Honest Love

Ouch... W-what happened?

My consciousness was slowly beginning to come back. At first there were happy memories of a familiar orange pony and a beautiful orchard but all too briefly. My thoughts were slow and my senses dull at first but I started to remember everything that was going on; town on fire, Applejack in danger, and somewhere out there was our little Apple Bloom who took the task of warning the princesses. Oh, and of course a little problem of mine that could only be fixed by my most annoying adversary yet- Discord.

My eyes were still shut, but amidst the pure darkness I could feel my body laid out across a bed of what seemed to be ash and debris. My muscles were sore and painful even as I laid there still. With every breath I got the smell of smoke and burnt wood and the sound of cackling fires surrounded me. I weakly opened my eyes and beheld a dark room of a burning building, though the fires had consumed most of it and were dying down; only a thin layer of blackened wood and siding remained, with a large hole in the roof exposing the starry sky. I went to pull my hands out from under my seemingly thick and heavy body only to find that they were still claws, and the rest of me was no different either. Suddenly the distinct image of me ramming myself into a large black and blue dragon was vivid in my mind, and it occurred to me that that had been my last conscious action.

I lifted my head and looked around my sides as my senses heightened dramatically with each passing second, along with my heart rate. Where - where is he?  I realized the crash had sent the two of us flying into the town on the other side of the river, and apparently we had been separated. Just then an apparent bump on my head twinged, causing me to raise my claw to it with a groan. I wondered and hoped that Applejack had left and escaped rather than come looking for me, but I had no idea how much time had lapsed since I slammed into that dragon and whether or not she even had time to escape. And for Pete's sake, where are the Princesses? I worried about Apple Bloom, though unless I was knocked out for longer than I thought, surprisingly we weren't that far into the night, it just felt like we were.

I looked around for any sign of neon blue or jet black scales. I had to make sure he was completely defeated and that he was no longer a threat to her or the town.

I inched my aching body upward off the ground and whipped my tail around. I sure hoped he was gone or unconscious or something. I was terrified at the notion of fighting him. I did hit him pretty hard. Maybe he's finished... So, Discord... setting me up for some kind of dragon fight, huh? After snarling in frustration, I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself.  I snorted again and twirled my head around, looking for any sign of my most unfortunate and degrading identical twin. Still, the smokey air was better than no air through my nostrils. But I was quickly getting really scared, wondering around by myself in the dark under smokey rooftops. Though the fires in this part of town seemed to have weakened some, there were still a few flames that were strong enough to keep the place somewhat lit, but it was mostly darkness. Ok... I can take this guy if I'm angry enough. Just gotta get angry. I shut my eyes and thought and went to think about how cute Applejack was, and how anything could disturb such an adorable and peaceful pony. Immediately my feelings started to ignite, but they were interrupted by a distressed growl from behind me. It was low and menacing, even though it reflected pain. There was no question as to what it came from.

I swung around and looked through the remaining wooden studs; I could see in the building next to me, through the gaping holes in the walls that the fires had left, a large black figure with blue stripes in a pile of rubble. It was like I was in a maze of destruction, I could see about two hundred feet in every direction, the remains of the torched houses that had once stood here; above us, bits of rubble and embers occasionally showering down. I stepped my four legs forward one at a time, my claws leaving prints in the ash as I approached him as quietly as I could. I was really nervous, but I just kept my eyes on him and crept forward, coming to a halt about thirty feet from him.

I could see he was breathing, and laying on his side. I saw that he was grimacing his teeth with his eyes tightly closed. I even almost felt bad for him, even though I quickly remembered why I had done this to him in the first place. I wished I could talk to him; well, I wish I could talk period, but I especially was annoyed at the inability to speak right at that moment. I wanted to ask him why he came here, what Discord told him, and try to convince him to leave without any more fighting. But I knew as I looked him over and listened to his malevolent growls that he was beyond my help. Don't be stupid... this is like the most evil dragon in Equestria. He didn't know I was there, but I continued to stand still for a moment, not sure of what to do next. My heart stopped and my body froze; suddenly, he cried out in a low, blood-curdling shriek that shook ash from the walls. He opened his eyes - they were glowing orange, and filled with fury - and turned his head towards me before coughing and wheezing. Somehow I found the courage to walk towards him. He was a threat to her, and that's all I needed to be strong. After all, he was on the ground seemingly injured and immobile. But I was still nervous.

"You..." he hissed, coughing and snarling as he pulled his claws out from under him, placing them faced down on the ground care about them." I knew from experience that his doing that meant he was probably about to try to get up. I stood firm and tall on my four legs, and raised my head high, my eyes tilted down at him. Some of them... Loving her with all of my heart, I looked away and thought for a moment. She was always forgiving. And I had been friends with a good most of them too. And even the jealous ones, I could forgive them as long as they promised never to torment Applejack again. It wasn't their fault. They thought I was you. So yeah, I do care about them. My answer was in my eyes. I think he saw saw that, and he laughed weakly.

"Imbecile," he started, as choked and coughed. "You thought a cheap shot like that was enough?" he finished, his forked tongue slithering through his teeth. His voice was so deep and resonating that it was disheartening to just listen to much less comprehend. He was no friendly creature, and just standing in his presence was enough to feel it. Though his apparent injuries made him less intimidating, he was still plenty. He slowly began stand up, clearly hurting. Even though he didn't look ready to strike in his feeble state, I was pretty scared at first. He kept his head low to the ground and his malicious eyes fixed right on me. I stood firm (and I was proud of myself for doing so), watching him as boldly as I could muster.

"So how do you like it?" he muttered, almost jealously. I didn't say anything, not that I could of course. I just looked at him, trying to be brave. He's a dragon, AJ, and he's evil, so don't take what he says too seriously. He began to walk to the side, attempting to hide his limp, so I matched his movement by walking the other way in a circle. I focused on taking deep breaths through my nostrils, though a lot of it was smoke, planning out how to maybe attack him if I had to. Unless I could talk him out of it somehow. With my face.

It took me a second to realize what his question exactly entailed. I raised an eyebrow at him at first. Then I turned my eyes up and thought for a moment. Suddenly he started laughing softly, and it was not a nice laugh.

"I saw you covered in chains like a slave. Must be nice knowing you could repay them in a matter seconds," he said, with a certain charisma in his voice. In my heart I realized he was trying to get me to do something evil, and I suspected that was one of Discord's hopes all along. He lowered his eyebrows, watching me with intensity, looking for anything. "Dragons do whatever makes them feel good," he whispered with another slither of his tongue. "Roasting arrogant ponies who've locked such a magnificent creature up in chains is *so* rewarding," he continued.

I smiled and let out a kind of chuckle. You speaking from experience? I admit the thought of him trying to persuade me in this matter was unnerving, even though I knew I could never be like that, especially not with someone like Applejack in my heart. But it comforted me to know that the next frightful thought I had was not being with her, the thought of not being around her, or her family, who were all my best friends. I shook my head no.

He broke into a malicious smile and laughed. His laugh was deep, powerful, and cruel, though surprisingly not that loud. It was more of a gentle evil. I felt my stomach drop and my courage hurt. And with me being unable to talk, I wasn't sure how much longer he wanted to do this. Maybe it amused him, this reading my face game, I really wasn't sure. But I wanted it to end as soon as possible. But then I remembered the princesses and the fleeing ponies. Wait a minute... if he keeps talking, then he's buying more time for them. I thought maybe I'd change my approach, and let him talk as long as he wanted.

"You will pay them back one day, you'll discover you enjoy it," he sneered. I shook my head. No I won't. I smiled as we began to walk a little faster around each other, but it was more of an irritated smile then anything. I'd had quite enough of listening to him. "I forgot he took away your ability to speak. Though I can't say I have any particular reason to listen to you. And I suppose you can't pay them all back because I still have my helpings to claim, but I'll be sure to leave a few of them alive for you. They have so much flavor."

Stop it... He was clearly a very intelligent dragon, very manipulative and influential, because his words were undeniably having a very disturbing effect on me and my morale. His words were piercing, every syllable was a dagger. I happened to notice his limbs seemingly getting a tiny bit more comfortable under him as time went by, maybe he was just getting better at hiding his limps. Suddenly he began to smirk again, as though some dirty thought popped in his mind.

