Gift of the Dovah

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Prologue

Prologue

Twilight Sparkle trotted through the peaceful streets of Ponyville, accompanied by her assistant Spike. The young dragon looked around the bustling and energetic village, admiring how happy everypony seemed to be. He could see Lyra and Bon Bon chatting at the diner, the Cutie Mark Crusaders pulling a wagon full of hay; for Celestia knows what reason, Derpy Hooves; the Mailmare, was zig-zagging along her mail-route, and Big Mac was working the Apple Family’s stand. It really did look like it was going to be a nice, normal day in Ponyvile.

Well, except for maybe one thing. Twilight.

Spike cast a worried glance towards his friend. “Twilight,” the young dragon asked nervously “are you feeling alright?” as the two walked through the street. “You’ve been acting...well...distant all day.” He had known the Unicorn all his life, and he could tell when something was wrong with her.

The dragon’s question seemed to knock Twilight out of whatever stupor she was in. She shook her head, eyes blinking, before responding to her assistant. “What? Oh, um, really, it’s fine Spike, I’m just...” She paused awkwardly, as if considering something, before sighing. “Well, actually Spike, I have been feeling a bit off today. There’s been this...weird feeling in the back of my head that won’t seem to go away,” she said sheepishly, “I..I can’t really explain it.” The dragon raised an eyebrow at the unicorn’s confession.

“Have you asked Celestia if she might know what’s going on with you?” he asked.

“Oh, really Spike, I don’t think it’s that se-” The unicorn was trying to brush off Spike’s concerns, but was interrupted by the arrival of Ponyville’s premier party pony, who bounced towards the two in her usual manner.

“Hi Spike! Hi Twilight! Watcha doing?” asked Pinkie Pie, still bouncing.

“Oh, we’re just going for a walk Pinkie Pie, it is a beautiful day.” Said Twilight, trying to ignore Spike’s ‘We’re not done yet’ look.

“It is, isn’t it? I’m just on my way to Sug-” The Pink Pony stopped talking all of a sudden, before her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Less then a second later, before either Twilight or Spike could ask what was wrong, she began vibrating up and down, violently. She gave this odd buzzing noise as if she was trying to speak, but the vibrating prevented anything she said from being understood.

“Oh no, is it another doozy?!?” Spike asked quickly, eyes darting around for any signs of what might have caused the reaction.

“I don’t know Spike, but I think it’s something worse!” exclaimed Twilight, looking around the town herself.

Both of their questions were soon answered, as their ears were assaulted by a loud roar that shook the very foundations of the village. Ponies everywhere around town looked up and gasped, spotting a massive winged beast descending from the sky. It let out another earsplitting roar, before flying past a row of houses and opening its maw wide, letting loose a stream of intense orange flame from its jaws, lighting nearly a dozen houses on fire as it flew past. Screams of terror filled the village as ponies all over started panicking and running away, filling the streets.

Despite all the panic, the three of them stood rooted the ground as the monster landed on Carousel Boutique, which Spike thankfully noted Rarity wasn’t in right now. The creature’s sharp claws cut gouges into the exterior of the building as it secure itself, before releasing another stream of flame that torched several more buildings. The pause in the creature’s movements at least allowed the group to get a good look at it. The creature was a massive lizard, although not as large as the fully grown dragons they had encountered before, it’s body was covered in a thick hide of greenish-grey scales. Sharp but short spikes lined its back, and a sail adorned its head like a crown, with another one lining its back just below the lizard’s long neck. Its long tail had a large flap on the end of it, perfect for smacking a pony and sending them flying. Its wings were not on its back, but on its forearms, like a bat, and they were more ragged looking then the wings of similar large flying lizards.

They were snapped out of their short observation when the creature unleashed another searing jet of flame, nearly torching a small group of ponies that were trying to run away. Twilight turned towards her two friends and immediately took charge of the situation. “Pinkie Pie, I need you to get the others, Rarity should be with Fluttershy at her house and Applejack’s probably at her farm.” The party pony had thankfully stopped vibrating at that point and, after holding her wobbly head steady, jumped to her hooves and ran off to find the others. Twilight then turned to her assistant. “Spike, I need you to run back to the library and send a message to the Princess. Hurry!” The young dragon nodded quickly and took off running towards the tree that he and Twilight lived in, sparing one last glance at his friend as she started galloping towards the monster herself. “Good luck...” he said as she vanished from view, hoping to himself that she’d be alright.

o-0-O-0-o

Dragon. That’s the one word Twilight’s mind connected to the massive beast. She didn’t know why, the only characteristics that the monstrosity shared with the dragons she’d seen was the fact that it was a large, flying, firebreathing lizard. Otherwise they were nothing alike. Pushing aside those thoughts, along with the odd sensation in her mind that seemed to be growing stronger, Twilight skidded to stop a few hundred feet in front of the ‘dragon’, hoping that what she was about to do wouldn’t end up getting her killed.

o-0-O-0-o

The dragon looked down at the insignificant creature that dared to stand up against it, letting out a snort as its menacing slitted eyes stared down at the purple thing, their sickly yellow-green color practically drilling holes into her. It prepared to end the foolish key’s life before it noticed that the creature’s horn was giving off an odd maroon glow...

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight gulped as the dragon glared down at her, giving off a sense of malice that seemed to enter the very core of her being. She suppressed a shiver and steeled herself, before using her magic to lift up a nearby fruit stand and bring it to a hover at the dragon’s head level. Hearing the hum of the magic field around the object, the dragon turned towards the noise just as Twilight hurled the thing at its face. It impacted hard, the entire stand shattering on collision and sprayed splinters and shards of wood everywhere. The dragon let out another roar, not one of pain, but of indignation. In fact, it didn’t seem hurt at all. The creature was angry, and Twilight couldn’t suppress the shiver that ran down her spine this time as it returned its gaze to her. Knowing that now was the time to run, the unicorn turned and started galloping as hard as her legs would let her, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she headed for the outskirts of town.

o-0-O-0-o

The nerve of the purple key, it actually had the gall to strike at the dragon with the odd magic the horned ones possessed. The dragon wouldn’t let such an transgression go unpunished, and took off after the fleeing unicorn, cutting through the sky. The creature was fast, but the dragon quickly caught up with it as it neared the edge of the village, and it let out a roar as closed the distance, calling upon its magic so that it could bring a torrent of fire down on the pathetic creature and end its short life. Its plans for retribution however were cut short when something impacted its side hard and knocked it off course, causing it to smash into the ground and actually gouge a sizable trench out of the earth with its body. Its anger ever rising, it looked up and saw one of those winged key, a blue one with a rainbow-colored mane, hovering in the sky above it. The worthless creature was actually cheering, celebrating its supposed victory. Calling upon its power, the dragon ended the pegasus’s short-lived celebration with a blast of searing flame, which the creature disappointingly managed to avoid, although judging by its cringing and the way it was holding its side in obvious pain the flames at least managed to give the vermin a burn. The small amount of joy the key’s pain brought was destroyed when something coarse wrapped and tightened around its neck.

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight stopped to catch her breath as she watched Applejack leap onto the dragon’s back, lasso secured around the lizard’s neck. The earth pony tightened the rope with her teeth as she glanced up at the pegasus hovering above her, who was still in pain from the burns the dragon’s flame gave her.

“That’s what you get for cheerin too soon!” yelled the farmpony through clenched teeth. “now come on, lets bag this varmint!” Rainbow Dash short her a glare, but flew down to help her anyway, grabbing the rope and helping it stay taut.

Having caught her breath, Twilight turned to help her friends and started concentrating on the dragon’s limbs, neck, and tail. As her horn lit-up, her magic’s aura covered the body parts she was focusing on, causing them to slam into the ground and anchoring them there. However, even under the magical restraint the dragon was fighting back with every muscle in its body, and it was strong. Twilight was actually struggling to keep the dragon locked down. As beads of sweat poured down her face a small part of her noted that her other friends had finally arrived, galloping towards the confrontation. That same part that was focused on things not pertinent to the situation also noted that the odd feeling in her head was growing stronger.

Twilight’s focus was redirected to the fight as the dragon, in an unexpected move, arched its back, causing the two ponies holding the lasso to lose balance and fall off. This caused a momentarily lapse in concentration on Twilight’s part that gave the dragon the edge it needed. It struggled more violently, and the unicorn’s magical bonds literally shattered as the dragon finally broke free. It let out a triumphant roar, and turned its neck towards the earth pony on its right that was still getting up. The dragon arched its tail away from Applejack, before whipping it back and slamming it into the farmpony. She was sent flying, crashing into a nearby building on the outer edge of Ponyville.

