The Drake Six

by JNKing

Episode Seventeen: The Dragon Kingdom Arc - Part 3

Meanwhile, in the dungeons of the Dragon Kingdom, the dragons hung out in cells. 

Spike paced fitfully in front of his cell door, looking around at his compatriots: Jackknife was sulking in a corner, tending to a black eye he had gotten fighting the guards. Night was lounging seductively on the cot she had been provided, stealing flirtatious glances towards the guards. And Swift was huddled in another corner, shivering in utter fear. 

“We’re in a cell…” he mumbled. “I hate being in cells. This is why I wanted to get away from Hawk.”

“Hey, take it easy, Swift,” Night replied. “You’re showing too much Beta behavior; that’s not gonna get you far in prison.”

“You talk like you’ve been in here before,” Jack noted. 

“I have,” Night replied, before looking up at them. “Word to the wise: don’t drop the soap. I mean, I will, but I don’t imagine you guys share my tastes.” She grinned at Spike. “But then again, you might be too young for me to explain that…”

“Will you stop it with the young thing?” Spike demanded with a sigh. “Look, Diamondback and Phoenix are still out. They can help us.”

“You sure bout that?” Jackknife asked. “Diamondback’s always had a problem with the Greed. Who’s to say she won’t toss us under the bus for a place of high prestige?” 

“Don’t think about our friends that way,” Spike insisted. “Phoenix will help her; they’ll get us out.” 

Swift looked up in hope at that, and his hopeful look softened something in Jackknife.

“Yeah, yer right,” Jackknife replied, turning away. “Though we wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for Astral.” 

Night rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re still miffed about his whole ‘tough’ act. Guys gotta act tough; they don’t got the beauty we females can use to get by. They gotta get by on strength. You know that, don’t you, Jack?”

“I still think it’s all too coincidental,” Jackknife replied. “We find the one guy who can get us into the Dragon Kingdom, and he leads us right into the dungeons.”

“Not all of us,” Swift pointed out. “DB and Phoenix are still there.” 

“Well, let’s hope they don’t join us,” Spike replied. “As much as I’d love a friend’s reunion, they may be our best chance at getting out of here without ruining any chances of getting to come back.” 

“Assuming this place is even worth coming back to?” Jackknife asked. 

At that moment, Astral was thrown in, and the others gasped; he was beaten, broken and bloodied up by the guards. 

Swift shrunk even further back into his corner with a whimper of terror, while Spike and Night immediately ran to his side. 

“Oh geez, Astral,” Spike stammered. 

Night glared at Jack. “Still think this was all on him?”

Jackknife grimaced, but sighed and got up, walking over and placing his hand on one of Astral’s bruises. “Alright, tough guy,” Jackknife said. “Try not to squirm too much, this’ll help with the bruising.”

Astral only nodded his head as tears rolled down his face. “I’m sorry.”

Jackknife paused at his tears and Night immediately held him. “Oh, Astral, what’s wrong?” she asked. 

“Aside from the obvious?” Swift noted. 

“It’s my fault we’re in this mess,” Astral confessed, leaning against the wall with help from Night. “I just wanted to bring some change to this place. Because I can see that we don’t have to hide ourselves away anymore.” He gazed up at the dragons. “We can open our doors and help others with the gifts we were given.” 

Night glanced at the others with a grin, but Astral sighed, chasing away any reason for her grin to be returned. 

“But now, because of me, you were all arrested. And tomorrow, we’ll most likely be charged for treason.”

“Not if Diamondback or Phoenix have anything to say about it,” Spike replied. 

“Yeah,” Jackknife agreed. “They ain’t gonna leave us hanging.” 

“I hope that’s the case with Diamondback,” Swift mumbled softly. 

“Wait, though, something doesn’t make sense,” Night noted. “Why would they try us for treason? What did we do aside from come in here?” 

“Remember when I gave that report earlier?” Astral asked. “It was about what happened before I ran into those timer wolves.” He looked down at his left palm as he continued. “I was attacked by someone from our kingdom.”

Night’s ears flattened while Spike straightened. “What? Who?”

