Originally published on January 25, 2018
It was a typical day at the dragon lands. Princess, I mean, Dragon Lord Ember was basking in the glory of being the newest, and youngest Dragon Lord. She had all the dragons beneath her knees, and at her bidding. Being Dragon Lord should have been easy. Dragons are mostly loners, they don't require maintenance, or guidance, just the occasional scolding to put them in place. That is what Dragon Lord Ember thought, but there are some things... you just can't prepare for.
"Ah, this is the life. Becoming Dragon Lord is the best thing that's happened to me." Ember said to herself. She sat on her throne like the royalty she was.
"I make the rules, and I call the shots!" she said triumphantly.
Yep, she was enjoying the life.
As dragon lord, she didn't have many responsibilities, however, she did find herself answering some questions from time to time.
"Uh Ember? Where do you want this rock?" Vex came into her throne room and asked her.
"Put it rest rest of the rocks. Duh." Ember said.
"Oh, I probably could have figured that out." Vex said.
"You don't say?!" Ember said.
Vex flew off to do other dragon duties.
"Any more questions? No? Can I relax now...? Good." Ember leaned back and relaxed, basking in the glory of being dragon lord. That didn't last long until she was interrupted yet again.
"Dragon Lord Ember!" Clump and Fume flew towards Ember. They looked very worried, and were basically panicking.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Ember asked, expressing genuine concern.
"Garble's gone missing!" they exclaimed.
"He what!?" Ember raised her voice.
"We were out hunting with him when he wandered off, and then we heard a loud noise, and saw a flash of light. We went to look for him and then couldn't find him!" Fume explained.
"Well then go back and find him!" Ember demanded.
"Why? Because he's your friend?" Clump asked mockingly.
"What? No! Because he owes me a foot rub! Besides, no dragon is going to slack off on my watch! Now go and find him!" Ember said.
"Right away your dragon lord-ship." they said.
With her command, Clump and Fume flew off to look for Garble.
A few days passed, but neither Clump or Fume ever came back.
Ember was taking a walk through the dragon lands, searching herself for Clump and Fume.
"Ugh. Where are those slackers?" she asked herself.
In fact, the rest of the dragon lands was beginning to feel a lot more... quiet.
Ember surveyed her land. There were very few dragons around. Even during non-migration periods, it was usually populated by plenty of dragons. Right now however, there were very few dragons, quite an alarming sight.
"What if something bad actually happened to them?" Ember wondered to herself. "Where are all my dragons going? Either everyone decided to ditch at once, or something bad's happening."
"What do I do? I'm the leader, I should know what to do, but I'm not so sure right now." she said to herself.
"Lord Ember!" Fizzle called out. He flew to Ember's side.
"What is it?" she asked.
"They're coming!" he alerted.
"Who's coming?" Ember asked.
"Them." Fizzle pointed over yonder.
Ember could see a tower of smoke in the distance, and something heading their way. She had a very bad feeling about what was coming, but wasn't ready to step down from any threat.
Ember, and what few dragons still remained by her side were ready for anything (but really they weren't).
What they saw stunned all of them.
It was an armored car, and it was driving into the heart of the dragon lands. The dragons watched as it came in closer. It rolled up to, and parked only about a dozen meters from Ember.
The dragons weren't sure what to do. Was it was worth attacking now? Or should they wait to see what could be inside the vehicle?
Finally after some tense moments, two doors on opposite sides of the car opened, and two ponies stepped out of the vehicle, one marginally larger than the other, and both wearing fireproof body armor and masks. They had heavy gear attached to them.
"May I help you pony?" Ember asked the mystery ponies.
"Yes you can. I'm conducting a little experiment, and I require that you and your dragons all surrender this instant." the pony said.
The dragons laughed at the idea. Surrender? No way!
"Just who do you think you are?" Ember asked.
"Pardon my manners, allow me to introduce myself. They call me Henry, and this is my second in command Jeffery. You may consider us researchers of sorts. Now then, if you would, surrender at once." Henry said.
"Why should we!?" Ember asked.
"You wouldn't want to end up like your other dragons now would you?" Henry said.
*gasp* "What have you done with Garble and the others!?" Ember asked startled.
