Do this as the opening theme:
"Then all I have to say is... goodbye." Naturus said as six wing-like growths detracted from his body and his body turned white. On these growths I knew he was the tree. On his torso was obviously the Element of Magic, which I no longer think is even magic. On the winglike structures, the Elements of honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty, as well as a new gem, a green hexagon in contrast to the cutie-mark shaped gems which were turned to stone after Nightmare Moon's banishment.
The gems glowed a golden color and trails of that gold began traveling from the wing gems to the center. I knew it was the end. "I've never thought that we would die by the hands of the Tree of Harmony..." I said to my sister, mother, and friend in one, and former princess of the now dead ponies, Twilight Sparkle. "No... just me..." Twilight said as she hugged me, she then used her magic to move me and her saddlebags out of the blast's range. "I love you bro," Twilight said as she seemingly was incinerated by the blast. "I love you sis," I said. That was the last I have ever saw her. When Naturus turned his only eye towards me, he said "Run run run as fast as you can, little boy!" as he was charging for a blast.
That moment, I knew what was going to happen and I leapt to the side, and just in time. Naturus's blast cut a hole into the window. "Why did you do this?" I said as I jumped through the hole, in a free-fall to my death. Normally, this would be the end, but I am not going to end my life that easily, Twilight wouldn't forgive me if I did it. Thinking quickly, I saw a pole within the icy fog, and grabbed it with my hand. I'm now hanging from a pole, and I don't know what to do. I hung there for what felt like hours until the winds calmed down. I saw a window nearby, either that or the cold was playing tricks on me. Only one way to find out. I swang back and forth until when I thought it was the right time. When I finished, I threw myself in the window, breaking through it.
I'm just as surprised as you may be, but the shards of the window flew back together just seconds after I broke through. I looked around, it was one of the parts of the fortress I didn't see. It had a fancy vibe I haven't see since Naturus kidnapped me that one time and took me hostage. I never saw the light of day until Twilight rescued me from his dungeon. The floors and ceilings were made of pure mahogany wood, the rims were made of pure gold and the walls were white brick. Small red banners hang from the ceiling with a carpet beneath my feet. I have to admit it, but Naturus did a good job when he transformed the place.
But now is not the time to admire the place, now, I should get out of here because sentries patrol the castle regularly. Luckily, the room is small and appears to have one door. I looked at the door, and it appeared to have a switch lock on it. It has been several years, most likely seven or eight years since Naturus captured me, and I've grown a lot. I'm easily 1.5 times Celestia's height by now. If I was still a child, I would not be able to reach it, but luckily I can, so I locked the door right away and pressed my ear against it. I heard marching of what sounded like dozens of footsteps synchronized perfectly. I peeked from under the door and saw the armored boots of what looked like human knights. I looked out the window as saw nothing but frost. I found a chair to sit on and began thinking to myself.
This 'humanity' was what kick-started the foundation for Equestria. Twilight said she also found 'videos' on how Discord came to be, it turned out that he was an artificial god as well, but he didn't originate like the rest of them. It turned out that he was once of the humans and was involved with creating Naturus and his prototype, a being named 'Ugon', who now for some reason resided in the astral plane. During my days on the island, Twi told me her adventure. I wished that I could be a part of it and see the wonders of space. Though the alien part was scary. Levan was another artificial god created by humanity, and they lured him into the battle. It was pretty epic for an adventure. Another named Zurr'Urk tried to trick them so he can go to the orb before them. Twilight's adventure made me wonder HOW many artificial gods there were, were there just the four they encountered or were there billions of them.
As I pondered, I went to the window again. "When will this ever end..." I said to myself. I had no one to talk to but myself and all my friends were dead, but that doesn't mean they are no longer friends. Even if your friends are dead, you still have them in your heart and mind. I'm very happy to have that knowledge, otherwise I'd roll into a ball right here and cry. I still had Twilight's saddlebags with me, and in them, I found a journal, but this one was blank, no pages anywhere. The journal's color was lavender with lime green outlining and a ribbon bookmark. I smiled. Twilight gave me a journal of my own. Also, looking through them, I saw a feather and a bottle of ink. Even when she's about to die at the hands of a crystal-tree death god, she is still very thoughtful. I looked around the room for furniture, it appeared that I was lucky, I never thought what kind of room I'd end up being it but here I am. To my left there was a bed with nice red quilts. Naturus never sleeps, and even sometimes confronts me at night. I then noticed this must be either a guard's or guest's room or that Naturus had a great sense of decor and included beds despite himself not being able to sleep.
I turned to the desk, opened my journal to the first page, and began writing. "Entry 0: I wasn't always a fugitive, and the world wasn't always as it is now..." I continued writing about my life for what seemed like hours, eating some apples Twilight had in her bag that she gave to me, and when the sky got darker and aurora, as Naturus called them, became visible, I went into the bed and fell asleep.
Do this as the closing theme:
Author's Note
So, this is a sequel to the Rise of Lord Naturus. Now, the Reign of Lord Naturus: A Dragon's Tales will be slices of life where Spike survives in the new world around him. Next chapter, he will spend his time navigating through Lord Naturus's Citadel to get to the main door and leave. So, you ready, because I'm hyped.
Why did you do this to me?
Don't worry Twilight, I have an idea to take down Zurr'Urk.
You want me to...
Yes, yes I do.
