It was another late night of studying for Twilight Sparkle. Spike had already curled up in his bed and gone to sleep as the unicorn continued flipping through the pages of her book. She was scribbling notes as she read through her texts feeling as if she was on the verge of finding something important. Suddenly her front door busted open and banged loudly enough against the wall to wake Spike and break Twilight's concentration. A panicked and exasperated Rarity rushed into the library with Applejack and Pinkie Pie close behind her, both seemed confused and unsure of what was going on. Rarity had given few words to describe the emergency.
"Rarity? What's wrong?"" Twilight asked with concern. The mention of Rarity's name made Spike's feet move a little faster down the stairs to see what was going on.
"FLUTTERSHY…KIDNAPPED…..WHITE DRAGON" Rarity said with her heavy exhales from running so hard. Twilight Sparkle gasped at the news.
"Where was she taken!" Twilight inquired.
"EVERFREE FOREST" Rarity's breathing was still hard and heavy as she tried to catch her breath..
"SPIKE!" Twilight called. The dragon was by her side with a quill and paper in an instant. "Send a letter to Princess Celestia informing her that a white dragon in Everfree Forest is kidnapping ponies." The baby dragon immediately began scribbling on the paper.
"NO TIME TO LOSE!" Rarity bellowed with another heavy breath.
"Right! Lets go!" Twilight exclaimed following her friends out of the library leaving Spike behind to finish and deliver the letter.
Rarity led her three friends down the path that ran along the feared forest and to Fluttershy's cottage. Rainbow Dash was hovering in the air next to the entrance to the forest waiting on her friends to arrive. She'd followed the dragon head through the forest to its final destination before it disappeared below the ground. Rainbow new she'd need her friend's help to get Fluttershy back safely.
"RAINBOW!" Rarity called down the path as soon as she had spotted the pegasus.
"It's about time you guys got here! The dragon took Fluttershy to the old ruins in the forest." Rainbow Dash didn't waste time taking lead of the group and flying down the quickest path she found that safely lead to the ruins. The pack of galloping ponies followed her through the thick brush not allowing a single obstacle to stop or slow them down until they had finally arrived at their destination.
The old ruins looked eerie in the light of the full moon as it stood dauntingly before them. The ponies had stopped their charge at the entrance of the ruins and unanimously decided without a word to each other to approach the old palace with extreme caution. Rainbow Dash darted around through the air trying to scout the area out and peer inside the ruins to see if she could find any trace of their missing friend. She found nothing. The ruins were silent and dead. Not even the chirping of crickets could be heard.
"This place gives me the creeps." Pinkie Pie stated as she tried to stare down an old eroded pony statue. "Are you sure Fluttershy is here?"
"The dragon brought her here and disappeared into the ground." Rainbow Dash reported.
"Then there must be a dungeon below the ruins. Let's find the entrance and save Fluttershy." Twilight Sparkle concluded.
The five ponies entered the withering palace slowly. Twilight summoned a small orb of fire to light the room up that floated above her head as she proceeded into the main chamber with her friends following closely behind. The light revealed the floor was cracking up with grass growing through the stone and over grown vines encroaching on the walls and ceiling as if the forest was slowly devouring the place.
"Hey Twi, there's some torches lining that there wall. Give'em a light so we can get a better view of this place." Applejack pointed out. But as soon as she finished her sentence all the torches lining the walls of the entire palace erupted into flame, lighting the whole place up as clear as day. "That was pretty impressive."
"That wasn't me Applejack." Twilight dispelled her small fireball and studied the room for a moment. There were several halls leading off from the main hall, but what caught her attention is the large stairwell at the other side of the main hall that lead to a large platform. The platform glowed with the moonlight pouring in from the massive hole in the ceiling and seemed to be teeming with magic.
Twilight Sparkle walked toward the platform with the rest of the girls following her as they looked around the massive hall. The walls were covered with brilliant paintings of historical moments in pony history that were obscured with vines and flora overgrowth. The cracked and broken ceiling also held evidence of a grand painting that was now lost and unintelligible.
A gentle warm light began to pulsate from the platform as Twilight got closer. She ascended the stairs and stopped before setting a hoof on the platform. The other girls stood abreast next to her watching the pulsating light as if expecting something to happen. Then the light stopped. The white dragon appeared before the girls on the platform.
"What did you do with Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash immediately demanded of it.
"Thy Fluttershy is safe. Itami shall not harm her in his state." The dragon replied. "Leave here before ye regret coming."
"We're not going anywhere without Fluttershy!" Rarity declared stomping her hoof on the ground. The other girls rallied in agreement.
"We promise to return thy Fluttershy unharmed once her services are no longer needed of us." The dragon tried to negotiate.
"Yer not making a lick of sense! Who is this we, us and this Ee-tah-me feller you're talk'n about!" Applejack demanded.
"Itami is one of the seven seeds of evil that Discord had sewn into the world. When I lost in battle against him he planted the seed of hate within mine heart. The seventh element has done little to rid myself of him. Discord broke my body and imprisoned me in a crystal in the dungeon below thine hooves. Thy Fluttershy's role is to heal the broken body once the spell wears off. My goal is to be reunited with my sisters and live in peace." The dragon explained himself.
