Alright, so this is where the plot really gets going. The first twelve was just a beginning to the real point of the story. I'll just point out that there will be a few references to the Land Before Time franchise in the story, specific the "Adventuring" song, hence why the main characters of this season has sung it last chapter.

Disclaimers: All locations and characters - save for the OC's that appear in the story - belong to Hasbro. A Land Before Time character in this chapter belong to Universal Pictures.

With that outta the way, let the story continue!

---

Six years.

Six years has gone by after Ember found and took him in. Virin, since three years ago, wanted to train with more intensity in his exercises. He'd been doing that for two years, his body had grown significantly, along with his wings' shape. His muscles had grown a bit more than last time, he'd also meditated with his "considered" father to help him being more calmer in nature, just as his former ego had almost disappeared.

Not only had he been training, he also hung out with his friends, Nightwing and Zach, a few more times, mostly before he was sent on a mission from the Dragon Lord; to the minotaurs' kingdom, the griffins', the zebras', and so on. His friends had been joining him in most of the missions, though they were merely investigations and not really missions, as Torch had told them.

Virin had also more fights with Garble and his gang, nearly at the point where his darkness took control over him. Ember managed to calm him down when he was out of hand, his aggressive personality had been there all the times he'd been fighting Garble. Ember suspected his aggressive side was from his birth father, who was a red dragon like him as well. Virin had been having dreams about the ponies for a few months, but thanks to his parents' arrivals, he was able to sleep peacefully.

That didn't stop, however, as when his dreams was gone, he was now having nightmares. Nightmares about a giant predator that scares him to death in the middle of the night. His nightmares saw it as a huge reptile-like creature. This had been going on for about a half year, not even his parents was able to secure the nightmares for him.

His sister and friends was unaware of his lack of sleep as he was training, but noticed his sleepy states now and then. He reassured them that he just had bad dreams, but they knew he was wrong.

Not wanting his friends and new family to worry about him, Virin had also searched for two friends to help him with his nightmares, though they were unnerved by them, and told him that they were merely from a bad sleep story. The dragons called themselves Amber and Minuette. The former was a bit hostile when she saw him, mostly when she noticed his scar on his left eye, but the latter was more cheerful and kind, as she broke him and Amber from each other before violence was at loose.

Virin had thanked Minuette for her help before a fight was issued. She shook it off, saying it was nothing.

A year before the day of the trial, he was still been having those nightmares about that giant predator. It was still scaring him, his parents couldn't help him, either. This had worried his sister to great heights. She'd wanted him to not have these nightmares.

The mystery behind Virin's powers of the darkness, however, remains unknown. For what they know, he loses consciousness whenever he gives himself to the dark power within him, the same almost goes for the glowing he had at the race those years back, but had no memory what happened afterwards.

---

The moonlight on the night stroke the land as every creature was sleeping through it. All dragons was sleeping tightly, having great dreams of the upcoming trial for some of them. Well, almost all dragons.

In his average cave, Virin was trashing on his pillow as his nightmare continued to plague his mind.

Running, he ran to find a safe place through the darkness. But sadly, there was nothing. Panic stroke him as he looked desperately around the endless darkness and shadows. It had been going on like this for over a year. These nightmares was getting worse every night.

Suddenly, he felt the ground below him shaking.

Virin jerked his head around, and panic and cold sweats now covered all over his shaking body. There, a large, dark green predator slowly walked up to him, the ground was shaking as it did. Its eyes were a blood red colour, giving the young human more panic as it was advancing to him.

"You can't escape from me," it said in a dark voice. Virin was now at the highest level of panic as he heard the dark, cold voice from the giant creature. It continued, "You will be mine. And when you do, you'll sink into eternal darkness forever. You'll never be able to see the light again."

"N-No," was Virin's shaking answer. The predator laughed evilly, enjoying seeing his helplessness. It continued its mark on advancing towards the helpless human.

"Enjoy seeing nothing but darkness!" Then, the titan brought its teeth down to the human's head. Virin screamed as he was about to get eaten.

Virin's eyes shot open, pulling himself up. He let out a scream, not to wake the sleeping dragons, of course. Noticing he was back in his cave, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"I-It was just a bad dream," he mumbled, relieved. Looking out, he saw that the night was still out, the moonlight casting a light in the opening cave. He then noticed his hands were shaking fiercely.

"But that bad dream, that felt so real." he told himself, staring at his shaking pawss. "That giant reptile, just what was he? He wasn't anything I saw before. He couldn't had been an ancient creature, could he? If so, then how long ago had he been on the land?" Many questions were now filled in his mind about the creature.

Sighing again, the dragon tried to make his pawss stop shaking. "If the nightmare was real, then how come was I in my human form? If I was in this form, I could've taking it out by the mere sight of it, but I was so scared. Wait, scared? Dragons doesn't normally get frightened, right?" Feeling tired, he laid back down on his pillow, thankful for the nightmare to pass.

---

The nice, warm sun slowly stirred up in the sky, telling the creatures that morning has arrived. Every dragon slowly awoke and stirred. For one, however, Virin was still sleeping, unaware that today was the day.

Ember, who had slept the night like any other nights, was already standing outside her and her father's cave.

"Wonder how my brother is," she yawned.

"Still sleeping, I guess." Torch responded knowingly.

"Again, I will wake him." His daughter volunteered. Her father smiled gracefully. She walked to the right, to her brother's cave's direction.

Ember walked by the entrance, and noticed that Virin was... trashing around on his pillow. Her eyes were full of concern, and she ran in the cave. She started to approach her brother as he continued to trash around.

"Virin." She called worryingly. "Brother, wake up." The dragon's eyes shot open, he didn't notice her and he took on a defensive stance, ready for any attack from the predator he'd seen in his nightmares.

Strangely, Virin saw his sister and rubbed his eyes to focus. "Sis? What are you doing in here?" He asked tiredly.

"I saw you trashing on your pillow, and I was worried for you," she replied with great worry.

"It's nothi-" he was interrupted when his sister held her paw on his mouth.

"Don't you say that "it's nothing"!" She snapped. "I may not know what's wrong, but you're not going to tell me that it's "nothing"."

Virin sighed tiredly again. Ember took off her paw from his mouth as he spoke apologetically. "Sorry, for that I worried you. It's the same nightmare like every other night."

"The same one?" His sister repeated. Her brother nodded in confirmation, before letting out a loud yawn, noting to his sister that he was awake.

The duo then made their way out of the cave, meeting up with Virin's friends who were a few yards away from the entrance. One of the females was a violet colour, her horns slightly curved, along with her wings. Her eyes were a greenish colour, her underbelly was a brilliant cyan blue, the tip of her tail had a blade at the end.

The other female had a light blue body, four darker blue diamond shaped spots on her thighs and scattered on her tail. Her eyes were a red orangish colour, she was standing on both her paws and legs. She featured four spikes on the back her head, two tusks on both of the sides of her mouth. Her tail shows a spade at the end.

"Hello, Amber, Minuette." The Princess greeted enthusiastically.

"Hello, Princess." The two greeted back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Virin asked his friends.

Nightwing answered for them. "We were just going to pick you up, for the trial, but it seems Princess Ember beat us to you." The young red glanced at his sister who looked away slyly.

This got Virin to raise an eyeridge. "I see." He looked back at the gang. "Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" His friends agreed with him, and they started to walk the path that led to the trial.

While walking, Virin was in his thoughts about last night. Just who was that creature anyway? The question still hung in his head. He silently shook his head. His friends and sister were oblivious to his condition.

What made them glance in his direction was a bright red light, coming from none other than Virin. They looked a bit surprised to see him in his human form, but that was what they hoped he was going to do.

"Why in your human form?" Zach wondered, staring at Virin's temporarily form.

"Thought of having some more time in this when we get to the trial grounds." The human responded, shrugging his shoulders.

"You're right," the two glanced at Ember, who nodded. "You were never been able to be in that form while you were training so intensely." Her brother smiled sheepishly at Amber and Minuette's curious stares.

" "Intensely"?" They asked at the same time.

"I just didn't want to feel weak, mostly to Garble." Was Virin's sheepishly reply. "And, sometimes, I was about to use "that" move." He didn't want to mention his "Flaming Meteor" attack, since it'll be a surprise for them at the last challenge of the trial.

The girls shook their head simultaneously. They knew him well enough. But, they were curious what he meant by "that move", though didn't want to press him.

After a couple more minutes, the friends made their way to the trial ground, a rather open field in the mountains, with a few enormous mountain sides. At the base of the mountains were the competitors and spectators who came to be in and watch the trial. The Dragon Lord himself was there.

"Welcome, my friends," the Dragon Lord greeted the gang. The gang greeted back warmly. Torch looked at his "son", whom seemed to be in his thoughts. He walked a bit closer to the young human, leaning down to his level. Virin's friends moved to the side as he did so.

"Is something wrong?" He asked the young human, who snapped his head up in alarm, but relaxed when he saw his "father".

"Something is, yes." Virin replied lowly, to Torch's raised eyeridges.

"If you want to talk about it, let's do it after the trial, alright?" The human only nodded in response. Torch rose back up after he confirmation.

"There's something odd about him, right?" Ember asked her father as she flew up to his shoulder. The Dragon Lord only stared at her, smiling reassuring.

Zach, Nightwing, Amber, and Minuette just looked at their leader as he was in his thoughts again.

"Welcome, my friends," a old, rich voice came out loudly. They all stopped their chatting and got their attention to the old dragon, who was standing on a ledge of a mountain side. "I am happy to inform you, that the day has come for you to compete in this thousand year's trial."

The dragons cheered, excited by the news.

"I want to express my gratitude for all the wonderful things you all have done to get to this point," the old dragon smiled with pride, looking at one particular human. "And, especially, for one creature in all my heart."

This got Virin to look up in alarm as he noticed from the corner of his eyes that every dragon looked at him. He smiled sheepishly by all the stares his way, before scowling at Garble, who stared at him with hatred in his eyes.

The old dragon continued, getting their attention back to him. "For this day, I hope to be a perfect one, I want all dragons in the land, exception to the younger ones, to participate for the title my ancestors has named;"Predator Hunters"."

The dragons cheered again, louder this time.

"For the trial, the challenges will be journey, hunt, and battle," the old dragon continued to announce. "The rules are quite simple. For the journey, we will have your parents to secure that you doesn't take shortcuts."

The dragons murmured in confusion among themselves.

The old dragon stared at them. "You really think we would just make it easy for you?"

No, you wouldn't. Virin responded telepathically to the old one, who smiled warmly at the silent answer from the young human. The telepathic communication power that he used was a gift to him by his dead parents on his fifteen hatchday, he was happy to receive such amazing power.

Beside the old dragon, was another one, but much younger than him. He had green scales, scars that seemed to have come from many battles, his eyes was a brownish colour, his wings curved like the older dragon. His head featured two horns that curved downwards, his underbelly was a rich gold colour. his tail had a hammer shaped at the end.

"Enough!" The green dragon bellowed to the murmuring dragons, who stopped and stared at him.

"Thank you," the old one thanked gratefully. "You may give the standard rules." The scarred dragon nodded and gave them out.

