Fallen Eagle

Chapter 52: Royal Reclamation Part 1

HELLO AND WELCOME BACK EVERYONE! God I missed all of you so much the past three weeks. I do believe an explanation is in order; I had to do one big final project for college WHILE doing a week-long internship for college. I'd go to the internship from 9-5 Monday through Friday, then come home and work on the project, leaving me literally NO time to work on the story. But once I graduated from college last Thursday, I cracked down and worked my butt off to get Part 1 of this arc completed.

Part 1...yes I originally had this as one long chapter, but since I lost a whole week I didn't want to leave you guys hanging for any longer than you needed. So Part 2 will be in the works shortly. Out of all this however, I want to thank each and every single one of you readers for being unbelievably patient. You guys are so awesome and I'm thankful to have loyal readers such as you.

Speaking of loyal readers, there are so many other things I want to thank you guys for. The story has climbed to nearly 200 favorites, (as of now) the story is only two reviews away from having 600 reviews, and the story has now surpassed 100,000 views. I thought having 200+ subs to the story was awesome, but the thought that the whole story has been clicked on over 100,000 times is just mind blowing.

And also, my mom is doing better now. She's still trooping along with a broken foot, but she manages.

I have a harsh confession to make, and this is embarrassing for me as an author. Originally Flash breaking this off with Twilight was going to be a stepping stone for her to get together with Dr. Whooves. I know, it was nothing more than a plot device to jumpstart a couple. Having Flash decide to go to Draconia was my way of correcting my potential mistake. And I'm glad some of you are happy to see Flash get some development.

SkullCrusher550: And thank you for sticking by for so long!

Nostalgia Cop: Wow, that actually sounds like a potential pretty cool short story. I'd write that down if I were you.

Ussu1832: Yes, thank you.

SquirtlePwn: Once I saw I had an opportunity to actually give Flash some character (which the EQG films never did) I took it in a heartbeat.

Sassymouse: It was supposed to be a highly emotional chapter...just like a season finale...;)

Jarius Black: Thank you so much for your understanding

Monkeyboy0118: My family is doing much better now, thank you. And once I saw that episode with Pinkie, Cadence, and Shining Armor, I knew THAT was going to be in the story and that would also be where the Luna's pregnant twist would come in

headreviewer mk2: Nope, just some metal shrapnel, a part of the fuselage, and a piece of the tail are all that's left

Dixie: All of that emotion is what Luna loves about Checkered

Srey: Thanks for alerting me to all those; I still need to fix them, but as you can see I've been completely strapped for time

RazorManic: I'm really sorry, but I RARELY do OCs mainly because I'm afraid I'll fuck them up or something. And I don't think this story needs anymore. But thanks for the inquiry

NoOne: Well yeah...but the journey towards the destination is often the most memorable.

Gracie Ghost: Thank you for your support!

---

(Ivan's POV)

My limbs and back were completely stiff. We'd been traveling for about a day and a half by now and had left the limits of Equestria long ago. 'How did Iron Man and Falcon do this?' I wondered internally as I tried my best to loosen up my legs and arms without throwing myself off course. Misty Fly and I were the ones bringing up the rear of the nine member squad while Celestia and Spike were at the front with Glock and Bat Fang taking protective flanking positions behind Celestia. Flash Sentry flew in the middle of the group, and Rainbow Dash and Soarin took the far left and right positions.

Luckily Celestia allowed us to stop and rest every now and then, but my body still wasn't used to keeping a plank-like position for so long. The night we left, we traveled as far as what Celestia called the Hayseed Swamps before we unanimously decided to crash for the night. Misty Fly wanted to stay in Baltimare since the Hayseed Swamps were a few miles south of the city, but the princess wanted to keep Luna's kidnapping a classified situation to avoid a panic within Equestria, so we had to lay low. Thankfully we found a nice flat piece of bug-free land to sleep, though sleeping without Applejack in my arms was a difficult concept to deal with.

In military fashion, Celestia woke us all up just as she had lowered the moon and raised the sun since we had no clue if Luna was able to do so. Spike, as promised to Twilight, wrote letters every time we stopped to take a break and right before we would start up again. But no matter how stiff my limbs were growing, and no matter how long our trip was taking, we all just wanted Luna back. Just the thought of her reuniting with both Celestia and Checkered Flag was more than enough motivation to keep me going.

And yet, the closer and closer we drew to Draconia, the more my heart rate continuously increased. Yes, part of it was a happy thought that Luna and Checkered Flag could properly prepare to become a family without hiding away in the shadows, but even the second after we took off from Canterlot, I was terrified. Like Applejack was, I was never one to admit or show when I was frightened; that all came about while I was still in the Air Force. If I showed even one shred of a fear to any of my squad mates, then their confidence levels of a mission would possibly drop. So far however, we all were able to keep our composures about this. How long that would last with dealing with dragons was anyone's guess.

The smell of brimstone and sulfur began to fill the air before we could even see the smoke. There wasn't enough in the air to make us cough or gag, but it was enough to make my eyes begin to sting. I mentally cursed, turning my head slightly to the side to get the water out of my eyes. 'I wish I remembered my sunglasses,' I thought, catching a glimpse of Rainbow Dash as she had her Wonderbolt goggles strapped to her head. I was not one to complain about something trivial, though, so I kept it to myself. At least when we landed it would be easier to keep my eyes open as the smoke would rise.

A sudden nudge to my right arm drew my attention away from keep my eyes clear. Misty Fly had shifted her aerial position over to me and was the one who'd gotten my attention. I hadn't spoken to her much before, even the times I'd gone to the academy with Rainbow Dash and Soarin. Though from what Rainbow had told me, Misty Fly was the 'goody horseshoes' of the academy, but not to the extent that Twilight was in our circle of friends. In fact, had she not been chosen as the third Wonderbolt for the mission, Soarin told me that he would've left her in charge instead of Silver Lining. "Hey! You might want to pay attention, Cougar!" She exclaimed over the roar of my jetpack. The roar wasn't deafening at all, but it would drown out about half the volume of a normal speaking voice. "You don't want to crash into those rocks down below!" She pointed her hoof down.

