High within the mountains, a mountain kingdom resided. Carved from the peak of the mountain, its structure was marvelous in detail, the beauty of its design a labor of love. Many would find it hard to believe that this fortress-like sanctuary was fashioned by creatures who seemed vicious, brutish, and mindless in nature.
Dragons.
The dragons who resided here, however, were different than the ones that flew across the lands. By exerting willpower over their natural greedy instincts, they were able to maintain their intelligence as they grew. These enlightened dragons were able to appreciate the beauty of the world around them. Their kingdom flourished thanks in part to an endless mine of beautiful gems within the mountain, providing them with a limitless food source and a currency they could use to barter with other species.
They owed this paradise to one dragon: their glorious king, Spiral, the mightiest of all dragons.
He was wise, powerful, and kind. A being truly worthy of being called king.
Spiral was the first to discover the secret of overcoming his greedy heart and soon passed on his knowledge to others. Spiral and his followers then constructed the mountain kingdom of Draco for dragons to live in peace.
At Spiral's side was his beautiful queen, Cinder, whose wits and fighting skills were only equal to her husband's raw power. Once, she was the greediest among all dragons, viciously plundering any village in her way. It was only when Spiral challenged her that she was able to free herself from the shackles of greed. She eventually fell in love with the dragon who saved her from her greedy heart and the two soon wed, ruling over the dragon kingdom in the sky with a just claw.
Because of their kind rule, they befriended many other species, though were asked not to reveal what they knew for compromise of Draco's safety. The closest among their friends was a ruler who was as just and kind as they were. An alicorn princess called Celestia.
"What a truly breathtaking kingdom" the alicorn said in awe as she looked down on the dragons happily living in peace.
"Indeed it is" Spiral said from beside Celestia. "My people and I toiled long and hard to make this a prosperous home for us."
Celestia sighed. "Spiral, I wish you would reconsider and let me tell my little ponies of this place. We could form a treaty of peace between our two kingdoms."
Spiral sighed "As lovely as the idea sounds, Celestia, there are some species out there who wouldn't believe dragons could be the civilized creatures you see before you. I'm sorry, but it's for the best that our existence remains a secret."
Sighing sadly, Celestia nodded. "I understand."
"Of course," Spiral said with a smile. "I didn't send envoys to you to discuss politics. I wanted you here because this is a grand occasion."
"What do you mean?" Celestia inquired.
"Follow me" Spiral said as led Celestia through the corridors of the palace into the main chamber where his throne resided. "You are about to see something truly wonderful."
Celestia looked into the room and saw Cinder crouched down in the center, a look of pride and happiness radiating from her. After receiving a gentle kiss from her beloved king, the queen turned to Celestia.
"We wanted you to be the first outside of our race to know about this" she said with a smile before raising her tail.
Celestia gasped as right by Cinder's side was a carefully protected egg.
"I-Is that...?" Celestia asked, unable to form a complete sentence.
"After all these centuries, we've finally been blessed with a child" Spiral said with pride. "Soon, we will have an heir to continue leading our kingdom to a bright future."
Celestia turned to the two expecting dragon parents with a smile. "This is truly wonderful! Congratulations to both of you!" she then sighed sadly. "I only wish my sister and my former betrothed were here to see this."
Cinder patted Celestia on her head with care. "Do not worry, my friend" she said warmly "One day, you may be reunited with them."
Celestia smiled at the dragon queen. "Thank you, and I wish you both lifelong happiness with your coming hatchling."
BBBBBBRRRRUUUNNNNN!
The happy moment was shattered when the sound of a large horn resonated throughout the entire mountain.
"No" Spiral whispered in shock before rushing out to the balcony, Celestia following.
Upon reaching the outside, Spiral looked out in horror.
From out of the sky came a humongous colony of dragons. Suddenly, they began raining fireballs down onto the dragon kingdom, sending many of its citizens fleeing in terror. Others stayed their ground to fight the invaders and returned fire, an all-out war having begun.
"Wh-What is going on?" Celestia said in panic.
"He's come back" Spiral growled viciously before racing back into the palace to go out into the courtyard.
"Cinder, stay with our child" he told his queen. "I have to attend to this matter on my own."
