Hundreds of pony guards encircled a purple dragon that towered fifteen to sixteen feet in the air. Just in front of him sat the Princess of the sun and moon watching as the foretold event unwind in front of them. On each of the princess’ face displayed disappointment and hurt to all of their court that sat in the back ground watching the spectacle.
“What is the meaning of this?” The drake roared as he lowered himself into a defensive position. His claws were sharper than any blade the guard ponies could ever imagine, his scales stronger then the thickest plate of steal that the ponies could forge; even with its lose openings that could be exploited by anyone experienced with fighting a dragon, and his breath was equivalent to death itself. These factors alone gave any pony a reason to pause before trying to take on a full grown dragon, and this situation was no different, but still the ponies had a job to do and would do it even if it meant death.
“Hero of Ponyville, Protector of the Elements, and Sovereign of the Green Flame; you are here by sentenced to imprisonment indefinitely!” A pegasus guard called out as he flew closer to Spike.
“What? By who’s authority and what charge?”
“By the Authority of Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna; you are charged with treason to the throne. You have been working alongside other conspirators in efforts to create a coups d'eta. The Pegasus said as he raised his blade at Spike which infuriated him.
“Those charges are a LIE, I have done nothing less than serve the princesses faithfully.” Spike released roars that shock the castle’s foundations itself and scaring any pony who was not ‘hardened’ or military trained. This was signal to everypony that any form of communication was done, and only action was the only form of response now. Yet, none whether it was Pegasus, Unicorn, or Earth Pony dared to step forward carelessly unless they were ready to mean their ancestors.
Minutes felt like hours as none would dare move, ponies had numbers, but Spike had sheer power on his side. Swarming him would eventually lead to his downfall, but at the cost of hundreds of soldier lives. Even a few civilian ponies caught in the crossfire of dragon vs. pony. What am I going to do? My size intimidates them, but it only takes one to realize that I wouldn’t be able to fully defend three separate attacks simultaneously; sky, ground, and magic. Not to mention any attack that contains more than a fraction of my strength could kill nearly anyone in here whether or not I want the dead. Spike’s eyes surveyed the area beyond the guards and soldiers to the frightened nobles that stood in the back. Well this is a very pleasant Grand Galloping Gala now isn’t it?
His head turned towards the two princesses who facial expression still held disappointment, but their eyes sparkled. Their eyes told the drake another story, one of betrayal and heart break.
“No…i..it can’t be.” All defenses that the dragon had put up were gone in a matter of an instant. The guard ponies saw their chance and took it, success. The Hero of Ponyville had been taken down and restrained in magical constraints. It took several Earth ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns working together to carry him out of the main court of the castle and into the deepest parts of the dungeon where Spike was never heard from again.
*****
1000 years later….
“Princess Celestia; t…that dragon has escaped!” A guard shouted as he burst into the throne room with green flames and screams of ponies following right behind him.
“Calm yourself and tend to the fires, but do not touch them or they won’t stop burning you until you are turned to ash.” Celestia kept a calm demeanor s she sent the guard away and walked over to a open window.
“Princess, what is your wish?” The guard caption asked. He was a large dark brown earth pony renowned for his strength and tactical prowess which was rivaled during the third Pony and Griffin war. The guard caption carried a claymore on his back at all times and wore a single layer of chainmail which covered from his neck top his flank, but stopped at the hooves.
“Nothing let him go, anypony we sent after him would just end up dead, and then we would lose some strength against my dear sisters little republic. Plus we need to stop Luna from expending her power; intelligence reports has stayed the ‘minotaur king’ has given her control over his army as well as free reign of his province. So tell me, how negotiations are going with the Diamond Dog Alliance?”
“Bad my princess, the leaders fear that this is becoming more than just a civil war, but is turning into a world war. By bringing so many minor nations into it while we still have The Hive as one of Equestria’s biggest enemies, and then the Dragon dynasty that had rose out of nowhere preaching the dragon’s Thu’um. While it seems to only be attracting dragons, it is doing it at an incredible rate and as we can see here a singular dragon is a devastating force, so I fear….”
“Noted commander, but we can’t defend from invading armies without first re-unifying Equestria and then getting the Crystal Empire away from King Sombre’s hooves once more.” Celestia said as she turned towards the guard captain. “We have much to do, and so little time to do it.. My little ponies are taking it the worst; many of them are fighting their own brothers, sisters, and /or parents in this war. Dusk Sparkle, you’re the only pony I feel I can trust at the moment and I thank you for your undying loyalty.”
“I will always be loyal to you my princess, and now I will take my leave.” The dark brown earth pony bowed before turning around and exiting out of the throne room and into the hall that were just a blazed moments earlier.