"And what about your little pony wife? Tell me about her," he whispered.

Suddenly all sounds stopped. If I was uncomfortable before, there is not a word to describe what followed. Any sense of sarcasm in my thinking completely disappeared. I was both scared and infuriated to hear him talk about her. I didn't ever want to hear him mention her again. I lowered my head and snarled through my teeth. Shut up... He looked at me triumphantly, as though he'd made a discovery.

"How does she taste, I wonder?"

Instinctively I growled through my teeth, fueled by rage. Now he knew how to stir my anger, but as far as I was concerned, he was only hurting himself, as he was driving away my meekness and calling upon my protective side. Although that's not to say his mentioning of her didn't hurt me deeply, which was clearly his heart's delight and primary goal. He raised his head and blew smoke out through his nostrils. I wasn't sure how to do that yet, not intentionally at least.

"Hm... Now that is a pity..." he started, shaking his head. I wished with all my heart I wasn't naturally curious as to what he was referring to, but I was. What? I asked angrily in my head. "When your son sees himself in the mirror, and then sees you, how will he recognize you?"

His comment stopped me in my tracks, and suspended my anger for a moment. My heart was suddenly helpless. I pleaded with myself interiorly. But... Applejack will tell him or her who I am... I never really thought about it in depth because it was not something I wanted to think about. I couldn't run from it.

"Tell me, how has she handled this? Of course she doesn't want to tell you how disappointed she is."

I looked away from him, trying vaguely to hide from him a few tears. That's not true. She's not disappointed. It wasn't my fault. I suddenly hated being a dragon again, even though I should've known that Applejack would never be disappointed in me for something like this. I was so afraid that what he said might happen that just thinking about it almost made my heart too heavy to carry on. Just as I turned my head away to hide my sadness from him, I thought of her smiling face. There was so much happiness and bliss in her eyes whenever she looked at me. Her eyes are where her real honesty was. I knew that she could never be disappointed in me for something like that, nor let the opinions of others or the poisonous lies of an evil dragon effect a love most pure. But her presence this time did not melt my heart into bliss; it would, but not until this evil creature's threat was extinguished. Until then, she filled me with all the strength and protective anger I needed to stay focused. I looked back at him and showed him my anger and that I wasn't afraid of him.

Seeing this did not inspire any fear into him, however. He drew his head back menacingly and angrily in response to me, his orange eyes now flaming. A threatening growl escaped his teeth as I saw in his eyes the most pure hatred I had ever seen in another creature.

He was wise after all. He sought to make me as miserable and sad as possible before he ended his game by hitting me in the heart, which he had successfully done. Unfortunately for him, he didn't know how strong of a pony I have to replenish me.

"I've had enough of this," he snarled, refusing to be intimidated. Whether or not he really was I will never know, but something deep in my heart told me may have been. "Your love for her is not even real. Fleeting and easily broken," he said, but I didn't back down. We continued our death stare, almost ready for war. "I noticed your wife's skin is a burnt orange. How appropriate for-"

He didn't get to finish. With a rage-filled roar I charged at him; I leapt myself forward off all four of my legs and spread my front claws just for him. But right as I did that, he spread his wings and jumped straight up, and with wings twisted and bent in a fashion I had never even seen much less attempted, he twirled around in circles straight up into the air, exploding through the remains of the charred roof. I was too angry to give him any credit, but let's just say what he did was something I knew I had to learn. From the ground I watched him fly straight up into the stars, twirling around breathlessly until he was three hundred feet or so high, and then he stopped, let himself fall, and then spread his wings in flight, headed away from me.

At first I stood there with an open mouth, utterly dumbstruck. Had he given up already, just like that? I watched him for a moment, but it only took just that for me to realize that he was headed towards river, and with too much purpose in the way his eyes were locked on his victims beneath him. Oh no!!!! I took a few gallops and propelled myself off the ground in his direction, beating my wings furiously. I crashed right through a burnt wall and then went right through the rooftop of the building next to us. It didn't mean anything to me, my adrenaline flowing as intensely as it was and my desire to save the townsponies and probably my own wife and kid was so fierce that all I could think about was getting to them before he did, inadvertently using everything I'd learned about flying and using my new body to the best of my ability.