Twilight gasped as she watched her friend get violently flung away, but quickly recovered and turned her attention back to the dragon. She used her magic to lift up several nearby boulders and hurl them at the dragon. However, the creature was ready this time, and when the large rocks were within meters of its face, it opened its maw. A huge wave of energy flew out of it and hit the rocks, causing them to rebound and fly in Twilight’s direction. The unicorn gasped and quickly ducked just in time to avoid a boulder that flew over her head, before jumping out of the way as another crashed into the spot she was standing in moments ago.

o-0-O-0-o

Rainbow Dash by this time had long since recuperated and, using Twilight’s attack as a distraction, flew high into the sky. As the dragon deflected Twilight’s rocks, she dived towards the overgrown lizard, intending to smash into it just like she did to Applejack’s old barn. However, the dragon apparently heard the pegasus’s approach, and as she neared impact the creature turned its neck up and opened its maw. However, this time instead of a torrent of fire, a stream of freezing white frost was expelled from its mouth right at Rainbow Dash. The pegasus’s eyes widened, but she couldn’t turn out of the way before she plunged right into the freezing gas. Her entire body was instantly chilled, the frost was a hundred times colder then the blizzard that plagued Equestria before its founding, easily overcoming the pegasus’s natural resistance to cold. She felt her entire body go numb, joints freezing up, muscles shutting down, and just before she lost consciousness she felt herself fly out of control, her last sight that of the ground inches from her face before everything went black.

o-0-O-0-o

Fluttershy could only watch with Pinkie Pie and Rarity as her three other friends tried to subdue the dragon, and fail miserably. She watched as Twilight’s bonds were broken by the dragon. She watched as Applejack was flung into a building. She watched as Rainbow Dash was blasted by the dragon’s frost breath, the pegasus still laying on the ground several meters away, her body coated in a white sheen of frost. She watched, all the while feeling an emotion that she rarely felt bubble up inside her. An emotion that she had not felt since her horrible experience at the Gala. Rage. That rage reached a boiling point as she watched Rainbow Dash smash into the ground. Her eyes narrowed, her brow furrowed, her wings outstretched and her knees bent. An outsider might think she was about to murder that dragon. Her friends actually took a few steps away from her, knowing not to mess with her when she got like this. As she watched the dragon lift into the sky, she took off as well and flew towards the dragon, stopping behind it. Twilight all the while was just staring dumbly at the creature, mind still working on overdrive trying to think of a new plan.

“HEY!” she yelled, actually gaining the dragon’s attention. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you-” she started, but in a move that shocked her and everypony watching, the dragon swung around and released a wave of force right in her face, only making that critical eye contact for the briefest of moments. The pegasus felt her self being blasted through the sky, unable to regain control as she flew towards the ground at shocking speeds, her last thoughts before hitting a large boulder being, ’I’m sorry...’

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight could only stare in shock as the dragon, not even giving Fluttershy a moments glance, simply blasted the pegasus away. She was sure Fluttershy’s stare would be enough to subdue the dragon, but she didn’t even get a chance to use it to its full effect. For the first time this entire fight, she felt real fear. Not for her, but for her friends. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could be dead right now. Her shock was broken when she saw that the dragon was moving again, soaring straight towards Fluttershy. She gaped, before quickly getting a hold of herself and turning to her still conscious friends. “Help Applejack and Rainbow Dash, I’m going to get Fluttershy!” she shouted, before concentrating on Fluttershy’s location and appearing there in a burst of magic. The dragon was practically on top of them at that point, and Twilight only had just enough time to bring up a domed energy shield around the two before the dragon’s fire breathed washed around them, scorching the ground outside the shield. Try as she might, she couldn’t concentrate enough for a double-teleport before dragon circled back around and assaulted the shield with a blast of frost. It circled around again just as quickly and sent another torrent of flame down on the shield. And again. And again. Each blast drained Twilight more and more, her fur was matted with sweat and she didn’t know how long she could last.

o-0-O-0-o

At last, the battle was nearing its conclusion. The key fought hard, but the dragon’s victory was a foregone conclusion. These peaceful animals weren’t warriors, while the dragon was a killing machine, several centuries worth of experience at its back. If it possessed the right facial muscles, it would have grinned as it landed in front of the magic wielder’s energy shield. The dragon stared right into the eyes of the creature, and the fear it saw brought malicious joy to its heart. It took a deep breath, unnecessary but satisfying, and let loose one last blast of fire, shattering the purple thing’s shield. The small creature nearly collapsed at that point, but it kept standing and backed towards the yellow one, the one who actually made the dragon feel a twinge of fear when their eyes met. But that didn’t matter, they would both be dead soon. The dragon reared back and opened its jaws wide, preparing for the final blow.

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight felt exhausted as the dragon finally burst through her shield. She felt like at least a gallon of sweat had poured out of her body. Knowing that this was it, the unicorn backed up towards her downed friend, as if to protect her from what was about to happen. But she knew it was useless, this was the end. But even as she shut her eyes, and turned her head away, that feeling in her head grew stronger. She started to...hear a whispering coming out of it. A series of three strange words, repeating over...

And over....

And over again.

The strange feeling compelled Twilight to turn her head back towards the dragon and open her eyes. As she saw the glistening maw of the dragon opened wide, ready to rip her in half, the feeling compelled her to repeat the three words. Complying, Twilight opened her mouth and uttered the first word in a hoarse, barely audible whisper. “Fus...” She murmured. Despite the lack of energy in the first word, when she spoke the next two words...

“RO DAH!!!” She felt herself practically scream. The volume of the shout matched even the infamous Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice, but the results were much more impressive. Upon speaking the words, she felt a surge of power course through her body and out her mouth, projecting a wave of power that actually pushed the Dragon back a few feet and stopped its final blow. The two locked eyes, both shocked at what had happened. In a different situation, Twilight might even have noted how amusing the dragon looked, frozen with its mouth agape. She even thought she saw what looked like true fear in the dragon’s slitted eyes.

Of the two, the dragon was the first to recover. It reared back and lunged towards Twilight, intending to end her as quickly as possible. The unicorn regained her senses just then, and, working on pure adrenaline and instinct, used the last of her magic to lift up the nearby boulder that Fluttershy crashed into and slam it into the dragon, hard. The large mass hit its neck, causing a very loud crack to fill the air as she felt something warm splatter across her face. The dragon slumped to the ground, a scarlet boulder landing next to it as shock filled Twilight, her entire body trembling as she realized what she had done. She felt sick to her stomach, like she was about to vomit.

“Oh...oh Celestia! I-I killed it!” she cried. However, that was not proven entirely true, as one of the dragon’s eyes opened and turned to stare at her, causing her to stumble and fall backwards, almost landing on Fluttershy. The dragon’s jaw opened slightly, and it actually rasped out something that Twilight could barely hear.

“Dov..ah..kiin.....nid...” rasped the beast, before its eye closed, the creature finally giving out.

Twilight’s heart was still beating so fast that it felt like it would burst from her chest, and she didn’t dare to move. Suddenly, the Dragon’s body started to light up, parts of its flesh looked like they were burning away, but without fire. Streams of energy, dozens of them, began to pour out of the dragon’s body and flow towards Twilight as the last of its flesh ignited and burned away, leaving nothing but a skeleton. The energy swirled around Twilight before it flowed into her body, disappearing completely into it in seconds. Now both shocked and confused, Twilight didn’t know what she just did or what she should do now. In fact, she was a bit afraid, she didn’t know what that energy that came out of the Dragon did to her.

Any thoughts on what just happened were interrupted when a voice called out for Twilight, a voice that filled her with relief to hear. Turning her neck around, she saw Princess Celestia land behind her, eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at the scene in front of her. Twilight, on the ground, covered in blood, while a large skeleton laid in front of her next to a blood-covered boulder and her unconscious friend Fluttershy laid behind her.

“Twilight....what happened?” asked the Princess of the Sun quietly, concern in both her voice and eyes.

The purple unicorn looked around, as if trying to find an answer to that question in the scene around her. When one was not found, she slumped her shoulders and looked at the ground, feeling very much like that filly that went out of control during that test all those years ago.

“I...I don’t know...” she finally answered in a whisper.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“So, you heard these...words in your head, and saying them projected a wave of energy that pushed the dragon back?” Rarity asked Twilight. The group was sitting around a table in Twilight’s house, the only ones absent being Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, the two pegasi were still in the hospital after the fight with the dragon.

“Yeah...I felt this...surge of power that coursed through my body and...burst from my mouth as I said the words.” Twilight said ”After the wave pushed the Dragon away I...I picked up a boulder...and...and...” she choked up, lowering her head and holding it in her hooves. Applejack put a foreleg over her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.

“It’s alright sugarcube, we all know that if you didn’t take down that dragon it would of killed you and Fluttershy. It’s nothin to be ashamed of.” she reassured the unicorn. Twilight pulled away and held her head in her hooves, trying to drive the images of the dragon out of her head.

“I know...” She whimpered. “But...I can’t stop thinking about it...the blood...the snap...” she shuddered as the sound of the dragon’s neck snapping played again in her head. She suddenly felt something touch her shoulder, and turned to find Rarity putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder, eyes full of sympathy.

