SilverCharger ran through the hectic streets of his home city. The dragon overhead spat fire as it glided by, to it they were nothing more than ants to play with as he pleased. Ponies left and right ran away from the flames. One of them, however, tripped and fell as a nearby wall began to collapse. Silver dashed by and grabbed the little colt by the nape, throwing him on top of him. Silver ran towards whom he identified as his parents and handed him over to them.

"Go now, the guards will handle the situation." He commanded, they did not dispute him and fled. From behind him came Applejack and Ranbowdash.

"What's the plan?" Applejack asked as she looked up at the dragon which was circling the sky above them.

"See the sentries? They will do their best to slow the dragon down, once he becomes immobile the unicorns will use their spell to send it back home." Silver said, his cold voice barely peering over the screams around them.

"What about everyone else?" Rainbowdash asked as she saw the burnings burn around them.

"The other guards shall see to their safety." Silver said as he began to walk forward. He noticed his blue friend stare at the houses and buildings. "Do not worry, the buildings here are made of stone for a reason, they will not burn down quite that easily." He said with a half smile. A guard came running towards them, Applejack noticed it was the same one that Silver had demoted the day they entered the city.

"Captain sir! Near 50 percent of the villagers have made it to the underground safe house." He said as he tried to catch his breath. Silver patted him on the shoulder and dismissed him before turning to his friends.

"I assume you still want to help as part of the army?" He asked

"You betcha!" Applejack exclaimed as Rainbowdash flew quickly around them.

"Enough with the honorary stuff, what should we do?" The blue pegasus was clearly itching to get into the action. Silver nodded to them and began to give his instructions.

"Alright then. Applejack, you shall join the city guard and help get all the villagers to the safe house."

"I'll have it done lickety split." She said before running off over some rubble.

"And you Rainbowdash, join the other pegasi who should be forming rank as we speak, you all will be trying to corral the dragon in the city, if it gets out the havoc it will bring to ponyfolk will be devastating."

"Don't you worry tall, dark and gruesome, if that dragon tries to leave I'll send him flying back with its tail between its legs." She said before dashing off. Silver stood there a moment and looked around, when she saw that he was alone he walked close to a wall and leaned on it. His knees were about to give in. Silver looked to his side and saw his reflection on a broken glass nearby. In that reflection he saw how his eye was hidden away and slowly he raised a hoof to pull the hair away. Truth be told, the day he got the scar, he became terrified of dragon's so much so just thinking about the red dragon rampaging he could feel his knees buckle.

Silver clenched his teeth at how weak he looked, this was definitely a side of him he did not want anyone to know about. The dark stallion shock his head and stood up strong, determination back in his eye, he ran over the flames and into the fight.

Bloom ran to the window as she heard the roars echo over the city, Twilight was close behind and they both gasped as the sight of flames scorching the small buildings down below.

"We have to get to Dragon's Bane." Bloom said as she turned around to grab some books she had on the desk. Twilight's mane was pushed back as the pegasi scouts flew close by the window. They were trying to intercept the red dragon which had gotten bored from the mayhem it caused. The purple unicorn saw how they flew close to the large dragon's wings to throw off the wind currents that were vital for the large reptile to get over the tall walls of the city.

"Do you think you can use it now?" Twilight asked as she joined Bloom in gathering some books that they were readying only moments before.

"I'm not sure, but I've got to try." They got what they could carry and ran out to the chamber from the day before, oblivious to the unicorns, Spike flew by the window down to the city streets. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but when saw that dragon, a strange feeling awoke inside of him. It was different from the herd that he formed part of a few years ago. It was like some dormant instinct within him. He hit the ground with full force, landing on all fours. Not far from where he was, two guards ran to a nearby house. It was in flames and screams could be heard from inside, however the door had a debris in front of it and they couldn't seem to get it out of the way. Spike flapped his wings and flew in through a window and stepped on the burning ground. The heat didn't seem to bother him at all, which didn't surprise him, after all, he had taken a swim in lava before.

"H-Hello?" Spike said hesitantly into the smoke filled house.

"Help! Help us!" Somepony screamed from around the corner. The purple dragon moved some fallen wooden pillars from the way with ease to his surprise. It seems his physical strength had also improved through his growth spurts. He finally made it to where the screams were coming from, however, he wasn't sure of HOW he could help, after all, they would only run from him since he's a dragon. He didn't have ample time to think of a plan so he did what he could instead. With his new acquired strength he cleared the way to a window before finally making some headway to the trapped ponies. With his claw's he broke through the only wall between him and them.

