Fire of Chaos Chapter 10

Thread Under Pressure


The commotion outside of the palace was ever so grand, bounding through the palace walls; it made everything shake. Never had Miseria experienced something so loud, so ear-shattering, and, quite honestly, so worthy of the occasional shudder that shook her body.

True; she had once caused quite the destruction of all of Equestria in so little time. She’d beaten the towns and cities to near ruin, and had trapped so many minds in utter, perpetual madness... But Miseria had never really been in the cities and towns to witness the results of her magic. She never set a hoof in those places that she’d deemed unworthy; the place where her evil presence had resided had been the Everfree Forest for the most part. She was present for the current destruction that threatened to take Canterlot with it.

It didn’t matter that she was locked in the dungeons, with no apparent way out, especially since her powers had been sealed away. Not only were there tough, brute dragons guarding the one entrance and exit to the dungeons; they'd destroyed that opening. They caved it in, and laughed like idiots after. She was trapped, and that was that.

Good news: the brutes would not bother walking their immense body mass into the dungeons, annoying her to near death with their stupid taunts and their displays of little to no detectable intelligence. She wouldn’t have to look at their horrible faces and lose another minute of sleep, or more of her appetite, because of them; that was a relief in itself, even if there was nothing to eat or no mood to sleep to begin with. She could organize her thoughts better without their presence there, and hear what was going on outside even better.

Bad news: Miseria was completely trapped in that prison. None of her friends or… ‘allies’ would get her out, for they had no idea she was there… Even if they did, she doubted that anybody would make it anytime soon; they were too busy trying to stay alive and in one piece in that chaos out there.

What were her options? Oh, there were plenty, and quite promising, too, starting with—there were none.

Quality time with herself in a sealed prison, with no powers, was never Miseria’s idea of the best, most memorable fun in Canterlot. There were about a thousand things she thought of that would be much better.

She wouldn’t distract herself with thoughts of failure, though. So she’d played the heroine and warned her brother about the dragon leader, so that he could get away safely. Big deal; that would not make her helpless like the princesses. She would not sit quiet and orderly in her cell and wait to be saved while everything else happened all around her. She had to get out; and she could perfectly save herself.

There had to be a way, even if rubble covered the only exit. One just had to be resourceful and darn clever. Miseria prided herself of being both and more. With those brutes around, there was always the chance that they would move the rubble themselves. She just had to find a way to trick them—it couldn’t be too hard.

After a few minutes, her simple plan was ready to go. She made as much noise as she could manage—with her hooves and wings restrained and all—and called out for anyone to hear. She expected no rescue to come, but was sure that it would still attract attention. The dragon’s attention, since they were the only ones that would be able to hear her, in the end. She did not stop her thrashing and yelling for quite some time. Even if she could not use the magical powers of her voice, she was still able to crack some of the glass that laid scattered around the floor, and the broken windows of the dungeon. Even the rocks and stones that made the dungeons vibrated and began to crack at the volume and pitch of her voice.

Finally, she got the results that she wanted. She could hear dragons cursing from the other side of the destroyed entrance to the prison. They yelled at one another after trying—in vain—to get Miseria to be quiet. They blamed one another for messing up, and assured the other that they would throw the blame on them if Pyro demanded any explanations. Miseria simply ignored them and continued with her uproar, louder every time, especially after the dragons began to yell and snarl back at her.

“Hey! Shut it, ya little freak! Nobody’s got a darn business hearing ya!”

“Better quiet down in there, or we’ll bite your throat out for good!”

Miseria screamed and covered her ears before pushing her voice at a louder volume. “OH, NO—YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO COME IN HERE IF YOU WANT ME TO SHUT UP, FAT, DIMWITTED LIZARDS!! I’m not listening~ Hellooo! Oh, hello! Can anypony hear me? Hey!! Down here!!” She laughed and scraped her hind metal talons along the stone wall, snickering when sparks flew when the wall and her claws connected. She was unaffected by the horrendous scraping sound of metal against stone.

“That’s it—let’s go! Just shove this back! We can move it. I don’t care what Pyro says, that midget’s done gettin’ in my nerves. Just you wait, little brat. You’re gonna regret making us go in there!” One of the dragons started to scratch at the rocks noisily, grinding through the rubble.