“I couldn’t tell who, but they obviously had been using dark magic for a while, and not for anything good. This guy reeked of corruption.” 

Night grimaced. “Which should make him easy to spot in a crowd,” she muttered. 

“Wait, Night,” Spike said. “We need all the details.” He looked to Astral. “Tell us everything you remember about that day.” 

Astral did so: 

A couple of days ago, in the Everfree Forest, Astral had been sent to investigate reports of suspicious activity near the gateway on the ground. Rather tedious and boring stuff… until he heard what sounded like something collapsing. 

Investigating, he drew his swords as he headed to where the sounds came from. He arrived at han old abandoned quarry. Something was at the bottom of the quarry. Something that gave him a shaken feeling in his spine.

Thinking it might be related to why he had been sent there, Astral went down to the quarry to investigate further. Spreading his wings, he silently glided down, thanking the blacksmiths for making his armor with runes of silence. Landing in the middle of the quarry, he looked around, but didn’t see anyone. 

“Hello?” Astral called out. “Whoever is down here, come out and show yourself. You caused some distress back home, so come on back and stop whatever you’re doing.” 

No one responded. Humming, Astral sheathed his swords and explored one of the excavated entrances to the quarry. He found his way down a tunnel, and reached the living quarters of someone who seemed to still be in charge of the place. 

The lights inside were still on. 

Exploring, Astral found that it was just one room with supports keeping the roof from collapsing. The room was sparsely furnished save for a table, eight chairs, a board for hanging up papers, and a fireplace in the corner that held a controlled, yet roaring fire. 

The board caught his attention, and he found multiple blueprints for every important building of the main city, minus the Council Citadel. 

Footsteps drew his attention. He turned, drawing his sword on the newcomer: a figure wearing a skull mask and a brown, tattered cloak. 

“You shouldn’t be here, young guard,” the figure spoke, his voice altered by runes in the mask. 

“Neither should you,” Astral replied. “You’ve been prowling around here for a while now. How about I take you home; we can discuss these papers on the wall.” He glanced back at them. “Why do you have blueprints of every important building that is used by the higher-ups of the government?” 

“For that to be explained,” the figure replied, drawing a double scythe. “You’ll have to defeat me.” 

Astral had never seen such a weapon before. The staff-like bar was completely black, and almost seemed crystalline in nature. The blades were dark red in color and serrated. 

“That’s when the guy jumped me,” Astral concluded. “I could barely stop him. And the magic barriers I tried to defend myself with couldn’t even block his attacks.” Astral hung his head. “Just before he could slit my throat… he left. He told me that not only was he going to spearhead a coup… but that the next time I returned to the kingdom, I was going to regret finding out about his plans.” 

The others stared at him in shock. 

“Wow,” Night finally noted. “Celine really left out a lot.” 

“Hey, go easy on her,” Spike said. “She likely only saw him while he was limping away.”

“It sounds like it was also for the better that she didn’t get involved in that,” Swift added. 

“Unfortunately, I still got you all involved,” Astral noted. “At this point, I’m pretty sure one of the heads of the nobility is the guy I fought with.” Astral pulled himself up and walked over to the window of the cell, looking at the night sky. “As I was getting ‘processed,’ I learned that I was no longer a guard, and that we were going to be tried for an attempted coup.” 

Night hummed. “Not the first time that’s happened,” she mused. “But, hey, this could still turn out okay?”

“How?” Swift demanded. “We’re locked in here, and whoever is planning this clearly has some sway over the guards.”

“But Phoenix and DB are still out there,” Spike noted. “Which means that if we can get some sort of message to them about this, they might be able to do some investigating of their own, find out who this guy is, and then expose him at the trial.” 

“Then we can punch his face in, right?” Jackknife asked. 

Spike winced. “Eh, save that for when we’re not at risk of causing more diplomatic incidents.”

“We’re on the verge of a ‘democratic accident,’” Jackknife shot back, causing Night to giggle at his mispronunciation. 

“Uh, slight problem,” Swift noted. “How are we supposed to get a message to them from in here?” 

Night and Spike gazed up at the night sky, pondering the answer to his question.

