//------------------------------// // Chapter seventeen: the Dragon-Lord’s command // Story: Animal Friends // by Elkia Deerling //------------------------------// Once again Rainbow Dash walked the delicate tightrope between life and death. Spike could see her chest barely moving beneath the cloak of chain wrapped around her barrel. He grabbed it in his claws and tried to pull it off her, careful enough not to let the nasty barbs cut into her skin. Ember sat on the ground, clutching her shoulder. Her claws were covered in blood both hers and Chain Link’s. She glanced one more time at the dead dragon, but couldn’t find him. He had stepped into the shadows with his last stagger, and no trace remained of him. But Ember didn’t really care. She got up and walked towards Spike and the bloodied pegasus he tried to help, staggering but using her tail to steady herself, as she had seen Chain Link doing. Ember saw Spike struggling with the chain, and the little dragon withdrew his claw as he cut himself on the rusty links. “Let me, Spike.” Spike scooted aside, and Ember knelt down beside Rainbow Dash. She began to unwrap the chain very gently, rolling Rainbow Dash slowly over the ground and lifting her over the rusted metal. As the chain was completely removed, Ember tossed the thing far away, where it rattled and fell into another bottomless abyss. “Oh my!” Rainbow Dash looked as if she’d been whipped a dozen times. Red stripes traced all around her barrel, dripping her lifeblood upon the floor. Immediately, Ember placed a claw on her neck to feel for a pulse. It was very weak. Then she carefully grabbed the pegasus, and laid her down next to a cluster of blue crystals, so she could see her better. In the light of the crystals, Dash looked very pale. Ember let out a sigh and shook her head. “She’s lost a lot of blood.” Spike had never felt more scared, even though the battle was already over. The thought of losing his friend had never occurred to him, not even on their most dangerous adventures. Spike liked to read the Daring Do books as well, and he always silently compared Dash and Do together. They were so similar: awesome, tough, unstoppable. Spike knew that Daring Do would overcome every challenge, every enemy, every trap—and so would Rainbow Dash. But now Dash lay before him, bloodied and badly hurt. Fear and sorrow washed over Spike, and he felt tears well up in his eyes. He wanted to do something. He wanted to help her, but didn’t know how. At last he raised his head and looked at Ember. “Isn’t there anything we can do?” Ember looked from side to side. “I… I…” Had she been in her cave, she could at least have cleaned the wounds with water, or give Dash some pain-killing herbs or mushrooms. Ember could have scouted out a few storage rooms in the temple and get something to eat, and all the while Rainbow Dash could sleep to regain her strength. But she wasn’t in her hideout now, and she knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t make the trip back; she didn’t even dare to pick her up again. Suddenly, she felt rage bubble up inside of her. With a violent flame burning in her gut, she jumped up, and began to pace around despite the dizziness in her head. “Damn it!” she called into the darkness. “Damn it all!” But then she knew how to name her rage. “Damn you, Garble!” Ever since the red dragon had taken her throne, nothing but bad luck had befallen Ember, and now one of her allies—one of her friends—was going to die because of that sneaky beast. She felt so powerless, because there was absolutely nothing she could do for Rainbow Dash, and powerlessness was a feeling every dragon hated. Ember let out a yell, which echoed in the darkness. A gout of blue flame, wild and shocking, escaped her mouth and tortured the air. She kept walking in no particular direction, and ended her stamping in front of a blue crystal. “Curse you, Garble!” she cried out, as she withdrew her claw and brought it down with a crash against the shiny blue stone. The top shattered and erupted into a thousand razor-sharp splinters, but Ember couldn’t care less. She had punched with her gouged shoulder, and knew that the wound would burst open and bleed again, but Ember couldn’t care less. Luckily for Ember, the splinters missed her scales and her shoulder, and then something strange happened. Ember didn’t feel anything at all. For a moment, the pain was gone and away. She moved her shoulder; it felt fine. When she looked, she saw that the bleeding had stopped, and a thick scar ran down her shoulder to her armpit, as if the wound had been bandaged for weeks, and had been allowed much time to heal. “Ember? What are you doing?” Spike called, as he heard the loud crash. “I… I don’t know…” As Ember looked again, she saw that thin blue wisps of smoke curled away from her wound. She followed them with her eyes, and ended her gaze at the shattered crystal. The crystals! Unbeknown to Ember, she had discovered the finest treatment in ancient dragon traditional medicine: healing crystals. The thought hadn’t occurred to her once that while the red Bloodstones had magical properties, the blue crystals might have some too. Ember flapped her wings, feeling that they were less sore as well, and flew over to Rainbow Dash. She scooped her up and laid her down next to the shattered crystal. Spike trotted behind. “What are you doing?” “The crystals!” Ember said without looking up. “They can help, I think.” Spike raised his eyebrows, but then saw the closed wound on Ember’s shoulder. Even the blood was gone. With a jump, Ember landed behind the shattered crystal, and began flapping her wings, creating a soft breeze aimed at Rainbow Dash. The vapors, still rising from the molested crystal, touched down on Rainbow Dash, but nothing happened. “It’s not working!” Spike yelled; his voice was hoarse. Ember flapped her wings harder now, only sending the vapors past or over the pegasus on the ground. In a flash, Ember thought she knew why it didn’t work, for perhaps the crystals only healed dragons. “No damn it! Live! LIVE!” Spike inspected Dash’s belly, to see if the marks or the burn would heal. Instead, he saw that her belly went up and down slower and slower; her breathing weakened. With desperation clawing at his heart, a single panicky idea struck him. “Smash another one!” Ember didn’t even have time to think; she acted. She jumped to another crystal. For a second, Ember saw Garble’s face reflected in it. Then she gritted her teeth, and with renewed strength in her shoulder she punched the top of the crystal to smithereens. A cloud of blue erupted from the thing, as this one was even fresher than the one Ember had destroyed before. Immediately, Ember flapped her wings, and soon Rainbow Dash became engulfed in a blue mist. Spike tried to help too, and waved his arms as to steer the vapors to his friend. To his surprise, he discovered that the blue wisps stuck to his claw. He gathered some in a ball, and gently placed it upon Rainbow Dash’s belly. After a few seconds, the mist was already gone, and the crystal depleted. Ember crouched down next to Rainbow Dash, her heart burning with hope, and watched her wounds. She searched and searched, but couldn’t find them. Not a single scar covered Dash’s body. Ember could have concluded therefore that the blue crystal she had used on Rainbow Dash was ripened more than the other one, but she didn’t. Instead, the hope flared up into a smile. “Yes,” she said. “YES!” Once again she felt for a pulse; it felt like the heart of a horse should feel: strong, loyal, brave. Then, almost as if she awakened from a very pleasant dream, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. “Ugh... What happened?” “Rainbow Dash! You’re alive!” An explosion of cheer erupted in Spike, and he wanted to hug his friend like he’d never hugged her before. But then he thought twice, because he didn’t know whether Dash’s wounds were completely healed. They were. Rainbow Dash looked around, saw Ember, Spike, the darkness, the strange structure and black floor, the crystals; and she remembered what happened. “Did we beat him?” “We did,” Ember said. “As he knew we would.” She let out a sigh of relief at hearing the pegasus talking again. She would make a good dragon, Ember thought. Strong, spirited, loyal… Rainbow Dash didn’t want to think about that cryptic answer. She stood up, and had a strange sensation flowing through her body. It felt as if all her bones and muscles had been taken out and replaced with new ones. She felt as if she needed to get used to these new limbs as someone would have to get used to a new bicycle. I hope my wings are still the same, Rainbow Dash thought, as she waved them around. “Yep. All good.” With a chuckle she figured that she should try her ‘new limbs’ out on something. With a few cantering steps she stood opposite of a crystal, turned around, and bucked like a wild rodeo horse. The crystal broke with a loud clink. Spike and Ember laughed at the sight. Rainbow Dash was as good as new. Ember picked up Spike, and held him above the smoking crystal. The gash on his head mended, and his feet felt as if he had just gotten a new pair of them. He briefly wondered if that was what new horseshoes on a pony would feel like. When the vapors dissolved and Rainbow Dash had enough of kicking things into smithereens, they gathered together. “There’s just one more problem,” Rainbow Dash said. “How are we gonna get out of here?” Ember looked around her for a second, then turned to Rainbow Dash. “I don’t know… This whole room is so strange. It looks so chaotic, not like the smooth and comfortable hallways and rooms we’ve come across. I guess we should investigate this room a little more.” Suddenly Rainbow Dash took off and hovered in mid-air. “Yeah! And let’s start with that Obsidian Tablet, shall we?” Ember gave Spike a wink. Then she scooped him up and flew in the air, while Rainbow Dash led the way. Again they passed strange, random columns and holes in the roof. It looked as if there had been a cave-in, and all the black stones were scattered in the abyss. But that didn’t make sense, because if that would be so, then all of the pillars and supports and rocks should be piled up at the bottom of it. The stairway came into view, but they didn’t bother climbing it again. With a few more flaps of their wings, Rainbow Dash and Ember were standing on the altar, with Spike behind them. Shining and glittering, the Obsidian Tablet welcomed them. Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure whether they should grab it, but then reckoned that the trap had already sprung, and besides, Chain Link had held the thing in his claws as well. Nevertheless, Rainbow Dash stepped back together with Spike, as they both felt that Ember should be the one to claim the ancient dragon artifact. Ember stepped forward almost reverently, looked at her reflection in the shiny obsidian for a second, and then grabbed it. The moment Ember’s claw touched the stone, she changed. She felt different, older, more complete. A wave of knowledge washed over her mind, and she felt it opening up. The will of the Firstborn crashed into her mind like a battering ram, but soon accommodated to her sharp wits. It shaped itself to fit right into her being. For a moment, there was no Dragon-Lady Ember anymore, but an ancient Dragon-Lord, gazing at a tablet with its own memories. Dash and Spike did more steps back, as the tablet began to glow brighter and brighter. They saw that Ember was shuddering, as if she were reading a horror novel. For a moment, Dash felt like intervening and grabbing the tablet from Ember, but Spike stopped her. Somehow he knew that breaking this spell would do more harm than good. A thud resounded as Ember fell to her knees, holding the tablet high above her head, as if she were worshipping it. “I can see…” She muttered in a voice that was not her own. “The new Dragon-Lord has appeared.” To the sound of that strange, deep dark voice, Spike trembled. He knew that this couldn’t be good. He did a step forward, shielding his eyes against the black light. “The new…” Ember did a step forward. Spike thought she was going to jump off the altar; she was so close to the edge. “And the old…” the voice spoke. Rainbow Dash started to follow as well; she couldn’t let Spike down. “Shall be…” Ember flapped her wings, and landed on the roof of the altar, flanked by two enormous pillars. She walked to the middle. Rainbow Dash and Spike landed next to her. Spike reached out towards the tablet, but it was too high for him. “REUNITED!” the voice roared. Ember knelt down, and smashed the Obsidian Tablet to the ground, where it erupted into a blinding flash. Then, Rainbow Dash and Spike saw something that they would never forget. The letters on the tablet glowed brighter and brighter, until they dissolved into sizzling bolts of electricity. Like white-hot snakes they slithered around the altar, around the stairwell, around the strange cave and pillars and platforms in the unseen depths. Dash and Spike watched them descend into the abyss. The air roared with electricity; the cave wall shuddered as if it were afraid. The whole cave started to move. Suddenly, one of the great black pillars raised up before their eyes, and grabbed the side of the cave with gigantic talons. In the dim light, Dash and Spike saw that the claws were each as big as Ponyville’s town hall, and dug into the rocks like a million drills. An enormous rumble went through the altar. Rainbow Dash flew up, while Spike clung to the gigantic curved pillars that stuck out of the roof. Suddenly, an enormous fire, hotter than a thousand bonfires, lit up beneath them; one at each side of the structure. The Firstborn opened his eyes. He moved slowly like an unstoppable force. Another claw reached out and grabbed the other side of the cavern, as Meteor steadied his bones. The stairs began to move and to sway, as Meteor shook his head, waking up out of his millennium-long dream. Spike and Dash looked at each other. Both of them simultaneously understood what was going on and asked the desperate question of what was about to happen next. The floor on which they stood changed. It transformed from a cold, hard, obsidian surface to a leathery skin, wrapping around the horns and forming angry eyebrows over the fiery eyes. The altar cracked in two, as the Firstborn opened his mouth to take his first breaths after an eternity spent in the abyss. Rainbow Dash and Spike looked down, as they saw the skin creep down into the cave, carried on sparks of electricity. When it passed over the clusters of blue crystals, they shattered and spread their gasses, only speeding up the rejuvenation process. Suddenly, an enormous airstream nearly knocked Dash, Spike, and Ember off Meteor’s head. When they looked down, their view became obscured by an enormous, leathery screen, rimmed by flames. The Firstborn was ready for takeoff. A roar like a sonic rainboom thundered through the cave, and for a moment Rainbow Dash and Spike thought their ears might explode. With a roar of appreciation, the Firstborn basked in his new life. The wings disappeared, revealing the rest of his body for a few seconds. Although the blue crystals were all destroyed, the joints of Meteor the Firstborn had been renewed with living flame, and roared with renewed youth. A few seconds, then he took flight. Meteor flapped his mighty wings, and shot up and up and up on that single beat. Rainbow Dash and Spike were afraid that he would soon meet the wall of the cave, and flatten them all on top of his head. But no roof appeared; just more blackness. Meteor flapped his wings for a second time; the cave below collapsed. Higher and higher they soared, carried by the Firstborn himself towards the end, whatever that might be. Still no roof. Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Ember looked up, and could see faint sparkles appear above their heads. Small, silvery specks which seemed to dance before their eyes. Water? Stalactites? Gemstones? They were small, but didn’t seem to come closer. Then a cold wind greeted them, as Meteor the Firstborn dived into the night sky, free at last from his cavernous grave. The crazed ascension ended, and Meteor hung still into the air above the Dragon Lands, crushing rocks underneath the airstream of his wings. Rainbow Dash was the first to get her bearings. She looked around for her friends. Ember sat down on top of the Obsidian Tablet, looking around with eyes full of disbelief, and yet she understood everything that had just happened. Suddenly, when Meteor raised his wings for another mighty beat, and the rushing winds were silent, Rainbow Dash heard a faint cry. Recognizing the voice of Spike, and hearing immediately where it came from, Rainbow Dash jumped up over Meteor’s head, and launched into a dive. Far below, like a purple speck against the grey soil, Spike tumbled down the sky. When Meteor had sailed out of the cavern, Spike had lost his footing, and now he was about halfway down the giant’s scale armor belly. Long before he would smash into the ground, Rainbow Dash had reached the little dragon. She scooped him up and flapped her wings. Next to her, in stark contrast, Meteor’s wing had reached its apex, and thundered down into a mighty beat. The air punched the earth below, bounced up, surged upwards into a torrent, and took Rainbow Dash and Spike along. They shot up, spinning and tumbling out of control, and reached the head of the Firstborn in no time, where Ember stood and watched them go. “Whoa there,” she said, as she saw their startled faces. “Don’t have too much fun with my new friend.” Dash recovered, flew straight again, and swooped down with Spike to meet Ember with a frown. They stood like that for a moment. Rainbow Dash frowning, Ember smiling, Spike lying down so he wouldn’t get knocked off Meteor’s head once again. They felt the cool night air streaming against their faces, heard the crackling fire of the Firstborn’s eyes softly below them. For a moment, even Meteor was silent. Then, right on top of the dragon god’s head, they laughed. Ember first, joined a second later by Rainbow Dash. Spike stood baffled; he didn’t know what to think of this. All the struggles, fights, near-death experiences, dark corners, secrets, ancient temples, fears, worries, and injuries came out in a strange burst of laughter. Ember and Dash fell down as their legs gave way. The tension got swept out of the sky, riding on their laughter, off into the night. They knew that it was over. They knew they were free. At last Rainbow Dash got up, and wiped the tears out of her eyes. “Your friend.” She let out a chuckle. “You friend… You’re friends with a god, Ember!” “Well… I guess you’re right.” With an agile jump, Ember got up as well. “I am friends with a god. And he is friends with me.” Ember walked to the edge of Meteor’s head, grabbed one of his horns, which were each as high as the highest tower of Twilight’s castle, and peered down. Meteor the Firstborn was enormous. He still hovered stationary in the air, awaiting a command. His wings flapped up and down; wings so big they could easily overshadow all of Ponyville, making everyone think that a massive cloud would be in the way. Ember looked down, and could hardly see Meteor’s hind legs, let alone his tail. Meteor’s whole body, from the tip of his horns to the tip of his tail, would be as long as Ponyville’s main street, but Ember took a different method of measurement; she reckoned Meteor was as big as a small volcano—although much more deadly. When a cloud of smoke waved by, Ember could see the beginning of the Firstborn’s mighty tail, which was as thick as the base of a hill. With a small frown Ember reckoned that they must have been fighting on the enormous flat space of his pelvis. Then her mind wandered to the mysterious disappearance of Chain Link’s body. He has become one with his master, she thought. She felt it before she heard it; a call in her mind. The Firstborn was getting restless. His head, easily as big as Twilight Sparkle’s throne hall, slowly shook, which felt like a small earthquake. Ember felt a voice, terrible and ancient, as dark and cold as an underground lake, reverberating in her mind. Dragon Lady! “Ember!” Spike called, balancing on his legs, “we gotta do something!” Ember looked back at her friends, and reached them with a few flaps of her wings. “Yes. I just… I just don’t know what.” “Well, you’re Dragon Lady,” Rainbow Dash said. “Just order him to go somewhere.” Ember looked down at the Firstborn’s skull, where the Obsidian Tablet was still embedded in his forehead. An idea struck her; she had to try something. With unsure steps she walked towards the Tablet, and sat down in front of it. As soon as she crossed her legs, a swirl of energy captured her. Ember felt her mind connect to the Firstborn’s. She felt his mighty wings, his blazing eyes, and his obsidian bones. They were together, and yet still separate. Ember tried to concentrate, and after a second, she could feel the voice of Meteor rumbling through her mind. Very well, Meteor said. I shall take you to your rightful throne. “Hold on, everyone!” Ember shouted, as she felt the enormous body stir. Meteor came into action. With one flap of the Firstborn’s wings, Ember could see the spires of the Castle of the Dragon-Lords in the distance, like knives against the moon, stained red by the Dragon Lands’ atmosphere. The moon smiled upon her, and stood like a neutral party in the skies, watching the coming events with great interest. With the second flap of the Firstborn’s wings, the Garble Gorge, which would soon be called Ember Falls once more, came into view. The houses became obscured by the Firstborn’s wings, and many dragons opened their doors, stepped outside, and gazed at the skies. Some fled back inside; some fell to the ground and bowed; some just stood there with their mouths agape, unable to move; some, although they were very few in number, had such keen eyes that they could see Ember perched on the dragon god’s head, and cheered. Ember looked down, and wondered how many dragons were actually loyal to Garble, and how many would be scared of him. With the third flap of Meteor’s wings, the castle came into view, looking like a toy castle compared to the godly dragon’s size. The Castle’s guards fled inside, but some could be seen scurrying on the walls, loading catapults and ballistas. A few of them were actually brave enough to fire them, but the arrows were like blades of grass to Meteor, and the rocks were like breadcrumbs. Soon they realized their attempt was utterly insane, and they were gone again in the blink of an eye. With the fourth flap of Meteor’s wings, he hung still in front of the castle, and Ember could see the lonely figure of Garble standing on the highest balcony, gazing at the dragon god. From that far off, Ember couldn’t read his expression, but she hoped that he was afraid, very afraid. But in the back of her head she knew that he wasn’t, otherwise he would be inside the castle, cowering in the throne room—her throne room. Suddenly Rainbow Dash jumped up with a cry. “There you are, you slithering murderer!” She flapped her wings and primed herself for an aerial tackle. But Spike grabbed her rainbow tail, skidded a few feet along, and then Dash turned her head. “What are you doing?!” “Easy, Rainbow Dash,” Spike said. “That’s just what he wants.” Even though Spike felt like he wanted to clip Garble’s wings and toss him into the Gauntlet, he knew that this would be a battle of politics, which Ember had to fight—but not without help. Ember too, felt a fire and a primeval desire for revenge flare up inside of her. Nevertheless, she forced herself to remain calm; if she would be fighting this battle, she would do it with her wits, and not with raw force or strength—that was Garble’s style. With a small mental command, Meteor the Firstborn came close to the castle. He used his enormous claws to keep himself steady, planting them into the rocks of the crater’s rim. Then he lowered his head, until Ember was level with the balcony of the castle. The whole crater was clad in shadows, as Meteor’s body blocked out the sun. Garble stood with his claws behind his back, and with a smile upon his face. He had donned his showman’s mask once more, which hid his bafflement and shock at seeing the creature he had tried so long and so hard to unearth, with the animals on it which he tried so hard to murder. He looked down at the Firstborn’s flaming eyes first, before he met Ember’s sparkling red ones; sparkling with hate. “Well, it looks like he was in the Gauntlet after all. I had my suspicions…” Ember said nothing. Garble talked to her as if they were having a friendly conversation, and she disgusted his tone of voice. Garble cleared his throat and continued. “Thank you so much for digging him up, saves me a lot of trouble. Now please dismount your god and surrender yourself to my soldiers, or I will not show you much mercy this time.” “Mercy?!” Rainbow Dash cried out. She flew up once more, and Spike jerked her tail even harder now to be able to stop her. “You wanted to kill us!” “No, no, no, you got it all wrong, pony.” Garble sounded as if he were speaking to a little dragon whelp. “I gave you a fair chance at surviving, and you should feel honored to have been a part of the Dragon Games, our most beloved tradition which I invented myself. It’s just a shame you didn’t give us the full show…” Garble smiled a razor-sharp smile. “Because you forgot to DIE!” And with those words, he revealed his claws, which clutched the Bloodstone Scepter like a sword. Garble’s eyes flared up together with the crystal, and he pointed the thing at Meteor. That was something Spike and Rainbow Dash had forgotten about; the Bloodstone Scepter which marks the reigning Dragon-Lord. Garble could use it very well. They looked at Ember, who still stood before Garble unmoved, with her arms crossed. “Meteor the Firstborn,” Garble’s voice thundered, amplified to a roar by the Scepter’s powers, “I order you to surrender yourself to me, and destroy the ones who ride you now like a pathetic circus horse. Destroy them, and then we will keep to the dragon code and go to war together.” Dash and Spike looked at each other. Rainbow Dash was already in the air, ready to fly away from danger with Spike on her back. For a moment, their whole ordeal looked useless, as they had delivered the dragon god right into the claws of Garble. Ember still stood on the Firstborn’s forehead, between his horns, and they wondered what she was going to do. Was she going down with her ship? Ember looked pensive, as if she thought really hard about something. Suddenly, an enormous shock went through the Firstborn’s head, as he smashed his horns like a bull into the Castle of the Dragon-Lords. Stone crumbled, metal screeched, dust filled the air. Garble wobbled on his legs, and decided to take to the skies. A massive crack made the balcony split in two as soon as his feet left it, as if it was all a calculated burst of destruction, like a demolition. “Only the will of the Firstborn rules here,” Ember said with a strange voice. Meteor’s eyes flared up. A gout of flame licked Garble’s feet, and he withdrew them with a yell. On Ember’s voice drifted fear and darkness, and it wrapped around Garble’s cold heart. For a moment he felt like flying away as fast as he could, but then he shrugged it off as the hate burned through it. Taking out the Bloodstone Scepter again, he looked at it with eyes that spit fire. His only tool of power, and it proved to be useless against his enemy. With a burst of rage he threw the thing away, and it shattered on Meteor’s dark skin. Ember looked at her enemy, a smile curling on her lips. She felt the might of the Firstborn coursing through her veins, and she knew that she had Garble right where she wanted him to have. “RAAAAGH!” Garble roared, and accompanied his cry with a pillar of flame. He knew he was defeated. He knew he couldn’t fight a god. His mind was completely shut down; only rage and anger remained to swirl in a torrent through his mind. But suddenly, from that torrent came an idea, and it was so strong that it was able to bite and wriggle its way like a snake to the front of his mind. With a voice still shaking of rage, Garble said, “Fine, you win! Congratulations! You’re now officially a tyrant, just like me. And you have gained the throne through brute force, just like me. And now you can execute the opposition, just like me.” He calmed down, if only just a bit, and forced a wry smile. “Do you really want to be just like me, Ember?” Meteor the Firstborn withdrew his head. Ember looked Garble in the eyes, and suddenly, her expression returned. She felt the presence of the Firstborn withdraw from her mind, as if a friend walked out of the room and closed the door. With a shock, Ember realized that Meteor couldn’t help her with this one. Garble saw the sparkle disappear from Ember’s eyes, and his flared up in response. He felt his position strengthening; the words started to come back one by one. “Yes. So what are you gonna do with your new friend, Ember? You know there’s a lot of dragons loyal to me? Are you going to execute them? Banish them? Exile them?” Then, a roar, created by many dragon voices, reached Ember’s ears. Even though they all stood far below, Ember could still see them in the bright, flaring sun. All the way down, the inhabitants of the capital city had gathered. Ember took a moment to look down at them all. She saw the many colors, scales, claws, and eyes aimed at the skies. But when she looked closer, she noticed that they were not one single mob at all; they were divided. One group stood with its fists in the air, and yelled up to support their Dragon-Lord, their Dragon-Lord which would lead them to glory in his upcoming war to conquer all of Equestria. But Ember’s attention wasn’t drawn to the noisy, roaring, waving crowd of dragons; it was drawn to the other group. These were dragons that just stood there, looking at the giant with fearful eyes, not knowing what would happen next, not knowing what the future held in store for them. Ember looked at each one of them, using her keen sight. She saw workers, crafters, families, sometimes even traders; dragons which wanted nothing more than a stable and safe community to live their lives in. But what about the others? The group which had cheered for Garble was much, much bigger. Wouldn’t it be best to let Garble reign, as the bigger part of the dragon population seemed to support him? The thought was immediately swept away by what Ember saw next. The Garble-supporters were brutes. Enormous dragons with big fists and mean eyes. Dragons too lazy to work. Dragons which would rather destroy than make. Dragons that did not love, but only hated. Dragons eager for battle and war and raiding. Ember had been that way too, once, she realized that. She had been eager to prove herself in dangerous trials and sometimes even battles, to gain renown and favor from dragons twice her size—and that had made her feel good. But then she had realized that there was something more to fight for: a nation. She was the daughter of former Dragon-Lord Torch, and had seen how to forge a nation and rule it; how to make dragons live together and work together and fight together. Looking down, she couldn’t see that same dedication in any dragon’s eyes. They just wanted to pillage and plunder, to make themselves better and gain wealth and not care about anything else. They were no army which fought for their country and were proud to defend it. They weren’t even an army looking to conquer land for their Dragon-Lord to increase the size and power of their nation. They were just ordinary raiders and thieves, and would never make the Dragon Lands—or Equestria—a better place. Ember had no idea what to do with them, but she knew she wanted to continue her politics of peace and trade, and perhaps reform the society and the dragon people. Garble looked down, and noticed the mob as well. “Look here, look here!” he yelled, pointing at the doubting Ember. “Here is your new tyrant, who uses a god to oppress you all and force her politics on you. You guys better run, because she will rip the dragon code apart.” There was a small silence, which got quickly filled up by the roar of hundreds of dragon voices below. A moment of thought, then Ember spoke up. “No Garble,” she said. “You tore the dragon code apart. You only look after yourself and after power, while forgetting all about the safety of your people. You only look out for one group: the warriors.” Then, Ember turned herself to the crowd below, and spoke once again in Meteor’s voice, trying her best to make it sound a little less intimidating. Instantly, the voice accommodated to her will, and became filled with a hopeful promise. “Dragons of the Dragon Lands, hear my voice! During my reign, I will make sure to look after everyone, no matter how big or small, and make sure that every dragon finds its place in the world.” To her sweet words, the dragon crowd reacted, and now the roles were reversed. Now the honest working folk put their claws in the air, and shouted words of approval, while the warriors shook their heads and roared insults at her and the others. Suddenly, a riot emerged somewhere in the center of the group, as warriors launched an attack on the other dragons. Ember saw the gleam of swords and heard cries of fear. The crowd dispersed and dragons flew into the air, where they were being chased by the armed and dangerous warrior dragons. Garble looked down upon the chaos and grinned. “My, oh my! Look at what you’ve done, Ember. You’re Dragon-Lady for five minutes and there’s already civil disobedience. You’re so good at this!” But Ember ignored Garble’s sneer, and instead turned to her own mind. She gathered her wits and her strength, combining it with the Firstborn’s undying will, to let out a terrible roar. It sounded like an erupting volcano; the houses and buildings of the capital city shook in fear. With the roar traveled a sliver of Meteor’s obsidian heart, and then something strange happened. For a moment, all the dragons not only saw the giant for what he was, but felt him too in their hearts, as a dragon god. Meteor spoke to all of them in their hearts, and to each of them he said something that resonated with the dragons. No matter how big or how small, they were all dragons, and they all lived in the same land, which they had built themselves from the ground up. Meteor’s roar took them back to ancient times, when the dragons lived according to the true and original dragon code, united under a single creed. Suddenly they realized that with the return of the Firstborn, the dragon code would be more original and authentic than ever. A feeling of sweet nostalgia swept through the crowd. They realized that they might live now as they used to live, and that the old and the new would be united under a single, new dragon code. Ember’s progressive ideas would be mixed with Meteor’s ancient knowledge, and would sprout a new era in dragon history. Suddenly, they all became surprised, as a feeling of homecoming overwhelmed them, even though they hadn’t traveled at all. The hostilities were long gone, and some of the warriors stuck out their claws and shook them together with the commoners, as they all realized that they were dragons, and that they were all the same. The dragon code was good for all of them. But only if the Dragon-Lord would listen to Meteor’s will, and not uphold his own laws and customs and traditions. All things that Garble had done. And although the promise of conquest was alluring, even the most fierce of dragons saw that the will of the Firstborn would be what’s best for them, and that Garble would most likely not listen to the Firstborn at all. When the roar ended in a grumbling like a small earthquake, the Dragon’s collective voices spoke the name of their new Dragon-Lord—or rather, Dragon-Lady. “EMBER! METEOR! EMBER! METEOR!” And so it went on and on for quite a while, while neither Spike, nor Rainbow Dash, nor Ember, nor Garble spoke. Now all dragons raised their fists in the air and belched colorful flames, to celebrate their collective decision. Ember was the new Dragon-Lord. Even Spike felt the presence of Meteor in his heart, and the voice spoke wonders. For a brief moment, Spike wanted to live here in the capital city of the Dragon Lands, under Ember’s wise reign which heralded beautiful times. But he quickly dispelled the thought, wonderful as it was, because he saw the faces of his friends in Ponyville flash by before his eyes. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and… Fluttershy. When he turned his head around to look at Ember, he saw that she was looking at him as well. “I know, Spike,” Ember said, her voice once again normal, but not quite. It sounded more powerful and whole, as if she had gained a new set of vocal cords. “I shall give the order immediately. The schematics will probably be stored in the archives. Together with the smiths, we will make your parts in the blink of an eye, and then you can save your friend. And if there is anything more I can do for you, you just have to ask.” Spike wanted to say ‘thank you,’ but Rainbow Dash gave out a sudden yelp. “Look!” They hadn’t paid any attention to him at all, and now only a red speck in the distance was all that remained of Garble. Rainbow Dash primed herself for a chase, but Ember stopped her. “Let him go,” she said. “He will come back anyway, because he has no friends to turn to. And besides”—she gave her a wink—“Fluttershy deserves our attention much more than he does, doesn’t she?” To that, Dash and Spike both nodded. “She does,” Dash said. “Well then…” Ember flashed a smile and spoke both to her friends and to her dragon people. “Let’s get to work!” And once more, a cheer erupted in the crowd.