Arrival
Dear Dragon Lord Ember,
I hope my letter reaches you well. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to find a mail carrier willing to go as far as the Dragon Lands. I know it hasn’t been long since Spike, Rarity, and I left for Equestria, but I just couldn’t contain myself. I just have so many questions about your rich culture!
My very first inquiry is actually about Spike. He sends his regards, by the way. Anyway, we were wondering if it was uncommon for a dragon to not have wings. In our fleeting experiences with Dragons, we never had the opportunity to meet a Dragon like Spike, who had no wings. Is Spike’s condition unique, or are there other Dragons like him?
The next question is for you, personally. I know that Dragons do not have friends. Or, at least they didn’t before you met Spike. I wanted to know if you had made any other friends since our departure. You so kindly offered to correspond with me about Dragon culture, but I was so excited to learn so many new things that I may have forgotten to reciprocate. Here in Equestria, I am the Princess of Friendship. Granted, I am rather new at it, but I know a lot about friendship. So if you have any questions about friendship, or have any friendship problems, please let me know. I would be more than happy to lend a helping hoof.
Princess of Friendship,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Did I mention Spike sends his regards?
With a grunt, Ember reduced the offending letter to a crumpled ball. A searing heat rushed up her gullet as she brought the paper to her lips. Just as the flames reached her lips, Ember pulled the paper away and opened her maw, releasing the flames out of the sides of her mouth.
As much as it irritated her that the pony princess would ask something so irritating right off the bat, she did agree to correspond with her. Not to mention, it did keep open a vital communication line with Spike. That was the whole reason she agreed in the first place.
Sighing, she uncrumpled the paper with her claws. With little other choice, she looked around the barren rocks. Then she looked back at the single scrap of paper… the only paper in all of the Dragon Lands. And what of pens? Ink?
“Crap,” she muttered.
“Ugh! I can smell them from here!” Garble complained, holding a claw to his nose as he flew well above rolling forests and hills.
“Good, that means we’re close,” Ember replied.
Snorting out a breath through his nose, Garble shook his head. “I still don’t see why I have to come along to some puny little Pony town.”
Ember thrust her scepter in Garble’s direction. “Hey, you’re the one that volunteered to be my bodyguard. Besides, don’t think that I’m unaware of your attitudes toward Ponies. If anyone could benefit from a cultural exchange, it’s you.”
“What do you even care about some stupid Ponies?” Garble shot back.
Ember scoffed, but as she turned back to look, a spire appeared over the next hill and she forgot all about her back and forth with her de facto bodyguard. “Hey! I think that’s the place!”
A few minutes of flying, and the duo found themselves flying over a hamlet filled with Ponies of all colors and kinds. Pausing in their flight, they stalled over a busy market. “So, where is this Pony princess?” Garble asked.
Ember looked all around. There was no coliseum to address the masses, or a volcanic cavern to house a great leader. “I, uh…” Closing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, Ember tried to think of someplace else a princess might call home. “Aha!” Her eyes popped open, as she thrust her scepter toward the ground. “We’ll just ask the masses. Surely they would know.”
Folding her wings, Ember fell to the ground with Garble right behind her. Landing forcefully, Ember spread her wings as she spoke firmly, “Who among you can answer my questions?” She barely even got halfway through her greeting before the masses started shouting and fleeing.
“Ugh,” Garble groaned as he rolled his eyes. “See? What good are these weak little Ponies to us?”
Ember raised a claw to her cradle her face as she sighed. Then, she quickly lowered it as she sniffed. “Hey, do you smell that?”
Tentatively, Garble sampled the air. “That smells pretty good,” he said, licking his lips.
“It must be a banquet. For the Princess!” Ember took off after the alluring aroma, leaving Garble to scramble after her.
Ember found herself inside a strange building. Almost as soon as she entered, the Ponies sitting around tables vacated, hastily sneaking by and out the door and, in a couple of cases, out the windows. The only Pony to stay was a pudgy round one standing behind a counter. Inside the glass box were dozens of strange shapes, arranged neatly and with enticing colors. Judging from the half-eaten doppelgangers arranged on the abandoned tables, these things were the source of the good smells. Who knew Pony food was so colorful? Part of her wondered if that was why the Ponies themselves were so colorful.
“You there,” Ember said, pointing at the portly Pony. “This is a banquet for the Princess, is it not? I demand an audience with her.”
“I… um,” the Pony stammered. “That’s not really…”
“Hey!” Garble snapped. “Do you not know who this is?”
“Oh my gosh! It’s Dragon Lord Ember!”
“Uh, yeah,” Garble muttered as all attention snapped to a pink Pony bounding down a stairway.