I climbed to about a hundred feet, though he remained higher; I wanted to come in under him. I saw just beyond the houses - just on the outskirts of town - ponies were fleeing by way of the river. Some of them, I could see from afar, were swimming, while others were running along the banks. I looked desperately for any sign of orange, as she would have my priority of course, and I knew where she was, there would be Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. I looked up and saw to my horror that his eyes were mercilessly keyed in on them, and he calmly tilted his wings and began flying downwards toward them. Come on, AJ, COME ON! I flapped and flapped at first, before tilting my wings downward to start a furious descent towards them. I curled my wings and shot forward, ignoring the wind in my face that water my eyes. The ponies had discovered us, and I could see they were starting to panic as they screamed and pointed up at the other dragon coming from above. The ponies that were in the river came to a halt, preparing to go under, while all those outside of were galloping madly to the water to prepare for flames.

As I looked hysterically for Applejack, the night sky above me lit up with orange as fire erupted from the other dragon's mouth, raging down on them like an avalanche. Being fireproof I wasn't worried about me, but as I came in like a bat out of tartarus and it was all happening so fast, somehow I made a lightning quick check to make sure everypony had made it to the river. At this point I ignored the flames as they came roaring down; as I approached them all at lightning speed I saw some of them pointing to the side with horrified faces. I turned my head and aimed my wings that way without hesitation and saw none other than Dinky Doo, the little purple filly. Dinky, why is it always Dinky??

She stood there frozen, looking up in utter terror at the inferno coming down on her with an expression that could've hurt even the most heartless ponies. I keyed in on her; I had to get to her before the flames did. My heart was so bent on saving her that time itself seemed to slow down. If I couldn't get to her, I'd never live it down. I would feel horrible. But I had no time to think about that, I had no time to think about anything. I just kept my wings curled and launched myself towards her, in a race with the flames. My eyes were locked on her. Almost there!! I spread my wings violently and let the air catch them like a parachute. I was either going to just make it or just break it. My heart stopped beating completely as I cried out. I skipped across the surface of the ground , and just as I felt the heat turning up on my scales and bright orange began to dominate my view, I hurled my body over Dinky and curled myself up around her with my wings, laying on top of her with my belly (though not crushing her of course). I stayed there deathly still as the flames scorched the ground and grass all around us and heat blasted my body. But the flames had virtually no effect on my fireproof scales, and in a moment, they were done. I swung my tail back behind my body and let myself fall to the side, letting go of Dinky, who gave me a brief, wide-eyed look of gratefulness before she ran off to join the other ponies in the river. I'd saved her.

"That dragon saved her from the flames! The blue-eyed dragon!" said the voice of somepony among all the chaos, the screams the roaring flames in the city. But it didn't mean much to me at the time among all the other stuff that was happening. I rested for like half of a second, proud of myself for having mastered my body enough to have done what I did, but that lasted for barely a moment before suddenly I sat up scared, remembering the fight was far from over. I desperately looked to river and saw all of the ponies poking their heads out across the surface of the water. They were all unharmed. And just then, I spotted my beautiful wife in the front of them. She had been attempting to lead them to safety, and for the short moment I had to think I was very proud of her, and touched that even despite getting ridiculed and lambasted on this same night, she was now taking all of them under her wing (figuratively). And when I looked over to her, our eyes met for a moment, and I saw that her beautiful soul had been quite proud of me too. But the dragon with no name was furious, and the both of us quickly looked up in fear. Circling back around from up river, he snarled in frustration at having burned not a single pony.

Like me, he was nearly invisible when flying overhead given our jet black underside. You could see only specks of blue and his orange eyes, of course. Just as I realized the ponies had nowhere to go given the flames that now consumed the beautiful green surrounding the river (though being early autumn, I think that made some of the turning leaves even more flammable), he came back around in flight, this time in around the side of the river opposite where I was. I felt like crying when I saw his orange eyes preying upon us again, but my adrenaline wouldn't allow for anything other than ultra ferocity and protection. I leapt up and flapped my wings twice, headed straight for Applejack. I shallow-dived into the river, immersing myself under water for just a second before throwing my upper body above the surface beside her, growling intensely as he swooped down towards the river. But instead of going after us, he flew towards the crowd of ponies below us in the river.

He laughed evilly and confidently, taking great pleasure in the terror that he instilled into his victims, and he flew across the river down from where we were, into the crowd of ponies, spreading open his claws and plucking somepony right out from the water. What's more, at the same time he turned his head and sent an unexpected blast of flames speeding from his mouth across the river while ponies desperately tried to take shelter under water. It didn't appear that anypony was fatally burned, but a good handful lost some or most of their manes, and a few even had scars on their heads as they emerged from the surface in cries of pain. To my relief, it appeared no foals were among the injured, but he still had a poor victim in his clutches. He flapped his wings and climbed high and away as we all watched in horror. The frantically moving pony in his claws was seemingly a young to middle-aged stallion I couldn't identify in the darkness (only I heard his screams). Then the unthinkable happened. The dragon released him from his clutches and sent him falling to the ground.

I realized it was time to put an end to this madness with any means necessary. Amidst all the hysteria I had this strange sense that he was watching all this unseen. I shook my head violently. I looked at all the grief stricken ponies that surrounded me in the river while fiery infernos raged in the darkness around us. They were all looking to me helplessly and desperately as though hoping beyond hope that I might protect them, even though the memories of choking and terrorizing of just few moments earlier was clearly on our minds. I think some of them were actually figuring out who I was, especially given away by my violent protection of Applejack. For just a moment, I almost felt a flicker of satisfaction to see them so humble, especially the jealous ones. I thrashed my head around even harder with my eyes closed; I remembered what was important at that particular moment, protecting Applejack, and the townsponies if I could. Come on, this isn't the time for some kind of internal conflict!

I turned to her. She was terrified. What hurt me so badly was that there was nothing I could do at that moment to help her. I could only protect her. I looked right at her and pleaded with all my heart. Applejack, you've got to call Discord. Ponies are getting hurt, and maybe you're next./i] I didn't know what he do, but we at least had to try. She looked at me with horrible anguish in her emerald eyes, but I could see she agreed. But we didn't have any more time to think; the dragon was circling back, and this time he was headed for two ponies of much more consequence to my wife and I.

"Big Macintosh, look out!" cried my wife hysterically, and I could feel her pain searing in my own heart as the malevolent serpent that shared my appearance approached her big brother, who was only a few spaces in front of us next to Cheerilee. With death in his eyes, he glided downwards over the river and opened his claws menacingly, as ponies under him ducked under water, even though his eyes were set on the two ponies in front of us. I couldn't allow this to happen to Big Macintosh, and I couldn't allow poor Applejack to suffer the horrible sadness that would befall her if anything happened to her family. My heart dropped, and without any time for a breath, I felt myself run forward through the water and instinctively flapped my wings. It was hard to take off out of the water with the extra weight on my wings and the resistance it gave me as I intended to get out of it. But somehow I clumsily glided over my brother-in-law. The two of us met in mid air just above the surface of the river. He had the momentum, and the two of us locked together he propelled us in the direction up river. We blasted through the water, thrashing and splashing every which way.

At first I clawed anywhere I could as we wrestled around in the water, but suddenly I felt a tremendous swipe of his claw across my face, so much that I fell backward. I turned around and I saw the end of his tail for half a second before it too pelted me in the face. His movements were so fast, there was no pause in between them; before I knew it, he was wrapping his claws around me and wrestling me around in the water. I was quickly getting frustrated, but suddenly my head went under. Before could get my head above water, I felt rows of sharp teeth clamping down on my neck and large claws on the back of my head. I had me locked in his jaws, and was attempting to twist my neck or bite through to my flesh. I couldn't shriek under water, though his bite was the most intense physical pain I'd experienced. I thrashed and twisted, but he wouldn't let go. I knew how strong our jaws were, and I was now very scared for my life - and therefore the rest of their lives -amidst the horrible pain in the back of my neck. I was also quickly suffocating under water. I was thrashing desperately.

