Journey of the Noble Dragons

by closet brony 77


kings and queens

“Princess Twilight, can you tell us what happened in Baltimare?!”

“Who were those dragons?!”

“How is Spike the brave and glorious involved?!”

“Are they still on the loose?!”

“What do you have to stay about the riot in the center of town?!”

“Is it true Fluttershy is a lesbian?!”

Twilight promptly slammed the doors of the hospital room directly in the faces of all the over zealous reporters.

Originally the plan was to comb the city to see where those dragons had run off to but the screams of pain from Rainbow Dash and Rarity along with a Pinkie Pie covered in lacerations forced them into a trip to a hospital. Apparently both Dash and Rarity were so close to the origin of the gas cloud that it blinded both of them, thankfully the doctors said it was only a temporary affliction and they would recover within a few hours; but that was still a few hours that those dragons had to gain distance on them.

To make matters worse, regardless of whether or not they came out to the papers this would still be front page news all over Equestria and when ponies found out that there were some rogue dragons running around loose somewhere it would be utter bedlam.

‘Celestia is going to kill me for this’ thought Twilight

Pinkie Pie was just sitting on her bed, covered in bandages, stewing in her own anger. She came so close, Spike was in her grasp and then this new dragon comes out of nowhere and knocks her silly before she could say ‘suffering sasparillas’. Now Spike was gone again and all she had to show for it was a bunch of bandage covered boo-boos. If she wasn’t ticked off before she sure was now.

Next to her was Rainbow Dash, a long bandage wrapped around her eyes. Like Pinkie Pie, the athlete was grumbling to herself about their failure. Not only was she stricken blind by some weird gas but she had been denied the rematch against that jerk ninja; if there’s one thing Rainbow Dash hated more than anything else it was losing and the fact that she was 0 for 2 against these punks drove her nuts.

“Wonderful, just wonderful” said Rarity, her tone heavily sarcastic “we’ve lost Spike and those dragon brutes. All of Equestria is going to see us as completely incompetent ponies and now I’ve lost my most useful tool as a designer! This is the worst possible-“

An orange hoof slamming into the white mare’s lips silenced her

“If ya finish that sentence ah swear ta Celestia ah’m gonna slap you” Said Applejack

“Well it’s really true this time! I cannot see any feasible way our situation could worsen any further! As a matter of fact I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!” shouted Rarity, flailing her hooves about like an overly excited frog puppet.

***************

Meanwhile in the dragon lands

Ember was calmly sitting on her throne, enjoying a nice fat emerald. It had been one of those rare days where absolutely nothing was happening in the dragon lands that required her attention. Day in and day out it was dealing with schoolyard disputes of dragons stealing from each other, doing incredibly stupid stuff (why would a dragon ever try yanking on the tail of a sleeping hydra?!), or simply some young dumb lizard who thought they could fight and challenged her only to get curb stomped immediately. But for once she had gotten a day where it was completely silent and she was going to take full advantage of it.

“PRINCESS EMBER! PRINCESS EMBER!!!” shouted one of her subjects.

Well so much for a quiet day….

The lanky green dragon skidded to a stop at Ember’s feet, bowing down to her in a show of respect.

“What is it now? Are Garble’s friends trying to kill each other again? Or did some dragon blow up a mountain?” Said Ember

“No my lord. I come with news from our allies in Equestria.”

That confused Ember; while the dragon lands had been more connected to Equestria than ever in recent years, it was out of the ordinary to receive any urgent news from them. Even more so for the princess of friendship or any of her friends to not deliver it in person.

“Equestria? What’s happening there that concerns us?” Replied Ember

“It’s the Equestrian ambassador Spike. Apparently he had run off from home a week ago and was last spotted traveling with some unknown dragons in one of the pony cities where they sparked a riot!”

Ember’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Spike ran away from home last week?! Why didn’t Princess Twilight or Starlight tell her about any of this?! Maybe it was because Spike was having issues with them but even so, why didn’t he come here or go to Thorax’s hive?