"If you go down easy, you can find out sooner than later." Henry said.
"Pfft. You make big talk, but you're just a pony. What could you possibly do to harm us!?" Ember asked.
"If you refuse my orders, I'll show you first hand." Henry said.
"I'll give you the count of three to surrender." he said.
"What do we do Ember?" asked Vex.
"I don't know yet." Ember said.
"How do you not know? You're the leader!" Vex said.
"One..." Henry counted down.
"You're not actually afraid of this pony? We're dragons. We're tougher as nails, ain't no pony knock us down!" said Billy.
"Two..." Ember and the other dragons were getting in fighting positions.
"Alright dragons. Get ready for the fight of your lives." Ember said.
"That's what I like to hear!" Fizzle said.
"Three!" Henry called out.
At that, Henry and the dragons engaged in combat.
Vex lunged forward, when Henry pulled out his weapon of choice. He fired an electric harpoon directly into Vex. It electrocuted him, tied him up, and brought him crashing to the ground.
Every dragon gazed in shock and horror.
"Don't hold back! Keep going!" Ember commanded. She commanded her dragons while she stood a safe distance away.
Fizzle flew up to try to breath fire onto Henry. Partly thanks to his armor, Henry resisted the flames long enough for Jeff to fire a harpoon into Fizzle, which electrocuted him, and brought him to the ground.
Snake flew up and tried to claw Henry. He dodged it, lunged forward and kicked Snake in the jaw, knocking him out cold.
Whip snuck up from behind, and tried to knock over the car with his massive tail. Henry spotted him, grabbed him by the tail and flung him up and over, slamming him onto the ground.
Prominence flew after Jeff, but Henry pressed a button on his remote control, which detonated a net that launched from the side of the car, trapping and electrocuting her.
"No!" Ember cried out, watching her dragons fall one by one.
Billy breathed fire from distance, it was ineffective against Henry and Jeff's armor.
Henry fired a harpoon, but Billy was far enough away to dodge it.
"So they're fighting smarter, but not smart enough." Henry said to himself.
Henry pressed a button on his remote.
"Sawtooth, it's time. Deploy it now!" Henry ordered through his walkietalkie.
"Roger that sir." Sawtooth said.
With Henry's command, Sawtooth piloted a flying machine with a giant propeller (some of you may know them as 'helicopters'). It flew up from behind the hill, and hovered overhead.
The helicopter looked menacing, so the dragons regrouped around Ember to strategize.
"What is that thing?" asked Ballista.
"I don't know what that flying machine is, but I know that I don't like it!" Ember said.
"Should we attack it?" Barry asked.
Ember thought about what to do next. Their plan (or lack there of), wasn't working.
"Here's what we're going to do. Half of you attack their air machine, the other half attack the land vehicle!" Ember commanded.
"Whatever you say!" Baff said.
The few dragons remaining swarmed, covering half and half like Ember said.
The first swarm of dragons flew towards the helicopter to attack. They attempted to breath fire on the helicopter, but it was ineffective. Sawtooth dropped a net on the dragons, trapping most of them. He then pressed a button in the cockpit that electrified the dragons entangled in the net.
Henry and Jeff continued to fire harpoons into the dragons that swarmed on the ground. None of them stood a chance.
Henry twisted Viverno's neck, and threw him onto the ground. And just like that, Ember's army of dragons were reduced to a bunch of broken spirits. There were no remaining dragons in the immediate vicinity that were able to fight.
"It's over Lord Ember. Your army's defeated." Henry said. "Do you surrender now?"
There was one last hope. Ember wielded the Bloodstone Scepter, as a last resort. She pulled it out and used its powers to try to zap Henry.
"Fighting with magic huh? Two can play at that game." Henry pressed a button on his remote, which activated an antenna that retracted from the top of the vehicle. Ember zapped the car, but the antenna acted like a sort of lightning rod, and absorbed the blast.
"What the?!" Ember wasn't prepared for this.
The rod charged up, and fired back the energy directly at Ember. It hit her square in the chest, and she to the ground.
Ember looked upon her dragon subjects, as she and they were tortured and brought down. They were no match for Henry's advance technology. Maybe they could keep fighting, but Ember couldn't stand to watch her subjects be pulverized any further.
