//------------------------------// // Vivat Rex // Story: Spike: The Dragon Princess // by IndiBrony //------------------------------// The atmosphere around the Dragon Realm had become grim. A dark cloud was shifting over the land, the temperature had increased immensely and the distinctive smell of brimstone lingered in the air. The ground below shook violently, as if the wrath of an ancient God had descended. All around, the battle raged; flames billowed from the mouths of the dragons as they defended their land. Heroes did what they could to protect themselves from the intense heat, and struck back with their spears and swords. Losses were suffered in almost equal measure by both sides. Inside the palace, the tension increased. Princess Twilight stared down the edge of King Lydda's sword, whose body was torn from battle and clothes were covered in the blood of both the dragons and his fellow soldiers. His face was cut from a close encounter with the claws of an attacking dragon, and part of his jacket torched black by passing flames. King Depaix, his wings broken and bent, looked on with rage, in contrast to Spike, who was stricken with fear at seeing his Princess held just inches away from potential death. The two lackeys of Captain Espoir fought outside. On the outskirts of the battle, Princess Cadance and Angelica flew toward the palace, doing their best to avoid the carnage unfolding in front of them, still unsure of Princess Duciel's whereabouts. Captain Espoir and the final two members of his elite team prepared themselves to carry out their plans. Cadance swooped down into the mouth of the volcano, locating the entrance to the palace and swiftly glided through into the main hall. Twilight beamed, "Cadance!". King Lydda tilted his head as Cadance fluttered down beside him, carrying his lost daughter on her back. "Angelica!" King Lydda smiled, maintaining his stance, refusing to let his guard down with Twilight. Angelica hopped off of Cadance's back and ran over to her father, locking him in her embrace. "Father!" she cried. "I found her in the forest by the lake." Cadance stated, "It seems the dragons hadn't held her captive after all." Angelica released her father from her arms, "I met Princess Duciel in the forest, by chance. We never wanted to fight, so we met to try and figure out a way to settle this conflict peacefully. She even gave me this to help protect us." she revealed, showing her father the Manifest Crystal, "It's enchanted. It could have protected the village from attack." the blonde-haired princess explained, putting the crystal away. King Depaix grinned subtly, acknowledging his daughter's kind gesture. Lydda's anger had begun to noticeably subside, finally pulling back his sword from Twilight. He stared towards the group of dragons and ponies in front of him before settling his gaze upon Princess Cadance. "My daughter is safe and for that I thank you, Princess Cadance, but the situation remains; my people have suffered a heavy loss - a village has been all but destroyed - and justice for this atrocity has yet to be given." he stared towards the King, "I have no interest in talking 'peace' with your kind, but if a satisfactory resolution is met, I will call off my men, make our retreat and never return," he declared, "and the only thing that will satisfy that resolution will be the head of the dragons responsible in my hands." "If it's my head you desire, then it is here for the taking," the voice of Captain Espoir boomed from the end of the hall, "but the war, King Lydda, is already lost. Your men have been defeated by myself and my team of Elite warriors, with a little help of some marvellous crystals provided to us by the ponies who stand before you." he smirked, "I can overpower you with little effort, King. Surrender yourself now and I may spare you." he decreed as his team entered the hall, landing either side of him, two with their own Manifest Crystal hanging from their necks, and the other two darting through the other side of the group to surround them. "Never!" King Lydda bellowed, brandishing his sword towards Espoir's face. The Captain shook his head, "You sound like you need a little more convincing." he grinned, menacingly. The gem around his neck glowed a brilliant shade of cyan and fired out a crystallised beam directly towards Twilight. The crystal beam engulfed Twilight as blackened magical crystals thrust themselves out of the ground from below her, surrounding her on all sides. The purple princess was magically immobilised. Cadance hurriedly attempted to charge the Captain, but the magic of the Manifest Crystal cast by one of Espoir's men stopped her in her tracks, sending her crashing to the ground and immobilising her as well. In response, Princess Angelica fired her magic towards Espoir. The Captain was wise to the idea that he may be attacked, and his lightning quick reactions allowed him to dodge the blast, which went soaring toward one of his men, encasing him in his own prison. Espoir swiftly returned fire, trapping Angelica. King Depaix was next to charge Espoir. Spike saw the inevitable, however, and dashed alongside him. Espoir fired his crystal at the King, but Spike nobly dived in front, taking the hit and allowing the King to continue his advance. Depaix slammed into Espoir and his last remaining