Virin and his gang, they all listened instantly to the rules giving to them. They all accepted no cheating, since they always worked together in teamwork, surpassed even Garble and his gang's teamwork.

For Virin, however, he seemed to be in his thoughts while listening to the rules, mostly about the giant, dark green creature. I wonder if it'll show up in the far future, he silently sighed as he stared around, observing the terrains.

Come on Virin, snap out of it. He scolded himself. You know that creature can't possibly be here. It was probably extinct long ago. You will be safe. That last line echoed in his mind.

Ember glanced at her brother for a few seconds, her eyes showing worry, then looked up at her father. He looked back at her, same expression.

"Let's begin the journey," everyone looked back at the old dragon. "You'll be walking to the rock formation that looks like a dragon from the past. Then, we will begin the second challenge." The dragons murmured among themselves, but followed the two dragons in front.

As they walked, Virin's gang started to chat to themselves.

"What do you think will happen?" Nightwing started, conversationally.

"Dont know." Amber shrugged, she was standing on all four as she walked alongside her friends. "Must be something important at the third challenge."

"I think it'll be like a treasure hunt at the end." Minuette guessed.

"Didn't you hear the old one?" Zach reminded her. "He said it'll be a battle, not a treasure hunt!" This caused the violet dragoness to grumble in disappointment.

"Who do you think will win all this, huh, Virin?" Minuette asked the red drake, who looked up at her, alarmed. She raised an eyeridge at his sudden move.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered. "Never done a trial like this before."

"Really?" She frowned. "You've done a race before, remember?"

"That was different!" Virin snapped harshly. His friends took a small step back at his sudden harshness. Seeing his friends like that, made him sigh in frustation. "Sorry. My mood isn't as good as it used to."

"You're in a bad mood?" Amber gave a small laugh of disbelief. "You've never been in one, only a good mood, from what I remembered."

"I know," Virin rolled his eyes. "But, I'm just not yet ready for this."

"Well, it's too late for that now." A six voice joined in. The four friends looked up to see their leader's sister walking up to them.

"Sis?" The human pondered. "What are you doing here, with us, I mean."

"I overheard your talk, and thought I would see to you, making sure you're good for the hunt." His sister answered kindly.

"Oh, don't worry, Princess Ember." Nightwing leaned his left shoulder on Virin's, making him quite uncomfortable. "We're all ready, right, guys?" The others nodded in agreement. Virin shoved the black drake's shoulder off him, and glared at him, who smiled sheepishly back.

As they stopped for a moment, they all looked at Virin, who gave an rather uncomfortable stare back.

"What?" He asked.

"Are you even okay?" Ember asked.

"Sure. I'm fine." Virin lied. "Why'd you ask?"

"From the tone in your voice, I can tell you're not fine."

The human sighed in irritation. "I'm fine." He desperately wanted to get going, not having this small talk.

Ember sighed in return, and walked back to her father.

The others' eyes darted back and forth between the two siblings.

"What was that all about?" Nightwing asked, breaking the silence.

"She's just overprotective for me now." Was his friend's response.

"We can see that." Minuette said, nodding knowingly.

"Let's go and not be left behind, shall we?" Zach then called. This alerted the group as they saw that the dragons was near the two mountain sides close the open field. They all sprinted as fast as they could, not wishing to be out of the trial.

As they got much closer to the two mountains, Virin was in his thoughts again.

Just why was I reacting like that? The thought echoed in his mind. I've never been that way before.

You sure haven't, son. He heard his mother's sweet voice.

Mom?

I heard your conversation, she replied. And, I'm a bit worried that you'll get severely hurt.

Don't worry, my dear. His father's voice reassured. From the obstacles that had stood in his way, he seemed to have overcome them just fine.

I know. His mother responded. But, I can't help but worry, especially for that Garble dragon. He seems to be quite a bully, and a good fighter.

"A good fighter". Ha! Their son scoffed. He's nothing compared to the training I went through.

We know, son, his parents said. But you must not understimate his abilities. Not even you know all his techniques yet.

Oh, I know, I know. Virin sighed silently.

"Virin, you okay?" Nightwing asked him, causing him to glance at him.

"Yeah, fine." The human assured, giving a small smile.

The others looked at each other, before shrugging. They made it to the mountain side a few seconds later, seeing all the dragons there. Garble and his gang stood proudly, puffing their chests out.

The Gang noticed them, and scowled at them.

They came first?! They all thought shocked.

The old dragon saw all the dragons in one place, and smiled warmly. "Well, it looks like we're all here," he noted in his old, rich voice. The dragons gave simultaneously nods to him.

"Ha," Garble laughed as he poked Virin's shoulder with a talon. "Who's the best dragon, now?"

"Don't get overconfident," his rival warned. "It might be your downfall."

"As if," the taller dragon scoffed.

"Please, settle down you two," the old dragon said to them harshly. The two rivals looked sheepishly at him. Then, beside the old one, the scarred green dragon stepped forward. All the dragons' eyes settled on him.

"Alright," he said in a thrilled voice. "Now that we're all gathered, let us begin the second challenge: the hunt." Everyone cheered with excitement, wanting to get it done with. The scarred dragon then gave the rules out. "For the hunt, you'll be hunting in the Everfree Forest, for the manticores that resides there."

The dragons gave simultaneously gasps, and began to argue with the scarred green dragon.

"What?!"

"That's not fair!"

"We would be doomed!"

"Fools!" The old one roared loudly, causing the dragons to rub their poor ears. "Do you really expect it to be easy?! If it were, you will bring nothing but shame and disgust to our whole kind!"

The dragons began to sheepishly apologize. Garble, his gang,,and Virin and his gang, gave heated glares at each other. They began to walk closer to one another, feeling the tension around them rising.

"This will be where we go alone," Garble told his gang.

"We will also be going alone," Virin told his, still glaring at his taller rival. Their gang glanced at them and each other, not knowing why they would go on a solo hunt. Then they knew; it was to prove to the other that he or she was better.

The gangs nodded in understanding, walking back to their places while their leaders were still glaring heatedly to one another, clenching their fist and paws all the while. Their rivalry was strong. The strongest rivalry that ever was in the Lands, even for only six years.

Ember glanced at the two. Knowing one of their fights could get out of hand, even if one of them had special powers, they could fight for more than three hours straight.

Torch noticed his daughter's expression, he said lowly, "You shouldn't worry for your brother. He can handle himself."

"I know," his daughter sighed lowly. "But, what if they were the ones to win the next part of the trial? Then they would be the ones to battle. I don't want my brother to have another long fight, one that is near identical to the one two years ago."

The Dragon Lord slowly nodded, not wanted everyone to have their attention to him. "I know what you mean," he whispered. "That time, they nearly destroyed one of the arenas our ancestors had build. Talk about some admirable power they wield."

Virin, who had telepathically heard his "father" and sister's talk, was more focused on his rival, Garble. "I'm going to win, you can bet on it."

"Dream on." Garble taunted. "You can't even handle two manticores for a few seconds. You'll be out before you know it."

The human growled dangerously at him, mostly for the taunting. Out of all the dragons, he was the easiest to pick on, even if he had friends at his side. Garble was the only one of the taller dragons who still mocked him. He also couldn't forgive Azam for the scar on his left eye those years back. That was one of the bad memories he ever wanted to forget in his mind.

"We'll see about that," Virin growled in a challenging way.

"Please, my friends," the old dragon sharply said to the two, "step aside from each other." They did so, but didn't leave their eyes from each other. The old one cleared his throat, about to announce. The dragons focused their attention to him. "Let the hunt part begin!"

The dragons cheered and went to the dark forest, preparing to hunt down the manticores that resides there.

[Insert song: Heart of Courage Extended here.]

After a few minutes of running, Virin, in his dragon form, came to an open clearing that was perfect for a fight. "Now," he calculated, "if I was a manticore, where would I attack my prey?" As if on cue, two manticores, coloured yellow on the body of a lion, they had a pair of bat-like wings, a scorpion's tail that looked poisonous, their mane was a red colour.

Virin smirked; his first two preys was in his sight. He could just feel his victory. One of the manticores charged at him, a forepaw with claws that looked sharp, raised in the air. The young dragon rolled to the side, barely missing the blow from the manticore. He looked at the tail, thinking it was a point hole for him to win against this one. He charged with his teeth visible as he opened his jaw. He bit the manticore's side, causing it to roar in pain as he did so.

The second manticore roared in anger, and charged at the dragon who dared attack its friend. This caught Virin off-guard as he narrowly dodged the attacking manticore's tail, which hit the first one in the back, making it roar in pain once more.

Phew, that was close. He thought, relieved. Virin, wanted them to be finished, ran up with his jaw open as he showed his sharp teeth. He hovered up on the second manticore's back, catching it by surprise. He bit down on its neck, causing it to roar in agonizing pain as it fell on the ground, unable to move, but rose up after the dragon flew from its back.

The two manticores, who Virin noticed, then began to glare at each other, as if to communicate. The dragon raised an eyeridge, wondering what they could be saying. The manticores nodded and charged at Virin at the same time. The young dragon, noticing this, and, as fast as lightning, vanished, making the mantocires look around in confusion.

Virin, wanted to finish this, sped right in front the manticores, catching them off-guard. The speed of this dragon was incredible. It was like lightning. The young dragon opened his mouth, confusing the manticores, until they were hit by a tremendous strength of fire. They were caught on flames, which got Virin to realize that wasn't supposed to happen.

Oops, he thought, realizing his mistake. The old dragon and the scarred green explained to bring back the manticores that was residing in the forest, not to burn them and bring back burnt ones.

He growled out loud as he punched the ground. "Dammit!" He cursed. "And here I thought I was going to show them burned manticore bodies. My mistake." Just then, after the fire calmed down around the manticores, and to his surprise and shock, a number of around twenty more manticores came out of their hiding places, surrounding him with a vicious and threatening way.

Seeing them all surrounding him, made him to only mutter, "Ooh, man..." He wasn't prepared to fight so many of them in one place. His expression changed from surprise and shock, to a more terrified one.

---

With Nightwing...

Walking, Nightwing patrolled his area as he searched for the manticore he wanted to fight. His search had led him to one of the deepest places of the forest, the sky was dark and cold, clouds was out, which confused him a little. Why would there be clouds in the middle of the day?

His train of thoughts was interrupted by a mighty roar. He looked and saw his worthy opponent. There, in the front of an entrance, was a rather large manticore. Its build was impressive. It had an armour on it, which was a bronze colour. Its tail was significantly longer than most of its species. An perfect opponent for him.

To his surprise, Nightwing was amazed that the manticore spoke, in a telepathically way.

Welcome, dragon, it greeted. What brings you to my territory?

Talking out loud, the black drake answered, "I was finding an opponent for me to battle against. But, it seems no one was good enough. You seems to be worthy enough."

Hoho, the manticore laughed. Nightwing couldn't understand why it was laughing. I must say, it continued, I am rather surprised by the sudden challenge, by a dragon, no less.

"Why is that so surprising?" Nightwing asked aloud.

No dragon has ever set foot in my territory, the manticore responded. In fact, you're the first who ever stood in it.

