Chapters The Great Draconequus War
The great city of Illyrium sat on a large archipelago of several islands, miles off of the western coast of Equestria. It was a great city, a centre of enlightenment and progress, with great marble buildings and towers shining in the brilliant sunlight. It was the only remaining of the Seven Great Cities of the Draconequi, once a great empire spread among the coast, now diminished by war, famine, and plague. Every single remaining member of the draconequus species lived within its shining stone walls.
All of them, except one.
From his usual bush, he could see the shining metropolis on the horizon. He sat lurking among the brambles, banished from the island by the High Council, for some matter about turning the Imperial Treasury building upside-down. He had always had a wonderful talent for magic, especially chaotic magic. He thought he saw something, something new. He conjured a spyglass. From the harbour, he distinctly saw several galleys loading with troops clad in steel plate, carrying pikes and shields. The city was preparing for war.
Illyrium had been involved in several wars, mostly minor trade conflicts with the other Draconequian cities before their downfall, and now with the land ponies. He wondered which great Equestrian power would be facing the might of the city. It could be the Bullzantines, the Oxtrians, the Ottomane Empire– or, perhaps, even the great Kingdom of Canterlot - the mightiest of them all, which he had heard was ruled by a maniacal, despotic king.
He heard several hoofbeats. He guessed maybe ten, twelve ponies- surely this was not the mighty mythical army of a great empire? He looked up from his hiding place - two large alicorns, accompanied by several armoured pegasi bearing a large, covered object. Is this what the ponies were sending? Perhaps it was only a diplomatic mission. He wondered what was being lifted by the pegasi, covered in purple velvet, embroidered with a ‘C’ in golden thread.
The two alicorns, one large and white, with a multicoloured mane, and one smaller, blue one, took position just feet from the coast. The large object was placed between them. By now, several hundred ships, each with a crimson draconequus on its mainsail, the bulk of the Illyrian navy, were headed at full sail towards the shore. The cover was removed with the larger alicorn’s golden magic.
He had heard of the Elements of Harmony, just an old tale told by only the elders of the city. According to legend, they were created from powerful magic by the six smaller cities when they rose in rebellion against the last. They had supposedly been taken by the army of Canterlot during the Siege of Sardonium in the last great war. Still, it was only a legend, wasn’t it?
But sure enough, the velvet was lifted, and there they were, exactly as they appeared in the history books, six shining stones, carved into perfect spheres by draconequus sorcerers of yore, bearing the emblems of the six great cities: Illyrium, Sardonium, Victorium, Murarium, Argentium, and Lacertium. They were placed in a circle on the ground, while he watched with bated breath. The legends told that they could bring great destruction, yes, but how, exactly? He didn’t have to wait long to find out.
As the ships were approaching land, the alicorns activated their magic, and the Elements rose into the air, surrounded by a green aura. They began to rotate rapidly, until they formed a perfect grey ring. To his surprise, a large rainbow appeared from the ring, and bolted up into the sky, where it formed a silver sphere. Suddenly, the sphere grew larger, and let out hundreds of smaller rainbows. They each came down upon an Illyrian galley, and the wood of their decks was blasted apart. Draconequi were screaming, attempting to flee, but then something odd began to happen. As they abandoned ship, they were overcome by the rainbow, and from their tail upwards were transfigured into solid stone. They tipped off the sides, faces frozen in agony and shock, and plunged to the bottom of the sea. In one fell swoop, the two alicorns had destroyed the greatest military force in the world.
He could only look in awe and confusion. He wasn’t saddened to see it crushed so, he had always been a pacifist at heart. But the way his countrymen were paralysed struck fear into his heart.
But they didn’t stop there. The alicorns increased their magical power, and the sphere grew larger. A huge rainbow now arced over, striking a point in the ocean mere meters away from the city. It burned a colourful ring into the sea, until it had completely surrounded Illyrium. A dome of pink, dense magic now surrounded the city. Through his spyglass, He could see that those inside began to suffer a similar fate to the sailors. Thousands of civilians, horribly turned to stone by some dark magic, frozen in mundane positions with fear in their eyes.
He felt a shockwave under him. The sphere was now even larger. While he sat in a hedge by the seashore, he could see Illyrium, the metropolis, the last city of the draconequi, his home, begin to sink into the sea, still surrounded by the pink dome.
“No….. No…..”
Water flowed through and overcame the marble seawall, flooding the streets and the marketplace.
“No….”
A small whirlpool appeared when the top sank beneath the water, and disappeared.
It was gone.
“NO!!”
He had to lower his voice, lest the alicorns hear him. He let the picture invade his mind: Hundreds, thousands of his own kind, petrified in a watery tomb, probably never to be seen again.
And here he was, alive.
The Elements were again placed under their cover, and taken by the pegasi. Slowly, the convoy disappeared over the horizon.
