks, "Shiny, could you examine the aura surrounding this dragon to learn what effect it has?"

Nodding his head, Shining Armor approaches the dragon warily and casts his spell, spreading his magic over the dragon's large body. Spending a few minutes examining the aura over the dragon, he cancels the spell and turns to look back at the others, saying in a normal tone, "Its alright to approach the dragon, this aura is just a field created by the crystal heart to contain the dragon into a sort of deep sleep. I don't know how to explain it, but something is wrong with the dragon's mind, which would explain the containment aura."

Concerned for the dragon, Fluttershy asks, "Is there anything we can do to help the poor dragon?"

Still in the air, the cyan pegasus flies up to the dragon's head and spots a strange purple smoke seeping from the corner of one eye, saying, "Hey, come check this out, there's something going on with its eye."

Making their way around his long body takes them a few minutes, but Twilight sees the green glow coming from under the not-fully-shut eyelid along with the purple smoke. With a gasp, she says, "They are still under the effect of Sombra's magic, we must do something to free them from it."

Agreeing with her new sister, she says, "It would be too cruel to leave the dragon to suffer from such dark magic. You should head back to Canterlot and notify Princess Celestia and Luna about this, perhaps they might come up with some way to help this dragon out."

Sighing defeatedly, she nods saying, "Alright, I guess I better go and face the music..."

Celestia looks at her student proudly, saying, "I am very proud of you for doing so well on this test, my faithful student. Congratulations on passing this test." She adopts a curious, yet slightly concerned expression as she changes the subject a little and asks, "Please tell me more about the dragon that attacked Sombra, what became of the dragon after the empire was saved."

Twilight smiles and giggles nervously, saying, "Right, how silly of me to leave that part out. When I was at the top of the crystal castle, I happened to notice a glittering dark spot outside the empire and turned to see what it was. That was when I noticed that it was the black dragon that fought against Sombra, though it was not moving at all. When I got the others and told them what I saw, Applejack told me she watched the dragon fall helplessly to the ground covered in black crystals. We all then went to check on it and when we got up to where it was, we found out how huge it was as Cadence noticed an aura surrounding it and asked my brother to examine it. When he finished, he told us that it was a containment aura cast by the Crystal Heart to hold the dragon in a deep sleep, he also said that there was something wrong with its mind which would explain the aura. Then Rainbow Dash noticed something off about the dragon's eye and told us to check it out, so we walked around the dragon and I saw a sliver of a green glow from under a slight gap in its eyelid along with a purple smoke coming from the corner. As soon as I saw that, I realized that he was under the effect of Sombra's Spell and told the others that we should do what we could to free them from it, which Cadence agreed with me about it and said that it would be too cruel to let them suffer from Sombra's dark magic. She then asked me to return to Canterlot and tell you and Princess Luna about it in hopes that you could find a way to help the dragon out."

The princess thinks about it for a moment, saying, "We might know of a way to help, why don't you all head on back to the Crystal Empire and my sister and I will meet you by the dragon when we are ready."

She makes her way out of the throne room, making her way through the halls to the front entrance and pauses at the door, then jumps outside saying, "I...passed!"

Celestia leaves the throne room, thinking, 'I wonder what my sister will say about this.' She blinks and finds herself standing in an open field with dead and burned grass all around her, hearing a faint whisper all around her, saying, "Save him..."

Luna tosses and turns in her sleep as she walks beneath a night sky with a beautiful full moon overhead. Making her way through what was once the beautiful White Tail Woods, but now is mostly ash with a few scarce trees burning in a blue flame asking, "What is going on here?"

A white figure walks out of the low-lying smoke, saying with an echoing, foreboding tone, "Look at what lies around you, Princess Luna. See what shall become of Equestria if you do not heed my words..."

Shading her eyes with her wing to try to look at them, she waits for her to say more but remains silent. Turning her head around to look at her surroundings, she gasps as she sees Canterlot illuminating the sky as it is completely wreathed in blue fire. She watches a black shadow appear near her and watches as it transforms into King Sombra, preparing to attack him when she watches a tear fall from his eye. Dismissing her magic, she watches as he looks around at all the burnt land before setting his eyes to the brightly burning city of Canterlot.

Sombra is upset at all the destruction he sees before him and shouts up to the dragon above Canterlot, "STOP, STOP! THIS IS NOT WHAT I ORDERED YOU TO DO!"