“Wait you said he was traveling with other dragons. Do we know anything about them?” Asked Ember

The dragon shook his head “unfortunately no. We think they’re rogues but….”

“But?”

“Well Lord Ember those dragons were using strange abilities we’ve never even seen before! Super speed, plant and cyromancy, high tech gadgets; these are not normal dragons.” Continued the green dragon

Ember rubbed her chin in thought; this didn’t quite add up.

Spike ran away from home and vanished for a week before resurfacing with some strange dragons in the middle of a pony city where they start a brawl only to vanish again. She had the where, the when, and The Who, But she still needed the why.

Luckily there was a pony who could give that to her.

“Hold tight, I have to make a visit to Equestria. I should be back soon.” Said Ember abruptly taking flight out of the cave.

‘I swear Twilight Sparkle had better know what the heck is going on or I’m gonna have to crack a few skulls’ thought Ember

***************

Around the same time in the changeling kingdom

“And so thanks to Spike the brave and glorious, the evil King Sombra was vanquished and the crystal empire entered a new age of peace and harmony. The end” Said Thorax closing the story book, smiling at all the sleeping changeling newborns.

If Thorax had to pick one of his favorite duties as the king of the changelings, it would be spending time in the nursery taking care of the youngest members of his kingdom; playing with them, reading them stories, and generally making sure they were well loved when their parents were away.

Thorax’s ears pricked up at the sound of a door creaking open, looking over his shoulder he saw one of his advisors poking his head in and making rapid motions for him to come over.

Thorax quietly shut the door to the nap room closed as he joined his advisor in the hallway.

“Aren’t they just precious Wynn?” Said Thorax to the advisor known as Wynn

“Yes they are but that’s not why I called you over King Thorax. We’ve got a problem, a big one.” Said Wynn

“Another maulwurf attack?”

“Actually it’s news from Equestria, involving your friend Spike.”

“Spike?” said Thorax with a worried tone.

It had been no secret that Thorax was incredibly close to Twilight’s assistant, he had been the first real friend he’d ever made and the best one he’s ever had. True they hadn’t been able to hang out as much as they used to now that he was the changeling king but he always tried to make time for him. Hearing that his dragon buddy was having problems back home instantly prompted a protective reaction from the shapeshifter.

“Yes, it appears he’s…..run away from home.” said Wynn

“WHAT?!!” shouted Thorax, threatening to wake up the babies on the other side of the door.

“Yes, he was missing for about a week before he finally showed back up in a city called baltimare. When the elements of harmony confronted him they found that he was traveling with some other dragons too.”

“Friend’s of Ember?” asked Thorax

“Doubtful, as far as I know dragons from the dragon lands breath fire and not ice. Not to mention they don’t have super speed or have the ability to control plants.” said Wymm

“Really? They did all that?”

“Oh it gets worse, apparently they unleashed some sort of gas in the middle of town and started an all out brawl; all of them slipped away under all the confusion. Their current location is unknown.” finished Wymm.

Thorax was silent, holding a blank expression. Then without a word he turned around and walked away.

“Thorax? Where are you-”

“Ponyville. Princess Twilight has an awful lot of explaining to do” replied Thorax in an unnaturally firm tone that made a chill travel down Wynn's spine; he’d never heard Thorax speak with such a serious manner.

‘And those dragons had better not be hurting Spike.’ thought Thorax.

****************

On the airship at…..well you get the idea.

“Aaand there. The autopilot has been engaged, we’re all set now.” said Griffith.

“Great” said Saphria, “so how long until we reach the Vlemm enclave?”

“Well our cruising speed is about 95 knots, we don’t want to get any unwanted attention, so we should be at the Vlemm enclave in a few days.” replied Griffith.

“Great! That’ll give us all plenty of time to hang out!” said the red dragon with enthusiasm. She then turned to look directly at Spike “and get to know each other better, wink wink.”

