Dragon’s Odyssey

by GrumpyMonk97

Chapter 2: Path Revealed

It had begun to lightly rain as the group continued their journey to Abyssinia. The lack of flight certainly made the journey more difficult, but Ember was right; now that they didn’t have Tartarus to keep the evil creatures contained, the land would be a lot more dangerous. The rain picked up a bit more, which made the cloaks they were wearing all the more useful.

“Man, not being able to fly here is killing me.” Garble grumbled.

“It shouldn’t be much farther now.” Ember told the group as they could see the gates of Panthera just on the horizon.

Suddenly, a large shadow was cast over the group. Turning to see what it was, they scatter when they are set upon by a Manticore, in which they just narrowly manage to avoid the creature’s assault.

“Aww seriously?!” Smolder exclaimed as the group picked themselves up from the dirt. As the Manticore charged them, Spike managed to catch its jaws before it was able to bite down on him. He gives the Manticore a swift punch to the face, forcing it to stumble back. The Manticore manages to regain its composure and goes to swipe at Spike with its claws but is suddenly knocked off balance when Garble slams into its side with his shoulder. Smolder unleashes a stream of fire breath to keep it pinned down but it suddenly flicks its long scorpion-like tail, sending out a fan of poison thorns that everyone just barely manages to avoid.

“Watch out for the tail!” Ember shouts as the Manticore lunges to take a bite at her. She takes flight to avoid the bite and comes back down, slamming the Blood Stone Scepter into the Manticore’s head. The Manticore then grabs the Scepter in its teeth and attempts to take flight with Ember still holding on.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ember grunts as she kicks the Manticore in the face. After a few swift kicks force it to let go of the Scepter, Spike flies up and wraps his arms around the Manticore’s neck. The two of them struggle for a while in the air before the Manticore nosedives and slams Spike into a large stone, fracturing it apart. Spike drops to one knee in pain, and as the Manticore prepares to take a bite out of him, it is suddenly hit with metal restraints around its muzzle, legs, and wings. Looking up, the group sees a group of Abyssinians surround them and the Manticore. One of them, who Spike assumed was the leader of this troupe, approached them. He was a tabby cat with light brown fur, black stripes across his body, and yellowish green eyes.

“That was a close one.” He said before turning to Ember.

“I am Benga, captain of the royal guard of Panthera. Dragon Lord Ember, the king has been expecting you. Come with me, and I will take you to him.”

Ember gave him a nod and the group began to follow. Spike saw the rest of the guard begin to properly detain the Manticore as Benga led them through the gates into Panthera, capital of Abyssinia. Unlike Equestria, Abyssinia seemed to be doing quite well. Spike saw different Cats having conversations, eating meals, and generally going about their business as they followed Benga to the royal palace. Spike’s thoughts drifted back to a time long ago…

Several moons earlier:

Spike made his way through the palace towards Twilight’s throne room. He had just arrived back in Canterlot from a conference in the Dragon Lands. Ember had taken notice that there was some division among the pony kinds and had called a conference of all the Dragons to discuss if this division would end up impacting the Dragon Lands. Spike assured her that everything would be fine, but he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Ember or himself. He stopped and took a deep breath just outside the throne room.

We’ll find out soon enough.

As he opened the doors that led to the throne room, he saw Twilight talking to Gallus, captain of the guard. He couldn’t help but see just how much she reminded him of Princess Celestia right now.

“It’s been pretty wild in both Ponyville and Canterlot. I’ve had the guards trying to keep things peaceful, but even they’re starting to buy into this nonsense.” Gallus reported.

“Thank you Gallus. Just keep doing what you can.” Twilight responded.

Gallus nodded and turned to leave. He and Spike gave acknowledging nods to each other before Gallus departed from the throne room. Twilight gave out an exasperated sigh before turning to Spike.

“It’s good to have you back Spike. As you can see, things have been a teeny bit crazy around here.”

“I can imagine. Ember was pretty worried about it too.”

Twilight descended the ramp that led up to her throne and began to pace back and forth, a habit Spike knew all too well as her trying to parse her thoughts.

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s been causing all of this. It’s like the pony kinds don’t trust each other anymore.”

Spike gave it some thought.

“Come to think of it, I remember Fluttershy talking about an incident she had in Ponyville not too long ago. It had something to do with this new pony causing a ruckus at the market, saying something along the lines of “unicorns have better things to do than wait in line.” I couldn’t believe it when I first heard it.”