“Oh, Twilight, perhaps it would be best to put aside those thoughts and try to focus on something else. Did you...” She paused for a moment, searching for another topic. “...Find out anything about where that dragon came from?” asked the white unicorn. Twilight sniffed and took a deep breath, doing what Rarity said and pushing the thoughts out of her mind and focusing on the subject at hoof. She hopped out of her chair and walked over to the bookshelf.

“Well, I looked through my copy of The Equestrian Bestiary and found an article on a sub-species of dragons called wyverns.” the unicorn started, finding solace by going into her ‘scholar’ mode. “The description sort of fits the dragon we encountered: only two pairs of limbs, wings on the forelimbs, smaller then the your usual full grown dragon, but there’s so many things that don’t match up. While some wyverns are known to breath fire, and there have been sightings of ‘Frost Wyverns’ in the northern most parts of the world that exhibit a sort of ‘ice breath’, nopony has ever seen a wyvern or a regular dragon that can breath both fire and frost, let alone project a blast of energy like the one that slammed Fluttershy into the ground and deflected the rocks I threw.” she said as she used her magic to lift a book out of the bookshelf and turn to a specific page, before showing it to the other ponies.

“And look, the wyverns in this book don’t really look like the one we fought.” The other three ponies leaned in to get a better look, and she was right. The wyverns in the book resembled the dragons they were familiar with, much more so than the one they just fought. While these wyverns had brightly colored smooth scales and sleek wings, the one they had fought was a more greyish-green color. Its wings had somewhat ragged edges, a more rough scaley hide, and sharp spikes and fins. Not to mention that the dragon they fought had an aura of menace that neither the dragons they’ve met nor the wyverns in the pictures seemed to have.

“So wait, if that that thing wasn’t one of these wyverns critters, or a regular dragon, then
what was it?” Asked Applejack as she scratched her head in confusion. Twilight closed the book with a downcast look on her face. “I really don’t know, I was going to ask the Princess when she got back, but-” She was interrupted by the door opening and Celestia walking in, accompanied by Spike. Twilight jumped to her feet at the sight of her mentor. “Celestia! What did the doctors say about Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash?” she asked quickly as the four ponies gathered around the princess.

“They’ll be fine.” Celestia said reassuringly. “Fluttershy only has a few bruises, a broken bone, and a slight concussion, the doctors said she’ll be out by the end of the day. Your friend Rainbow Dash though...she’s a bit worse off.” This news caused worried gasps among the ponies.

“What happened? Is she going to be alright?” Twilight asked, understandably worried.

“The doctor said that she has a severe case of hypothermia, the first time even I’ve seen a pegasus get it, but the doctor also said that she should make a full recovery.” reported the Princess, causing everypony to sigh in relief. “But I’m more worried about you Twilight. How are you feeling?” she asked, looking down at her student. Twilight thought that she might ask something like that, considering what happened to her.

“I’m...fine, Princess. Just a bit shaken up is all.” she said, trying to hide the fact that she was considerably more than just a little bit shaken from the experience. Celestia frowned, her horn starting to glow before she waved it over Twilight, who felt a tingling sensation as it passed over her.

“Well, whatever that energy you absorbed from the dragon was, it doesn’t seem to have caused any abnormalities, at least ones that I can detect.” she stated as she finished ‘scanning’ Twilight. “Are you sure that everything's alright Twilight? You don’t feel anything different?” she asked again.

“Well, actually...” she started, remembering what happened earlier that day. “There was this...strange feeling in the back of my head all day before the Dragon attacked, and it only seemed to grow stronger as the fight went on. Just before the dragon would of...” She shuddered as she thought back to those moments, the dragons maw wide open, ready to rip her in half. “...You know. I heard a sort of...whispering coming from that feeling, repeating three short words over and over again.”

Celestia’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “What were those words?”

“I think it was fus...r-RO DAH!” she inadvertently yelled, sending Celestia bowling over, through the door and into the front yard, while Spike was sent flying. Everypony gasped and ran outside, finding a dazed Princess slowly and unsteadily getting up off the ground. “Oh Princess, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean for that to happen! It just...happened!” Twilight aplologized quickly. Celestia blinked and shooked her head, before looking down at her student.

“It’s alright Twilight, I know you didn’t mean it. Although I suggest you refrain from accidentally repeating those words again.” the Princess said with a small laugh.

Twilight sighed in relief, before she noticed something was missing. “Wait...where’s Spike?” Her eyes widened as she and everypony else started to look for the little dragon. It was Twilight who first noticed the little purple, green tipped tail poking out of a nearby bush, and she quickly ran over to pull the dragon out.

“Ugh...please don’t do that again Twilight. My head’s still swimming from that blast...” the dragon said, eyes swirling around in a daze.

“Hehe, sure Spike...” Twilight said, patting the dragon on the head. She used her magic to lift the little guy onto her back and walked back towards the group. As she approached, she noticed that Rarity had a look of contemplation on her face. “Something wrong Rarity?” she asked. The white unicorn looked up at her friend.

“Well, actually Twilight, doesn’t that blast of energy you just projected seem familiar somehow?” she asked slowly. Twilight blinked as she considered what Rarity said, before it hit her.

“Wait, you don’t think?” she asked, realization on her face.

“That the dragon was doing the exact same thing? Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking.” stated Rarity.

“Now that ya mention it, that thing Twilight just did was an awful like those blasts the dragon did.” Applejack said.

“Hmm...strange...there must be a connection between that dragon’s sudden appearance and your new powers Twilight. Did you four ever hear it say anything during the fight? Anything like what Twilight said?” asked Celestia. Everpony but Twilight shook their head, while the unicorn thought back to the battle.

“I think I may have heard it say something during the fight, but I’m not sure. But it definitely said something right before it...died. ‘Dovahkiin Nid.’ Any idea what it means Princess? Or where that dragon came from?” Asked Twilight. The Princess frowned and shook her head.

“No, my student. Neither I nor Luna have honestly ever seen dragons like that, nor have we ever seen anypony exhibiting abilities like you have. I’m sorry.”

Twilight sighed, another mystery to add to the pile of mysteries that today had brought. Where did that dragon come from? How did it project those blasts of energy? What connection did it have with Twilight? What does Dovahkiin Nid mean? What was that energy Twilight absorbed? And most importantly, where did these powers come from?

o-0-O-0-o

Spike hummed to himself as he slid the books from Twilight’s latest study-session back into their proper place on the shelf. As he went to pick up another pile of books, he glanced outside to see a construction crew working on rebuilding a house that was irreparably damaged by the Dragon’s attack, the last one that needed rebuilding. Further down the street he could see Fluttershy leading a group of ducklings to the outskirts of Ponyville.The pegasus had pretty much recovered from the fight, and was back to her normal routine. Even Rainbow Dash was going to get out of the clinic later that day. “Yep, everything seems to be getting back to no-”

“RO DAH!”

Spike winced as he was cut off by Twilight’s shout. “Well, mostly normal.” he said with a chuckle. He put the last of the last of the books away and went outside to see how Twilight was doing.

Outside, Twilight was busy writing something down in a notebook. Behind her were several tools, targets, and weights piled neatly onto a table. Spike remembered having to help Twilight get them earlier, she said she needed them to test the limits of her new ability. The unicorn in question looked up from the book when she heard the young dragon approaching. “Oh, hey Spike! I was just testing the effective weight that my ‘shout’ can push. ” she said as the glow of her magic engulfed a large weight that was laying on the ground several meters away, before floating over to the table and set down on the ground.

“Uh-huh.” murmered Spike as he eyed the objects on the table. “Did you find out anything um...interesting?”

“Well, actually-” she started, before being cut off by a yell in the distance. She turned to see Applejack and Rarity walking up to her testing area. “Oh, hey girls!” she called out as they approached.

“Hey Twilight. We were just headin over to Fluttershy’s to see how she’s doin’, before goin’ to see Dash out of the hospital. Wanna come?” asked Applejack.

“Oh, sure girls, just let me put this stuff away.” Twilight said, her horn glowing as she started lifting the tools, weights, targets, and other things off the table and into individual boxes. While she was packing up, Rarity noticed the notebook Twilight left on the table.

“Are those your notes Twilight?” she asked curiously.

At her friend’s question, Twilight looked up from the box she was packing. “Oh, yeah! You can look through them if you like.” she said before closing the box. Rarity nodded and started skimming through the book.

“Say, did ya find anythin’ interestin’ about that shoutin’ thing you do now Twilight?” Applejack asked as she watched her friend put her instruments and tools away.

“Actually yes!” she exclaimed as put the last weight in and shut the box. “Here, watch this...although you may want to stand back a bit.”

The three obliged, and Twilight put a hoof to her mouth, clearing her throat as she turned away from them. “Ehem, alright, here it goes....Yol...TOOR!” As she shouted, a stream of brilliant orange fire emerged from her mouth, flying for several feet before dissipating into the air. Twilight coughed a bit, unnecessarily, before turning towards her friends. They all bore the same expression, wide-eyed amazement

“Wow, Twilight, that was incredible!” said Rarity, the first to speak.

