• Published 24th Oct 2012
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Age of the Alicorns: Chaos Rising - AleximusPrime



The story of how Discord took over Equestria and how Celestia and Luna found the Elements of Harmony and stopped him.

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19. Tears of a Dragon

CHAPTER 19: Tears of a Dragon

Accord stood out on a balcony in Everfree Palace, alone. It was the same balcony he used to address the crowd earlier that year, when he announced his renovation plans for Everfree. Night had already fallen, and it was quiet. Most lights in the town had been snuffed out. He was used to there being a large crowd before him, cheering him on, but now he could only think about the events of that day and how so much was about to change. That same crowd would have probably been disgusted with the princesses and their handling of the negotiations with Leogle. He had already heard that word of this event reached most ears in the city and it was quite possible everypony in Everfree already knew about it. Their faith in the royals would slowly diminish. No one would take the princesses seriously after all of this. Many hardships were ahead for the entire kingdom. He then remembered how they asked that he take their place, if they can change the law that makes them the heirs to the throne. He thought to himself that perhaps this was a good idea after all and was the only way to continue. While still in thought, he heard hoofsteps behind him, and turned to see Starswirl walk out next to him. Starswirl spoke not a word but stared out into the open space before them, taking a deep breath.

“I’m guessing you know about it too?” he asked Accord.

“Everypony knows.” Accord said, flatly.

“This is just tragic. I swear, they knew what they were doing before today. Whatever it was that happened in that courtroom, it was not the princesses I know.”

“Starswirl, you need to know something.”

“Yes?”

“I spoke with the girls earlier and they told me they’re going to abdicate. They’ve asked for me to take their place.”
Starswirl froze and just stared at Accord for a few seconds.

“What?!” he gasped.

“They’ve spoken to Sol and he’s addressing the parliament right now. They’re going to arrange to have a vote and decide if the constitution should be amended so that anyone not of royal blood may be appointed the successor.”

“No. No, this cannot be. They can’t just do that, they are the heirs, not you!” Starswirl said, pacing around nervously on the balcony. “Even if they can actually pass such an amendment, it has always been tradition for royal families to pass leadership on to their offspring. It’s how it’s been done in these lands before Equestria was even founded!”

“Starswirl, it’s what’s best.”

“You’re…you’re not saying you agree with them, are you?!”

Starswirl turned to Accord with anger in his voice. Accord turned to look out into the town as he spoke to his old friend.

“Look, my friend, they’re young, they’re naïve, they aren’t ready and no one is going to take them seriously now that they’ve started a war. I thought that after their first time with Leogle things would turn up, but the part with the dragon had me concerned. I didn’t want to say anything because I still believed they could do it, but…well, frankly…I mean no harm when I say this, but my faith in them has been shaken after today’s events.”

“Accord…”

“Sol should have known what he was getting himself into when he told them both they would start learning diplomacy right after Luna got her cutie mark. Celestia may have been more of the appropriate age but having to be forced to work with her sister must have made it worse.”

“So you are blaming the king now.”

“Well this all certainly could have been easily avoided if we’d have waited longer, but now they’ve already made fools of themselves and it’s too late.”

“Accord, this is nonsense. The girls can recover from this and learn from their mistakes. They are just having a hard time is all.”

“Time is something we don’t have right now, wizard. A war is upon us. If they want me to lead, then lead I shall. Sol will fight this battle his daughters started and then I’ll be here to fix any damage that is left.”

“Accord, listen to yourself!” Starswirl snapped. “It was not your responsibility to begin with! You had so much faith in the princesses before, what’s gotten into you now?!”

“I’m sorry, Starswirl, but you know how I felt…how I feel about war. We will fight this one defensively like we did against the ice minotaurs, but unfortunately we started it this time and for what? Negotiations that failed through petty behavior?”

Starswirl stopped responding and Accord just looked at him to see a rather angered and disappointed unicorn staring at him. Accord turned away closing his eyes.

“Again, I apologize, but this did not go well. The girls will learn one day and will live happy lives for the years to come, but leading a country is too much for them.”

Starswirl turned around and walked back inside slowly. Before crossing into the doorway, he stopped to say one last thing to Accord.

“Accord, I have known and trusted you for centuries. You are a good alicorn with good intentions, and I have no doubt you will be a great king. I would be proud to serve you, but if you know what is good for you, in time you will step aside and allow the true heirs of the king and queen to takeover as it was originally vowed. Law or no law, they were given the blessing the moment they were born and despite their shortcomings, they will be ready one day, maybe even more than you are right now.”

Starswirl then walked away to leave Accord to think to himself. He thought heavily about what Starswirl said, knowing there was some truth, but he still stuck to his own word. The age of Solmidas’ royal family was coming to an end and it was time for a new leader. Of course the ponies of Everfree trusted him enough already, but he had to prove once more to everyone that he could do it. Lifting his eyes to the night sky, he spread his wings and quietly took off to the south.