Chapter One: Escaping the Crystal Citadel: Part One
Do this as the opening theme:
I had pretty crazy nightmares ever since Naturus took me prisoner in his dungeon. But this dream was, strangely different. I was in the astral plane, where I saw a being not unlike Naturus, but it was MUCH bigger, it had a star-shaped head, and a color scheme that would surely make Rarity faint. It then said something along the lines of Naturus being an angry, sad loner. When I woke up, I dismissed it as a product of eating too much cheese before bed when I got up. I pressed my ear against the door again, but there were not anymore footsteps to be heard. Now's my chance, I thought as I creaked the door open to see no guards. It was a hallway of doors with the words 'guest room ###' on them. So the assumption of it being a guest room was right all along. I grabbed Twilight's saddlebags and my journal and looked around. There were no guards there, so the coast is clear. I walked out and closed the door. It seemed that the guards were not going to come back for a while, but that doesn't mean I should keep MY guard down. I walked to my left, making sure not to disturb anything, I have to be careful or an alarm will be set off. I walked until I saw a stairwell and began traversing it until I've reached the bottom. It was two dozen floors in height.
It was mainly like any other old spiral staircase I've seen, so there was nothing special to talk about it, bar the column smack dab in the middle. I went until I reached the bottom of it, which, was still pathetically high. This supported my theory when I looked out the nearest window to see the frost of the Frozen North raging as far as the eye can see, which wasn't very far, to be honest. I was wondering how far it is to the bottom, and I even thought I should have fell down to my death. I was pondering about that until--
THHMP!
I ducked just in time as an arrow flew smack dab into the wall. I looked behind me to see an army of archers, clad in full armor. I could not see their faces because they were concealed with masks. Looks like I've been spotted. I looked to the left to see more archers. Oh no. I had no chioce but to run to my right as fast as I could, dodging the arrows the shot from their crossbows and arrows. "Guys, we can work this all out, I have no quarrel with you..." I said as I continued to run, dodging the crossbow bolts. Some bolts managed to strike me, but fortunately they didn't strike any vital areas, but they still hurt, even with my scales protecting me. I saw a narrow turn to the right, knowing that if there was a door there, I would be safe from that army. Welp, there's one one way to find out, and the archers and crossbowmen were a good ways away from me. Turning right, I went into the first door I can find and closed it behind me, hearing the guards pass through. The room that I was in was was a hallway made of grey stone, kind of like a traditional catacomb, only that there were painting of all sorts in there, including the portraits of various Crystal Empire royal family members, left unscathed. Did he ever know they were there or did he not care about them and decided to let them stay? Naturus is a mystery to me.
Traversing onward, I was thinking... why? Why did Twilight save me? Did she want me to tell her story? Did she want me to be the one to tell everyone's stories? I hope so. Anyways, I should not spend the rest of my life in this room for my skeleton to eventually be used as a prop for a Halloween-esque holiday like Nightmare Night. At the other side of the room, I saw a door. Opening it, I saw another stairwell, makes me wonder how much Naturus liked staircases. Shurgging, I walked down the bottom. Even if I had wings, it wouldn't matter, because they would freeze up in a matter of seconds in that chilling wind and I would either get impaled by a tower spike or dissolve into the acid moat. None would be good choices. At this point, I heard an all-too familiar sound.
"Who?"
"Owly?" I said.
"Who?'
What it Owlowiscious, just a regular owl, or a guard asking a question. I creaked the door open to see a jungle. Literally, I saw a jungle behind that door. Trees and grass were everywhere, and when I set my foot on the jungle floor, I could have sworn I have stepped on some dirt. Coming out, I closed the door behind me and walked through the jungle. I can't believe that the fortress used to be a nation that I was adored in. I can't believe Naturus used it as his own fortress, and why did he put a jungle inside of it? Then again, he is still a mystery. The jungle was filled to the brim with trees that are both familiar and alien, some of which looked like lichens. Looking around for predators, I walked along. "Owlowiscious?" I asked.
"Who. Who." The noise was louder, yet close. "Owlowiscious, if you are here, then I'm coming!" I said, looking around for him, but I only saw occasional tapirs, wild pigs, parrots, small dinosaurs, and squid-octopus-looking things swinging in trees. Owlowiscious and I were reunited when we returned to what used to Equestria. By the time we came back, it was completely alien. The Everfree Forest has now covered half of Equestria by now, and now it was like any other forest, and any other place for that matter. Owlowiscious was one of the only animals that did not go into a rampage when Ponyville and Canterlot fell. From what Twilight said, Fluttershy's talent to talk to animals was nullified, most likely by Naturus's own doing. Owlowiscious and Philomena were the only two animals that haven't gone crazy after all. Well, that was what I thought until me and Twilight realized it was the circle of life. By then, she said that she wanted to kick Naturus in the eye for all the trouble she caused. It didn't end well for her.
"Who!" The same noise snapped me out of my trance, making me look at a certain barn owl. "Owlowiscious!" I said as I pulled him into a hug. "I thought you got eaten by a snake or one of those weird bug-things. "Who. Who." Owlowiscious said. "You thought I was a goner too, I was scared that we lost you." "Who?" he chirped. "Wait, what about Twilight?"
"Who?" Owlowiscious chirped.
"I'm sorry Owlowiscious, but, she has sacrificed her life to Naturus to save me." I said. "But now, we have to get out of this place."
Do this as the closing theme:
