One thing that was new compared to our previous races was that the finish wasn’t on the ground. In fact, the entire second half of the race was going to be in the air. That meant that Ivy would have to tag us while in the midst of a takeoff. It was a tricky enough maneuver to pull off on its own, but with the complication of other riders getting in the way, it was going to be a trick and a half not crashing into somepony.

Nilak and I wouldn’t get airborne until just before Winx reached us. That way we could save energy for our part of the race. At least with the open plains on all sides we’d be able to keep track of the girls all the way through their half of the course. I didn’t know what we would have done if our vision was limited to the section of track directly before the ramp. We’d be forced to hover for most of the race until Winx could pass it over to us. That would have been far more difficult because then we’d have to finish our portion of the race having drained a large part of Nilak’s energy reserves just staying airborne.

We got into position on the far side of the ramp, our eyes trained on Winx and Ivy at the starting gates.

Don’t worry Silver, Nilak assured me with a slight shrug of his shoulders, Winx can handle moving around and between other dragons. She’ll be pushing for first or second without any trouble at all.

“It’s not the regular racers I’m worried about,” I said as my gaze fell on Whiteout and Shield Fang. “It’s the ones who can actually keep pace with them and even out-strip them.”

He chuckled, well with our little secret weapon, I imagine we can afford to let them have a slight lead over us during the second half of the race.

I rolled my eyes, “I hope you’re right big guy, because otherwise all of this would have been for nothing and a lot of wasted gold.”

He glanced over his shoulder at me, but his answer was interrupted by the starting horn. Our gazes locked onto Winx and Ivy as they raced out of the start, weaving through the other dragons like they weren’t even there. They gained a quick lead over the rest of the pack, but Whiteout and Shield Fang were hot on their tail. For the next several minutes we watched as they battled for the top three spots, each overtaking one another only to be slipped past on the next turn. I could feel a cold sweat running down my back as they slowly drew closer, and my grip on Nilak’s saddle tightened with each turn they made.

“Ready Nilak?” I asked as Winx and the others came around the second to last corner.

He pumped his wings in answer, lifting off the ground just as Winx sprinted around the final turn. She had a slight lead on Whiteout and Shield Fang as she pounded up the ramp, and that was all Nilak needed to flick his tail in so Winx could tap it with her nose.

Nilak took off like a shot as Whiteout and Shield Fang took to the air as well, while Winx dove out to the right to avoid getting hit. Whiteout fell in on our left as the dragon’s shoulders leveled off, and I caught the pearl dragon smirking at Nilak.

Nice armor Nilak, her voice held something akin to respect, did you just get it today?

I could hear the grin in his voice as we rounded the first turn, wouldn’t you like to know?

Her eye ridges rose slightly in surprise, ah, so it’s a secret then. Well, her neck straightened out as she pushed ahead a slight bit, I hope it was worth it.
We were neck and neck through most of the second half with Shield Fang close behind us. I could see the finish line coming up quickly, and I figured it was now or never to try our newest trick.

“Ready Nilak?” I yelled over the wind.

He nodded, too busy keeping pace with Whiteout to answer. I sent a quick smile towards Black Beauty, who raised one eyebrow in a
questioning way as I placed my hoof over the pressure switch.

“It’s been nice racing with you girls,” I yelled over to them, “but I think it’s time we won this thing.”

I activated the armor and saw both sets of eyes widen as the armor quickly folded itself back into its original teardrop form. I picked it up from Nilak’s body and made a quick check below us so it wouldn’t land on somepony’s head.

“Let’s kick this into overdrive!” I yelled as I tossed the armor over Nilak’s left shoulder.

The change was immediate.

I had to hold onto the saddle to keep from flying off as Nilak shot forward like a bullet, leaving a very shocked Whiteout and Black Beauty in our wake. All I could hear was the wind in my ears, but I could see the crowd going nuts as we screamed towards the finish line. All of a sudden, there was a buildup of pressure on my ears, and I winced as it continued to climb until it felt like my head had been put in a vice. I didn’t know what was going on, but just as we passed the finish line, I got my answer.

A ring of mist erupted from the tip of Nilak’s nose and spread out rapidly as a titanic boom shook the stadium. It must have shocked Nilak as much as it had me, because he immediately fanned his wings and nearly sent me tumbling over his shoulder at the sudden deceleration. He came in for a landing so fast that his paws left shallow channels in the dirt as his claws tore up the grass. It took us almost the entire length of the finish area to come to a stop, and even so, we only made it because Nilak had turned sideways as we skid along the ground. Had we still been pointing straight ahead, Nilak’s upper body would have been inside the grandstands with me staring directly into the faces of the spectators.

