Spike: The Dragon Princess

by IndiBrony

The Plan

Princess Cadance and Twilight fluttered high above the volcano of the Dragon Realm. Twilight carefully pondered a plan. "I think it would be best if we split up." she explained. "The Dragon Realm is surrounded by water on both the southern and western sides. I doubt the settlement of the Heroes will be so small that they could remain in such a limited area without being ousted. Our best bet is for one of us to fly north and the other to the east, go for about a half hour and then we can meet back here. Sound good?"

Cadance nodded, "It's not perfect, but I doubt we have a whole lot of time. We still need to find the Princess, too." Cadance dug her hoof under her wing and pulled out a couple of small contraptions. "I didn't want to use these just yet because I haven't had a chance to test them, but I figure they could come in useful." The pink Princess passed one of the devices to Twilight.

"What are they?" she quizzed.

Cadance demonstrated with her own, "Officially, it's part of the Crystal Empire's 'Northern Ice' Project. These are called Love Scouters; they measure a pony's 'Potency Of Will, Emotion and Romance', or 'POWER' level for short. It should be able to help you deduce how hostile the Heroes are, and should work from almost any distance." Cadance unfolded the glass screen from the earpiece and attached it to her face. "Here, look," she prompted Twilight to observe the control panel on the side of the Love Scouter. "the button on the top here will calculate who you're looking at and bring up their power level. If it changes drastically, the scouter will alert you automatically." Cadance took Twilight's scouter and unfolded it. "Here, let me put that on for you. It can be a little tricky." the Princess explained, shuffling the device around Twilight's ear in an attempt to get it to hook on.

"Ow!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Oops, sorry," Cadance apologised "I've only built ones to fit me so far, so this might be a little uncomfortable for you." the pink alicorn fiddled some more, "Is that okay?"

Twilight waved her head around "It seems secure..."

Cadance smiled, relatively satisfied with the positioning of the scouter. The Princess flew back a few yards before shooting herself up further into the sky. She raised a hoof and tapped a button on her scouter. "The button lower down is for the intercom," The Princess' voice rang through Twilight's right ear. "Tap it to begin broadcasting, tap it again to cease. If your message is brief, hold the button down for more than a second and once you release it, it'll automatically stop broadcasting." There was a short pause "Try it out, if you can hear me."

Princess Twilight felt around the control panel in order to find the lower button. Once she felt the bump, she tapped the button with her hoof. "Uh, hello?" Twilight awaited a response. Looking up at Cadance, she could see the mouth of the Princess moving, but she could hear nothing. "I'm sorry, Cadance, I can't hear you..." she explained.

Cadance swooped back down to Twilight, tapping the button on the purple pony's scouter. "You can't receive if you're currently broadcasting. A drawback, I know, but sending and receiving using only one kind of magic seems to interfere with it." Twilight nodded in acknowledgement. "If I could get another pony to test it with their own magic, we might be able to communicate with each other simultaneously, but unfortunately for now, this is what we have to deal with."

"Right, so remember to press it again before you can speak. Got it."

"Yeah, I think as a rule of thumb, we'll leave a couple of seconds after the end of each other's messages just so we know we're picking up what we're saying. Again, it's not perfect, but it's an early prototype and I'm working out the kinks. Still, much faster and easier than having to travel out and all the way back here, right?"

Twilight grinned, "I had no idea you were so prolific in engineering."

Cadance giggled "I know. Ironic that the Princess of Love dedicates so much of her time to engineering weaponry. It's my job to spread love throughout Equestria, but it's good to have a trusty arsenal behind me to help." she beamed, "Anyway. Scouters are working; I guess we should get started."

---

King Depaix and Spike reached the foot of the volcano, staying just behind the tree line. Spike stared up into the old, scaly face of King Depaix. "Can I ask you something, Your Highness?"

"I prefer it if you didn't..." the King snorted.

"No, it's just that, well... I'm a dragon, just like you, but I was found as an egg before I was hatched. It's been playing on my mind for a long time now, because I don't know where I came from and who my real parents are, you know?" Spike confessed as the King faded in and out of listening to him. "Is there any way I could ever find out?"