“Maybe for you” said the yellow dragon. “Me? I’ve got better things to do.” he began to walk of only for the blue dragon to grab him by the arm

“Now Dylan don’t be rude, this is the lost prince of the Vlemm enclave; I seriously doubt gorging yourself on gems and reading romance stories counts as ‘better things’” she said

“THAT WAS A ONE TIME THING!” yelled the yellow dragon.

“Sure, just like the seventy-five other times I caught you but we’re getting off topic here.” replied the blue dragon.

The dragon in question was a rather deep blue, like a colder ocean, scales and eyes alike except for her claws which were a lighter shade; a simple lizard-like tail protruding out of her lower back and her upper back adorned a set of wings the same shade of blue; the top of her head had several curved spikes making up her fin that ran down her back; she wore a set of cargo pants with multiple pockets and a hoodie that matched the shade of her scales, along with an arrow set draped over her back; crystal’s most distinguishing featured had to be the black scales around her eyes, appearing almost like a mask.

She walked up to spike and held out her hand in a show of friendship “the name’s Crystal squirt, Vlemm enclave’s resident archery and comedy expert; my aura makes me a master with the bow and arrow, if you can point out a target I can hit it.”

Spike grabbed ahold of her hand only for a loud fart sound to erupt out of seemingly nowhere, pulling her hand back Crystal revealed a whoopie cushion strapped to it.

“HA! Fell for the old ‘whoopie cushion in the hand’ trick. Classic!” said Crystal through giggles “but seriously though I’m a nice gal once you get to know me.” she then turned to the yellow dragon and gave him a rough shove forward.

“C’mon Dylan, don’t be a sourpuss nobody likes those.”

This dragon had neon yellow scales covering his body, a pale yellow underbelly and a bundle of golden spikes running across the top of his head like slicked back hair, red irises fixated into a glare; his tail was similar to that of Saphria’s, thick and long with a thin pointed spade at the end; two large wings decorated his back, smooth and powerful in appearance; he was dressed in a pain of worn out jeans and a tattered white dress shirt that had the sleeves torn off at the elbow, a similarly messy tie in a dirty yellow hung from his neck

Dylan grumbling under his breath and looked down at spike “in case you didn’t already figure it out my name’s Dylan. One of the top ranking guards on the Vlemm enclave and the most trusted one by far; my aura let’s me control light, I can shoot out focused beams to fry my enemies or create large flashes to blind them, not to mention light balls that explode upon impact and I can move at the speed of light for short bursts. But anyways your parents entrusted me with getting you and everyone else home safely, no matter what; honestly though if I wasn’t their best guard I don’t see why I’d have to waste my time with a twerp like you.” said Dylan “you’ve been around ponies for so long it’s made you soft and weak, barely any trace of Frinad and Layla left in you.”

Griffith slapped Dylan’s arm “oh give him a break, he’s still my brother and I won’t have you talk down to him like that.”

“Whatever, I’m done here.” said Dylan, walking deeper into the ship

“Wow, talk about rude.” said the red dragon “but back to business, we’ve saved the best for last: my name’s Mia! The fastest and friendliest dragon alive!” she said, picking up spike like a stuffed toy “it’s a pleasure to meet you and I can already tell we’re gonna be the best of friends! The very best! Like nobody ever was!”

Before Spike could get another word out, he found himself completely deprived of all oxygen as Mia squeezed him in a tight hug; it felt like she was crushing his bones. He tried to struggle away from her embrace but it was no use, this dragon had an iron grip on him.

Thankfully for Spike, Connor tapped Mia on the shoulder and said “uh Mia, I know you think the little dude is cute and all. But I’m pretty sure his scales aren’t supposed to turn that shade of purple.” the remark caused Mia to finally release Spike, who took in a deep breath of air and hacked up some of the spit that built up in the back of his throat.