Aurora was looking through multiple books on the nation’s laws. Books were in piles all over the room; some of which were thrown across the room. 

“Argh, this is so stupid!” she shouted, throwing yet another book.

Phoenix barely glanced up from her own book. “Ten points,” she mumbled forlornly as the book bounced off one of the other books. 

“How can I help our friends get out of this situation if I can’t figure out who would frame Astral?” 

Phoenix sighed, shrugging. “Only thing I knew was violence and being honest.” 

Aurora threw herself onto her bed. “Go get some fresh air, then. It sounds like you need it.” 

Phoenix nodded. “Yeah,” she admitted. “Guess I do.” She headed outside to breathe the night air. As she did so, she gazed towards where the dungeons were… and then towards where Lord Shade resided. 

Diamondback had not come back yet. And Phoenix feared that once again, Diamondback had risked falling to her Greed. 

If that had happened… getting the others free was going to be a much bigger challenge than before. 

Phoenix sighed, looking down… and finding a message on the ground. Picking it up curiously, she ventured inside. 

“Aurora,” she called. “You might want to see this.”

Morning came fast, and with it, the trial. 

As Astral, Spike, Night, Jackknife, and Swift were led in, their hearts dropped at the sight of Diamondback next to Lord Shade. However, their hearts lifted a tad at the sight of Aurora and Phoenix standing ready to defend them. 

Guards chained the five to the ground so they couldn’t escape. 

“Everyone rise,” a guard said. “For the arrival of King Bahamut!” 

A thunder cloud appeared on the ceiling, striking lightning at the judge’s seat. A dust cloud was kicked up by the lightning, and when it dissipated… 

A massive dragon stood before them; dark silver scales with a bronze underbelly and wing membrane. Golden eyes gazed down with centuries of experience. White hair grew around his head to form a beard. Six lightning shaped horns enshrouded his head - three on each side. A large scar ran across his muzzle. He didn’t have spines, but did have a golden circlet crown on his head, and muscles rippled across his massive frame.

The Dragon King stood tall. Or at least a magic hologram of him. 

Night whistled, before getting elbowed into silence by Spike. 

As King Bahamut took his seat, Shade stepped forward. “Astral!” he declared. “You are charged with breaking the rule of only dragons being allowed in this kingdom. You are charged with treason for staging a coup!” 

Several dragons booed. “That’s rubbish!” they roared. “That’s stupid!” 

“There will be order in this court,” Bahamut rumbled, his voice instantly silencing the dissenters. Bahamut turned to Astral. “How do you plead against these accusations?” 

Astral stood tall. “I’m guilty of the former, but innocent of the latter.” 

Bahamut’s expression didn’t change. “Explain.”

“I was injured,” Astral explained, indicating the dragons by his side. “These four and the two dragonesses there…” he indicated Phoenix and Diamondback, “Saved my life. They showed me something that I believe this kingdom needed to see: that the world has changed, and we don’t need to stay hidden anymore.” 

“That’s right,” Spike said, letting his Element of Harmony shine out. “The Elements of Harmony - once said to be only obtainable by the Ponies of Equestria - were shared with us. We believe that Harmony and Peace can be spread to every creature all over the world.” 

Shade flew closer. “And you believe him?” he asked Astral. 

Yet, as Shade drew closer, Astral stiffened, sensing corruption. 

Corruption that drew Night’s attention as well. She glanced at Astral and motioned her head at Shade, asking if it was the same corruption he had sensed in the cloaked figure who attacked him.

A small nod confirmed their suspicions. 

“I do,” Astral said. “As I also believe that you were involved in the attack on my life.”

The crowd gasped as Shade scoffed. “Slander and lies,” he claimed. “I have been nothing but a devoted member of this council and a friend to this community.”

Diamondback rose, giving a small grin to Spike. As Spike perked his ears in hope, Diamondback lifted up a gem. 

“Then how do you explain these corrupted crystals I found on your person?” Diamondback replied.

The dragons all gasped, while Phoenix and Aurora exchanged hopeful looks. 

“If you aren’t corrupted,” Diamondback continued, waving to Aurora, who held up a potion. “Then you’ll be able to handle this potion just fine.” 

