Bloodstone

by Drag Orion

Change

“Hey… Hey, Spike,” whispered Garble as he nudged the sleeping, purple dragon from his slumber. He had his rested upon his backpack and while it wasn’t as soft as a regular pillow it was, at least, better than the hard ground. “Come on, wake up.”

“Huh? Wha?” groaned Spike as he stretched and yawned. “I finally managed to get to sleep.”

“Shh,” hushed Garble, looking to make sure that Spark and Smoulder were still snoozing. “Quiet.”

“G-Garble?” wondered Spike as he opened his eyes and saw the last dragon he wanted to see kneeling beside him. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you,” he explained. “But not here. Follow me. I know where we can talk in private.”

“I already gave you a chance and we saw how that turned out,” he reminded him.

“I know I screwed up,” he admitted. “But, please, just give me this one last chance. That’s all I’m asking.”

“I really should ask Twilight if there is a limit to how many chances at redemption we’re allowed to give someone,” yawned Spike as he got up and followed after the teen dragon. After a bit of a walk, they entered into a cave. Venturing into its dark depths, Spike took deep breaths to exhale a small flame from his puckered lips to help light his way.

When then reached a dead end, Garble turned back to Spike. “Yeah, this should do just nicely,” he commented.

“Ok, what do you want?” asked Spike, still sleepy and eager to get this over with so he could attempt to get back to sleep again.

“Just to apologize,” he told Spike. “I have been nothing but horrible to you since we met and despite all that you’ve tried to help me. You’ve even helped take care of my brother, something I should have been doing from the start. Instead I’ve just been cowering in fear of my father. All this time, I thought I was strong, but in the end I was just putting on airs to look the part.”

“Well, it’s not entirely your fault,” Spike consoled him. “You were raised to be this way. It’s not easy to escape the influence of those who raised you. I keep all my hoofball cards organized by their team, and then by the average point total of their stats. I also find myself reshelfing my comic books once a week. Heh, next thing you know, I’m gonna start making checklists for my checklists.”

“Uh, right, well, I just wanted to get that off my chest,” he sighed. “I don’t want your forgiveness or expect you to have any after I nearly… you know, lost my temper in the arena.”

“Well, at the very least, I can offer you some help,” replied Spike. “Some counseling for your anger and father issues would probably be a good place to start and I know someone with plenty of personal experience as a vill- uh, those in need of guidance. She’s a pony named, Starlight Glimmer.”

Glaring at Spike, Garble hissed viciously at him. Startled, Spike jumped back as a chill ran down his spikes. “Oh, uh, sorry,” Garble quickly apologized after momentarily forgetting himself. “I, um, don’t think I’m ready to open up to ponies yet.”

“R-Right,” agreed Spike. “Baby steps. I should probably ask Ember if she knows any good dragon counselors.”

“Thank you, Spike,” Garble told him. “You’ve been a really great help to me.”

“No problem,” yawned Spike as he rubbed his eye. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I really need to go back and get some more rest.” Attempting to go back the way they came, Garble was quick to get ahead of him. He then turned back around and stood with a smirk as he block Spike’s way towards the entrance. “What the?” wondered Spike confused at what was happening now. “Garble?”

“You seem to have misunderstood me,” he grinned. “I didn’t thank you for offering to help me. I just needed to make certain I could be convincing enough.”

“‘Convincing enough?’” questioned Spike. “What are you-” Grabbing Spike up in one hand, he started to laugh with a monstrous cackle. Witnessing this, Spike could tell something was now incredibly off about the dragon before him. Rather than the usual guffaws he typically made after cracking some jerkish, self-made joke, his snicker sounded downright evil, sending another shiver down his spikes just like he had moments ago. “That laugh… this feeling… y-you’re- gah!” Garble tossed Spike against the back the cave and then hurried his way to the entrance.

Rising back to his feet, Spike hurried after Garble, running as fast as his legs could carry him. “I don’t know what you are planning, but I will stop you,” cried Spike.

“I can’t have you disturbing my plans,” he told Spike as the sound of rocks shifting over the top of the cave could he could heard. As they neared the mouth of the cave, dirt and small rocks were raining down over it. As the big, red dragon made it out, the rocks falling were getting bigger, bit by big covering over the entrance, or, in Spike’s case, his only means to get out. “So, I need you to stay here for now. I’m sure you’ll find a way out… eventually. But, by then it’ll already be too late. If you can’t… well, then farewell. Hehahahahah!!!”

“No!” Spike cried as he neared the entrance and a the largest rocks yet came crashing down over the cave’s maw, sealing him inside. Pushing on them with all his might, the small dragon attempted to force them out of his way, but they were firmly wedged into place. Spike shouted angrily, but the only response that came was his own echoe on the cave’s walls. Other than that, Spike was trapped within dark silence. With him sealed away, time marched forward till the morning of the next day.

“Who are you? Where’s Spike?” asked Spark as he awoke to see he was being watched by a different dragon than the night before.