“Oh, that’s the one Spike talked about, right?” the first Pony asked her posture relaxing. “But I thought you never met them, Pinkie?”
“I didn’t!” Pinkie said, her voice grating with chipper, sing-song quality to it. “But Spike went on and on about how pretty she was and her really cool red scepter!”
A burning swept through Ember’s cheeks. “P-pretty?”
“This is our Dragon Lord!” Garble shouted at Pinkie. “She is strong, and tough, and, uh, strong! She’s not pretty!”
An audible growl escaped Ember’s lips as she thrust her arm out, shoving Garble aside. “You know Spike? Where is he?”
The pink Pony sat down raising a hoof to her chin. “Well, if he’s not at the castle, then Spike is probably running some errands for Twilight.” She looked back at Ember, smiling. “You might get lucky and bump into him at the market!”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Ember said, marching up to Pinkie Pie. “You mean to tell me that the Princess is using Spike as her errand boy?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Pinkie said, waving a hoof dismissively. “Twilight is always having Spike do things for her. Shopping, cleaning, cooking…”
“I’ve heard enough!” Ember shouted as she turned about, storming over toward the exit. “Come, Garble!”
Fuming, Ember blindly exited the shop. She didn’t know where this market was, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Either way, she couldn’t stand to sit there and hear about a proud dragon being reduced to some pampered Pony princess’s lap dog. Was this the “friendship” that Spike and Twilight so espoused?
“Heh, figure’s that sorry excuse for a Dragon would be a servant to these pathetic Ponies,” Garble said, slamming the door behind them with his tail.
“Bite your tongue!” Ember retorted.
Grumbling, Garble crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you we should’ve just invaded and taken over. Not like these weak Ponies could do anythi—waugh!”
Garble’s tirade was cut short by a multicolored blur smashing into him. Snapping around, Ember saw little more than a dust cloud. “Garble, what’s going on!”
Sitting up and holding his head, Garble mumbled, “I dunno. There was a flash of color and blue…”
“Yeah, that was me.” Ember looked through the clearing dust to see a cyan Pegasus standing, shoulders stiff and wings flared as she dug a forehoof into the dirt. Her tail flicked as she looked between the two Dragons. “I heard a couple of Dragons were harassing everypony, but I had no clue it was you again.”
“Why’re you looking at me, you dumb Pony!” Garble shouted as he got to his feet, patting off the dust.
The Pegasus pointed a hoof at Garble. “You’re that Dragon that kept bullying Spike during the Dragon migration. Don’t think I’ll let you get off so easily this time!”
“I don’t have time for this nonsense!” Ember shouted as she stepped between the two. Staring down the defiant Pegasus, she pointed at her with her scepter. “You know Spike? Take me to him. Now.”
“Yeah? Why should I?” the Pony retorted. “You’re the ones that came here totally making a mess of everything.”
Growling, Ember stepped forward until she was face-to-face with the Pegasus. “I am the Dragon Lord, and you will take me to Spike!”
“Ember?” The group looked up to find a shadow fast-approaching. “What in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you doing here?” Twilight asked as she landed. “You’ve got all of Ponyville in a tizzy!”
“You!” Ember marched over to the self-appointed Princess of Friendship. “Had I known what you considered ‘friendship,’ I’d not have let Spike leave the Dragon Lands!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
Before Ember had a chance to retort, the blue one interjected. “You know these Dragons?” she asked, elbowing Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash, didn’t you pay any attention when Spike and I told you about our trip to the Dragon Lands with Rarity?” Twilight hissed at Rainbow. “This is the Dragon Lord, Ember, and that’s… why is Garble with you?”
“Dragon Lord? This scrawny, little Dragon?” Dash said, pointing at Ember. “The way Spike described her, I thought she’d be… you know. Bigger.”
Growling, flames escaped Ember’s lips as she wrung her scepter. “I’ve had more than enough of this!” She thrust the scepter, pointing it gem-first at Twilight. “I came in response to your letter, but I’ve changed my mind! I’ll have nothing to do with you ponies or your so-called ‘friendship.’”
“Heh, you tell them, Dragon Lord,” Garble said, a smug grin on his face.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Twilight said. “Just what are you going on about? I don’t understand.”
Ember leaned in, her nose a hair’s breadth from Twilight’s. “Tell me, Princess, is it true that you have Spike out running errands?”
“Yes, he should be done soon, though,” Twilight replied. “If you want to come to the castle and wait—”
“And you have him cook, and clean?” Ember asked through grit teeth.
“Well, yes, but I don’t see what that—”
“Enough!” Seething, Ember stepped back, holding up her scepter. “I’ve heard enough,” she said again. The scepter glowed, its red magic shooting through the air to summon Spike. “We’re leaving these Pony lands, and we’re taking Spike with us. Forever!”