“Yeah, you’re practically a dragon now!” exclaimed Applejack

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far...” the unicorn said, rubbing the back of her head. “But it does support the theory that the dragon that attacked is connected to my new powers somehow. It was probably using shouts of its own to produce those fire and ice blasts.”

Rarity looked back down at the notebook and turned a page, and her eyebrows instantly shot up in surprise as she tried to discern the odd symbols written within. She looked back up at Twilight, who noticed the expression on her face. “Twilight, what exactly are these symbols you drew on this page?” she asked as she floated the notebook over to Twilight. The unicorn stared at the page for a moment, before chuckling nervously.

“Well...I think they’re the words of my shouts, spelled out in whatever language they originated in. Don’t ask me how I know that...I just sort of...do, I guess.” she said sheepishly.

Applejack leaned over to get a better look at the page. There were five groupings of claw mark-like symbols, with three groups lined up in one line, two groups lined up a few lines down below, and the last one all by itself below those. Under each grouping was what was presumably the word translated into something a pony could actually say, followed by that being translated into something Equestrian below that.. “So, ‘Fus Ro Dah’ means Force Balance Push?”

“Uh-huh, and ‘Yol Toor’ is Fire Inferno.” said Twilight, thankfully no longer having to worry about accidentally saying the words and sending somepony flying through a window, whatever was triggering the shout whenever she said the words before stopped now. Now, if she wanted to use a shout, she had to focus on the words as she yelled them.

Spike leaned over to get a look at the book himself. “What does Wuld do? Does it create a whirlwind or something?” he asked excitedly, imagining how cool that would look.

“Hehe, not exactly. Hey Applejack, want to have a race? Say, to that tree over there?” she asked, indicating the tree with an outstretched hoof.

The farmpony blinked, that was the last thing she expected Twilight to ask. The unicorn was never the athletic pony, even if she did enter the Running of the Leaves the year before. “Uh, sure Twilight.” she said uncertainly, wondering where this was going.

Twilight smiled and marked a starting line with her hoof, before she and Applejack lined up at it. “Spike would you do the honors?”

“Alright Twilight.” the dragon said before climbing up onto the table. “Ready! Set! Go!”

At the word go Applejack start sprinting to the tree, before she heard Twilight shouting behind her.

“WULD!”

Applejack felt a wave of air hit her, as if Rainbow Dash had just flown past her. She blinked dust out of her eyes and suddenly stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Twilight leaning against the tree, a smile on her face. “Wha? Huh? How?” She sputtered, but she quickly realized what was up. “Ah, I see, Wuld must be some sort of super-speed shout or somethin.”

“That’s effectively what it is, although I really don’t have any control over where I stop. Plus once it’s over, inertia doesn’t take hold.” Twilight said as she walked back over to the group. “The first time I tried it I got my horn stuck in that very same tree actually.” Applejack and Rarity glanced back over towards the tree, and saw the horn-shaped indentation in the side. They both imagined Twilight trying to pull her horn out of the tree, and promptly burst into laughter, with the unicorn in question soon joining in.

o-0-O-0-o

“While I was testing the force shout I noticed that I didn’t have to say all three words to use the shout, I could just yell Fus or Fus Ra, with a substantial decrease in power with each word taken away.” Twilight told the group as they approached Fluttershy’s Cabin. “And considering my fire breath isn’t nearly as powerful as the Dragon’s, I’m pretty sure that both that and the sprint shouts are incomplete, so to speak. For whatever reason I just don’t know all the words.”

“Odd...” said Rarity, considering the implications. “You didn’t happen to find any information on the symbols that seemed to be stuck in your head along with the words?” she asked.

“Sadly no, I’ve cross-referenced the symbols with every book I could find, I even sent them to Celestia to see if she recognized them, with no success. It’s as if they’ve literally never been seen in Equestria before.”

The group of four stopped in front of the door and Applejack knocked a couple times. A quiet “Coming.” could be heard from inside the house before the group was greeted by Fluttershy.

“Oh, hello girls.” Said the shy pegasus. “How are you all doing?”

“We were just coming to see how you were doing Fluttershy.” Said Twilight. “You did suffer a rather nasty crash during that fight.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me girls, I’m fine.” Fluttershy said with a smile, but it quickly faded away and her eyes looked down at the ground. “I’m actually more worried about Rainbow Dash, she didn’t look too good when I left the hospital. And Tank’s been worried sick about her” Twilight looked over the pegasus’s shoulder to see Rainbow Dash’s pet tortoise among the animals in Fluttershy’s house, his face looking even more sullen then usual.

“She’s actually supposed to be released from the hospital today, and we were going to see her when she gets out. Want to come? You can take Tank with you too, I’m sure he’d be happy to see Dash.” suggested Twilight.

“Oh, that would be wonderful! Let me finish some things here, and I’ll be right out.” said the pegasus excitedly.

o-0-O-0-o

The group of four ponies, one dragon, and one flying tortoise were soon joined by Pinkie Pie on the way to the hospital, making a group of seven. They waited in the hospital’s waiting room for nearly an hour, getting rather bored, before Nurse Redheart walked into the room, causing the ponies to jump to their hooves.

“Nurse Redheart, how’s Rainbow Dash?” Twilight was the first to ask as the group gathered around.

“She’s made a full recovery and will be out in a moment.” said the nurse with a reassuring smile. “But she should take it easy for a few days, just to be safe.”

“After being cooped up in a hospital room for so long, I doubt she’ll be takin’ it ‘easy’ for very long” commented Applejack.

A few moments later, the pegasus in question strode into the waiting room, and was immediately dogpiled by her pony friends in a massive group-hug. After a few moments, and protests from Rainbow Dash, the five relented and let the pegasus catch her breath.

“Oh Dashie, we were so worried about you!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“Yeah, you didn’t exactly look peachy after that fight.” said Applejack.

“Ah, thanks girls. But you didn’t need to worry, it’ll take more than a dragon to keep this pegasus down for long!” Rainbow Dash declared, exuding an air of bravado around her. Twilight chuckled at her friend’s confidence.

“Well, we’re just glad to see you’re alright Dash.” she said.

Rainbow felt something nudging her back, and turned to see Tank hovering right behind her, a wide smile on his face.

“Hey Tank! Did you miss me?” she asked. The tortoise nodded in response. “Well, I’m sure Fluttershy took good care of you. Hey, how bout we have a race later? I really need to stretch out my wings after being stuck in that hospital for half a week.”

Rainbow Dash’s planning was cut short by a green flame shooting out of Spike’s mouth, materializing into a scroll from the Princess. The group turned towards Spike as he caught the scroll, before rolling it open.

“What does it say Spike?” asked Twilight as Spike began scanning the scroll.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, I need you and your friends to come to Canterlot Palace immediately. I have grave news.” began Spike. As he read the next part in his head, he suddenly stopped, his eyes widening in disbelieve.

“What is it Spike?” Twilight asked, although she had a feeling she didn’t want to hear what was next.

The dragon looked up from the scroll towards Twilight, before looking at the rest of the group, his eyes finally falling on Applejack. “It’s Appleloosa, it’s been attacked! By a dragon!”

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The group of six ponies burst into the throne room, where the Princess was waiting. The group rushed towards Celestia, with Applejack being the first to speak.

“Princess! What happened?! You said Appleloosa was attacked, is my Cousin Braeburn safe?” she asked in a panicked tone as the six gathered around, waiting for the Princess’s answer.

“Your cousin is fine Applejack. The nearby buffalo tribe helped him and most of the other citizens flee the town safely.” the Princess said reassuringly. The six sighed in relief. “However,” she continued “Not everyone made it out. The dragon killed at least fourteen ponies in the attack, and injured many more. The town itself was practically destroyed in the attack, its orchard burnt to the ground and many of its buildings razed.” she said, her voice full of sorrow. The group stood there in shock, eyes wide open and mouths agape. They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Fourteen ponies? The death of even a single pony was rare, even in frontier towns like Appleloosa or towns close to dangerous areas like Ponyville. But fourteen ponies dead? That was completely unheard of. Nothing like that had happened in years. None of them could even recall ever hearing about even half that many ponies dieing.

“Fourteen ponies? That’s...” Twilight began, but she couldn’t finish her sentence, the shock being too much. She couldn’t imagine how this must of effected the Princess, each death must of been like a punch straight to her heart. And she couldn’t help but think ’If I didn’t kill that dragon, would it have done the same to Ponyville? Would it have killed my friends?’

Celestia continued. “After I found out about the attack, my sister took a team of her personal Night Guard and went after the dragon, while I stayed here in case another dragon attacked someplace else. She managed to bring down the beast with no causalities and only minor injuries to some of the guardponies.” This information brought some relief to the six ponies, knowing that the dragon was dead, but Rarity couldn’t help but wonder about something.

