The Rise of Spike the Dragon
Chapter 23: Chapter 21: Fall of the Crystal Empire
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By: MasterBrony Forever
I would like to give a huge thanks to NineTailBeastBall for Co-Writing, Pre-Reading, and Editing!
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fanbased work of prose. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the property of Hasbro, and the reinvention of the lovely Lauren Faust. No copyright infringement is intended, please support the official release.
Chapter 21:
Fall of the Crystal Empire
As the sun rose in the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor woke up believing he would have a nice morning before he and the rest would look for a way to locate Spike. Yet as his senses slowly came back to him, he started to hear the sounds of a roaring crowd. This caused Shining’s ears to perk up as he started listening more intently and after a moment, he knew the sound he was hearing, was indeed that of an angry mob.
Shining looked to his side to wake Cadence up, but found she was not there. This caused him to leap from his bed and exit the room to locate her. From what he was hearing outside things can’t be going well, and they would both need to address it properly.
The unicorn prince quickly found the pink alicorn standing out on the balcony overlooking the empire’s marketing district. “Cadence something is...” Shining Armor started rushing up next to his wife, but was cut off by the sight of the angry civilians from below.
When Shining Armor looked at Cadence, he noticed that she was extremely distraught, “They know about Spike…” She said in a low tone as the enraged crowd continued shouting words of hatred and distaste for them, the elements, and even Celestia herself.
Shining held his wife close and quickly ushered her back into the castle to get her away from the furious civilians. Once inside, the unicorn prince ordered a guard to barricade the castle to keep anypony from entering.
“How long have they been out there?” Shining asked as he held the pink mare’s hoof to console her.
“Since before sunrise...” Cadence answered as she took deep breaths and started calming herself.
Despite her experience as a princess, Cadence had never faced something like this before, she never would've guessed what it would feel like to have an entire empire turn against you. The crystal princess could feel nothing but hate, rage, and betrayal from her subjects. These emotions were so strong on the crystal ponies’ expression and their harsh words. One wouldn’t even have to be a Changeling to feel the strength in their voices.
“Shining! Cadence! What’s going on!?” Twilight asked as she and the other elements raced to the young royals, followed by Night Light and Velvet.
“Somehow, word of Spike’s running off, his history with Celestia, and how you all have treated him has made its way out to the crystal ponies.” Shining explained in a slightly frustrated tone as he turned to the guards that had arrived, “Make sure to secure every entrance and prevent anypony from getting into the castle, especially the study!” Shining ordered.
“Yes your highness!” The head guard responded with a salute before they all rushed off to carry out their orders.
As the ponies each took a seat in the study, Shining and Cadence seemed to have the most troubled expressions. “Let me ask you Twilight, do you admit you’ve made mistakes with Spike?” Cadence asked in a firm, but calm tone.
“Well yes,” She answered, “We all regret how we have treated him. And I assure you, we didn’t tell anypony except the four of you. None of us even considered telling anypony else.”
Shining let out a sigh, “Well, like I said before, somehow everypony in the empire knows about Spike’s misfortune.” He said as he looked out the window. “Once you had told us what Celestia had told you, and how you have treated Spike, I could tell the situation would got out of hoof if they did find out. Spike is their hero, and they practically worship him.”
“A lot of ponies want you girls and Celestia to pay from what you have done.” Cadence said looking down, “But from what they were shouting, Celestia is the main source of their anger. Whoever spread the word out to everypony, must have heard every bit of what you girls told us yesterday.” She thought about who could have been listening, but nothing came to mind.
“If they look up to Spike so much, then why don’t they just help us find him?” Rainbow Dash asked without thinking.
Shining Armor looked at the cyan mare “Unfortunately, where he ran off to is outside of Equestria’s jurisdiction, and the Crystal Empire is part of that. If we’re seen going out there with anything that resembled armed forces to try to find him, it will be seen as an act of expanding territory. This may cause other empires and kingdoms to react and do the same, , thus only bringing more conflict. Besides, if we did find him, Spike would most likely have no intentions of returning to Ponyville after all he’s been through.”
“He has a point Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said with a sigh, “That’s why Celestia’s guard stopped her from flying after him.”
“Yet how ah Luna an’ Discord travelin’ inta’ that lan’ any differently?” Applejack asked, “That is if they ah even in tha’ same area as Spike.”