They charged through what remained of the rocks that blocked the entrance. Once inside, they glared at Miseria, expecting to find the filly-sized creature that had given them such a hard time hours ago. What they found was a beautiful, adolescent alicorn waiting for them.

She lay on a few stones, staring alluringly at them. They tried to focus on the flaws that would distract them and remind them what the creature really was, such as her mismatched body or the fact that she was the prisoner and they were the ones in control. Needless to say, it was completely useless. She did not even need to sing to catch them under her spell in near record time.

Miseria winked at them, without specifying which dragon she was addressing; that was part of her plan. “Oh… Hello, handsome. About time you got in here, silly. I was getting rather restless… How inconsiderate of you. After all, you know how bad it gets in these prisons... It’s so lonely in here, isn’t it…?”

Soon the two dragons were fighting one another to get her attention; they did not realize or remember that they had to watch Miseria rather than fall for her charms.

Miseria, in turn, watched them attentive and gleefully while they brawled all over the dusty, rock-filled ground. She didn’t say a word until one of them dropped out cold on the ground, and the other eagerly approached the cage to claim his prize. “Oh, my! You sure are strong, aren’t you…? I hadn’t noticed that before. You wouldn’t believe how distracting trying to escape can be…” She smiled and walked as close to the bars as she could. WIth a grunt and a bit of effort, she managed to pull the shackles loose from the wall so that she could have better reach. She quickly looked at the dragon, but saw that he did not seem to mind or even notice, as he was fully focused on her face and her voice. “Heh, heh… My, how handsome…”

He growled lowly when she fluttered her lashes and giggled at him. With a grin, he reached out for her, but grunted with slight annoyance when she backed away. “Come here, you… No need to be scared…”

“It’s not going to be so easy~ It’s just so boring in here, after all… You need to earn your advances, handsome. Especially after the bad treatment you have me earlier…” She pouted a bit and glanced up at him while he gritted his teeth and raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t… you agree…?”

The dragon’s scowl softened bit by bit, and a smile spread over his face again as he nodded. “Yes… Y-yes, of course… Just… right… Fair enough…” He groaned, then shook his head, giving her a look. “Hey…”

Before he could speak another word, Miseria tapped his cheek; what she could reach of his face. “Okay, listen, I have an idea… Let’s make it a bit more interesting, shall we? I promise I will not scream, but hear me out, cutie. These bars are getting in the way, and I… There’s something about you that I had not noticed before, my fine, strong, brave, dimwitted dragon… I’m sure you feel it too.” She sighed and waved her hoof. “You can’t hide it any longer, neither can I… I’ll be a good filly for you.”

“I don’t think those bars are getting open anytime soon, though.”

She spoke more sweetly while she watched the dragon nearly fall head over heels for her. She smiled gently and brushed her hoof along the steel bars. “Oh, but I’m ever so lonely in here… I thought you would have realized that by now.... Can’t we sit together and chat for a bit? The mutt never said we couldn’t do that… Who is he to tell you what to do anyway, hm? I’m sure he just wants me all to himself…”

That stirred possessive jealousy in the dragon, and she noticed that he was starting to change his mind about breaking the cell open. With a smirk, she chuckled softly and continued to patiently charm and reel him in. Just a bit more, you big lug… “I know you don’t want that to happen; he doesn’t deserve me. Not when… There’s something special… I mean… I mean, we can be friends, my dear, strong, powerful… dragon hero. We can be more than friends… Oh, you have my word; I’ll be a good girl and keep quiet, so that none of those other dumb thugs find out… No one has to know, right? I’ll be just for you.”

The dragon stumbled even closer, still smiling at her. “Yeah… No one… They won’t… find out… Just for…”

“You.” Miseria giggled again and motioned him with her hoof to get closer. “I’ll be your good girl, and your little filly. You’ll love it. I’m sure there’s a lot that we could talk about. You have no idea how glad I am to have a friend here! Discord can be boring; he may be the King of Chaos, but I’m afraid that he’s quite a bore when it comes to anything but his bizarre, silly magic…” She bore a frustrated, troubled expression that simply demanded sympathy. “I’m sure you’ll do much better than that old goat…” I’m sorry, brother. I definitely don’t mean this; you will know that. But, I can lie even better than you, and in situations like this… It sure can be useful to say a convincing lie or two.