I wasn't afraid of heights at all, but seeing the jagged volcanic rocks down below caught the breath in my throat. That, and the giant pools of lava as well made my heart sink. I looked up at the yellow pegasus and gave her a quick thumbs up before straightening up and focusing straight ahead. Unfortunately, that little moment of peace was interrupted by Celestia alerting us that King Horntail's castle was approaching and that we'd be landing shortly. She explained that we weren't in Draconia just yet, but we'd need to find a larger area to land in so none of us would get cut up.

Landing, the part that gave me the most trouble when practicing. Having to land in a place with nothing but jagged rocks, lava, and dragons everywhere was just the icing on the cake. Speaking of dragons, we'd seen a few flying in the distance, but none had yet approached us. While it wasn't probable, I crossed my fingers that the first dragons we would encounter were Horntail's guards, if he had any at all. "There!" We suddenly heard Celestia shout. She pointed a hoof at a clear area about an acre big and began her descent with the others following her. A whole acre, hell, it could've been the size of Talladega SuperSpeedway and I'd still feel a little uneasy.

"Do you want a little help?" Misty Fly questioned as she stuck with me. "I know you're still a…a rookie!" She hesitated with her words. I rolled my eyes and held up a hand to get some of the smoke to deflect from my face.

"I suck at landing, just say it!" I snapped back, but she didn't seem hurt by it. The mare put her hoof on the back of my jetpack (which thankfully kept the heat insulated so my back or no one around me would get burned) and gave me a quick pat as she helped me to descend. My muscles came close to seizing up as I felt our bodies lower toward the ground.

"I can guide you if you want!" Misty Fly tried to lift my spirits. "If it makes you feel any better, I hold the record at the academy for consecutive landings without crashing!" The pegasus added with a proud grin.

"Did you ever land near jagged rocks and lava?" I shot back with a smart-aleck tone. The pony's smile instantly vanished as she looked back down at the ground before shaking her head. "Didn't think so!" I added with a gulp. I clenched my eyes shut and turned my head as we passed through another cloud of smoke. My eyes stung slightly, but I did my best to keep them open. If I was going to crash land, I'd at least wanted to keep surprises out of the question.

"You're doing great!" Misty Fly encouraged me as she let go of my jetpack and moved about a foot away. "Try and put your…whatever that is," she paused and pointed to my arm, "out to keep your balance!" She advised and adjusted her flight goggles. With the ground getting closer with each passing second, I could only look ahead to see the front of the group kicking up dirt and dust as they landed in the clearing with the others following close behind.

"At least you can land on your legs and keep running!"

"Don't think about it too much!" Misty shut me up. "Pull up and turn that thing off on my mark!" I licked my lips a few times and took a deep breath, feeling exactly like Cougar and Merlin when they had to land with low fuel in Top Gun. The heat of the lava pits that circled our chosen landing pad only made the sweat coming off my forehead pour down my face even faster. And for the time being, all I could hear was my own heartbeat, my own breathing, and the sound of the wind as we whistled through it. "NOW!" Misty pushed her wings out to slow her momentum before touching down on the ground, running to slow down even more.

"GYAH!" I exclaimed as I swept my arms forward and up, decreasing my speed and pulling up a few feet. I hung in the air for a second or two before falling straight down to the ground. I landed a little harder than I expected on my feet, yet I stuck my arm out and fell forward, attempting to soften the landing and look a little like Iron Man. "FUCK!" I cursed loudly as I failed yet again. I was still carrying a little too much speed; my knees couldn't hold me up, and I ended up falling over my arm and into the ground as the wings retracted into the pack.

"Cougar!" Rainbow shouted as she and Misty ran over to help me up. Thankfully nothing was broken, but I ended up skinning a knuckle a little bit, and I wound up with a slight cut on my forearm through my flight suit. No blood came out from my knuckle, but I'd have to be cautious and not let it get infected. "At least you wore your helmet," she chuckled whilst dusting off the bottom of my flight suit with her wing. I felt around my waist in case anything had fallen out when I landed. 'One gun and one knife,' I thought as my hands brushed over the two objects on opposite sides of my body.

"It's no cloud, but it'll do," I groaned and popped all my tightened muscles from hours of flying. I kept my eyes peeled and scanned the surrounding area in case any dragons tried to sneak up on us. Celestia announced that we could take a few minutes to rest after traveling for so long, but the journey to Horntail's castle shouldn't be too far. Spike took the chance to write a quick letter to his mom that we had all made it perfectly safe and that she shouldn't worry about anything, but something was on my mind that I wanted to ask Rainbow and Soarin earlier. I didn't want to ask while we were flying so we could all stay focused.

"Hey Rainbow, Soar," I called out while unbuckling my purple and gold helmet.

"What's up bro?" Soarin gave me a playful smack on my side. Rainbow raised an eyebrow, letting me know that she was listening. Sighing contently, I took my helmet off and ran a hand through my sweat soaked hair. "Hehe, you look like you just got out of the shower, Cougar."

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes, sticking my helmet under my arm. "Guys, did you let Scootaloo know what was going on?" I questioned. Since they were living together and Rainbow had officially adopted Scootaloo as a little sister, there was no way in my eyes that Rainbow or Soarin had not told Scoots about what happened. The two pegasi looked at each other, apparently waiting for one or the other to explain.

"We didn't really have much of a choice Coug," Rainbow finally spat out after rolling her eyes at Soarin. "He was letting Scootaloo hang around the academy when I showed up, and it would've been really shitty of us to just ditch her with a lie."

