//------------------------------// // Ch V: Quae Facit Rex? // Story: The Alicorn Chronicles: The Fall // by Jack-Pony //------------------------------// It was nearly midday when I arrived upon the small, flat plateau along the southern side of Dragon Mountain and I was breathing heavily. For the life of me, I swore that the mountain had grown larger in my absence, but when I looked back down the way I came, it looked no taller. Perhaps this is why I never saw any earthbound climbing its steep face? I thought then that maybe it would be good training for our soldiers to climb the mountain once a month. It certainly would make them tougher... Looking about, none of the dragons had taken note of my arrival so it seemed. It was no great surprise, seeing as I had hiked the mountain, rather than fly to it. Dragons typically ignored the creatures of the ground, as they had no predators themselves. The large cats of the mountains had long since been driven off and no bear was foolish enough to intrude upon a dragon’s roost. However, my original assumption was proven false as a massive copper dragon alighted before me, upon a rocky outgrowth a few body lengths above my resting spot. “Hold! What do you think you’re doing intruding upon the Dragonmoot?” He roared in a deep, draconic voice, his words foreign to the equestrian ear. “Hail, AuRye, It is I, the Lord of Equestria.” I shouted back in draconic, with a voice loud enough that none – save perhaps my sisters – would be able to copy. His large, coppery head cocked aside, before lowering itself to behold me better. His head, the size of my body, contained ivory teeth two hoof-lengths long and a pair of massive emerald eyes that were as large as a dinner plate. One of those eyes beheld me closely, its narrow pupil opening slightly to better take in my image. I raised my chin proudly, exposing my throat – a sign of respect and trust in dragon culture - for I had known the mighty creature since he was a drake. Still, I could not blame him for his difficulty in recognizing me, I no doubt looked rather different since the last we had seen each other. His long, serpentine tongue flicked out to taste the air, before he recoiled slightly in surprise. “Stones to skies, Indomite, it’s you!” He exclaimed, hopping down to my level, shaking the ground as he did, “It was said that you fell in battle, a noble death?” “I thought that too, for a time. However, the spirits have not granted me the honor of joining the ancestors just yet...” I said with a cheeky grin, before bowing my head solemnly, “I am here to shout with you.” His expression turned serious, or at least that was the best guess that I could make. Dragons always were hard to read by their facial expressions alone, a side effect of having an armored face perhaps? “So you were there at his end?” “I was.” I nodded and inflated my chest, “Your father fell upon the mountainside by the claws of a mighty foe, defending both honor and kin. His foe was both formidable and cunning.” I glanced back at my side, “Enough to cost me my wings…” AuRye closed his eyes, both out of sadness and pride. Losing a father is always a painful affair, but in his death, he brought his son both honor and status, a worthy addition to his lineage and his life-song. He prummed in satisfaction of my explanation, before draping his wing over me – a sign of both great respect and trust, one many clutchlings would not share - I looked up to him with wide eyes and he looked to me with one of his. “You do us a great honor, brother.” His voice hummed as softly and sweetly as I had ever heard from a dragon, “When I am acknowledged King of the mountain, you may count on my support as you did my Father’s.” I smiled softly. “AuNor’s legacy shall be added to the histories, as will yours one day, AuRye.” I then leaned upon his scaly side, “Though I may never again take to the skies with you, my heart is as always yours.” “Come, let us away to the moot?” He gestured with a motion of his head toward the top of the mountain. “That might be difficult without wings…” “So long as you are my brother, you will never be without wings.” He knelt and folded up said appendages, “Do not dottle, we mustn’t keep them waiting.” “AuRye, you would bear me upon your back…?” I nearly gasped in surprise, “What of the other dragons?” He snorted smoke. “Let them think what they will. You are a hero, a survivor of a great battle, a King of your own making. Let them cajole, it only shows their ignorance.” I nodded simply and quickly clambered up onto him with only minimal effort. “Thank you.” I whispered to him once seated upon his back. “You are earning me the crown, I think this is the least I can do to repay you, brother.” Without another word, he opened his wings, a hundred hoof-breadths each and leapt from the ground, his mighty wings catching air. His armored form was slow to rise, steadily gaining altitude with each beat of his massive vellum wings, but still more slowly than even the most laden sky-king. He slowly crested the top of the caldera, before setting down on the edge of its lip. Within were dozens of the largest, oldest and wisest of their kind. Reds, greens, coppers, a silver and a brown regarded AuRye and his passenger curiously. I promptly hopped off of his back and was greeted by the scowling face of a large, green dragonnell… “Carrying grass-eaters now are we, AuRye? What would your Father think…?” She taunted him. He reared up, ready to shout at her, only for my voice to speak up. “You’re as stupid as you are