I cried out for some kind of strength, and for a moment my head breached the water, and for just a second as I sucked as much air in as I possibly could. I saw her standing there watching, sobbing with her anguished and almost equally distressed brother standing right beside her. When I fell back under water, I felt my anger coming back and I pushed off my hind legs as hard as I could, and dived myself forward with his teeth still firmly gripping my neck. My back and tail flipped over, taking him with me, and his hold on me loosened just enough that I was able to wiggle free.

The two of us emerged from each other's grip. With half his body out of the water, he roared furiously as he beat his wings at me, stumblingly propelling himself backward to other bank. I lumbered out of the water on the opposite bank, still reeling from his death grip. My neck had really taken a beating at this point between him and the chains that choked it earlier. But even in his strong jaws, he wasn't able to penetrate my scales. But if he had me just a little bit longer, it felt like he maybe could have, and trickles of blood were clearly visible. It was perhaps subconsciously a little comforting to know I was so heavily armored if I got out of this alive. It was as if our bodies were completely indestructible against anything but each other, and even then it took time. I stared at him and he at me. It was a temporary stalemate as we breathed heavily. Every second I looked at him the more I hated him.

Amidst the sound of roaring flames and the beating of my own heart I caught my breath, looking across the river and beholding the dragon with no name regrouping himself, coiling his clearly injured and aching body and watching me with intense hatred, born from greed and pride. I looked to my right and standing there in the river were droves of onlookers, the humbled citizens of Ponyville pleading with me in their demoralized gazes to save them. But I felt so weak and I could see their doubting me in their eyes. The dragon had embarrassed me in front of everyone, including Applejack.

I looked over at her and she was beyond sorrow. It tore me apart to see those emerald eyes longing for this to be over. It was all Discord's fault, and that dragon's. The roller-coaster of emotions was over. I was just done with everything. A month of frustration was finally ready to take itself out. Our death stare intensified as he hatefully prepared to re-engage me. He was going to pay for putting her through this. For putting all of us through it. *There is no internal conflict about this.*

I ran forward and leaped over the river with the help from my wings I let my rage throw itself at him, which he didn't seem to be expecting. The two of us locked our front claws, and standing on our hind legs we wrestled each other over pure strength. It seemed reflective of our battle thus far; stalemated, with both of us being nearly invincible. His greedy, arrogant orange eyes were right in front of mine, but I was unfazed because I was simply finished with her being distressed.

I shoved all of my weight and rage into my front legs for one violent push, propelling him back with ferocity. Astonished, he fell back away from me, rolling and lumbering across the ground for a short ways. My front legs fell back to the ground. I just continued walking towards him. I was going to finish him off once and for all. He turned his head and looked up at me as I approached him and I saw for the first time a flicker of fear in his eyes. I don't think he'd ever been bested like that before. With one strong push off from all four of his legs and some powerful flapping of his wings, he lifted straight up off the ground and climbed high quickly. I wasn't sure if he was fleeing or taking the battle to the air, but nevertheless, I was not about to concede a draw. This dragon had threatened Applejack and my foal long enough, and I was going to see it through to the end, whether I died trying or not. I took a few running steps and flapped my own wings, the air lifting me off and propelling me upwards; more diagonally then his takeoff, as I was still learning. I climbed and climbed, floating along underneath him as he started to circle around. We traded hostile looks, his being downward and mine upward.

"In a fair fight I'd kill you! You blindsided me!" he cried. His voice seemed to be angry though there was some fear and insecurity mixed in. Now the battlefield was changed; instead of a ground battle surrounded by fire, ponies, and water, we were now fighting in a sea of stars over the moonlit valley, the Canterlot Castle in the distance on the mountainside. I was going to show him and everyone how strong Applejack's husband really was. Suddenly we both noticed in the distant darkness a bright beam of light; it seemed to shoot up from the Canterlot Castle. My emotions were mostly suspended for a short moment as I pondered what this might mean.

But I didn't have time to ponder any longer. The dragon with no name circled around in air, his eyes were turned toward Canterlot. His vengeful gaze then turned to me, and I knew immediately that the battle was not yet won. In an unexpected move, he looked up for a moment before he just as quickly darted downwards. I didn't have time to move this time, and he blasted right by me and used the extra force to scrape my body with all four of his claws as he rocketed past me. I screamed in pain, and almost fell plummeting to the Earth after I twirled around midair. I was able to spread my wings, but it wasn't until I kept my tail straight that I was able to keep myself flying. He also had some most unsavory words of comfort, though he sounded as though he was fighting excruciating pain.