"Oh by Celestia's name, thank you!" The ponies said as they climbed through the hole in the wall, however, they didn't see anypony. All that stood infront of them was a path to an open window, with the wind blowing the window's door back and forth. They didn't question it, they just took the chance to get out. They were greeted by guards who seemed to have been looking for something. Spike watched from up above as the ponies made it out safely. He gave out a sigh of relief, but was quickly brought back to reality by the roar of the dragon. Again, his pupils thinned when his ears heard the loud roar echo around.

Rainbowdash made it to the top of the walls to see somepony give out orders to platoons of pegasi.

"The dragon is getting more and more agitated, it will without a doubt start to get more agressive against us pegasi. We need to be more cautious!" Another pegasus barked from before the pony who seemed in charge.

"You know very well what's at stake if we fail and everyone knew the risks when they signed up. We Cannot allow it to get back out of the city." The chief said as he saw the red dragon breath fire at the squad that were messing with his wings trying to steady him for the sentry bows.

Rainbowdash looked over at the other pegasi fall, their wings too scorched to fly anymore. It was then she began to feel a little queasy at her stomach. She gulped as her wings folded into place, fearing that the same fate would befall her. Applejack, who was on the roof trying to make a path into a house from above, saw the pegasi fall from above her. She looked around and saw rope ponies were using for drying out clothes, without a second thought, she ran for it and used it as a lasso from back home. She quickly started to spin the rope over her head as she took aim, though there was no way she could save all three of the pegasi falling, she could definitely save at least one. She made a quick judgment and threw the rope over to the one pony she was closest to, which was also the one closest to the ground. The lasso made it around the torso of the pony and she pulled on it. Her strength was just enough to make the pony change directions and was now flying towards the orange pony. Applejack caught the pegasi and watch as the other two still fell to their doom.

Seeing her friend perform such feats brought some bravado back to Rainbowdash. She held a valiant expression and raised her wings. The chief behind her took a notice of her just before she took flight. The force behind her first wing thrust pushed ponies back and the cheif looked in awe as Rainbowdash left a rainbow colored trail behind her. She continued to gain speed as she made her way to where the falling pegasi were. Her eyes watered as the wind resistance pushed against her magenta eyes. She extented her hooves out and caught the last two pegasi just before they made contact with the ground and flew them to where Applejack was.

"Woo-wee Rainbowdash, you made it just in time." AJ said as she tended to the pony she had lassoed. Rainbowdash held a look of concern at the scorn wings of the pegasi and asked.

"Think they'll ever fly again?"

"Not too sure, but I betcha' they'll at least be glad they're alive."

Silver ran at full speed towards one of the sentry towers. He planned to man one of the bows and add to the chance of hitting the dragon. As he got close to the door way, the dragon flew over head. As if it knew what he was thinking, it blew fire into the entrance and closed it off. Silver looked around and saw a manual lift soldiers used to get ammo to the top of the wall in a hurry. It had a crate already at the top and an idea popped into his head. Silver ran to the lift and bit the rope that was holding the crate up there. He kept a tight grip on it and kicked the level they used to manually pull the rope. His hoof broke it and the crate fell, carrying Silver all the way up to the top. He let go as he neared the top and stepped onto the wall. His sudden entrance startled some soldiers but Silver walked right up to a cross bow as if nothing had happened.

"Soldier, remind me to add more manual lifts to other parts of the wall." Silver said as he manned the cross bow and took aim. He shot the first net at the dragon who seemed to had eyes on the back of his head. It quickly turned and scorched the net, neutralizing it. The dragon and Silver made eye contact and their gaze didn't break for a good minute.

"Soldier." Silver said with a stoic tone. "Load another net."

Bloom and Twilight made it to the chamber of Dragon's Bane. Both of them looked a little exhausted from running and they dropped their books on the floor. Gasping, they walked over to the pentagram.

"All the 'stars' of my family have always stood at the center when they activate Dragon's Bane." Bloom said as she made her way to the center circle to stand where s many ponies before her had.

"Have you figured out what you need to do?" Twilight said as she used magic to lift a book to her eye level to read some more. She glanced back and forth between the book and the writing on the pentagram.

"No, but I've got to do something..." Bloom said as she closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow and the pentagram lit up in turn. The five altars at each edge of the pentagram seem to shake. Bloom had never noticed this since she always closed her eyes when she struggled to activate Dragon's Bane. Twilight looked in wonder as the whole chamber was illuminated by Bloom's light. The walls shook as something was about to be set into motion, but Bloom's strength gave out and she collapse, dimming pentagram until the light completely faded. Twilight rushed to her friend's side who smashed her hoof on the ground, angry and frustrated with herself.

"Why?..." Blooms asked as her eyes watered. "Why can't I use Dragon's Bane?..." Twilight wasn't sure how to comfort her friend as she saw her breakdown in front of her. She herself didn't know what to do now.

Silver took yet another shot at the dragon who evaded it. Even Silver began to show some frustration as he ordered another reload for his bow.

