Every 500 years, the dragons pick one of their own to take a journey to the First Flame, the origin of the dragon's fire breathing ability, and rekindle the sacred fires. When the time comes again, Dragon Lord Ember has decided that, for political reasons, Smolder should be the one to go. And in order to help her, she's allowed to pick one companion to go with her. So, she decides to pick the absolute best professor to go with her, one that has taken on several large creatures and escaped without a scratch.
Professor Fluttershy.
It can only end so well...
Inspired by Rated Ponystar.
Chapters (5)
Glad to see you're getting back in the saddle (pun intended). You and Ponystar are two of my favorite writers on this site, so I was really looking forward to reading this.
I was not disappointed whatsoever. The jokes, the setup, and the classic DarthLink-style headcanon elements were all on point. I look forward to seeing what challenges Fluttershy and Smolder will face on their journey.
Also,
Oh, how little you know, Ocellus...
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She is a student, after all, and only wants to learn
Well, this should be fun. Demon bunny shenanigans, go!
So, I take it that this takes place before the Season 8 finale. Also, I get the feeling that Gallus actually has a thing for Smolder, but was too proud to admit it.
Looking forward to where this is going!
This is a great story so far! I can’t wait to see this adventure Smolder and a Fluttershy are going on! I hope the rest of the Student Six survive Angel though.
This mental picture...I love it.
It's really beyond us too, Flutters.
So this all sounds like fun, have a follow.
You have my attention.
I like how you can see Smolder's logic here, but at the same time you see the possibility of a trainwreck. Of course, Fluttershy can be surprisingly brave too, so who knows? This story has great promise, I'll be following.
A couple of minor things I noticed in this chapter:
1: “There have been times when dragons have died from the environment or monsters around the area. We assume it happened if they don’t return in two weeks,” Ember answered. “Those are usually deemed weaklings and so another dragon is sent. I don’t think we’ve ever had to send more than one in our history.”
This sentence is a bit confusing. I assume you mean "send more then one after the first one", but it's not clear. Maybe "I don't think we've ever had to send more than two dragons" or something would be better. The way it reads now it is first suggested that it has happened that a dragon didn't come back and a second dragon was send, but then it is stated Ember thinks it has never happened that more than one dragon was sent.
2: Fluttershy regained consciousness in the nurse’s office, with Twilight sitting next to her. She breathed a sigh of relief.as she sat up.
Period instead of space.
3: Ember might want to keep relationships open, but a lot of other don’t.
others.
Oh, now there's a train wreck waiting to happen.
Ooh, been a while!
Ember’s certainly taking a gamble, but that’s leadership for you.
This promises to be exciting enough, while... not exactly low-stakes, considering the risks inherent in the journey and its larger sociopolitical implications, but not super heavy either. Forgot how good something like that could feel.
Interesting premise. I wonder what Discord will do when he finds out. I suspect he won't be able to stop himself from meddling.
Ooh, this looks like it's gonna be fun. (Fun for us anyway, less so for Smolder and Flutters, and for the poor students having to take care of Angel XD)
"Also, if you're not back in two weeks we're going to assume you and Smolder were eaten alive by the MASSIVE NUMBER OF HUGE PONY-EATING MONSTERS ROAMING AROUND EVERYWHERE!!" Cozy Glow, the exceedingly obvious villain only a total idiot couldn't have realized was a villain the entire time, shouted.
"COZY!!" Twilight glowered as Fluttershy collapsed again.
"I sowwy," Cozy sniffled, knowing the main cast were all idiots.
"Oh I can't stay mad at you!" Twilight beamed.
Cozy cackled internally. Soon she would kill them all. And eat their brains. Or something, she hadn't really considered a motive for anything.
She cackled, "Everypony just LOVES my hemlock and Death Cap sandwiches! THEY'RE TO DIE FOR!! MUWAH HA HA HA HA!!"
She noticed everypony staring. "Aw buck, I forgot to press the 'Internal Monologue' switch."
While that approach doesn't always work on Earth, even the wild creatures without language in Equestria have been shown to have limited sapience/sentience. So an act of kindness from 'former prey' can be translated in mind in one of two directions.
1. Good creature, don't eat.
2. Creature does not fear being eaten; eating would hurt me, don't eat.
So either way, any creature they come across would have enough awareness to reach one of those conclusions. In Equestria, there's no such thing as a 'mindless' beast.
Still fun to watch it happen, though.
This is one of the greatest "worst-case scenarios" I have ever seen. Bravo.
Poor Fluttershy.
On a somewhat-related note, I am absolutely loving Fluttershy and Smolder's interactions so far. Can't wait to see what other fiendish foes and terrifying terrain they come across...
How was this Inspired by Rated Ponystar?
I liked Fluttershy’s “worst that could happen” scenario, that was hilarious. That moment with the earth snake was sweet too. Maybe Smolder will learn a few more important lessons before the end of this.
I thought the bit of Smolder talking about her sister was interesting, especially since she only mentioned having a brother in the show. Maybe we will see her sister at some point?
As others have said, Fluttershy's "worst case scenario" was fricking hilarious.
And I really liked the handling of the stuff with the snake. Perfectly true to Fluttershy's character in the best way.
She instead of He?
Her instead of He?
Interesting family dynamics these two have.
Ah, even in a strange land, Fluttershy remains Fluttershy.
Daring Do peers into the canyon, "Snakes... why'd it have to be snakes?"
No...not Zephyr moving back! No! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Very interesting. Looks like Fluttershy and Smolder are going to end up making peace between the two tribes...quite possibly accidentally.
Why hello there, friendship problem. Fancy meeting you here on this globetrotting adventure.
This took an interesting turn. Smolder and Fluttershy are separated for now but will probably reunite soon and bring peace between these tribes.
Also, looks like Garble and Smolder have no relation in this story. He’s just a sociopath here.
Which ones? You Diamond Dogs don't seem to be united all into one nation like the others, and are instead split into multiple tribes. In that case, maybe the reason Equestria didn't seek relations with your group specifically is because it's unaware you're out there and such a relation is on the table.
I mean, you all do seem quite out of the loop on their affairs and all, so it's not like you've been seeking out their attention either, clearly.
That must be fun.
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It's tradition that the male offers the female a live pony. If she accepts, the pair puts the screaming, begging pony in their mouths and bites it in half, each swallowing their portion of delicious pony. It's like "Lady and the Tramp" with the spaghetti... just with lots of pony blood and viscera. So romantic!
Isn't nature wonderful?
Figures that they've stumbled into a cold war. But at least everyone is apparently being coolheaded enough to talk things out. Here's hoping Smolder and Fluttershy don't have cause to mope for too much longer....
"she" instead of "the"?
Extra "r" on that she.
Missing "S" for "She"?
It feels like you wrote two versions for a part of the scene, and you left them both in when you published the chapter. If it was just Fluttershy, I could understand it as an issue concerning her head injury. But Rukil is repeating his response as well.
Isn't this old hat for Fluttershy? Coming after the Hooffields and McColts, after all?
Hmm, looks like Fluttershy and Smolder are both starting to piece together that something isn’t right with these Diamond Dogs. If they can somehow meet up they might be able to figure it out.
No, Smolder, she said traitorous--big difference. Or so I assume.
So...they were in reality consumed by American politics then.
I'll say. It's like both sides took the same story and merely swapped the names around. Personally, I think neither Greenrock nor Azureclaw were trustworthy, and they let their own petty feuding drag the rest of their populace down with them.
I also worry their respective governments are already more aware of that than they've let on...
For that matter, the discovered vein that apparently started all of this--it's supposed to be sealed off for the remainder of the war, right?
...when was the last time anyone who's not a councilmember or other higher-up of that such stopped to check that's actually been the case?
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Maybe, but the Hooffields & McColts feud started for a different reason:
Their ancestors had a dispute over how they should accommodate the animals that lived in the Smokey Mountains. Grubb Hooffield wanted to give them food, but Piles McColt wanted to give them shelter. With neither side wanting to back down, they started sabotaging each other's work, which escalated into a generations-long war, so much so that both families forgot how it even started.
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Honestly, I think this is less "Hooffields and McColts" and more "The Great Divide" from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
I had a feud with some other clan once. I wanted them to die, and they didn't want to to die.
For some reason, they just refused to see my side of the argument!
Interesting... I almost wonder if this feud is partly the result of it being enforced by the respective councils as a way of staying in power, or at least keeping the clans separate? Maybe that's a little too cynical of me, but there you go. *shrug*
Two years since the 1st chapter, I'm disappointed not one person made the connection yet. i.ytimg.com/vi/kPXMR1DioZU/maxresdefault.jpg static.wikia.nocookie.net/002112af-da47-4ccc-83fc-415976a6b91a/scale-to-width-down/800 static.gosunoob.com/img/1/2016/04/dark-souls-3-different-endings.jpg
Have I ever mentioned that I hate politics? Especially when it involves underhanded deception, propaganda, and flat-out murder?