"After Dashie told me what happened, we decided to tell Squirt that there was an emergency with Princess Celestia that required the two of us and Misty Fly," Soarin cut in, lacing his wing over his girlfriend's back. "Obviously she had about a million questions, but we promised her we'd tell her everything when we got back." I was actually starting to feel a little guilty. Although there was no time for me to try and explain this to Applebloom when Twilight zapped me to the farm, I knew the filly wasn't going to be happy that I'd left on a dangerous mission with Celestia without at least saying goodbye to her.

"At least you left Scootaloo in good hooves guys!" Misty Fly chimed in. Soarin mentioned something about Silver Lining having kids of his own, but I wasn't paying too much attention to that. Rainbow noticed that something was amiss with me and asked me about it.

"I just have a lot to do when we get back to make this up to Applebloom; AJ and I never got the chance to tell her or Granny Smith or Big Mac that I had to go," I clicked my tongue shamefully.

"Pfft, just keep doing what you've always done with her," Rainbow blew a raspberry and smacked my leg. "She might be a little miffed, but trust me, it'll pass when she realizes you helped save Princess Luna and her foal," she bragged for me.

"Yeah well she's probably going to knock me in the head again like the last time I left without telling her," I sighed letting my helmet fall to my side as I held it upside down. I looked around to see what everyone else was doing, but I couldn't look for long as Celestia requested my presence.

"Cougar, may I speak with you before we trek toward King Horntail's castle?" The alicorn kindly asked me. Without hesitation, I nodded and departed from the three Wonderbolts as Celestia approached me with Glock and Bat Fang following behind her. Spike had finished his letter to Twilight and was kneeling down near a pool of lava and splashing some on his face for some reason. Flash stood right next to Spike, keeping his eyes peeled for any imminent danger. At least he was upholding his promise to Twilight.

I had a feeling that maybe Celestia was going to give me a quick warning about being cautious around here, but I didn't mind that. Any information she could give me about Draconia would be helpful. Then again, she might be telling me to stay quiet and talk only when she or King Horntail addressed me; that I was perfectly fine with. "Firstly," she cleared her throat as we met, "are you okay? That spill you took wasn't too nasty, but it didn't look too pleasant either."

"Heh," I snickered, "yeah I'm fine Celestia," a small grin spread across my face. "A little fall isn't going to kill me," I raised my hand to show where my knuckle was skinned.

"Well, it certainly makes me happy that you're uninjured and that you took your first long flight fairly well," Celestia lightly touched her horn to my knuckle, completely healing it in seconds. She gave me a warm smile as she lifted her head back up. "I know you're not used to keeping your body in that position for very long," she continued.

"Don't worry about that; I may need to get used to this in the future," I assured her. "And besides, I want to help get Luna back just as much as you do, especially since you have a niece or nephew on the way," I tried to give her a confident look, but even now I was still feeling a little uneasy about being here. It seemed to work, however, as Celestia appeared to be thinking of playing with her future niece or nephew. "But anyway, we're burning time," I took a quick look around again, "what did you need to talk to me about?"

"You are aware of the fact that ponies and dragons don't get along very well, correct?" Bat Fang asked me, snapping my attention to the bat-pony standing to Celestia's left.

"Mainly the fact that dragons hate ponies," Glock corrected for his fellow guard. I nodded with a shrug, knowing the tale that Twilight told of Spike trying to join the Dragon migration a few years ago.

"Well Cougar, I was fearing a bit for your safety in particular on the journey here," Celestia cut in, placing a worried wing upon my shoulder. "I know that some ponies didn't take too warmly to you when you first arrived in Equestria. And even now, as Hearts and Hooves Day proved, some ponies still do not enjoy your presence in Equestria."

"Yeah?" I turned my head, trying to decipher the alicorn's point.

"The dragons already do not have fond feelings for us equine; seeing you may register the same feelings or even worse," she warned me.

"What? You don't think they'll….." I swallowed, unable to say the word as the realization hit me, "just for seeing me?" I finished. Bat Fang and Glock looked down at the stony ground below as Celestia sighed sadly.

"I am not one-hundred percent sure," she admitted. "King Horntail may be a very fair dragon compared to the rest of his subjects, but you may draw a lot of curiosity out of him. I just want you, and everypony else here, to be safe. So I think it would be best if you stuck by my side the entire time like Spike, Glock, and Bat Fang," Celestia explained. If I could only describe one thing I admired about Celestia, it would be how with just the simplest of words, she always sounded like a caring mother. Even if she was talking about a dangerous situation, her voice just dripped with care and concern.

"I don't think that's a bad idea; I did practically the same thing when my CO and I would meet with foreign leaders or foreign military leaders," I replied, giving the princess an understanding nod. Celestia's wing slipped away from my shoulder and she gave me thankful smile when there was a shout from behind us.

"HEY!" Flash Sentry exclaimed loudly, followed by a loud splash and grunt from Spike. We all snapped to the commotion just in time to see a few droplets of lava landing on the ground before us. I jumped back without hesitation, fearing losing a toe or two.

"SPIKE!" Rainbow flapped her wings and zipped over to the lava pond. Flash currently had his hooves intertwined with another dragon's claws, trying to keep it away from Spike. The dragon looked to be maybe as tall or a little bit taller than myself. They were also decked out with charcoal colored armor, turquoise scales, and their hands, feet, and tail were exposed. The orange pegasus wasn't backing down; his face was permanently cemented into a snarl as he pushed against the dragon.

"FLASH!" I exclaimed, dropping my helmet onto the ground. Flash had lost his footing on the rocks from the force of the dragon's push; the dragon guard took advantage, releasing their grip on his hoof and grasped their claws around his throat before slamming him to the ground. I broke into a full-on sprint, charging over to get Flash away from his attacker. Of course every nerve in my body wanted to beat the dragon's face in, but I mainly wanted to separate the two before Flash could get injured.