She smirked triumphantly when she noticed that the dragon had believed her and got even closer to her, completely captivated by the natural charm that she emanated. She didn’t listen to whatever he stuttered and mumbled in a captivated daze; she simply kept luring him closer. “That’s right… Just with me; just a bit more, handsome… You’re almost mine, ooh, dear…”

~~~

Just when it looked like the main force of the guard had pushed the enemy army out, Celestia was shocked to find a flock of stronger dragons charging into the city. They clawed and slammed against the weakened barriers, and their tired spell-casters could only do so much to keep their spells up or strengthen them. Soon her magic forces were greatly weakened, and she had no choice but to back them up with her own magic powers… which meant she would have to leave the rest of the army on their own. “No…”

The enemy kept coming, one after the other, no matter how many spells Celestia used to keep them back. The Royal Guard was being cornered within Canterlot, but they couldn’t risk spreading; not when they were so vulnerable. Regardless, Celestia turned to the leading soldiers. “Make sure to keep your positions! Do as we discussed earlier! Don’t let them come! Keep them within the perimeter! Remember that we were ready to intercept them! Counter their ambush!”

One of the captains approached her after he had ordered his soldiers to attack from his position. “Princess, we were not prepared to face reinforcements of this level!”

“We knew they were holding their worst back. We have to show them we were expecting them with our best. Show courage, my soldiers! We can’t let them take our city! Go!!” She shot another spell, hitting one of the leading dragons out of the sky. When his second in command tried to swoop low to face her off, she activated a barrier and let him crash against it. “Gather around! We need all the power we can get! Let’s go!”

Twilight and her friends stopped a few blocks away from the battle. They watched as many dragons found the weak spots in the barriers to get in and meet the Canterlot army in combat through the deserted streets.

Rarity shook her head and held her hoof over her mouth. “Oh, goodness, they won’t stand a chance!”

Applejack looked around gravely. “Not for long. Not with this dragon arsenal. They’re a mighty force to handle, we ain’t got enough half of the soldiers to take care of part of it. We’ll be toast!”

Rainbow Dash glared up at the sky. “They’re coming from everywhere! Even pegasi forces won’t be able to stop them; all of their army is fully prepared! We have to get serious about those scaled thugs…”

“Now is not the time to panic, girls. We are as responsible for Equestria as anypony here. Let’s do our part to defend our kingdom! C’mon! We’ll put our strength with our army’s forces and drive them away.”

Fluttershy yelped and hid behind Applejack when an explosion burst behind them. It was all she could do to keep from bursting into tears. “B-but… What can we do against… Th-they’re so strong!”

“Twi, you gotta be outta your mind! Ah know we’ve got to help and everythin’, but… Well, we’ve never dealt with anythin’ like this before! Those dragons we faced back when Spike ran off, they… They weren’t anything like this. Just—just think real extra carefully, now, ‘cause, if we mess up—”

Rainbow Dash flew above them and stretched her legs out towards them. “What are you talking about?!” She looked down at her Element necklace, then pointed at the others’ Elements. “Don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten about Queen Chrysalis and her changeling army! That was something tough to handle, too. But you know what? We made it out just fine! We can do even better now!”

Rainbow waved at her friend and smiled gently. “Oh, Rainbow, dear… I’m not sure if the massive army of horrible, savage dragons is not enough to give you a hint, but… personally, I sort of have this feeling that THIS TIME IT WILL BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!”

Twilight shook her head. “No, it doesn’t have to be. C’mon, girls, the situation is the same; it’s up to us to defend the life and peace of Equestria—and that’s something we have done several other times before. In the past, we have had to defend not just Daytime, Order, Love, or an Empire’s freedom; we also had to prevent the destruction of our world that came along with that. We have faced terrible dangers back then, and we will surely do it now. Our friendship will always make the difference. Remember—as long as we’re together, there is nothing that we can’t get through; no threat that we can’t handle!”

Her friends nodded in agreement and quickly followed her. “Let’s go!”

Rainbow Dash flipped in the air while she flew beside the other running mares. “Twilight’s right! We can’t start acting like a bunch of scaredy mares right now! It’s time to toughen up and let ‘em have it!”

Fluttershy swallowed and whimpered while she followed her friends. _{“B-but I am a scaredy mare…”} She yelped a bit when Pinkie Pie bounced past her. “O-oh, dear…”

“Everyone needs us to stay strong and do our best; we won’t fail them, alright? We’re gonna risk our lives and fight hard, just like everyone else! We can do it; we’ll keep at it an’ give those dragons all we’ve got!”

Fluttershy swallowed and squeaked a bit. _{“R-risk our lives…?”}

“Got that right,” muttered Rainbow Dash as she narrowed her eyes and glared at the rampaging dragons. “I won’t let them get away with what they did to my home, either! Nopony— nobody, messes with my friends or home! Not without hearing from me, and I have a lot to say about that!”

Twilight nodded as she smiled at her pegasus friend. “You said it, Rainbow Dash!”

“Whee! Alright! Let’s go lift everypony’s spirits!” Pinkie Pie jumped forward, dodging a blast of fire that landed behind her. “We’ll make sure that everything goes easy-peasy, and we teach the bad guys a lesson, and turn everything back to normal so that everypony can have a good time again, and then, after everything is over and peaceful and happy again, we can throw the BEST PARTY EVER!”

With that last cheerful note, the Mane Six charged ahead to try to catch up with the dragons. They joined everypony else in the battle and assisted with the magic of the Elements of Harmony.