So that was it. The last war of the ponies and draconequus. Extinction. Wooden fragments of the fallen utopia floated to the surface.
No survivors.
Except for him.
The Great Draconequus War
He didn’t have any choice. He had to go back. Some unknown impetus inside him told him to go, to go see the fate of his people. It wasn’t that difficult; draconequi were naturally built for the water, and his magic meant that breathing wasn’t a problem.
It was only a few hours after the disaster. Fish still nibbled on fresh bread left outside by the city’s late bakers. His returning to the city was punishable by death, but he doubted that law enforcement was their main concern. He didn’t even have to think where he would go first. Passing by the abandoned banks, unguarded coffers still filled with untarnished gold (he never really saw the point of currency), he headed straight toward the city’s massive Library.
The Great Library of Illyrium was one of the city’s main highlights, a mighty palace of white marble upon the pinnacle of the city, trimmed with golden statues of the great draconequus philosophers. Any normal library would have been flooded by such an apocalypse, but as the Illyrian library once served as a military stronghold, it had taken several precautions. The elders had obviously been prepared, as every window had been shut, and the great doors of solid iron had been sealed, as if to preserve its contents for him alone. He seriously doubted it.He took a deep breath (or as best as he could underwater), and walked straight through the solid metal, surrounded by a grey aura.
It was exactly how he remembered it, save for the dozens of lifeless granite figures transfixed in their poses, and the solid blue-green visible through the palatial skylights. He quickly set to his work. There was no time to admire the vast fresco, or the golden chandeliers, or to mourn his fallen countrymen. Those skylights wouldn’t hold forever.
To be only able to save a few books among thousands was a travesty to him. The Library represented a great cultural achievement, the collection of thousands of years of draconequian philosophy, literature, and history.
He started frantically grabbing books; whatever he could find on draconequus history, magic, and the Elements of Harmony. He heard a crack, and a small stream of water began to trickle through a small hole in the glass. Looking around, he found an empty crate, and dumped what he could find in it. He ran for the door, but he soon discovered he couldn’t walk through with the crate. Giving a heavy sigh, he constricted the container with his serpentine tail, flew up, and burst through the ceiling.
Thousands of litres of salt water rushed over his face, and the fracture spread across the glass, until a waterfall spilled down, destroying millions of pages and washing away great paintings hundreds of years old. He was too busy rushing towards the surface to notice the obliteration of his race’s entire culture.
He returned to the cave in which he had made his home. Opening the crate, he found the books a bit waterlogged, but still legible. He quickly prepared a fire, and set about dehumidifying his plunder. For the first time, he saw what he had collected. A History of the Draconequus. Chaotic and Dark Magical Theory. The Fall of the Crystal Empire. The Six Against Draconium. Canterlot: A History.
After the volumes had dried, he started with Canterlot: A History . He skipped all the boring parts about aristocratic feuds, galas, and politics. He wanted to know whom he was to declare his revenge upon. Then, he found a familiar face reproduced in ink. He traced a scaly finger down to the caption.
PRINCESS CÆLESTIA.
The Great Draconequus War
When the Six Great Cities created the Elements of Harmony, they summoned a great deal of magic. However, this amount of magic proved too great for the cities' elders to conjure alone. They had to turn to the forces of darkness, utilizing the dark arts to create the most powerful weapons ever wielded by pony or draconequus. When the elements were finally brought to life, they each brought with them a dark counterpart. It is unknown what these Dark Elements are capable of, although they most likely each posses the strength of one of the true Elements of Harmony. It is not believed that these Elements were destroyed, because it would take the magical force of all six Elements of Harmony to obliterate even one of their dark equivalents, and vice versa. The location of these Elements are currently unknown.
This much he had learned from the books he pilfered from the now-decimated Library. This was a revelation; he now knew there existed weapons equal to the Elements of Harmony, with which he could put his plan into action. Six weapons, when combined, would make him the equal of the despotic biarchy of Canterlot. Six weapons to rule Equestria.
He was now at the edge of a great valley. Grey-black mountains extended around him in every direction. The clouds concealed the moon and the stars in a deep onyx veil. He turned his eye down, off the edge of the precipice which he now stood upon. He could not see the bottom; it was obscured by a thick cloud of fog. Sounds erupted from its base, terrible, wailing screams and deep moans of pain.
Tartarus.
Tracking down the valley of the dead not being an impressive feat in itself, he was now planning to descend into its grimy depths, to risk his life to obtain something that he wasn't completely sure was there. That the Elements were concealed within were a simple matter of deduction; where else to put the ultimate weapon of dark magic? Swallowing his fear, he spread his majestic, feathered wings, and dove straight into hell.
