Luna, Umbra and I watch Daruk sail through the air. The other Doragonags were staying a bit spread out now. I whirl around as Emeris comes bursting through the door. His helmet’s off and his blonde hair is a sweaty mess. “Raiden! We gotta talk!”
I raise an eyebrow in concern. I hadn’t even noticed Emeris had left. Luna looks at me and gives a nod. Emeris and I race through the halls and before I can ask him what’s going on, a loud humming fills the hallway. We stop at a green door that has golden light shining under it.
Emeris pounds on it furiously. “Lucy! Open up! We just want to know what’s going on!”
The door cracks and shoots into the room, splitting into hundreds of pieces and circling with several other pieces of furniture. My jaw hangs open as I see why Emeris was so freaked out.
In the middle of the room, Lucretia’s skin has a strong, golden glow to it. She floats effortlessly three feet above the ground, as if she was submerged in a pond. Her hair gently sways around her head, flowing in every direction. Her eyes are completely enveloped in the same golden energy. The air around her looks like it’s coated in some kind of dust. Her mouth doesn’t move, but we can hear her just fine as if her thoughts were ours.
“I’m sorry, I was resting and started getting this strange sense. It’s as if I can see all life at once and be able to tell different types of creatures from each other. I quickly learned to distinguish ponies from humans. The Og Nag are a bit...difficult. I mostly go by size.”
Emeris and I both just keep staring. She had gone from telekinesis, to telepathy, then controlling Og Nag and now she could see lifeforms?! Where was this going to end? I could feel her crawling around in my thoughts. It was both horrifying and yet strangely relieving.
“Don’t worry Raiden, I can’t go digging around in your mind. I can still sense your feelings though.” The aura she has, slowly starts forming shapes. I quickly recognize Canterlot and the battle raging outside.
“Initially it was just a feeling in the back of my mind, but I found that the more attention I gave this feeling, the more details I got. The more I focus on an area, the more I learn. I watched Zaran and the Og Nag retreat, so now I’m left with confusion as there’s a few anomalies I can’t identify, like these creatures here.” Several larger shapes form, sailing through the air, occasionally clashing just outside the palace.
Emeris crosses his arms. “That’s Daruk and Zaran’s own Og Nag dragons we’re calling Doragonags. Daruk’s on our side...for now.” Lucretia nods then we see new details start to appear to the North, as Daruk’s fight fades away. “Now this is where I get confused. I sense an incredible power here, but there’s some kind of...spherical energy blocking my ability to see it. It scares the hell out of me. I’m assuming it’s Zaran, but there’s another presence too. It literally makes my tummy flip upside down when I stare at it for too long. Then there’s this other strange feeling.”
The dark sphere she shows us fades and we travel to a distant land. As her visual map moves, it traces mountains and forest, scrolling across the ground. The amount of detail she could show us, would make her invaluable. Is this what Zaran is holding back for? Just how strong was she? Far to the east, she shows us some strange ball of energy that bounces around angrily in some kind of spherical shell.
“I can’t even take a guess as to what this is. It feels...neutral. But there’s-”
We hear a loud angry roar from outside, followed by the palace shaking briefly. Lucretia looks off to where the dragons are. “It’s Daruk, he’s having issues.” Emeris and I race for the door. Lucretia raises a hand towards us.
“Wait! Please, we need to discuss this! I...I think I can release this...creature. I’d have to dive inside of it and make...changes. I’m sorry I can’t explain what, but I don’t know what to do!”
Emeris and I exchange expressions of uncertainty.
Emeris lets out a long sigh. “We...we don’t know what that is, but since Zaran isn’t going for it, perhaps it could be a good thing?”
I roll my eyes. “Exactly, we don’t know what it is. Maybe Zaran isn’t going for it because he either can’t get to it or doesn’t know about it.” Hooves clicking in the door make me turn around. Luna and Celestia stare at this trapped ball of energy.
Luna slowly shakes her head. “Sister...do you think it’s-”
Celestia stomps her front hooves excitedly. “It’s Discord! It has to be! Is this where he’s been trapped all this time?!”
I take a slow inhale and look over Celestia cautiously. “Princess, as you admit, you think it’s this Discord. What if it’s not? Can we seriously afford another threat or something that makes Zaran more powerful? What if it’s another creature we don’t know about?”
Luna purses her lips and looks at her sister uneasily. “He...does have a point. I mean I honestly do think it’s discord, but if we’re wrong…”
It makes me uncomfortable how neither of the sisters seem to care about Lucretia’s current powers. Was this normal in their world? Have they seen more than this? Do her powers come from this land? We had so many questions but no real answers unless Starswirl is willing to show up again.
Celestia straightens out her posture. “Lucretia, I want you to do whatever it takes to free Discord. I’m convinced it’s him. We need his chaos magic now more than ever!”
Lucretia nods cautiously. “I want to remind you, there are changes I have to make to him and I don’t know what they are. There’s this part of him that keeps him in this prison. I have to dissolve that part of him and feed him my own energy. After this, I’ll need to recover again.”
I hold up my hands angrily. “Wait wait wait! First you wanna release him, now you’re talking about dissolving part of him and you don’t even know what it is?! What if it’s the ethical part of his brain? Or his chaos magic Celestia mentioned? That and didn’t you say he’s had loyalty issues? I mean he just tried to backstab you with Tirek and you’re wanting to let him out of this little prison? Will he even help us? You’re asking us to give up Lucretia, a huge resource over a bucket of assumptions! This is insanity!”
To my horror, everyone looks at me like I’m being crazy. I can see Emeris restraining an eye roll. Luna looks at everyone nervously and Celestia narrows her eyes at me.
“Raiden, I’m sorry but I must insist.” She turns back to Lucretia. “Do what you have to do.”
Lucretia nods uneasily and gives me an uncomfortable look before tilting her head back. She glows so brilliantly, my eyes start to sting. She gently floats to the ground and collapses. Emeris immediately scoops her up and rushes her out of the room to the infirmary. Celestia keeps her stern demeanor as she exits the room, leaving Luna and I to stand there awkwardly.
She gently gets on her hindlegs and places her hooves on my chest. “I...I’m sorry about that. I know you’re just looking out for our best interests, but it can sometimes be rather grating where we can never seem to have any hope.” I'm about to interject but she places a hoof on my lips.
“My love...please. It’s nothing personal. All the ponies have begun to lose hope. Even after we spread the news of Daruk, they still don’t want to have faith after loosing Lancercore and the Wonderbolts. We need something to believe in.”
I blink rapidly at her. “But at what cost? We can’t afford things to be worse.”

