Dragon’s Odyssey

by GrumpyMonk97

Chapter 5: The Heist

All of the dragons were completely caught off guard by Luster Dawn’s declaration. Garble tried to play it cool and clapped his hands together.

“Break into the Midnight Castle. Great! What is that?” Garble inquired.

“The crown jewel of a far off land. The current lord of those lands recently came into possession of a very interesting artifact, one that I am eager to claim for myself.” Luster Dawn explained. She tapped a few times on her device and it projected an image of said artifact; a spherical glass orb, about the size of a buckball. Smolder raised an eyebrow as she saw the object.

“You want us to fetch you a ball? What’s so special about it?”

It’s enough to clear your debt immediately. That alone should tell you of its importance.” Luster Dawn said as she shot Smolder a devious grin. Smolder frowned before sticking out her tongue at Luster Dawn. Ember elbowed Smolder in the ribs for her display.

“Guess we’re doing this then.” Spike yawned as he stretched and popped some of his joints in the process.

“One last thing.” Luster Dawn stated as motioned to one of the guards. Suddenly, the guards all slapped strange looking collars around their necks.

“Hey! What gives?” Ember snarled as she clawed at the guard who had just fastened the collar securely around her neck. Spike saw that the collars had a strange red gemstone in the center that pulsed and hummed with a faint glow.

“These are to make sure you don’t wander off task. Stray too far” Luster flipped open a panel on her desk, revealing a bright red button. “And I have those collars take off your heads.”

“Is this really necessary?” Spike groaned as he tugged at the collar. The guard hadn’t exactly been gentle when putting them on.

“Call it an insurance policy. And besides, those collars will also help us stay in contact while you pull off the job.” Luster Dawn pointed out. Spike looked bewildered as Luster tapped on her portable device and sound came out of the collar.

“How’d you come up with stuff like this?” He wondered aloud.

“Ever since ponies lost their magic, I’ve had to get creative.” Luster Dawn answered.

“Anything else you wanna let us know? I’d prefer not to have anymore surprises like this.” Ember stated with a sneer, clearing not hiding her contempt for the situation.

“Can’t say I do Dragon Lord. On your way now. You have work to do.” Luster Dawn said as she waved them off. With that, the group reluctantly set off to complete their task. It was a day and a half journey to the northwest of Klugetown to get to the Midnight Castle. They alternated between walking and flying, not wanting to stay in the air for too long as to not risk running into any dangerous creatures from Tartarus still roaming the land. As night fell on the first day of the journey, they decided to make camp for the night. As they had finished setting up, Spike and Smolder noticed that Garble and Ember were nowhere to be seen.

“Where could they have wandered off to?” Smolder wondered aloud as she finished making the fire.

“Not sure. I’ll go take a look around.” Spike responded. Looking around, he heard the familiar sound of those bongo drums that Garble always used. He took a peak around a rock and saw something he never expected to see; Garble and Ember were sitting together, Garble tapping lightly on the drums teaching her a new piece of poetry he had come up with. Ember recited part of it before fumbling it, and actually giggled before they both burst into laughter, pushing and shoving each other playfully. Spike was caught off guard, as he had never seen Ember so casual and relaxed before. He knew that she had asked Garble to teach her poetry, and he guessed that in the process, the two of them had become rather close. They certainly seemed on more intimate terms than he remembered. He figured that he didn’t need to hang around and ruin the moment so he made his way back to Smolder and sat down in front of the fire.

“You find em?” Smolder asked as she cocked her head to the side confused.

“I did, but they were in the middle of some “alone time” so to speak, so I just let them be.” Spike answered with a slight smile. Smolder rolled her eyes and groaned.

“Of course they are. Oh well, guess they’ll be back eventually.” Spike chuckled at Smolder’s reaction. He laid on his back, looking up to the sky. To his surprise, he could actually see stars out tonight, as they were far from the murky skies of Klugetown at this point. A few comets flew by in the sky, and seeing them made him think of an old memory, from a time long past…

The Past:

The sun had begun to set as Spike and Sweetie Belle strolled through the park, the street lights starting to flicker on. Sweetie Belle was in the midst of telling a story about an incident at the School of Friendship.