It was a strange feeling; the fog burned like acid. The temperature began to rise, however his thick, scaly skin could take the heat. Still, when he finally found his footing, he was sweating like an ox in July. He looked around. He seemed to be in some sort of makeshift oubliette. His view above was shrouded by the fog, now a bright shade of crimson. The slimy maroon walls around him were crudely decorated with chains, rusty and bloody. He quickly absconded from this room, only to find more like it, some garnished with the decaying skeletons of unfortunate ponies. At the end of the seemingly endless hall, he was greeted by six yellow eyes and six red pupils, staring at him.
The mighty roar of three vocal chords in harmony formed a terrible chord, which pierced his ears and brought him to his knees. Rising slowly, he remembered something he read in one of the books. "It is well known that Cerberus, the guard dog of Tartarus, is easily soothed by the sound of music". The words rang in his ear with the voice of an old schoolteacher. With a snap, he summoned a silver harp from the mist, and it began to play a soothing melody, one he remembered from his childhood. He watched as first one, the two, and finally, all three heads of Cerberus fell asleep to the entrancing lullaby. He flew over the sleeping hound, laughing at his own ingenuity.
After navigating his way past many other indescribable horrors, he finally found himself before a huge door. The door was solid black, made of some smooth stone that felt cold to the touch. Inscribed upon the door was a huge relief carving, showing vividly the creation of the Elements of Harmony. The six orbs were the only easily distinguishable feature of the monumental portal, six perfect spheres of glazed white glass. He suddenly noticed a single sentence carved into the black stone in an archaic, gothic font.
What came first, the phoenix, or the flame?
He smiled to himself. This was it? A simple riddle and a song, to gain access to the most powerful weapons in the universe? Truly these pony princesses had no idea of the power right under their hooves. It would be a shame if it were to fall into the wrong hands. "A circle has no beginning" he said stoically. With a series of clicks, the letters moved out of place. The glass orbs retreated back into their crevasses. A crack formed in the centre of the door, and it opened with a creak.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Surely, they would have put more protection in place? Surely they would have protection from someone with evil intentions? Surely the greatest artifacts of dark magic weren't just sitting there on an obsidian pedestal? Yet there they were, six orbs of deep indigo stone, glowing with a black aura.
Hatred.
Greed.
Deceit.
Suffering.
Betrayal.
Chaos.
The Elements of Discord.
A rush of excitement and fear swept through him. He inched forward slowly, pushed forward by ecstasy, held back by anxiety. He held out his talon-like hands toward the one nearest to him. Chaos. He could feel its pulse, its dark heartbeat in time with his own. He lost control, as if it was pulling his hands towards itself. When he finally laid his fingers upon the Element, something unexpected happened. As his fingers tightened their grip, the orb's dark aura spiraled around his hands, and flowed into his body. Pain flooded his nerves, but he welcomed it joyfully. Before his eyes, the Element crumbled in his hands into a black powder, and fell to the floor. He could feel power flowing through him like blood, boiling in his veins, and going directly to his mind. He felt his body change, morphing into a crude form, similar to his last, but morphed, shaped by the power of the Element. He was no longer the lonely draconequus, banished from his destroyed homeland, but a being of pure evil, fueled by the unquenchable fire of revenge.
The Great Draconequus War
“Put it with the rest of them.”
The guard nodded. The large statue of a defeated draconequus had been taken to the throne room to be sentenced. It contained a powerful foe, vanquished by the very weapons he intended to destroy. It was a very odd statue, with the head of a horse, the arms of a lizard and a lion, the wings of a pegasus and a bat, legs of a mule and a raptor, and the tail of a dragon. Its limbs were twisted, and its face frozen in an expression of shock. It was speedily wheeled out of the princess’ sight, as she gave a heavy sigh. Immediately, it was loaded onto a train bound for Los Pegasus. When it arrived, the statue was packed in a large crate, which had to be loaded on the ship horizontally. The Captain gave a mighty whistle, the ropes were pulled in, and the craft heaved forward, catching the wind in its sails.
In half an hour, they had arrived at their destination, a seemingly normal patch of ocean. The water was night-sky blue, and the astute observer could see some sort of ruin from the surface. The statue was uncrated, and righted. As the Captain leered, the entire crew pushed the behemoth over the rails and into the water. They watch it disappear into the briny deep until a few bubbles and a BUNK alerted them it had hit the bottom. The sails were unfurled, the anchor raised, and the ship sailed back to shore.
Below the surface, the statue had come to rest on top of a fountain, covered in coral and other submarine flora. Around it, once glorious buildings of marble had given way to decay and infestation. Tropical fish swarmed the area. And then there were the others.
They were covered in coral. However, looking beyond that, they not entirely dissimilar to the newcomer. Small ones, large ones, male, female; hundreds, maybe thousands were frozen there, all looking like they were going on about their business when something had paralysed them there. As the statue looked around and saw the ruin, the decay, one single word was implanted into its granite skull.
Revenge.
