Nevlamas’ massive body ricocheted off the mountainside, turning her plummet into a twirl. Rainbow Dash toppled with her, bouncing against the perforated webbing of the Divine’s wings. She spun, struggling against gravity to find a way to slip through the dragon’s flailing limbs. Glimpses of whirring rock and faint starlight flickered in her peripheral vision. At last, she summoned a burst of strength and kicked against the closest solid surface to her.
It turned out to be Nevlamas’ chest. The dragon hissed as chunks of chaos crystal fragmented off her scales. She saw Rainbow darting away from her and swung her talons to slice her to ribbons.
Rainbow spun sideways, evaded the comb of claws by mere inches, and spun past Nevlamas’ snapping jaws. Before she could make a break for the open sky, several boulders that were falling with them overcame her. She dodged one rock, spun past another, and flew over a heavily toppling chunk.
Just as she crested through the other side, the boulder split into a hundred pieces. Nevlamas had shattered through it--snarling--and the resulting thunder knocked Rainbow off her balance. With gnarled talons, the Divine gripped Rainbow Dash, squeezing the breath out of her lungs.
“Auuckkkt--hckkk!” Rainbow Dash hissed, her eyes tearing as she pushed in vain against the cedar-thick fingers encasing her.
Nevalams lowered her snout to bite Rainbow’s skull off, and it was then that she realized she was falling upside down… and about two seconds from slamming into the feet of the mountain. Holding her heated breath, she spun her massive body around and spread her wings into a glide. Her belly scraped the rocky floor, sending bits of earth spraying everywhere.
The near-impact jolted through Nevlamas’ body, loosening her grip of Rainbow Dash. The pegasus kicked out of the Divine’s claws and whirled past her neck and snout. Nevlamas tried snapping at the pony with her jaws, but the collapsing boulders made it impossible. The debris landed violently all around the dragon’s speeding figure.
Rainbow Dash was small and nimble enough to slip through the collisions unscathed. Dodging another of the dragon’s bites, she twirled up and ran into a spread of branches. “Ooof!” She found herself dangling from the crystalline antlers sticking out of the Divine’s skull.
Nevlamas inhaled heavily. Her scales glowed aquamarine at the diseased seams. In a matter of seconds, she would have roasted the entire air in front of her.
With a jerk, Rainbow Dash daringly dropped down until she braced her body between the bases of the twin antlers. With one lower hoof against each mutant stem, she tilted her neck down and rubbed a forelimb over the Element of Loyalty. Summoning a deep growl, her eyes matched the flicker of the ruby lightning bolt. A steady stream of harmonic energy poured into Nevlamas’ skull, and the dragon’s scales roasted for it.
“Hraaa-aaaaauckkkt!” Nevlamas wailed. Her glide turned into a lurch, and soon her body slammed hard into the edge of a dried-up forest. The dragon’s body shook from head to tail, each violent vibration threatening to toss Rainbow Dash loose.
Rainbow let loose a long, heroic shout, channeling all of her concentration into the light that her Element was giving off. Steam rose from Nevlamas’ cranium, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning flesh. All the while, the Divine’s body plowed into the wasteland, sending chunks of rocks and uprooted trees flying heavenward. Soon, a long dragon-shaped trough had made its mark across the entire valley. When at last Nevlamas came to a stop… her antlers didn’t.
With a monumental snap, both branches shattered free.
“Gaaah!” Rainbow Dash backflipped, twirled, and dodged a veritable shrapnel storm of shattering branches. She found her balance, flapped her wings, and hovered backwards from the dragon’s punished body.
As the dust settled, Nevlamas’ meaty figure could be seen blemishing the wasteland like a beached whale. She stirred, her talons and wingtips scraping the ground.
“No… must… musssssst rebirth harmony…” Her eyes clenched tight, smoldering at the leathery edges. ”This… issss the only way, my Sisterssssnkkkt…” Her neck curled against the earth as her trembles lessened to a palpitating shiver. ”The only waaaaaay…”
Rainbow Dash hovered above the groaning creature, panting. She spun and glanced northwest. All she could make out was a faint, shimmering speck of manafire, and it was gliding beyond the vanishing point.
Wincing, Rainbow Dash turned and once again gazed down at the battered monster. She took a deep breath, her Element dimming ever so slightly.
“Harmony ain’t what it used to be. Deal with it.” With a ruffle of her feathers, she dashed northwest after her target. “I know I do.”
Nevlamas’ shoulders heaved once, but she deflated with a weathered exhale. Her scales twitched a few more times… and then she lay still.
So, Rainbow dash doesn't eat cardboard?
I am dissappoint
Bitch got wasted, dog.
Really not thinking she's dead. I mean, a divine not moving? There are plenty of spells that can cause utter cessation of activity for a short while, right?
And so, the big biggy boss bossy defeated. Well... maybe. Nevlamas can still do some havoc if she will regein strength (and insanity).
And cardboard.
Wish I knew what the cardboard thing was.