“So there I was, teaching my class like normal when all of a sudden, a giant tree bursts through the wall. And there’s Apple Bloom and all she has to say is “at least now we know what not to do.” They both burst out laughing at the story.

“Oh boy. Apple Bloom, what a character.” Spike managed to get out after the laughter started to subside.

“Starlight wasn’t too thrilled. It took a few weeks to fully repair the wall that Apple Bloom’s newly grown tree knocked out but hey, it was a valuable learning experience.” Sweetie Belle responded with a cheeky grin. Spike took notice of the fact that it had started to get dark, and that caused him to remember the final thing he needed in order to cap off the night.

“Oh yeah. I have something I wanna show you. Close your eyes, and hold on tight.”

“Hold on tight? What do you me- ahhh!” Sweetie Belle yelled out as Spike suddenly scooped her up in his arms and took flight. She let out a happy laugh as the wind rushed past them. Spike could see various denizens of Ponyville below as he flew overhead, eventually landing on a hilltop overlooking all of Ponyville, and with a clear view of the night sky as well. He set Sweetie Belle down and sat down next to her.

“Okay, open your eyes.” He told her softly. Sweetie Belle looked around and saw where they were. She cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion.

“What’s all this about Spike?” She asked.

“Just watch.” Spike said with a soft chuckle. At that moment, the night sky lit up with a soft glow as a meteor shower began. Sweetie Belle gasped and put her hooves to her lips, recognizing it as the once in a lifetime meteor shower she read about in that astrology book Twilight had lent her a while back, the one she had been wanting to see for forever.

“Spike. You remembered.” Sweetie Belle said happily. She felt like she was on Cloud Nine right now.

“Of course. I knew this was really important to you. So, whaddya think? Good, right?” Spike asked while rubbing the back of his head. Sweetie Belle responded by giving him a kiss on the cheek and laying her head on his shoulder.

“The best.” She said with a giggle. Spike put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

“That’s good to hear.”

The Present:

Spike smiled to himself at the memory. That was one of the best days of his life, and one that he’ll cherish forever. He sat up and looked into the fire, his smile fading to a look of anger as he remembered the mysterious alicorn who had caused all this calamity. Her actions ruined not only his happiness, but the happiness of everyone in Equestria. He thought of those who had lost friends, family, loved ones. He thought of the conversation he overheard between Smolder and Garble; about how torn up Smolder was at having lost her friends. And though they didn’t show it, he was sure Ember and Garble carried their own burdens of hurt over what happened. Spike clenched his hands into fists.

It’s my responsibility to avenge them. All of them. I’ll find out who you are, and when I do, you’re mine.

Morning soon came, and Spike was actually the first to awaken for once, having found it difficult to quiet his mind. He saw that the sun was just starting to peak over the horizon, and he saw the last embers of the fire they had made the previous night flickering out. As he stood up and stretched, he saw his compatriots spread out across their camp; Smolder had curled up next to the fire, clutching a small rock in her claws. Garble and Ember were leaned up against a larger stone, cuddled up to each other for support. Spike cracked a small smile at the display; he would have to remember to tease Garble about it later, if Smolder didn’t beat him to it. Speaking of which, Smolder stirred and finally awakened, stretching out before jolting in surprise at seeing Spike standing there.

“Well this is a first. Sleeping Beauty actually wakes up early for a change.” Smolder said sarcastically.

“Haha, very funny.” Spike shot back with his own snark. They both laughed at the small moment. As the sun rose higher into the sky, Ember and Garble both finally awakened and saw Spike and Smolder both looking at them with sly grins on their faces.

“Morning you two.” Smolder teased as her grin grew even bigger. They both fumbled to try and explain the situation, both of their faces lit up brightly by blush. Smolder burst out laughing at their reaction while Spike gave out a soft chuckle. Ember buried her face into Garble’s shoulder.

“How long have you known?” She let out softly, still somewhat embarrassed.

“Since last night. Didn’t wanna ruin the moment.” Spike stated with a smirk. “But seriously, I’m happy for you two.” Ember and Garble looked to each other, Garble giving a big toothy grin and Ember giving a smile of her own, both having gotten over their embarrassment and embracing the choice they’ve made. Suddenly, their collars gave out a static noise before they heard the familiar voice of Luster Dawn come through.