A hush fell over the stadium as Whiteout and Shield Fang crossed the finish, though the eyes of everypony present were locked onto Nilak and me. Even Ivy and Winx, who had known something like this could happen, were trying to pry their jaws off the ground as they slowly walked towards us. Ivy had Nilak’s armor resting on her back, but she seemed to have forgotten it was there after the spectacle we had just put on.

Finally, it was the announcer who overcame his shock first, “I, I can’t believe what we’ve just witnessed! Fillies and gentlecolts, we just saw the first rider and dragon to ever break the speed of sound! Let’s hear it for today’s winner, Silver Spirit and his dragon Nilak!!”

The resulting roar from the stands was enough to make my head spin, and I had to cover my ears as Thunder and Black Beauty walked up to us. Black Beauty’s eyes were wide with both shock and pride, and I could tell she was smiling behind her mask because the corners of her eyes were wrinkled.

She leaned in close and yelled in my ear, “That was amazing! I’ve never seen anything like it! You have to tell me how you did that!”

I nodded, given I couldn’t really do much more in the thunderous cheers of the crowd. Thunder slapped me on the back with one hoof, his grin reaching from ear to ear, and led us out of the stadium as the other racers trickled in one by one.

By the time we got back to Headquarters in Firebrand, Black Beauty and Thunder had managed to squeeze the whole story out of me, mostly because Ivy wouldn’t shut up about it. Needless to say they did some hard thinking once they got over their initial shock. I had no idea what it was they were thinking of, but I could feel it in my gut that Nilak and I wouldn’t be the only pair that could go supersonic for very long. Mostly because now that we could use this super speed in a race, Black Beauty and Thunder had to come up with something to make themselves faster, or they’d never stand a chance at the Draconic Heaven.

Black Beauty growled as she fell back on our couch, “I give up! I can’t come up with a single way that we could match your speed with the time we have left!” She punched the back cushion halfheartedly as she stared at the ceiling, “I know we need to figure out how to match your trick in order to even stand a chance at the Draconic Heaven, but my mind is coming up with blanks!”

Thunder tapped his chin with one hoof while he sat on the edge of the table, “Maybe we could,” he shook his head as he stared at the floor, “no, that would never work.” He started drawing things in the air with his free hoof, mumbling to himself as he worked over different ideas.

I glanced at Nilak with a smile, “Looks like we’ve made the pros a bit nervous.”

He nodded, his eyes locked onto Whiteout and Shield Fang, who were huddled in the far corner with their heads close together, I can understand how a new skill like ours could make them nervous, but seeing them so worked up is so out of character. I’m not really sure how to react to them being so serious like this.

Yeah, Winx added as she curled up at Ivy’s hooves, it makes me feel weird when they don’t act like their usual calm and collected selves. Her gaze moved over to Shield Fang and Whiteout, and I thought I saw a quick flash of jealousy as her eyes narrowed just a bit.

“I wish Smit could make me a set of armor like that,” Ivy whined as she reached down to rub Winx’s ears with one hoof, “But he said that he needed to get more of the automatic motion parts before he could make another.”

“Which is a problem for us as well,” Thunder said as he looked up from his air doodles, “given that we can’t use the same technique to increase our speed. Even if we could get a set of armor like that, it’d take weeks to strengthen our dragons enough that removing the armor would make any kind of difference. Frankly, you’ve put us in quite a bind Silver.”

I felt a flash of guilt run through me before I could get it under control, “I didn’t mean to throw you guys off your game this badly. I just thought having a secret weapon would be useful during the Draconic Heaven. I never imagined that it would blow up like this.”

Black Beauty scoffed, “You think this is bad? You should have seen what it was like when Blaze Longstreet came up with that crazy roll maneuver of his.” She tilted her head back to look at Thunder, “You remember that one, Thunder?”

His lips curled slightly as he leaned back and rested his hooves on the tabletop, “I sure do. It was back when I was still a rookie. Blaze was at the top of Circuit, but there was a stallion named McGregor or something like that who thought he could steal the top spot.”

“Ooh, I remember this story!” Ivy said as she sat up straight, “He tried to cut Blaze’s dragon with a hidden knife during a race. He managed to wound the dragon a bit but couldn’t put him out completely.”

Thunder nodded, “And so, in the heat of the moment, Blaze used a move that no one had ever seen before. He had his dragon roll over his opponent while in the air, using the momentum to slingshot past him as he came back down on the other side.” He smiled at Winx’s wide eyes, “You two pulled something similar during your entrance trial. All you need to do is the same thing while in the air and it probably won’t take much to learn the same trick.”

“In any case,” Black Beauty interjected, “that move had the entire circuit in a panic. Once he mastered it he could use it on any aerial portion of a track.” She huffed as she slumped further into the cushions, “It took most of us a few weeks to figure out our own versions or ways to counter that move, and that was with dragons that were little more than puppets. With you and Nilak being as you are, I’m not sure that there’s anything we can do with the time we have left.”

Thunder scratched the side of his head as he glanced around the room like it held some secret answer, “Well we’re not going to come up with an answer here. Might as well give you some peace while Beauty and I wrack our brains for a solution.” He waved to us as he dragged Black Beauty off of the couch, “See you later. Maybe we’ll have something next time we speak.”

Once they exited the room, Whiteout and Shield Fang were quick to follow, Whiteout using the tip of her tail to close the doors behind them. That left the rest of us in relative silence. However, the outward calm belied the turmoil that raged inside my heart and mind. I knew that we had to tell Winx and Ivy about what our true mission was, but I didn’t want to risk somepony eavesdropping on us without our knowing it.

“I think we should visit Mel and Lucky,” I said. “We haven’t all been to see them in a while and I think they could use the company.”

“Yeah,” Ivy agreed, “we need to tell Lucky about all the crazy stuff she’s been missing out on!”

You know she can’t hear you, right Ivy? Nilak asked.

She sent a glare his direction, “You don’t know that! And besides, Mel is awake and she needs to know just as much as Lucky does.”

Winx smiled up at him with a superior expression, so take that you big newt.

Nilak growled playfully as we walked out of the room and piled into the massive elevator at the end of the hall, you’ll pay for that comment later you little minx.

It’s not minx, it’s Winx you oaf, she growled back with her frills raised indignantly, get it right!

I stepped between them before all-out war could ensue, “Alright you two, can we hold the launch of World War Three until after we talk with Mel?” My lips turned down as my eyes narrowed, “This isn’t going to be a calm and easy visit.”

Apparently everyone picked up on the serious tone my voice had taken on, because a hush fell over us like a dark cloud as we stepped out of the elevator. No one spoke a word until we entered the room Lucky and Mel were staying in, and even then it was Mel’s greeting that first broke the silence.

She was curled up next to Lucky’s bed with her head resting next to her hind legs when we walked in. She lifted her gaze to look at us as we came in, though her brief hello was cut short as the solemn mood we carried became apparent.

Her eyes narrowed with worry as she glanced between us, did something happen? Are we out of the running for the Draconic Heaven?

I shook my head, “No, in fact the little experiment I came up with worked better than I had hoped.” I couldn’t help the smile that curled my lips at the memory of our shocking finish, “Let’s just say we just set a new dragon rider speed record.”

Her head tilted to one side in slight confusion, then why are you all acting so serious? What’s going on?

I glanced up at Nilak and sent him a private message, it’s time we told them. Going on from here, they need to understand what it is
that we must do in order to free the dragons.

His gaze locked with mine, are you sure Silver? Once we tell them, there’s no going back.

I nodded, if we don’t tell them now, then it will be too late for them to pull out once we get to the Draconic Heaven. I want to make sure that the girls are ready to do whatever it takes to beat Mythic, even if that means killing him.

“Hey boneheads,” Ivy said as she waved her hoof in front of my face, “we’re still here.”

I broke off from Nilak and shook my head to clear it, “Sorry Ivy, I just had to make sure that we agreed on what I’m about to do.” I walked over to Lucky’s bedside and sat down in one of the chairs, “You might want to sit down for this one. This isn’t going to be easy to hear.”

Her eyes flashed with uncertainty as she slowly sat on the other side of the bed, while Winx walked up to sit on her right with a matching glow in her gaze.

I sent a quick glance towards Nilak, who nodded, and then turned back to the girls, “You understand that we will have to defeat Mythic Song in order to free the dragons, right?”