"Leave our friends alone asshole!" Rainbow Dash screeched as she extended a hoof out to punch the dragon. Time seemed be going at quarter-speed; Rainbow got within a few inches of the dragon's helmet before she was snatched by her tail. She cried out in pain and shock as she was flung by her tail into a nearby rock. Her body left an indent as dust and pebbles erupted from the impact on the rock. At this point, I could only hear my heartbeat and my breathing whilst sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me.

A blur of blue flashed by me, coming to the aid of Rainbow Dash and Flash Sentry. Soarin attempted to wrap his forelegs around the enemy and tackle them. Unfortunately, the dragon had spider-like reflexes and punched him in the jaw, sending the Wonderbolt captain flying backwards and landing at the foot of Rainbow's rock. I raised my hands up, attempting to grab the dragon's throat with one hand and punch them with the other as I leapt over Flash's body.

"AHHH!" I screamed loudly until I felt a large lump come in contact with my ankles, tripping me up and onto my back. I landed with a hard thud on the rocky surface, coughing from the hard collision. A turquoise tail flew over my fallen body while the dragon readied in a fighting stance again. Since I dropped my helmet, I hit my head on the ground as well. All I could hear now was an intense ringing in my ear as my vision blurred slightly. The only things I could make out were the fur colors of Glock and Misty Fly while they both landed blows on the dragon's armor, the bright orange of the lava pool, and the blue hands, tail, and feet of our attacker.

I grimaced when Misty Fly was flung into Bat Fang and Glock, sending them into rough contacts with the ground as well. Trying to sit up only made me feel dizzy, so I could do nothing at the moment as the dragon stalked closer and closer with their claws extended. Suddenly, my vision was blocked when a tall white figure stood in front of the light of the lava. Squinting my eyes, I could make out Celestia standing defensively in front of me and the others with her wings outstretched. A bright flash of light intensified the headache radiating through my cranium, forcing me to look away.

"Stand….down," my hearing returned for the briefest of moments. Grunting, I turned back around to see Celestia clad in golden armor with flames going down the sides, her cutie mark on the flank, and her hair was tied up in a ponytail. She bent down in a more defensive stance, ready to fight the assailant. With a guttural growl, the dragon leapt forward at Celestia, her hand extending outward to claw more of Celestia. Without thinking, Celestia's gold-plated hoof shot upward, immediately stopping the the dragon's punch. The alicorn's eyes narrowed before turning completely white. The dragon attempted to use their other fist, but Celestia twisted their arm around, forcing a scream of pain from the reptile's throat. "I warned you," Celestia muttered before flipping the dragon onto its back.

Gathering as much strength as I could, I stood up as well to join Celestia. My hand grasped the wooden handle of my .44, yanking it out of its holster. We couldn't see the eyes of the dragon from behind the mask, but my best guess was it was stunned after what Celestia was able to do. Then, a golden aura surrounded the body of the fallen reptile before levitating and trapping it in the air. Spike emerged from the lava pond unscathed yet shocked. Amidst groaning and coughing, everyone else peeled or picked themselves up from where they'd landed and approached their princess, sticking close to her for safety. "What is the meaning of this attack?" Celestia questioned softly, trying to keep as much peace as possible between us. "The nine of us only came here in search of speaking with King Horntail."

"What happened to Spike?" Bat Fang questioned, noticing the purple and green dragon wiping lava from his scales.

"He pushed me in," Spike pointed the floating dragon before us. "All I was doing was-"

"Using King Horntail's private lava pool," the dragon guard interrupted in a breathless voice. 'Celestia's defense must've knocked the wind out of this guy,' I thought, still holding my gun, yet I didn't cock back the hammer.

"Hmm, I thought it was a pond," Soarin shrugged as he rubbed Rainbow's back and wings for her. She groaned in appreciation but let him know that she'd be okay.

"So, beating up my subjects, my friends," Celestia specified, "was justified for Spike using your King's personal lava pool?" The alicorn's magic brought the dragon closer to us. The dragon cocked its head the eyes of the helmet lined up with me. It let out a scoff or a chuckle (I couldn't tell which) before shifting its gaze back to Celestia.

"I was doing you ponies and whatever the Tartarus you are a favor. If King Horntail caught a dragon using this, he'd just tail whip them into the flame-cano. But a pony-loving dragon? I don't think you'd want to know what would happen…"

"Are you expecting a thank you?" I said hoarsely, taking a step closer.

"I expect all of you to leave and never come back; ponies aren't welcome in Draconia. Just like you stuck up prissy ponies don't want us dragons in Equestria."

"Don't talk to my friends like that!" Spike exclaimed, standing as tall as he could to look intimidating. "They don't mind having me live with them in Equestria."

"Please, I could smell the pony scent off you from across Draconia," the dragon guard scoffed. "What did you even get the guts to come to our kingdom for anyway?" They folded their arms across their armor. "I know ponies don't come waltzing into Draconia for nothing, unless they want to be eaten," they seemed to joke.

"We demand to speak to your king!" Glock shouted, losing his patience. "Now!" He added. Celestia extended her right wing, gently pushing against Glock's chest to calm him down. The dragon seemed surprised by the gall Glock had to speak to them like that. With another cock of their head, the dragon raised their hands up, grasping the underside of the charcoal-colored helmet. We all held our breath as the dragon's claws curled under the helmet and lifted it up before letting it fall to the ground with a loud clang. I lowered my gun to my side in surprise.

"Woah," Spike exclaimed. The face of a female dragon stared back at us with a glare as some smoke rose from her nostrils. Her voice was pretty distorted from the mask, so I didn't really know what to expect from the guard.

"And why should my father waste his time with the likes of ponies and that thing?" She pointed toward me.