“Princess, beg your pardon, but if the dragon is already taken care of, then why are we here?” The white unicorn asked. She was quickly answered, but not by who she was expecting.

“We may have felled the beast, but it did not stay dead for very long.”

The six turned to see Princess Luna walking into the throne room, accompanied by one of her ‘Night Guard’, a pegasus. Twilight recognized the the appearance of the guard from when Luna visited Ponyville on Nightmare Night a month ago, although some changes were made to the illusion maintained on the armor since she last saw it. Gone were the bat-wings and slitted reptilian eyes, instead replaced with normal eyes and black feathered wings that somehow looked sharper then a normal pegasus’s. The purple armor itself was also a bit different, covering more of the body in overlapping plates that appeared to offer more protection then the old armor, while still not appearing to be that encumbering. Twilight hypothesized that it the armor was either an attempt to appear less scary to the populace, or it was actually designed for combat while the other was for ceremonial purposes.

“Wait, the dragon came back to life? Like a zombie?” Twilight asked, a bit confused. Her words seemed to frighten her pink friend.

“Z-Z-Z-Zombie Dragons?” stuttered Pinkie Pie.

“Thou may be correct, however it’s doubtful.” replied the Princess of the Night, before turning to the guard next to her. “This is Nightwing, he was on patrol of the area around the town to ensure that no more dragons attacked. Tell them what thou told I earlier.”

Nightwing coughed into his hoof a bit before beginning to speak. “As the Princess said, I was patrolling the area around Appleloosa, on the lookout for more dragons. It was nearing night by the time I first saw it...”

o-0-O-0-o

Nightwing flew through the cool evening sky, his keen pegasus eyes searching the skies for any signs of dragons. As he flew, he spotted something large and black flying above the cloud cover that had gathered from the lack of pegasi maintenance. Suddenly, bursting out of the clouds, was a massive black dragon, bigger than either the ones the guard or Celestia’s student fought, although still not as large as the average Equestrian Dragon. The dragon hadn’t spotted him yet, and knowing that he was no match for a dragon by himself, he took cover in a nearby cloud and watched the dragon from a distance. The dragon descended down towards the corpse of the dragon that was slayed earlier and landed in front of it. It seemed to observed the corpse for a moment, before speaking in a tongue that Nightwing did not recognize.

“Struntoordrog, ziil gro dovah ulse!” It began. “Slen Tiid Vo!” As it said that last word, a wave of energy flew out of its mouth and struck the dead dragon. The cuts and gouges in the dragon’s flesh seemed to glow and reform, before the dragon itself stirred and rose, life given back to it.

“Alduin? Tol ken?” Said the resurrected dragon, presumably in the same language as the other.

“Geh, Struntoordrog.” Replied the larger of the two, looking down at the other.

“Voy ah key krif norok” Said the smaller dragon, looking away as if in shame.

“Geh, mi miin. Fin key tol filok krii. Felfoviing fen grah voth ken. Vok, Faal Zuh Dovahkiin fen meyz. Rek los suleyk, orin ruz zan Dovahkiin, nuz los kiir. Nid kendov, fen ni krii.” Said the larger as the other turned back towards him. His words seemed to give some vigor back to the smaller dragon.

“Rek fen krii! Nust fen krii!” Roared the smaller dragon.

The larger black dragon nodded its head, satisfied that his task was complete, and flew off into the night. The resurrected dragon soon followed suit, flying in the opposite direction. After a few minutes of waiting for the coast to be clear, Nightwing left his cloud and flew off as fast as he could towards Canterlot, the Princesses must be told.

o-0-O-0-o

“After they both flew away, I came to Canterlot as fast as my wings would let me and reported to The Princesses.” finished Nightwing. Luna gave a nod of approval.

“Thank you Nightwing, thou may leave us.” said the Princess of the Night. The guard bowed his head and briskly trotted out of the throne room.

Twilight meanwhile silently contemplated the guard’s story, holding a hoof to her chin as she considered the implications. “So, this larger dragon somehow resurrected the dragon that you and your guards brought down...but why didn’t do the same to the one I....killed?” She questioned. Celestia and Luna glanced at each other before the latter began speaking.

“I believe I may have an answer. When my guards and I struck the final blow against the dragon, the phenomenon that my sister said you experienced did not occur. The dragon did not begin to disintegrate, it remained whole until Nightwing saw its resurrection.” the Night Princess said. “Considering that this larger dragon would of had ample time to resurrect the dragon you slayed, as from what I’ve heard it’s skeleton has yet to even be buried, there’s only one conclusion.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as her mind reached the same conclusion that Luna was alluding to. “I....I’m the only one....that can k....kill them...” She stuttered out as she turned towards her mentor, hoping that she would show some sign that she was wrong. The Princess of the Sun simply nodded her head, eyes closed with a grimace on her face.

“I’m afraid so, Twilight.” She said sympathetically.

The unicorn fell backwards onto the ground, landing on her rear, as her mind fully processed the implications of this. ’I...I’m going to have to kill...more of them...’ She thought in horror. Every fiber of her being was screaming that this was wrong, killing was wrong. They had always been able to solve problems with relatively peaceful solutions in the past. The dragon that was choking Equestrian skies with smoke a year back, the Hydra at the bog, the Manticore in the Everfree Forest, the other dragon in the Everfree, the Parasprites, the Cockatrice, the Ursa Minor, Nightmare Moon, Discord, they were able to take care of all of those problems without resorting to killing. Even when the worst came to past they never considered killing, until now. How could anypony even consider killing as a viable option? ’I..I can’t do this!’

But...those problems weren’t as bad as this. Yes, some ponies got injured when the Ursa attacked Ponyville, and Discord caused some mental trauma, but nopony was ever killed by them or any of the other monsters she and her friends fought. But these new dragons, they’ve already killed 14 ponies, and would of killed more if it wasn’t for the timely intervention of the Buffalo. Ponyville was lucky to escape with just some burned down houses and major injuries, it could have been a lot worse. ’If I don’t do it...who will? If Luna’s right, I may be the only one that can permanently...kill them...And if more ponies died because I couldn’t bring myself to kill a rampaging dragon...I’d never forgive myself...’ The unicorn felt a hoof touching her shoulder and looked up to see Celestia standing in front of her, the hoof being hers. The Princess’s eyes were full of sympathy as Twilight wiped away the tears she noticed were collecting on her face.

"Twilight, I'm sorry that I have to ask you to do this..." began Celestia. "I wouldn't ask if there was any other way, but there isn’t.”

"I...I know Princess..." Twilight paused for a moment, closing her eyes, before taking a deep breath. "I'll do it."

o-0-O-0-o

The group arrived with a flash as the dark aura of Luna's teleportation spell dissipated. The group consisted of eleven ponies, Luna herself, Twilight and her friends, three of Luna's Guardponies; Nightwing, another pegasus, and a unicorn mare with bow on her back along with a quiver of arrows, and one of Celestia’s guards, a bulky earth pony clad in thick plates of heavy, gold armor.

Shaking off the aftereffects of the spell, Twilight turned towards her friends. "You know, you girls didn't have to come. I would of understood if you wanted to stay behind..." she started, but was cut-off by Applejack.

"Hold it Sugarcube, you know we wouldn't let you tackle a big mean dragon all by your lonesome."

"Yeah! Plus, I gotta make up for that dragon that took me out!" added Rainbow Dash.

"Silly Twilight, we couldn't let you do this all by yourself!"

"Really darling, you know we wouldn’t just sit on the sidelines hoping that you managed to beat the dragon and not get injured yourself."

"Um, what they said."

"...But I knew you'd come regardless." Finished Twilight, a warm smile on her face as she saw how much her friends believed in her. ‘I really do have the best friends in Equestria.' She turned her attention to the Princess, who was gazing at the sky while Twilight was talking to her friends. "Princess Luna, where are we exactly?" The Princess of the Night turned to her sister's pupil.

"We are near the camp the Appleloosians have taken refuge in. My sister said that your friend would most likely wish to see her cousin before helping you fight the dragon." She replied to the unicorn, before pointing a hoof towards the camp visible a little ways away.

"Braeburn's over there?" asked Applejack before she went galloping off towards the camp. Twilight's other friends shortly followed. Twilight herself started to follow, before she noticed that Luna wasn't moving.

"I'm afraid I have to return to Canterlot Twilight Sparkle, there are matters that I need to attend to." said the Princess. "My guards and Celestia’s Titan Guard Ironhooves however will remain with you and help you carry out your task, they are skilled and will be an asset when fighting the dragon." Twilight glanced at the four guards, before turning back towards the Princess and bowing her head slightly.

"Thank you Princess Luna."

Luna nodded her head, before her horn started to give off a dark purple aura. "Farewell, Twilight Sparkle, and good luck." She disappeared in a burst of darkness.

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight entered the camp with Luna’s four guards in tow, looking around the hastily constructed encampment. All around ponies were huddled by makeshift tents, mothers comforting their foals that were still shivering in fear, and older ponies walking around trying to make themselves useful, although the way they carried themselves and the expressions on their faces made it clear they were still in shock from the attack. As Twilight tried to find her friends, she glanced into a tent that she passed by and saw several ponies inside lined up and laying on the ground, completely covered in white sheets. She stopped and stared quizzically at the ponies, before her brain put two and two together and the stark realization hit her. They were the ponies the dragon killed. Squeezing her eyes shut and looking away, she started walking a bit faster than before, away from the tent, trying to drive the image of all those ponies out of her mind. She felt nauseous.

After walking a bit further she saw her finally saw her friends. They were talking to Applejack’s cousin Braeburn, who was sitting on a nearby log, shoulders slumped and head lowered. His eyes were clenched shut and tears could be seen streaming down his face.

“...It’s all my fault AJ. He’s dead because of me.” Twilight heard the Earth Pony say as she approached. “If I didn’t freeze up he wouldn’t of pushed me out of that lizard’s way and got hit himself.” He sobbed. His cousin in response wordlessly pulled him into a hug.

“There, there, Braeburn.” Applejack said as her cousin cried into her shoulder. “You have ta stop blaming yourself, anypony would of panicked in a situation like that.”

“But he’s dead AJ! The Sheriff’s dead and it’s all my fault!” he cried.

“Hush now Braeburn.” said Applejack, silencing him, before she pulled away and held Braeburn by his shoulders, looking him in the face. “We’re going to finish that varmint that killed Silverstar, and all those other ponies, and make sure that he doesn’t touch a hair on a pony ever again.” she said resolutely. “Now I need you to pull yourself together while we’re gone, ok Braeburn? What would The Sheriff say if he saw you like this?” Braeburn sniffed, but he seemed to have calmed down a bit. He waved a hoof in no particular direction.

“Go, take down that...that monster that killed all these ponies.” he growled with barely contained rage, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Make sure he doesn’t get away this time.”

Applejack nodded and turned to her friends, who were silently watching the scene with concern. She straightened her hat and started walking towards the perimeter of the encampment. “Come on, we have a dragon to help Twilight kill.” she said darkly.

o-0-O-0-o

The group stopped at the ruins of Appleloosa, where the resurrected dragon was last seen flying around. Celestia was right, the town was a ruin. Buildings were smashed and burnt, some completely collapsed. Blood marred the ground in a few places, and the orchard was nothing but a field of blackened stumps, shredded trees, and ash. Lots of ash. The ponies couldn’t help but gape at this wreck that had once been a town that hard working ponies had put so much effort into building, all destroyed just like that. They pushed those feelings to the side though, focusing on the task ahead.

The group stopped at the center of the town, Twilight turning to the others. “Alright girls, and stallions,” she added, referring to the two male guards in the group, “Do we remember the plan?” The others nodded in affirmative. “Alright, le-” She was cut off by a roar in the distance. The ten ponies turned towards the skies and saw a black dragon rapidly descending from the clouds. It roared again as it landed hard on one of the more stable structures near the group, which nonetheless gave a groan and cracked a bit under the strain, but remained standing as the dragon stared them down.

“Right..” Twilight said with a gulp. “This is it, get r-” She was cut off yet again by another roar, although this one didn’t come from the dragon. She turned around and saw to her horror another dragon flying towards the group, this one with a hide of light grey and a back adorned with dozens of black spikes. It landed on a building opposite the black dragon, this one also groaning and creaking in protest but remaining standing. The girl’s eyes widened as they looked between the two dragons on either side of the them, not planning for this at all. The two opened their maws and streams of fire and ice flew towards the group, threatening to end them all right there.

Chapter 3

(Author’s Note: If anyone would like to volunteer, I could use a pre-reader for this. To catch any silly mistakes that I may/will miss, and point out flaws and contradictions that I don’t notice)

Chapter 3

Twilight’s eyes widened as she saw the two streams of death racing towards the group. Thinking fast, she closed her eyes and brought up a glowing shield around the group that deflected the fire and ice into the ground around them, charring and freezing it. Concentrating even harder, another layer of light was added to her already bright horn and the glow began to engulf the group, before they all disappeared in a burst of magic. Angered to see their prey vanish, the two dragons let out roars of rage, before taking to the sky in search of the ponies.

Meanwhile, behind a building the group passed earlier, Twilight was panting after the exertion those two spells brought. The shield and mass-teleport already took a chunk out of her. Catching her breath, she looked back up at the others. “Alright, new plan. Rainbow Dash, you, Nightwing, and Silver Falcon take that net and try to get at least one of the dragons, if we can take one out of the fight we’ll have a much better chance.” She ordered, speaking to her rainbow-maned friend and the two pegasi Night Guards. She opened up the saddle-bag on her back and floated the neatly folded net to the three. “The rest of you, split up. Those dragons will have a harder time getting us if we’re not together. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, you go with Ironhooves.” she ordered, indicating the heavily-armored stallion. “Rarity, stick with Eagleye.” she said, this time pointing a hoof at the unicorn guard with a bow. “Fluttershy, you’re with me. Alright ponies, lets do this!” The team nodded and split up, running off in opposite directions.

o-0-O-0-o

The Frost Dragon, know to her kind as Felfoviing, or Feral Frost Wing in the lesser tongue, soared through the sky, keen eyes scouring the ground below for her multicolored prey. She intended to bring swift, cold death these key that dared to oppose the Dov. They were small, insignificant little creatures that didn’t know their place. That’s not to say she underestimated them, far from it. She was well aware that they already killed two of her kind, one permanently, so she was a bit more cautious then her name would suggest. She had to restrain herself when she saw two horned key racing through the burned town, the white one and the one clad in black armor. That restraint did not last though, as she eagerly swooped down towards the two, intent in freezing them to death with her icy breath. Her plans were swiftly brought to a halt however, as she found herself tangled in a large net and crashing through a house, before landing hard on the charred ground. Icy cold rage bubbling up inside her, she looked up to see three of the winged key hovering above her, the one with the rainbow mane apparently cheering and laughing while the other two watched her with stern expressions on their faces. She growled and bit down on the net that entangled her, attempting to rip it to shreds with her sharp teeth. Her efforts were futile however, as no matter how hard she tried the net wouldn’t tear. This only seemed to make the rainbow one laugh harder, much to the dragon’s outrage.

o-0-O-0-o

“Hah! Take that you big...sack of..scales!” taunted Rainbow Dash, although the two guards with her could only facehoof at the lame insult. “You and your buddies better think twice before trying to freeze me again!” The downed dragon stared at Dash for a moment, and the rainbow pegasus got the distinct feeling that, if the dragon had the right facial muscles, it’d be grinning maliciously at her. The dragon turned towards where a chunk of the net was bunched up, and opened its maw. A blast of icy white gas streamed out of its mouth, hitting the net and causing the rope making it up to frost over and turn brittle. Rainbow Dash gaped when she realized what the dragon was doing. “Oh horseapples! Its trying to freeze the net to break it!” she cried out in horror. The net was enchanted to resist fire and tearing, but not ice! The two guards dived down towards the dragon, although Dash was hesitant to follow. She still had bad memories from the last time a dragon froze her to near-death.

o-0-O-0-o

Felfoviing felt the net holding her harden around the spot her freezing breath hit, cracking and turning brittle. However, those two winged key in black armor were diving towards her, obviously intent on halting her attempts to break free. The fools. The dragon turned her head to face them, maw opening as she hissed three words.

“Iiz Slen Nus.”

A blast of chilling energy flew from her mouth, hitting one of the key, although the other managed to avoid the wave. The key that was hit instantly froze over, a coat of ice developing over his entire body. The frozen pegasus flew over Felfoviing, slamming into the ground behind her, the icy crystals encasing him shattering on impact. The dragon mentally grinned as she unleashed another blast of freezing gas on the net holding her, her attack stalling the two guards long enough for the rope to start to fracture and snap...

o-0-O-0-o

Rainbow Dash watched in horror as the net simply shattered all around the dragon, spraying frozen chunks of rope all over the ground. The dragon let out a roar before turning her head towards the dazed Nightwing, who was struggling to get up after being frozen and crashing into the ground. With a flick of her tail the dragon sent the pegasus flying into a nearby building, crashing and leaving a sizable hole in the wall. The dragon looked back up at Silver Falcon, who was now hovering several feet above the dragon. A icy stream erupted from the dragon’s maw, flying towards the Night Guard, who deftly dodged it and dived towards the dragon, rolling and sliding a wing across the dragon’s back, cutting a gouge in the dragon’s thick scales and severing several spikes. A small amount blood welled up from the wound and the dragon grunted in pain, before lifting up into the sky and pursuing the fleeing pegasus. Just as it got into a hover however, it felt a jab of pain in its wing. An arrow was sticking out of it, and on the ground below the dragon saw the two unicorns that had led her into the trap earlier, one of them using her magic to notch another arrow into her floating bow. The dragon roared and started flying through the air, banking towards the two unicorns.