“Touching stuff, but you’ve still got a ways to go before your debt’s cleared. Get a move on.” They had no idea how she could tell where they were or what they were doing, but they decided it was best not to question it. The group set out, with Ember ripping the Blood Stone Scepter out of its perch in the ground. The journey was surprisingly uneventful, as they at least expected to be attacked by monsters or something, though they figured many defenses were fortified around the Castle itself. It was about midday when they finally reached a hill that overlooked the Midnight Castle. Their assumption from before was correct; the Castle was heavily fortified, with guards posted everywhere. Spike tapped on his collar a few times before speaking.

“Alright Luster, we’re here. Now what?”

“It’d be best to wait until nightfall. There’s a back entrance that the guards almost never use, so you should be able to slip in undetected.” Luster Dawn answered.

“Anything we should know about who runs this place?” Ember inquired as she took stock of the guards. Some were centaurs and gargoyles, but she noticed there were a lot of minotaurs.

“The current lord of the Castle is a minotaur named Obsidias. Real piece of work. Back in the day, he and his warband became servants of Tirek after witnessing his power. Tirek left him in charge of this stronghold when he and Scorpan left for Equestria. Also, he has an unnaturally high hatred of dragons.” Luster Dawn explained.

“Lovely.” Smolder retorted with an eye roll. “Send four dragons right into the lair of a guy who hates dragons. What could possibly go wrong?”

“The item you’re looking for is in the deep vaults of the Castle, so you’ll want to search the lower levels.” Luster Dawn continued. “Remember, you do this for me, and I’ll honor my end of our agreement.” The four looked to each other and all nodded in agreement, understanding the task ahead of them. Eventually, night fell over the land, and the four dragons decided to make their move. Making their way around to the back, they saw that there was indeed an entrance that didn’t have much security save for one guard.

“I got this.” Garble told them as he cracked his knuckles. He flew upwards and did a dive bomb onto the guard, knocking him out before he could react. He motioned to his compatriots that the coast was clear, and they made their way inside the Castle proper. The gothic architecture gave off a heavy sense of foreboding, so they made sure to take extra care in avoiding detection. As they made their way through the Castle’s interior, they saw more guards patrolling the corridors. They made sure to duck in and out of the shadows to avoid detection as they made their way to the lower levels of the Castle. Eventually, they came upon a large vault door that was sealed shut, as it seemed that they had found their target.

“How are we gonna get this door open?” Garble asked as he scratched his head. Spike looked around until he saw two statues facing each other, one of Scorpan and one of Tirek. There was a riddle on a plaque between the statues; the power of the brothers united forges the key that opens the way. Spike suddenly got an idea.

“Garble, gimme a hand with these. Ember, get the Scepter ready.” Spike said as he motioned to the statues. Garble raised an eyebrow but did as requested, grabbing the base of the statue of Scorpan while Spike did the same for the statue of Tirek. Ember readied the Scepter as Spike and Garble rotated the statues to face the vault door. Once they were locked in place, arcane energy started to emanate from the statues, and Ember raised the Blood Stone Scepter into the air.

“Garble, Smolder, keep a lookout for the guards. Something tells me that as soon as we pop this thing open, they’re gonna come running, so we’ll have to move fast.” Spike gestured to the door they entered through. Garble and Smolder nodded in agreement as they moved to block the door. The arcane energy in the statues then shot outward and was directed into the Blood Stone Scepter. Ember struggled to maintain her composure as the powerful arcane energy coursed into the Scepter. Once it was absorbed, she turned around and aimed the Scepter at the vault door, blasting the energy outward and into the large rune on the center of the door, which caused the whole room to ring out with a loud ringing sound. Eventually, the rune on the vault door lit up and unlocked as the door slowly parted to reveal the contents inside. Spike entered the vault and saw gold, jewels, treasures from various lands, and most disturbingly, various dragon skulls set upon various shelves lining the walls. Spike shook it off and eventually set eyes on the object they were seeking; a buckball size glass orb, sitting ominously on a pedestal in the center of the room.

“Guys, there’s a bunch of guards on their way here. We gotta move!” Garble called from the doorway. Spike ran forward to grab the orb from its pedestal and ran out to rejoin the others.