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We all know that Spike isn't actually a slave, and that the work Spike does for the ponies is his way of being important to them, but from Ember's perspective it can't look good. It will be fun to see Twilight try to talk her way out of this. The verbal gymnastics will be amazing:
Like, like, like. I look forward to Ember's much needed intervention. If anyone needs one, it's Spike. Poor thing...
YEAH! You go, Ember! Put that so-called Princess of Friendship in her place.
I haven't read this yet, but this seems like a very clever idea for a story!
7138150 Oh... She'll try. She'll try.
Starlight's finest moment, IMHO.
Dun! Dun! Dun!
Spike, looks like your gonna have to put on the moves to fix this!
Well, this is a pickle. I wonder how everyone will deal with this.
Hmmm...
Interesting to see where this leads to... I also hope that in this fic, Spike grows a little bigger and with wings (something tells me he will molt and it will be painful for him)...
But yes, it would be interesting for Spike to reveal that he doesn't really like the whole errand boy role...
It would be interesting to see if Spike just wants to have a little bit more freedom and choices in his life...
Now let's see how Twilight will talk herself out of this hole she dug herself for years.
Funny. I was just about to suggest that Garble retire from protection services and get a job as an errand boy. Regular Fry, that guy.
Hmm... so where is this going to end up?
I'm looking forward to seeing.
This looks promising... Please continue...
This is interesting. I'm going to track it and see where it goes.
Ha! Spike being raised to be Twilight's slave was gonna backfire sooner or later.
I'm curious to know if Spike has repressed his true feelings about being merely 'an errand boy'?
Holy misunderstanding Batman!!
Ohhh please Ember just wait till you hear about Rarity...
Why does everyone seem to forget that Spike LIKE doing these things for Twilight? In fact his GREATEST FEAR is for Twilight to send him away cause she doesn't need his help anymore. He was scared that Twilight's Owl would replace him. These Errands are chores and he must get payed for it since he buys comic books.
I am in fact on Twilight's side and so against ember right now cause she is a foreign leader Saying she is going to take an Equestrian Citizin away. She has no right to Spike was born in Equestria not the dragon lands. I am hoping Ember sees what she is doing is dumb or gets rainbowed to the face.
This is a really great premise, to be honest.
7139043
You say that like it's a bad thing. They don't let just anybody into the Equestrian Association of Professional Assistants, you know.
7139390 It does seem like everyone here has indeed forgotten that Spike generally does enjoy what he does in life..
Didn't even hear Spike's side.
7139419
I've never heard that one. What's it from?
7139390 These facts are conveniently forgotten because 'ponies are racists', you see. Every other species is right, even when they're dead wrong.
Remember, people always complained about Celestia being worshipped and obeyed seemingly without question.
But the Dragon Lord having absolute dominion over all dragons with a magical scepter is perfectly acceptable to these same people.
As you get older, you'll realize that hypocrisy is the mainstay of most people's mode of thought.
7138150
TD... you know that trying to portray this with any nuance is doomed to fail.
You have to exaggerate!
Either Spike's a slave that has a terrible life and anyone who says he's fundamentally happy is a monster, or he has a perfect life that can never be improved upon, and implying that there ever could be an improvement makes you an angsty whiner.
You have to pick one or the other, or someone will pick your side for you. Sometimes both sides will decide you're on the other side, even.
Man, this started as a joke, but I think I made myself sad.
7140306
I was briefly tempted to ironically downvote this comment, but given that every other comment here talking about Spike has accumulated multiple downvotes — apparently for the mere sin of talking about Spike — the irony would get completely lost in the noise.
I wish all the pro- and anti-Spike partisans would go find something more productive and less controversial to argue about. Like politics. I've never understood how there can be so much salt lingering over a single character when fandom as a whole has learned to take things like best-pony debates with such relative grace.
As for the story, you've got my interest. This is certainly a setup begging to be explored, and the characterization so far seems spot on.
7140562
While I am not blameless when it comes to Spike-partisanship (pro-Spike 4 lyfe yo... I've been confrontational and stubborn in the past), I agree that it would be better for the fandom as a whole to cool off when it comes to this stuff. Less personal attacks, less polarization. We're talking about the interpretation of fictional events that are filled with holes and frequent oversights of logic or application of cartoon logic, just because the show winds up doing that from time to time. Turns out there's more than one interpretation.
7139390
True! That´s what makes me balk at stories like ¨Spike´s Diary¨ because they show that he hates his position in life, even though in the show he dreads not being able to do it!
7141957 Maybe because, from what we've seen in the show, doing chores is pretty much ALL he's good at.
Ooh... I can feel the "Small Scale" flashbacks kicking in already. Let's watch and see how closely the stories end up aligning...