Seeing the dragon flying to attack one of her friends snapped Rainbow Dash out of her fear-induced stupor. She shook her head, pushing away the icy terror in her mind and calming herself. She beat her wings and rose into the sky a few meters, before diving towards the white dragon. The dragon didn’t see the rainbow pegasus coming, and was knocked off course when Dash flew into its side at high speed. Unlike the dragon at Ponyville, however, this one didn’t crash into the ground, instead righting itself at the last minute. It roared as it looked back at where Rainbow Dash was moments before, but saw nothing. Momentarily perplexed, it craned its neck around to see Dash coming in from behind, slamming into the wound on its back with both hooves. The dragon shrieked as more blood gushed from the wound, before flying higher into the sky and away from the ponies on the ground. Rainbow Dash sighed in relief before landing near Rarity and Eagleye. “Hey,” she asked “are you two ok?”

“Um, yes. Thank you Rainbow Dash.” thanked Rarity, smiling slightly, while Eagleye simply nodded curtly.

Rainbow Dash looked over her shoulder to see Silver Falcon helping Nightwing out of the building the latter crashed into, before looking up to see the white dragon circling above them, getting ready for another attack. “Well get ready, we’re not done yet.”

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight and Fluttershy crept through the empty, blackened streets of Appleloosa, the smell of charred wood filling their nostrils. They kept glancing up at the sky, keeping an weary eye out for either of the monstrous dragons. The two jumped when they heard a roar behind them and whirled around to see the black dragon descending from the sky, maw open and a orange jet of flame flying towards them. The two managed to roll out of the way just in time as the dragon flew past, reducing the dirt they were standing to glowing cinders. The two watched as the dragon banked around and prepared for another pass.

“What are we going to do?” whispered a frightened Fluttershy.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and did a quick scan of their surroundings. She noticed that Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and the heavily armored Ironhooves were crouched down in a nearby alley, waiting for the opportunity for the dragon to get close enough for them to do something. Her eyes then fell on a nearby building, one that was worse for wear then the others and looked like it could collapse at any moment.

“I think I have an idea...stay behind me.” ordered the unicorn.

Twilight planted her hooves into the ground and her horn started glowing. She needed to time just right. She waited as the dragon got closer, the seconds feeling like hours. Finally, just as the dragon started opening its jagged mouth for another attack, it passed by the nearly collapsed house, and Twilight released a surge of magic from her horn. The characteristic glow of her magic engulfed the building, and the entire structure lurched and slammed into the dragon, pummeling it with wooden rubble and debris. The dragon roared in pain as it rolled and crashed into the ground, the results of Twilight’s unorthodox attack scattered around him.

“NOW!” Twilight shouted as the three earth ponies sprung into action, galloping towards the downed beast. Applejack and Pinkie Pie whirled around as they got closer and bucked the dragon, while Ironhooves simply shoulder-checked the creature, using his weight and momentum to slam into it with bone-crushing force. The dragon roared again before glaring at the three ponies, and unleashing a blast of flame that Applejack and Pinkie only barely dodged, while Ironhooves was engulfed in the blaze. The other ponies gasped, but as the flames died down and the smoke cleared, the armored guard was still standing, steam rising from his armor. He looked up, before bucking the dragon in the side, causing it to once again roar in pain as some of its scales were ripped off by the force of the blow. Before the armored pony could strike another blow, the dragon whipped its head around and opened its jaws, a wave of energy slamming into the guard, sending him flying before skidding across the ground. The dragon quickly righted itself and took to the sky, circling the group high above.

o-0-O-0-o

Rarity and Eagleye crouched in the cover of a building and waited, watching the dragon circle them above. She could feel her heart beating in her chest as her eyes followed the beast, the question of when and how it’d attack again playing through her head. She looked across the street, the pegasi hiding by a building of their own, waiting for the dragon to make the next move. She turned towards the pony she was partnered with, who was using her magic to hold her bow at ready as her keen eyes watched the dragon, waiting for it to make a move.

“That was an excellent shot you made before, I’ve only rarely seen unicorns use a weapon like that. Where did learn how to use it?” Rarity asked quietly, trying to distract herself from worrying about when the dragon would attack.

The other mare glanced back at her, before resuming her watch on the dragon. “If you really want to know,” she started “I was never good at combat magic like the other unicorn guards. What I could do was perform accurate and precise telekinesis. I heard about a weapon that needed both, and I’ve had one of these ever since.” she stated bluntly.

“...I see.” replied Rarity. She would of asked more, if not for a roar up above. Her head shot up and she saw the dragon once again descending from the sky. Eagleye was already drawing back her bowstring and fired an arrow that pierced the dragon’s breast, although it didn’t go in deep and didn’t seem to cause the dragon much pain. The pegasi meanwhile sprung into action, Rainbow Dash in the lead. The dragon fired a stream of freezing ice to halt their charge, but it was to little avail, as Rainbow Dash gracefully flew around it while guards avoid it all together, breaking away and coming back towards the dragon from both sides. The dragon saw this coming however, and with a expertly timed roll smacked the both of them with its wings, sending them off course. Rainbow Dash meanwhile flew in from under it and rammed into it hooves-first in the gut. The dragon growled as Rainbow Dash flew past and tried to smack her with her long tail, but the rainbow pegasus managed to avoid it with relative ease. She grinned as she whirled around and smacked the dragon in the wound on her back again, causing the beast to roar in pain.

o-0-O-0-o

These disgraceful, insolent. barbaric key! They would pay for their acts against the dov. Felfoviing’s entire back ached from the repeated assaults to the wound opened up by one of the armored key’s strange razor wings. Her anger had reached such a freezing boil that she felt like the entire burned city would, or should, turn to ice around her.

She had enough of this. She whirled around her and flew straight at the rainbow pegasus, who seemed to grin and follow suit, flying at full speed towards Felfoviing. She didn’t see what was coming next.

“Wuld Nah Kest.”

Felfoviing was a blur, moving too fast for the eye to see, and far faster then a creature of that size should move. The rainbow pegasus was knock clear out of the air by the large mass of the dragon slamming into her at high speeds. Watching the one who brought her so much pain crashing into building, one that shortly collapsed around her, brought a great, perverse glee to the dragon’s heart. She turned to the other two, who were once again flying towards her at high speeds. Felfoviing hovered there and waited, watching for the moment the two would hit her with their wings, before disappearing in a flash of speed as she hissed Wuld, appearing several meters away. She quickly whirled around and unleashed a blast of energy that blew them out of the sky, the unrelenting force of the blast causing them both to crash into the ground again. Felfoviing beat her wings, preparing to finish them off, before she felt several of those annoying stings again. She looked down to see the two unicorns running through the streets, away from the pegasi, while one fired the arrows that were piercing her abdomen. The fools will have to be taken care of first. She descended.

o-0-O-0-o

Rarity galloped through through the street with Eagleye, who was notching another arrow. They turned a sharp corner and dashed into an alley, the dragon chasing after them from above. “I hope we have a plan beyond distracting the dragon and running for our lives!” she shouted as the ground behind them was frozen in a blast of freezing gas.

“We just need to keep it away from the others long enough for them to recover and get back into the fight.” stated the guard like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“Without getting killed ourselves that is!”

“Precisely.”

Rarity yelped as the dragon got a bit to close for comfort, prompting to two to ducking into a building. The entire structure creaked as the wind generated from the dragon’s wings shook it.

“This building doesn’t appear stable, we can’t stay here for long.” reported the guard as she looked outside, trying to spot the dragon. She suddenly froze when she saw the dragon flying towards the building, as if it was about to...

“RUN!” the guard shouted, before pushing Rarity out the nearest door followed by jumping out herself. The dragon landed on the building and quickly kicked back off, causing the entire structure to shake and start to collapse on itself, walls breaking apart and sending wood flying everywhere, before a cloud of dust settled on the two coughing ponies.

Rarity’s coughing was cut short when something large and heavy landed on her, driving the air out of her lungs. As the dust blew away she found herself trapped under a large piece of wood from the house, pressing down on her chest. She tried to push it off with her hooves, and even tried using her magic to help, but to no avail. The wood wouldn’t budge. Her eyes rolled up when she heard the beats of dragon wings right over her head, and saw the dragon. Hovering right above her. Maw opened and pointed right at her. It was going to kill her, and she was trapped.