Luna stumbles for words. “We...we just need this. Please.” I swallow my pride and bend over and give her a quick kiss. The palace rocks again and this time, we hear a high pitched squeal from outside. Luna’s horn flares and we appear on the balcony.

I look around eagerly. “Where’s Daru-” A large, black lizard flashes by the balcony with a Doragonag on top of him. They hit the ground and kick up a massive cloud of dust. Daruk lands on his back with his adversary biting wildly at his face. Daruk reaches up and rips out the monster’s throat. When he kicks off the beast and gets back to all fours, I see his front right shoulder oozing yellow blood.

He looks around angrily as the other three Doragonags descend on him. He shoots forward and rams the first creature in the chest, sending it spiraling back. He then whips around, knocking over the opponent to his right using his tail. The third Doragonag lunges at him with claws forward. Daruk grabs his claws then has just enough time to latch onto the beast’s jaw with his. The creature wriggles violently to get free. Daruk’s iris’ glow briefly then a jet of flame explodes out of the Doragonag’s skull. It collapses lifelessly on top of Daruk once the flame stops.

Daruk pants wildly and looks over as one of the creatures gets off the ground and lunges at Daruk’s face. It sinks its teeth into the top part of Daruk’s skull and twists. Once again that high-pitched howl of agony fills the sky. Daruk jerks his head loose and that yellow liquid pours from above both his eyes. He throws off the corpse above him and slashes his attackers face, blinding it. The second Doragonag is back on its feet and latches onto Daruk’s back. He howls in pain again and they spin in a circle as Daruk tries to throw the beast off.

Daruk grits his teeth, plants his front claws into the ground and digs his rear claws into the stomach of his attacker. It unclamps its teeth and howls. Daruk spins around and slashes his throat with his claws, digging almost into its entire neck. Daruk whips his tail around and sends its head flying across the ground. His final adversary dashes at him with claws forward. Daruk gets on his hind legs and grabs the thing by the throat. It gets a few clashes into Daruk’s arm. As if he no longer feels pain, Daruk’s eyes flare up again and in a massive jet of fire, the beast’s head is ash. Its arms go limp and everything above the shoulders floats to the ground like feathers. Daruk angrily throws him aside and sits on his haunches, panting desperately.

Umbra runs over to him with bulging eyes. “Daruk! Are you okay?!” Daruk looks up at her and gets a condescending look on his face. “I’m fine.” Emeris jogs out onto the balcony and skids to a stop when he sees Daruk. “Holy crap! What happened?!”

That familiar arrogant voice fills the air as Zaran can’t help but antagonize him. “Looks like the little lizard bit off more than he can chew. Kind of sad really, they weren’t terribly hard to make and that was all it took to defeat you.” Daruk’s left eye twitches and he gradually gets on all fours. Umbra gently pats his shoulder with her paws. “Daruk, stop! This is what he wants!” Daruk reaches forward and shoves her back on her haunches then stands upright on his hindlegs.