“I’m Smoulder,” she answered. “I’m a friend of Spike’s. As for where he is, I don’t have a clue. He was here last night and his backpack still is, but not him.”

“Did he wander off somewhere?” wondered the small, yellow dragon.

“I doubt he would leave without a good reason,” she commented. “I’m worried. We better find him. Come on, I know that if anyone can help us, it’ll be Dragon Lord Ember.”

Carrying both her and Spike’s backpacks and Spark, as well, Smoulder took flight and headed towards the home of the Dragon Lord. Luckily for her, she didn’t even have to fly all the way over there before spotting Ember in the sky as she scanned the area around her vigilently.

“Smoulder and… Spark,” she observed as they all converged on the ground. “That’s not the duo I was expecting to see.” She rubbed her temple certain that this was the moment she’d regret her decision not to act sooner than this. “Please don’t tell me something happened to Spike.”

“He was with us last night and now he’s gone without a trace,” explained Smoulder. “We were actually hoping you would be able to help us find him.”

“It’ll be easier to make him come to us,” she said holding up the Bloodstone Scepter. “Truthfully, I should have done this the second I knew there was trouble.”

“Trouble?” asked Smoulder. “What’s going on?”

“Spark’s father came looking for him last night,” Ember explained. “He was losing his patience of Spike bringing Spark home. I managed to convince him to go back home and wait, but I’m afraid he’ll be even more upset than he was yesterday. If we don’t find him first, then I’m afraid that Crag will kill Spike.”

“K-Kill?” whimpered Spark, hugging at Smoulder’s leg fearfully.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean that literally,” Ember said trying to console the young dragon. “Everything will be fine.”

“But, just to make sure,” added Smoulder. “You better make him get his scaley butt over here fast.”

“I just need to summon him,” explained Ember as she held up the Bloodstone Scepter.

“But will that actually work?” asked Garble as he and his two friends, Clump and Fume flew down to join them.

“Ugh, just what we don’t need right now,” groaned Smoulder as they walked past her and Spark, completely ignoring them to confront Ember.

“B-Brother?” spoke Spark as he watched as Smoulder kept him safely behind her.

“What do you mean, if it’ll actually work?” she questioned him.

“I mean, can it call a dragon to you under any circumstance?” he asked. “What if he physically can’t get to you like if he was trapped in a cave somewhere? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”

“You trapped Spike in a cave?!?” she snapped angrily.

“I was just giving an example,” he answered smugly. “But I suppose it is possible. The question then is, what would offer me in return for showing you exactly where that little gnat is trapped? If I might make a suggestion, the Bloodstone Scepter would be a fair trade.”

“Like I would ever hand over something like this to the likes of you,” she argued. “I could use it to force you to tell me where he is, but I don’t like relying on its power.”

“So, are you going to use force to make me talk?” he laughed. “Heh, you think you can beat all three of us?”

“No, first I’m going to see if we can talk this out and come to an understanding,” she told him. To free up both her arms, she wrapped the Bloodstone Scepter in her tail for safekeeping. “And right now, I really hope we can’t so I can move onto using force. Also, yes, I do believe I can take on all three of you at once.”

“Come and try it then,” dared Garble as he let his two cohorts act first, Clump charging ahead to grapple against Ember, pushing her back with all his weight and might. At the same time, Fume quickly got behind her, inhaling big as he prepared to unleash a blast of flame.

“Ember!” warned Smoulder. “Behind you!”

“Don’t worry,” she said with confidence as she waited for Fume to unleash a yellow flame at her and then quickly reacted by disengaging Clump, allowing him to charge forward while she swiftly stepped aside. The chunky, brown dragon stumbled forward, colliding with his friend’s flames as he did, taking the hit that was meant for Ember.

“Oh, sorry dude,” Fume apologized.

“No worries,” Ember told him. While he had been distracted by his friendly fire, Ember managed to quickly get behind him “A little flame like that wouldn’t hurt that much.” Taking in a deep breath herself, she unleashed a blast of magenta flames at him and knocked the tall, skinny dragon off his feet and onto the ground, next to his friend. “But a flame like that should really burn.”

“Got you!” shouted Garble as he snuck up behind Ember and tried to snatch away the Bloodstone Scepter. Quick to react, Ember swung her tail away, making Garble grab at nothing but air as he fell to the ground. She stood tall over her challenger and looked down upon him, sorely disappointed.

“Garble, is this, seriously, the best you can do?” she sighed.

“I’ll show you what I can do,” he grumbled and got up, swinging and slashing his claws at Ember, but she easily avoided his attacks and then grappled hands with him. As they fought to overpower one another, Ember quickly managed to force Garble to his knees almost effortlessly.

“I know you were stronger than this during the Gauntlet of Fire,” she pointed out. “You aren’t even as strong as your friend Clump is.”

“Sh-Shut up!” he snapped at her.