Smolder had better burn these fyayers to the ground.
Well, Smolder and Fluttershy are both getting closer discovering the corruption and propaganda by both sides of the Diamond Dogs. Hopefully with the help from Gary and Rukil they can expose this deception, bring peace, and continue their own quest.
Except for Fluttershy's obviously! That's the deal-breaker!
Bull! That is entirely too convenient for them to be the actual case.
Personally, I think some among the Azureclaws were trying to silence Fluttershy, for fear her poking around would only unveil the actual truth that clearly somebody wants to remain secret. Getting to pin it all on the Greenrocks is just an added bonus.
That just adds to the suspicion, seeing we the readers know for a fact this isn't actually the case.
At least they aren't trying to claim that Smolder was somehow involved or in some way responsible for what happened.
Oh good, so we're all on the same page, then.
This is entirely too synchronized to be mere coincidence. Whatever is really going on here, both Greenrocks and Azureclaws are in on it.
Well, congratulations then, Council members! You just guaranteed Rukil turning against you and going rogue!
That's the most important part to all of this, but the one I still can't figure out...what could they possibly stand to gain from all of this to go to such lengths and potentially start a war against themselves that they fully know isn't necessary? There's a greater conspiracy going on here that's waaaay deeper than a mere long-standing hate against each other...
While I see the logic behind that, that assumed Gary wouldn't have tried anything more serious, or even didn't keep asking the "wrong" questions in the meantime, and was quite a gamble on their part just for the sake of trying to not be obvious about it. When you need to keep someone quiet, it's typically under circumstances where you can't exactly wait when it'd be the most convenient for you, after all.
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Well, and obviously all of the Azureclaws, that probably ought to be considered too.
But seriously--I am convinced that the higher-ups on both sides of this are in cahoots with each other, so I don't understand why they'd want to push for a war like that...not unless it's a mere distraction, but then, for what? The mining vein mentioned in previous chapters obviously must tie into this somehow, but if that's truly the motivation, then there must be something way better than mere riches hidden away in there...
10853200 I suspect CHERNGELERNGS! Because EVIL BUG PONY MONSTERS!!!
Everypony go squish em!
....
I also happen to be mass-producing military-grade insecticide bombs with a huge kill radius... that are rather expensive... BUT YOU NEED THEM!! BUY BUY BUY!!!
(Alondro is best war profiteer. He ends up with all the Diamond Dogecoin.)
INB4 this turns into a Romeo & Juliet-type situation where the liquid in Rukil's thermos only simulates death, but Smolder sees Fluttershy's "corpse" without context and incorrectly concludes that the Greenrocks really are as terrible as the Azureclaws claim they are.
My errant speculation aside, I'm glad I finally noticed that this story updated! I've enjoyed it a lot thus far (this chapter included), and I'm really looking forward to seeing where you go with it from here.
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It's definitely some kind of false-flag operation, that's for sure.
A part of me has to wonder if it's some kind of 1984-esque situation where the higher-ups are using the perpetual conflict as little more than an excuse to perpetually stay in power. That being said, the Azureclaws' willingness to drag Celestia into the conflict kinda sullies that theory, so that part of me is probably completely wrong. Still, though, the thought's there. "Everything's on the table" and all that, y'know what I mean?
For those who have read this story, I have posted a fic that continues the story due to DarthLink22's passing. The starting chapters will be the ones he wrote but he didn't get a chance to finish before he died. Since I was helping him with the story, I have access to those and I plan on finishing the story in his honor since I know what happens afterwards. You can find the story here: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/513499/journey-to-the-first-flame-continued
“Yes. It is a trial that very few dragons survive. But Smolder thinks you’re up to it, and there’s no rule against picking a non-dragon helper, so you get the great honor of risking your life for the dragon’s greatest honor...”
At this point, Fluttershy hit the ground, out cold.
Ember blinked. “Are you sure about this one?”
Well then I'm sure that would probably be Fluttershy's reaction 😅
Yeah Fluttershy's that was actually one of the best moments
Yeah Fluttershy it's time to face your fear
I kind of guessed this is during season 8 because they don't know that cozy glow is bad yet I really don't trust her
“Yeah, I mean what harm could one little bunny rabbit do?” Ocellus asked, not seeing the sinister grin on Angel’s face.
If he was going to be stuck with these losers for a few days, he might as well enjoy it. Oh, this was going to be fun alright. Fun for him.
Oh those poor kids they have no idea what they are up against it's Angel bunny 😡 he's going to mess with them