“Whoops! Got carried away there, sorry Artair!” Mia said before slinging  Spike over her shoulder “Idea!! How about we pass the time by you telling me all about your adventures in Equestria? No detail spared! Come on it’ll be fun!”

Spike looked over to his younger brother with a pleading look, begging him to save him from this hyperactive dragon. Nodding in understanding, Griffith walked over and grabbed ahold of Mia’s wrist causing her to look back at the mechanic in confusion.

“Look I’m sure that Artair would love to talk about himself for hours on end Mia but I think it’d be a better idea for me to show him to his room aboard the Violet Dawn.” said Griffith only for Spike to look at him in confusion “it’s the name of the ship bro.

Mia reluctantly put Spike down on the floor where he immediately hid behind Griffith, “alright, I’ll leave him alone for now. But don’t think I’m letting this go mister! I’m getting those stories out one way or another” Mia then proceeded to turn around and hop down one of the corridors into the rest of the ship

“She seemed nice-ish” said Spike “her and Pinkie Pie would probably have been best friends.”

“Who?”


“Pinkie Pie. You know that angry pink pony that chased us back in baltimare? Mia acts a lot like her, apart from the fact that Pinkie tends to overreact to certain things.”

“Actually Mia isn’t always this nice either” said Griffith as he lead spike down into the bowles of Violet Dawn “she usually is and has a pretty long fuse but when she reaches her limit well….let’s just say that even dad is scared of her. Oh look we’re here!”

The two were stopped in front of a large metal door with the keypad hooked up to in. Griffith quickly punched in the code ‘10102010’ into in and the door immediately slid upwards revealing a bedroom that was closer to a workshop. One side of the room held an intricate work bench with numerous tools strewn atop it, more than half of which looked completely alien to Spike,; piles of scrap metal and parts littered the floor and larger pieces were mounted on the walls alongside what Spike could only assume to be bigger tools; another wall had a shelf holding several bins that no doubt contained even more parts and shoved next to the work bench were several rolls of blueprints. The otherside of the room was neater but not by much, this time scraps of trash littered the floor rather than metal; a dirty old bunk bed was set up against the wall with the bottom bunk being a complete and utter wreck while the top bunk was still neat and tidy; a small strange looking lamp sat on the nightstand right next to an empty closet housing only a few lone hangars. The overall feel of the room was rather cluttered and chaotic.

“Yeah, we didn’t actually have a room set aside for you on the ship.” said Griffith awkwardly “so I hope you don’t mind bunking with your little brother for a bit.”

“Please, after spending most of my life with an OCD bookworm this’ll be a breath of fresh air. I call top bunk!” replied Spike.

“All yours big bro. Anyway I’d better tell Mia to get started on dinner, she’s actually a pretty good cook. Just wait in here and do whatever, as long as you don’t touch my workbench; seriously that stuff is dangerous.”

“Wait” said Spike

Griffith turned back around to see his little big brother sitting on the top bunk, twiddling his claws like a nervous hatchling.

“Could we...could we just talk for a little bit? We haven’t really gotten any one on one time since we started this whole trip.” said Spike

Griffith smiled in response and pulled a chair up next to the bed “of course Artair, I’ll always have time for family; so what do you wanna know?”

“Well, you really. I wanna hear about what it was like for you on the Vlemm enclave, what you do there and stuff.”

“Ooh that’s a tough one. For starters, I wasn’t treated like royalty here in Equestria; sure every dragon on the enclave knew who I was and gave me a bit more respect than the average dragon but they never put me on a pedestal like they do with the princesses and the same went for mom and dad; they weren’t gods, they were just noble dragons like the rest of us. So I had a pretty normal childhood, running around all starry eyed without a care in the world! But that came to an end when I discovered my aura”

Griffith motioned to the workbench behind him “a technowizard they called me: I could build anything and fix anything involving tech or mechanics, a true prodigy. But it wasn’t as good as one would think” he said, his mood starting to darken “I learned the true meaning of the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’, when I unlocked my aura I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of information that came at me all at once: blueprints, schematics, electricity, and many other things of mechanical variety flooded my brain; I was curled in a fetal position crying for a whole week while my youthful brain tried to process it all, it was an utter nightmare. But when the haze finally cleared, inspiration was laid bare and I got to work on my first and greatest invention.”