“Yeah! Kick their tails!” cheered Smoulder as she rooted for Ember, watching as she Fume and Clump got up to help Garble, no matter what they tried, she was able to outthink them every time and come out on top. Before long, her three opponents were sore and exhausted from the battle while Ember had barely broken a sweat.

“Oh,” whimpered Spark as he watched and hugged Smoulder’s tail nervously.

“Don’t worry,” the orange dragon promised him. “Ember’s only going to rough them up a bit so they’ll tell us where Spike is. She won’t really hurt them.”

“Something isn’t right,” commented Spark.

“Uh, what do you mean?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. Something doesn’t feel right about my brother,” he told her.

“Had enough?” Ember asked him.

“You can beat us up all you want, but I still won’t tell you anything,” he adamantly stated.

“Uh, dude,” Fume commented, not eager to fight anymore when she had already proven over and over again her ability to defeat them, without any trouble. “Maybe we should just give up.”

“We aren’t stopping till we win,” he growled at them. “Now, get up and don’t stop fighting!”

“This is just getting sad,” sighed Ember as she took the Bloodstone Scepter in hand and raised it up. The gem glowed red as she activated its power. “You three, stand down now.” All at once, the three dragons fell to their knees with their heads and hands lowered. “If you won’t willingly tell me what cave you’ve hidden Spike in, I’ll force you to tell me. Now, Garble, tell me, where is Spike?”

“H-H-He i-i-is,” Garble stuttered as he attempted to resist telling her the truth before he blurted out his answer. “I refuse!”

“What?!?” replied a shocked Ember, unable to believe any dragon could refuse the orders of the Dragon Lord. Then, a glow of green emanated from Garble’s forehead and blasted out at Ember, hitting her point blank in the chest. She let out a cry of pain as she was knocked off her feet and landed on the ground in front of Spark and Smoulder, their mouths agape in just as much shock. Even Clump and Fume couldn’t were taken by surprise by this. The Bloodstone Scepter had escaped Ember’s grasp when she was hit and it fell to the ground.

“Ember!” cried Smoulder when the shock finally wore off. Along with Spark, she hurried over to her side. “Ember! Are you hurt?”

“Ungh,” she groaned as she managed to sit up. “I’m okay, but whatever he did, it burned me right through my scales.”

“Dude, Garble,” Fume said in awe at he looked at his friend as the power of the Dragon Lord faded on him and Clump and they got to their feet. “What’s with that gnarly horn?”

“Horn?” questioned Ember as she, Smoulder, and Spark turned to look at Garble and saw a black curved horn with holes in it protruding from his forehead. “No, that horn. You aren’t Garble! You’re Chrysalis!”

“Hehahahah!!!” laughed the imposter Garble as she picked up the Bloodstone Scepter and stood in a triumphant pose as a ring of green flames rose up over her red dragon form and revealed what she truly was. She had a body like that of the ponies with a coat black as pitch. Her front and back legs were riddled with holes as did her long, moss green mane, tail and transparent insect-like wings. As she laughed a pair of sharp fangs were present in her maw and when she stopped, she revealed a pair of emerald green eyes that stared down at Ember with a smug grin.

“Garble, dude,” gasped Fume as Garble’s two cohorts were in even more shock after Chrysalis revealed herself. “You’re not a dude.” Hearing that unnecessary commentary made Chrysalis hiss, angered that her big reveal was being spoiled.

Smoulder became even more on guard to protect Spark while Ember brushed off the pain the villain’s magic had inflicted upon her as she was ready to defend herself and the others from the unreformed Changeling. And even more of a concern was the Bloodstone Scepter now in her possession.

“Why did you turn into some ugly bug thing?” asked Clump, finishing what his equally dense friend was asking her.

“Silence you fools!” she hissed. “You have done what I needed of you, now be quiet or you two shall face my wrath.”

“Y-Y-Yes, Garble, uh, mam,” they answered and then remained quiet as Chrysalis approached Ember.

“Greetings, Princess Ember,” she spoke to her formerly. “Forgive me for taking on such a form for our first ever meeting, but it was a necessary for my plan to work.”

“Can’t say which form I dislike more,” Ember admitted. “But what are you even doing here Queen, oh, well, I guess it is ex-queen now that you no longer have ant subjects or a kingdom to rule over.”

“A failing on my part, I’m afraid,” she admitted. “I had allowed an insatiable hunger to be the rallying point for my Changelings to followed behind me, but a traitor’s dangerous, new ideas ruined all I had built. Even so, it revealed to me that I require more than just a common desire shared amongst those I rule over to properly unite them. I need to have absolute control so that they are no more than an extension of will.”

“If you rule like that then you aren’t leading subjects, but manipulating puppets,” argued Ember.

“Coming from the one that has the exact power I seek,” she scoffed. “That sounds terribly hypocritical.”

“I have never used it in such a way and if you have plotted all this to take that power for yourself then I have bad news,” she explained. “The Bloodstone Scepter was forged with the blood of dragons from generations ago. While it affects all dragons descended from them, it can only be used by one of them as well. Even if you were to turn yourself into a dragon you still will not be able to use it.”

