//------------------------------//
// Red Sun 
// Story: Lovie Dovie 
// by The Psychopath 
//------------------------------//

Lovey shot up in a scream that awoke Sconce and several other dragons around her. Sweat waxed her scales and uneven breathing was all that she could do as her eyes darted around. 

"What's wrong?" Sconce asked her.

Trying to calm down, the dragoness looked at her hands and the sharp, dexterous claws serving as her fingers and rubbed her hand across her face. 

"I...I don't know. I had a weird...dream? A nightmare?" She looked around curiously. "I thought that this life here was a nightmare enough, but it seems I haven't suffered sufficiently."

"Then perhaps you should go back to sleep? The sun has yet to fully rise. The belts of colors are still purple on the horizon, and some of the stars have yet to leave the sky."

"I'd rather stay awake and think."

Sconce shrugged and laid back down onto the soft grass."Suit yourself."

It had been two days already, and every time Lovey went to sleep, she hoped she would be back in her house, laying upon her soft, comfy bed. Or, in this fantasy, HIS soft, comfy bed. Just one day was enough with them, but two days? Death was becoming a better and better prospect now more than ever. She was given a stick with which to put her weight and walk until she could properly use her tail, but at least she could now move regularly, or close to it. During another session of meditation, several dragons flew overhead. There was even the tremendous size of the giants waltzing overhead as they jumped over the walls to reach their intended destination.

"What's going on?" Lovey asked. "Is there a battle?"

"Nothing of the sort," Sconce yawned. "They're just here to welcome the empress-in-training of dragons coming. Her name is Ember, and she's very...strong headed." She tapped her palm with her fist and wobbled downwards. She had almost fallen asleep but recovered. "That reminds me. The Pueric Mother wanted you to witness what is going on. There's even another here that isn't of dragon kind, and she isn't too happy."

"Huh?"

Lovey and Sconce arrived in front of the simple dome-like structure meant for diplomacy and saw the large crowd of dragons surrounding a tiny blue dragoness just about Dovey's size. She was extremely thin, moreso than even Lovey herself, and wielded a scepter topped with a red jewel in a 'dragon's grasp'. She looked unhappy to be in the presence of all of these dragons, but when she caught a glimpse of Lovey, she pushed her way through the welcoming committee.

"You must be the welcoming host here," she said. She eyed Lovey up and down and huffed. "I didn't know they took in crippled dragons as well." She shrugged. "I thought our kind, regardless of location and lifestyle, disposed of their crippled."

"I'm not crippled," Lovey growled. "I just have trouble walking right now, and why get rid of the crippled. It's a cowardly act!"

The blue dragoness gave a single laughter in response. "I see. So, are you going to take me to the chambers?"

"I would, were I truly your 'host'."

Ember was taken aback. "Then what is with that appearance?"

Lovey looked away and bared her teeth. Her speech was interspersed with flame sputtering. "I ask that myself every passing second that I'm awake."

"I see. That didn't solve any bit of my confusion but just added more. Still, I find it pleasant to meet another dragon just about my size."

"It's not fun to have all of these giants stomping around near you, is it?"

Ember shook her head. "So what exactly do the 'Lovie Dovies' do?"

"Oh, they kidnap people against their will and--"

Lovey was caught and muffled by Scarlet who smiled sheepishly at Ember. "I'm sorry for her behavior. She's a new member and has yet to get accustomed to our lifestyle."

"I see. Then can YOU bring me to the chambers? If you keep doing this then I'm leaving with no chance of talking it out with whomever you invited."

"Sure thing, Empress. Right this..." Scarlet stopped talking briefly and looked around, scanning the surroundings.

"What is it?" Ember asked.

"You...don't have any escorts."

The blue dragoness huffed at the question. "Of course I'm not." She waggled her scepter at Scarlet. "They do as I say or they suffer the consequences. That's what this scepter says, and that's what the trials I went through dictate."

"Trials?" Lovey wondered aloud after freeing herself from her gargantuan's grip.

"Not now," Scarlet said quickly."You're going to witness what our purpose amongst dragon kind is. THEN I'll explain that to you."

Lovey followed Scarlet and the rest of the dragons inside the round building, and much like the exterior, the interior wasn't special in the slightest. There was a gigantic, gray stone slab sanded down to resemble a smooth, oval table. It was surrounded by several long oval rings of smaller stone meant for the larger dragons. It started from enormous at the third line in the back until gradually shrinking back to the front, then it was on the table itself that a smaller replica of itself meant for the smaller members to sit was placed. Scarlet lifted Lovey and placed her on the stone surface while Ember flew up. Lovie was taken aback by what she saw already sitting at the table.

"What's with the pastel horse and the wavey hair?" she asked.

One of the two guards next to the 'horse' stomped forward and displayed clear signs of anger, but a giant clad in armor put a hoof forward to stop him. The giant, easily twice Celestia's size, was clad in an armor whose pieces were covered by purple crystals within a foundation surrounded by black, metal walls and rivets holding them in place. His shoulders were large plates bending over his back and wrapping around his shoulders. There were four points extending further along the outer rims of the shoulder guard: One directly at the top, two spaced away from it going diagonally across the armor, and another point parallel to the topmost stretching further down the foreleg. His boots followed the same stylization plus lozenge-shaped, admiral blue jewels placed vertically just above the hooves. The main body of the armor was a solid black metal covered with sharp, angular scripture glowing a faint shimmer of the same blue hues of the jewels, and they seemingly moved around on their own. Upon closer inspection, Lovey could see a glowing blue sun with eight wavy arms. The helmet was wrapped around the stallions head, and a row of inter-connected plates of metal ran along the back of his neck. A similar piece of armor followed along his tail, but this part was covered with sharp, purple crystals meant to clobber and shred anything that got in his way. The solid, rounded helmet pointed sharply at the muzzle, most likely to serve as psychological intimidation, and one long slit ran along the helmet, serving as a visor for the wearer. Upon the back of the armor was a black cape with golden trims and with a horseshoe contained within a yellow sun sewn at its center. 

"It's alright, Paladin Redflare," the white pony said with a calm tone.

The giant shied away from the princess and took a few steps away.

Scarlet cleared her throat and smiled sheepishly at the guests. "Um, Lovy, that's Princess Celestia, one of the pony diarchs of Equestria."

Lovey looked at the ponies and flexed her fingers. "Horses can be princesses now?" she asked blandly.

"I--"

"It's alright." Celestia raised a hoof. "I came prepared for such behavior, although I must say that I wasn't expecting it to come from somepony as..." She took a moment to get a better look at the dragoness. "flamboyant as she." Celestia leaned further on the table. "You know, my niece would certainly love to meet you."

"Uh huh..." Lovey answered with disinterest.

"Enough with the small talk," Ember interjected. "How come the ponies are here?"

"Because we asked you to be here," Celestia answered. "You see, we've been having some...mutual issues."

A gray dragoness with a large body and fleshy protrusions from her cranium spoke up. Her wings were very leathery and her body, which was slightly taller than Scarlet's, looked charred and burnt. She also seemed to have a perpetual air of snobbishness etched onto her face, and this reflected well into her voice.

"We called you here per the ponies' request," she explained. "They had something important to speak to all of us, and being the neutral party, asked us host these discussions."

Ember turned back to face the white pony and grinned, baring her sharp teeth. "So what exactly is the issue here? Ponies getting eaten by dragons again?"

"AGAIN?!" the smaller guard shouted.

"No," Celestia said. "There's been events reported between both of our people instigated by a group called 'Red Sun'. They've been planting seeds of hatred in both of our people, and battles have started to break out in te streets between those that support dragons and those that don't."

Ember tried remembering any pertinent information to this. "Hey, I think I've heard about something like this. There've been more fights than usual with the dragons. My father has been having trouble keeping all of them in line."

"And we have been swarmed with resolving the issues as well," the snobby dragoness added.

"Red Sun?" Lovey said. "Sounds like a rock band or something."

"It's not that mundane," Celestia started. "They're something new. A new threat that could spell disaster for all of us if they're not just petulant foals inciting anger amongst the populace."