Note I enjoyed this story and I Hope Spike sets it right. I am just angry at Ember for jumping to a conclusions so fast not hearing any one else's side kind of a shitty leader. conclusions so fast not hearing any one else's side kind of a shitty leader. Hey maybe this will be a good lesson for her.
Obviously, Spike's not just a servant to Twilight she that she considers him to be both much more than that and of considerable more worth. For Ember though, this is clearly a racist thing. To all of those not seeing Ember's side of things, you have to keep in mind that in dragon culture, the only culture she's grown up with, dragons are might and powerful, and to be rendered subservient to any other creature rather than lording over it is seen as demeaning and offensive to them. This is largely why dragons don't "get" friendship. It's simply culture clash, something both parties are going to have to be understanding about if they want to come to a peaceable solution over it.
But that being said, I do hope this caused the subject to get brought up on whether or not Spike's actually happy with his role in life. He's clearly content with it in the sense that he hasn't really questioned it in any notable manner, and I do think he's left himself there because he doesn't seem himself ready to, shall we say, branch out elsewhere. But is being Twilight's assistant always and forever really what he wants or is it just what he's used to? Does he perhaps want to try and become his own dragon a bit more than he's had to chance to thus far in his life? It's actually potential for a little mini-life crisis of sorts for Spike.
It can really go both ways, so I hope this story will have the foresight to address them both.
Though the given reasons for Garble being here stand to reason, I find his presence a little shoehorned still, but that's my only real criticism at the moment.
Looking forward to more.
7142535 I think Spike understands that before Twilight little toy selling Cadence 2.0 transformation that happened far to easily and far too soon, that he would outlive all the ponies by centuries. Living with Twilight miss I must know everything in the universe and with regular interaction with Princess Celestia I'm sure the topic of life spans has come up at least once. Maybe he figured he would stick by Twilight till her end than go off on his own when he grew too large to live with ponies anymore. Who knows.
I always found Spike at his best when he was on top of things as one hell of an assistant though. Reminds me of Sebastian from Black Butler and also Walter from Hellsing. Although it would be nice to see more of Spikes Dragon side. Nigh impervious scales, ability to survive even lava, incredibly powerful and durable musculature and skeleton. Razor sharp claws and fangs, jaw strength to crush diamonds, heightened predator senses like smell and sight. Magical resistance. Oh and he can breath fire that can melt boulders. Nature's ultimate killing machines. Not to mention super long lifespans. And most can fly and or grow to be the size of castles.
So when Spike melted that giant falling iceberg inthe Crystal Games I was like, its about damn time.
THIS is good...
7142535
That was certainly well said and well observed. Spike has grumbled about the work that he does more than enough to show that it's not the actual work that he does that is important to him, and his pleasure at having time off shows that he's no workaholic. Instead, it's being useful to Twilight, and to a lesser extent the other mane cast members, that is important to him. It's the only means of agency that he has to participate in their lives. The very legitimate concern that you noted, and which Ember's point of view illustrates in this story, is if this is really what's best for Spike. I appreciate you stating that so concisely, Bright for broaching the topic, and I hope that the show will someday address it as well.
7141957
True, but Spikes gonna live a looooooong time. He'll have time to master tons of stuff.
That was great. Would a great future episode.
Can't wait for more!
Don't forget the hero of the Crystal Empire TWICE, and an equestrian prince (Being Twilight's brother?).
Holy shit, I just realized that Spike is BOSS!
7139390
"Spike Is Abused" is like a religious thing for some people. Stories where he turns into a superpowered, violent, brooding vigilante will draw high upvotes for the same reason, no matter if the narrative is entirely hypocritical about what it's portraying.
There are a few stories with a nuanced approach. They also tend to get high vote counts; no real surprise since they also tend to be well thought-out and executed.
We've yet to see what Spike has to say about things in this particular example.
I am so sorry
7142316
i.imgur.com/XS5LK.gif
7138150
... Hmmm, going to have to wait to see how this goes, but if your giving it a thumbs up a few chapters down the line, I'll probably give it a read myself.
7151094 I keep hearing of these stories but have yet to read a single one
7213710
The former or the latter? Because I can give you at least three links on this site. Probably more.
Interesting opening. Though I hope the misunderstanding won't be kept up too long, because if Ember refuses to accept that Spike likes his life, then I'll lose all sympathy for her. Though the drama tag does have me worried.
Another one of these? Still?
I mean, this chapter reads like this is just Ember comically misunderstanding things, but instead of a Comedy tag there's a Drama....
7224356 He may like it, but Stockholm is a thing.
If you're born into something, you won't know anything else