Nightwing's eyes widened a bit. No dragon has ever walked into this terrain? Well, it IS the Everfree Forest, so no surprises there. The black dragon narrowed his eyes at the manticore.

"Do you want to accept my challenge or not?" He asked. "I have a trial to complete." The manticore smirked, delighted by his request, but was curious to this trial of his.

I accept. It accepted. There will be no interruption in our duel, how does that sound?

"That'll be fine by me." Nightwing nodded in thanks. A challenge with no interruption. Just what he wanted.

The manticore looked around the area, probably telling the spectators to not interfere. They understood and walked away a bit. Then, the manticore charged at the black dragon with its claws raised, ready to strike.

Nightwing narrowly dodged the attack, getting ready for one of his own. He charged at the manticore, jaw opened to show his sharp teeth, and bit down onto the manticore. He flinched as he suddenly felt a headache come to his head.

"I see," he noted. "So, the armour is not just for decoration. It's to protect your body from any close combat."

The manticore laughed, happily he might add. You got it right. I chose the best that I could find. This armour also proves it. It then charged at Nightwing, its tail preparing to infect some poison to the dragon. The black dragon dodged by spreading his wings and flew backwards. He was glad that the wind was at his side in this battle.

"Not bad," he admitted. The manticore smiled, pleased with the dragon as well.

Not so bad yourself, dragon, it added. You have my respect in this battle. Then, it charged at the black drake, who rolled to the side, narrowly dodging its claws. Nightwing gave a growl, and flew up to the air, before charging down at the manticore's back with full speed. The manticore noticed this and hovered backwards, dodging the hit. The black dragon then opened his mouth, ready to unleash his dark fire, to which his opponent saw. The manticore flew up to the air, he was unlucky, however, as Nightwing's dark fire engulfed around its body as he had flown right after his foe.

The manticore roared in agonized pain as it felt the dark fire melting its bronze armour to pieces. The pieces shattered to the ground, completely exposed. The manticore's eyes widened in horror, seeing its perfect armour torn to pieces by this dragon who dared to burn it. It looked ar Nightwing with a venomous glare as he roared in anger and hatred. It charged at the dragon, who was caught off-guard, but held composure and dodged to the side, barely escaping his opponent's wrath.

That was close, Nightwing exhaled in his mind. Better not underestimate him. He glanced back to the manticore, and flew to the air while opening his mouth in the process, preparing for another dark fire attack. The manticore noticed this, and flew right at the dragon in midair!

Nightwing's eyes focused on his foe, not worrying a bit. His mouth of dark flames was slowly forming into a ball, ready to fire. He launched his attack as the manticore neared him, causing it to roar in utter pain as it fell back down on the ground, creating a crater as it did so.

Nightwing panted, glad that the fight was over. He hovered back down, checking his manticore prize. It looked perfectly fine, small burn marks, but nothing too serious for him to carry back.

"And, I declare myself the winner," he said, loud enough for the spectators to hear, who glared at him, but retreated back to the dark forest.

---

With Zach...

Walking, walking, Zach continued to walk through the Everfree Forest, not spotting a single manticore for his opponent yet. He sighed in depression, feeling his loss already.

"Why can't I just find one manticore resident in this damn forest?" He mumbled angrily to himself, looking all over the area in hopes of finding one, but sadly there was none. He was beginning to feel hopeless, when a sudden roar, or two, came in his direction.

Zach looked up just in time to see two manticore coming out from their hiding places, ready to strike the intrusion of this dragon who trespassed in their territory. In his mind, he was feeling a little frightened from these manticores, they seems like tough opponents with their muscular build bodies, sharper claws from any other manticores. The only thing he was most frightened about, was those poisonous tails that they had.

Just why did I agree to this?! He panicked in his mind, feeling very scared now. He couldn't handle two manticores all by himself. He needed help.

You'll find your courage, young one, a deep, calm voice said in his mind. Zach could feel that this was probably one of the Shadow Protectors of the past that was in this world. How was it so sure that he would find his courage? He was scared, not to mention, frightened.

Suddenly, one of the manticores charged at him, one paw ready to strike. Zach shrieked and narrowly dodged the hit. Aware of his personality, his friends could've sense that he was sometimes scared.

That was a close one, Zach breathed with relief in his mind, glad he evaded the strike, but the manticores was not. The one who attacked was angry, it roared and charged at him again, ready for another strike.

Here, I will lend you some of my strength, he heard the voice offer, as he suddenly felt a power surging through his veins. His body was also glowing faintly, to the manticores obliviousness.

I feel strange, but stronger now. Zach thought as he looked over his brown body. He did not notice the faint glow that had happened just as he felt the boost through his body. He looked at the manticores, his eyes glowing with an unknown glow, to which the manticores was slightly scared of.

Zach roared out his battle cry, charging at the manticores, who shook off their uneasiness, and returned the roar and charged. The brown dragon, who now had small portion of Shadow, vanished as he looked at the shadow under his opponents. The manticores looked around in confusion, wondering where the dragon vanished to. Suddenly, the dragon reappeared right behind them and let out a strange brown dragon breath attack, which made contact with the manticores, who roared in sudden pain as they felt the attack from the drake. He opened his jaw, showing his sharp teeth, and leaped onto one of the manticores' back, and bit down, causing the manticore he was on roar in pain, who then fell to the ground, eyes slowly closing.

The second manticore glanced at its fallen partner and glowered venomously at the dragon who dared to strike its friend. It charged at the dragon, who dodged by rolling down from the manticore he was on, and let out his strange dragon breath attack at the manticore, who dodged by flying up to the air. Zach glared in annoyance as he saw the manticore dodge his attack. He roared and flew up to the manticore, who suddenly smirked deviously and charged down at the dragon. Their contacted attacks made them disappear in midair!

The two opponents quickly appeared in a brown and yellow light, but disappeared again as fast as their speed carried them. The two battled this way for minutes. The air was filled with brown, yellow/red light as both the dragon and manticore appeared and disappeared again and again.

Zach, on the other hand, was really surprised to see that one manticore was able to match a dragon's speed through the air. He gave his foe his highest respect.

The manticore, too, silently gave its opponent its respect. They were equally strong in the air. The two appeared again, glaring at each other while in the air, but quickly disappeared in a brown, yellow/red light as their speed came to the battle again. If they had spectators, they would probably not be able to see them.

Zach noted that this manticore had probably exercised its wings to match a faster winged opponent. This made him to give it the most respect it deserved from one of his species.

Wanting to finish this, the two stopped as they appeared again, this time, on the solid ground. While glaring at each other, Zach opened his mouth as his strange dragon breath slowly formed an even more strange ball of light and shadow. While he was a brown dragon, two of his ancestors was a Light and Shadow dragon respectively.

The manticore was slightly surprised to see this strange ball that was forming in its opponent's jaw. To the most shocked expression, the brown dragon launched his light and shadow ball from his mouth, which engulfed the manticore in a mixture of its colours. It roared in utter pain as its eyes slowly closed as it had a blurry image of the dragon, until it fell to the ground, unable to battle anymore.

Zach panted heavily, but that was quickly replaced with a happy and excited expression. He had finally defeated two manticores, probably enough for him to be in the next part of the trial.

"I dunno how," he muttered to himself, "but, somehow, I managed to win." He looked up at the blue sky. "Qonot, one of the Shadow Protectors, was it really you who gave me that strength for this fight?"

No answer.

But that was already made clear to the brown dragon as he smiled gratefully. "If you can hear me, then, you have the most highest respect for helping me."

---

With Amber...

Amber walked through the dark forest, searching for her opponent, or opponents. She had a feeling that two of her friends had already defeated theirs. This made her slightly jealous. She really wanted to find the manticores, and it would be now.

"Why am I having this strange feeling that two of my best friends has already passed this part of the trial?" She angrily mumbled to herself, as she looked to her frontpaws. She was walking on all four as she had been wandering through this forest, unable to find a single manticore. Maybe her friend, Minuette, had the same feeling?

Amber looked up to see the trees, sighing. Why can't she just find one opponent worthy enough for her? It seems like they were cowards and ran away.

At that thought, as if to answer it, three mnticores roared in the nothing distance, to which Amber gave a small smile, glad that she had finally found her opponents.

Amber noticed that her opponents' bodies had been carefully build in order to fight a strong foe to their kind. She gave a smile to herself, she was finally happy to had found them.

"Now, why don't we get this on the way, gentlemen?" She asked them, to which they roared in response. Amber smiled as they accepted her challenge. She readied her body, standing perfectly still, waiting for her foes to attack.

The first manticore charged at the light blue dragon, who dodged by rolling to the side, evading the attack. The manticore roared in frustation and charged at her again.

No brain, no plan. Just like the simple mindless animal it is. Amber thought to herself as she dodged another strike from the manticore, who, again, roared in frustration. Unable to let this fight against it continue, Amber opened her mouth, forming a ball of light blue ball, and, to the manticore's eyes of horror, fired at it, engulfing it in light blue flames, causing it to roar in pain as it fell to the ground, not moving anymore.

The second mnaticore roared in anger, seeing one of its partners had fallen. It charged at an incredible speed at the female dragon, who rolled to the side in order to avoid its attack. This made the manticore even more angry. It attacked again, but with a more strategic one.

Amber rolled to the side, avoiding the second strike, but was hit by the next... coming from the poisonous tail. This caused her eyes to widen in terror and horror as she felt the poison infect her body slowly from the inside.

No, I can't die yet, she struggled to stand as she felt the poison slowly forming inside her entire being.

The two manticore partners smirked deviously to each other, noticing the dragon's struggle.

"YOU DARE TO ATTACK MY FRIEND?!" A female voice shouted angrily through the area. The manticores looked confusingly around, wondering where that voice came from.

Suddenly, a violet blur came crashing into the manticore who had infected poison to the light blue female, causing it to fall to the ground. Amber, while struggling to stand, looked to see Minuette stand protectively in front of her.

"M-Minuette?!" She struggled, shocked.

Said dragon who gave a small wink to her. "Missed me?"

"A-A bit..."

Minuette looked over at her friend, before her eyes widened in horror. "Did they infect poison to you?" Amber slowly nodded through her struggle. This caused the violet dragon to growl angrily at the manticores, who shrank back.

"Y-You can't defeat t-them by yourself..." Amber struggled to say as she fell to the ground, feeling the poison inside her body growing every second. Just then, a sound of a meteor, was heard over the forest.

Virin, was that you? Minuette silently wondered.

---

Back with Virin...

Growling, Virin glared at his fifteen manticore opponents. He had managed to take five out with his "Flaming Meteor" attack, to which had knocked the first five out cold.

Just how is there so many of them? He asked his parents.

That, we do not know, son, his father, to Virin's guess, shrugged unsure.

Suddenly, to Virin's surprise, a ball of fire came from above his head from behind. He glanced over his shoulder to see his rival, Garble, standing at the edge of the field, paws crossed.

"G-Garble?" He asked, shocked to see his rival.

"Hmph," the tall dragon huffed. "Can't even defeat fifteen manticores by yourself, can you?" This prompted Virin to growl at him, who shrugged in response. "Oh well, guess I have to help you out."

Virin was even more surprised. " "Help me out"?" He repeated. "Do you even know that we had to do this alone?"