(King Horntail's Castle; Ivan's POV)

The ten of us stood behind the large stone doors of King Horntail's massive castle. Myself and seven others of our group made sure to stick by Celestia after Horntail's daughter made us all look like minimum wage mall cops in less than ten seconds. We also huddled close to the alicorn because of the giant lava-filled moat that encircled the castle, though Spike wasn't scared at all of the molten liquid. Two other dragon guards stared intently at us, as if we were chew toys, while Horntail's daughter (who refused to reveal her name to us) turned around. Luckily she was a little more understanding that we'd expected. At least enough to escort us to Horntail. Whether or not he'd choose to speak with us was up to him. "Stay here," the female dragon ordered, glaring at all of us, "I'll see if my dad will humor you," she opened a door and slipped halfway inside. "And you two, don't even think about harming them," she looked between the other two guards before slamming the door shut. The dragon guard to our right looked us over one more time before sneering and rolling his eyes.

"Are you quite certain that you're all right Cougar?" Celestia asked me sweetly, still sporting her golden and flaming armor. I groaned, moving my hand behind my head and rubbing the small welt that was forming above the bottom of my head. Once we knew that Horntail's daughter was going to at least try and get us an audience with the king, we all took a minute to rest from the attack. I realized then that putting on my helmet wasn't going to be as smooth as before.

"Heh," I scoffed rudely, clutching my helmet tightly in my other hand, "you're more concerned about me when Flash Sentry was throat-slammed into the ground, and Rainbow was partially imbedded into a fucking rock?" I seethed as the welt on the back of my head throbbed as my fingers left it.

"Well, Flash at least has armor on," Misty Fly pointed out to me, tapping on my leg. Still feeling pissed about getting my ass handed to me, I glared down at the yellow pegasus, forcing her to gulp and look away.

"And I'm naturally tough," Rainbow bragged, "being in the Wonderbolts only made me tougher, so it didn't hurt too bad," she added shifting around a bit to show she was still maneuverable.

"Still gave you one hell of a wake-up call didn't it?" I growled under my breath.

"You hit your head extremely hard on rock," Celestia said sternly, looking back at me with a small glare of her own. "I am just worried you could possibly have a concussion. That's all," she explained before snapping her head back forward toward the door.

"I appreciate the concern Celestia, but all of us except you and Spike took a sort of beating. I just don't like being singled out," I felt a little bad for my sour reaction to her worry about my health. "And I didn't throw up, so I think a concussion can be ruled out," I tried to offer the princess a smile, but she didn't look back in my direction. The smile quickly faded into a questionable frown as I peered to my left to look at the river of lava below. As soon as my head cleared from getting my ass kicked, the part of me that was questioning my very presence here was now screaming that I may have made the wrong decision. I wanted more than anything to be back with Applejack and the rest of our friends, but I'd already made my bet; I couldn't back out now. "Hey Spike," I called out to our dragon friend.

"Yeah?" Spike turned around.

"When you promised Twilight you'd write to her-"

"No I won't mention our welcome to Draconia," he winked at me and gave me a thumbs up, filling me with a sense of relief.

"Afraid of looking bad to Applejack, huh?" Soarin patted the back of my jetpack. "I didn't really see anything if that helps."

"I just don't want to give her a heart attack," I snapped, "not after what I went through just telling her I wanted to come here," I grumbled. Just thinking of what AJ's reaction to this would be made me feel sick to my stomach. As long as nothing else too exciting happened, it was okay I guess.

"Princess?" Flash spoke up, taking a few steps forward to get within Celestia's field of vision. "Not that I don't trust your word," he assured her as she looked down at him. "But are you positive King Horntail will at least listen to us?" Celestia groaned, drooping her head so low to the ground that her horn nearly touched.

"It's been nearly twenty-four years since I've spoken to him, Flash Sentry. Considering how he's trained his daughter to be a fighter, I am uncertain at this point," she admitted. "Though I can only pray that with the knowledge of Luna's kidnapping, he'll let a softer side slip through and lend us some assistance."

"And what if he doesn't want to help us?" Bat Fang cut in, garnering my attention with the sharpness of his voice. "Then what do we do?" Celestia gently licked her lips and opened and closed her mouth, contemplating Bat Fang's question. I had thought about that as well a few times on our journey. The only answer I could come up with is search as much as we can without alerting our position to the rest of Draconia.

"I am not leaving this place without answers or my baby sister, Bat Fang!" Celestia exclaimed. "We came here for one reason and one reason only. I will not let Luna down," she swore. A flash of light and a flicking noise occurred to my right, gathering my attention. With one wing Misty Fly tossed a spent match into the lava river below, and she held a cigarette in the other wing, taking a large puff at once before blowing the smoke into the air. She sighed happily and sniffed the smoke she had just blown out.

"You're smoking now?" I asked in disbelief. The pegasus shot me a look of 'Why the hell do you care?' And took another drag.

"What? It calms me okay?" She rolled her eyes. "Besides, it's not like anything here will catch fire." I truthfully had no qualms with smoking, but I had no idea Misty smoked, or that she would light one up in a situation like this. Without warning, all of us had our skin crawl as a loud bellowing laugh penetrated the stone walls of the castle.

"Celestia wishes to see me?!" A voice that sounded suspiciously British questioned. "Send her and her friends in at once, Ember!"

"So that's her name!" Soarin nudged Rainbow Dash excitedly. The mare cocked her eyebrow at her colt friend's strange excitement as the doors swung open to reveal Ember standing in the doorway. The dragoness had somewhat of a scowl on her face as smoke flowed from her nostrils. I had to think that the scowl came with the job just like Glock, Flash and Bat Fang's stoic faces while they were on duty. She scoffed before turning to the side, gesturing for us to enter the hellish castle. All of us stood in place, waiting for Celestia to move first since we weren't going to do anything too rash without her say so. She thanked Ember and bowed her head regally before trotting inside with us following close behind. Even Rainbow Dash decided to walk alongside us rather than fly above.

Once Misty Fly, the tail end of our group, entered the castle, Ember slammed the doors shut. I could only describe the sound that accompanied the door slam as akin to a jail cell door or a cemetery gate shutting. That really didn't help the situation at all. There were about a half dozen other guards lining the pathway in the throne room. Each one was taller than Ember, and they all had dark green armor and helmets on their bodies. Just like Ember's helmet did, the only features we could see of their faces were their glowing eyes that followed us slowly. "You and my dad must know each other better than I thought," Ember's voice shattered the quiet sounds of our footsteps. She'd flown past our group and landed next to the white alicorn, yet kept her gaze pointed forward.

