Soaring high above the land, Twilight began her search of the land of the Heroes. The two Princesses had a large area to search, and Twilight wanted to make absolutely sure that Cadance got the message. She tapped the button on her scouter to begin broadcasting; she heard a brief, high-pitched beep in her ear as she did so.
"Cadance? I just wanted to go over the plan one more time." she paused momentarily, but continued her ramblings when she remembered that Cadance wouldn't be able to reply, "We have very little information to go on regarding the Heroes, so keep an eye out for anything unusual. Any creatures we do meet, approach with caution in case they're hostile. If we're lucky, we should be able to talk to the Heroes and find out what's going on from their perspective. As much as I'd like to take the words of King Depaix as truth, I think there may be more going on here than we've been told... uh... over?" Twilight pushed the button on the scouter to end her message. Another beep was heard.
Cadance's voice came through the scouter somewhat grainy. "You're broadcasting quite badly, Twilight. I got what you said, but I think something may be interfering with the scouters a little. We may need to keep a check on that and change the plan accordingly so we don't lose contact. The last thing we need is to lose each other. Over."
"We'll keep communications up as much as possible so we know we can hear each other. If we have to stick closely to one another, this search might take longer than expected. I hope Spike doesn't run into any trouble..."
"Twi; Spike will be fine. I know he has his moments, but he's always come through for you when you needed him most. He'll be in that palace doing his best to make you proud. But we need to focus on what's in front of us - we've got a lot to do. Over."
"I suppose you're right. I just feel like we've been asking way too much of him. The idea of putting a child in charge of the Realm just seems absurd."
"Nett found it necessary, and I think it's our best hope, too. Imagine the unrest if the dragons began fighting one another. The forest below us could be scorched. The ecosystem inside this forest would be destroyed. These 'Heroes' could wipe out the dragons whilst they all fight amongst themselves. Failure here would have knock-on effects that could ripple throughout Equestria." Cadance paused. There was a brief, yet noticeable silence. Cadance began talking once more, but it was too broken to understand.
"Cadance?" Twilight called. She waited several seconds, but she heard no reply. "Cadance!" she repeated. Nothing. The Princess of Friendship stared across in the general direction of Cadance. The purple alicorn was about to fly off to find her pink partner, but the scouter stopped her in her tracks. According to the scouter, there were a large number of power levels nearby in a north-easterly direction. Twilight was in two minds as she figured this could have been the place they were looking for, but she also knew it was risky to drop communications with Cadance in case anything went wrong.
Twilight, who had initially flown in a northerly direction, started bearing east, taking her south of the location her scouter pointed to. She attempted communication with Cadance several more times as she travelled east, but her efforts were in vain. The purple alicorn attempted to use the scouter to pick up Cadance's power level, but there were no readings. "Cadance!" she bellowed at the top of her lungs, but dead silence followed. Miss Sparkle took another peek at her scouter. The power levels she picked up before were still registering. Due north.
She hovered in the air as her mind fought itself over what to do next. She could continue to look for Cadance, but she also needed to resolve the conflict quickly before the situation degraded further. "You're right, Cadance," she admitted "if the Dragon Realm falls apart, it could mean disaster for all of Equestria. I'm sorry, but right now I have to be a Princess first, and a Sister-in-law second..."
Twilight sped off into the distance to investigate the power levels, leaving Cadance behind.
Spike had climbed his way back to the palace of King Depaix. The coast was clear, leaving him with an almost stress-free search for the War Horn. The baby dragon's logic lead him into the throne room. "Could it be in here?" he wondered. "I should have asked King Depaix." he sighed, checking the walls and behind the doors, "Ehh, hindsight's 20/20."
The throne sat at the top of the room; it was made from a white marble and draped in a bright red cloth. On top of the throne, Spike noticed a couple of golden brackets that looked like they once held something; however, there was nothing currently there. Spike climbed up to investigate. "Oh no. What if this is where the War Horn is supposed to be? It could be anywhere, now." he moaned. "Guess I'll have to look somewhere else" he conceded, climbing down from the throne and strolling out into the long hallways.
The palace was eerily quiet. No assistants, no royalty, nothing. Spike's feet patted off the stone floors, echoing off the walls and reverberating down the hall. His attention was taken by Duciel's bedroom door which had been left slightly ajar. The purple dragon remembered the diary he'd been reading. His urgent plans to call in Captain Espoir were about to be put on hold as his temptation got the better of him, choosing to wander back inside the Princess' room to take another peek at her diary.
Spike picked up the book from the floor in front of the dresser where he'd dropped it earlier. He sat down on the floor with his back propped up by the side of the bed, opened the pages of the Princess' diary and flicked through to see if he could find any useful information. Back and forth he slid each page across, taking a few moments to see any words that caught his eye, but he found very little. The snippets he read all sounded like the ramblings of an average child. The only consistent thing he could place were the nightmares she'd been having for the last few moons. He scrolled all the way to the very last entry. It was short and sweet and dated for a few days ago.
Dear Diary,
I need to speak with Angelica again. She's so very sweet. I'm going back out again tonight. The lake is so wonderful at this time of year with the bright red, orange and yellow leaves. I hope she comes. I have to tell her about my nightmares. I know she'll understand. Wish me luck?
"This must have been the night Duciel disappeared... she must have went out to the lake." Spike looked back slowly over the previous entries, trying to find the entries just before her first mentioning of nightmares. Suddenly, words and sentences were jumping out of the page, adding context to the situation.
"We were attacked. A small group of creatures came into the Realm, firing arrows at us. I'm scared. Why do they want to hurt us?"
"The other dragons don't like my dad's way of thinking. They think we should be fighting these monsters, but my dad thinks we should talk to them and make peace with them. I agree with my dad. I don't want to fight."
"I've been really sad lately. Tonight I went out to the lake to cheer up and I found one of them! They seemed really sad, too. I didn't talk to them, though. I wouldn't know what to say."
"The monsters came for my dad. I wanted to help him, but I stayed in bed, frozen and silent."
"I don't know who it is, but they were at the lake again tonight. Same time every night, just like always. I'm going to talk to them tonight."
"Her name is Angelica. She was scared of me at first, but I think we've become friends."
"She told me dragons attacked her home so they sent Heroes to our Realm to slay us. Angelica doesn't want to fight, though; she wants peace. She's not like the others."
"So the Heroes came in retaliation to the dragons attacking first? But that doesn't make any sense. King Depaix didn't even know who the Heroes were, let alone where they live. Was he lying?" Spike contemplated.
He glanced up and noticed something on the bedroom door he'd missed previously. Dangling down from a hook on the back of the door, Spike noticed the War Horn hung up by its string. "The horn!" he cheered, leaping up and grabbing it with both claws. He stared at it carefully. It looked like it had been made from the hollowed-out tusk of a minotaur and was painted with red rings around the top and bottom. "I think I know what I need to do now..." he reassured himself, taking the War Horn into the corridors.
As he stepped out of the palace, the heat from the volcano warmed Spike's entire body, the redness of the roaring magma reflected off his scales as he stood by a ledge overlooking the lake of fire. He took in a deep breath, puckered his lips around the end of the horn and blew with all his might. The sound was near deafening. It rang through the volcano and could be heard for miles outside of it. The brave purple dragon stood motionless and listened carefully for a response.
Within minutes he had his reply, as swooping down came a number of colourful dragons. They flapped their wings hard as they landed on the ledge by Spike. The largest - a dark brown dragon - approached Spike, leering into his eyes. "Captain Espoir, at your service." he grinned.