“Oh, I am well aware of that fact,” she stated with a sinister, little cackle afterwards. “And, already, I have found a way around that, thanks to my new ally.” Flying down beside her, with a snaggletooth smirk, it was Garble, the real one. “I believe you two have already met.”

“We have,” she nodded and stomped over to the grinning brute. “And what do you think you are doing, Garble?”

“Taking what should have been mine in the first place,” he answered as he took the scepter in hand and raised it up. The bloodstone glowed brightly as he could feel the power flow into him just like it had for all Dragonlords past. As the effects faded he continued to speak. “And that’s Dragon Lord Garble to you. Now bow before your new leader.”

“Ungh!” groaned Ember as she felt the power of the Bloodstone Scepter cause her body to glow and burn as she attempted with all her might to resist the red dragon’s orders. But, try as she did, inevitably, Ember found herself on the ground, bowing before him.

“Now, who is the Dragon Lord?” he asked her, really wanting to hear it from her.

“Y-You are,” she answered through clenched teeth.

“That’s right,” he smirked with delight.

“Garble, that’s awesome,” Fume told him as he and Clump walked over. “You’re the Dragon Lord now.”

“What are you gonna do with all that power?” wondered Clump.

“Bow,” he told them and made them join Ember on the ground.

“Ugh, G-Garble?” questioned the skinny purple dragon, not expecting his friend to do this to them.

“Yeah, Garble, what’s the big idea?” asked the fat brown one.

“That’s Dragon Lord Garble, from now on,” he told them. “As for what I’m planning on doing, I’m going to be changing everything back to how it should be around here.”

“Better even,” added Chrysalis. “After all, we’re going to work together to take over Equestria and get my- uh, our revenge on all those who have wronged us.”

“I know,” he answered. “You don’t have to remind me. Just don’t forget that I have the scepter so I’m in charge.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she answered while trying to hide the bitterness in her voice of having to answer to another.

“Sm-Smoulder,” whispered Ember as she tried to get her attention while the others were conversing.

“Are you okay?” worried Smoulder, not sure how things could have gotten so dire so fast.

“I’m fine, but I can’t move while I’m under his control,” she explained. “For now, I need you two to get as far away from here as possible.”

“We can’t just leave you,” she argued.

“Listen to me,” she explained. “The Bloodstone Scepter’s power is strong, but you must be able to hear a command from the wielder in order for it to control you. The only thing it can do from a distance is summon a dragon, but you should be able to resist the call. Get away for now and get help. I’m counting on you two.”

“R-Right,” nodded Smoulder as she picked up Spark and took flight as quickly as she could. “Hold on tight,” she told Spark, having him wrap his arms around her neck so her hands were free to cover her ears.

“Fool, those two are escaping,” snapped Chrysalis, noticing them flying off. “Why didn’t you restrain them like the others?”

“Relax, I got this,” he said confidently and held up the scepter. “Come back.” Smoulder kept on flying. Shaking the Bloodstone Scepter, he tried saying it louder. “Come back here!” Still, it didn’t work. Angrily, Garble stomped the ground and waved the scepter wildly in his arm. “Garble says, ‘get back here!!!’”

“Seems you can’t control dragons if they can’t hear you,” figured Chrysalis. “It’ll be more difficult to our plans if we have to give orders to dragons one at a time.”

“Then we’ll just summon them all to gather at one spot,” figured Garble. “Then give them their orders.”

“Actually, a good idea,” she admitted. “But what about them?” She pointed back to Smoulder and Spark. “It would be foolish to simply ignore them.”

“Fume, Clump, go after them,” he ordered, making them rise to their feet and pursue. “Just obey my orders and it’ll be all the easier for you.”

“Y-Yes, Dragon Lord Garble,” they answered with a lack of enthusiasm in their voices. They then flew off in pursuit of Smoulder and Spark.

“Do you really think those two can capture them?” asked Chrysalis as they watched them leave.

“I doubt it,” he admitted. “So, we should act quickly. Let’s fly over to my new throne and call all the dragons over. No time like the present to take over the world, right?”

“And deliver plenty of delicious payback,” she cackled with delight. “Thorax… Twilight Sparkle… Starlight Glimmer! Their day of reckoning is close at hand. Oh, I can hardly wait.”

“I know the feeling,” he agreed before turning to Ember. “Come with us and praise me as we go. I feel like having my ego stroked.”

“Oh, Garble,” she told him, quickly growing sick to her stomach as she was forcibly made to tell him how great he was. The more she resisted, the brighter her body glowed and burned, urging to comply and avoid further pain. Even so, she resisted his control over her as best she could despite the pair and the forced praise still getting out. “You are such a strong and powerful dragon.”

“Don’t forget handsome,” he added in.

“Y-Yes, of course,” she gagged. “Truly the mightiest of dragons there ever was.”