"We've spoken to each other, but not for quite awhile," Celestia replied, at least having the decency to look at Ember as she spoke.

"Well he certainly sounds eager to see you, princess," Spike cut in from the other side of Celestia. "And to be honest, that's the opposite of what I was expecting," he added.

"Did you mention to him what I told you, Ember?" Celestia ignored what Spike had to say, getting right to the point so she'd hopefully not have to repeat herself. Ember went on to explain that she barely mentioned the fact that we were all waiting outside the castle before Horntail granted us permission to enter. I wasn't really paying attention anymore; I was feeling really uncomfortable. Even more uncomfortable than when I first had to meet the populous of Ponyville nearly a year ago. Every dragon guard during our march to Horntail's throne couldn't keep their eyes off me. At least I didn't have to worry about becoming a snack when the ponies of Ponyville were staring at me.

Now I had no clue whether or not they wanted to eat me, but it wasn't very pleasant to have something three feet taller than myself gawking at me like a chew toy. Looking ahead didn't help much; we could see King Horntail sitting on his massive stone throne the moment Ember flung the doors open. The huge dark green dragon grew with every step we took. I tried desperately to keep my composure, but I was feeling pretty nervous about having to stand in front of a twenty-five foot fire-breathing dragon that could crush us just for amusement. "Halt!" Ember exclaimed, snapping her wings out to stop our momentum. We all ceased walking the second she commanded, only to find ourselves about fifteen feet from King Horntail himself. "Kneel before the great dragon king, Horntail!" Ember announced, kneeling down on knee with her helmet on the ground.

"You heard my daughter!" Horntail bellowed, "KNEEL!" He shouted so loud that it felt as if the Thunderbirds had just flown about five feet above our heads, making our bodies shake. Celestia, the most graceful of our group, knelt regally while Spike, Flash, and Soarin dropped to the ground without hesitation. Misty Fly first dropped her cigarette on the ground and crushed it with her hoof before kneeling as well while myself, Rainbow, Glock, and Bat Fang took a little longer to obey the command.

"King Horntail!" Celestia exclaimed loudly from the front of our group. "Please let me say we are grateful for this audience with you!" The horned and orange eyed dragon hummed, studying all nine of us intently. He raised his right hand and began to scratch at his chin with his machete-length claws. The king suddenly let out a quick, "HA!" before slamming his hand onto the handle of his throne.

"You all look much punier than normal," he mocked us. "But it is rather nice to have guests once in awhile," he continued as Ember stood up and flapped her wings, joining him at his side. "AGREE WITH ME!" Horntail shouted loudly again, this time it was meant for his other guards who instantly agreed with their king.

"What's with this guy?" I heard Soarin whisper to Rainbow Dash who promptly shushed him.

"Especially my old friend Princess Celestia," Horntail grinned, never missing a beat as the guards stopped verbally agreeing with him. Celestia didn't even try to correct him about being an old friend.

"We haven't spoken in over two decades," Celestia replied, standing up from kneeling.

"And it has been about 500 years since you've even been in my land as well," Horntail watched on as Celestia bravely stood up and looked him in the eye. "What, do you assume you're too good to see me once awhile?" We all held our breath, uncertain of what he would do. "I kid, I kid," Horntail waved his hand. 'Okay, so he's passive-aggressive, just great,' I rolled my eyes at this guy. "I can't put my claw on it, but it is rather nice to at least have some new company," the king admitted. "And that you even have a dragon of your own! What is your name, little dragon?" All of us looked over at Spike simultaneously.

"Uh, Spike, your worshipfulness?" Spike gulped, uncertain of what to call Horntail. "I was hatched by my mom, a unicorn, and she raised me," he explained.

"A dragon raised by a pony?!" Horntail bellowed before laughing loudly. "What, are you going to suggest we have a tea party next?" Spike shot smoke from his nose after being insulted by King Horntail. None of us dared to keep him from having fun, however. Then, just as quickly as he began, Horntail ceased laughing, wiping a tear from his orange eye. "So tell me Celestia, what did provoke you and your friends to grow the courage to visit my land? You weren't hoping to-" he stopped mid-sentence. My heart sank as his eyes settled directly on me. "Hmm?" He remarked curiously.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP

King Horntail had risen from his throne and took a few steps toward us. He knelt down onto his hands and knees, lowering his head to get a much closer look at me. Misty Fly reached over with her hoof and patted my arm, at least trying to give me some peace. "What in the name of Tartarus are you?" The vibrations from his voice almost made me fall over. I bit my lower lip to only be able to breath through my nose; I didn't want to show any sign of weakness to the giant kneeling before me. His eye was only about six inches away from my face as he squinted and cocked his head from side to side, sizing me up just like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park.

"His name is Cougar and-" Rainbow Dash tried to explain, standing up on all fours before King Horntail shot her a nasty look.

"I do believe I asked him," he growled, "not you, rainbow pony," Horntail sneered. From the corner of my eye, I could see Rainbow's face contort into that of anger, but Soarin and Bat Fang helped to calm her. "Now," Horntail turned back to me.

"Cougar sir!" I announced proudly after taking a deep breath through my nose. "I am a human who's been taken in by my friends here."

"As a pet?"

"As an equal, your highness," I said through gritted teeth. What happened next freaked me out more than scared me. King Horntail put his nostrils only a few centimeters away and sniffed me. With his size, it almost felt like I was being sucked up by a vacuum.

"Hmm," he muttered after finishing. "You wouldn't even make a decent midnight snack, hoo-man," he got up from all fours and returned to his throne as I shook from what just happened. Misty Fly once again sympathetically patted my leg as I reeled back from being sniffed like a piece of meat.

"Dad!" Ember shouted, groaning in disgust. "Stop sniffing them and let them get to the point already!"

"With all due respect King Horntail," Bat Fang's gruff voice announced, "I must agree with your daughter! We are already strapped for time as it is." Horntail looked between his daughter and Bat Fang, looking a bit impressed that Bat Fang had the balls to talk to him like that, though Celestia visibly showed she wasn't pleased with Bat Fang's tone. He sat back in this throne, intertwining his fingers on his hands together.

"Apologies for being a bit curious," he apologized, "but there's nothing wrong with being curious…..RIGHT!?" He suddenly blurted out again. This time our group combined with his own guards agreed with him, just to speed things up. "But forgive my interruptions Celestia, what are you here for? I can sense it isn't just to say hello." After having to explain it to Ember, Celestia didn't want to have to talk about her sister's kidnapping again, so she allowed Spike to take the job, especially since he was a dragon as well.

"King Horntail, we've traveled across Equestria and to your kingdom in search of Princess Luna, Celestia's sister. She was kidnapped from her own bedroom in Canterlot; we have reason and evidence to believe that one of your dragon subjects took her," Spike quickly gave Horntail the abridged version. I truthfully expected Horntail to launch into a rant about how dare we have the gall to immediately point blame to one of his own subjects for such a crime. But surprisingly, he took it pretty well. The dark green king untangled his fingers and placed his hands on the handles of his throne, leaning forward.

"Come again? Your sister was kidnapped right out from under you, Celestia?"

"Yes," the princess replied sternly. I could tell that she was struggling to keep from losing her cool. Being so close, yet constantly being held back from searching must have been aggravating as all Hell for the mare. "And to make things even worse, she's pregnant with her first foal."

"So you can see why we're a little desperate to see you!" Rainbow Dash yelled to the king. "Have you heard anything from anyone?" The king blinked a few times before shaking his head at Rainbow Dash.

"This is a mighty big accusation," Horntail sat up straight in his throne. "Would you be so kind as to provide me with any evidence?" He requested. For the second time today, Celestia's body was enshrouded with magic. A pair of saddlebags appeared on both sides of her body that Spike reached into and produced the red dragon scale. Ember flew over from her spot next to her father and snatched the scale from Spike's claws, peering at it closely.

"I can tell you that I could smell a dragon's scent the moment my friend Cougar found it in Luna's room," Spike pointed to me. "I don't know about you, but to me it seems like a dragon had to have something to do with Luna's vanishment," he added, folding his arms across his chest.

'Like father like daughter,' I thought as Ember took a quick whiff of the scale before turning to her dad.

"It's got a pony's scent on it, but I can definitely tell this came from a dragon," she announced to Horntail. "And one around my age," she added with another whiff. Her dad grumbled, putting his head into his hand before rubbing his face and sighing.

"How could one of my subjects, in broad daylight as you claimed, get into your castle without causing any sort of ruckus, and take Princess Luna as she napped? I'm not trying to disbelieve any of you, but it is rather puzzling," Horntail admitted.

"That's what we came here to find out!" Celestia blurted through a strained voice, trying to keep from choking. Glock and Soarin inched toward her in case she needed calming down. "I don't even care who did this, nor do I care about making them pay for what they've done. I just want my baby sister back," Celestia explained. "Please Horntail, please help us!" She begged. Now all of us stood at full attention, surrounding Celestia to both calm her, and show Horntail how serious we were taking this.

"I understand that most dragons don't care about the feelings of others, sir," I called out. "But-" I stopped talking as Horntail slowly held up a hand. The great king sighed audibly, drumming his claws on his throne.

"This may be surprising to all of you," he began as one of his claws started to scratch against the stone, "yet I do feel something odd growing within me. Almost like a heaviness," he monologued.

"It's pity," Flash Sentry called out. The giant dragon ceased tracing his claw on his throne and shifted his gaze over to the orange guard. Flash gulped but still maintained his statue-like pose. Considering Horntail appeared to be quick to anger with his sporadic outbursts, I couldn't help but shoot my eyes open as Flash attempted to tell the king just what he was feeling.

"Pity you say, orange one?" The dark green reptile cocked an eyebrow. Flash nodded his head slowly several times, gathering the courage to take a few steps forward. The king didn't object to the guard approaching his throne, but Flash was still wary about it.

"Y-yes," he stammered, "I-I think you feel sorry for both princesses."

"Well then, I've never 'pitied' a pony before," Horntail air-quoted.

"Dragons don't really do pity, Celestia's guard," I noticed Ember cross her arms over her chest. I think she was trying to cover up the pity she was feeling for us; after all, she did lead us to the castle after Celestia spilled the reason why we even came here. "We mostly live by every dragon for themselves," she added.

"Um if I may?" Misty Fly raised a hoof politely, waving it to get Horntail's attention. "I think it's because Princess Luna is expecting her first child," she guessed. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I don't think you'd care all that much if it were just Luna that was gone."

"I truthfully cannot argue with you on that one," Horntail admitted solemnly after several moments of contemplation. The king was actually starting to sound more and more rational the longer we talked to him. I was still pretty wary of him, especially after what he did to me, but I guess this just proved everyone has a soft spot. It just needs to be hit in the right place. Now I wasn't expecting he and Celestia to become pen pals or anything, but just like Celestia had hoped before we left, maybe this could allow the friction between Draconia and Equestria to settle.

"Maybe because deep down you know that a baby, an unborn one at that, is one of the most innocent things in the world, and you don't want to even think about what could happen to Luna or it," I covered my mouth when I realized it was me who had just said that. I was more worried that I'd talked out of turn with Horntail, but he seemed to be fine with it. In fact, he looked over to his left where Ember was standing and quickly yet softly patted her back with his claw, grinding it against her armor. The dragoness was caught off guard by this and nearly jumped in her spot, but allowed (albeit uncomfortably) her dad to pat her back.

Unfortunately, not everyone agreed with this direction for King Horntail as we were about to find out. "Hey!" I shouted as the brown dragon guard standing close to me tail whipped my back. It wasn't enough to hurt, but it sure got my attention. Without Horntail's acknowledgement, the nine foot tall reptile stomped his way over to the king's throne, ripping off his helmet and holding it under his arm.

"King Horntail, you can't be serious!" He hollered. Our whole group failed to keep breathing as we awaited the king's reactions to being spoken to like that. "Don't tell me you're going soft over a sob story like that!" Ember seemed to take more offense than her father. Her wings snapped open, and she let out a guttural growl. I slowly put an arm in front of Misty Fly, taking a few steps forward to stay in front of her. We've already seen what she could do to us, and she was just holding back. I had no clue what kind of damage she could do to her own kind.

"You believe my decision to lend a little sympathy to these ponies is a decision of…..weakness?" Horntail asked with a hint of sarcasm and condescension. "DOES IT SOUND LIKE WEAKNESS TO ANY OF YOU!?" He screamed to the other guards. Horntail was met with a sea of disagreement from the other guards as they feared his wrath. Sadly for the one dragon guard, he was too stupid to understand his king's tone.

"Of course; they're just a bunch of ponies and a freak!" Horntail raised both of his eyebrows in reply, studying the guard's actions. "So what if their princess was kidnapped? It's just one pathetic pony out of thousands that's gone." Celestia nearly chipped a tooth from grinding her jaws together.

"A pregnant pony I might add since you're apparently deaf," Horntail rolled his eyes.

"And? Two ponies in one shot sounds like good riddance to me," the brown dragon crossed his arms. While all of us were beyond pissed, myself, Glock, Bat Fang, and Soarin all had to grab ahold of Celestia to keep her from murdering the dragon. "If they can't look after themselves, why should we have-" The reptile's eyes nearly burst from his skull as Horntail's boulder sized hand squeezed his body. The king swiftly brought the guard's face up to his and looked as if he were possessed.

"Dragons like you are the reason ponies believe dragons to be monsters!" Horntail's mouth erupted in a ball of fire, completely melting the armor on the guard's body. Misty Fly and Soarin covered their own eyes as myself, Flash, Bat Fang, Glock, and Celestia dropped our mouths open. Rainbow and Spike simultaneously exclaimed, "Sweet!" under their breath.

When it was all said and done, the guard had liquid armor dripping off his scales, and he was shaking violently. "Your services are no longer required to me, runt," Horntail then slipped the guard in between his claws and flicked him out the door of the throne room like a paper ball. The dragon king breathed heavily as he sat back down in his throne, darting his eyes around. "I apologize for that display; you don't deserve to have your sister spoken of in that manner, Celestia."

"I…..thank you?" The alicorn replied uncomfortably, unsure of how to react.

"So, are you saying you'll help us sir?" I stood up and asked the giant dragon.

"I'd be at a loss as well if my daughter were taken before she was born," Horntail continued as if I never spoke. "However, what can I do to help you, Celestia? I can allow you permission to search Draconia if you wish," he offered.

"Well, that is a nice start. However, I wouldn't even begin to know where to look," Celestia admitted. "Your kingdom is vast, and all the rocks look identical; I don't want to take too long in locating my sister." I hadn't asked Celestia exactly what her plan was, but after that little admittance, I think she was banking on Horntail assigning us a guide to find Garble and start asking questions.

"Hmm, too right you are," the king scratched his chin.

"Spike," Ember piped up, holding the red scale in her claws. "Do you know the name of the dragon this scale belonged to?" The face of our purple dragon friend immediately turned into a scowl as he snorted.

"Of course I do; his name's Garble. He's a real prick too," Spike explained, "he tried to get me to kill a phoenix egg a few years back during the migration. Luckily I came to my senses and refused."

"Garble eh?" Horntail asked curiously. "That name does sound familiar."

"He tried to enlist as a guard, dad," Ember replied quickly. "I kicked him out of the corps because he failed to listen to command," she grabbed her helmet and slipped her head inside. "I know where he spends most of his time in Draconia."

"Very well Ember. Go fetch him so our friends may have a chat with him," Horntail ordered. Ember gave a quick bow to her dad before spreading her wings and launching out through one of the large windows of the throne room, leaving a trail of dust and dirt behind. "I will put out an order that no subject of mine shall inflict any pain upon any of you," Horntail's announcement caused all of us to look at him. "Or else they will have to deal with me," he picked up a skull of an animal and crushed it into dust.

---

(In another part of Draconia)

In a hidden cave somewhere in Draconia lay Princess Luna herself. The dark blue alicorn's mane and tail were tangled messes and still, her fur had scuff marks plastered all over her body, her horn was scratched up, and she had dried tear streaks on her cheeks. The mare weakly opened her teal eye, letting more tears fall out as she stroked a hoof over her spell covered baby bump. Unless they were purposely not mentioning it, Luna guessed that her kidnappers hadn't a clue she was pregnant. She whimpered softly as she attempted to move, but her body was so stiff from being stuck in the same position for two days that her muscles were nearly unresponsive. "T-Tia," Luna whimpered, "Checkered." Luna cried out a little as she felt a tiny kick from within her womb. "M-mommy c-can't wa-wait to meet you….."

End Part 1

---

So again, THANK YOU to everyone for your patience on the wait for this chapter. I know most of you may not like a cliffhanger after waiting so long, but I can guarantee that what the next chapter has to offer will be well worth the wait.

As for Ember, I absolutely LOVED her character in The Gauntlet of Fire. So I decided to have her be in my story as Horntail's daughter. Though I thought she would make one hell of a guard as well. And as for her kicking everyone but Celestia's ass in the beginning, I kind of put in a Winter Soldier vibe: Just come in and kick some ass without breaking a sweat. Plus it also proves to Ivan that he MAY have finally gotten in too far over his head for once.