Twilight looked concerned. She remembered just how shocked Fluttershy had been by that incident. Now that she thought about it, everything had been going topsy turvey ever since that incident.

“What’re you thinking Twilight?”

“I’m thinking we need to get everypony here and figure this out, before it’s too late.”

Present:

Spike’s mind returned to the present as the group finally made it to the royal palace. They had made a few stops first, with Benga having to deliver reports and whatnot, and they had decided to stop at one of the local restaurants in town, seeing as they had been walking for hours and had finally exhausted their rations.

“The throne room is on the top floor.” Benga said as the group followed him inside.

“So, whaddya think the king of Abyssinia is like?” Garble wondered aloud.

“I heard he’s really kind and noble. Even gave up his crown to protect his people when the Storm King came knocking.” Smolder answered.

“Ooh, someone’s turning into a bookworm.” Gabrle teased before Smolder grabbed the scruff of his cloak.

“Watch it buddy.”

Spike and Ember chuckled as Benga led them to the throne room. Opening the doors, the group saw a cat with jet black fur, green eyes, and a purple cape on sitting upon a beautifully ornate throne. Talking to him is a female cat with similar black fur, yellow eyes, and a purple dress on who the group assumed was the Queen. She nodded towards Benga before taking her leave, and Benga stepped ahead to begin a formal declaration.

“Now presenting his Majesty, King Challa, current sovereign of the throne of Abyssinia. My king, presenting Dragon Lord Ember and her entourage.”

“Entourage?” Garble wondered aloud in confusion.

Ember elbowed him in the gut before she gave a courteous bow, with the rest of the group following suit. King Challa rose from his throne and gave a warm smile and a respectful bow of his own.

“Dragon Lord Ember. It’s been too long. How are things in the Dragon Lands?”

“It took a while, but we managed to get everything back in order.”

“That is good to hear. Though I take it this is not a social visit.”

The group gave each other concerned looks as Ember looked to Spike, who stepped forward with purpose.

“King Challa, we’re trying to investigate what it is that caused the pony kinds to turn against each other, and possibly search for any survivors of Canterlot’s fall. We thought you might have some insight into that.” Spike told the king, trying his best to keep his emotions in check. Challa rested his paw on his chin in thought before he shook his head.

“Apologies my friend. We haven’t seen any ponies around here for some time. Though, I may have an idea of where to find the answers you seek.”

Challa motioned for them to follow him to a map display in the corner of the room.

“I’ve heard whispers that the boss of Klugetown may have answers about Equestria’s fall.”

“You mean we gotta get our answers out of Verko? I bet that two bit con artist would try to pawn off our scales first chance he got.”Smolder said with an incredulous look.

“Not Verko. He was removed from power some time ago. From what I’ve heard, the new boss of Klugetown is a mysterious figure known only as the Overmare.” Challa responded.

Spike looked to Challa in disbelief.

“The Overmare? So they’re a pony?”

“I’m not sure. It could just be a name. But be warned, Klugetown has become even more dangerous recently. You’ll have to really watch your backs when you get there.” Challa said with concern.

The four dragons looked to each other as they took in this new information.

“Oh we gotta check this out. It could be the big break we’ve been waiting for.” Garble said with a toothy grin.

“Oh yeah, who put you in charge all of a sudden?” Ember said with a wicked grin of her own. Garble tried to sputter out a response as Smolder bust out laughing at her brother’s predicament. Spike gave a soft chuckle at the scene before him. He felt very fortunate to have found friends that were still with him in this time.

Even difficult paths can be made easier with good friends, huh Twilight?

King Challa then clapped his paws together.

“Well, I’m sure you must all be tired from your journey. You are more than welcome to spend tonight here, and you can set out in the morning.”

“That’s very generous of you.” Spike responded with a slight nod.

“I’ll have one of the guards show you to some of our guest rooms.”

Not even a moment later, a guard appeared and began guiding them to their rooms. One by one, they all turned in for the night until it was down to just Spike. The guard stood off to the side as they made it to the door of the room he’d be occupying. Spike gave him an acknowledging nod and entered the room. As the door closed behind him, he breathed out a heavy sigh.

“Guess I’d better try and get some sleep.”

Comments

[Little galaxy]

Congratulations on your story passing，My story is still under review，May I ask how long your story has been reviewed（cry）

[PhoenixFlambe]

So this ties in with g5 and the previous king and queen of Abyssinia reclaimed their throne right?