Shrugging again, Garble gave a small grin. "Guess I just wanted to help you get pass this part of the trial, so you can face me in the last one."

The young red dragon rolled his blue-yellow eyes. "Guess, I have no other choice," he mumbled to himself, nodding to the taller one, who gave a small nod in return and walked up to stand beside him.

"Ready?" Garble asked his rival, while grinning at the manticores, who glared back.

"You know the answer." Virin replied. His rival nodded knowingly. The two stood ready, preparing to battle the manticores.

One of the manticores roared and charged at the younger dragon, who rolled to the side to avoid the being hit. Virin flew up to the air, with the manticore following. The red drake charged at his opponent, who did the same. The two collided, before disappearing in a red and yellow light.

Garble raised an eyeridge, noting that his rival's opponent must've exercised its speed and wings. He gave a sinister grin at two of the manticores in front of him, who growled back. One of them charged at the tall dragon, who easily avoided it by flying above it and rolled to avoid the poisonous tail. He gave the tail a hard kick with his right foot, which caused the manticore to roar in anger as it slid across the ground and charged in Garble's direction, who dodged by easily flying above it.

For Virin, he had a hard time as he and his opponent was fighting in midair. A red and yellow light lighting the sky as they battled side by side, above and under from each other. Virin gave his foe his respect for lasting this long. His fight with it in the air had been for more than a half hour. They had clawed the side of each other two or more times, their bodies had bumped into each other a number of times. They had also tried to kicking and punching each other's stomach, and head.

Virin's opponent silently gave him its huge respect for fighting and lasting this long against a single manticore.

Virin, wanting to finish this, quickly appeared right in front of the manticore, readying his body. The manticore stopped mere inches away from the dragon, who opened his mouth, forming a ball of fire, and launched it at the manticore, while hoping not to burn it. To his surprise, the manticore, with its speed, dodged the attack and flew straight at the Protector's head, making him to roar in annoyance, not in pain, as he had enough of this long fight.

Back on the ground, Garble had heard his rival's roar of annoyance, and briefly glanced up to him before rolling to the side to avoid a claw strike from a third manticore. He had battled two manticores, and defeated both of them with relative ease. His strength had grown over the six years, he had also been to a tournament that had happened in a weird place called Canterlot, where there was only nobles who disrespected some of the other creatures in the world, but respected the "ruler" of the place. He had won the tournament with the most easy opponents that were unable to defend themselves from his harsh and ferocious attacks.

Garble, again, rolled to the side from another claw attack from the same manticore, who snarled in irritation at his evading maneuvers. The tall dragon then charged at the manticore, ready to give it a hard punch as his right paw reared back, before punching its face right on the nose, causing it to break it and make it bleed with blood. The manticore stumbled back, rubbing its poor nose.

Up in the air, Virin dodged an air strike from one of the manticores on the ground, causing him to cancel his attack, which annoyed him even more. There was just no end to them. They just keep coming at them.

The manticore, who Virin had previously targeted, gave a roar of battle as it flew at the red dragon, who gasped but dodged the attack. Virin, who was now dealing with two manticores, growled at both of them, who growled back. Virin flew at the manticores, who returned the feeling and did the same. The dragon's attack made contact as al three of their charges collided with each other, which the two manticores pushed the red dragon back, to his surprised expression, but it quickly turned to irritation.

"You just don't give up, do you?" He narrowed his eyes as his foes did the same. Virin, feeling the strongest strength within him rise, was now pushing the two manticores back, to their surprised looks.

Garble, who had defeated two of his opponents, had a noticeable surprise expression as he saw his rival pushing two manticores back as he gained the upper paw.

"Well, that was surprising," he whispered to himself, before rolling aside from a new paw strike from a fourth manticore, who growled at the tall dragon, who growled right back at it. They just keep coming.

Garble, feeling a strange energy surging through him, got to his battle stance as his fourth opponent did the same. He started to attack his fourth opponent, who narrowly dodged the hit. The manticore responded by throwing its poisonous tail at the tall dragon, who lazily dodged by stepping back two inches from it, making the manticore to growl in frustration. Then, Garble gave a similar punch to the manticore's nose like he did with his third manticore opponent, breaking its nose as well, causing it to stumble back to rub its poor nose.

Smirking deviously, Garble gave harsh punches to the same hit point he had previously with his opponent, causing it to roar in agonizing pain as its bleeding nose was being torn apart by this dragon. The tall dragon gave another harsh punch, this time at its right front paw, causing it to fell to the ground, helplessly as its opponent senselessly attacking it with harsh kicks to its stomach. All the attacks made the poor manticore to roar the most painful one it ever had as its eyes slowly closed.

What brutal strength, Virin thought, feeling sorry for the poor manticore, the same was his own opponents as they both let out a roar as they felt tears coming from their eyes. This made the young drake glance at them as he looked confused by their expressions. But, they were not expressions. They were emotions. Tearful emotions. Shouldn't manticores be mindless animals, and not have any emotion? Guess he was wrong about them.

Deciding to spare the manticores that tearfully left the area, Virin joined his brutal rival and went back-to-back with him.

"Ready for another round, Virin?" Garble smirked as he side-glanced at the young drake.

"Yes, but this time, not as brutal as you had did with that poor one." Virin replied, sadly looking at the dead manticore, who had blood cover its body. Garble shrugged, as though saying,"Whatever".

The remaining manticores let out roars of war as the two rival dragons let out their own roars of war, and charged at each other, with both of them taking four of the last eight.

[Insert song: Fight Song here.]

One of the four manticores that Virin faced charged at him with full speed, raising its right claw as it neared him. The drake dodged by rolling to the side, before glaring at his new opponent. Then, Virin, not as brutal as his rival, gave his opponent a kick by its left paw, causing to fall to the ground. The drake gave it some hard punches in the stomach, still not as brute as his rival, making the manticore to roar in pain as it felt the punches.

Virin, then, opened his jaw, showing his sharp teeth, and bit down on its neck, making it roar in pain again as its eyes closed, dead. The second manticore roared and charged at the red dragon, who quickly looked at it, and narrowly evaded a claw attack from the manticore who attacked him.

The manticore gave a threatening growl, lifting its poisonous tail up, ready to poison its foe. Virin took notice of this, and rolled forward, right under the manticore as its tail missed its target. The manticore gave a surprised expression as the dragon that was under it gave a hard kick to its stomach, sending it flying to the air, letting out a pained roar.

By his part, Garble, who had narrowed his yellow eyes at his first opponent, let out a loud roar, and charged at the manticore in front of him, who let out its own roar and charged as well. The manticore tried a claw strike attack, but the tall dragon dodged by rolling to the left, he gave his own claw attack by slashing its eye, scaring it as the manticore let out a painful roar. Garble then got close to the manticore, and bit his sharp teeth in the manticore's left paw, causing it to roar another painful one. The tall dragon smirked in victorious. Then, he gave a kick, that was not as brute as his last ones, to its scarred eye, making it roar in pain again, falling to the ground, closing its eyes, now unconscious.

The manticores partners gave out roars of anger as the first one charged at the tall drake, who evaded the attack by flying to the air. Garble, as before, opened his jaw, showing his teeth, and bit down at the manticore's right wing, causing it to roar in pain, but shook him off, catching him by surprise.

How did it do that?! Garble wondered, enraged by its sudden move.

From his battle, virin was getting a hard time taking down two manticores as one of the last ones, who didn't want to wait anymore, had charged at him, which had caught him by surprise.

Dodging an claw attack, the young drake glared heatedly at his opponents as they did the same. All these manticores had passed the time long enough, he was getting tired as well.

How can I take them out? He tiredly asked his parents, who was getting worried themselves by this long fight.

We will give you the strength to do it, my child, his mother replied sweetly. Just then, his body began to glow with a tremendous power, power he hadn't felt before. The two manticore opponents gave startled expressions at the glowing dragon, who gave a confident stare back.

Then, unexpected to the manticores, the young drake suddenly vanished from sight. This made Garble and his opponents to glance at the battle from the other side of the field. Just then, the drake appeared again right behind his foes from the speed his parents gave him, catching them by surprise and shock. Virin let out a roar, and ran between tho manticores he faced, before kicking them by the side, making them to stumble back from the hit.

Garble raised an eyeridge of surprise. he certainly didn't expect that to happen to his rival.

Wanting to finish their fight, the tall dragon gave his two opponents hard kicks to their right paws, catching them by shock. He also clawed their right and left eyes, causing them to roar in pain. The third manticore had enough of this. It charged and swiped at the tall dragon's feet, making him to stumble to the ground in surprise, but this just enraged him.

Garble let out an enraged roar and gave a brutal punch to the manticore in front of him right in its left eye, causing it to roar in agonized pain as its eye felt like it just got out. He gave another brutal punch to the right eye of the manticore, making it to roar agonizing pain again, and stumble back, but froze as the tall dragon gave another brute punch, this time to its mouth, causing many of its teeth to fall out and shatter to pieces, causing the manticore to roar the most painful one it ever let out, falling to the ground, unconscious.

The two manticores let out fearful screeches as they tried to get away, but Garble, controlled by rage, grabbed them by the necks, squeezing hard, making them to roar in pain.

Virin looked at the scene that was on the other side of the field, widening his eyes in horror. His rival, Garble, was being controlled by his rage, something his "father", Torch, once told him about the tall dragon.

"GARBLE, STOP!" He screamed to the dragon, who heard it, and let go of the poor manticores who felt to the ground, rubbing their necks. Garble then looked at his rival, who had fear in his eyes just as his own foes had.

"W-what?" Garble forcefully let out in confusion, his rage ceases from his mind. Virin just breath out a huge sigh of relief, thanking himself quietly that his rival had returned to normal.

Hearing two roars, Virin glanced back at his opponents, who was in their battle stances, ready for more. The young drake smirked in acceptance, taking his own battle stance, getting himself ready for their assaults.

One of the two manticores charged at the red drake, a paw in the air. Virin evaded the assault by flying to the side, then clawed the manticore's right eye, causing it to roar in pain as its eye was now scarred. Then, with a blurry sight, the manticore lifted its poisonous tail and struck forward, hoping to poison the dragon it was facing. But, Virin, however, dodged the attack by rolling forward, right under the belly of the manticore, catching it by surprise. He then gave a hard kick to its belly, sending it flying to the sky. It, however, responded by spreading its wings and charged down at the dragon, who rolled out of its way, barely dodging the hit.

The second manticore let out its roar of war, and charged at the young dragon, who smiled with confidence, feeling the power within him, and dodged the charge with his new speed. Then, Virin, with his wings spread, flew right into the manticore by the side, sending it towards a group of trees, making some of the trees fall by the body of the manticore. The manticore, by anger, charged at the dragon again, raising a paw for an attack. Virin evaded the strike by flying to the side, before ramming into it by the same spot as before, sending it to another group of trees, making some of them fall for the contact by the manticore.

As the manticore was about to get up, a set of five claws from the dragon, struck its belly, causing it to roar in pain as its eyes slowly closed, falling back down to the ground, now unconscious.

The manticore's last partner, who had seen it fall, let out a cry of war, and charged at the dragon who dared killing its friend. Virin noticed it from the corner of his left scarred eye, narrowly evading the assault from it by rolling to the right side.

The manticore let out an frustrated growl, before lifting its tail and thrust it forward, ready to give the dragon poison. The dragon, however, saw it coming. He dodged it by rolling backwards, to his foe's surprise. He then kicked it in the jaws, not as brute as his rival, but enough for it to break some of its teeth. Virin then bit his teeth down to its neck, causing it to roar in agonized pain as it felt the sharp teeth from the dragon, before falling to the ground, now dead.

Standing up, Virin looked at his now dead opponents, letting out a big sigh of relief, glad that it was now over. He looked over to his rival, who had also defeated his opponents, who stared back at him, before walking over to him.

Garble stood over Virin, before giving him a smile of thanks, much to the dragon's surprise. "Well, I think I have to thank you for helping me out from the situation I was in."

Virin shook his head. "No, I was the one who should be thanking you for helping me." This made Garble's eyes to widen. "You were the reason we both would now be able to pass this part of the trial, getting ready for our battle."

Garble, still surprised, gave another smile. "Yeah, I guess so." Then he frowned. "But, we have to show them our goods, now don't we?"

"Yes." Virin nodded in agreement. "But, how can we get all of them back?" This made the tall dragon to frown in wonder.

We will give you the ability, my son, he heard his mother's sweet voice, just before he, and his rival, started to glow with their eyes glowing as well.

"Wasn't expecting that," Garble admitted. Virin nodded, agreeing with him. He certainly wasn't expecting this either.

...

As the sun reached high afternoon, Virin and Garble finally made it out of the Everfree Forest, with their prizes levitating above the ground while their eyes are glowing. As the two neared the statue of the dragon, which Virin finally guessed was one of his ancestors, they could see that all the other dragons made it there as well.

The dragons, even the Dragon Lord, the old one and the scarred dragon, was surprised to see the two rivals walking side-by-side, but the competitors were most shocked to see that they each had ten manticores, outnumbering their own.

Virin and Garble exchanged triumph grins as they saw that the other dragons had only two, or five of the manticores they had managed to catch, while two of Garble's gang managed to get seven, but were still not enough.

"Well..." The old dragon began, unsure what had happened, staring in surprise at the two rivals. "This is unexpected. Since only Garble and Virin was able to have more manticores, they have advanced to the third part of the trial."

The other dragons' eyes widened in shock. They were out. As the number of manticores they should have, it was above ten they should catch. They all stared in hatred at the rivals, most specific for being outnumbered by them in this part.

"And now..." The old one started again, but was interrupted by a feminine voice shouting.

"HEY!" They all looked to the source of the voice. "Why don't you help us out?! We have one dying here!" That was when Virin's eyes widened in terror and shock. There, on the violet dragon's back, was his friend, Amber, in bad shape, as she was in a green colour, mostly for something that could've had poisoned her.

"What happened?!" The young dragon asked, running up to his two friends, assisting Minuette by holding Amber's right paw.

"A manticore had an surprise attack, and infected poison to her by using its tail." The violet dragon explained. Virin gasped in horror; he couldn't let his friend die.

"Quick!" The scarred green called out in a commanding voice. "Get a healing crystal now!" Not wanting their friend die, Nightwing and Zach, desperate, got out an red crystal, one capable of healing poison.

The two friends ran up to their poisoned friend, and held the crystal close to her body. At first, nothing happened, but, bit by bit, the crystal started glowing and began to heal the light blue dragon, whose body was beginning to get to its normal colour, to Virin's big sigh of relief.

"Well, she should be fine now," Virin noted, before motioning his violet friend. "Come, why not take some rest? You might need it." She only nodded, tired to even talk back.

As their friends walked to Virin's cave, which he told Minuette was fine by him, Zach and Nightwing exhaled relief as they looked at each other.

"Well," the former said, "that was close." The black drake nodded, glad his friend survived the poison

After he got Minuette and Amber to sleep in his cave, Virin came back out to his friends, and glanced at the old dragon, who cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Well," he started, "with that close comfort out of the way, let me explain the third part of the trial to you." The dragons cheered, exceptiong of Virin who was in thought. "This part, which will be a battle, will be in a stadium that has been used since two of the last World Protectors has ever been in the Lands."

The dragons murmured to themselves, excited to see this battle to get going.

"As only Garble and Virin, as I said before, will advance to this part, to battle against each other in a duel." The old dragon continued. The dragons cheered again. "They will battle in this stadium, inside the arena, to fight when one of them can't battle anymore, it'll be over, and the winner will have the title "Predator Hunter"." The dragons once again cheered, while the two rivals glared at each other, determined to win.

"Without any further explanations, let us walk to the stadium." Every dragon, both small and big, started to walk to the arena.

After a few minutes of walking, they all came to a stadium, which looked like an old-fashioned coliseum. Two statues of dragons overlooked the stadium, to Virin's another guess, was more of his ancestors.

They sure were popular, he thought. He had wondered who had even defeated them all those years ago, maybe if he asks his "father", he'll understand them better. After some few minutes of staring at his ancestors' statues, he walked with the dragons to the inside of the coliseum. The inside of it was pretty flat, a few rocks was in the battlefield, but nothing serious for him and Garble to fight.

Virin then noticed that his friends and the competitors from the trial, along with the spectators, was hovering to the stands. The only one who he noticed hasn't moved from his spot, was Garble, who had an intense glare at him, as if he was staring into his soul.

"Competitors, take your positions." The scarred dragon, who acted as the referee, called out. The two rivlas walked to their spots, readying themselves for any upcoming attack from the other.

[Insert song: Mother of All Battles here.]

Glaring at Virin, Garble started talking. "When this is over," he began, "I will finally have my reputation over you, for seeing how weak you truly are."

The young dragon only shrugged. "Whatever. You know those statues are my ancestors, right? Then it seems like I have the advantage, as how I am their descendant."

"Dream on." Garble growled viciously, still glaring. "Even if they are your ancestors, it doesn't matter now that I'm stronger than you, halfling."

Virin's eyes widened a bit. "Halfling?!" He roared. "That's it! You're going down!" He took his battle stance, with the tall dragon doing the same.

"Ready?" The scarred dragon called out. The rivals only nodded once. "Then begin!"

The two battlers roared and charged at each other, before colliding. Garble bit down at Virin's neck, causing him to roar in pain, but he returend the gesture by scratching the tall dragon's belly with his claws, making him to roar in pain as well.

Zach and Nightwing cringed. That looked like it had hurt.

Stepping back, Garble gave a tail swipe at Virin's feet, causing him to stumble to the ground on his back. The tall dragon then bit down his sharp teeth at the young dragon's left leg, making him roar in pain again, before his tail swiped the taller dragon's feet, making him to stumble to the ground as well. Virin got up, panting a bit as he stared at Garble's fallen body, whose eyes shot open and gave out a loud roar, causing the young drake to cover his ears.

The tall red stood up, glaring heatedly at his rival, who glared back. Around them, dragons started cheering for either of them, chanting their names all the while.

Whew, Virin breathed in his mind. He sure pack a bunch.

That he does, son. His father agreed. But, be careful. You don't know his true abilities yet.

I know, I know. Virin sighed silently. He gave out a roar and charged at his rival, who expected the charge, and stepped aside, letting a leg out, tripping the charging dragon to the ground, who spat out dirt, before glaring angrily at the tall dragon, who glared back.

"That was a dirty trick." Virin said, angered by the move.

"Hey, every dragon has a trick up their wings." Garble shrugged, uncaring. "You could've at least expecting me to do that, but you didn't, which means I will win."

"As if I care about tricks." Virin roared angrily at him. He charged again, only for a tail to swipe his feet to make him fall to the ground again, head down first, sliding across the dirty field.

"Hey, that was uncalled for." Nightwing yelled at the tall red.

Suddenly, a roar of rage caught both him and Garble off-guard, as the latter had little time to react as the young red gave him a charge at his back, before biting his tail, causing him to roar in pain. This made him to stare with a death glare around to the biting dragon, who still had his teeth onto his tail, not letting it go. Garble growled in a threatening way, before getting Virin off by punching him in the face, making him to stumble back in shock, but not long before he glared at him in anger. The tall dragon repeated his punch by giving a harsh punch to Virin's stomach, causing him to step back even more, holding a paw on the spot he felt the hit on.

Virin stared at Garble with a deadly glare, which was enough to scare either a pony or hydra. He opened his jaw, showing his teeth again. He ran up to bite down at Garble's tail again, but the tall dragon expected this from last time, punching him as he neared the tail, hitting him in the face again, causing him to stumble back.

Around them, dragons started to cheer louder for the show before them.

Garble gave his rival another punch, this time to the belly, making the dragon to hold a paw on it as he stepped back. Then, he did another punch to his rival, at the same spot, causing Virin to step back even more, but not before he gave another deadly glare at him. The young dragon fought back, holding his paws up to defend as the tall dragon made another punch to the face. Then, Virin swiped his tail at Garble's feet, causing him to fall to the ground, surprising him that he had fought back.

"Well," the tall dragon started, lifting himself up. "I wasn't expecting you to fight back. I only thought you were weak, but I guess I was wrong." Virin stayed silent, focusing on his opponent, mostly for the comment about being "weak", growling dangerously at Garble, who growled right back at him.

Virin then, not wanting him to be "weak", gave a roar of war and charged at the tall dragon with impressive speed, surprising his rival. With his speed, Virin got a direct hit to the belly on Garble, who stepped back from the sudden hit. Then, he gave a punch of his own, directing it right to the face of the tall red, who held his pained face as he stepped back from the punch. Garble, angered, lifted his claws up and gave a slight swipe at Virin's right wing, damaging it, causing him to roar in pain as he felt the sharp claws dig into his wing.

From her spot, Ember's eyes widened in shock, seeing her brother's wing being hit. "Hey," she called out, "wasn't that a bit brutal?!"

Garble only shrugged. "Everyone must do what they must in order to win a fight." He then looked at his panting opponent, who held his bleeding wing with a paw, head hanging down, as though motionless.

Why did he had to do that?! Virin cried in his mind. Now I have a bad wing!

Do not worry, son, he heard his parents. We will fix that up for you.

To everyone's, even Garble's, surprise, Virin's body began to glow as his bleeding wing was being healed within the glow. The blood on his stomach was also being healed. Then, his head slowly moved up, his eyes glowing with a multi-coloured light.

"How..." Garble began, bewildered by what happened to his rival's eyes. "HOW DID YOU MANAGE TO HEAL YOURSELF?!" He was obviously pissed by the now-healed dragon in front of him.

"Let's just say," Virin started, slowly walking over to his original spot. "I was treated by someone from within me." Garble also returned to his original spot, facing his somehow healed opponent. They were ready for round two of their duel.

"Well," Garble began, "whoever healed you, that doesn't matter to me. Let's just fight!" Virin gave him a smile, before opening his mouth. A ball of fire formed within it and he launched it towards the tall dragon, while it was engulfed in a fiery tornado, causing Garble's eyes to widen a bit, before giving a wicked smirk as he let the fireball tornado engulf his entire being, shocking their audience.

The dragons around them gave simultaneously gasps, shocked to see what happened to their protector's rival.

