Chapter 5-- Enemies, Discord and Friends

Part 1--Enemies

The cold of the night on the Dragon Lands is a fierce one, very much like a desert; the days are very hot but the nights are insanely cold but in the Dragon Lands nights are worse than those in the desert for the volcanoes and fire pits turn down almost deciding to stop emitting their hot, deadly yet warm embrace to all those who lived on those lands, dooming all those who were not prepared for the night to die of hypothermia but for some dragons this was not a problem at all, their internal fire was, in most cases, enough to counter the fierce cold nights.

And no place in the Dragon Lands was colder than the Valkatraz prison, the ONLY dragon prison in the world, every dragon criminal who committed crimes against their species or any other who they had a pact with were sent here, if the crime was not worthy of death penalty, there were no volcanoes, fire pits or even a lava lake near it for more than five hundred miles.

Valkatraz was a monster of a mountain, the second biggest in all of Equis and the prison was carved deep inside it, it was protected by several layers of magic seals that worked against dragons alone, also it held several traps for either invaders or an attack from the inside, the base of the mountain was made of pure black granite, it was so hard that not even a thousand drakes could chew it, and this was a true fact, several years ago a group of a thousand or so rebel drakes tried to dig down the mountain to free their leader, all of them ended up with broken teeth and not a single scratch on the surface.

This prison held only eleven prisoners, each of them a force to be reckoned with, marked as monsters by their own species but the worst of them all was a male dragon named simply as “Wrath”, second in command of the tyrant and mad dragon king Valtach, a blind follower of the dragon superiority belief many dragons held on those times.

He was and still is also known as “The God of Greed” for he was the most powerful dragon breed out of greed and the only dragon in history to preserve his normal intelligence and rationality, now he didn’t believed himself to be a god but he believed he was the most powerful dragon alive, only shadowed by Valtach himself, he had a green scaled exterior with a light purple underbelly, spines, ear fins, and purple eyes as well as large reversed wings bonded to his spine.

His actions during the Dragon Rebellion earned him many titles that no one remembered aside from a few older dragons, it was also showed he had no heart, no soul and no emotions whatsoever, he was not loyal to anyone or anything except to Valtach, himself and those who followed him, he killed over a thousand of all kinds of dragons and hundreds of the other ‘lesser’ creatures.

Remembering this always made him smile inside his cold cell, remembering those who fought him back believing they could defeat him only to be killed the next second by his claws, all those who begged for their lives and how he laughed while he killed them, the delicious flavor of ponies, zebras and griffons he actually missed tasting it, but what always made him actually give a dark chuckle was remembering the twenty eight alicorns he had personally killed, including the almighty Queen Moon Light of Equestria.

Wrath was alone with his own thoughts and memories when a red dragon wearing armor and carrying a spear approached him, he knew him well, he was after all one of the only fifteen guards posted in this prison to keep things in order.

“Wrath, you have a visitor” the guardian said, stepping at the side to reveal….

“Golbatur Prince Eukrarius, to what I owe the ‘pleasure’ of your visit this time?” he said behind his frozen stone cell.

“Guard, leave us” the guard bowed and retreated, once he was sure they were alone he talked “I have come to bring you a proposition and to tell you a very interesting story.”

“A proposition? From you and your idiotic family? I think I’ll pass brat, Im not interested in helping you or any of those weak and lesser creatures.”

“This proposition comes from me and me alone, Lord Wrath.”

“........Speak quickly, you spineless worm.” The demonic reptile snarled while flapping his green colored wings twice.

“Of course, but first let me tell you my little story, I think you remember Celestia and Luna” Wrath gave another, darker snarl

“I see you do, after all they were the ones who defeated you.”

“My patience is very thin, you bucking sack of flesh and scales, SPEAK!” Wrath rorared while Eukrarius gave only a light laugh.

“Well, it turns out the all mighty Celestia has kept a dragon hatchling for herself behind our backs for almost twenty years, perhaps even more,” Wrath was silent, waving his chained tail in bordom, as much movement as he was allowed at any rate “not only that but now there are two new alicorns, ascended ones I believe, one of them is Princess Cadence, niece of Celestia and Luna, princess of love and ruler of the Crystal Empire.”

“So it was true, it came back after a thousand years, what a worthless race the ponies are...and this second one?”

“Her name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, former protégée of Celestia herself and the Element of Magic.”

“What does this have to do with the dragon hatchling, you failure of a dragon?” he asked darkly.

“This dragon hatchling, from what I was able to dig up this past two weeks is not only the personal assistant of Twilight Sparkle but he is the main reason the Crystal Empire was saved, they call him the Crystal Savior and is in some way connected to a rather…..personal level to Celestia” behind his cell, Wrath smiled wickedly showing his sharp and deadly fangs.

“About my proposition, a month from now some of my allies will come to free you, if you want to seek vengeance towards my dear uncle and that bastard of Sabarius you may do so, but if you want to destroy Equestria and all those lesser creatures then join me, I shall continue where my grandfather left off and with your power and help this time we will succeed.”

“…………….”

“That or you can live the thousand years you have left here”

“…………..You wish to follow the great Valtach steps?”

“Of course I do, dragons are superior, dragons are the most powerful beings in the world, every other race should serve us as food and their territories as our own, WE are meant to rule this world” a sadistic smile was placed on Eukrarius face and both ambition and lust for power reflected in his eyes.

Wrath began to laugh loudly, so loud it made the entire mountain tremble and the other prisoners coward in fear, once he was finished he answered “I accept then, I vow my loyalty to you and you only, my new king, Eukrarius and this time we, the worthy ones shall take what is ours by right” there was a moment of silence before he spoke again “But, Celestia, Luna this two new alicorns and her hatchling are mine, I will make them suffer, I will make them cry and I WILL destroy everything they hold dear, just like I did with their precious mother before I devoured her.”

“I must go now, await for your escape party in a month, God of Greed, all shall be as I have spoken, you will not regret your choice, I swear it.” Eukrarius spoke calmly before he turned around and walked away.

Once Wrath was alone in his cell again he began to think of the possibilities his vengeance would carry, how many would he kill and devour, how many riches would be his, how he would destroy the remaining alicorns and this little hatchling and bringing Equestria to destruction and despair, he scoffed in annoyance at the mere though of a dragon hatchling living with ponies, for they are the weakest and most pathetic race of all the world in his mind.

“Hmmmm...how interesting” he said smiling wickedly.

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Phalanx was not a fool, ever since he began working as Celestia’s personal (and only) bodyguard he knew she had many enemies both inside and outside Equestria, of course he knew the most deadly ones were inside the very castle or in Canterlot in general.

There was a great fact about Equestria he admired, Equestria loved their princesses or at least the vast majority did, sadly this love did not reached most of the noble houses, one would think Celestia and Luna would take advantage of their position of power but they never did abuse their power, well aside from some moments and of course rare personal problems but nothing else.

The guards were loyal to them until death and some had even died for them, they were immortal alright but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be harmed or killed by a fatal injury.

He had seen her make decisions that changed history on a regular basis, he thought that nothing could top her royal decree that Discord, the God of chaos and spirit of disharmony, would be free and would not only be freed from his stone prison but he would also rejoin the royal family as her and Luna’s advisor, not that he did that much, he knew there was a more powerful reason for that decision but he didn’t inquired, besides seeing Prince Blueblood be the principal target of the occasional pranks of the Lord of chaos was something every guard, maid and servant silently enjoyed.

It had been two weeks since the event in the Librarium and he couldn’t help but notice a change on them, Celestia and Spike were almost inseparable and only matters of private and great importance could pull them away from each other, Twilight and Luna had literally locked themselves away in the royal library, the Elements of Harmony had returned to their homes with the exception of the Element of Generosity.

Discord on the other hoof or in his case talon had utterly disappeared from the castle, he would show himself only once a day going to the garden and that was it, Princess Cadence and her husband had returned to the Crystal Empire and lastly the Doo sisters had left the castle to catch up, Daring was particularly thoughtful.

Despite everything that had happened, he was now at Celestia’s side in the main Plaza where she was speaking to all Canterlot about the addition of a new royal family member, her son at that, Princess Cadence, Twilight, Luna and Blueblood were also present behind her but Discord was nowhere to be seen.

Celestia was approaching to the conclusion of her speech, it was time to pay attention to her speech fully.

“And so my little ponies, I present you the new prince of Equestria, my son, Spike Solaris” she levitated Spike to the top of the podium so that they could see him better.

Everypony went silent at the revelation, even he couldn’t believe it, he had suspected it but had never actually believed it could be possible, thinking about it was pretty obvious, while Celestia was VERY affectionate with Spike and loved to be with him at almost all times before he became Twilight Sparkle’s assistant, he had always believed Spike was the son of a great friend of the princess or something of the same magnitude, his thoughts got interrupted as the crowd before them cheered, most of it anyway.

Phalanx is very devoted to his job and Celestia, he was also one of the strongest if not the strongest pegasus alive, he was so strong that not even a hulking earth pony could beat him in combat and had a resistance to magic so strong that even for Captain Shining Armor it resulted difficult to keep a fight against him, he was also known between the guards as the most loyal guard that had ever lived, some even said his devotion towards Celestia was almost fanatical or that he loved Celestia with all his heart and in a way they were right.

She had saved his life without hesitation and actually spent her personal time to attend him and his wounds, he loved Celestia madly that was very true but his love was not ill guided, he loved her as his ruler, his princess and he would give his life gladly for her even if she asked him to take his own life he would do it without hesitation and this was the moment he had feared for a long time, a weak opening towards her, an opening that her enemies would certainly use against her, he smiled, for it was the perfect opportunity to destroy her enemies once and for all.

He walked by Celestia’s side as Spike was waving and smiling to all the ponies and no ponies present while standing on her back, on his head a small crown similar to Celestia’s but in silver with an emerald in the middle of the crown, Celestia was smiling and walking forward with her eyes closed, how she did it and not fall or stumble against something, He did not know but he didn’t care that much either.

Behind them were the rest of the royal family and guiding the rest of the guards was Shining Armor himself, even though most ponies were cheering he knew many were doing it as they just pretended acceptance for the reptile, he knew just how much ponies and non ponies in general hated dragons and now having one as a prince?

Some he knew would not accept it, and by the look on Blueblood’s face he was going to speak his mind back at the castle.

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Canterlot Castle—One hour after the announcement of Prince Spike—

“Auntie Celestia!” Blueblood yelled wearing an angry frown on his face, closing the doors of her personal study with his magic behind him “What in the name of Equis are you thinking!? Announcing that…..that…..that ‘Dragon’ as your son and naming him the new prince of Equestria? It was bad enough when you allowed that lunatic to be free for I'm personally the target of his idiotic pranks, but now this!?” he literally bellowed at his aunt.

“Is there a problem with my decision, dear nephew?” she asked putting a scroll down on her desk seeing Blueblood face to face “Because I don’t see a problem with giving Spike, my son, what he deserves.”

That statement made him angrier “Deserves? What could that purple lizard possibly deserve from us? He should be content and thankful with us for allowing him to even serve us as the slave he—guurkkk!!!???”

Blueblood couldn’t finish his sentence as an aura of yellow magic appeared around him and made him confront his oldest aunt's personal space, her magic firmly wrapped around his throat.

“Im sorry dear nephew” her voice was sweet and the way she was smiling with her visible eyes closed made her look very cute, despite that the feeling of dread and boiling anger could be sensed around her “I think I heard you wrong, for a moment I thought you called my son a slave, *giggles* funny isn’t it?, Can you repeat what you said” she opened her eye and Blueblood nearly piss himself right then and there.

“Please?”

“I-i-is just that I-I'm only concerned ab-about the noble houses, Princess” she let him go softly on the ground “You kn-know how much dragons are despised, the liz—I mean, ‘Spike’ could be in grave danger, the noble houses may not be so happy about this decision you took without their approval” he smiled a little, almost unnoticed.

The noble houses were a community of thirteen rich and powerful families that controlled almost every political, economical and financial power in Equestria and served as advisors to the rulers of the land, they were very powerful and in a way they were the backbone of Equestria as many believed, including most of them, that without the noble houses Equestria would surely fall.

“Approve? Dear nephew maybe you have forgotten this but I don’t need their approval, they are advisors but its only up to me and Luna to decide what is to be done” she frowned “and if they don’t like it then that is sad for them, they will just have to accept it sooner or later”

“B-but -----I see, good afternoon to you, Aunt Celestia” he said turning around and opening the door with his magic, Celestia said nothing to him.

Moments after the door of her study was closed again she spoke “Phalanx” a pair of blue eyes from a dark corner behind her shined. “Follow my dear nephew, see what he and the noble houses are planning and make sure not to be noticed.”

“By your command” he responded and flew away by the only window in the study.

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*Unknown Location*

“Where is he?”

“He is late, maybe he won’t come.”

“He will come; it is our best chance in ages”

“But why here of all places?”

“Would you rather do it on Canterlot? Where that tyrant has eyes and ears everywhere?”

“That’s a good point……but still-”

“It doesn’t matter; soon we WILL control Equestria, like our ancestors did in the past”

“Hush, I think I hear him”

The flapping of wings could be heard in the distance the sound coming from everywhere, soon it became louder and louder until a chariot landed almost next to them, the ponies walked towards the chariot as it opened and a figure covered in a dark cloak just like the rest of them stepped out and greet them.

“Ah, it is good to see you again in one of our private sessions my friends, everything in order I presume?” he paused a moment inspecting all the presents noticing there were two missing “Where is Fancy Pants and Oak Orange?”.

“We didn’t tell them, your highness, turns out they are loyal to Celestia you see.”

“Doesn’t matter I suppose, more for us after our victory, Celestia has made a big mistake that we will exploit, we will destroy her from the inside, little by little until she lets her guard down and only to secure our victory, this ‘son’ of her's, this pathetic lizard will be our ace to achieve our victory” the male spat with a dark smile.

“Then shall we start with the plans your highness?” a female voice asked

“Yes, but do it slowly we must not attract any suspicions my dear, Diamond Ring.”

“The Diamond Dog clans will accept our terms if they are promised total access to the caves below the Castle.”

“Excellent, recruit Zebrica, Cervida and Museilian mercenaries for they are formidable warriors, I will make sure to recruit Minotaur warriors as well.”

“But, the Elements and Discord, won't they be a problem?”

“Not at all, the Elements will be deal with in due time as for Discord he will not be a problem for us I can assure you that, after all...even Gods don't have to work with mortals if they see fit.” he walked towards the eleven mysterious cloaked ponies and smiled behind his own cloak “Death to the liar tyrant.”

“Death to the liar tyrant!” all the ponies shouted in unison.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to Inferno Demon Dash for proofreading and for being awesome!

Special thanks to Bennet001 for proofreading!

Special Thanks to every single one of you who read my story, I know I dont answer much but believe me that I read all the comments you write and I love every single one of them!