“I do enjoy toying with my enemies,” admitted the former bug queen. “But do not grow complacent now that you have power. These fools tend to find a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”

“I’ve got this,” he assured her as he took to the air and flew towards the throne of the Dragon Lord. Chrysalis flew after him and an order from him forced Ember to come as well. “Nothing is going to stand in our way.”

“Where did they go?” wondered Fume as he and Clump looked flew down to the ground and started to look around, in every direction, but failed to see any sign of Smoulder or Spark. “They landed down somewhere around here, right?”

“I saw them fly here too,” agreed Clump. “The terrain is pretty rocky. There’s probably a lot of places they could be hiding.”

“And Garble and that bug lady will be made if we return without them,” figured Fume. “And who knows what they’ll do to us then.”

Realizing this, the two gave one another worried looks at just what they should do. “I, uh bet they’re hiding by the lava river.”

“That’s pretty far away from here,” commented Fume. “...Which is why it’ll be the perfect place for them to go.”

“It’s a big place,” added Clump. “We should grab our gorge boards to help us cover more ground quickly. Still, it could take hours to search everywhere… maybe even longer.”

“I’m down with longer,” agreed Fume, the two dragons looking rather eager now. “Let’s go! Uh, but we’re not goofing off. We’re just enjoying following Garble’s orders, right?”

“Right,” nodded Clump and the two slackers hurried off in a hurry, cheering as they did so.

“Looks like they’re leaving,” Smoulder sighed with relief as she peeked out from well-hidden crevice leading into her friends’ hidden cave. “Good thing those two aren’t very competent.”

“What’s going on, Smoulder?” asked Ax as she slipped back into their hideout. “Who are you hiding from and who is the kid?”

“I’m Spark,” the small dragon introduced himself. “Who are you guys?”

“This is Ax, today my name is Tia,” the dragon formerly named Xena told him. “And the dragon currently having second breakfast is Gorge.”

“Hey,” Gorge waved and then went back to eating.

“Ok, we’ve all been introduced,” Smoulder said. “Now, I need you to listen to me.”

“Before that,” interrupted Ax. “We want to apologize for what happened between us yesterday.”

“Apologize?” she asked. “Why are you apologizing to me? I mean, do you even know what you’re apologizing to me about?”

“Well, of course we do,” replied Tia. “I mean, we racked our brains on this all last night and we’re sure we figured it out.”

“And what did you come up with?”

“That you enjoy wearing dressing and being pretty because you are secretly a pony that was turned into a dragon,” answered Gorge.

“Yeah, no, completely wrong,” she told them, not sounding surprised by such an outlandish answer.

“That was what Gorge came up with,” Ax informedh er before Smoulder completely disregarded everything they said. “We think that you like wearing dresses and being pretty because… that’s just who you are… right?”

Pfft, and you guys thought my idea was dumb,” Gorge chimed in.

“Actually,” Smoulder spoke with a look of amazement on her face. “That’s exactly right. I’m a dragon that likes silly, girly things like tea parties and dresses. I know it sounds ridiculous for a dragon to enjoy such things, but it’s the truth. I can’t believe you were able to figure this out without me telling you.”

“Then do you accept our apology?” hoped Tia.

“Only if you’ll accept mine,” she replied. “I was so afraid none of you would be able to understand this part of me that I was afraid to even try. It was my responsibility to teach you all what I’ve learned, but it turned out that I needed a refresher course to understand I shouldn’t give up on my friends so easily.”

“You still wanna be friends with us?” asked Tia. “Even after we upset you.”

“Even though we’re just a bunch of good-for-nothings,” added Gorge, forgetting his second breakfast as he spoke. “And you have a whole bunch of amazing, real friends at that school of yours.”

“And after you’ve moved onto bigger and better things,” finished Ax.

“We’ve already made up,” she answered. “And you all are just as real friends as any that I made while I was at the school No matter what happens, you all will always be my friends. We’ve had too much fun and gotten into far too much trouble to just let it end like this.”

“Do you really mean it?” Ax wondered, this heartfelt conversation still a foreign experience to them, but this warm fuzzy feeling it filled the three of them with was not unpleasant.

“I do,” she nodded. “And there’s so much I want to show you all that exists beyond this dank cave of ours.” Smoulder turned to Ax. “So many fun and exciting things that you’ll never be bored. You’ll have trouble deciding what you want to do first.” Moving on to Tia she continued. “You can be whoever you wanna be, and I don’t mean by changing your name every day.” Finally, she came to Gorge. “Uh… there’s lots of tasty foods out there for you to experience, many flavors you probably never even imagined could be possible.”

“I’m sold,” salivated the little butterball of a dragon. “When do we eat- uh, I mean go?”

“Unfortunately, all that will have to wait,” Smoulder told them, returning the focus to the matter at hand. “I’m currently faced with a really big dilema and I could really use your help. The very fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.”

“The fate of Equestria?” questioned Gorge certain she was overexaggering the direness of the situation. “Heh, yeah right. If things are in such dire straits that we’re needed, then I’d have to just say, ‘we’re doomed.’”