His muscles bulge as he takes in a deep breath and lets out a roar that makes everyone on the balcony recoil and cover their ears. Daruk takes step after angry step towards Zaran. Luna lands behind him on the ground. “Daruk please! This is Zaran, you do not understand how powerful he is! You have nothing to prove!” Daruk keeps his right eye shut and shoots her a nasty look over his shoulder. It was the same look I gave when combat felt like my only purpose in life. I saw Daruk for what he truly was: a warrior who knew nothing else but combat.

He was a creature raised on hate and fear. For him, not fighting felt like his soul was disappearing. There would be no stopping him and the result was going to be terrifying. No one else but Emeris and I could see the look in Daruk’s eyes. One of terror and mindless purpose. He didn’t know how to make friends. He didn’t know what his future was. He didn’t have hobbies or hopes or desires. Deep down, he wanted friends and a purpose, but he just can’t relate to anyone.

There’s nothing anyone or anypony can say. He was driven by the same violent instinct only warriors have. In the back of his mind, he desperately wants an excuse to back off without feeling like a coward. Often times in the Taraskan army, the soldiers who seemed the most lethargic towards others, wanted affection the most. Expressing that leaves you vulnerable to rejection though. Vulnerability for a warrior was something we could never do.

His upper body and face show an unshakable confidence. His tail twists and bends like a snake though, same way a dog might when they’re feeling anxious. Too angry, too stubborn and too ignorant, we were about to see just how powerful Zaran really was. Did he need Daruk weakened or was it just an insurance policy? To my left, Umbra’s eyes bulge and she looks between Daruk and me terrified, quietly begging for orders.

I motion for her to come closer and can’t help but recoil slightly when she almost runs me over. She kids to a stop just a few inches from my helmet. “Stay back, but once the fight starts, you get in there and keep him alive, no matter what he says.” She nods gratefully and flies to the top of the palace immediately.

The town of Canterlot was a few thousand feet from the palace. Devoid of life, except for a small pony who stands confidently in the middle of its main street. His fur was a faded tan and his long auburn mane flows gently with the wind. How he was able to be so calm with a three-story tall dragon marching towards him, was unnerving. We had never seen what Zaran’s limits were, but I doubted he’d be bluffing a fight with a giant lizard that never backs down.

Luna and I follow him as she tries desperately to talk him down. “Daruk you don’t need to do this! It’s what he wants! Please stop!” Daruk doesn’t even acknowledge her. I’m too far away to see the look on his face, but he almost seems giddy when he spots Luna. His hoof taps the ground and my eyes bulge. This is what he really wants, he wants Luna, not Daruk. I grab her around the waist, and she looks over her shoulder at me in wild confusion. “Raiden, what are you doing?!”

I start pulling her back and she starts thrashing. “Luna...Zaran wants you for some reason. He knows you’re not foolish enough to go out there, but he knows he can at least lure Daruk!” I whisper urgently.

Her eyes go from me to Daruk with bewildered indecisiveness. Daruk’s tail sways gently overhead, still scrunching up briefly. near the front and back. Luna’s mouth stumbles for words and she still struggles to get out of my grip. “Daruk...please...don’t do this! I can’t keep losing friends like this!” Her voice is a pitiful sob. She goes limp in my arms and watches Daruk reach the town. Emeris is at my side and plays with his gauntlets. “I mean...what if Daruk is still a match for Zaran? Surely if he could easily beat Daruk all this time, he would have attacked by now right? It doesn’t make any sense that he keeps sending in the Og Nag. That being said, this isn’t going to work as a bluff.”

Daruk stops roughly ten feet from Zaran, his shadow engulfs the house to his right. He could easily swallow Zaran in a single bite, yet the little pony doesn’t flinch or even tap nervously. If anything, he almost seems annoyed Luna isn’t there. Daruk slams his tail into the ground, which grabs Zaran’s attention.

Daruk’s voice is back to its arrogant, angry tone. “Well little pony, I’ve called you out. I must admit, I’m not impressed.” Zaran stands there silently and Daruk slams his tail down again with annoyance. Daruk inhales for a brief second to let out a jet of flame and in that single moment, before it can even register in my mind, Zaran rockets forward and slams a hoof into Daruk’s stomach. Daruk sails above the ground, with his front legs dangling uselessly. Eventually he hits the dirt, rolls several times and kicks up a huge cloud of soil and yellow liquid. He lays there for a full moment, convulsing slightly. He struggles to get on all fours, then vomits that yellow blood of his all over the ground.

A small fog of smoke wafts up from the ground under Zaran. Worst of all, he’s not even panting. He still stands there, almost disappointedly. Luna goes stiff and Emeris’ arms hang at his sides. Even my own face is a mix of terror and rage.

Emeris pants rapidly then swallows once. “Oh shit…” he mutters.