"So, what's it going to be?" Henry asked.
"I... I surrender." Ember said.
"Excellent." Henry said.
"Jeff, Sawtooth, round up the dragons. They're going on a little trip." Henry said.
Jeff tied up all the downed dragons, and rounded them in one place, where Sawtooth hoisted away to Henry's secret location.
"You're coming alone too. You'll be our official ambassador for dragon and pony communication needs." Henry walked up to Ember and handcuffed her.
"Very well, I will do as you wish." Ember conceded defeat.
"Excellent choice." Henry said.
And just like that, Ember agreed to let Henry take her dragons away to his lair, and to join Henry by his side in his efforts.
The events you just read were all Ember's flashback. These were events that took place even before Spike was captured. And so that brings us to the current events.
To recap, last time we saw Ember in Chapter 10, she had double crossed Henry and tried to escape with Spike, but her plan didn't work, and she was captured. Being Henry's ambassador didn't work out as she planned. She had hoped that even after surrendering, she could find a weakness or a way to exploit Henry, and save her dragons, but things don't always go according to plan.
Now, after being captured, she sat in a chair, tied up and muzzled in a dark room, waiting for whatever punishment Henry had in store. Waiting gave her time to reflect on things, hence the really long flashback.
Finally, Henry entered the room.
"It's time." he said.
"Do your worst." Ember said.
Henry pushed Ember on the swivel chair through the facility's prison hall, where all the dragons were held captive in cells. He wanted to humiliate Ember before the next phase of his punishment.
Ember looked to her side, and saw to what extent the dragons were being treated. She saw all the dragons were muzzled, behind bars, and their wings were tied up. It was truly horrific sight to behold.
Dragons in captivity included Garble, Fume, Clump, Vex, Fizzle, Crackle, Snake, Whip, Billy, Baff, Rex, Prominence, and more.
"Look everyone, it's Dragon Lord Ember!" Garble said mockingly.
There was a huge uproar of hate and disapproval coming from the dragons. The dragons roared with disgust.
"You suck!"
"You betrayed us!"
"You sided with the enemy!"
"How could you let this happen?"
How could I just let this happen indeed? Ember thought with deep regret.
It was at that moment swiveling through the hall that her mistakes stared her directly in the face. She let all the dragons down big time.
Finally, they made it to the end of the passageway, where they entered a door into another room.
"Double crossing your dragons was your first mistake. Double crossing me was your next mistake." Henry said.
Ember didn't say anything.
"Being leader is a hard job. How does it feel to have to have completely failed?" he asked.
Ember didn't answer.
"Don't worry about it. You weren't a total failure. After all, you did give me the excellent idea to capture Spike the Dragon." Henry said.
Ember's eyes widened, she had forgotten that at some point, she had mentioned Spike, and where he was to Henry.
"And he's become quite the fighting machine I must admit." he said.
"You're not going to get away with this you." Ember threatened. "Twilight Sparkle's going to find this place, and she's going to save Spike, and all the dragons, and kick your sorry flank into oblivion!" Ember exclaimed.
"Even if Twilight did find this place, I don't think she'd like what she would find." Henry said as he attached an apparatus to Ember's head.
Henry exited the room.
"Now then, any last words?" he asked through an intercom.
"I hope you rot in Tartarus." Ember said.
"Not a chance." Henry pulled a lever, and sparks flew, so to speak.
"Finally we'll get some good use out of her." he said.
Later, Henry went to check on Jeff, who was doing maintenance on the car.
"How are repairs on the vehicle?" Henry asked.
"They're going as routine." Jeff said.
"I can't believe you actually crashed into that train." Henry said.
"Well the rail way is built directly on the fastest route from Ponyville, a passage cutting through the Crystal Mountains, leading to our secret location here in Frozen North." Jeff explained.
"Still doesn't change the fact you collided with a train and almost derailed our entire plan. How shortsighted. You're lucky I didn't fire you right then and there." Henry scolded.
"Sorry boss. I promise to make it up to you." Jeff apologized.
"For your sake, you better." Henry said.
"Also, I've been wondering, why did you build the gas station outside of the compound?" Henry asked. "It's a pain to have to go out in the freezing cold just to fill the gas tank."
"But boss, keeping a large deposit of gasoline in this building full of fire breathing dragons is just asking for disaster." Jeff answered.
"That actually makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about it that way." Henry said.
Jeff continued to repair the car. The same car that was used to invade the dragons lands, and used to capture Spike. It was damaged after Jeff (who was the pony driving on that fateful night), crashed it into the Friendship Express, exactly as Pinkie predicted.
"Boss, do you ever think about...?" Jeff started a question.
"Think about what?" Henry asked.
"What your life was like, before you started to pursue dragon hunting?" Jeff asked.
"Never. Not for a second. I made the right decision by leaving those back stabbing ponies behind." Henry said.
"I see.." Jeff softly replied.
"Do you think about your pathetic little life before you were fortunate enough to run into me?" Henry asked.
"I try not to." Jeff said.
"And you shouldn't. We're so close to achieving great power. Don't let the opportunity pass you by." Henry said.
"Understood boss." Jeff said.
"What's Sawtooth up to at the moment?" Henry asked.
"He's having lunch. He's eating spaghetti again." Jeff answered.
"Lazy brute he is." Henry said.
"I know. And he never shares!" Jeff complained.
"Well, it's no big deal. Everything is going just as I planned. At this rate, nopony can stop us, not even Twilight Sparkle." Henry said.
"Why aren't you worried about Twilight?" Jeff asked. "What if she finds us? It's entirely possible."
"Let me tell you a story. Capturing these dragons was easy. Do you know why?" Henry asked.
"I think I know why, but I like it when you explain things." Jeff answered.
"Because they are so uncooperative. They attack individually, which made exploiting their individual weaknesses a cake walk." Henry said.
"Twilight Sparkle on the other hand, does know the power of friendship, and what it can do. So I had to think of a less direct approach, to get under her skin." he explained.
"That's why I captured her dragon. Without him, she's probably miserable, to the point of treating her other loathsome friends less. This will weaken their friendship. The Princess of Friendship is most powerful when united with her friends."
"By her self, she's strong, but beatable, but with her friends she's almost invincible. That's why, the hope is that by this point, their friendship is broken just long enough, that a fully grown Spike will trample all of them." Henry explained.
"Simply an ingenious plan." Jeff said.
"But what's the plan in case Twilight does find this place?" Jeff asked.
"If she comes with her friends, we unleash the dragons, and it'll be one hell of a throw down. If Twilight shows up alone, well then, she'll walk strait into our trap." Henry said.
"Speaking of Spike, how's our little secret weapon coming along?" Henry peaked into Spike's room. Spike was unrecognizable. He was a very large dragon consumed by greed, exactly as Henry planned. Spike was about twice Henry's height.
"The power of a mighty dragon, all under my control." Henry gloated.
"Just one more fight, and then it's time. For the next run, I want him to rip and tear a dragon to shreds." he said.
"Um boss, you wouldn't mind if I selected Spike's next opponent would you?" Jeff asked. "You always pick Spike's opponent."
"Eh, why not? Spike's only one fight away from being an indestructible killing machine. None of the other dragons stand a chance anyway." Henry said.
"I can't wait to see the look on Twilight's face when she sees what's become of the little dragon. Soon Spike will be capable of mass destruction, and our takeover can begin. I can see it now, a mighty dragon, under my control, trampling those puny little ponies. I'll be unstoppable." Henry said.
"Even if Spike ends up not working out, there's always Plan B., which I think Ember would be glad to help us out with." he said.
"Have you convinced Ember to help us for real this time?" Jeff asked.
"Let's just say this time, she won't have a choice." Henry answered.
"My plan is full proof, Equestria will be mine in no time at all." Henry said.
And there you have it. Some backstory on how Ember and the dragons ended up in the sticky situation they were in, and a glimpse at things to come. What happens next? Pinkie just discovered the location of Henry's secret lair, so what are Twilight and friends to do next? Will Henry's plan succeed? Or can it be stopped? It's going to take nothing short of a miracle to save the day this time.
Pinkie already figured out where this location is, so tune in next time to see what Twilight and friends plan to do with this newfound knowledge.