No sooner had Gorge uttered those words, each of them started to glow as their scales started to burn slightly, in an all too familiar way. “It looks like the new Dragon Lord is already summoning all the dragons in Equestria over to him,” she told her friends. Scratching at her scales, the feeling even more bothersome than it usually was as she attempted her best to ignore it. “I had hoped they wouldn’t act this quickly, but it looks like they aren’t wasting any time moving forward with their plans.”

“What do you mean, ‘the new Dragon Lord?’” asked Ax. “What happened to Ember?”

“A dragon named Garble teamed up with the former queen of the Changelings and now they are planning to use all the dragons to conquer Equestria.”

“And that’s what you need our help with?” questioned Gorge as he started to nervous eat. “We’re doomed.”

“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” Tia answered, trying to stay positive. “What’s the plan?”

“Well, we can’t face them head on,” admitted Smoulder. “All Garble has to do is give us one command and we’d be at his mercy. No, we need to get non-dragon help if we’re going to stop them.”

“Then we have to find Spike,” Spark chimed in. “He’ll know what to do.”

“Uh, who is Spike?” asked Tia.

“A friend from Ponyville,” she answered. “And finding him would be a big help. He could send word of what’s happening here by just burning a letter. Unfortunately, he’s trapped somewhere and we don’t have the luxury to go looking for him right now.”

“Then what are we going to do?” wondered Ax.

“I need to get to Ponyville as quickly as I can,” Smoulder continued. “I should have time while the dragons gather by the throne of the Dragon Lord, but every second I can get will be a big help, which is why I was hoping you three could do whatever you can to distract them for as long as possible. You’ll need to keep your ears covered while you do it so that you can’t hear the Garble. From what Ember told me, the power of the Dragonlord only works if you can hear the commands.”

“How are we going to do that?” asked Tia. “Are we supposed to just cover our ears the entire time?”

“Um,” pondered Smoulder as she tried to think and then came up with an idea. Opening Spike’s backpack, she pulled out his pillow. “Sorry, Spike.” With a claw, she opened it and pulled out some clawfuls of cotton that she handed out to each of them. “Try using this stuff to plug up your ears.” Doing as Smoulder instructed, they stuffed as much of the cotton into their ears that they could fit. Smoulder gave it a test by speaking loudly to them. “Can you hear me?”

“You say something?” asked Gorge as he pulled the cotton out. “It can’t hear you.”

“It looks like that should do,” stated Smoulder as they all took the cotton out of their ears to finish conversing. “I know it’s asking a lot, but it’s all I can think to do right now. We’re really pressed for time.”

“Well, leave it to us,” Ax answered.

“You sure come up with the craziest things for us to do,” laughed Tia. “And I didn’t think you could top stealing the Bloodstone Scepter.”

“Oh, you guys,” smiled Smoulder as they started to head out of their cave.

“What should I do?” asked Spark.

“Stay here and hide,” she answered. “It’s going to be very dangerous, but don’t worry, you can count on us. Just enjoy some gems and we’ll be back before you know it.”

“Just don’t eat too many of mine,” added Gorge as he followed the others and struggled to squeeze out of the narrow crevice before flying to the throne of the Dragon Lord with the others while Smoulder headed in the opposite direction, going as quickly as she could to cross the border.

“Any ideas on how we can cause a scene?” asked Tia as flew.

“Hmm,” pondered Ax as he tried to think. “The tar pits should be warmed up enough by now.”

“Oh hoh, then this’ll be quite a lot of fun,” she smirked.

“And a lot of trouble too,” added Gorge.

“I know,” smiled Ax as they took a slight detour from the throne of the Dragon Lord. “I’m really glad that Smoulder’s back home.”

All around the throne of the Dragon Lord, the scaley inhabitants of the land were gathering once more to answer the summons. None of them were aware of what had transpired previously. They had no idea that they had a new leader with a far different goal for what to do as Dragon Lord.

Among the crowd, Crag was also there, a frustrated anger boiling within him after Spike had never brought Spark back home. “When this is over,” he grumbled to himself as he tapped his foot on the ground, his patience at its limit. “I am going up to Ember and getting Spark back. No more excuses or delays.” The dragons around gave him as much space as the could, fearing he might go into another rage at any moment like he had a couple of days ago.

Atop the throne, out of sight of the dragons, were Ember and Chrysalis waiting and watching as the number of dragons to have arrived increased by the minute. “Oh, look at them all,” grinned Chrysalis, unable to keep from cackling with delight. “My army is almost done assembling and soon they will anihilate all of Equestria and help me exact my revenge on all those fools.”

“You two won’t get away with this,” groaned Ember, her body bound in chains as an added precaution on top of the Dragon Lord’s orders to not move. “You will be stopped.”

“Oh, please, ex-Dragon Lord,” taunted Chrysalis. “In a few hours it’ll be too late. We’ll give the order to commence the attack and then regardless of us being defeated or not the dragons will battle it out across Equestria. From end to end, the entire land will be burnt to a blackened, barren crisp and destroyed.”