*****
Inside an unknown volcano somewhere in the badlands waited two figures, one was a gigantic beast; dragon in design which lay relaxing in a pool of lava. The second was a unicorn with a brown mane and light purple coat who paced back and forth in distress.
“Will you please stop that, you are making this nice lava bath less enjoying.” The dragon said as he shifted his head and wait towards the pony.
“How can you relax at a time like this Garble? He should have been here by now, and his last message was two months ago stating that he was ready to escape out from Celestia’s dungeon. Imagine my surprise when I got the message!”
Garble had grown a lot in two thousand years both physically and mentally. His size rivaled that of most dragons in Equestria. His body was long and slender rivaling that of lizards. His head and neck alone could easily be mistaken for a basilisk if his body was properly hidden.
“Horizon Sparkle, your family has been working alongside use for centuries, and just as we have come to trust you, we ask you to trust us. This is your first time meeting Spike the dragon, friend of the Sparkle family and even with what happened a thousand years ago he never stopped trusting your family. So just lay back and Relax, he’ll be here shortly.
“I..I guess you’re right.” Horizon said sighing in defeat before sitting on her flank and looking up at Garble the dragon. “Hey Garble, can you explain something to me? What is your part in all this? When Spike gets here you know what is going to happen, but I see no reason why you would choose Spike over the Dragon Dynasty.”
Before Garble could answer a green flame erupted in front of them; it turned and swirled opening up into a portal. Out of the portal fell the Green dragon, tired and exhausted to the point where the portal almost collapsed on the end of his tail.
“Welp, looks like he is here Horizon, open up the entrance and I’ll carry him in.” Garble cracked his claws. As he moved forward towards the purple dragon, the red dragon grew smaller in size until he was the equivalent to Spike. Horizon walked over to a volcanic rock that had dragon claw scratches on it, and used her magic to move the rock to the side revealing a passage just big enough for Garble or Spike to travel on their own.
The passage was a very tight fight for Garble carrying a recovering Spike, but at least they could get through it. After what felt like hours of walking, the two finally reached the end of the passage which lead into a large underground facility being manned and monitored by the many races of the world; Ponies, Dragons, Griffins, Diamond dogs, Zebras, and even Donkies. Thousands of creatures working and training; all prepared for one thing, war.
“It is too bad that Spike is out cold for this sight, I would have loved to see his face when he finally got to see the army he was building from within Celestia’s own dungeon.” Garble proceeded to carrying Spike to his chambers while laughing out loud purposely letting everyone know that they have returned.
“Yeah, I’m still amazed we were able to do this myself, I mean if you think about it….its almost implausible. I mean think about, Spike was believed to be dead, but in actuality he stayed in contact with part of my family he trusted with his very life, and did it for over 1000 years underneath Celestia’s snout. If he had trusted to wrong pony then none of this would be here now.” Horizon wrapped her mind around what if hadn’t trusted the Sparkles, but instead another one of her ancestors and then shivered.
“There is no point in worrying about it now Hori…..uh oh here comes your boyfriend.” Garble pointed at a rainbow maned Pegasus towards the two wearing black steel plated armor. He carried a broad sword on his side and a shield on his back. The Pegasus coat was a cyan color which gently had a strange complement to the black armor he wore.
“Garble, Horizon Sparkle, good you have returned. Our scouts report that the meeting will happen tomorrow night in the Everfree forest. The all will be there and this just might be…. Garble why are you carrying that dragon on you back?” The Pegasus flew around Garble examining the unconscious Spike. “Scratches and cuts on this scale, claws sharpness has been dull down… They probably can only barely cut rock the way they are now. He’d be useless two us, you should have left this stray to die where you found him.”
“How rude, listen and learn before you speak you brute! This ‘stray’ as you put it is our leader Spike, and is the reason why you are here right now anyways!” Horizon said as she stomped her hoof against the floor.
“Look here book worm I call them how I see them, and I see a useless stray!” The Pegusas turned his attention from Horizon to Spike and Garble. “So this is the Spike of legend and stories huh? The infamous dragon that single handedly saved Ponyville from a whole invading arm on their way to Canterlot…”
“The one and only, but I’m afraid I don’t know who you are, but you obviously know a lot about me. So, how about we even the playing field here and introduce yourself to me.” Spike caught the three by surprise with his comments before opening his eyes and tapping Garble as a signal to put him down.
“Well I am Rapid dash, the best fighter and second in command of the Dragon Fire Liberation!”
“Third in-command of the Dragon Fire Liberation!” Garble replied tauntingly.
“What? I’m second, only person above me in command is you…”
“And as of now, I turn all command over to Spike, the True leader of the Dragon Fire Liberation.” Garble cut Rapid dash off before he could finish his sentence.