"Wasn't that a bit too much?!" A dragon exclaimed.

"Yes! It was!" Another agreed.

Suddenly, from within the fiery tornado, Garble's wings blew it away from creating a gust of wind, surprising Virin at this movement.

"How?" Was all Virin managed to say after his shocking state.

"Want an answer?" Garble mocked. "Then, I will happily oblige." He then shot a large ball of fire towards Virni, who gave a yelp of surprise as he felt the large fireball collide with his chest, making him to fall backwards to the wall behind him.

Nightwing an Zach winced at this.

"Ooh. He's gonna feel that in the morning." The former said solemnly.

"He's feeling it right now." The brown dragon replied, sharing a glance with the black drake.

Virin groaned as he lifted himself up to his feet, glaring heatedly at his rival, who gave a evil grin back at him. Then, suddenly, Virin started to glow the same colour as before, surprising Garble who then gave another wicked grin.

Ember, on the other paw, was more surprised to see her brother glowing again. "What's with him now?" She mumbled to herself.

Just then, Virin let out a screeching roar as he unleashed his newest attack, causing the whole stadium to shake from the unbelievable strength this power had. Garble, however, wasn't fazed by this and let the attack from his rival get to him as his body was a bit shaking, but remained unmoved. He, slowly, gave a smile that seemed to be of happiness, but were actually another wicked smile.

Why don't we show him our power? Garble asked his ancestors in his mind.

With pleasure, our descendant. One of his ancestors obliged. Then, from everyone else's shock, the tall dragon began to glow like the young dragon who didn't seem to be happy about this kind of power that's about to be used.

Garble let out a roar of war. "This is the end, Virin!" To the young drake's shock, bright red lightning was slowly forming between the taller dragon's paws, and it then fired toward him. Virin, who didn't have time to react, was engulfed in the lightning and let out a loud, painful scream.

...

Yawning, Amber slowly opened her eyes as she had heard that painful scream. From the corner of her eyes, she could tell that she wasn't in her home, but rather Virin's. She blinked in sudden surprise.

How come I'm here? The thought said in her mind.

She looked around, as she expected. She was inside her friend's cave, the one just beside the Dragon Lord's.

"Oh, you're awake." A familiar feminine voice cried out. Amber looked up to see Minuette walked up to her.

"How long was I out?" She asked the violet dragon.

"About half an hour." Minuette answered. "You were in bad shape, and we healed you with a healing crystal." Amber's eyes looked confused.

"What do you mean by "bad shape", Minuette?"

"A manticore had a lucky shot by infecting poison to your body." The violet dragon explained. "But, luckily, we managed to get it away with that green crystal that was specific with poisons, like an antidote Virin's friend, Zecora, made one of the times he was being treated by her."

"So, what was that pained scream I heard?" Amber asked. Minuette's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh no!" She blurted out. "The battle!" She helped the light blue dragon to her feet, and they both sprinted towards the coliseum where the scream was heard,.

...

Virin continued to scream as he felt his entire body was literally being torn apart from this attack.

Ember gasped as she saw how troubled her brother was. "Shouldn't you stop that attack now?" She cried out to Garble, who looked at her with an evil smirk.

"As before, everyone must do what they must in order to win a fight." Garble responded. "This is one of the examples."

The Princess growled as she looked at the antagonistic dragon.

Son, do not worry. Virin heard his mother while the attack continued. Then, a flash came to his eyes that had tears coming slowly, and heard a teenage boy's voice call out.

"Maximum Dragon!"

From that, to Garble's noticeable surprised look, a tornado of flames surrounded the red dragon who, again, screamed in pain.

"Pathetic." The tall dragon spat. "You don't stand a chance." Virin continued to scream, but suddenly stopped as he felt the lightning around his body got away. He, with his speed, disappeared for a split second, before hovering right in front of Garble. "Hm?" Was his questionable stare.

"So, you think you're more powerful than my family's strength?" Virin asked, glaring at his rival. "Think again." He punched Garble's chin, nearly getting some of his teeth to fall out. The tall dragon fell back on the ground a few meters away from the young dragon, who hovered back to the ground.

Nightwing, Zach, and even Torch and Ember, winced at this.

"Ooh." Zach said.

"He's gonna feel that in the morning." The black drake corrected the brown drake's last statement, looking at Garble's fallen body.

From their spot, Amber and Minuette, who had just arrived, widened their eyes as they saw that the battle had already started.

Getting up, Garble gave a death glare at his rival, who smirked in triumph, snarled, "You'll pay for that." He let out another roar as his body began to glow again, this time stronger than the other time.

Virin's smirk of triumph then turned to a frown as he stared at the tall dragon's now-glowing body. What's going to happen now?

Be careful, son. His father warned. He's going to do something big.

"Let's try and start with this." Garble threw back his wings and shot them forward as a green, sharp cut flew towards the shocked Virin, who tried to block it with folding his wings to cover his chest and head, but was futile as the cut sliced through his left wing, causing him to roar in pain. Then, unexpectedly, Garble jumped and stomped the ground hard, creating the ground to shatter as the rocks flew upwards. Virin roared in pain again as he felt the rocks smashing into his body.

"Virin!" Ember cried out.

"Hang in there, buddy!" Nghtwing called out.

Garble then got his tail around and it fired a red beam that shot towards Virin, who tried to block the attack, but it was another futile as he roared in pain again. Then, Virin's body began to glow again, as if to call in an emergency attack.

"Alright," Zach called out. "You go, Virin."

Virin let out a screeching roar as he unleashed an attack that got his strength back up. His body glowed again, and let out his previous attack that had made the arena to shake. The attack made contact with Garble, but he just let out an evil laugh as he wasn't fazed by this strength. Virin's mouth formed an multi-coloured beam and launched it toward the tall dragon, who just stood there as if it was nothing. Virin let out another screeching roar as he let out his strongest move, his body glowing white instead of the previous colour. This power was quite powerful, as it could be seen by every creature within and outside their homes, telling them not to mess with the dragon race.

The dragons in the stands let out gasps of shock, as they hadn't seen this kind of power that their protector could have. He was something that they hadn't seen, and this was proof to that.

"Whew." Nightwing exhaled. "That sure was a powerful attack." His friends, Ember and the Dragon Lord only nodded, speechless by this power Virin held within him.

Virin panted as he had used every bit of his power in order to be equal with his rival, whom was covered in smoke, hoping that did the trick. But that thought was broken, as soon as the smoke cleared, Garble was seen...still standing on his feet like nothing had happened at all.

"What?!" A dragon cried out.

"He's still standing?!" Another added, just as shocked. Even Azam, Ogyn, Ranger, the gray and white dragon was shocked to see Garble on his feet, even after those powerful attacks.

"H-How?" Virin struggled, shocked to the very core as he stared at Garble's still body. The tall dragon let out an evil laughter.

"Is that the best that your ancestors' power can do?" Garble asked. "That was nothing compared to the kind of power that mine has. It's incredible."

Virin's eyes widened a bit, mostly for the fact that Garble had ancestors that were dead like his own. His rival's, however, was more into power than compassion and love unlike his own.

The young dragon gritted his teeth, angry that his attacks did nothing.

Remember, young dragon, he heard his grandfather's wise voice, Anger is not the issue in battle.

Virin sighed in his mind, agreeing with his grandfather's words. He was right. Anger was not the issue a dragon should use in a fight. He glared heatedly at his rival, who glared evenly back.

"Let's continue, shall we?" Garble asked in a mocking tone. Virin stood in silence, knowing what the answer was.

[Insert song: New Divide by Linkin Park here.]

Garble and Virin charged at each other. The two clashed as few coloured lightning was around them.

Virin reared his head back. "You're a fool, Garble."

"Admit it." The tall dragon said. "You love power." Then, his body glowed in another multi-coloured light as his mouth was forming with another multi-coloured beam, and fired it towards the young drake. Virin responded by having the same colour around his body as his mouth was also forming a multi-coloured beam, and launched it. The two beams collided, equally powerful as some of the sparkles fell over the spectators of the coliseum.

"Three attributes in one attack?!" Nightwing shouted as he held onto his seat. He knew that the battlers had used half of the attributes there were in the world.

"Man, that power was beyond epic." Zach added in a shout. The spectators looked back at the battle, seeing that Virin and Garble was glaring deeply at each other.

"Virin and Garble is charging this battle full on." Ember said next. "But, even with the strongest of moves has to work to stand in game. As I can feel that the world is just in Virin's paws."

As the two was glaring at one another, Virin started to smile, sensing this battle is just what he needed.

"Ah ha. Not bad, eh?" He asked his rival.

"But, now try... this." Garble's body started to heat up. "Consecutive of Fire Attacks!"

"Wait!" Zach cried out in shock. "Did he say consecutive of fire attacks?!" The dragons around them, even Garble's gang, gasped in shock.

Everything on his body started to form small balls of flames as he stared at Virin's still body. Garble's tail got around the side of his belly as it started to form a ball of flame as well. Then, not seeing it coming, the balls of flames grew bigger, even those on the tip of Garble's wings, and began firing at Virin, who yelped in surprise as he was hit by a few fireballs, even tried to deflect some with his left wing. Virin glanced back at Garble, and flapped his wings as he advanced towards his rival, who was continuing firing at him with the fireballs from his paws, tail, and wings.

Virin dodged the attacks as he advanced to the tall dragon. "Now I'm getting this. The way for the wings to work, is when you started flapping them, you can do basically everything with them, even when it comes to evading attacks." He gave a slight snicker after the last one.

"Way to go, Virin." Zach called out.

"You can't dodge this!" Garble opened his mouth, shooting another multi-coloured beam, which sliced through the ground of the stadium. Virin, however, dodged by hovering into the air, firing three fireballs at the tall dragon, who took them as though they were nothing.

"Can't I?" Virin questioned, before firing a bright red coloured beam at his rival, who also took that attack as though nothing happened at all. The fireballs around everything on his body was growing back as Garble launched the attacks again, firing everywhere around the arena of the coliseum. Virin, however, managed to dodged every single one as he fired two fireballs at Garble, who took them like nothing. The two rivals collided with each other, making some dirt and dust fly around from the ground.

"Virin, wait." Nightwing tried to call, but it was futile as his friend didn't hear him.

"How's it going, son?" Torch then asked. Virin was now worthy for him to be called son for the Dragon Lord, even after six long years.

"This is dangerous." Virin responded. "The more we fight, the more power we're generating, and I'm not sure we can control it."

"Who cares?" Garble then said. "I'll break apart the whole planet, if that is what I have to do!" His gang and the spectators gasped in shock.

"You're mad!" Virin yelled

"That is why I would always come ahead of you." The tall dragon growled, clenching his right paw. "Why waste time when victory is in my grasp? With unlimited power, the Infinity Diamond and the Universe is mine."

"Wake up." Virin shouted in desperate. "That power is dangerous."

"It's unsenstal." His rival shrugged. "Your hesitation will crush you in this battle, and with my ancestors' power, I will wipe you out." He let out a roar.

"You're twisted." The young drake muttered, before reminding him. "The dragon race don't fight for power, we fight for peace. Thinking like that will destroy the world. I won't let you get you away with it." His mouth started to form another multi-coloured beam, and he fired it towards Garble's stomach. This attack was strong enough for him to slide across the ground for a moment.

"Way to rip." Zach smiled, seeing that his friend could just win this battle.

"Wait." Amber called, as she and Minuette came down to their friends. "He's not done yet." The males looked at her in confusion, wondering what she meant. To prove the point, Garble's wings began to flap.

This caused the four friends' jaws to drop.

"I don't believe." Nightwing cried out. "After taking that much damage, he's still able to fly?!"

Fly high, our descendant. The tall dragon heard his ancestors call in his mind. Garble flew up above the ground and shot multi-coloured lightning down at Virin's still body, who felt the attacks as he cried out in pain.

"Virin, intercept." Zach called out.

"I was planning on it!" Virin called back, taking to the sky. As he flew past Garble, he looked back down. "I can see my cave from here," he joked as he continued to fly up.

"An battle in the air, eh?" Garble smirked in eagerness. "My pleasure." He flew after the young dragon.

"Brother," Ember muttered as she saw the two rivals flying up in the air.

"Just don't fall back down." Zach said in a mutter.

Up in the sky, Virin had just flown through a cloud that quickly shattered as he came through. He looked around, seeing no sign of his rival yet.

As he continued to look around for any signs of the tall dragon, his mind went back to his ancestors. For all he had known about them from his now-father, Torch, his Water ancestor, Gomruss, had control over the ocean and watering clouds, unlike those pegasi he had been hiding from when a new season arrived. His sister and father were always confused as to why he would hide when those pegasus were setting the clouds on the sky, he answered that he just didn't want them to see him, as he wasn't ready to see a different kind of species just yet. They had understood it, as not all were ready for a different species than their own. Gomruss' mate, Monirret, assisted him in having the best weather there could be, as she was a Wind dragon that was ordered with the responsibilities of the weather seasons.

His other ancestor, Qonot, was a master of the Shadow element, as he was able to cease any darkness away, same with his two brothers, Chargim and Jithade. The former was the one that had the responsibility to keep the shadows in balance with his brother, Jithade. Their mates, Ussys, Eza, and Coadhynus, were just like them. The mate of Qonot would occasionally help him with keeping the darkness in balance, as she was more focused on getting the darkness in people's hearts in balance. Chargim's mate, Ussys, would often assist him in his missions of having the shadows from the Underworld on an even level, but that proves to be just near impossible as war between humans and dragons continued to rage on the planet Earth. Jithade's mate, Coadhynus, were always beside him whenever there was a disturbance in the entire world, which proved to be a huge responsibility unlike the others, just with help of the king of the Olympian gods, Zeus, who was gladly enough to help them with their problems at any time.

Virin's Wind ancestor, Meirget and his mate, Aghoany, were responsible to keep the other seasons in order. The former was responsible with Autumn and Spring, while his mate was responsible with Summer and Winter. Although they had their responsibilities, they were rarely seen when the sky was clear from clouds, only glimpses of what they had looked like were the only thing they could know about them.

His Light ancestor, Toldryrith, was, as his ability names him, responsible for keeping the light in every heart and the world in balance. Though not much was known about him, all that was known, was that he kept the light in order. His mate, Qaphoss, was more often seen unlike her mate. She was in better form as she liked the attention that was drawn onto her, it wasn't the same as Toldryrith.

Virin's Lightning ancestor, Azzess, was gifted with the responsible with using the thunder and lightning alongside the king of the gods, Zeus. Unlike the others, Azzess was a well-known dragon that had been recognized as far back as the first war between humans and dragons. This meant how much he had aged over the years on Earth. His mate, Notenae, was also a well-known dragon just as much as her mate. She was also gifted with the one working alongside an Olympian god.

His Earth ancestor, Frituray, was another well-known dragon in the First Age of Dragons, as well as the Golden Ages, meaning he must have been an very old dragon from keeping the Earth stable. His mate Cagaenth, was known just as much as him. She lived through the First Age of Dragons, as well as the Golden Age.

Coming out of his trains of thought, Virin looked around, searching for his rival.

Careful, son, his father warned. He could around here somewhere.

"Looks like I scared Garble off." Virin replied aloud. "That's sweet." A loud roar was heard from the distance above. He looked up just in time to see his rival flying at him at a high speed. "Got him. Scroll patrol, twelve o'clock high."

"If you think you scared me off," Garble roared, "then you got another thing coming." His mouth started to form flames.

[Insert song: Burn it to the Ground by Nickelback here.]

Hang on, son, his parents warned in his mind.

Don't worry. Virin then called out loud. "Fire Armour!" An armour of steel-like flames surrounded his body. Then, Garble fired his attack at Virin, who prepared for what had come. His fiery armour repelled the attack, but he front body was now covered in a red-hot fire breath attack.

Hold on, grandson, his grandfather said in his mind.

Virin tried to dodge by flying to the side, but Garble redirected his attack in the same direction he was going.

It seems you have greater mobility with your wings, Garble telepathically noted. But you can't max my fire power.

"Get over of yourself." Virin shouted. He flapped his wings and flew right behind Garble, who stopped his attack in order to turn around. Then, from his palms, balls of flames started to form. Virin threw the fireballs at Garble, who took them head-on as if they wouldn't do much damage on his body.

"Epic hit." Virin gave a small cheer.

But, son, his mother then reminded, that wasn't enough.

"Are you kidding?" Her son asked aloud. "He's totally wiped." He looked at the now-smoking dragon that was in front of him, but the tall dragon flew straight out of the smoke and roared.

"Think again, halfling." Garble sneered. The wing tips of his wings then started a black and purple ball of darkness.

"Oh!" Virin gasped. "That's trouble."

It's a gravity space ball, his grandfather agreed. If you get sucked inside, you'll get crushed.

Virin growled. "So not happening." The tips of his wings started to glow up again, and he started to direct his attack right in the middle of the black/purple ball. "Now!" He then launched two fiery shots from his wing tips that hit right on the ball, and started to make it smaller. "Solid." Then, the ball of darkness exploded into smoke, giving a surprised expression on Garble's face.

"Brace yourselves, everyone." Virin glanced down at the coliseum as he yelled that. "Because things are about to heat up." His body began to be surrounded in a colourful flame-like form as he made his way towards his rival. "Woo. Flame on."

"Oh. I'll cool you down." Garble's body started to glow yellow as his wing tips began to form the same red-hot fire that he used just moments ago. His attacks collided with Virin head-on. "You will bow before me!" The two clashed with each other, struggling to push either of them. "You can't push this kind of power!"

"You want power?!" Virin shouted. "You got it!" The two continued to struggle as they tried to push back and forth.

From the ground, Azam, Ogyn, Ranger, Zach, Nightwing, Minuette and Amber stared at the two struggling dragons with admired expressions.

"Pulverize him, Garble!" Ranger yelled up.

"Virin, don't give in!" Nightwing shouted to his friend.

Then, like meteors, both Virin and Garble began to fall to the center of the arena and crash-landed on the ground, causing the dragon spectators to cover their eyes from the dusts and dirt that spread from the crash.

As they looked back at the battle, all they could see was two piles of rock covering the two battlers. Virin, however, with some effort, got up to his feet as he shook some rock off his body.

"Brother," Ember called, "you okay?"

"I think so." Her brother responded. "But, what the heck just happened?"

"It seems, both of you have had a more powerful strength than I've ever imagined," Torch then replied. "And because of that power, you crash-landed back in the stadium."

The scarred dragon, whom was the referee, looked from Virin and the pile of rock in front of the young dragon.

"And, the winner is..." He was cut off as a colourful light came from the pile of rocks at the side where the tall dragon had stood from the beginning of the battle, destroyed the rocks as it came straight at Virin, whom was right now preoccupied.

"Virin, INCOMING!" Zach quickly yelled. The said dragon gave a yelp as he barely managed to dodge the beam that was headed in his direction. From the pile of rocks, the tall dragon stirred up on his feet as he shook the dust off him.

"I want to annihilate you!" Garble snarled at Virin, before ordered aloud, "Unleash me, ancestors. Don't hold back."

We won't. His ancestors answered. It's time to show these compassionate dragons everything we've got. Garble's body then started to glow with every element the world ever had.

"All the elements?!" Virin cried out in shock. "I didn't know it was possible without the Cores."

It shouldn't be. His family agreed, before calling to the tall dragon's ancestors in a challenging way. Alright, rivals, we're ending this battle now. Then, to Virin's screeching roar, his body started to glow with the same colour as Garble. The ground underneath them started to shake as the rocks on the flat arena began to levitate from the ground while Virin and Garble growled at each other. The roof tops of the coliseum started to demolish into nothing.

Ember noticed this, along with Nightwing. "Wow," the former breathed.

"They sure has some serious move-swings." The latter agreed, staring at the glowing dragons in the center of the arena.

---

With a certain purple unicorn...

Walking towards the palace, the unicorn stopped in her tracks as she was feeling an extraordinary power from the far distance as she looked in the direction of the source.

"Why am I sensing such raw power?" She muttered to herself.

---

Back with the battle...

Virin and Garble was both grunting and groaning as their bodies was now beginning to light with a few colourful electricity around them.

"Their energy levels are out of control." Torch noted in alarm, causing his son's friends to look at him in alarm as well.

Zach looked back at the battle. "Virin, it's too dangerous. Chill it down."

"I can't, Zach." The young dragon struggled to call back.

"Why?"

"This is my only way to end our rivalry." Virin replied. "You know I'm right."

"Virin..." Was the muttering response, before Zach sighed. "Okay. Kick it up."

"Bah!" Garble spat. "You may be afraid of this wonderful power, but I'm NOT! I want MORE!"

Are you sure? One of his ancestors asked slowly. Your body may not be able to handle it.

"I don't care." Garble replied aloud. "He is going down." His gang gasped in shock and noticeable fear. He was uncaring with the fact that he would be destroyed by all that power?

Just then, a large ball of flames formed in his mouth as a colourful ball formed in Virin's as the two stared at each other for a moment.

I can sense my victory. Garble telepathically said in joyfulness. I can taste it. You've may have maxed my power, but are you willing to use it?

Virin telepathically replied, Stop bragging, and keep fighting. Then, they fired their attacks at each other, which made the two powerful attacks collide, causing a massive wind to the spectators.

From the strong wind, the two rivals struggled to hold the wind back as they roared. The wind, however, proved to be too powerful as they were flown back.

"WHOA!" Virin cried out as he was flown back to the wall behind him.

"WHOA!" Garble cried out as he was flown back to the wall behind him as well.

This caused the spectators' jaws to drop at the incredible amount of power that was used.

"What was that?!" A dragon cried out.

"That was the strongest amount of strength I've ever seen!" Another added.

"And it is a draw!" The scarred green dragon finally announced, noticing that both competitors was out.

Getting up, Virin called out, "I'm not done yet."

The dragons let out simultaneously, "Huh?!"

"I will show you no mercy." Garble added as was getting up as well.

"The battle has already been decided." The scarred dragon reminded them.

"But our rivalry is not." Virin gave a slight sneer at the green dragon, who reared back from the sneer.