“And that benefits anyone how?” hissed the blue dragon as she glared defiantly.

“Destroying the world of my hated enemies is reward enough for me,” she explained. “And even if you savage creatures destroy yourselves in the process, I will survive and rebuild my kingdom upon the burnt ashes of what remains.”

“You’re a monster,” Ember told her.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” she chuckled as Garble flew back over to them. “Did you take care of it?”

“All set,” he nodded. “What’s going on over here?”

“Just having a friendly conversation with my new friend,” she said as she condescendingly patted Ember on the head.

“I mean about the dragons gathering,” he specified. “Are they all almost here?”

“It looks like most of them are and the rest are on the way,” Chrysalis answered. “At this rate, I’d say we just give them about another ten minutes before we can begin. From what I can see, most of the larger dragons are already here and two or three of them could easily topple a city like Canterlot with ease.”

“And with an army this large, all of Equestria will fall before us,” stated Garble.

The two fiends continued to wait as the remaining dragons continued to gather, soon their colorful scaley hides covered over the brown, cracked ground and filled the sky above as well. They occasionally scratched their still glowing bodies as they awaited to see what the reason was that the Dragon Lord had called for them.

“Looks like we’re all set to begin,” grinned Garble as he lifted the Bloodstone Scepter and a wave of red light gushed out and returned all the dragons to normal. As he stood out for them to see, he began to call out to them. “Dragons of Equestria, starting today, you have a new Dragon Lord, me, Garble! For my reign, there is only one thing I desire, to seek glory for the dragons by crushing all those around us. And for that end, I plan to-” He got cut off mid speech as a ball of sticky, black goo hit him across the chest. “Ugh! What in the?” Tugging at it, he found it was a tar that was now sticking his claws to his chest. “A tar ball? Who threw that?”

“Haha! Gotcha!” laughed Ax as he and the others threw some more of the sticky, black balls of tar at him.

“Gah! Hey! Stop it!” cried Garble as he tried his best to dodge out of the way, but still got hit all over. All around, the other dragons weren’t sure exactly what was going on, but couldn’t help laugh at the spectable before them. The more Garble moved around, the more stuck he began, even stepping onto some of the tar balls he missed and ended up stuck where he stood. His tail ended up getting stuck onto the side of his leg and his free hand ended up glued to his face when he used it to shield his head.

“In any other situation,” noted Tia, barely even able to hear her own voice while their ears were stuffed with cotton. “We’d get into so much trouble for this.”

“We still might if we can’t stop them,” Gorge reminded them. “How long do we gotta keep them distracted?”

“Long as we can, I guess,” answered Ax as he looked at the container filled with tar they had gathered and were almost out. “Which isn’t very long.” Gorge held onto the container as he exhaled flames against it to keep the tar hot and bubbling. Ax and Tia then scooped the gooey substance into their claws, forming it into a ball shape as fast as they could. While it was still hot, they tossed the balls of tar at Garble, the substance still hot enough to easily detach from their hands, but it cooled as it was flung through the air and hit its mark and clung firmly to him.

“You three,” roared Garble as he breathed fire on himself to melt off the tar and free himself. Then, taking to the sky before he got stuck again, he flew towards to make sure they could hear them. “Stop this at once!” The three came to a complete stop, unable to hear what he was saying, but able to read his body language enough to make a guess. With the projectiles no longer being pelted at him, he sighed with relief. Garble then turned back around towards his throne continue his speech, uninterrupted. “Not how I wanted this to go, but I’ll deal with them later.” As soon as he turned his back to them, Ax and Tia resumed attacking him, managing to his his backside before he turned and got more stuck to his front. “Oh, come on! I’m the Dragon Lord and I command you to stop!”

“Forget trying to order them around,” Chrysalis instructed him. “Just do as we had planned.”

“Fine,” he agreed and then called out. “Ok, big guy. Take care of these pests for me.”

“What did they say?” wondered Gorge.

“I don’t know,” answered Ax. “I can barely hear myself.”

“I-I think they were c-calling for him,” gulped Tia as they saw the largest of all the dragons approach them from behindt he throne, Torch.

“They already got control of him?” cried Gorge as they turned tail to flee as the colossal beast approached them. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Father, no,” cried Ember, unable to believe what she was seeing. As the three dragons attempted to fly away, they were like mere insects to him. With little effort, he caught up to them and easily trapped all three in one clenched fist.

“It seems I anticipated correct,” she cackled.

“Anticipated?” asked Ember.

“We Changelings are no strangers to espionage and diversions,” she explained. “I’ve anticipated something like this might occur and we took measures to ensure we were ready with a proper counterattack.”

“Hey! Let go of me!” groaned Smoulder as a couple of dragons restrained her as they brought her down to the throne and dropped down beside the previous Dragon Lord.

“Smoulder, are you okay?” worried Ember as they chained her up too.