“If they are outside the bounds of Equestria, Discord isn’t seen as a political figure. As for Luna...I don’t really know, maybe it’s because she isn't well known outside of Equestria, and didn’t bring any armed forces with her. Yet all of the Night Guard seemed to have vanished along with her.” Twilight said racking her brain to try to find answers.
The groups attention was caught by a crystal guard that charged into the study looking quite nervous as he removed his helmet. “You highness's the citizens have broken through the barricade and are looking for all of you!” He warned wiping the sweat off his forehead.
Shining Armor gritted his teeth, frustrated on how the situation was getting worse. “Cadence hide Twilight and the others, and make sure to stay with them!” He said heading for the study’s exit.
“What are you going to do?” Cadence asked the unicorn with worry in her eyes.
Shining put on his royal guard helmet, and turned to his alicorn wife with a look of reassurance. “I’m going to make sure you all stay safe,” He answered just barely audible before he rushed out the door.
“Shining!” Cadence shouted not wanting him to go out there. Even if he was ex-captain of Celestia’s Royal Guard, and prince of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor was still her husband who Cadence cared about like no other. She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if something were to happen.
Cadence was pulled back by Twilight, who reminded her sister-in-law that they needed to hide. “Shining knows what he’s doing,” the lavender unicorn assured, even though she was just as broken up inside, Twilight managed to keep control of herself. “But for now, we need to avoid this crowd.”
Cadence looked back to the now closed and guarded door, and slowly nodded. “Y-you’re right, we need to retreat to underground levels of Crystal Castle.” She said before she lit her horn. A large bubble encased the group, and they slowly phased through the ground.
* * * *
Meanwhile, Shining Armor was using his shield spell to hold back the angry mob of ponies. What made it worse, is that some of the angry ponies, were royal guards, who he had trained himself. The unicorns were giving it all they had to break past Shining’s shield.
The exhausted unicorn prince, reinforced the barrier with every additional blast of magic that was pitted against it. ‘I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.’ Shining Armor thought as he felt himself getting weaker.
Shining was able to protect all of Canterlot for a decent amount of time before his wedding. Unfortunately, even with love being the mother of power for most, rage was the father and just as powerful. When Cadence gave him her strength during the wedding, they were able to repel Chrysalis and the changelings far across the borders of Equestria, but with so many ponies and so much hate coming from them it was starting to overpower his own magic.
Shining was knocked out of his thinking, when another spell hit the barrier, causing it to crack. His eyes widened in terror, as every unicorn that was trying to break through, began firing bolts of magic at the shield simultaneously. Cracks continued to grow until the final blast broke the shield, sending Shining Armor tumbling backwards. He scrambled up to get back on his hooves and saw the ponies vandalizing the castle as they rushed toward him. Shining Armor cursed under his breath as he bolted the other way, he used any twist and turns he could to try and shake off the mob that trailed after him.
The task of getting away from the mob was becoming difficult, as the crowd began splitting into smaller groups to cover more ground in the castle. They were searching every hiding place they could find as the ran down the castle’s halls.
‘They’re persistent, I can’t keep running and hiding forever.’ Shining thought to himself as he peered across the hall at the approaching group. ‘I can’t fight any of them, it will only make matters worse. I have to find the others and get out of here.’ Shining ducked into another hall barely avoiding another gathering of ponies galloping past.
* * * *
While Shining was busy trying to avoid the angry crowd, the elements, Cadence, and Twilight’s parents sat in a dark room under the castle. This chamber, once belonged to King Sombra and housed a door with dark magic. Because of this, Cadence and Twilight had come to call the room “The Nightmare Chamber”.
Fluttershy was shaking uncontrollably due to the ancient room’s ominous appearance. Even with the Sombra defeated, and the cursed door removed, the chamber was still enough to turn stomachs. Also for some reason, the room’s temperature was a bit chilly.
Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves to keep them warm, she obviously wasn’t amused with the temperature. “Darn it! Why is it so cold in here?!” She then felt a tickle in her nose and sneezed.
“Some of Sombra’s dark magic still lingers here even after Celestia removed the door. It’s what causes it to feel so cold down here.” Twilight explained as she examined the room that was belonged to the former king. Unfortunately, this only reminded her of the last time she was here was with Spike, making her twitch at the memory and what Spike feared all those years ago.