guard, sending him barrelling out of the palace towards the cliff edge. Unfortunately for Depaix, his right-hand man was on point and managed to spurt out a small beam of magic, locking the King's claws inside crystallised shackles. Depaix was caught off-guard by this and fell immediately to the ground. King Lydda was quickly apprehended by the two lackeys, dropping his sword on the ground in front of both himself and Depaix. Espoir gathered himself up from the floor, brushing off the dirt and dust. His laugh rang throughout the palace. "Outnumbered," he grunted, "out-gunned," he chortled, "and outsmarted!" he jeered. "This is where your reign ends, Depaix." Espoir declared, marching over to the King and picking him up single-handedly by the neck, jamming his claws into his scales. The King's bellows were silenced by the pressure of the Captain's grip on his throat. Espoir dragged the King over to the ledge, throwing him down just inches away from a long drop into the raging lake of fire. The King coughed as he struggled to regain his breath, "W-why?" he spluttered. The Captain's nostrils flared at the question, expelling a cloud of smoke in disgust at the sight of the broken ruler of their land. "You were always too soft, Depaix. Your subjects have lost all respect for you, many of them have died because of your negligence in dealing with the threat of the Heroes." "You were the one who started this conflict. Many have died because of you, Espoir, not me." "Perhaps, but try telling that to those throughout the Realm who have suffered loss." The Captain pulled the War Horn from his back, and threw it in the molten lake. "You were banished because your subjects longed for a King who could lead them. Well, good thing for them they have me to take over." he smirked, "You die here." he leaned down to meet the King on his level, "As for your daughter; if she ever returns, you can expect her to suffer the same fate as you." Espoir's threat against Duciel sent Depaix's rage spilling over the edge. He let out a mighty roar, swinging his shackles at the Captain with such force it shattered the Manifest Crystal into a thousand pieces. His attack was short-lived, however, as Espoir grabbed the defenceless King by the throat, locking him in a choke hold. The Captain flapped his wings, lifting them both slightly above the ground, slowly choking Depaix. "Dad!" the high pitched squeal of a young dragon called out from the mouth of the volcano. Espoir spied Princess Duciel sprinting down towards the palace. He threw the King with all his might towards the fiery pool, but fell just short of his aim. The King tumbled off the edge, saved only by the shackles catching themselves on a small jagged rock. Espoir slammed his body down onto the ledge in front of the King. The two stared into each other's eyes; the King's filled with dread, and Espoir's filled with pride of victory. He reached down to the King, grabbed him by both wrists and leaned in with a manic look in his eyes. "Vivat Rex" he smirked, lifting the King's shackles free of the jagged rock and dropping him into the lake. "No!" the cries of young Princess Duciel echoed far and wide, reverberating off every surface and drowning out the sounds of the active volcano as she witnessed her father plunge into the magma. The hearts of the Princesses, Spike, and King Lydda collectively sank as they helplessly watched the tragic events unfold before them. Tears welled up in Duciel's eyes as she continued her swift advance towards the Captain. A streaking crystallised beam of blue light almost caught Espoir by surprise. Duciel had a Manifest Crystal of her own and attempted to cage the Captain. Unfortunately, her attacks were too inaccurate and coming in from too far away to pose any threat. Espoir, now bereft of his own crystal, called in his back up to deal with her. The two dragons guarding King Lydda flocked towards Duciel, leaving him completely unguarded. The King dashed to his sword, making a break for Espoir. Roaring as he charged, Lydda plunged the sword into Espoir's stomach, stabbing him fatally. The Captain fell to the ground as King Lydda twisted the sword inside him and withdrew it swiftly. Duciel, meanwhile, was coming under fire from the other two dragons wielding their crystals, but the Princess was proving to be a match for the two of them, deflecting their attacks with her Crystal. The sound of the wounded Captain alerted his nearby lackeys, who had been distracted by the entrance of the Princess. One unlucky dragon was slain before he'd had the chance to react, but the other was quick enough to take a swipe. King Lydda, however, was lucky enough to only be grazed by the protruding claws of the dragon, and dodged out of the way. The ruckus was enough to distract one of the warriors who was in pursuit of the Princess, choosing to drop the fight with the Princess and fly back to help the fallen Captain. Duciel quickly overcame the remaining fighter, sending him plummeting into the wall of the volcano and locking him inside a crystal cage. Duciel ran by him down towards the entrance to the palace, where King Lydda was under fire from the remaining two dragons. The King attempted to deflect the magic blast of the Manifest Crystal by using his sword. Unfortunately, the spell instead encased the sword in heavy black crystals, making