Aurora approached him. “Drink, Shade. Drink, and prove your innocence.”

Shade glared at her and then at the potion… before he chuckled darkly. “You disappoint me, Diamondback,” he said, before turning to King Bahamut. 

“No, Lord Fang,” King Bahamut noted. “You disappoint me.” 

“You will never understand,” Shade replied. “Astral may be right, in that we no longer need to hide. But he has the wrong reasons.” 

“I’m afraid you are the one in the wrong, Lord Fang,” Diamondback replied, as a rapier formed in her hand and she pointed it at him. “You spit on everything that the dragons of old upheld. We were guardians; protectors of the realm. You would turn into the very same greedy and selfish hoarders that the barbarian dragons have become. As a dragon who believes in the ways of the old, I cannot in good consciousness allow you to soil this Kingdom as countless dragons have already soiled our species’ reputation!” 

Shade merely glared at her, before both rushed each other. And as they clashed blades, the court erupted into chaos, as King Bahamut’s hologram evaporated into smoke. 

The coup was underway. 

Phoenix and Auruar raced to the prisoners, Phoenix melting the chains on Jackknife and Swift while Aurora froze and shattered the chains on Astral, Night and Spike. 

“Come on,” Spike said, as Diamondback began to get driven back by Shade. “We gotta help her.” 

As they ran over, Diamondback was forced back several feet as Shade advanced on her, twirling his double scythe. 

“Did you really think you could beat me?” Shade demanded. 

“Honestly?” Diamondback asked. “I did. But on the off-chance I was wrong, I took out a little insurance policy.” She ducked as Astral leaped over her, blocking a blow from Shade’s scythe. 

“If this is your ‘insurance,’ then you’ve under-prepared,” Shade noted, kicking Astral back as guards converged on them. “This whole thing was my plan. While you deal with this, I will go and kill the King. And I will rule in his place.” He threw his scythe upward, shattering the glass dome and flying for the King.

The others tried to stop him, only for the guards to get in their way. 

Spike growled before turning to Astral. “Go!” he said. “We got these guys.”

Nodding, Astral took off after Shade, the Drake Six stopping the guards from blocking him. As Astral took off after Shade, the Drake Six and Aurora fought their way to the entrance. 

“Hurry after him,” Aurora told the Drake Six. “They must be going for the castle.” 

Nodding, Spike led his friends towards the castle, while Aurora used her ice powers to seal off the building. 

The group reached the castle to find Astral blocking Shade from the entrance. 

“If you want to kill the king, old friend,” Astral declared. “Then you need to beat me first.” 

Shade scoffed. “That will be easy,” he replied. 

Spike and Diamondback moved to attack Shade, only for more guards to get in their way. 

The group desperately fought them off, but the guards kept them in check as Astral and Shade fought. 

Though Astral held his own for the most part, Shade fought like a demon, slashing Astral several times. 

“Astral!” Jackknife yelled. “Don’t let that snake get past you!”

“You’re stronger than him,” Diamondback declared. “He fights with dark magic. He fights only for himself. Draw on your need to protect, my friend. This Kingdom is your treasure! Yours to protect! Yours to uphold.”

“You are a guardian, Astral,” Spike declared. “Guard!” 

Encouraged by their words, Astral launched at Shade one more time. Shade launched at him, and the two passed by each other with a final clash. 

Silence fell over everything. Up above, King Bahamut watched, himself silent as the grave. 

Astral fell to his knees, a large cut across his chest rapidly turning red, before he collapsed.

“ASTRAL!” Phoenix screamed, blasting the guards back with a burst of fire. 

As the Drake Six converged on Astral, Shade turned to him with a grin… only for his grin to fade. He looked down as an X of red formed on his chest as well. His scythe fell to pieces, cut in half. 

And the dark dragon collapsed as well. 

Jackknife nudged the others aside, getting Astral back to his feet. “C’mon, buddy,” he said. “Keep that blood in.” Holding his shoulder, Jackknife willed the blood back into his buddy, calling on his power over liquid to keep Astral from bleeding out. And as Spike and Phoenix sealed the wound, Astral limped over to Shade, and raised his sword in victory.  