"No, my king" Cinder said as she got up from her nest. "I refuse to let you face him alone. He is as deceitful as he is powerful."
"Very well" Spiral consented, knowing there was no way to change Cinder's mind "But stay close to me at all times."
"I will be at your side as well" Celestia declared. "This may not be my kingdom, but I will not stand by and watch it be destroyed."
Spiral smiled at the alicorn. "You are a true friend, Dear Celestia. Very well. Let us settle this matter with him once and for all."
In a flash, the dragon king and queen and their alicorn ally raced out of the palace, where they found utter chaos and destruction all around them. The enemy dragons had overrun and destroyed much of the beautiful kingdom, and Celestia's heart fell when she saw what happened to most of the dragons who fought to defend their home.
Suddenly, with a thunderous shock like an earthquake, a large, purplish black dragon with red eyes slammed into the ground in front of the trio. At his side was a slender, red dragon.
"Greetings, Your Majesty" the black dragon said in an eloquent tongue while mockingly bowing.
"Smaug." Spiral angrily growled.
"Now, really" the black dragon, Smaug, said in a disappointed manner "Is that really anyway to treat an old friend of yours?"
"You're not my friend!" Spiral roared. "You were exiled from this kingdom!"
"You corrupted Spiral's teachings" Cinder said in disgust "and instead of overcoming your greed, you twisted it into a lust for power!"
"And did you really think you'd seen the last of me when you cast me out?" Smaug asked with a grin before shaking his head in amusement "If so, then you are more foolish than I thought."
"What is this about, Smaug?" Spiral demanded "If this is your attempt to conquer Draco, it won't do you any good if it's reduced to a pile a rubble!"
Smaug let out a cruel, wicked laugh that echoed throughout the mountain. "Oh, Spiral. I don't need your precious kingdom to fulfill my ambitions. As you can see, I've already become a leader in my own right."
"Then this is about revenge?" Cinder inquired.
"Sort of, but not entirely" Smaug answered with a cruel grin. "You see, I recently heard about your big news."
Cinder gasped. "No."
"Nothing personal" Smaug said nonchalantly. "But a child born of the two mightiest dragons in the world could be a big risk to me. I'm sure you understand."
"You're not getting at our egg!" Spiral growled fiercely, he and Cinder preparing to fight to protect their unborn child.
"Very protective parents, aren't you?" Smaug said with a smirk. "Well, I commend you for it. However, I'm afraid you have no say in the matter."
VVVVVRRRRRAAAAARRRRR!!!!!!
Smaug unleashed a vicious roar that blew Spiral, Cinder, and Celestia off their legs and flung them into the wall of the palace.
"Come, Malchior" Smaug said to the red dragon at his side. "The egg is no doubt in the throne room."
"Yes, Master" Malchior nodded before following his leader up the steps into the palace.
Just as Smaug was the top of the stairs, something large plowed into him and sent him flying back into the courtyard. Getting on his legs, he saw it was Spiral and Cinder, having already recovered from his sonic roar.
"So" he said with a growl "It's going to be like this, is it? Very well" he called up to his second-in-command "Malchior! Deal with that egg while I settle the score with these two."
"At once, Master!" Malchior cried before racing into the palace.
"Celestia, stop that dragon!" Spiral cried without taking his eyes off Smaug.
"Yes" Celestia nodded. "I'll fend him off and then once the egg is safe I'll come back and help you!"
"NO!" Cinder cried as Smaug fired a blast of fire at her. "We want you to take our egg and flee!"
"Wh-What?!" Celestia cried in shock.
"Our kingdom is lost and our subjects have been slaughtered" Spiral said with tears in his eyes, slamming his front claws to the ground and sent a wave of rocks toward Smaug, venting his pain over this tragedy at the being responsible. "Our child is the only thing that matters now!"
"Celestia" Cinder said as she swung her tail at Smaug, who dodged it. "We leave our child in your care. Take it away from here and fly back to your kingdom! Raise it among the ponies, where it will be safe from the likes of this monster!"
"B-But..." Celestia stuttered.
"Please, hurry!" Spiral cried as Smaug fired the spike on his tail at him.
Tears in her eyes, Celestia nodded before unfurling her wings and flying at the top speed into the palace.