"I wonder if pony royalty tastes any different than pony peasantry," he taunted.

I turned my head back at my body. It hurt -badly - but strangely there was only a small amount of blood. If he or I did that to any other creature, their guts would be spilled out. But even with my scales, I knew a few more shots like that and he could really do some damage. *Well his new strategy isn't any secret! Clearly with his limbs injured, he was turning to his flying ability to win this fight. Despite my intense anger, I knew I didn't have a shot if we continued like this. His flying skills were far too advanced. I looked around for him and saw him flying higher once more, his eyes locked on me, preparing another strike. If I am killed, then she has no chance. None of them do. My heart cried out in desperation for what I hoped would be the last time. What do I do?? I can't win an aerial battle with this guy no matter how angry I am. And I can't wait for the princesses and get myself killed!*

Suddenly I had an idea. But there was a problem. The problem was that it was very risky, and involved putting my life on the line once again. I'd done that before as you well know - both of us have - but this time, after all this, it was especially hard. This time I had a child waiting. *I can't die... not yet.*

I groaned with sadness and looked down into the valley below me. It was quite simple to spot them down there given the flames that still consumed some of the trees and grass by the river. I could see them all huddled together, the fires from the shore shining upon them. Over yonder from them I saw the moonlight shining on Sweet Apple Acres. It was utterly untouched by the night's destruction - the only spared part of Ponyville - and shined beautifully even in the nighttime. Coming back to the ponies, I saw that they were all looking up at the two of us. In the front of them I could make out a small orange speck, standing right next to a red and green one. I could feel her in my own heart, and I could feel her feelings looking up at me. I'd had an unpredictable roller coaster of a life up to this point (this night in particular fit that bill), but the one thing that remained permanent in my life was how much my heart shined whenever I was with her. Whenever I thought about her. She was all I ever needed. And right then I if I knew one thing, it was that I wasn't about to go down without swinging for her. It hated me to have to say this, but I had to leave her with something just in case. *I know you're gonna tell him about me. I'll know; I'll be right there with you.*

It wasn't easy. Not at all. It was among the hardest things I've ever done, but I had to say it just in case. It was honest, after all. But now that I had gotten that out of the way, there was only one thing left for me to do. Fighting tears, my eyes narrowed and looked back up at my adversary, who's own eyes gave away is imminent attack. Before he could, I flapped my wings violently, propelling myself upwards towards him. I could feel a heartbroken Applejack protesting, and it killed me to shut her out just this once, but I knew I couldn't stop now. *I'm sorry but this for our own good! My actions caught him by surprise and his eyes widened. Just then a surge of anger aided me. Intense rage towards him for having made me to do this to her, and indescribable fury and frustration at the mastermind behind this whole thing, who I'd yet to square off against. It gave me focus, that's for sure.*

I soared upwards and met him head on before he ever had a chance to dive (in part because he froze in confusion). Our bodies slammed together, and we started a freefall towards Equestria from thousands of feet high. Despite falling at hundreds miles per hour and having a dragon clawing away at my neck, I focused and folded my wings onto my back. I looked straight into his eyes that were inches in front of me as we duked it out one last time. They were filled with more pure hatred than I'd ever seen. I stretched my front claws around his back and attempted to fight his back ones with my own.

"FOOL!" he snarled, and opened his gaping jaws and bit onto my neck again.

My adrenaline reached it's peak in the roar of the wind as we thundering to the ground. I've never traveled faster in my whole life. This was it! Our whole future! *COME ON, BABY, COME ON! We were approaching the ground at deadly speed, and I moved my eye to the orange flames on the ground for reference despite the agonizing pain around my neck. I struggled futilely to free my neck, but he held on. I knew if I couldn't free myself in the next second, it was over for me. ALMOST! I violently ripped my head from his grasp. Then for one final gesture, I drew my head back and gave him a smirk that I tremendously enjoyed. Gotcha!*

I pushed myself off him with my hind legs and spread my wings wide, once again just like a parachute. My work was done. Suddenly panic-stricken, his face fearfully looked beneath him whilst he spread his wings as fast as he could. As I watched all 35 feet of him plummet down away from me, he found that he nothing to slow down with. All the way down I had been clawing away at the only part of our body that was truly vulnerable to our claws - the leather of our wings. He spread his wings to reveal gaping holes on each one. All he could do was scream as he nosedived towards the ground.

