Chapter 31

"Spike." Rarity screamed his name even as the dragon roared, drowning out all sound. Turning its attention to the army, the dragon banked its flight and dove towards them with fire leaking from its mouth as it gained speed.

"Artillery!" Steadfast shouted, snapping Rarity's attention from the dragon. She turned to Steadfast and shouted for him to wait, but she was too late.

"Fire!"

Thousands of multi coloured balls of energy rocketed into the sky. Many were off course, passing harmlessly by, but the bulk found their mark. The dragon screamed as the energy balls exploded against its hide. A few struck its face but did little to deter the beast.

"Prepare to fire again!" Ordered Steadfast.

"Wait!" Shouted Rarity as she jumped in front of Steadfast. He turned his fiery gaze from the sky to her. "Are you mad?" He asked. A shadow passed over them, drawing their attention back to the sky.

Somewhere down the line, a pony shouted.

"Shield!"

A multi couloured canopy shield appeared over the army just as the dragon sprayed green fire. The flames washed over a portion of the shield, searing the air. The shield held but many directly underneath burst into flames from the heat alone, their screams were heard over the roar of the flames.

"General, I know that dragon! He's my friend!" Rarity shouted. The dragon ceased its fire breath and beat its wings to gain altitude, each flap sending a jarring thud through the air. Steadfast was about to respond when the dragon suddenly clapped its wings to its body and dropped from the sky. Hundreds screamed in terror as the dragons immense weight broke through the shield and landed amongst them with a tremendous quake.

Soldiers who could broke and ran. Some tried to fight back against the dragon but were either crushed by its claws or tail or incinerated by fire from its maw. The smell of blood and charred meat hung heavy on the air.

"General, please!" Pleaded Rarity, tears still in her eyes. Steadfast grabbed her forcibly before shouting out another order. "Pull back! Pull back!"

He pulled Rarity close. "Listen to me." He said having to raise his voice over the sound of the dying. "That thing is slaughtering our soldiers." He grabbed her head and forced her to look in the direction of the dragon as it rampaged through the lines. "If we do not stop it we will all die!"

Several Pegasus squadron took to the air and circled the dragons head, attempting to draw it back into the sky.

"Sombra's manipulating him. He'd never kill anypony willingly." Fresh tears spilled from her eyes. "He's only a baby!" Pleaded Rarity."He's only a baby dragon." She added quietly.

"Bah!" Steadfast said in anger, letting go of Rarity's head. Free from his grip, she slumped to the ground, eyes still on Spike. He moved in front of her, shouting to all those who could hear him to fall back.

"But he might still be reasoned with." Shouted Rarity. "If I could talk with him!"

A Pegasus guard managed to nick the dragons eye with his sword, drawing its full attention and ire. With a mighty sweep, the dragon unfurled its wings and took to the sky in pursuit of the Pegasus who flew with all haste.

Steadfast watched the dragon's jaws snap shut around the Pegasus in a spray of blood. "Im sorry Rarity, truly I am, but your friend is gone. The only thing we can do now is kill him before he claims any more lives." He turned back to her and placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "Its what your friend would want."

Rarity moved to slap his hoof away but stopped as Steadfast words sank in. "Your right." She said solemnly. "Spike would want to be stopped." She took a shaky breath and put on a determined look.

"Ok, General. Im with you. What's the plan?"

The sky was briefly illuminated as the dragon sprayed searing green fire over a group of Pegasus. Their blackened bodies fell from the sky as the others scattered. "We hit it with everything we got. Signal for the Pegasus to pull out!" Ordered Steadfast.

Rarity fired off several colourful beams of light from her horn into the air. Moments later the surviving Pegasus squads broke away from the dragon.

He augmented his voice with a spell. "The rest of you! Focus fire on the dragon! Do not stop until that thing is dead!"

On his orders, every Unicorn still alive fired off spell after spell at the dragon. Fire and electricity blanketed the sky as the spells exploded around or on the dragon. Glistening purple scales and black blood fell like rain, clear signs that the dragon was wounded.

The dragon screamed in pain, whipping its tail and swinging its claws in an attempt to swat the energy balls away. It writhed and twisted, doing everything it could to avoid the death cloud that surrounded it.

