Dragon Lord Ember was not having a good time. Quite the opposite, really. She had been invited to some pony friendship meeting by the pony Princesses, which was... tolerable. After all, Spike was usually near the purple one, and the others seemed to understand how soft they were compared to her. The blue one, especially. If she ever got pressured to make another friend, but this time a pony one, Ember was pretty sure she would go for the blue one. Sometimes, the Dragon Lord even thought the blue one must be part dragon, though of course that was ridiculous. But, suffice to say, the pony friendship meeting was the least of her problems.
Once she got there, they had informed her that the proper and official dress code for a pony friendship meeting was a big, fluffy dress, full of frills and lace and other things that caught on her claws, spines, and scales. The dragoness couldn't quite remember when or how she had put it on, but the important thing was that it was on her and that sucked. Absolutely miserable. She looked her best just after a lava bath, completely naked in her scales. No dragon went around with dresses or anything, unless it was made of gems to snack on later. Still, this friendship meeting was very important, so she had to deal with it.
But the worst part of it all was when they only served a single carrot. A half dozen visits to and from Spike had taught her that meat was a pipe dream, because ponies not only didn't eat meat, but they thought that somedragon else eating meat was like eating them. At the time, Ember had wondered if they ever thought that about daisies, since some of them were named Daisy, probably. But either way, Ember learned: ponies do not serve meat. What was truly atrocious, however, was that there wasn't a single gem to be found. Spike lived there! They should have known that gems were delicious, at least to dragons!
With a snort of smoke, Ember took the carrot. If nothing else, she could at least gnaw it into a more interesting shape. As she raised it up to her snout, though, the vegetable tumbled from her grip. Ember furrowed her brow and went to grab it, only to see that, instead of her beautiful, scaly hands, she now sported a pair of blue, furry hooves! In shock and terror, she fell back from her chair, watching as the rest of the pony friendship meeting smiled and laughed. They were all laughing. The purple one laughed. The blue one laughed. The white one laughed. The other one laughed. The dragons there, they laughed too, at seeing their Dragon Lord as a weak, soft pony, consigned to eating grass and frolicking and... braiding manes or whatever. She tried to command them as their ruler, but all that came out was a neigh, or maybe a whinny. Spike towered over her, now an adult dragon. "Ah, Ember," he rumbled, in his normal voice, way too high for a dragon his size, "you thought I was a pony in a dragon's body, but it looks like you're just a soft pony, yourself! Ha ha ha!" He opened his jaws and leaned in to pick up his dinner...
Suddenly, a blue blast of magic crashed into his head, sending him tumbling off of Canterlot mountain. Ember turned her head to see her savior; a dozen tails off, the blue princess stood strong, a wisp of smoke at the tip of her horn. She took flight, soaring over to the dragon-turned-pony, and offered Ember a hoof up. Ember took it, righting herself.
"You aren't laughing at me?" she asked the Princess.
"As far as nightmares go, this isn't even the funniest tonight," the dark blue pony said with a smile, "besides, laughing at their horror just makes ponies feel bad. And dragons, I would assume. Though, Ember, I am surprised to find your dream here. Are you visiting Equestria?"
Ember nodded. "Yeah, didn't you see that whole debacle the pony friendship meeting turned into? Or what it turned me into?"
The pony turned to look at the table. Around it were a quartet of stick ponies, roughly colored in, with signs hanging from their necks reading "the white one," "the purple one," "the blue one," and "another pony." She picked up "the blue one" in her magic, and in a flash of light, it read "Luna" instead. She shook her head. "I suppose this is one more thing my sister is springing on me, then. Thousands of years, and she still thinks it's fun to drop big diplomatic things on my head."
Ember looked up, above Luna's head. Luna blinked. "Metaphorically. Though there was that time with the folder of Seaquestria treaties..."
The dragoness shook her head. "Okay, wait, wait. There's two of you here, and you don't smell like a changeling, so that means..." She racked her brain to continue, but couldn't come up with anything. Maybe ponies reproduced by budding? That would explain why the purple one is smaller.
"That means you're dreaming, Princess Ember," Luna said. "As the Prin-"
"Dragon Lord Ember," Dragon Lord Ember corrected.
"Very well. You are dreaming, Dragon Lord Ember. It is my solemn duty to help ponies deal with their nightmares." The alicorn winked at her. "And, apparently, dragons."
"Okay, so what does all..." Ember gestured to the stick ponies, the table, the dragons frozen in time, "this mean?" She did a double-take, staring at her properly scaly hand. "Oh, good. Not a pony."
"Yes, not a pony," Luna agreed with a smile. "As for what it means, nightmares love to scare creatures. Are you scared of being a pony?"
The dragoness folded her arms, glaring at the presumptious princess. "I'm not scared of anything," she said, "if you ponies want to turn me into one of your non-confrontational, soft, fuzzy... ponies, you'll have to go through me, first!" She bristled, wings tensed as though Luna was going to charge her... then slumped forward. "Okay, a little. But not literally. The hooves would totally suck, though. I just don't want to lose what makes me a dragon just because of being 'friends' with ponies," Ember said with air quotes.
"So don't do that," Luna said simply. At Ember's critical stare, she continued, "if somepony isn't willing to accept that you're a dragon, they're not really trying to be friends with you, they're trying to be friends with who you could be if you were like them. You will become a little different, of course, but you won't lose yourself."
The Dragon Lord looked back at the pony friendship meeting table, and the carrot laying on it. "So, I can still be friends with Spike and not have to eat carrots," she concluded, "or braid manes or say things like 'let's fly to the castle.'"
Luna shook her head. "I am the sole reason there are moon pies at princess summits," she said with a smile, "you can absolutely stay out of all that 'pony stuff' if you really want to. We'll let you know what we can tolerate, and you can do the same."
"Huh. That's actually pretty good." Ember swished her tail back and forth, then looked up at Luna again. "No meat, though, right? I can't get a good steak?"
Luna laughed, shaking her head again. "No, not in Equestria. Twilight and Cadance would object, I think." She lit her horn, and a craggy, stone door inset with sapphires appeared in the air before her, which then swung open. "Now, I must help other creatures in need. However... before I go, is there anything you want me to mention to the castle chefs for the meeting? Opals, or quartzes?"
"Rubies," the dragoness answered quickly. "Amethysts if you can get 'em. Oh! And, Princess, uh... L- what is it... Luna? Princess Luna?"
"Rubies and amethysts, got it. Yes, Ember?" the princess said, head sticking out of the door.
"Thanks. You would be good to talk to more."
Luna smiled. "You too, Dragon Lord Ember. Have fun in your dream!" And with that, the door closed and vanished.
Ember watched it go, then walked up to the table again. The blue stick pony had been replaced by a much more real-looking Luna. "And just what does that mean?"
The dream Luna's mouth didn't move as it responded, instead quickkly jumping between having an open and closed mouth. "Dreams can do anything!"
The dragoness pondered this for a moment. The next moment, a twenty-pound, rare steak landed on the table. And then tiny diamonds peppered it. The Bloodstone Scepter appeared in her hands, and then a second one. Ember took a bite of the steak, not bothering to try to pick it up. It was delicious, and regrew immediately.
The Dragon Lord had an awful lot of fun in her dream.