it too weighty to hold up. The sword fell to the ground, dragging King Lydda forward into the swinging claws of the other dragon. The King was sent flying across the ledge back through the entrance to the palace. The dragon holding the last Manifest Crystal cast his spell on King Lydda, sealing him in place. Duciel finally caught up with the battle, taking this opportunity to strike the dragon with the Crystal, rendering him useless. At this moment, everyone who was not already dead was now held inside the prisons, bar Princess Duciel and the last remaining lackey of the slain Captain Espoir. The two leered at each other, the Princess with the clear advantage, wielding the power of the crystal. The Princess, however, lowered her stance almost instantly. "I don't want to fight." she stated, shaking her head and throwing the crystal down onto the floor beside her. The whole group looked on in silence. "What is your name?" she asked. The lackey stared down at the crystal, then back at the Duciel and sighed, "Damour" he replied, keeping up his guard. The Princess slowly approached Damour, shaking her head in disagreement with his continued aggression. "Please," she insisted "I've witnessed enough death these past moons. No more." she pleaded. Duciel looked around at the group of trapped creatures. Damour lowered his guard slightly, himself observing the destruction from the struggle. "We don't have to go on like this. We have a chance here to do the right thing." she broke down weeping as images of her father drowning in the lake suddenly caught up with her. "Please," she cried, falling to her knees in distress, "no more..." Damour watched as the Princess fell to pieces in grief. He knelt down to the her and lifted up her chin, meeting her eye to eye. "No more." he assured her. The Princess smiled through her tears, "Thank you." she grinned. The conflict was over. A wave of relief swept over the room from ponies, humans and dragons alike. Damour dried the tears of Duciel, picked her up on her feet and nodded in respect of the Princess. Duciel picked up the Manifest Crystal from the floor, "I can use this to free everyone from their prisons." she explained, walking over to Angelica's prison. The crystal glowed, encasing the crystals in a blue aura and pushing them back into the ground. Princess Angelica was free. The two embraced, happy to be reunited. The human Princess ran over to her father, using her own crystal to free him from his encasement. The blonde-haired girl and her father hugged, relieved to have survived the ordeal. Next, she turned her attention towards the pink alicorn. "Cadance? I'm surprised to see you here." she squeaked as she receded the crystals surrounding the Princess of Love. "I heard you'd gone missing; I came to find you. I had no idea things were so bad here." she frowned. "They weren't. When I came to see you, there were just a few Heroes. It looks like there was a whole army given how many Heroes there are outside." "Yeah," Twilight piped up "that's right; where is everybody else?" Duciel briefly glanced towards Captain Espoir, "A lot of them are still alive, held captive by the Manifest Crystals across the mountain. The battling had ceased; that's how I was able to get here." she explained. "That's good, right?" Spike exclaimed, "That means we can save them!" The Princess' attention was grabbed by the baby dragon as his sudden outburst of excitement quickly diminished. She patted over towards him, entranced by the near mirror image. The only noticeable differences between the two were Duciel's slight height advantage and shinier scales, "And who are you?" she asked inquisitively. "I'm Spike" he mumbled, perplexed at the sight of the Princess, "I came here with Twilight and Princess Cadance to help solve the problems you were having with the Heroes." he murmured. "Aww, that's sweet. Well I'm glad to see you're all alright," she smiled politely as she released him. "and you're right, we can help those who are still alive, but there has still been an unfortunate loss of life, and even a single death is one too many." the Princess frowned. She looked towards the next crystal cage, "You must be Twilight?" The purple alicorn smiled, "Yes, I am." "You're a Princess, too?" Duciel questioned. "Yes. I'm the Princess of Friendship in Equestria. I heard there were problems here, so I came to lend a hoof," Twilight's smile dropped, "but given the destruction here, I don't think I've done a very good job of solving this problem." "Nonsense." The dragon princess claimed, "Sometimes, when someone is in need, there's not a whole lot you can do - you just have to be there for them. You might not be able to change the outcome, but that shouldn't stop you from offering your support," the purple dragon princess declared as she lowered the barriers surrounding Twilight, "and with that," she continued, turning towards the Captain's two trapped lackeys, "I ask you both: are you willing to offer your support in finding a peaceful resolution to this needless conflict?" Princess Duciel queried. However, before they had a chance to answer, the ground below them began to shudder violently. Magma spewed up over the side of the ledge, landing on the ground in front of the palace. The walls started crumbling and "The volcano!" Damour bellowed, "It's erupting!"