Hearing his words, the dragon stops his attack on the city as the screams slowly fade away. Turning toward the one who enslaved him for a while with a snarl, he flies over to him and hovers in the air before him, shouting back, "Isn't it though? YOU DEMANDED ME TO BREAK THE WILL AND SPIRIT OF THE PONIES SO THAT THEY CALL YOU MASTER AS I DO, THEREFORE, I AM OBEYING YOUR COMMAND UNTIL THEY GIVE IN!" Wanting to be rid of the nuisance, he then channels his magic and throws his head into the air. Sending a massive blue ball of fire into the sky above him, he says, "It angers me to no end that you managed to bend me to your will once, for I have been free for quite a while now and waiting for the perfect opportunity to get my revenge on you. NOW BURN! BLUE AURORA!"

Luna looks up at the blue ball of fire as it flattens out to become a small halo of blue light, then races toward the ground and sends a massive tidal wave of blue fire outward in all directions. Not having time to put up a shield, she prepares for the pain and feels none. Confused by this, she hears a blood-curdling scream of agony come from Sombra's mouth. Tears fall from her eyes as she feels her heart hurt from hearing Sombra fall silent, hearing the dragon shout HELL SHOWER as another blue light catches her eye. Looking up into the night sky, she sees hundreds of massive blue fireballs rain down upon the land and reducing anything still standing to ash.

The being looks at the princess as she begins to break down, saying, "This is only a vision of what may be. If you wish to avoid this fate, you must save him from further suffering, for he has had enough of that to last several lifetimes. You must move quickly, for time is against you as Sombra's spell deepens its hold."

She blinks and sits up in reflex, asking, "Who are you?!"

Standing in front of her sister, Celestia cocks her head a little saying curiously, "I am your sister, Lulu. Did you forget me?"

Looking around to find herself back in her room, Luna sighs and gets up out of bed saying, "Of course I didn't forget you, Cece. I just had a worrying vision, did you see it too?"

The solar princess frowns and nods, saying, "In a nutshell... If it started with standing in a field of ash that used to be the White Tail Woods, followed by Canterlot burning and lighting up the night with blue flames, The black dragon confronting his former master Sombra and killing him, with the last thing being the giant blue balls of fire falling from the sky with a being telling us to save him from further suffering and that time was short due to Sombra's spell getting more of a hold on the dragon... I did see it." She then sighs and says, "As they were working to save the Crystal Empire, the black dragon that attacked during the wedding, mistook Sombra for being Queen Chrysalis and tried to destroy him. A few minutes before the crystal heart was found by Twilight, Applejack watched the dragon fall through the sky unconscious and covered in black crystals. When the Empire was saved by the Crystal Heart, they all went to check on it to see if they were okay. After Shining Armor examined the aura, he found that it was being kept asleep by the heart's containment aura. He said that there was something wrong with the dragon's mind, which would explain the aura the heart created. Cadence and Twilight think that something should be done to help it. The question is...what do you think we should do Lulu?"

Luna starts making herself presentable, saying, "With what we both saw, how can we not lend a hoof?"

Celestia then looks at her sister with a nod, saying, "I had a feeling you might say that, I shall go freshen up so that I look my best as well.

An hour passes when her sister returns to her room, saying, "You're finally ready, I see. Do you want to fly there or teleport?"

She looks at her thoughtfully, saying, "How about we fly, it has been quite a while since we used our wings to fly anywhere together and it will take the train a few hours to reach the Empire."

When they arrive a couple hours later, they head to the crystal castle first to task them with looking after the empire for them as Cadence asks, "Aunties, do you know a way to help the dragon?"

Luna approaches her and nods saying, "We do, though it will take my ability to enter other ponies' dreams to have a chance to figure out what is going on.

Celestia looks at Cadence, asking, "Will you both come with us to check on the dragon's present state until the others return?"

Nodding her head, saying, "We most certainly will, " and looks to her husband saying, "let's go Shiny." She and her husband then lead the way out of the crystal castle to where the unconscious dragon lies.

As they reach the downed dragon, Celestia and Luna both look at it in awe as Luna hovers in the air above it, saying, "Wow, I've never seen a dragon this big before, just one of it's scales is as large as my entire body. I've...never felt so small before."

She joins her sister in the air and looks at the dragon, saying with wide eyes, "You're right, I never had a good look at the dragon from inside that amber cocoon, but it really does make a pony feel puny in comparison."

After arriving at the station, the six girls and Spike make their way to where the dragon is at as Twilight smiles approaches Celestia and Luna, asking, "I saw you both from the train, did the both of you have a nice flight, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?"