~~~

For about half an hour, things did not get much better, but they did not seem to get any worse. The pony forces were starting to hold their ground against the dragons, until the battles slowly diminished, and, despite the attacks raging on, the city fell rather silent.

But things were way too calm and silent, too easily controlled, to be true. As everypony suspected, it turned out that the dragons that they more or less subdued with much difficulty were only the first part of the army… and their first fleet of reinforcements. The battle was far from over.

The enemy was heard marching through the Everfree Forest, their forces neat and organized as never before. It was truly frightening to see so many dragons acting with such order and coordination. What made it worse was the sight of the weapons they carried, and the deafening hatred that obviously drove them on their oncoming attack against the city. They roared and growled to make their presence known, indifferent to the fact that they had blown away any chances they had for cover. They intended to make a full, direct assault; the element of surprise had not really been their objective all this time.

Battle cries and roars echoed through the battle field that the city and its surroundings had become. Soon, the pony army was drilled by volleys of catapulted projectiles and armored soldiers that marched right through the weakened magic barriers. They beat all soldiers on their path, destroying everything on their way. The barriers were immediately dispelled once they managed to take down the magic squad.

Thousands of dragons gathered and joined the assault once they got down from the mountains and out of the forest. They unleashed their anger and rage upon all they could. Despite being bound by Pyro’s spell, they were as strong as ever, if only more furious, killing and destroying what they found.

The squad of high-ranked dragons of the army marched after the soldiers, supervising the attac. “Have no mercy for the weak! These vermin will be annihilated! All of them! Spare not a single one!” They flew through the chanting and roaring army, meeting with scouts every so often, attacking the pony soldiers that they could reach. They also destroyed the city further to try to slow down the pony reinforcements.

Celestia shut her eyes closed as she unleashed more of her magic, driving some of the dragons away. “Ngh! Just… Keep your position! Let’s go! Counter them! Don’t spread out; do not let them gain any more territory! Get ready to attack! Move forward, keep your guard up!” She grunted a bit as she fought a smaller dragon, quickly incapacitating it with magic spells, then close combat. “We have to move fast!” She watched some guards tackle a pair of dragons. It was a difficult struggle, but the ponies managed to win, only to engage in combat with other enemy soldiers. She ran through the battle, assisting those that she could. I have to set the moon now… Easier said than done, though…

She stepped back when a large dragon blocked her path. She got ready to fight it, but smiled when some of the pegasi soldiers distracted it and forced it to move back. Good job! Keep at it, everypony! They’re many, but we still can do this! She managed to move to a more or less secluded spot, where she would not be disturbed as she tried to cast her spell. She took deep breaths and concentrated bit by bit, as she had done for many centuries after her sister’s banishment. Let’s go, Celestia… You can do this… Focus. Focus…