King Depaix stared for several seconds into the eyes of the baby dragon, contemplating his answer. He saw the same innocent, hopeful glimmer in Spike's eyes as he had seen in his own daughter's. The King sighed and settled himself as he stared off up the volcano. "Spike. Dragons are a hardened species - they care little for family and even less of sentiment. We live primarily for ourselves, but our community exists as we understand that we have many powerful foes. We are strong even alone, yes, but like these Heroes, our enemies attack in numbers. There are plenty of rouge dragons who go alone, but they so often end up slain. Our scales are of immense value to some cultures, others take our eggs to consume as food, and some even hunt us for fun..." the King turned back to look at Spike "What I'm saying is if you cherish the ideals of a supportive family and loving friends then I strongly suggest you remain in Equestria, because you won't find a similar caring environment for you here."

Spike took a moment to ingest the information given to him. "And what about you?"

"What about me?" the King enquired.

"Do you value your family and friends?"

King Depaix smiled at the young lad. "I do." the forest fell silent for just a moment. The only thing that could be heard was a gentle breeze passing through the branches of the trees. "Duciel wasn't my only child." the King began to explain "My wife laid three eggs. Two of them were poached." he paused "Two dragons infiltrated the castle at night. It was an attempted assassination, meant for me, but after they failed, they took my dear Queen instead - killed her right in front of me - and snatched the eggs. I managed to retrieve one during the unfolding madness - my precious Duciel - but they escaped with the other two. I remember it being the first time I'd called on Nett. Over the following weeks, he lead the search to track down the two assailants. I had them both executed, but the eggs were still missing. After months of looking, we called off the search. Nett helped me through, and when Duciel was born, he helped me raise her. I think she saw him much more than she ever saw me." in talking about him, the King was reminded of the events that had unfolded earlier. "She will take the news of Nett's passing much harder than I."

"I'm sorry for your loss, King Depaix. But from what you just told me, you sound like a great father and a fantastic role model for Duciel. I'd be honoured if I had someone like you as a father." Spike said, sincerely.

King Depaix acknowledged Spike's condolences. The rustling wind reminded him of what lay ahead. "Thank you, Spike. Your words mean a lot to me. Don't lose touch with your kindness; it's a very important trait. That said, I believe we should now focus ourselves on our goals."

The baby dragon suddenly jumped into action "Right!"

"One thing before you go, Spike. The word of Nett's passing will spread like wildfire amongst the other dragons. Somewhere along the line the news will find its way to those who seek power and they will make an attempt at the throne. You're just a child; you can't fight them. The moment you return, you must find the War Horn. Sound it, and my Elite Guards will be alerted. You will be met by Captain Espoir. It is important that you do not hide your identity to him - any attempts to fool him will not end well for you. Greet him immediately with the phrase 'Pour la Fierté du Royaume' and explain to him the situation in full. He will take your direct orders. You will be acting as leader of the Realm until the situation is resolved."

Spike was sweating with nervousness, "No pressure then."

King Depaix stared at the baby dragon, wondering if he was up to the task. "I feel you will have plenty of help with Captain Espoir by your side." he stretched his arm around Spike and patted him on the back before pushing him forward. "With any luck, I shall take back my throne shortly." Spike stumbled forward as the King pushed him. As he found his footing, he looked back at the King nervously. The giant dragon nodded his head and pointed up the top of the volcano with his eyes. "Now, go."

Comments

[TheDriderPony]

Gee... his eggs were lost and Spike looks just like his kid and he's the only dragon with family values. The foreshadowing is so dark I can't see my hand in front of my face.

Also... scouters. Weird but intriguing. I thought this was going to be a quick one-off joke about the episode of the same name, but we've taken some interesting turns.

[IndiBrony]

6400716 The mention of scouters and whatnot ties in with my other stories - 'Cadance: The Love Arsenal' - and it's something I intend to do with a lot of my stories, giving subtle little nods to other things I've written.

The egg thing may be foreshadowing, it may not. You'll have to see.

[Hillbe]

darn scouters first they show up then this..........

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[IndiBrony]

6401397 ...but... but dragons are reptiles(?) that lay eggs... ponies are mammals. How does that even happen?

[Hillbe]

6401522 Ask Donkey . . .Oh that's another cartoon! (platypus ? Ploty-pus? ploty-pony?)

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