//------------------------------//
// 343. The Gauntlet of Fire - Epilogue 
// Story: Blaze the Pony Tale 
// by Wolven5 
//------------------------------//

In the southern Dragon Lands, in the territory of Dradea, a young dragon was flying swiftly towards Burning Rock, the stronghold of his liege. He arrived at the gates where two dragons standing guard raised their wings to bar his path.
"Halt!"
"Who goes there?"

The dragon raised a medal for them to see, and they nodded before lowering their wings and opening the doors. In the dragon walked to behold the vast cave decorated with the wealth and trophies of his mistress. The walls were encrusted with rubies, topaz, garnet, amber, reflecting and refracting the torchlight to make the cavern appear as though everything was on fire. As always, he was tempted to pluck maybe just one juicy gemstone from the walls... until his eyes once again fell upon the skull of the last dragon to do something so foolish. 

"Ah, my trusted spy..."

The dragon gazed towards the back of the cavern, to a throne, upon which sat Lady Infurya, Dragon Lord of Dradea. In the two hundred-and-fifty years since she claimed the mantle of Dragon Lord from her predecessor, she'd proven herself a leader to be feared and respected. She'd garnered wealth, reverence, and plenty of trophies, each one a memento of her accomplishments. 

The dragon gazed upon his liege, for Infurya was a beauty truly breathtaking. She was large yet slender, strong yet lithe. Her scales were a vibrant dark orange while her wings were burning red. Her spines and horns were charcoal black yet gave off a golden shimmer under the light, and her eyes, draconic and piercing, reflected the beauty of a forest fire. She wore bands of gold with rubies to complement the symbol of her rule, the Bloodestone Necklace. It gave off a shimmer of power as Infurya spoke. 

"My Bloodstone Necklace has already informed me the obvious; new blood has assumed lordship over the West. What it cannot tell me, I hope you can..."

The spy gulped, hearing the edge in those words before he bowed and answered, "My Lady, I bore witness to the entire contest set by the former Lord Torch. It is his daughter, Princess Ember, who has emerged victorious as his successor. Though I suppose she is now Lady Ember." 

"Hmm, so Torch's welp has assumed her father's mantle," Infurya rubbed her chin, "Anything else?"

"Yes, my Lady," the spy nodded, "it is how Ember won the contest. You see, it was not she who made it to the Bloodstone Scepter first, but rather it was another dragon, a rather young one who hasn't even grown into his wings yet. A dragon by the name of Spike."

"Oh? But if this... Spike claimed the scepter first, then why is Ember the new Lord of Drazgard?"

"It still baffles me, your Grace. The welp chose to give the victory to Ember! He wasn't competing to become Dragon Lord for power, but rather..." 

The spy hesitated, unsure of how to say the rest until his liege prodded, "But rather...?"

"...Well, he... he did it because he felt it would protect Equestria!"

"Equestria?! What are you talking about?! What allegiance does a dragon have to that nation of pitiful inferior creatures?!"

"Well, you see, my Lady, Spike arrived accompanied by two alicorns!"

"Alicorns?" Infurya found herself intrigued, "Which ones? What color were they?"

"Well, one was a male and colored blue while the other was female, colored a soft purple."

"...Prince Midnight Blaze and his mate Princess Twilight Sparkle," Infurya was becoming more and more intrigued.

"Not only that, my Lady, but the Sorceress, Singescale, she was involved as well. Apparently, she encouraged Ember to compete for the scepter despite her father forbidding it, and last I saw them, Singescale is accompanying the ponies and Spike back towards Equestria!" 

Curiouser and curiouser... Infurya was starting to see this interesting report in a less interesting light. 

"And this Spike... he is allied with the ponies?"

"It appears so, my Lady."

"Then perhaps... he could be what I've been looking for," Infurya smiled with a most despicable mischief in mind. 

"And... what's that, Lady Infurya?" asked the spy.

Chuckling darkly, Infurya cryptically answered, "Two birds, one stone..."