There was a sound like a steam engine was dropped off the highest peak of Canterlot Castle. He hit the ground with such force that a cloud of dust and fire erupted from the spot only a few hundred yards from the river with hundreds of onlookers watching. He fell with such ferocity that his body exploded on impact. It sent shockwaves in every direction; I felt them blast through me as I came speeding down. Speaking of speeding, I was suddenly overcome with fear and was roaring helplessly. While they all covered their eyes, I felt one pair of eyes fixed squarely on me. I had been moving so fast for so long that I was still moving way too fast for my own good. Letting as much wind as possible catch my wings, I cried out with horror as I saw myself falling into the cloud of fire and smoke.

Just as I entered it, I shifted my body and tilted my wings so that the wind propelled me forward instead of falling straight down. I shot out like a rocket over the river and then tilted them upward again, causing me to start a somersault. The upward motion slowed me down just enough, and after flying backwards towards the explosion, I turned back down and spread my wings, and this time they slowed me down enough and I was able to come down at an acceptable speed just beside the river bank, the fire and dirt cloud of the dead dragon at my back. I landed and planted my feet firmly in the ground, standing up up tall and sucking in wind as I stared still in ulta-focus mode at the multitude of soaking-wet ponies. The sound of the explosion began to die down, leaving the sound of dying flames, my still-rapidly-beating heart, and the clearing of dust as they all stared back as silent, as awestruck, and as stupefied as I was. *Well...*

The awkward staring contest occurred for just a few more seconds as I realized that the one of Equestria's greatest threats - it's most evil dragon - was defeated.  Then, as unpredictable as the night had been, after a few moments of silence, to my huge relief, something that I admittedly really needed broke out from the crowd. From all the ponies in Ponyville. They all began to cheer.

I heard it, and saw the emerald eyes of my wife that were filled with tears of relief. Just as my own heart relieved and a huge weight on my soul lifted, I felt how exhausted and immovable my body was. I collapsed to the ash-covered ground hard as my limbs gave out involuntarily, ready to take advantage of a well earned rest. *I did it... I closed my eyes and blew ash away on spot for me to lay my head as I felt a certain country mare snuggling up under my belly and attempting to wrap herself around me. It was just what I needed, to feel her safe and warm against me. It was all that I needed. I told you I wouldn't leave you.*

I wearily opened my one eye and beheld sideways a pair of flowing manes along the side of the river. Walking down the north side of the river towards us in the clearing dust cloud I saw Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Twilight running side by side, coming to a halt about sixty yards from of us while all the ponies kept cheering. Behind them was Princess Cadence, her husband Shining Armor, and a host of about fifty royal guards, most of them white or grey unicorn stallions. I closed my eye both very mildly irritated and strangely happy. *Of course... now they get here. Applejack didn't say a word. She just buried herself into my belly and embraced me with all the warmth and love her heart could give. And that was more than good enough for me. We did it.*

But suddenly, as the cheers from the crowd began to die down, there was a strange noise that seemed to quiet them even more. My ears caught it while I laid there, but it was the place it came from that made my ears twitch. It did not come from the river, or from the host of Canterlot. It came from behind us, where the dragon was destroyed. A few more seconds and it was the only noise amidst a dead and uncomfortable silence. It was a slow clap. I felt the mood of everyone around me changing rapidly, and my own heart beginning to question this. I turned my head back and beheld what all other eyes were now looking at; an unmistakeable outline in the fading dust. A serpentine figure with two different-shaped horns and a pony-like head that slowly came view. My mouth dropped open and Applejack stood up from me and moved up towards my head as the wind blew the dust away from the figure. He was smiling directly and triumphantly at me.

"Good, AJ! Good!"