“Got it. Let’s go!” Spike told them as they made their way out. They found themselves running into a wall of guards however, weapons at the ready. Both groups stared each other down for what felt like forever, until one of the guards let out a fearsome war cry and charged the four dragons. One of the guards took a swing at Spike with a battle axe but he caught his arm before the swing could connect, drove a knee into his gut, and threw a punch into the guard’s face. Ember had two guards on her at once, both gargoyles. They both swung with curved swords that she managed to block with the Scepter. She thrust their blades back and let out a jet stream of fire at one of them, which singed his face and caused him to recoil in pain. The other guard brought up her blade to strike again but Ember swatted it away with the Scepter, tripped her legs out from under her, and bashed her in the face with the head of the Scepter. Smolder was on the back of a centaur guard with her arms holding him in a chokehold. He desperately tried to buck her off his back but she held steady, bringing an elbow down onto his head and driving him into the ground. Garble was locked in a hold with a minotaur guard as they both had each other’s hands locked down. Garble eventually gave him a swift headbutt before giving him a strong kick to the chest.

“This way, quick!” Spike yelled to all of them as they rushed out into another hallway. From the balcony above, a minotaur threw a javelin that Garble had just barely managed to avoid. He saw other guards up on the balcony taking aim with similar javelins.

“These guys are mine.” Smolder stated confidently as she flew up with blinding speed, dropkicking the minotaur guard in the face. Springing back to her feet, she used her wings to propel herself forward and catch a gargoyle guard by the face and throw her at another minotaur guard across the way. She picked up a stray javelin from the ground and chucked it at the last guard standing. It speared right through the wall next to him and left a bit of a crack, catching him off guard just long enough for Smolder to dash forward and ram him straight into the wall, leaving him motionless. The other dragons were completely speechless at how quickly all of that unfolded. Garble gave a thumbs up.

“Nice moves sis.”

“Thanks. Rainbow Dash taught me a thing or two about using your wings to your advantage.” She called down with a cheeky grin. She jumped off the balcony to rejoin the others.

“Hurry, we’ve gotta get out of here before anyone else-“ Before Spike could finish his sentence, he got bashed directly in the face by a rather large centaur guard with a shield as he turned the corner. Spike staggered back as he saw the centaur with a shield in his left hand and a double bladed sword in his right. The guard scraped the blade across the shield as an intimidation tactic.

“Spike, gimme a boost.” Garble called as she charged forward. Spike used his hands to springboard Garble into the air. He then proceeded to divebomb directly downwards onto the guard. He managed to block Garble’s blow with his shield but was too distracted to see Spike running towards him. The guard swung out with his twin blade but Spike slid underneath the blow, leapt back up into the air, and brought his leg down onto the centaur’s back, causing him to crumple down onto the ground. Garble brought his knee up into the centaur’s chin, causing him to be knocked down completely. They stopped to catch their breath for a moment, and Garble gave Spike a high five.

“Solid work, man!” Spike gave him a grin while still catching his breath. Unbeknownst to them, the centaur guard had started to recover and chucked his shield like a frisbee at the back of Garble’s head. Before he could turn around to react, Ember parried the shield with the Scepter and used its head to hit it right back at him, ricocheting it off his head and putting him down for the count. Garble put a hand over his heart.

“Be still my heart. I think I’m in love.”

“You can thank me later.” Ember gave back with a wink.

“Guys. Escape now, flirt later!” Smolder groaned. They all ran for the Castle’s front entrance, pushing the doors open and making their way outside. They were suddenly stopped by an army of guards that had begun to encircle them. They all stood back to back, getting ready to fight as hard as they could to get out of this.

“So, a bunch of filthy dragons are the ones who broke into my treasure vault.” A voice called out to them. The group saw a large minotaur saunter out of the Castle, decorated in ornate armor with dragon skulls as pauldrons. They saw two large, thick horns protruding from his head, and his right eye was blinded and had scars over it. In his hand, he held a menacing looking spiked mace which he rested on his shoulder.

“Obsidias, I presume?” Ember asked, still on the defensive with all the guards surrounding them.