A while later, Accord found himself at his destination: the South Spire Mountain, where he would confront Grumblebog and save the king’s treasury. The troops keeping watch over the mountain in the valley below were all asleep in their tents, and would not hear him, for he was several hundred feet above. He landed right on the edge of the cliff right before the cave entrance, folded up his wings and then slowly made his way into the cave, ignoring all the smoke that was coming out. Without any fear, he walked on inside, shining his horn brightly to see through the darkness. In no time at all, he could already see Grumblebog on top of the pile of gold. Grumblebog’s eyes opened up immediately and he let out a growl.

“Ugh…what? Who dares…oh no, not you ponies again!!” he said loudly, getting up and shaking off some coins from his scales as his jowls and dorsal spikes flapped about. “You know, I’m getting really sick of you stupid ponies interrupting my sleep! You’d better have a good reason to be in here or else I’m going to get mad, you hear?!?”

“I’m here to ask you to leave, Grumblebog.” Accord said.

“BAHAHAHA!!!” Grumblebog laughed. “Is that the best you’ve got?! That little pink-haired alicorn girl did even better than you!”

“Well Celestia’s not here right now, and believe me, I’m just getting started.”

“What are you going to do to me? Try to be all nice and diplomatic and stuff? I’m a dragon. That doesn’t work on me.”

“Oh doesn’t it now?” Accord said, smirking as he talked. “A dragon huh? Seems more like an overgrown lizard with batwings if you’d ask me.”

Grumblebog’s smile dropped and he began to grimace at Accord.

“Goodness, you are one big, fat dragon too, you know. Are you sure you haven’t eaten some of the gold here? I thought you dragons just slept in the gold.”

“Shutup.”

“Oh, and those spikes. Tsk, tsk. You should consider straightening those or you’re going to have a hard time attracting a female one day. That is, if you ever think of leaving this cave, you lazy dragon. Ha ha!”

“I SAID SHUTUP!!!”

Grumblebog opened his jaws and spewed a stream of bright fire directly at Accord. For a few seconds he continued until the flames died out. His fire lit some wooden planks jutting out of the inside of the cavern, and they continued to burn, lighting up the cavern in the absence of Accord’s horn. The entire area that he had blown fire into was blackened, and some nearby metal tools and weapons were glowing from the intense heat, but Accord was nowhere to be found. One of Grumblebog’s eyebrows raised and he looked around to find the remains of his unwanted visitor, but suddenly he heard a voice.

“Wow. Very impressive.” said Accord as his voice seemed to echo through the cavern.

“Where…where are you?!” Grumblebog called as he got up to look around for him.

“You’ll never find me. That’s the thing about you dragons, you don’t use magic so you forget that we more-experienced alicorns are capable of disappearing at will.”

Accord’s voice continued to echo but was impossible for Grumblebog to locate. It was as if he was in several places at once or he was speaking through a pipe. He had used a spell to warp the soundwaves of his voice so the dragon could not find where he was. If he could not see Accord but could at least hear everything he said, it would be easier for Grumblebog to take in what he was about to tell him. Accord hid safely behind a large stalagmite by a smaller cave high above Grumblebog and continued to speak.

“You’ve been quite a naughty dragon, Grumblebog. Have you not considered how many ponies you’ve hurt lately?” he asked.

“I don’t care about ponies, you fool! I just want my treasure!”

“Things have not been going well in Everfree and the king has gotten very upset with this. The poor ponies in the palace I work in are going to eventually starve if the king cannot provide for them since you’ve taken most of his treasury.”

“I JUST SAID I DON’T CARE!!!”

“But you did once, didn’t you?”

“What? No, I never cared for ponies!! Why would I?!”

“Are you sure? Didn’t Grumblebog used to be a tame dragon? A Northern Drake? You know, the more docile dragons that don’t really care about nesting in a cave full of treasure to horde away for themselves?”

“No, where are you getting all of this?!”

“You used to be better than this, Grumblebog.”

“I…I don’t remember…”

“Someone must have really made you angry or told you lots of lies to get you to come here and take all this gold from ponies. Northern drakes don’t like gold and they’re usually too nice to do such horrible things to ponies.”

“But, the other dragons…”

“Some dragons are wild and like to terrorize ponies, but you never were fond of that, at least that’s what you said last time.”

“Last time? Wait…that…that voice…”

“Just think of all those innocent beings you’ve hurt, Grumblebog.” Accord said as his voice grew serious and grim. “You let your own selfish ambitions take over and now many are suffering. You’re no longer a nice dragon. You’re a bully.”