They nodded as one, “Of course we understand that Silver.” Ivy said, “How else are we going to break the spell inside the collars?”

“But do you understand what defeating him really means?” I asked, keeping my gaze level as she frowned.

“What do you mean Silver?” She asked, “Aren’t we just going to use our dragon’s magic to break the spell?”

I shook my head slowly, and I saw them lean forward just the slightest bit, “You need to understand that the only way we can defeat Mythic and break the spell,” I paused, hoping I was making the right decision, “is to kill him.”

Both of them jerked back like I had struck them, “Kill him?!” Ivy seemed to have enough sense not to yell, but the force behind her shocked whisper could have toppled a building, “You never said anything about killing him!”

Yeah! Winx added as her frills snapped to attention, you only said that we had to defeat him in order to free the other dragons! When did killing him come into play?!

That was always the true mission, it was Mel’s calm words that seemed to suck the energy right out of the room. All eyes turned to her as she cast sad eyes on Winx and Ivy, and I could swear they deflated like balloons under her gaze, from the very beginning, the one and only way to free the other dragons has been to kill Lord Song. We decided not to tell you two and Lucky what our real objective was when we first started this adventure. Back then, we didn’t even know if reaching the Draconic Heaven was possible, let alone getting a crack at Mythic. Now that our ultimate goal is within reach, you must know the truth if you plan on moving forward with the rest of us.

She glanced down at the mostly healed wounds on her flanks, I am still too weak to battle, and with Lucky asleep, I could never hope to get near Mythic without drawing unwanted attention. Her gaze moved back to land on Winx and Ivy, that means it will be up to you two, along with Silver and Nilak, to win the Draconic Heaven and destroy Mythic Song. I am putting my faith in you to succeed where I cannot.

But I don’t know how to use magic! Winx cried, how am I supposed to fight a wizard like Mythic if I don’t know how to protect myself?!

I can teach you some of the necessary spells you will need in the final battle, Mel said calmly, but you must understand that this battle is about more than winning or losing. Just as we plan on killing Lord Song, so too will he do his best to kill you.

That is why we are telling you the truth, Nilak added, because if you choose to move forward with us, you must be willing to put your life on the line to complete our mission. That is the choice you must be willing to make. We will not force you to come with us. You have done more than enough to give us the chance to take Mythic Song down. If you wish to pull out now and return to a mostly normal life, then it is up to you if you stay or go.

Ivy and Winx exchanged wide-eyed looks, the shock plain on their faces as the true weight of what Mel and Nilak had said came crashing down around us. I could almost see their bodies shaking under the strain as they moved from one of us to the next, as if trying to find a clue that we were making it all up. When no such clues were found, I saw the twin flashes of determination ignite within their souls, and I felt my mouth curving upward ever-so-slightly. Those were the eyes of a warrior I saw looking back at me, and that could only mean one thing.

“We’re in,” Ivy said as her hooves bunched up the sheets before her, “Nopony can call me a coward when things get tough.”

Me neither! Wing added as she jumped to her paws, her eyes narrowed and her frills trembling with nervous energy, I’ll do whatever I can to free the other dragons!

I smiled as I met Mel and Nilak’s gazes, “Well, looks like we can stop worrying about their reaction.”

They nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Nilak mused as he turned to Mel, it would seem that Silver and I were underestimating the determination of our youngest members.

That just goes to show that you can’t judge a dragon by her size, Mel agreed as she turned to a beaming Winx, or by her youth.

I smiled as the others fell into more casual conversation. I just hoped that when this was all over, we’d all still be able to laugh and joke like we used to. Winning the Draconic Heaven was just the tip of the iceberg. Our battle with Mythic Song would be a completely different ballgame. In a race you fought for place prizes and fame with the masses. Against a wizard, you fought for your very lives. I knew that after the Draconic Heaven, our greatest challenge would have only just begun.

Author's Notes:

Well here we go again. What did you all think of our team's newest trick?! Keep in mind that in this universe Rainbow Dash doesn't exist, so no Sonic Rainboom here to compare to. This is the first recorded example of supersonic flight on dragonback.

Anyway, things are getting rolling up towards the climax. The Draconic Heaven is drawing ever closer, and so is the team's battle with the mysterious Mythic Song. Will they win the championship and earn their right to battle the wizard, or will the ever present Blood Claw have something to say about things? Only time will tell and only I know the truth.

Anyways, see you all next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.