Scintilla was the first dragoness to become dragon lord, but will always be remembered for her utterly odious cruelty. This despot was so ruthless that dragon law has imposed a term limit on every dragon lord since, at 200 years.

This said, one of Scintilla's less violent contributions was a minor expansion to dragon territory.

Somewhat before the arrival of the three tribes on Equestrian soil, the Yaks arrived and settled in the area that would become Yakyakistan.

At this time, the dragon government of Carcosa was still somewhat unrefined. The Emperor was a figurehead at most, holding no real power outside the country, and the Dragon Lord was more or less simply a glorified warlord. Later, this would change as future Emperors made contacts with dragons in other parts of the world, gaining more political power, with the Dragon Lords becoming more akin to regents, and eventually Ancalagon would finalize the current system of Emperor > Great Lord (Vizier) > 3 Dragon Lords (Near West, Far West, and East), with other dragon populations governing themselves but remaining loyal to the Emperor.

However, at this point in history, Scintilla was essentially the most fearsome warlord on the entire continent, and when she heard the bovine foreigners had encroached on "dragon territory", she sought retribution.

The resulting war lasted many years, but peace was eventually settled when both sides realized the war was destroying the land, and the ruler of the Yaks at that time, Prince Ulysses, agreed to help Scintilla find a new territory. Upon fulfilling his promise, Ulysses went one step further and named Scintilla an honorary Yak, establishing a connection between the Dragons and Yaks.

It should be noted that due to the poor quality of the artwork in the Yaks' scrolls telling this story, the actual events became blurred, with the Yaks eventually remembering Scintilla as a volcano that Ulysses managed to stop from erupting. It was a very embarrassing mix-up during Dragon Lord Ember's first meeting with the Yaks, which Prince Rutherford admitted.

This somewhat heartfelt story aside, Scintilla was also fond of over-punishing supposed "lawbreakers", often via torture or using the Staff of Malefor (one of several precursors to the Bloodstone Scepter) to steal their magical abilities. The skull she wore belonged to her predecessor, who she killed to gain her title.

6198404
badass and crazy as fuck

6198404
How did she meet her end? Did she die in battle or did age claim her?

6198466
I submit a possibility that she was assassinated.

6198466
6198487

Old age mixed with an unfortunate case of World Serpent... if the rumors are correct

6198626
World Serpent? Is that like a draconic disease?

6198629 no

World Snake

A long, low hiss pervaded the whole of the air. Fear raced up each pony's spine. They turned slowly around.

It had stopped rising, two miles, four miles, five miles, ten miles or more into the sky. Some of its body- perhaps most of its body- still seemed to be submerged in the earth, but what protruded out and up was as broad as the whole of the whitetail woods. It was jet black all over, even on its vast belly, up and up, craning back their necks to see, until their wandering eyes stopped at its huge head, bigger than Canterlot, shaped like a giant spade. Four blazing green eyes, each one bigger than an Ursa Major, flitted with unholy speed across the world, thick black lines for pupils. It opened its mouth. Fangs the size of Ponyville were a dull bone-white. A long, dull blue tongue, wider than a dragon's wingspan, longer than the road between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, lolled out, flicked. Another hiss rose on the wind.

No creature on land matches these serpents in size. they thankfully spend most of their time sleeping, absorbing nutrients through their skin, and few reach their full adult size, described above.

Experienced scholars have come to the conclusion a full-grown adult is the size of the island of Gaur

6198635
So old age and she was eaten by a giant world spanning monster

6198637 Not world-spanning, but they get to be about the size of the real-life nation of Guam if they aren't picked off by predators when they're still small