“I…I didn’t…I remember now.”

Grumblebog’s lips began to quiver and he suddenly remembered who he was. Something had been forcing him to be a brute, but it was finally clear this wasn’t the dragon he was born as.

“Yes, think about what you’ve done, you miserable, pathetic pile of scales. You’re hated now for causing so much strife. Nopony in Everfree likes you now and they never will.”

The same magic aura that affected Celestia and Luna when they broke free of the control of the spirit guide earlier then began to move up Grumblebog’s body as he regained his original brighter colors back. He too had been under a similar spell, and it had clearly turned him into the bully he was. Of course now its effect had clearly worn off, but the damage had been done.

“No…no, how could I?” he said as tears began to trickle down his scaly cheeks.

“Run along now, and don’t ever think about coming back here.”

Accord’s words struck Grumblebog hard, and everything he had done now came crashing down on him. He let himself be manipulated into being a brute. He was so sad; he forgot completely about the gold and no longer even cared for whatever he had found in that cave. With his eyes closed and tears pouring out of them, he roared and flames spewed out of his mouth. He then rushed out of the cave.

“NOOOOOOO!!!”

His footsteps caused small rocks to fall down from the ceiling of the cave, and some of the coins on the ground bounced up and down. He rushed out of the cave entrance and lept off of the cliff, spreading his wings as he flew away blowing small plumes of fire as he went.
Some of the pony soldiers in the forest below the mountain were awakened by the rumbling of his footsteps and the sounds of his roaring. They stepped out of their tents to look up and see that Grumblebog was finally leaving.

“Everypony, look! The dragon! He has left!!” one of them said.

“At long last! The king will be so pleased to hear this news!”

As the soldiers began to rejoice, up at the top of the cave entrance, some of the smoke began to clear and Accord stepped out proudly. He looked out to the west to see the dragon flying off and slowly disappearing behind the mountains. Grumblebog flew away into the Badlands, where he could spend his solitude in the mountains, away from everyone, for he was no longer wanted anywhere.

“All according to plan.” Accord said, wickedly.



As the sun began to rise that next morning, Celestia laid in bed while King Solmidas raised the sun for her. She had a hard time getting to sleep last night, but since she was given permission to have the entire day off to recover from yesterday, she had the chance to sleep in this morning. The young teenage princess sat wide awake, still thinking of what had happened yesterday and pondering how she would continue from here on out. The news of the parliament’s decision still had yet to be relayed to her, and she was nervous about it. She finally decided it was time to get up, so she used her magic to lift her blanket and stepped out of bed, stretching and yawning. She then went before her mirror to comb her hair and put on her makeup. She decided against wearing her anklets and necklace this time, thinking there was no need to have such a royal appearance since she may not be taking the throne in a few years anyway.

“Well, another day.” she said, miserably, after staring at herself in the mirror for a while.

Celestia walked down the steps and opened the door to see Luna sitting down, looking out the large windows. She looked like she had been there for a while, probably deep in thought over the negotiations as well. Her sister walked over next to her and put her wing around her.

“Did you sleep well last night, Sister?” Luna asked.

“I was alright Luna. Did you?”

“Not really.”

“It’s alright.” she said, pulling her little sister in close. “Let’s try our best to get through today. Come now.”

They turned and walked towards the door leading down to the next level when suddenly the door burst open and Penny appeared.

“TIA…LUNA…” Penny said, breathing heavily from all the running she had done.

“Penny, what’s the matter?” Celestia asked her.

“ACCORD…HE JUST…ugh…sorry, gotta catch my breath. Anyways, Accord just got Grumblebog to leave the South Spire Mountain last night!” she exclaimed.

“WHAT?!” Luna shouted.

“Yeah, he did it last night and told everyone when he got back late! Your dad wanted to tell you guys, but he figured you would want to rest after yesterday, but hey, good news, huh?!”

“The dragon is gone now?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah, and everyone’s really pleased with Accord!”

Celestia and Luna stopped and looked at each other with somewhat disappointed faces. They were both happy with this news but the fact that Accord just did something wonderful made them feel left out after what they went through yesterday.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was comparing him to you.” said Penny, realizing it might have hurt their feelings. “I forgot you guys wanted Accord to take your place.”

“It’s okay, Penny.” Celestia replied. “I guess this just goes to show how ready Accord is.”

The princesses hung their heads, but Penny quickly chimed in to try and cheer them up.

“Well hey, I’ll bet everypony downstairs is pleased to hear this. You guys ready for breakfast?”

“I could certainly go for some oat pudding right now.” Luna said with a smile starting to form on her face.

“Let’s go, Luna. Some breakfast should lift our spirits.” Celestia said with her wing around Luna as they both walked down the stairs, following Penny.

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