For a moment I thought the cardboard chapter was serious until I clicked on it.
And Nevlamas isn't done. In fact, I don't believe that anyone has died so far without the actual word "dead" being used to describe them at some point.
Divines: 1
Rainbow Dash: 1
And now I'm waiting for the tie-breaker.
So the end of the world is dealt with for now, but Queen Lassie doing genocide is still on the table.
It's not over yet!
So harmony ain't what it used to be, huh? Good to know, Dash. Good to know.
Way to go Dashie!!!
But, if Dash only zapped one head, and left it still attatched, wouldnt the other still be in perfect woring orde, until it to ws permanently removed?
I mean, if a Hydra can do it, a Chaos Divine should easily also?
If I have learned anything from this story, it is to make sure your enemy is dead.
Damn, girl.
She is not dead, she's just re-charging her chaos powers
nobody in this story dies until it is specifically said or completely without a doubt obvious that they are dead, like getting their head exploded
mostly because Plate can survive a 300 foot drop from the Steel Wing into a burning forest, Shell in general, and I don't really feel like naming everyone else, but you get the point... right?
FATALITY.
3701705
Are you referring to the comments mention of it, or the lack of mention of cardboard in this chapter?
Anyways, for those not in the know, just before this chapter, IC posted a chapter called "Rainbow Dash Eats Cardboard". It was 22 words long. The pitiful souls that actually read them went mad and died, or so they say.
I get the distinct feeling I missed something...something epic...
Anyway...so the quickest way to kill a divine is to remove the antler/horns? Good to know.
3701579 Yep, like being trapped in stone.
But in all seriousness, if she's off screen, she can't be dead.
3702383 I thought her two heads were like the Xeno in Alien, superimposed or something.
I still don't trust this nevlamas to be dead, but for the time being, at least she's out of commission. That'll at least give Dash time to work on the Lightning Bearer, but if my hopes from way earlier are coming true, we might see some glorious battleship action as the Steel Wing and the Lightning Bearer go at it, with Dash having to pull Belle out of the carnage and shrapnel before somebody goes boom.
24
Okay, so...
Either Nevlamas is dead, merely delayed, or, hope of hopes, the injection of harmony to the head, detaching the antlers in what might be a symbolic display of dispersed discord, will serve to cleanse her of her entropic taint.
Also, am I the only one who wishes the 22-word cardboard chapter was real?
Rainbow Dash: +50 DKP
Get ready for MANY WHELPS. HANDLE IT.
Might wanna rephrase that. You can't really say "the entire air".
Closer my Floydien to thee. Let us reattach those antlers with some extra glimmer. Wouldn't that be a cool title anyway? Nevlamas, Queen of Glimmer!
That would have been an extraordinarily trivial death after such a fight and for such a character - which in itself would have some value for the sake or originality - but no, neither do I believe that I'm dead... I mean of course I'm still writing this... you know what I mean. But that should actually serve to avoid the larger part of the danger: with the Queen being either incapacitated, cleansed or dead, the world as a whole should be safe for the moment. Of course knowing His cruel ironies, I will be eating those words rather soon.
3701738 And now I got beaten up by someone whom Axan simply squashed - I'll never hear the end of it!
DRAGON SOUL ABSORBED
3704321 You keep talking, sis, your time will come too.
3702383 I was thinking one head with seperate mouths for some reason...
3704893 She only has one. One head with two mouths, however that is supposed to look like.
Coolio
IIIIIt's Dashie's Second Get-Backing Adventure!!
A testament to how strong Dash has become this is. She took out a DIVINE...Props, Dash. Props. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. DESKKSKK
...and STAY down!
3705499 in my humble opinion I think that she has her mouths arrayed in a similar fashion to slyther the sky dragon from yu gi oh at least that's how I see it. D5
The end.
-SPirit
...bull crap nobody that you want to die in IC stories ever do
3701559
Fo' sho.
That's what I call a boss battle.
Alright, so mid-story boss is down. We still gotta deal with Seclorum, and The Lightning Bearer... and I presume that sometime in the remaining 75 chapters, a surprise plot twist is gonna pop off to finish off the fic.
Dashie the Dragon Slayer
Chaos dragon's biggest weakness? Harmony.
This would make a great tabletop adventure....
7471471 its already a quick time event. rather written like one. as in I remember doing this in an old video game of mine. different characters of course but same actions in it. speaking about the evasion at the end I am. INSOMNIA! I have it. not the game. the thing issue whatchacallit.
Did she just cure Nevlamas?! She certainly did a number on her with her element, and it's done some pretty spectacular thing to Rainbow Dash herself when she was corrupted.
Nevlamas suddenly rejoining the fight on the side of the good guys would certainly be a twist.
8084350
I think her antlers snapping is a very good sign indeed.
We all know that when RD uses her Element, her antlers either recede back into her skull or fall off like a newborn elk.
It's universally an indication that the chaos has lost the power to remain manifested