"So, what if the battle results has been made? That doesn't matter to me. I want to fight! Garble glared at the young guardian. "What do you say, Virin? Are you brave enough to finish this?"

"Since you have shown almost no honour in battle," Virin started, "why should I fear you outside of one? Come. We will decide this once and for all." The two charged at each other, making their watchers gasp in sudden surprise.

"Huh?" Both of the rivals' gangs cried out as the Virin and Garble collided with each other.

Garble headbutted Virin, whose tail smacked into his side, before he bit his neck, causing him to roar in pain. Virin's tail then swiped at Garble's feet, making him to loose his foot, spin around, and land on the ground face-down.

The spectators winced at this.

Virin and Garble charged at one another, colliding with their bodies. The former had slid back a little.

"Garble," the young guardian said, "I understand your hunger for power, but you underestimate what the dragon race stand for. Please give up before it's too late."

"Of course you want me to give up," Garble snarled. "So that you can get the Infinity Diamond, and become the Ultimate Being!" He threw Virin to the wall to the right, causing him to grunt in pain.

The tall dragon reared back. "Isn't that all part of the all-so dragon spirit, to be the best that I can be?" Virin slowly looked up at him. "Who cares if I have to be a power-hungry one in order to claim more power? I am merely fulfilling my family's legacy, and I will not let you stand in my way!" Garble's tail smacked into Virin's face, causing him to be blown to the side.

After getting up, both Virin and Garble started to punch at each other's faces, causing them to grunt in pain as they side-glared at each other. The two stepped back from each other a bit.

"Alright. Take this!" Virin launched a fireball at Garble.

"Take this too!" The tall dragon launched a fireball at the young guardian as well. Both took the attacks right to their bellies, causing them to fall to the ground near the walls behind them.

Grunting, Virin then asked, "Have you had enough, Garble?"

"I got... plenty more." The said dragon struggled to respond.

"C'mon, Virin." Zach then called out. "If you get up first, you'll win."

Hearing this, Azam called to the tall dragon. "Get up first, Garble. You can do it."

With much struggling effort, both battlers tried to stand up. Virin was near with falling down, but stood his ground. Garble, however, wasn't so lucky. He lost his footing, and fell to the ground as his body was totally worn out.

The scarred dragon cleared his throat. "Let me rephrase that. The winner... Virin!" The said dragons' friends cheered on him as he took deep breaths as he gave a weak smile at hearing his victory. That was, by far, the longest fight he had ever fought, and he was proud of it.

His friends ran up to him, while his sister gave him a soft embrace.

"You did it, Virin." Ember congratulated.

"Well, I knew you were gonna win. No doubt." Nightwing admitted, smiling at his friend.

"That was the best battle I've seen." Zach commented.

"Same with me." Amber added as she smiled with happiness.

"You fought quite a fight today." Minuette noted, looking at Virin's small wounds.

"I did got some help with it, of course." Virin reminded them, giving a weak smile.

"So did Garble, I see." Ember said, glancing over at the fallen body of the tall dragon, who was struggling to stand up, but not without any help from his gang.

Getting up, Garble gave a death stare to his rival who had dared to defeat him and his ancestors power. How could this puny halfling manage to beat that level of strength? That was impossible! No other creature, not even those Alicorns, would be able to beat that.

"Don't think that this is over just yet, halfling." Garble sneered with a snarl at the young guardian, who looked at him with a stare that managed the tall dragon's. Turning around, the tall dragon left the coliseum to have some time of healing himself from this sudden loss.

"Garble..." Virin whispered, staring at the tall dragon's departing figure.

"Ah, don't worry." Nightwing reassured. "He'll get over his senses, and when that time comes, you two will be friends."

"I won't think so lightly about that," Ember pointed out.

---

In the library of Canterlot in the Ponyland...

Twilight was entering her house. When she opened her door...

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TWILIGHT!"

She lost her balance, and landed on her rump. "What is this?"

Cadance was the one who answered. "Silly Twilight. It's your birthday party, of course. Did you forget you turned sixteen years old today?"

The purple unicorn was silent for a moment, before she breathed, "...Wow. I can't believe I forgot my own birthday. Thanks everypony!"

"You're welcome, little sis." Shining Armor replied, and proceeded to hug his sister.

"Thanks BBBFF!"

"I must say, you have become a beautiful mare, Twilight." A motherly voice noted behind her.

When Twilight turned to see who it was, with a grin, she hugged her mentor, Princess Celestia. "Thank you, Princess Celestia." She thanked, as everypony bowed to her.

The Princess chuckled. "Please, there is no need of bowing. We're all family here."

Everypony nodded and started to celebrating. Twilight's parents also gave her a hug. The party was nice. Her mother prepared all her favourite dishes and snacks. She was so to have everypony she cared in her party... well, almost everypony she cared. She started to feel a little sad. Not wanting to spoil the party with her mood, she proceeded to go up to her room's balcony.

Noticing, Cadance, a little worried, asked Twilight Velvet, "Mrs. Velvet... is Twilight okay?"

Velvet gave a sad sigh. "I'm afraid she is not entirely okay. Even now, she still thinks of my sweet nephew, Moon."

Cadance was silent for a bit, before asking, "She hasn't let him go, right?"

"No..." Velvet slowly said. "And I'm afraid she will never do it. Since the day we lost him, she took her studies more seriously, claiming she would never lose another pony or creature close to her again. She even is overprotective with little Spike as well, but I'm afraid she is too focus studying that she doesn't hang out with the "few" friends she has. Some nights, I can even hear her crying and whispering his name.

"I'm worried, Cadance. I'm worried my little angel will end alone..." Tears started to pour in her eyes. "Why did our little Moon had to die?"

Cadance, noticing Velvet crying, hugged her, and replied, "I can't answer that, Mrs. Velvet. Even I, sometimes, ask me that question. I'm pretty sure that many things would be different if he were alive. But I can assure you he is. With all of us, we loved him and he loved us, even if that strange energy of his was there. I hope I hope someday Twilight will find the strength to finally move on as her mother did. We can only pray and hope."

Velvet nodded and kept hugging the Princess of Love.

Meanwhile, Twilight was already on her balcony. Gazing the stars, she whispered, "It's a beautiful night... right Moon? Like the ones we used to watch as kids. Princess Celestia always made an extra effort the nights she knew you were going to watch." Small tears started to form in her eyes. "Please be happy up there."

Even if she knew he was in the night sky, she was wondering who had used all that new and strange power from the land of dragons. Could it be his spirit, or something? If only she could get all the answers, she would know for sure.

"Twilight, dear." She heard her mother shout from below. "It's time to cut the cake. Come down sweetie!"

"I'm on my way, mom!" She called back. Twilight started to walk. But, one more time watching the stars, she prayed, "Moon... if you're up there, please... keep watching over us... watching me from Elysium, and remember... I will carry your memory forever." She then proceeded to reunite with her family, not knowing that, somewhere in the far distance of space, a faint glint of a winged creature was seen in the night sky.

---

In unknown location...

Space. An endless void of dark matter. This place was the very source of the Universe's creation from God the Father, the one who was thought to had created everything: the stars, the galaxies, the dark galaxies, the worlds. Everything was thought that he had made as he was born from nothing but darkness, until a light shined through that darkness.

In the center of the unknown location, a winged creature, which, if you looked closely enough, looked like a dragon, but its scales was different from any other dragons. It had skeleton scales, giving it a creepy appearance. Its eyes were purple, filled with the strongest dark magic that hadn't been used in eons. Its wings was attached to its arms, making it also different from any other winged creatures. Its tail had a shape of an sword that looked quite sharp. Its underbelly was a white colour, same was the rest of its body.

For many years, he had been fighting the World Protectors and the Gods of the planet, Earth. But, after more than thirty years of struggling with them, he was finally defeated, and his darkness and dark magic was sealed in the deepest part of Tartarus that the Ancient Greece Gods imprisoned him in.

After millenniums of anger, hatred, pain, darkness, and rage, he had did it. He got to the very center of the Universe that God the Father had created.

The skeleton dragon stopped as he was mere meters from two orbs.

"Yes," he said in a dark, pleased voice. "I finally made it to the center of the Universe. Amazing." He examined the orbs. The one to the left was the brightest orb that had ever been seen from the worlds. The one to the right was the darkest orb that had ever been found.

"There they are," the dragon continued, "the Infinity Diamond and the Darkness Orb." He flew a bit closer with his wings closed. "They keep the Universe in balance. If I can absorb these two energies." His wings opened, after which he let out the evilest laugh. "I can finally become the strongest, the Ultimate Being, and a God to all those fools who would dare to oppose me, if those damn warriors didn't seal me in that cursed place of Tartarus for many years, and being moved to the deepest part of the soul of the descendant of the World Protectors, I would've have had my destiny fulfilled quicker, so I could conquer Earth and that world of Equestria"

He got a bit more closer to the orbs, but more to the darkest one. "The power. Feel the glorious power. More." His body began to glow. "Excellent. The infinite power is growing inside of me... Wait..." He was now being closer to the dark orb. "The Darkness Orb's power is greater than I thought. No. This can't be happening. I'm being overloaded by the negative energy of the Darkness Orb."

He tried to break away from the dark orb, but it didn't feel. "I can't control the balance. Too much. Too much. No. The positive energy is out of control. NO!" The energy from the Darkness Orb blasted the Infinity Diamond into a dimensional rift, sending it to an unknown location.

---

In Virin's dream...

Feeling the sudden vibration, Virin got his body under control.

"What's happening?" He wondered to himself, before seeing a rift in his dream world was being torn apart. "Darkness! It must be my darkness doing!" Just then, a being made entirely out of darkness appeared through the crack of his dream.

He barely dodged in time as it moved in for the kill. "What is a Dark Being doing in my dream?" He pondered just before evading another strike, but was hit from a redirected attack, causing him to grunt in pain all of a sudden.

Virin and the Dark Being struggled with each other as they fought. The red dragon tried his best to reason.

"Dark One, listen to me." He was desperate. "The power of the negative energy is pouring into you. You must stop now." The Dark Being, however, didn't listen, as its eyes glowed for a moment.

"His powers are increasing," Virin noted, before kicking the dark one away. "Take this!" He shot a ball of fire at the Dark Being, who didn't have time to react as it was engulfed in flames as its body now vanquished from sight.

Waking up, Virin let out a small gasp as his head was covered in sweats. He looked around, sighing in relief that he was the only one in his cave for now. But, something in his guts was telling him that something from somewhere doesn't feel right...

---

...Wow. That was, by far, the longest chapter that I've ever written in this story, and on Fanfiction. That battle scene took a lot out of me. Can you see any references of the battle's second and third rounds from Virin and Garble's fight, along with their rivalry? I will take two weeks of break from the story now, in order to think of ideas, putting them into words, and see through them.

Also, this is a note: a poll. I've have had it on my profile for sometime now, but you can choose which of the antagonists in this story is Virin's hardest battle, even with those in the future.

Next time: A new mission! Four months after the trial, Virin was elected by his father Torch to check out an disturbance in the Griffin kingdom, as one of Garble's evil cousins has been seen, even if it had been defeated eons ago. What could go wrong?

Please review/favourite/follow, your choice.

Until then my friends!