King Bahamut gave him a rare grin. “This battle is over,” King Bahamut claimed to the guards. “Your coup has failed.” 

The guards lowered their heads, obeying their king, and surrendering. 

A couple of days later, the group enjoyed a banquet in their honor. 

King Bahamut gazed over them with a grin. “These six proved Astral’s words true; there is hope that dragons can once again interact with the rest of the world. Henceforth, the seal will be removed forever. Let our fellow creatures - no matter the species - know that the Kingdom of Dragons will accept allies, and be ready to aid in facing their enemies.” 

As the dragons cheered, Astral and Aurora turned to the Drake Six with gratitude in their eyes. 

“Thank you all,” Aurora said. “If it weren’t for you, none of this would have happened.”

Spike smiled. “I’m just glad everything worked out.” He pat Diamondback on the shoulder. “And that someone was looking out for us.”

Diamondback scoffed. “Oh, my darlings; you give me too little credit. I can be dependable.” 

Phoenix did a double take towards Swift and Jackknife. “Then maybe you can help Swift get a lid on Jackknife before he drinks too much.” 

“NO-NO, I’M TELLING YA MAN,” Jackknife was slurring. “I AM A SEA DRAGON! NO ONE’S AS GOOD AT HOLDING THEIR LIQUORE AS I AM, MAN! I WILL DRINK YOU UNDER DIS TABLE! C’MON! WHO WANTS TA GET DRUNK UNDER DE TABLE?!”

Diamondback sighed. “I got him,” she said, running over. 

Spike chuckled, before noticing Astral and Aurora heading over to a balcony. Astral gazed happily up at the stars, with Aurora leaning on his shoulder. 

“It took a lot of courage to spare Shade’s life,” Aurora noted. “The mark of a good dragon.” She gazed at him. “One I could see myself spending the rest of my life with.”

Astral smiled gently at her. “My life is a perilous one… but I wouldn’t mind having you in it for as long as it lasts.” 

They touched heads, and almost touched lips… before Night sauntered by with two strapping dragons by her side. 

“Oh, hey, you guys are hooking up too?” Night asked. “Cuz Ignitus here says there’s a really good hotel we can visit.” 

Astral blushed bright red and looked for something to throw at Night, but with two hunky dragons at her side, there wasn’t much he could do except join the others in laughing. 

Unfortunately, not everyone else was laughing. 

Back at the prison, some of the remaining coup members and the guards looking over them were instead gurgling their last breaths as Shade flew away from the Kingdom. 

As he landed, he glared back at the Kingdom with fury. 

“Curse you, Astral,” he snarled. “And you as well, Diamondback. You and the rest of your Element cursed friends. This isn’t the last that you’ve seen of me. I will have my revenge!” 

“Revenge?” a voice purred, seductive, yet tinged with a buzz like insects. 

Shade turned as Queen Chrysalis came out of the darkness. 

“I believe,” she said alluringly. “I can help with that.” 

But her help would not come with immediate results. For as the sun rose on the next morning, the Drake Six were able to make their way unmolested back to the surface. 

Though they weren’t entirely uninterrupted: before they could depart for home… Astral and Aurora joined them with some luggage. 

“Oh?” Diamondback mused. “Do you two intend to do some traveling?” 

“We were hoping we could join you,” Aurora admitted.

“I lived in the barracks my whole life,” Astral explained. “I kinda want to see what else is out there.”

“And I’m rather tired of my stuffy old job,” Aurora agreed. “I want to see Ponyville; from what Phoenix mentioned of it, it’s quite a place.” 

Phoenix smiled. “I know one pony that won’t mind the extra visitors,” she admitted. 

Night chuckled. “Oh yeah; you guys are gonna love it there.” 

Spike gasped. “Speaking of which… I should inform Twilight about what we learned.” 

“Oh, come on,” Night said. “If she were worried, she would have written, right?”

Right on cue, Spike burped up a huge amount of letters. Judging by the amount, it was safe to say a lot of them were demanding updates on how he was. 

Smiling, Spike began his friendship letter: