//------------------------------// // Lunch With The Delegates // Story: The Tale of the Three Sided Medallion // by FlareGun45 //------------------------------// As Twilight and Spike enter Canterlot castle and into the party hall, they see how many dragons, changelings, griffons, and yaks there are, chatting it up with some pony delegates from other Equestrian cities. “Wow! Ponies are really getting along with every non-pony!” Spike said proudly. “I think this summit is going to run along very smoothly!” “Hmm.” Twilight thinks as she observes the room. “What’s wrong, Twilight?” Spike asks. “Well, everypony is talking to one another.” Twilight said. “Yeah, and?” Spike asked. “But no changeling is talking to any dragon, or vice-verse.” Twilight said. “Maybe they just don’t have anything to say to one another.” Spike assumes. “I don’t know, Spike.” Twilight says doubtfully. “The way Ember and Thorax talked to one another, and how they both assumed the royal guard is keeping a close eye on one another’s races; plus, Ember said ‘a dragon never forgets’.” “This is crazy, Twilight! Thorax and Ember will get along great!” Spike said. “And what makes you think that?” Twilight asked. “Because I’m their friend of course!” Spike reminds her proudly. “Trust me, those two will get along as long as I’m their friend! I’ll treat them both equally, so one wouldn’t feel jealous of the other! We’ll get into a causal conversation, and those two will be the best of friends, like I am theirs! We can be one big group like you and the girls! We just need three more and then BAM! I think I could do Scorpan which is four, and Big Mac can be the fifth, and the sixth could possibly be-“ “Okay, I get it, Spike.” Twilight interrupts him, feeling annoyed. “I’ll give you a chance to befriend them, but… just don’t expect them to just get along just like that.” Spike chuckles. “Twilight, not all of YOUR friends got along at first. I mean Applejack and Rarity, and Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash? They didn’t get along too well at first, but they eventually did! It’ll take some time, but I know it’ll happen!” “Just don’t force them, Spike.” Twilight informs him as Spike runs off. Princess Celestia walks over to Twilight and says, “So I see Spike is going to try to get his two of his best friends to get along!” “I just hope he doesn’t mess this up.” Twilight says worriedly. “But… I’m confident for him! If anypony knows how to persuade others, it would be Spike!” So Spike walks up to the first leader friend he made, Ember, who was talking to one of her dragons before he starts chatting with her. “Hey, Ember!” “Sup, Spike?” Ember asked. “Not much! How do you like Canterlot?” Spike asked. “Meh.” She shrugs. “Too fancy and froo-foo for my taste, but… ehhh, I guess it’s alright. I would prefer living in Ghastly Gorge. Now THAT’S a rad-looking city the ponies got!” “Actually, it’s not really a… you know what, nevermind.” Spike stops himself. “So you’re okay with the ponies?” “Certain ones like Twilight and Rarity.” Ember admits. “A lot of ponies are still afraid of us, but ehh, they’re so judgmental anyway. I really don’t care. I can tolerate them. Your princess is nice.” “Really? Which one?” Spike teases. “Really? You have more than one princess?” Ember asks, feeling surprised. “I thought Celestia was the only one?” “Heh, so did everypony else.” Spike chuckles. “But since you didn’t like the ponies at first but given them a chance, the changelings aren’t so different!” “Oh they’re VERY different.” Ember says angrily. “I don’t even know why the ponies can trust those rotten swiss cheese creatures; and I don’t care about that color change they got going. That doesn’t cover the black hearts within them.” Spike felt pretty confused on what she just said. “Ooooookay. Mind I ask what the changelings did?” “I’d be glad to!” Ember starts. “It was about 10 years ago, back when my father was still Dragon Lord, we were just minding our own business during our migration – I was just learning how to fly. A couple of dragons started to bully me-“ “Wait, you were bullied too?” Spike interrupts her. “If you DARE tell anybody I told you that, I’ll rip your scales off one by one!” Ember threatens him. “I like my scales too much, so my lips are sealed.” Spike promises as he zips his lips and gives her a thumb up. “Good.” Ember said. “Anyway, I was really weak flier, and pretty shy too. Those dragons were really testing my limits when it came to my experience of flying. My dad was busy stopping a couple of other dragons from fighting over an emerald, so he didn’t hear me cry out for help. When the other dragons released me from their grasp, I tried flying over to them, but when they popped up in front of me which really scared my scales off, I began to fall. Those dragons were evil!” “Wow, I would have never expected that!” Spike said surprisingly. “Why? Because I was a very weak dragon? No need to rube it in!” Ember said embarrassingly. “No! Because you actually trust me enough to tell me this!” Spike smiles. “Oh, well… don’t get used to it.” Ember tried to hide in her feelings. “But what does this have to do with the changelings?” Spike asked. “Well, during our migration, we were flying over the Changeling hives at the time,” Ember explains, “and when I finally fell, a couple of changelings broke my fall. I was then spotted by a patrol, and I apologized to them for knocking out a couple of their buddies, and I didn’t want any trouble, but they snatched me! They took me to see Queen Chrysalis. I was never so scared in my life! She told me I was trespassing, but I pleaded for her to let me go, and that I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that landing on some of her guards was just an accident. She wanted to drain me of my love, even though I was only a baby dragon still! I was about your size by then, Spike. However, she didn’t care, and she started to drain me.” “So did she?!” Spike asked nervously. “Did she drain all your love, and that’s why you don’t like hugs or friendship?!” Ember just looks at Spike confusingly. “Uhhh, no.” She said. “I had no love within me. Dragons don’t do love. Chrysalis thought I was a waste of time and asked her guards to just throw me in the dungeon for no reason! Luckily for me, my dad and the other dragons attacked the hive just in time. The changelings were heavily outmatched by the strength of a dragon! My dad took me back, and destroyed the entire hive as payback! Those changelings are nothing but pure evil, Spike.” “But that was Queen Chrysalis!” Spike informed her. “She’s an evil, corrupted queen! Thorax is in charge now, and he would never do that! Plus, that only happened one time!” “That’s where you’re wrong.” Ember corrected him. “In the dungeons of the hives, there were griffons, ponies, zebras, and even other baby dragons that were enslaved by the changelings! BABY dragons! Younger than I was! Younger than you even!” “Again, that was Chrysalis, not Thorax!” Spike corrects her again. “What’s the difference between one changeling to another?” Ember asked. “Chrysalis didn’t even know I was there until her guards spotted me and brought me in. They could’ve let me go, but they didn’t. I don’t care what Equestria’s opinions are of them, I don’t care what Twilight’s opinion is to them, and I don’t care about your opinion of them. If you want to be friends with that rotten moosehead, then so be it. But us pure dragons will NEVER forget what they did to us!” Spike sighs in defeat, but realizes that Ember has the right to be mad at the changelings for what they did to her. This felt no different to him than when he had to plead for Thorax’s innocence back in the Crystal Empire. But Spike knew that if anyone would give anyone a second chance, it would be Thorax, so Spike walks over to Thorax to get his side of the story, and hopes for him and Ember to be friends. “Spike, I love you, and you’re my best friend,” Thorax starts, “but after what Ember’s dragons did to us, I can’t give her a second chance!” “But you had no problems being friends with me.” Spike reminded him. “I know, and I actually just learned about this whole scenario just recently.” Thorax informed him. “I wasn’t born yet when the dragons attacked our hive. I was just born when the hive finished reconstruction.” “I was around though.” One of Thorax’s guards said. “It was a rough time that was!” “Yeah.” Thorax said. “Even though I wasn’t there, I get the same exact story from every changeling I spoke to that was around at the time. A blue dragon, Ember it seems, fell from the sky and landed on some of our changeling guards. Of course, having an evil queen, we wanted to bring her in and she DID want to soak all of her love, even though she didn’t have any.” “Soooo, that means you’re agreeing with Ember?” Spike asked. “Not quite.” Thorax said. “When Chrysalis wanted to throw Ember into the dungeon, the dragons attacked our hive. I understand that they wanted to attack to rescue their lost one, but did they have to destroy our ENTIRE HIVE?! Everything was gone. All of our hard work; and they stole all of our precious treasures. Even after we were almost done with reconstruction, they just kept on destroying everything we built, and it turned into harassment! They even tried to steal some of our eggs to make meals out of!” “Scrambled or over-easy?” Spike teases. Thorax glares at him. “Sorry.” “Luckily we were always able to steal them back.” Thorax said. “That’s when Chrysalis decided that enough was enough. She modified her throne that drains magic to keep out the dragons as well. Ever since then, every dragon that came was unable to fly or breathe fire, and always fled like the cowards they are! I know what Chrysalis did was wrong, Spike, but they didn’t have to keep attacking us constantly!” “Um, I think that was when Torch was Dragon Lord.” Spike informed him. “Ember wouldn’t do anything like that. I guess Torch held a grudge since your queen, you know, kidnapped his daughter.” “It was overkill.” Thorax said. “Now if you want to be friends with those dragons since they’re your kind, then so be it. You’re the only dragon I will ever like.” “Thorax, this is crazy! This is no different from when YOU had a hard time being accepted by the ponies!” Spike reminded him. “At least I tried to get along with the ponies. All the dragons do is taunt us, insult us, and call us names.” Thorax said. “If your Dragon Lord friend wants to apologize, then I’ll accept it, no problem. But if those dragons are going to keep thinking we’re a bunch of freaks, then we don’t need them in our lives.” Thorax turns around to go back to talking to his fellow changelings, leaving Spike in defeat once again. Spike goes over to see Twilight for some advice. As she was talking to Celestia and Luna, Spike walks over and taps on her shoulder. “Uh, Twilight?” Spike tries to get her attention. “Hold on, Spike.” Twilight stops him and she finishes her conversation with Celestia and Luna. “And all those ponies got mad because I became a princess! What? They didn’t want me to move on with my life and fulfill my destiny? Some even thought I did it too easily, and it just came all the sudden.” “Well, everypony IS used to just having two princesses.” Celestia said. “You’re not going to believe how certain ponies felt when Cadance came into the picture. But sometimes, everypony has their own opinions, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” “I saw the spoilers. I knew you were going to become a princess, so it wasn’t very surprising.” Luna admitted. Celestia giggles. “I might’ve told SOME ponies the news, and Princess Twilight toys were already being made.” She admits embarrassingly. “Yeah, and just ruin the surprise just like that.” Luna complained. “I wasted half a season thinking it all over.” “Anyway, what do you need, Spike?” Twilight asked him. “How’s it going with Thorax and Ember?” “See that’s the thing, I… umm… I’m stuck.” Spike admits. “You’re stuck?” Twilight asked. “Yeah.” Spike said. “It turns out that Ember was kidnapped by changelings many years ago and Chrysalis tried to suck out all her love and to imprison her, but the dragons attacked and destroyed their entire hive repeatedly, so the dragons and the changelings are under some sort of conflict. So how about some help from the Princess of Friendship? Hmm?” “Oh goodness! I would love to!” Twilight said. “Uh, Twilight?” Celestia stops her. “Don’t you think it’s time to let Spike do his own thing?” “What? He asked for my help.” Twilight reminded her. “He is growing up, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said. “Some day, he might have to rely on doing stuff himself.” “But he’s only a baby dragon!” Twilight reminded them as she pats Spike’s head, which made him feel embarrassed. “He has his limits, and when he gave up, he did the most noble thing – asking his best friend to help him out!” “Uh, actually, Twilight.” Spike stops her. “Maybe I’ll just do this myself actually.” “Huh?” Twilight felt confused. “But you asked me for help.” “Yeah, and Celestia and Luna are right!” Spike said. “I’m a big boy! I can do stuff myself! I’ve done it many times before!” “I know, but… I’m a little afraid.” Twilight admits. “I know you can do it, Spike, but… umm… I don’t want to risk you messing this up.” “Like I always do?” Spike asked, feeling offended. “No, that’s what I mean at all!” Twilight corrected him nervously. “I… just… you know… if you mess this up, we might have an all-out war under our hooves! We must keep the peace, Spike, and I’m going to talk to them both to settle this!” Twilight starts walking over to where Ember is, and Spike started to get really nervous. “Twilight, wait!” Spike yelled out as she ran after her. “You don’t know Ember and Thorax like I do!” “This is going to get bad really fast.” Luna commented. “I know! This is going to be the most fun summit ever!” Celestia mumbled to Luna excitedly. Luna glares at her sister and says, “You have problems, you know that?” “Twilight, stop!” Spike yells out at her, but she just kept on going. “Ember!” Twilight started talking to Ember. “Twilight, please don’t!” Spike begged. “Princess Twilight! What’s up?” Ember asked. “I realize you have a conflict with the changelings, and I want to help you resolve that!” Twilight said. “Yeeeeeah, I’m good thanks.” Ember declined. “Twilight, I’m sorry for bringing this up to you!” Spike said. “But I must insist!” Twilight said. “I’m sure you two have some common grounds. You’re both friends with Spike, aren’t you?” “And Spike’s the only reason why WE’RE NOT FIGHTING RIGHT NOW!” Ember yells out from across the room. “What are you saying about Spike?!” Thorax yelled angrily as he started walking over to her. “No one will insult Spike while I’m around!” “I was NOT insulting him you rotten yellow moose zombie!” Ember yells at him angrily. “You blue pointy horned unloved reptile!” Thorax responds angrily. “You look even uglier now than you ever did in your old form!” Ember attacks. “Us changelings have at least one positive song made by the ponies! Did the ponies ever make any positive songs about you?!” Thorax attacks back. “Actually, I made the song.” Spike corrected him. “YOU DRAGONS ARE BIG FAT MEANIES!” Prince Rutherford yelled. “YOU CHANGELINGS STEAL OUR BABIES, AND SELL THEM TO SLAVERY!” Griffon Queen Greta yelled. “YOU GRIFFONS STEAL AND CLAIM AS YOUR OWN!” Rutherford attacks Greta. “YOU YAKS HAVE A BIG UGLY TEMPER! No wonder everyone finds you annoying!” Queen Greta attacks back. “Then I guess there’s only one way to settle this!” Ember said. “Have a big violent verbal debate!” Thorax cries out. “NO! A big violent PHYSICAL debate!” Ember corrects him. “Both are equally as hurtful and annoying!” Thorax yells. “SMAAAAAASH!” Rutherford yells. Every non-pony species in the room began to yell and started fighting each other. Twilight and Spike both felt really bad about what happened, and Celestia and Luna both felt very nervous. “Yeah, this isn’t so interesting after all.” Celestia admits. She uses her magic to freeze everyone into place. “HEY! Puny pony princess put us down!” Rutherford orders. “Yeah, you ponies stay out of this!” Greta yelled. “This is all entirely lame.” Gilda complains. “When we’re done here, Greta, I’m quitting as ambassador.” “There will be absolutely NO physical violence in this room!” Celestia orders. “Verbal debates only!” “Just like what I’ve been saying!” Thorax reminded Ember. “Oh shut your big mouth up!” Ember verbally attacks Thorax. “Your mouth is the only thing bigger than those stupid horns!” “Thanks a lot, Twilight.” Spike said to her as he teared up and ran off. “Spike, wait!” Twilight yelled out, but he just kept running. She sighs to herself in sorrow, realizing that even though she really didn’t want Spike to mess up, she ended up doing it for him.