“I’m fine,” she groaned. “But I didn’t think they’d have dragons already patrolling the border.”

“Guarding and patrolling are other specialties of the Changelings,” she added. “With my mind and the might of you dragons there isn’t anything that we cannot accomplish and I am not taking any chances this time with any who could ruin my plans.”

“Your plans?” asked Garble as he began melting the tar off his body once again.

“Uh, I mean our plans, of course,” she rephrase that. “So, I’d say we are all set to begin, now that those interlopers are out of the way.”

“Not just yet,” replied Garble as he knelt down in front of Smoulder. “Where is my brother, Spark?”

“He’s safe and sound in our cave,” answered Smoulder, truthfully. “What? Did you think we’d hold him hostage or something?”

“That would have been a more effective strategy than this little diversion of yours,” commented Chrysalis. “But I doubt even an insignificant little ant like that would have made him hesitate for more than a moment. After all, he’s moved onto bigger and better things. A familial bond could never compare to what he’s become now.”

Hearing her talk so lowly about his brother, Garble couldn’t help let out a restrained snarl before he got back up and turned his focus to the crowd of dragons. “It’s best that my brother isn’t around to see this,” he thought. “He’s too young. He wouldn’t understand.”

Looking down at the dragons, he was able to easily spot his father standing with a noticeable gap between him and the other dragons. He didn’t appear annoyed anymore, rather surprised in a delighted way. “Now that I know I won’t be interrupted, I can do what I really wanted to do from the start. Father, get up here this instant!” he roared, making certain he could hear him. “I can see you down there! Your Dragon Lord commands you!”

Not wasting a second to flying up from where he stood, Crag made his way to the massive throne with a big-toothed smiled on his face. He approached his son and patted him on the shoulder. “Garble, my son,” the sound of sincere praise and delight in his voice something the new Dragon Lord hadn’t heard in ages. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I like it. You’ve found an opportunity to become Dragon Lord and you seized it. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of you than I am now. Finally, the destiny of dragons that has been out of our reach for so long has finally been grasped. Our long desired dream is right before us.”

“It sure is,” agreed Garble saying very little as he looked upon his father with disgust. Crag wore a smile like he had never given up on his son and saw him as a failure.

“Well, I’m here so don’t keep me waiting,” he chuckled the happiest he had ever felt in forever. “Give the order.”

“Gladly,” nodded Garble as he pointed at his father. “Apprehend my father and put him in chains.”

“Wha- uh, Garble!” cried his father confused as the dragons wh already under Garble’s control grabbed at Crag to restrain him. Not willing to be restrained without a fight, he struggled against them. “What is the meaning of this?!?”

“Grovel at my feet!” ordered Garble, causing his father to slowly fall to his hands and knees. As he attempted to resist, he could feel his flesh and blood boil as the effects of the Bloodstone Scepter only increased with his defiance till he finally submitted. “That’s better.”

“After all I’ve ever done for you,” he snarled as chains were wrapped around his arms and legs to keep him bound. “You wouldn’t be where you are today if it wasn’t for me, your father! And this is the thanks I get?”

“Everything you did was because it was what you wanted,” stated Garble. “I was nothing more than something for you to use and I hated it. I’m not going to let you do that same to Spark. Now the dragons are going to go out and conquer Equestria without you.”

“You can’t do this,” he growled and struggled against the chains. “It’s what I’ve waited my whole life for! You can’t do this to me! You can’t! I’m your father! I’m your-”

“Quiet!” shouted Garble causing his father’s beastly shouts to stop completely. He sighed and smiled as he looked down at his father helpless against his power. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment.”

“Yes, you got your revenge on him,” agreed Chrysalis. “Now onto more important things, like my revenge and the conquest of the rest of Equestria, of course.”

“I know, I know,” he stood before all the dragons once more. “Dragons of Equestria! The time has come to take up arms! To go out and show the world that we are the true rulers of this land and that we are taking what should have been our countless ages ago. Show them the strength of dragons, the power, and the ferocity. Whatever might oppose you show it no mercy. Burn it to ashes and prove that there is nothing that can stand in our way.”

Author's Note:

Next time: Spike the Brave amd Glorious

Comments

[Matthais Unidostres]

Chrysalis and Garble. A VERY dangerous combination. luckily, I'm sure that it will be the brotherly love between Spark and Garble that will save the day and bring about Garble's reformation. That's right! Once again, Chrysalis will be ironically foiled by the power of love!

[The Great Derpsby]

Wait. So of the sceptre only works at audible range, then how it summon Spike from all the way in Ponyville?

[Drag Orion]

9629342
While the Dragon Call to summon dragons to gather around it can be used at any range, any other command must be done verbally. At least that’s how it works in the story.

[The Great Derpsby]

9629392
Ah, okay.

[BlueStarred Spike]

Yeah they're big and they breath fire and all, but it's one nation vs recently united nations. Plus, we have Discord as a contingency plan.
I hope Spike can do something awesome next chapter.