ugly.” I replied in the draconic tongue, only for her to lunge at me. I in turn stood on both back legs to be high enough and hoofed her in the snout. The blow caused her to recoil and before she could act again, I shouted at her, “Lay down, Neera!” She lowered herself and hissed at me loudly. “I should eat you alive, mudblood…” “If Discord couldn’t kill me, what makes you think you can?” I retorted with a growl. The entire caldera erupted into quiet murmuring. Such a combined mass of draconic voices was admittedly intimidating. Sure, I kept the company of several dragons over the many years, but there was something different about standing before one and their entire host - something I had done but a few times... “You heard him, this is Indomite, King of Everfree, foe of Discord! A warrior of claw and wing so fierce that even death could not bind him!” AuRye bellowed at them to make sure he had their attention, “Look at him, scarred as he is, he climbed the mountain alone. He did this to honor my father and our customs. Now, show my brother some respect!” He growled in challenge. After a few moments of silence, I decided it was my turn to speak to the moot. “AuNor was my friend. More than that, he was my brother.” I sighed, thinking what I should say next, “I knew him since he was a drake and I, a colt. Long did we share each other’s company, and hospitality. Many times we fought. Sometimes together and sometimes against one another. Regardless of what you thought of him, he was long in claw and sharp in wit, and never a dragon to back down from a challenge. “When we were younger, and both new to rule, we came to blows. He saw Everfree, a land of plenty and a land of small beings, and upon encouragement took to besetting my domain. An act I do not begrudge him for! Still, you came, ready to ransack my kingdom, lay waste to it and take what you wanted. Only, there was one stallion that would not yield to him, and that stallion was myself. I challenged him to honorable combat, one on one. Some of you here were yet among those that taunted me, chidingly calling me a fool. Still, he met me in the skies over Everfree. “What followed was a dance of fire and claw, hoof and horn, the likes of which had never been seen before or since, and will never be seen again. For more than an hour we two clashed, exchanging blows like the Titans that formed the world at the dawning of time. Thunder and lightning punctuated our duel, like the drums of war. Eventually he yielded before me, but those of you that were there can attest it was not through lack of trying. By the end of the fight, my armor was destroyed and I bore little of my mane, likewise, his scales had seen better days. Still, as I stood over him in the South Fields, I saw in him something that some of you never did, a strength. Perhaps not of the body, or the mind, but of the heart. He had a vision for the Dragon Kingdom and that vision was of stability, one where no longer would you have to migrate across the world till the end of time. “Even onto his dying breath, fighting forces that would see you scattered to the winds, to all corners of the world, he kept that strength. It burned brightly within him, as it it now does in his son. It is AuRye that now carries that strength in his life-song, as the rightful heir to the Draconic Crown!” * * * It was evening, AuRye and I were laying on one of the stone shelves looking south over the valley that was Everfree. The fields of growing wheat and corn rustled softly beneath the gentle breeze. It was serene in every sense of the word. “What does orange look like?” AuRye asked out of the blue. “What?” I replied more than a little shocked. “You speak of the beauty of the sunset, the oranges, reds, magentas… What do they look like?” “Why the sudden interest?” I asked him, quite intrigued myself at what had elicited such a question. “Humor me…?” He looked over at me with a sigh. I was silent for a long moment, before replying. “They look like a farewell, but not a goodbye. A reminder that you will see one another soon…” I shrugged, “That’s what they look like to me.” I regarded him for a quiet moment, “What does a sunset look like to a dragon?” “It looks cold.” He replied bluntly. “Cold?” I repeated incredulously, with a stunned expression. “The shades remind me of winter, a time to slumber.” I chuckled in response to his words, which only elicited a mildly cross glance from him, “What’s so funny?” “I suppose it makes sense, nighttime is cold.” I shrugged. It was at that moment that I saw Luna take aloft from Solstice Hold, in her ceremony to raise the moon and drag out the stars. It was the first occasion that I had seen such a thing. Much like that morning, I watched in awe. Even in my glory, I could not have dared to touch the heavenly bodies, even with all of my magic in one massive effort! Yet, here was a mare that could move them as I would breathe. She made it look so easy… “Are you alright, Brother?” AuRye nudged me with the tip of his snout, distracting me. I chuckled airly. “I was just thinking.” I admitted, watching the moon rise, “It’s been one week, one week. Seven mere days for the world to change. Before, Everfree was a thriving civilization. Now, everything feels dead. Our land lays scarred, the weather and the heavenly bodies do not move on their own accord…if it were not for the powers of the two alicorn-mares that have graced us with their presence, our lands would not move. We would stagnate and die…” A few tears gently rolled down my cheek as I roughly rubbed my brow with a hoof - I wept for all those who had paid so dearly for their freedom... “A part of me can’t help but ask if it isn’t the honored dead that are truly free? Have we, kings of our lands, not become slaves?” “We live.” He stated matter-of-factly. I turned to him sharply. “Do we? Are we alive, or did we merely survive?” I rebutted sharply, punctuating the question with a snort of frustration. “That is up to you, Indomite.” He responded sagely, “What do you plan on doing? Are you going to wallow in your own pain and failure, let them consume you? Or do you plan on overcoming what has happened to you?” I became silent for a long moment, thinking for a response. I had almost forgot that AuRye was more than a century old. When my voice did speak, it was in a whisper. “How am I to heal their woe, just look at me... What if I never recover? How could I ever hope to help my subjects, when I can’t even help myself?” “It’s simple,” - He declared, earning a skeptical, sidelong gaze from me - “You give them your hope and keep none for yourself.” “I…” I sat there with my mouth working but no meaningful sounds coming out. “You bullshit. You give them hope when there is no reason to have it. Have confidence in your subjects and mountains they will move.” The dragon then slapped the stone with a lazy flap of his clawed hand, “A mountain is not defined by its peak, but its roots...so too is a kingdom.” I grinned ever so slightly. “I hope you know that your father raised you well.” I slowly, gently nodded. “He also chose well his friends.” He grinned playfully then, “Perhaps not the wisest and a little on the scrawny side…” I batted a hoof at his clawed hand over my head. “Just because I’ve got no horn or wings now, don’t think I won’t still give you a shiner.” I threatened, putting my hoof playfully on the armored ledge of his face just beneath his eye, “I’ve already punched one dragon today, I see no reason not to make it two!” “You wouldn’t dare to punch this face…” he said coyly, “This face was sculpted by the Titans themselves, a flawless image of pure draconic beauty!” I stared at him blankly for a moment and he stared back. Finally, I dissolved into giggles, both forehooves wrapping on stone as I tried not to fall off the edge of the cliff. He chuckled too, happy that he had made me laugh. I doubt that he had ever seen me in such a dark, depressed state of mind. I was usually the jovial, high-spirited one, eager to enjoy any opportunity presented. “Thank you.” I finally sighed in relief, placing a hoof upon his foreleg, before reminding him, “It is night.” “So it is…” He nodded. “Then, let us join together, our voices with those of the ages to warn your enemies of his coming…” With massive breath, a mighty roar erupted from the mountaintop, his powered by lungpower and mine was amplified by what magic I could still access… A chorus of bellows resounded from Dragon Mountain. Every soul on the face of Equis and those in the hereafter, were sure know of his passing and know to fear him evermore. No doubt the ponies in the valley below stopped dead in their tracks, their evening affairs forgot momentarily, as they regarded the mountain in suspicion and fear. Such an event had only occurred but once in my lifetime, but certainly not in theirs! As decisively as it started, an eerie silence fell over the land as our voices ceased, leaving only the sound of a distant, ringing echo behind… * * * It was late in the evening whence I returned to Everfree from Dragon Mountain. The day had long since yielded to night and only the moon remained in the sky, its cool, gentle blues a stark contrast to the bright watercolor painting that was the sunset. The fields of wheat about the north road fluttered peacefully in a gentle breeze. So long as there was still beauty in this new world, then it was one that I could live with. One that, given time, I might grow to like, even love once again. The warm feelings were muted by the depressing sight of scorched townhouses and lingering damage throughout the city. Everywhere I went I could feel a gentle, aching pain, that in places ramped right up to darker thoughts and feelings that would need to be tended to before long. If I could, I would’ve taken their woe upon myself and bore it all without hesitation, it would’ve been the least I could’ve done to repent for my failure. Though I wasn’t sure how to do so, I was determined to try and help my subjects. This alone kept me musing even as I entered the gate to the main keep, from the eastern road through the city. A single guard-pony hailed me from the ramparts, eliciting a passing acknowledgement from myself. The fact that there was but one pony watching the gatehouse was a symptom of the devastation that Everfree faced. There was a time where a dozen ponies would be stationed at a gate, even in the evening time. Opening the great doors to the main hall, the gentle smell of cooked apples wafted into my nose. It seemed too long since I had smelled that sweet aroma… I raised my head and spoke-up, announcing my arrival as I always had. “Hail, it is I! Whom is present at this hour?” Silence answered me. There were no nobles, or guards, or hangers on waiting for me. I chastised myself for expecting anything less, who would welcome a fallen king? I sighed. “No one, I see…” “Ah, Indomite?” Celestia’s voice shocked me from my depressed mood, eliciting a quick whipsnap motion of my neck. Looking up, I saw that she had entered from one of the side entrances at the far end of the