Twilight thought of the things Spike said to her when he left the library, ‘Consider that a warning. If you ever try to stop me or find me, I will make sure you get more than just a little cut.’ The threat played over and over again in the purple mare’s head.
To be honest, Twilight never considered her former assistant to be the kind to hold one to a promise like that. For that matter, she also never thought Spike would ever get angry enough to strike her, she could practically still feel the pain on her cheek. Twilight chalked it up as something of his old self coming back, but she tried her best not to think about it.
Twilight snapped out of her trance, as she heard Rainbow Dash resume her complaining. “I’m sick of waiting for your brother Twilight, let’s go back to the surface and find him.” the cyan pegasus said as she rubbed her nose.
“We can’t do that Rainbow Dash, you saw how everypony was up there.” Rarity reminded the reckless mare, “If they were to catch us who knows what they would do?”
“She’s right Dash, comin’ down here was fer’ tha best.” Applejack agreed.
Cadence was busy pacing back and forth worrying about Shining and hoping he was alright. Yet in the background of her mind, was just a jumbled mess of emotions that she couldn’t organize and she couldn’t put a full reason for why she felt this way.
As hard as she tried, Cadence couldn’t decide who she should to put the blame on for this tragedy. Should she blame herself, Twilight, Spike, or Celestia? Everything from what happened yesterday, to what’s happening today, was making it hard for the young alicorn to stay focused.
The pacing stopped, as Cadence felt a hoof on her shoulder and she turned to see Twilight with a concerned, but also apologetic expression. “I’m sorry we caused you and Shining Armor so much trouble, if I knew something like this could’ve happened, we never would’ve came.” Tears soon ran down Twilight’s cheeks as Cadence pulled the sobbing unicorn into a warm embrace.
Cadence said nothing as she held Twilight tightly, but tears escaped from her eyes as well. While she couldn’t fully forgive Twilight, Cadence could tell she was broken up from everything that was transpiring. How so much happened in so little time, is a question Cadence would possibly never figure out.
After a few minutes passed, Twilight pulled away from Cadence “I can’t stand it anymore. We have to go get Shin...” She was interrupted as the stallion in question came crashing down from above them. He was covered in cuts and bruises, sweat was dripping down his face, and his mane looked messy.
“Sh-Shining!” Cadence and Twilight simultaneously shouted as they embraced the unicorn. Shining Armor flinched as their forearms touched his wounds, sending sharp pain through his body.
“How’s the situation up there?” Twilight asked as she gently laid her injured brother against the wall.
“I’ve managed to get the mob to stop tearing up the castle, but they said they won’t be considering the Crystal Empire as being united with Equestria.” He said wiping away some of the sweat that matted his fur.
Cadence began using her magic to heal her husband’s wounds, “So it’s safe to go back to the surface?” She asked hoping to get the answer she wanted. The cuts and bruises began to vanish as the magic continued to work on Shining’s body.
“For now,” Shining Armor answered as he stood up, “Though it’s hard to predict how long the peace will last. Another outbreak like this could occur sooner than we know.” He placed a hoof to his chin to think of what they should do now.
“What are we going to do?” The pink alicorn asked knowing that the Crystal Empire was no longer under her control. “You said staying in the kingdom is far too risky, so what do you propose Shining?”
“We can’t go to Celestia...we’ll have to stay in Ponyville or anyplace else without anypony knowing.” He said teleporting them out of the chamber. The group was sent back to the castle study which was in shambles.
“If Celestia finds out about this, she will try to find Spike and force him back to Equestria.” Twilight warned with caution in her eyes. “She won’t care what she has to do, she probably still fears that Spike will find the rest of the Scale Six.”
“We have to get to a safe location to figure everything out.” Shining said, “But where?” He asked.
* * * *
Discord’s antlers vibrate as he’s lazing on a tree in the forest of the Dragon Empire. “Oh my, seems like things aren’t going well for Celestia’s little ponies.” He said to himself, apparently having witnessed the entire fiasco in the empire. “Luna and Spike will enjoy hearing this.” He chuckled as he launched off the tree and to the city capitol.
* * * *
Spike was in the dining room eating his breakfast, he poured himself a glass of wine with his plate of fresh gems from the hoard. He gazed off into the distance as his mind wandered back to the night before and that very morning.