Griffith walked over to the night stand and pulled out a strange looking cube, it had a series of circles and intricate lines covering all but one of it’s faces the last one had a single large glass screen on top of it.

“This” said Griffith, lightly tossing the device in his hand “is a father cube, a handheld supercomputer that can accomplish amazing things beyond even unicorn magic.”

Tapping the large circle on one face, a hologram suddenly appeared with several icons floating in midair, tapping one Griffith pulled up a digitized bookshelf.

“I can store thousands of different texts in this little guy, each organized and cataloged however I see fit and accessible at any time”

Closing out of that he pulled up another icon that had a series of photographs on it.

“It also can serve as a camera that takes pictures in near perfect quality, leaps and bounds ahead of the cameras ponies have”

Tapping the glass screen again, Griffith caused the hologram to shut back down.

“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, this device is capable of dozens of different functions and is powered by a limitless magic source that will never run out. Every dragon on the Vlemm enclave has one of these and has made their lives so much better because of it. After that I was the go to guy for whenever something needed fixing, sure I may have peaked a bit early with my first invention but I still keep trying to improve the tech itself along with all my other pet projects.”

“Like what?”

“Well we’re in one of them right now, I designed the Violet Dawn from the ground up and helped build most of it; not only is it the fastest, sturdiest, and most efficient airship ever built but it has dozens of cloaking devices and weapons all built by me to make this the greatest airship of all time, nothing else comes close” Griffith raved

“Wow”

“Tatarus yes wow. This baby is my pride and joy, I poured my heart and soul into making this thing perfect; sure the father boxes bettered life for everyone on the enclave but this just feels like I built a part of me into this ship. Funny how I used to view my aura as a curse but seeing my work laid out like this, it makes it come off as a gift even with the burden of knowledge.” said Griffith with a smile on his face “but enough about me, tell me about you Artair; if I’m not mistaken I know very little about my own brother too.”

“Well it all started several years ago when I was still stuck in that egg our parents lost….”

Soon enough the two brothers were chatting away like they’d never been seperated in the first place; going on and on about their respective escapades. All the while they were completely unaware of the conversation happening deeper in the ship.

“So none of you told him, right?” said Dylan laying on his bed

“No, Frinad made it very clear we are not to tell the prince about that.” replied Saphria who was leaned up against the door.

“Good good, I was worried that Griffith or Connor might let artair’s role in our clan’s future slip. Are you sure it’s him? The one foretold in the prophecy?” asked Dylan

“It’s either him or Griffith, do you really think that gear head is going to be the one to defeat...him?” Saphria replied with a shudder “even with his power armor there is no way he could get that strong.”

“Fair point, Artair just seems a bit too small to be ‘lord and savior’ material but that’s just me. When are we going to tell him though? it’s not like we can keep this from him forever.”

“When his training is complete and he’s reached the zenith of his power, only the will we tell him what he has to do to ensure that the clan and by extension, the world, will go on to prosperity. I just hope by that time he’ll be ready to take on the massive burden that fate has stuck him with.”

Dylan nodded in response and sat up “well I’d better tell Mia to get started cooking, does steak sound good tonight?”

“Sure but uh, you might want to tell her to double up on Connor’s veg meal; apparently Spike doesn’t eat much meat either.” replied Saphria

With that Dylan walked off to find the red dragon in question, leaving Saphria in silent contemplation.

‘Hard to believe that artair is going to be the one to take that monster down when he returns. Or at least I hope he is, otherwise the whole world is heading for a dark future.’ thought Saphria.