hall. I must admit that I found it a little perturbing that she could be so quiet. “You have returned. I was beginning to fret.” “Ah, sister,” I nodded, my heart still racing in my chest, “yes, it took me longer to return than I had expected. I had not walked to and from Dragon Mountain since I was a colt.” “That makes sense.” She nodded too, gesturing for me to follow her, “Come, let us eat. Luna shall join us as soon as she completes her task.” “That sounds pleasant.” I nodded one more time, smiling faintly. I trotted up to her and the two of us proceeded down the corridor from whence she had came, to the feasting hall. It did not take her long to notice the general melancholy that was attempting to reassert itself upon me. “What’s wrong brother?” She finally asked. I glanced over to see her concerned face looking back at me. “It’s so empty.” I stated flatly, morosely, “It’s too quiet.” She nodded sympathetically. “That must be unsettling indeed.” “Very much so.” I sighed, before taking a deep breath, “I can remember when I was a foal that I had to watch where I played, so that I would not get underhoof. Now I must endeavor to find another soul.” “Much can change in a century…” She reminded me. “Much has changed in a week.” I pointed out to her, “Everfree is now so scarcely populated that I now find myself wondering if I am not dead and this is the afterlife of the damned…?” “I assure you, you’re very much alive.” She said trying to sound reassuring. “If you say so, it must be.” I replied with a glum, dismissive tone. Neither of us knew anything else to say, so we continued in silence, Celestia’s eyes occasionally drifting over to me worriedly. Though it seemed a long walk, we arrived at the feast hall readily and the spread was already awaiting us. Luckily, the cooks had not disappeared, if they had, I think I might’ve starved. The tale of my last brush with the culinary arts was still told amongst the staff in whispers, though it had been nearly a century! Needless to say, a disaster of epic proportions, with their King at the center of it all was quite a persistent tale. One I allowed if for no other reason than to remind them that I was indeed still fallible - a lesson I would have to remind them of no more… Joining us from the opposite end of the hall was Luna, back from raising the moon. She looked slightly stressed, as if something were on her mind? Whatever was bothering her, was quickly eclipsed by a smile upon seeing me. Being preoccupied myself and no little bit naive, I ignored her initial trepidation, figuring that whatever it was she would tell me in due time. The majority of the evening was filled with light conversation and good food. The three of us spoke of our respective day’s and Luna of the events so far this evening. My sisters found my time with the dragons particularly exciting, a fact that I found amusing, since I spent so much time with them. However, it was my plan to inevitably get around to talking about the recovery and reconstruction of the kingdom… “Alright, my sisters, I have heard from both of you what has transpired and seen the damage of Discord firsthoof…” I sighed and glanced down at the table at which we sat, the well devoured spread thinner than usual, “I fear for our kin this winter season. We must look to the granaries first, and see to it that the roads and bridges are repaired, so that the outlying farms may get the most of their crop to market. Pegasopolis should be repaired promptly, but we can leave the repairs to Everfree’s homes and defenses for last…as much as it pains me to say so.” “You plan on living in a burnt city?” Luna responded with a somewhat surprised expression. “Sacrifices must be made. I expect everypony from the lowest street rat to the highest noble to do their part. That goes for us as well.” I stated determinedly, “It is going to take hard work to heal the wounds of this attack, but I believe that we can reforge the kingdom even stronger from the losses we have suffered here…” I proclaimed defiantly, Discord’s wounds would be short lived and quickly forgotten if I had my say! My proclamation earned even greater expressions of surprise from both mares... “Luna, I want you to do what you can to work with the assessors and surveyors. Coordinating everything will require a sharp mind at the end of the day, when Celestia and I are both tired from our respective tasks.” “A wise course of action.” Luna nodded in agreement. “Now Celestia, you and I must see to the repairs of Pegasopolis, and Everfree, respectively. I will oversee the repairs of the roads, bridges and granaries of the capital, while you take wing and assist the pegasi in repairing the cloud-city. Both took inordinate amounts of damage and our first task, after restoring the cities’ most basic functions, will be to clear the rubble and start repairing damage to the housing. The greatest threat to this kingdom right now is low morale.” “You do not want to repair the walls and gatehouses first?” Celestia wondered curiously. “With three of us, we alone should be able to repel any threat that should try its hoof, paw, or claw at such a foolhardy endeavor.” I shook my head, “No, we save the defenses for last. Besides, with our allies, we have little to worry about.” I sighed before taking a deep breath and rising from my seat, “The greatest threat comes from dissent. The nobles have always had a hard time working together and if we don’t relieve the malaise of the common-pony, then Discord might succeed, even if he is imprisoned in stone.”