With a smile, Celestia and Luna return to the ground as the older sister looks to her student, saying, "We did indeed, thank you for asking." Turning to her sister, she asks, "Do you need to make any preparations before we begin, sister?"

Shaking her head, Luna says, "No, I've just finished examining the aura myself and the state of the dragon's mind, what I found is troubling indeed.

Cocking her head curiously, she asks, "What is the matter, sister?"

With a heavy sigh, she says with a sad expression, "The dragon's mind is broken and his memories are scattered, Sombra's spell is trying to gain control over his mind so he obeys and serves him. This will be a difficult battle, but we must prevail...whatever it takes."

Before they can do anything, a white figure appears next to the dragon. Her sudden appearance causes them to gasp as the princesses turn to her, saying to them, "I know that a dark and ancient past resides within, for I watched much of it happen before my eyes, so be prepared to see the worst. I have seen and attempted to help protect the dragon but what caused the stages of his suffering was greater than my own power, though its final task was completed when Nightmare Moon was released. I did what I could to reduce the potential danger of him, but the dark magic cast upon him by Sombra destroyed my efforts and prevents me from doing so again." Without another word, she fades away, letting two final words echo past their ears, whispering, "Save him."

Twilight looks at the place where the figure was standing, saying, "Did that really just happen?"

Luna sighs and says, "She left without telling us who she was, again." She sees the curious looks directed at her from the others and says, "My sister and I had a vision of the future which included her, but we shall not mention it if we succeed as it will be meaningless."

Applejack then smiles and says, "Well then, let's get started if it is that bad."

Rainbow then nods, saying, "Yeah! Nightmare Moon, Dragons, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and then King Sombra, No matter who or what we face, we will always find victory!"

With a smile coming to her face, she says, "You all have done very well against physical foes, and are learning to strengthen your mind. We must be aware of anything that seems amiss and out of place within his mind."

Nervous, Twilight then asks, "How will we be able to tell?"

Luna looks at her, then says, "I will cast a spell upon each of you to increase your sensitivity to the true ones."

Pinkie Pie then says, "This sounds exciting, let's get started!"

The princess then looks at them and says, "Very well, follow me over to the dragon's head and I shall cast some magic upon you all before we all lay down in a circle."

After casting magic upon them all and arranging them in a circle around the dragon's head, Luna has them sleep so she can cast her magic. Linking them to each other, she holds them in her magic and connects to the dragon's mind. The dragon fights against the connection at first until Luna runs a hoof along his scale, saying, "Shh...sleep now, for peace is coming." Finally allowed to make her connection, she lies down herself and slips her conscious self into the Dream Realm. She arrives in the Dream Realm with the others around her, seeing only one large, pitch black bubble showing Sombra talking at a dragon smaller than him, thinking, 'Is that his dream?'

Celestia and the others follow her as she sees her sister look at the bubble, asking her, "Did you find what you are searching for?"

She nods and says, "This is his dream, but we won't be going in as we need to help his mind where the trouble is." Looking to the right of the bubble, she sighs and says, "Normally I would never do this because it is something Nightmare Moon created, but we have no other way to save him."

Twilight looks on with curiosity as Luna focuses on a spell dark in nature, opening her eyes to reveal a solid, bright, light blue color. When she casts the spell, a door, blood red in color appears with a silver door handle on the right side of the bubble, asking, "Princess Luna, does this door look this color because of how bad his memories are?"

With a nod, she looks at the door and uses her hoof to push the door handle down, saying, "It does indeed, though I am shocked at how it is completely red like this. Follow me, everypony and keep your guard up when we enter this space." She then pushes the door open and sees it is pitch black in there, causing her to light up her horn. What she sees inside gives her pause, saying, "Whatever you see inside will not dirty your bodies outside, so steel your minds against this unsettling sight." Moving forward, she then dips a hoof into the blood to test how deep it is, discovering that it is nearly as deep as her leg and sighs, saying, "I sure hope I won't have to swim through this..." Making a short jump forward and hoping her hooves land on a hard surface below the blood, she is relieved to find that the blood only comes up to the fur on her chest, saying, "Hop on in sister, you can stand on the floor."

Celestia follows her sister in and illuminates her horn, regretting it immediately as she sees her sister standing in blood up to her belly, "Sister, this stuff is-"

Cutting her sister off, Luna stands by the door, saying, "I know sister, this is disgusting. I don't understand why, but we will have to wade through it. We will have to carry them on our backs until we find a dry place."

Groaning with disgust, she hops in after her, saying, "Alright." Feeling revulsion at the sensation of her legs becoming covered in blood, she then turns to the door and says, "Cadence, Shining Armor, you come in next. I will warn you now that you both will likely be neck deep in this, so keep your heads high."

Once Shining Armor lights his horn, he says, "This is really disturbing." before hopping forward and moving out of the way for his wife saying, "Watch your step Cady, the floor is a little slippery."

Cadence shivers as she sees what is inside the room, almost coming up to her husband's chin saying, "I think that I will just use my wings to fly above it." Spreading her wings and giving them a few flaps, she flies through the door and immediately loses the ability to stay in the air. Unable to maneuver, she takes a breath and braces herself to land in the blood. Keeping her nose high, she hits the surface with out a splash, sending out only a ripple while feeling the blood reach the back of her head. Opening her eyes as it doesn't get any higher, she sighs with relief and returns to her hooves, saying, "This feels so nasty against my coat."

He smiles and says, "I know how you feel dear."

Luna makes her way to the door and says, "Spike, since you are not tall enough for your head to be above the surface, you will have to ride on my back or my sister's." When she watches Spike come forth, shaking terribly as he gets on her back, she heads away from the door, looking back while saying, mind your step when you come in so you don't slip below the surface, little ponies."

Applejack is the first of the six to step forth and hop in, making her way towards Luna while forcing herself to ignore the fact that she is neck-deep in blood, saying, "Ah can handle deep mud, but this is a bit much."

Rarity illuminates her horn and sees what sort of substance they will have to wade through, screaming bloody murder before going light-headed and collapsing onto her right side. She wakes up to see Twilight, and Fluttershy by her side with the others around her, asking, "Good Heavens, please tell me that I was just dreaming!"

Twilight rests her left hoof on Rarity's neck, saying, "Calm down Rarity, and take deep breaths."

Slowly, she listens to her and takes a few slow breaths, unintentionally saying, "Heeee....Hoooo. Heeee....Hoooo."

Once she calms down enough, Fluttershy then pulls her into a hug, saying as kindly as she can, "I'm sorry, Rarity, but...you weren't dreaming. I know how disgusted and horrified you feel at seeing what was inside. When I saw what is inside that room, I wanted to run away crying in terror. The only reason that I didn't is because some poor creature is suffering and needs our help to get through it, we can't help him without you.

The farm pony looks at Rarity as she gazes into the room and looks at the blood in horror, curling up on herself, then says, "Rarity, ah know ya hate getting dirty, and find the thought of standing neck-deep in this stuff traumatizing...but there is a dragon that really needs our help. Can ya put aside your fears and come with us?"

Rarity takes one more look at the inside of the room and whines, "But it looks so icky inside and will get all over me!"

Twilight then pulls her friend's head to face her and says, "Remember Rarity, this will not affect our real bodies at all, only our minds if we let it get to us. All of us are with you at the utterly revolting substance within that room, but we must make our way past this challenge if we are going to thwart Sombra's spell completing its objective."

Rising from the ground with a groan, she approaches the door with a huff, saying, "After we get done saving this dragon's hide, I'm sooo going to have him take me to the Spa in Ponyville." With a resigned sigh, she hops in lady-like and whines, "EWWW, this feels so revolting!"

Once the others enter the room, Luna closes the door with her horn providing light, saying, "Now we can start looking for where the center is."

Celestia tries to walk up next to her sister, stepping right off the edge into a much deeper part, shouting in surprise, "Weah!" Forced to swim to keep herself afloat, she groans, saying, "Everypony be mindful of your steps, there is a much deeper part that I have no desire to know just how deep it is."

It takes them a few minutes for Luna and Celestia to learn that there is but one path to follow, making slow progress forward while using their horns to provide light.

When they finally stand on dry ground, the group sees a purple light in the distance as well as a pair of large, green eyes with red irises as Luna says, "That must be Sombra's spell, trying to seize dominance."

After cleaning themselves up, they continue forward when they begin to hear Sombra speaking, saying, "You are a creature with power that all should cower before! Obey my orders and I will give you riches and girls beyond your wildest dreams!"

Cadence and Shining Armor rush toward the dragon weakly fighting back against the spell's influence, throwing up a protection barrier as she looks back into a pair of sad, crimson eyes, saying, "We are here to help you against this menace trying to control you, don't let its lies sway you."

Star looks at the two ponies with a weary expression of gratitude on his face when he notices other ponies starting to attack the creature, saying as his eyes fall shut, "So...tired."