It took almost half an hour, and she was pale from the effort, but finally the sky began to turn lighter by degrees, becoming clearer with every passing second. Yes! Oh, keep it up. I have to keep it up… I’m getting there… Just… focus… some more…! She groaned and lowered her head, but the glow of her horn did not subside, even when she began to sway a bit. Stay strong… Keep at it…

---

Luna gasped when she saw that the sky was just a bit clearer than it had been hours ago. It can’t be… Celestia… She looked around desperately, realizing again that they were almost to the borderline of the Southern Kingdom. They would finally reach Equestria in just a few more hours…

But she knew that was not enough. She stomped her hoof on the ground, cursing herself for not being able to fly further. If only I wasn’t so weak… They practically had to carry me all the way here… She grimaced and looked at the state that the three of them were in; dirty from wading in the mud of swamps, and the jungle of the Southern Kingdom in general, weary, and sore. Fortunately, none of that had stopped them from reaching the borderline territory before at least all of the guard did.

Modest smiled with relief once he saw what had surprised Luna. “Oh, thank goodness…”

Luna nodded. “Celestia is setting the night. There’s no doubt about it. She must be using that spell again, to set the moon and raise the sun all on her own…” She frowned with concern, pacing even more rapidly through the muddy road. “Let’s go! We have to get there before it’s too late! She’s setting the moon on her own! We can’t let her do that. She’ll be left too weak!” Oh, Celestia…!

Talia frowned while she and Modest followed her. “But, Luna… Hasn’t Celestia set the moon along with the sun before? If I’m not wrong, she did it for a really long time.”

“It’s not supposed to be done, though. She did it because there was no other choice. It’s… It’s very debilitating, even for us, who have a connection to the Sun and the Moon. Maybe… Maybe that’s why it’s so strenuous to us.” Luna sighed and looked at the ground as she thought of an explanation, since Modest and Talia still did not seem to understand. “There’s… There’s a reason why the Sun and the Moon, with their respective responsibilities, are always given to two different magical, immortal beings to bear. It’s always been alicorns; my father raised the sun, while my mother raised the moon. Now the duties belong to two separate princesses; my sister and me. Because of their power, it takes a great amount of magic, and a strong connection, to raise even one of them. It is easier for the princess that bears the most affinity to raise that one source of power; for example, I don’t find it nearly as exhausting to raise the moon as Celestia would. However… It’s a completely different thing to bear the burden of both…”

Talia nodded. “I get you now; that means that, for one to raise both the sun and the moon, alone…”

Modest quickly looked at the sky again. “It’ll require a massive amount of effort… No doubt that will deplete most of Princess Celestia’s magic. Which means…”

Luna nodded and started to walk again, urging the other two forward. “That’s right; she’ll be left practically useless for the rest of the battle! The last thing we need is for my sister to be unable to fight as well!”

Talia shook her head and opened her wings. “Trust me, we’re not going to let that happen. Celestia will be alright, so will the kingdom. Let’s go, my friends! We have our work ahead of us!” She smirked and chuckled a bit, then swooped low through the trees and the bushes, until they were inside the Equestrian territory. “It won’t be far from here. Those brutes are bound to get distracted… We have just enough time to get in something fast that will take us to the capital city!”

Modest frowned a bit. “Did you hear what you just said? I don’t think there’ll be anything available right now, what with the dragons invading and everything…”

Talia gave him a look. “Well, we certainly won’t get there in time by hoof, will we? We could fly there, but I’m afraid Luna won’t make it, and she has to come with us.”

Luna sighed and walked over to the two of them. “Well, then that problem is solved,” she said as she approached Modest. “Prince Modest, I hope you can volunteer to help me.”

“V-volunteer…” Modest cleared his throat and stepped back. He could feel a blush creeping over his face. “Volunteer to what, I’m sorry?”

“You’re going to fly along with Princess Talia. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to carry me over there. I hope you’re strong enough to carry us both, because I certainly will not stay behind, and we do need to hurry.”

“U-um, b-but—Princess Luna, are… are you sure? I wouldn’t want to do anything that would—”

Talia frowned a bit, then shoved Modest forward, until he bumped right into Luna. “Oh—just get there and carry the mare! We don’t have any time to waste! It’s not like you’re going to drop her while we’re up there!”