~~~
“We seemed to have made quite the mess Spikey.” Glamour giggled.
“That we did my love.” He chuckled as he wrapped his wings and arms around her and kissed her neck.
Glamour turned to her drake, and pulled him into a passionate kiss before breaking it and saying, “We should wash off before anything else.” She smiled and winked at him.
Spike nodded and they took a short flight from their room to get to the waterfall. Once they arrived, they wasted no time cleaning themselves as well as each other. Spike washed and massaged Glamour’s chest, giving her ample pleasure. His claw trailed lower down her body...
~~~
It quickly escalated from there. Spike smirked as the memories of his mate’s moans and squeals of pleasure filled his mind and he took another sip of his wine.
Peewee flew entered through an open window, he was chewing on a mouse he caught from his recent hunt. After swallowing his prey, Peewee looked at Spike and playfully rubbed against his hand, hoping to get his affection.
Spike smiled before stroking Peewee’s head, causing him to release a soft screech of enjoyment. “Can I help you?” he teased as the bird hopped into his lap. Spike resumed with scratching Peewee as he rested in his lap. Obviously, the little phoenix was unaware of what happened last night, and it was better off that way.
He then moved his claw to scratch under the phoenix’s chin, amused that Peewee was such a heavy sleeper. “You can sleep through anything.” Spike chuckled as Peewee cooed in response.
Princess Luna trotted into the room and stopped when she saw Spike. She mentally winced remembering his little outburst from the day before. The purple drake looked to her with a warm smile, causing the blue alicorn to become slightly confused.
“Good morning Luna,” Spike said as he watched her take a seat in front of him, “I would like to apologize for my actions yesterday, I didn’t mean to snap at you.” He then offered Luna some wine and she levitated the bottle to pour herself a cup. “To tell you the truth, I think of you as family, we’ve both been through similar experiences when dealing with Radi...I mean Celestia. Not only that, but our goals are very similar, which encourages us to help each other.”
“Thank you.” Luna said returning the purple drake’s caring smile. The fact that Spike calls her part of his precious family, filled the alicorn with a happiness she has yearned for years. It’s true that she’s Celestia’s sister, but the two of them have always been distant from each other, even as foals. “I would’ve never thought Celestia would be capable of everything she had done in the past.”
“Trust me Luna, what Nubuatan had told you was only part of the truth. He managed to leave out some point, but I can fill you in on that at a later date.” Spike said as he slowly bit into an emerald in his claws. He then broke a piece of the gem off and crushed it into dust before letting it fall into his drink.
“What is it I have not been told?” Luna asked wanting to know.
Spike smiled at the night princess’s curiosity, “As I said, I will inform you on a later date.” The drake replied as some of the Scale Six came into the dining hall.
“Morning dude.” NightStalker said as he walked past Spike, giving him a high-five before taking a seat and kicking his feet up.
Spike chuckled at the black drake but noticed Lux wasn’t around, “I’m guessing Lux is taking her normal morning stroll?” Spike assumed.
“Yeah, she woke me up and told me she was going out.” He responded stretching his arms, “She probably wanted to ask if I wanted to go, but knew I was going to sleep in.” He smirked a little.
Cobalt let out a big yawn as she took her seat next to Luna and rested her head on the table. She looked very tired as if something happened last night.
“Is something wrong Cobalt?” Luna asked the dragoness.
“No I’m fine, just had a busy night.” She said with a smile and giggle, which surprised Luna.
NightStalker found this amusing, “ So you didn’t get much sleep, exactly how much are you hurting right now?”
Cobalt’s smile turned into a frown at the comment and she glared at Night. “Wanna find out?!” She growled which caused Night to cross his legs instinctively.
“Oh calm down Cobalt, you know he’s just kidding. Even with how crude he is being.” Glamour said walking into the room. Spike noticed his mate’s white scales have been freshly polished, making them shine brightly. The smile on his face brightened from seeing Glamour like this.
“Your beauty never ceases to amaze me Glamour.” He complimented.
“Thank you dear.” Glamour replied walking over to Spike and kissing his cheek.
Cobalt rolled her eyes at this before laying her head back on the table. The sleepy dragoness noticed Scout walking in and taking a seat next to her. He smirked at his mate and gave a wink, which Cobalt returned with the same expression.