"Seventh Element?" Twilight Sparkle questioned. "Do you mean a Seventh Element of Harmony?"
"Yes. The Seventh is the most powerful, but against the seeds of evil it is barely enough to contain their power and allow me to retain mine sanity."
"What's Itami's goal!" Rainbow Dash blurted out anxious to squeeze this ghost of every bit of relevant information they could get.
"Itami wishes to slay mine sisters and burn the world with our fire and hatred. That is why ye must leave this place. Itami will destroy ye if his eyes findeth thou." The dragon urged them as if trying desperately to warn them. "RUN! HE COMETH!"
The girls shrieked back a bit at the sound of his booming voice. The white dragon before them turned into the black and sinister dragon that had scared Fluttershy and forcefully kidnapped her. Before any of the girls could make a move to escape the black dragon had them in a spell that paralyzed them from the neck down and they were all levitated a couple feet off the ground.
"What do we have here? Trespassers in the Royal Palace?" He asked with an evil grin.
"Let us go you big meanie!" Pinkie Pie demanded. The dragon only let out a sinister laugh.
"I have my ways of dealing with trespassers." The dragons eyes narrowed. Rainbow Dash floated forward in front of the other girls and the dragon moved to meet eyes with her floating less than a few inches from her face. "A pegasus! And a proud one at that. I see no fear in your eyes. Let's put some there shall we?"
"Let me go and fight me like a real dragon." Rainbow Dash demanded swinging her head back and forth as she struggled to free herself from his spell. "And give my enemy the opportunity to strike at me? You must take me for a fool, Rainbow Dash. Instead I will take something from you. Something precious. Something that fills your heart with joy. I will fill you with despair." The dragon's voice deepened as he spoke.
Rainbow felt fear for the first time in this encounter with the dragon. The realization of how helpless she was dawned on her. He could do whatever he wanted to her and there was nothing she could do to stop him. Suddenly the dragon's eye glowed with a bright red and Rainbow knew what that precious thing was that he was taking from her.
CRACK! SNAP!
The two sounds were loud and audible to the rest of her friends. Rainbow threw her head back and screamed in pain. The dragon released her from his spell and dropped her to the ground. She hit the ground hard and immediately looked back over her shoulder at her two broken wings. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her face as she cried in pain. The dragon laughed with insanity feeling a sense of sick twisted pleasure from filling the young pegasus with sorrow and destroying her pride.
Twilight immediately started thinking hard of any spell she knew that would counter his. No spell she tried was strong enough. She felt helpless seeing her friend being hurt as she stood by and watched unable to move. Her attention was stolen away from Rainbow Dash as she saw Applejack starting to float forward out of the corner of her eye. "NO! Please! I'm sure we can talk things out!" Applejack insisted. Her courage left her the moment she felt herself stop in front of the dragon. He only smiled staring her in the eyes.
"My dear sweet Applejack, I am sad to inform you that this is no negotiation. That weak whelping Damian might have been willing to help you, but he's gone. I will sow the seeds of evil through the world and destroy everything in my path." The dragon laughed again. "Now what should I take from you? Your little sister perhaps? Or maybe even your brother?"
"NO! Leave the Apple Family out of this!" Applejack demanded.
"You love working on that farm don't you? Applebuck season is your favorite time of the year is it not?" Itami's questions were followed with evil laughter as he flew in slow circles around Applejack. "I know what I'll take!" Applejack tensed every muscle in her body and shut eyes tight gritting her teeth as hard as she could not wanting to know what was going to happen next.
CRACK! SNAP!
Again those two sounds echoed through the chamber making all who heard cringe. Applejack's screams filled the halls of the palace and echoed through the forest. Itami released her from his spell and dropped her to the ground hard further injuring her two broken hind legs.
Pinkie Pie started crying seeing her friends being hurt like this. This wasn't the kind of scary she could laugh away as much as she wished she could, but there was no way Pinkie could even force a smile after seeing what she had seen. Pinkie Pie turned her head when she heard another pony starting to cry as well. It was Rarity. She was floating forward toward the dragon.
"The beautiful Rarity." Itami announced. "Famed for her fashion designs and beauty." He lifted his clawed hand and gently grasped Rarity's chin. It was stained with her tears and she didn't bother fighting back by jerking her head way from his touch. "How about I take that beauty away from you?" A evil smile crept across his face as placed his claws on the sides of her head ready to slowly tear her face away.
Suddenly Rarity fell softly to the ground and out of Itami's grasp. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie also fell free of the spell. Itami retreated to the back of the platform.
"What is the meaning of this!" He demanded.
"DAMIAN!" A loud and thunderous voice sounded from over head. The dragon returned to his original white color and cowered at the sight of the pony before him.
"L-Luna…" Was all he could choke out before sinking into the ground and vanishing.
"Princess Luna!" Twilight called never happier to see her.
"Quickly girls, take your injured friends and retreat. I will handle the dragon." Princess Luna ordered.
Rarity immediately levitated Applejack and turned to run. Twilight took Rarity's cue and levitated Rainbow Dash. The two unicorns carried their friends as they retreated with Pinkie Pie bouncing close behind.
"Please save Fluttershy Princess!" Rarity called over shoulder as they retreated back to Ponyville.