"This is the last net sir." The soldier next to him said.

"Well I guess I'll have to make it count." The dark stallion said as he took a tight grip on the large cross bow. He squinted and took aim yet again, but hesitated to take a shot, after all, none of the others had worked before, even when the dragon looked in the other direction. It was then Silver noticed a small projectile make its way towards the dragon, but upon a closer look, it wasn't a net. It was...Spike?

Spike flew as fast as he could up towards the red dragon, and though he paled in comparison in terms of size, he had some strange confidence. With a roar of his own, Spike used his claw to trace along the side of the dragon, wounding it slightly. The red dragon groaned out and faced his small opponent. It gasped for air and exhaled a scorching flame that even Spike could barely take. Burned, Spike began to descend a few meters downward, but was caught by Rainbowdash who helped him get stabilized in the air again.

"You ok Spike?" She asked as she saw him shake his head to recompose himself.

"Yeah..." He said as he grabbed his head. "I will be as soon as we stop him." Rainbowdash caught a small glimpse of Spike's eyes. It gave her a weird feeling, but she brushed it off. Spike flew back up and sped by the dragon, again landing a long claw strike as he came by it. What he lacked in fire power he made up in mobility, at least that's what Silver had told him the previous night. The dragon took aim at Spike again but its aim was thrown off when Rainbowdash kicked it on the jaw, just barely missing Spike. The blue pegasus and dragon alternated between landing hits and watching each other's back and the dragon grew more and more frustrated. Gotten fed up, it decided to simply shot flames everywhere around him. Both Rainbowdash and Spike did their best to avoid the flames but they could no longer get close to it to attack.

Silver still kept his aim on the dragon but didn't take the shot. He wasn't sure it would hit and he wouldn't waste it unless there was a 100 percent chance it would hit. Applejack, by this time, had made it to Silver's location.

"We managed to get all the villagers out." Silver didn't break concentration and simply responded with nod. Applejack looked over at the fight and started to wish she too could fly. Silver wanted to take the shot plenty of times over, but he had an itching feeling the dragon would just burn it like before. It was at this moment that he came up with an idea.

"Say." He began. "What's your outlook on stupid plans?" Applejack was a little surprise by the question, but she smiled and responded.

"I think they work more often than ponies give them credit."

Rainbowdash had flown circles around the dragon, but even after the long fight it seemed like they were barely making a dent on it. Caught a little off guard, she come to halt when a wall of flames blocked her path. Before she knew it she was surrounded by fire and her fear of scorched wings grew ever closer. Panicked, she looked around to see if she could find a way out. She saw a small opening and she went for it. Her wings had never carried her so fast before, but just as she went through the opening she came face to face with the dragon who had its mouth open, ready to fire. Rainbowdash froze in both shock and fear. She could see the flame rise up from the dragon's throat and her eyes reflected the bright flames. It was then Spike flew and positioned himself in front of his pegasus friend. He used his own body as a shield to keep the scorching flames off of Rainbowdash. Spike could feel his scales start to break and his eyes squinted in both strain and pain. He himself took a deep breath and shot out a flame of his own. His fire, unlike the dragon's, was green, and it had a different composition. It was somehow able to pierce through the dragon's flame and wounded the dragon from the inside. The red dragon grabbed it's neck and chest as it shook in pain. Spike was unable to fly and fell, Rainbowdash flew down and caught her friend and just in time.

Silver had used RD and Spike as cover to hide the net he fired which was heading straight towards the stunned dragon. As if by some miracle, the dragon regained its composure and slapped the net away with its tail and glanced over at Silver, but to his surprise, Applejack manned the cross bow. Silver was actually on the dragon's tail. He had gotten Applejack to not only shot the net, but him along with it. The moment the dragon had slapped the net, Silver had grabbed on. The dragon was still internally scorned and was oblivious to Silver climbing up his back. He had a knife in his mouth and once he reached the dragon's shoulder blades he jumped and stabbed the knife into the wing. He slid across it and cut a huge hole in the dragon's wing. The dragon shrieked in anguish and fell down along with Silver.

Silver had a blank look on his face, he had not thought his plan all the way through and was falling along with the dragon. Spike, who was in Rainbowdash's arms saw Silver fall along with the dragon and broke free of the pegasus' embrace. He flapped his wings as much as he could and made his way to the free falling stallion. The unicorns who had been in stand by rushed out. They didn't want the dragon to hit the ground so they began to cast their spell. Spike had barely gotten a hold of Silver when the unicorns fired their return spell. It hit the falling dragon but Silver and Spike were caught in it as well. In a flash the all disappeared and the city became silent and still. All stood quiet and shocked, what were they to do now? Next Chapter: Making a Choice Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 14 Minutes