//------------------------------// // The Chosen One // Story: Smolder's Parents // by Readingyay //------------------------------// Smolder was just wandering around the Dragon lands. It was the third time her parents trusted her to go anywhere without them and it made her happy. She knew her parents weren’t abusive or anything like that, they just had trouble trusting others and gaining the trust from them. They knew that if anyone found out they were Smolder’s parents, creatures would try and take her away from them. Which is why they told her multiple times before she left that if someone asked for her parents to tell them she was an orphan, and that's exactly what she did. Smolder was walking on the outskirts of the Dragon lands when a red dragon and his friends landed in front of her. “Well what do we have here” the red one said to no one in particular with a grin “It’s a newbie. Never seen you around here before.” he said as he looked at his friends next to him and laughed. “What do you say guys? Should we put her in her place” he said looking back at her still holding his grin.  Not wanting to start a fight Smolder started to back up a bit, but in return the group of dragons started to surround her. She was about to try and fly off when she heard someone from above. “That is enough Garble!” a blue dragon said landing in front of Smolder and staring at Garble. Smolder looked to the blue dragons side to see she was holding some kind of scepter. Because Smolder wasn’t raised in the Dragon lands she didn't know what most things in the Dragon lands were, which included the scepter. Looking back in front of her she saw the red dragon mumble something before him and his friends took off. When they did the blue dragon turned around to look at Smolder. “Hi I’m Dragon Lord Ember and you are?” Ember asked, holding her claw out to the orange dragon. Smolder just stared at her for a second before responding. ‘Dragon lord?’ She thought to herself ‘My parents never said anything about there being a lord. Am I allowed to talk to her?’.  Snapping herself out of her thoughts realizing how stupid she must look to the blue dragon she looked up and responded while shaking Embers claw “My names Smolder. Sorry for acting weird. I'm not from here, never knew there was a Dragon Lord”.  “Oh where are you from?” Ember asked her. ‘Fuck what did I just do. Think of something’ She thought while frantically trying to think of a place. She heard of this one place after her one father tried to take over it so she decided to just roll with it. “I’m from the Crystal Empire” she said trying not to give away her lie. After a few moments of silence Ember started talking again. “Oh I didn't know there were dragons there” Ember said while wondering if there were dragons in other places.  “Well I’ve chosen you so can you bring your parents here so I could talk to them and let them know you’re gonna be gone for a bit” Ember said while looking to the side. ‘What the hell does she mean by chosen’. “Um I don't have any parents.” She paused realizing how easy it was to say that now unlike the first time she had to. “Also what do you mean by you’ve chosen me, and where am I going exactly?” Ember let out a sigh “I’ve been tasked to find a dragon to take to the School of Friendship in Ponyville and since you seem like the least aggressive dragon I’ve chosen to take you. Since you don't have parents get ready to leave tomorrow. You can stay in my cave till then got it?” Ember asked looking back at her. “But if you wanna know where my cave is I suggest you come with me now. I’m turning in for the night so this is your only chance you’ll get to find my cave.” Not knowing what to do Smolder decided to follow her. ‘School? Friendship? Ponyvi- PONIES!? I CAN'T GO TO A PLACE FILLED WITH PONIES MY PARENTS WILL KILL ME!’ She thought as she flew. As if she was reading her mind Ember started talking “I know being in a place with ponies sounds dreadful but if it makes you feel better there's gonna be other creatures there. There's one other dragon there. His name is Spike and he was raised by ponies. Specifically the one running the school. Her name is Twilight the Princess Of Friendship.” Ember started to land at the opening of a cave with Smolder close behind. When Smolder landed she heard Ember already telling her which room she could sleep in. “You can stay in this room for the night. I’m gonna wake you up at six so when I do get ready as fast as you can. The opening of the school is at 7:30 and it takes an hour to get there.” Ember walked away into what Smolder could only guess was her room and she shut the door. Going into the room that was given to her she closed the door and started to freak out. ‘I can NOT go to a place with ponies. My parents will think I’m betraying them, especially since my one mom got defeated by one not too long ago! I can still hear her going on and on about how the pink pony named Starlight ruined her life. Then again I can't just leave. If Ember really has to leave by six then she doesn’t have any time to find another dragon, and if I did leave she’d probably go to the Crystal Empire trying to find me. And if she found me later on in the future, with her being the Dragon Lord i’d be screwed!’.  Thoughts continued to fill her head until she fell asleep next to the bed. Next thing she knew Ember was in front of her telling her to wake up. “We don't have all day now” she said while turning to walk out. “Get ready and come to the main part of the cave. I got a few gems for you to eat before we go.”. After getting ready she met Ember in the main part of the cave with no other choice to make.  “So how long is this schooling thing gonna take?” Smolder asked while trying to find a place to sit. While handing her a bowl of gems Ember responded “Well in total it’s gonna take a few years but you do get breaks in between” Ember's words only seemed to make Smolder panic even more. Not only was she going to a place full of ponies, she was going to a place full of ponies for years. But she knew she couldn’t back out, it was too late for that. ‘Maybe I could try and sneak out of the school since I can't sneak away from here’. Both Ember and Smolder finished up eating and left. As they were flying Smolder asked more questions.  “You said there's gonna be other creatures here, what kinds?” “Well there's gonna be a Yak, a Griffon, a Hippogriff, and a Changeling” ‘A CHANGELING? Great moms really gonna kill me now. Wait...’  “What's a Hippogriff?” She asked. “Some kind of bird thing that can change into a fish. They used to be trapped underwater for years because of the Storm King taking over their land but now that Twilight and her friends killed him the Hippogriffs were finally able to return to their land.” Ember said with a bit of a happy tone near the end. ‘My parents used to tell me about the Storm King a lot when I was younger. They never really liked him that much.’ “Huh” was all she said. -------------------------------------------------*At The School*------------------------------------------------- After a while of flying they made it to a purple building. From the looks of it they seemed to be late. When they started to walk in, a rush of fear and discomfort washed over Smolder and she tried to leave when Ember grabbed her by the arm and began to pull her in. Smolder kept trying to pull away until they got to a pillar and Ember let go of her. Smolder leaned against the pillar and blurted out with an attitude “Why am I here?” “Because as Dragon Lord I ordered you to be here!” Ember responded. Ember then turned and called out for Spike. “Hey Spike come meet Smolder” she called which resulted in a hug. Spike looked behind her to see Smolder but ended up seeing two dragons. “Um which one is Smolder?” he asked looking back at Ember who turned to see the two dragons. “Ocellus!” the four of them heard from behind. Out of nowhere the mysterious dragon turned into a rock with Thorax over top. Thorax looked at the three dragons and apologized. “Sorry she's shy” he said. That's when they all heard Twilight starting to talk. “Welcome every creature...” That's how Smolder's life changed so much in just one night.