“In the flesh. I see my legend proceeds me. Well, no matter. Because you won’t be leaving here alive. Especially not with that.” He stated as he pointed his mace towards the item that Spike had in his possession. He also noticed the Blood Stone Scepter in Ember’s claws.

“The Blood Stone Scepter. That’ll make a brilliant centerpiece for my collection. That, and the skull of a bonafide Dragon Lord. Hahaha!” He bellowed out a hearty laugh as the other guards joined in. “Kill them.” He motioned to his guards as they moved in for the kill.

“Any ideas guys?” Smolder asked as the guards moved in closer. Ember thought it over before coming to a decision. She slammed the Blood Stone Scepter into the ground.

“Obsidias! I call you to the Dagor Erain!” The guards all paused as they looked to Obsidias, who held a look of amusement with a tinge of contempt.

“What’s that?” Spike asked quietly.

“It’s ritual combat, where the leaders of different clans engage in one on one combat to uphold their clan’s honor. Obsidias’ pride won’t allow him to refuse.” Ember explained in a hushed tone. Obsidias stroked his chin in contemplation before a wicked grin crawled up his face.

“Invoking such an old ritual to try and worm your way of this? That’s cute. Very well, I’ll humor this, and take your heads as trophies in the process.” The guards lit a ring of fire around the two of them and stepped back to witness the combat, chanting and yelling for their leader. The other dragons just stood by apprehensively, unsure about what was going to happen.

“You ready, little wyrm?” Obsidias asked in a mocking tone, garnering laughter from his guards.

“Ready when you are cupcake.” Ember shot back with a taunting grin of her own. Obsidias simply scoffed and cracked his neck. He charged forward and swung his mace. Ember blocked it with the Scepter and pushed him back. She dashed forward and jabbed the head of the Scepter into his abdomen before giving a strong swing into his face. He staggered back briefly before recovering and charging forward. He rammed into Ember and flung her backward but she sprung to her feet and took to the air. Suddenly, the head of Obsidias’ mace shot out and opened like a claw, grabbing Ember out of the air and slamming her back to the ground. She recovered just in time to roll out of the way of another strike from his mace as the head flew out on a chain. Obsidias pulled the head of the mace back and unlocked it again, swinging it in a massive circle, which Ember slid underneath and sprung back up, driving a swift kick into his chin. She then gripped Obsidias’ horns in her hands and delivered a swift knee to his face, breaking off his horns in the process. She picked up the Blood Stone Scepter and raised it high into the air, declaring her victory. The ring of fire that surrounded them died down and the guards were all clamoring and cheering, having gotten to witness a great fight.

“That was awesome Ember!” Smolder exclaimed as she pulled Ember into a hug from behind. Spike tapped on his collar as he pulled out the glass orb to examine it.

“Luster, we got it. Whatever it is.”

“Good work. Get it back to me and our deal is done.” Her voice came through the collar. As they turned to leave, Obsidias picked himself up from the dirt and called to his warriors.

“My warriors! There’s still time, we can still claim victory! Kill them at once!” The other warriors paused and looked to each other, not wanting to act on his orders after such a humiliating defeat. They simply continued back into the Castle as Obsidias had a look of shock on his face, one that was soon replaced by anger.

“You have robbed me of my army, my status, my treasure! And now, you’ll suffer for it!” He shouted as his mace now did something new; it opened up into its claw form and started to glow with arcane energy that eventually lanced outward in a beam of purple light towards Ember, intending to finish her off while her back was turned.

“Ember, move!” Spike shouted as he pushed her out of the way, and as he did, the beam ran him through instead. He collapsed to the ground, and the other dragons shouted in horror. Garble had a look of anger and turned around to try and find Obsidias, but he was already gone.

“Spike! Spike, stay with us okay?” Smolder pleaded, looking panicked and worried for her friend. Spike felt the wound in his abdomen, and he could hear the voices of his companions growing more faint. He did his best to stay awake, but it was no use, and he eventually drifted out of consciousness.

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Whats gonna happen now?

[AstralFlare42]

If you need an OC, let me know via PM.

[GrumpyMonk97]

11382522
Correct. After Meowmeow was deposed in the Season 10 comics, the former rulers reclaimed their thrones

[GrumpyMonk97]

11382275
You’ll have to tune in to find out ;)