"Like I'm going to let her do that" Smag chortled before flying after her, only to be blocked by Spiral and Cinder.
"Your fight is with us, Smaug!" Spiral growled.
"Very well" Smaug nodded. "Then let's end this."
At the same time, Smaug's second-in-command had burst into the throne room and spotted the egg resting peacefully in its nest.
"Ah, there you are" Malchior said with a chortle as he approached the nest before raising his claw to strike the egg. "No mere hatchling is going to threaten the might of Smaug!"
Before Malchior could strike, however, a powerful sunbeam struck his side and toppled him over. Quickly, Celestia raced into the throne room and plucked the egg from its nest. She was about to race back to the door, but was blocked by Malchior.
"Not so fast" he sneered before advancing on the alicorn. "I'm not going to fail in my orders just because of a puny little pony!"
Celestia had to think quick. She couldn't fight back without risk harming the egg she was holding. She needed a plan.
Acting quickly, she fired another sunbeam from her horn at the wall, blowing an alicorn size hole in it. Quickly, she flew into it. However, she misjudged the amount of magic in the beam and had only blown halfway through the wall. Even worse, Malchior shoved his claw in right behind her.
Meanwhile, Spiral and Cinder were continuing their fight with Smaug. Despite him being bigger than either of them, they were overwhelming him in both numbers and strength.
"It's over Smaug" Spiral declared. "You will never lay a claw on our child!"
Smaug, however, didn't seem upset. Instead, a smirk was on his face.
"Well, if I can't lay a claw on your child," he said jokingly "how...about...YOU?!"
Suddenly, a black surge of energy in the shape of a claw fired from Smaug's hand, striking Spiral and sending black lightning all across his body.
"My king!" Cinder cried in fear. However, she was so focused on Spiral that she didn't see another black claw strike her as well, causing the two rulers of Draco to collapse to the ground.
"Nice trick, isn't it?" Smaug asked rhetorically. "I came up with it after you banished me. So far, its affects have always been fatal. I'd say you both only have a few more moments to live. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to deal with a future threat to my plans."
Smaug had only taken a few steps when Spiral and Cinder got to their feet again.
"Your plans...for this world..." Spiral said while gasping for breath "end here!"
In a flash, Spiral and Cinder leaped at Smaug and grabbed a hold of him.
At the same time, Celestia was still trying to avoid Malchior's claw which was inching closer to her.
"I've almost got you, little pony" the red dragon taunted.
Knowing she had no choice, Celestia secured the egg under her wing before charging up her horn's magic and unleashing a powerful sunbeam directly above her, causing rocks to fall downward, both clearing her way to outside and crushing one of Malchior's talons.
"Ah!" he cried in pain as he pulled his arm out of the crevice. "My claw!"
With her way clear, Celestia quickly flew out to the open and raced like the wind back to Equestria.
As she passed the courtyard of the once mighty kingdom of dragons, she saw Spiral and Cinder grappling with Smaug, a magical aura building up between them. Tears in her eyes, Celestia faced forward and flew on.
Her escape didn't go undetected, however.
"Release me at once, you two!" Smaug cried as he struggled to race after Celestia.
Spiral and Cinder had seen Celestia fleeing as well. They knew their child was safe.
It was time to end this.
"Good-bye...Son" they both thought as the intensity of their magical aura reached its peak.
Realizing what was about to happen, Smaug frantically attempted to break free of the two dragons, but they held him tight.
"Cinder" the dragon king said.
"Spiral" his queen said in kind.
"I love you."
Behind Celestia, a powerful wave of magical energy erupted, causing a tremendous explosion that demolished the entire mountain.
Tears still in her eyes, Celestia didn't look back and instead looked to the egg that had been left in her keeping.
The egg that she would now have to raise.
It was going to be difficult. It would take an intense wave of magic as strong as dragon fire to hatch the egg, even moreso due to its parentage. It might take a while for it to happen.
She didn't know when it would hatch or what would happen as it grew, but Celestia knew one thing for sure.
The dragon is that egg had a huge destiny ahead of it.
Author's Note
I was inspired to write this story after reading Icecane's "Like Something's Missing", which has a similar premise. I hope you all will enjoy my first foyer into stories revolving around a certain little dragon.