Luna blushed a bit, then cleared her throat while she climbed onto Modest’s back. “I realize this is most… uncomfortable, for you, Prince Modest…”

Modest smiled a little and fixed his gaze upon the ground. “Oh, n-not at all, Princess, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t be uncomfortable. I-I really don’t mind helping you. Well, you know, if this helps—and you’re okay with it, well, um—”

“Oh, of course I’m okay with it. W-well—you know, I… I don’t mind it. Not minding in, the sense that—we have to go save Canterlot, and time’s running out, and this is the fastest—I won’t be a burden for long—”

Talia rolled her eyes and shoved Modest forward again. “Open those wings up! You can stammer and run over your words all you want when we’re over there and the dragons are taken care of! C’mon, you two! ¡Apurense, no tenemos mucho tiempo! Hurry—I’m not going to wait for you!” She grumbled a bit about her having to rush them along in order to get anything done.

Before long, the three royal alicorns were up in the air, on their way to Canterlot. They were able to take a route that remained unseen by the army of dragons, yet managed to save them much needed time getting to the capital. On the way, they witnessed the destruction that the dragons unleashed on their way to the city, sparing no town that they marched through. They had managed to break through the kingdom, and, before they even got to Canterlot, the soldiers were already leaving their formations and positions, claiming Equestria for themselves.

Talia cursed the arrogance of those creatures; they’d been the same when they ambushed her kingdom and took it by force. She lost many more lives than they were currently taking, and those dragons had never shown the slightest bit of remorse about it; they enjoyed the spectacle that the slaughter made for their entertainment. Pyro had particularly enjoyed to fight her almost to the death, basking in her lack of power and helplessness once he was able to subdue her.

Well, he wouldn’t let him win for long. Equestria was not going to be lost if she could help it. If they destroyed it and took it… Talia would help them get the kingdom right back. She would not give up; not ever.

Luna was as determined as the Southern Princess. She fought and struggled with all her might, even when she grew weaker. She kept going, strengthening herself with reminders of her duty. I promised I would be here to help… I won’t let them down. I’ll fight to save Equestria until there’s nothing left in me! She narrowed her eyes and looked at Modest. “Let’s go, Prince Modest, charge through the formations! We can’t waste time going around them! We have to fight them to decrease their numbers!”

“I understand, but we can’t be reckless! If we make our presence known any more than we must, they’ll alert all of the army, and we won’t be able to provide cover for—”

“We can’t provide a good cover for them without our magic anyway! All we can do for the others is fight them with our bare hooves, and drop their numbers as much as we can!”

“Princess Luna, hold still! You can’t even fly on your own, so please don’t urge us to get into battles that we cannot win! We already have a path and goal and you know that!” Modest dodged the swipe of a dragon and kicked him back, ignoring Luna’s glare. “We’re on our way, Princess Luna. Please be patient. I promise we’ll be there to support them all we can. We’re already here. They’re not going anywhere.”

Luna sighed and stared at the battlefield. I never thought Canterlot would be this broken and… hostile ever again… I am so sorry that I never enjoyed it like I should have… I should have been here much more often… Oh, it was wonderful… She opened her eyes again, glaring at the ruins that were overpopulated by the enemy. We’ll lift it off the ground when this is over. We will repair everything that they destroy, and it’ll be more beautiful and better than ever! I promise we will… We can get back up from this. Equestria is strong. We always do. No matter how weak we are, Equestria… We’ll be here to fight till the very end!

She glared up at the sky, which was now a strange combination of light gray and darkness, with few rays of sunshine filtering through the thick, dark clouds. Oh, Celestia, please hang on…! I know you can do it. We’re almost there. I know we don’t have our magic anymore, but I’ll show you it doesn’t matter! She smiled a little and nodded. We’ve won many times before. We can definitely win again!

Modest smiled back at her when she looked at him. “That’s the spirit, Princess. Now let’s go catch up to show them how we can tame some dragons with our bare hooves.”

Luna stared at him, then looked at Talia and nodded again. “They’re due for some more lessons. And our forces really ought to have their spirits lifted the right way. We don’t need magic to do just that!” She stared ahead, then held on closer to Modest as he and Talia began to fly faster.