Luna raised her eyebrow seeing this, but she brushed it off as nothing and went back to her drink.
Not too long after Scout showed up, Lux returned with her usual sweet and friendly smile. “Sorry I was gone for so long, time went by faster than I expected.” The golden dragoness said with a happy sigh.
NightStalker returned the smile, and gestured for his lover to have a seat. Lux nodded before taking the chair next to her lover and rested her head on his shoulder.
Spike looked around to make sure they were all present but noticed that they were still lacking one member. “Well I was going to wait for Discord, but no one even knows what he could be up to now. So we’ll start without him, I'm sure he’ll arrive before breakfast is over.” He said before clapping his hands.
In only a few seconds, several bat ponies and young dragons came out of the kitchen to serve breakfast. They held dozens of plates and bowls with cooked meat, berries, rare gems, and other delicious foods from all around the empire.
“Well let’s not sit and leave our stomachs empty. Everyone dig in!” Spike said with a grin.
The group began eating, heartily enjoying the food and each other’s company. Luna asked about what the Dragon Empire, and even what the world was like all those years ago before her birth. They answered every question she threw at them, and even asked a few of their own. Though none of them mentioned the horrible mare who ruined their lives.
As they talked, Discord flew in and landed on the table managing to avoid all the food laid out. “Ah right on time Discord, breakfast has just arrived.” Spike said glad that the chaos deity wasn’t causing trouble.
“Well I’m glad I didn’t disappoint you, but I have some news you all may enjoy hearing.” Discord said with a smirk before he started to lazily float overhead.
Spike and the others gave their full attention to the draconequus. “Well tell us!” NightStalker urged.
“Apparently, Twilight and her friends went to seek help from the Crystal Empire but things didn’t go as planned.” Discord sat up straight and snapped his fingers to create a small projector in the middle of the table. The projector showed angry ponies attacking the castle, “Turns out word got out about what has been done to you,” He said as he went through more pictures. “Since they admire you as their savior, the civilians got furious and attacked Crystal Castle.”
Being the incredibly intelligent drake he was, Spike quickly pieced what this meant for the elements. “So it’s no longer safe for any of them to be out in public view, at least in the Crystal Empire.” He concluded as he passed a bottle of wine to his chaotic friend who drank it in a single swig.
“What do you suggest we do about this Spike?” Luna asked.
Spike took a moment to think leaning back in his chair before a smirk came across his features. “We will use this as an opportunity to grow our forces and weaken Celestia’s.”
“But I thought we were only going to be with Luna and her guard for pony allies.” Night asked.
“Yet The Crystal Empire did nothing to us. When they joined Celestia’s side during the war it was an order and had no choice, they wanted to remain neutral. She never gave them the chance.” Spike said.
Spike looked at his hand as he produced green flames from his palm. “Right now, we still need to regain full control of our powers, and I have a feeling we can use our magic in whole new ways.” Spike extinguished the flame in his hand before he poured some of the cooked berries in a small bowl and gave it to Peewee. The bird lovably nibbled on Spike’s finger to show his gratitude before eating the berries.
“Also, we all must get reacquainted with our toys.” he smirks again.
“So Nubuatan was able to locate them then.” Lux said knowing what Spike was talking about.
“Sounds like it.” Scout said with a nod.
“Nice.” Cobalt said flicking her tongue.
“This is going to be fun.” Night said cracking his knuckles.
Glamour giggled, “Indeed.”
Spike nodded as he look to the ceiling in thought for a moment.
Suddenly, Spike began chuckling, “It’s funny really, the Elements of Harmony are supposed to be the protectors of Equestria, and respected by all. Now an entire empire is trying to kill them out of fury for what they did to me.” Soon the others began to laugh as well. Even Peewee seemed to be getting pleasure at the misfortune.
Discord was the loudest out of them all as he said, “Can you see the irony in that?”
“Anyway, we can’t allow them to die, not yet at least.” Spike said with his voice returning to its serious tone. “Maybe I could find some use for them, I want to make them pay in the most horrendous ways possible.” He said to himself as dark thoughts came to his mind. “But for now we relax.” he said with his trademark grin.
The group nodded and they went back to eating and talking about other things. Discord even provided some entertainment by making the candles dance around the table. Spike just smiled, ‘Where have I seen that before?’ He thought as he stroked Peewee’s back.