It screamed again when several energy balls struck it's left wing, blowing a sizable chunk of wing membrane and bone structure off. With its flight capabilities crippled, the dragon began to spiral towards the ground.

Steadfast stood below, illuminated in the light from the barrage with a mad gleam in his eye. "Bring it down! Bring it down! Bring it down!" He shouted over the thunder of the artillery and screams of the dragon.

Moments later the dragon slammed into the ground not far from Steadfast's position in a huge plume of fire and dust, sending a tremor that could be felt for miles around.

The barraged halted and a cheer erupted at the sight but died abruptly when the dragon could be seen moving through the dust cloud.

"Damn things still alive." Muttered Steadfast. He raised his right fore hoof into the air. "Fire at will!"

Again, thousands of energy balls flew through the air and fell around the dragon. Large chunks of earth and stone were propelled into the air by the force of the explosions. The dragon screamed and thrashed in its hole, spraying huge streams of fire in all directions.

The barrage continued for several minutes until finally the dragon ceased its screams.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

An odd calm settled over the area as the last explosions died out. The dust kicked up by the artillery hung close to the ground, obscuring their sight.

"Clear the air." Ordered Steadfast. A few Pegasus quickly cleared the dust with their wings, revealing the full extent of the damage done.

The dragon lay motionless in a large crater surrounded by burned chunks of earth and glistening purple scales. Large holes had been blown into its hide from which black blood oozed out. Its wings stuck out at odd angles, clearly broken and all but stripped of its membrane.

"Did we get it?" A nearby soldier asked.

"Looks like it." Answered another.

Suddenly the dragon let out a hollow moan as it tried to move.

"Guess not." Said another.

Another moan escaped the dragon as it attempted to stand. It managed to push itself up with two legs before one gave out with a loud crack, sending it sprawling out in the dust. It tried once more but managed only in flopping to its side.

Steadfast looked to Rarity at his side. Her face showed no emotion but her eyes told a different story.

The dragon moaned again as a visible tremor went through its body. Seconds later it began to shrink, slowly at first but with growing speed

"We best hurry." Steadfast said. Rarity eyes jerked towards him as he motioned for her to go. Without a word, Rarity dashed towards the dragon.

"Spike!" Shouted Rarity as she ran, pouring all her energy into her legs.

Steadfast sighed sadly as Rarity ran towards the dragon.

By the time she reached the crater, no longer was there a fully grown adult dragon lying amidst the crater but rather a small baby dragon.

"Spike!" Shrieked Rarity as she ran to his side.

"Spike." She said again as she fell to her knees next to him.

He lay on his back in a pool of his own blood, his battered body struggling to breathe, each breath barely more than a ragged gasp laced with blood.

Tears fell freely as she reached a hoof out to gently caress his head. His eyes flew open at her touch, fearfully looking around until they rested on her.

"Ra....ra...ity...." Spike garbled out past the blood flowing from his mouth.

"Yes." She whispered, voice cracking. "Im here Spike."

"Rar...." A large bubble of blood burst from his mouth, splattering Rarities face. His chest began to heave violently then became still.

Rarity slowly pulled his still body close to her while her own began to shake. She lowered her head and sobbed into his blood covered chest. Her tears mixing with the blood causing it to run anew.

"Well done." A deep voice said. "Well done indeed."

Rarity stopped her sobbing, lifted her blood smeared face, and gently placed Spike on the ground, closing his eyes as she did so. She then slowly got to her hooves and drew her sword, leveling her gaze and blade at the dark stallion in black armour and flowing red cape standing a few feet away.

"King Sombra." She said in a voice that demanded vengeance. "You head is mine."

Sombra's eyes flashed red as a dark smile spread across his face. "Is that so?" He said mockingly.

His shadow congealed into a black puddle that moved in front of him before rising up to form a narrow shaft made from black crystals. Grasping the shaft in his magic, he slowly pulled it from the puddle, revealing a curved crimson blade fixed to its head.

He spun the crystal scythe over his head once before holding it lazily at his side.

"If you wish my head, come and claim it."