Before her life started flashing before her eyes however, an arrow flew through the air and embedded itself in the dragon’s neck. It roared and turned towards the offender, Eagleye. Notching another arrow, the guard let it fly, the projectile puncturing one of the dragon’s wings again. Forgetting Rarity for the moment, the dragon flew right at Eagleye and unleashed a torrent of ice, which the guard was safely able to roll out of the way from. She notched another arrow and shot it at the dragon as it banked back around, hitting its side. The dragon roared, but shifted its trajectory so that it was now flying towards the trapped Rarity instead of the guard. The white unicorn’s heart started beating faster as she frantically tried to get the piece of wood off her chest before she was frozen to death. At the last moment though, when it looked like it was going to be the end, she felt something ram into her hard and knock her and the piece of wood aside. She felt a freezing cold hit her coat as the dragon released a torrent of icy gas on the spot she was trapped on. She looked up to see Eagleye standing there, taking the full brunt of the attack. She watched as a sheet of white frost collected in seconds on her black armor, as her mane froze and hardened from the intense cold, and as her entire body stiffened as the cold rooted its cold tendrils into her muscles. In mere moments it was all over, the dragon had flown past and Eagleye collapsed onto the ground, muscles still stiff from the freezing onslaught. The dragon banked back around to finish Rarity off, but was interrupted when a rainbow-colored blur rammed right into his face.

“HEY! WE’RE NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET!”

The fight in the sky once again resumed, Rainbow Dash and the other pegasi having recovered in the brief time Eagleye had given them. Rarity however didn’t care about that, she cared about the pony that gave her life to save hers. She slowly walked up to the unmoving body, quickly noticing that Eagleye hadn’t passed on yet, but it was obvious that she didn’t have long. Her breathing was shallow and it didn’t look like she could move any of her limbs. Her eyes turned towards Rarity as she crouched down next to her. “Why?” she whispered softly “Why did you give your life to save mine?”

The guard coughed, blood coming out of her mouth as she cringed. “You’re...the Element of Generosity...couldn’t just...let you die...” rasped the dying pony.

“But...there had to have been another way!”

The guard coughed again, more blood coming out. “Maybe...maybe...but it’s...to late now...” She broke into a hacking fit, staining the white frozen ground around her with more red, before she became still. “Tell......Princess Luna.....that I’m......sorry.......” the pony stopped breathing, her chest growing still.

Rarity silently stared at the dead unicorn in shock. A pony died...right in front of her....because of her....a pony she barely knew gave her life to save hers. She tried to fight back the tears that were coming on, but with no success.

“....I’ll never forget you.” she murmured, hot tears thawing the frozen ground beneath her. She turned to walk away, before her eyes spotted Eagleye’s bow, laying on the ground a few meters away. She delicately lifted it up with her magic, before testing the bow string a bit. She turned and looked up at the dragon as it fought the pegasi, giving it a hard, cold glare as she took Eagleye’s arrows.

“Oh It. Is. On.”

o-0-O-0-o

Now that the annoying key with the arrows was taken care off, Felfoviing could focus on the winged ones. She doubted the other unicorn would be much of a threat, as she hadn’t done anything up to this point, so she decided to save her for last. She had already managed to incapacitate the two armored ones again, but the rainbow one proved to be more of an problem.

The dragon snapped at the rainbow one as she flew past, quickly banking around to bring her down with a torrent of ice. But the pegasus proved ever illusive, and flew around the blast to deliver kick to the dragon’s snout. Felfoviing’s anger flared, and as the rainbow one flew away, the dragon opened her teeth-lined maw and a shimmering blue blast flew out, rippling through the air and slamming into the pegasus. The pegasus tumbled out of the sky, her rainbow mane whipping around as she crashed into road below. Felfoviing swooped down and brought herself to a hover above the downed pegasus. She opened her maw and prepared finish off the annoying pest, wisps of cold vapor streaming out of her mouth as she called upon the words...

o-0-O-0-o

‘Aim, pull back, hold, and...release.’

o-0-O-0-o

A shrill cry echoed throughout the town as blood seeped out of the dragon’s left eye, an arrow jutting out of the socket that once held the organ. The pain lanced through Felfoviing’s entire head, turning her vision red. She turned to glare at her attacker and saw that it was none other then the unicorn from before, the one she foolishly allowed to live. She would not make that mistake again. She rose into the sky and dove towards the unicorn, who was already on the move, racing through the alleys and past burnt houses. She could run halfway across the world for all Felfoviing cared, she wouldn’t let her escape for what she did to her.

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight held the shield over the group as the fire washed over them, preventing an otherwise slow and painful death by burning. As the black dragon flew off, she used her magic to hurl a large boulder at the beast, who only just barely avoided it as it crashed into a nearby building, destroying it. Twilight brought down the shield as the group scattered, giving the dragon a less obvious target.

The unicorn whirled around when she heard a roar behind her, close. The white dragon was chasing Rarity through the street, periodically trying to hit the fleeing unicorn with breathes of ice, but the white pony managed to avoid not getting frozen. The small part of Twilight that kept pointing out the small and insignificant noted that Rarity was carrying a bow in her teeth and had a quiver of arrows strapped to her back, both which looked a lot like the ones Eagleye was using...

“Ah think Rarity’s in trouble!” exclaimed Applejack, also noticing the unicorn as she ran past. “Twi, I think you should go help her.”

“What? What about you girls?” she questioned as she turned towards her friend.

“We’ll be alright fer a few minutes. Plus, if the princesses are right, yer probably the only one that can actually kill these monsters!”

Twilight turned her head towards the direction of another roar, presumably from the white dragon. “Alright.” She sighed. “Just be careful, alright?” Her horn started glowing as she concentrated on her magic, before she disappeared in a flash of maroon.

She reappeared standing on the rooftop of one of the few structures that remained standing, with the silver dragon in view a few hundred meters away.

She had a plan, but it was the sort of plan that had great potential to go horribly wrong. “Well, here goes nothing.” Her horn lit up again as she concentrated on the spot on the dragon’s back where the spikes had been broken from the repeated attacks. Trying to teleport onto a moving target was hard, especially one as small as the dragon, but she managed to get a ‘lock’.

“Here goes nothing...” She appeared on the dragon’s back in a flash, immediately feeling unsteady as the dragon noticed its sudden passenger. ‘Have to do this fast...hope it works...’ She took a deep breath as she aimed at the jagged, swollen cut she saw in the dragon’s scales in front of her.

“Yol...TOOR!!!”

Flame erupted from her mouth as yelled the last word, fire washing over the dragon’s back, blackening its scales, and burning the open wound that she was aiming at. The dragon roared in agony as the flesh under the scales blistered and popped, before it took a nose dive straight towards the ground. Twilight only just barely managed to teleport away, mere moments before she would of crashed with the dragon. She reappeared besides Rarity, who was trying to catch her breath, bow laying on the ground.

“Thank...you...Twilight....”

The purple unicorn nodded, before turning towards the dragon, who was slowly lifting itself off the ground with the claws on the ends its wings.

It was time to end this.

o-0-O-0-o

That insolent little Dovahkiin, daring to use the power of the Thu’um against her? She would make sure the pathetic wyrm suffered a slow and painful death at her claws, preferably after watching all her friends suffering similar fates.

Felfoviing crawled across the ground towards the two unicorns, mind already thinking up horrible ways to torture the two.

Maybe if her mind wasn’t clouded by pain and anger she would of noticed the Dovahkiin’s horn glowing.

Maybe she would of heard the sound of wood breaking.

Maybe she would of noticed the large wooden spike positioning itself over the opened, blistered wound on her back.

She didn’t notice any of that though, and when she finally realized something was going on, it was far too late...

o-0-O-0-o

Twilight brought the large, pointy piece of charred wood to a hover above the dragon’s back. The dragon didn’t seem to even notice it, and as it approached it began to open its mouth in preparation for one of its shouts. Twilight clenched her eyes shut and looked away, before driving the spike into the dragon’s back with as much force as she could muster. The roar was louder then all the previous ones, echoing far enough for the ponies in the refuge camp to hear it. Both Twilight’s and Rarity’s ears were ringing from being so close to the dragon as it roared, although thankfully neither of them went deaf. Twilight opened her eyes as the roaring stopped, seeing the dragon slumping to the ground, the large wooden spike lodged in its back. Moments later, the dragon’s body lit up, like that last one. Twilight unconsciously braced herself as the swirling energies flowed from the dragon and into her body. Moments later, it was over, all that was left was a skeleton with a red-coated spike stick between its ribs.

Twilight sighed, another dragon killed by her hooves. Unlike before though, she didn’t feel so...torn up about it. She certainly didn’t feel good about it, and something deep inside her still objected to this, but she didn’t feel like she was about to suffer a breakdown. Maybe its because she knew that these dragons had already killed far too many ponies, maybe not this one in particular...unless her suspicions were right, but the other one certainly had, and she doubted that this one would have any qualms about killing. She slowly turned towards Rarity, who was staring dumbfounded at her.

“So that’s what...” she muttered to herself. “Good job Twilight.” she said with a somewhat forced smile. She turned away and used her magic to pick up the bow and slide it into the holster attached to the quiver.

Her friend froze for a moment, before speaking in a low voice, not even looking at Twilight. “She died trying to save me.”

Twilight frowned, she could tell that what happened was deeply affecting Rarity. But at the moment, there wasn’t much she could do about it, they had bigger things to worry about.

“Come on.” She said quietly, walking up to her friend. “We need to go help our friends.”

Rarity nodded weakly, before the two started walking back to the other battle.