Princess Celestia had flow into the Dragon Lands. Other dragons spotted her and commented among themselves.
“I didn’t know ponies could have both a horn and wings.”
“What’s a pony doing coming up in here anyway?”
“She must be a princess, look at that crown. As if that’ll matter here.”
“Ponies, friendship, blah.”
“Is she as big as ponies can get? So little.”
Celestia flew into the lair of Dragon Lord Torch. Torch completely towered over Celestia in sheer size. “What is tiny pony doing here?” Torch asked.
“My little ponies and your dragons have not had very positive relations,” Celestia noted.
“Yeah, so?”
“There’s no reason for the hostile relations between us.”
“There is plenty. We don’t need you ponies and your ‘friendship’. Dragon kind is just fine as we are.”
“There are many benefits to friendship. One of the biggest benefits is trade. A united Equus is a stronger and better Equus.”
“Trade? How laughable. Dragons don’t give, they take.”
“That can lead to making a lot of enemies, myself included.”
“If you want war, bring it!”
“Excuse me? Let’s back way up. I come on friendly terms, not to wage violence. But I will remain firm that I will not tolerance my ponies being robbed.”
“Dragons are superior. Even at your biggest I tower over you.”
“We’re getting off track here.”
“Dragons strong, ponies weak. To befriend the weak will make us dragons weaker.”
“It takes strength, not weakness, to form bonds. In my very long life, I’ve seen the good that comes from friendships.”
“Getting bored now, go away.” With no other choice, Celestia took flight to head back home. But before she got very far, another dragon flew up to her. This cyan female dragon was far smaller in size.
“Celestia, wait!” She cried out. Celestia turned around and landed.
“Yes?” She asked.
“I’m Ember, daughter of the current Dragon Lord. My father is really stubborn and stuck in his ways just like you experienced. I admit to not understanding the ways of friendship very much, but the way we live now is far from ideal. The dragons have gotten very lazy when they’re not being crude. They don’t have much in the way of practical life skills. Opening trade would force them to produce something useful to trade with other nations. However, as it is now, most other dragons are content with seeing ponies and other creatures as inferior.”
“I’m no stranger to dragon pride. I do wish Torch would see how this would benefit his little dragons as well, not just my little ponies.”
“There is a way. At some point, he’ll call for a contest for a new Dragon Lord to take over. I’m going to enter and do my best to win so I can take over. He likely won’t allow me in, but that’s why I’ll wear armor.”
“My number one student, Twilight Sparkle, has been raising a baby dragon named Spike. Depending how soon this contest happens, I can have him join to compete. If either one of you wins, we can start making real positive changes.”
“A baby dragon? What chance would he have against the rest of the dragons?”
“With him being raised by Twilight and ponies in general, he’ll understand the importance of friendship. This will give him the edge where he’ll lack in physical prowess. In fact, you two could even work together.”
“Well, there is no rule against dragons helping each other. Most won’t do it given their stubbornness.”
“However small the chance, I’ll take it. Once this contest starts, I’ll send Spike over.”
“Great! There’s little else as I can do for now, as even despite being princess, the dragons won’t listen to me about anything that goes against their current ways. In fact, if any of them saw me fly over to you, they’ll question me when I return, but I can handle it. I’ll see you later.”
A day after Ember became Dragon Lord Ember, Celestia flew in for another visit. “It worked Celestia, I can still hardly believe it.”
“Indeed, this is a wondrous victory. Congratulations are in order.”
“I did almost lose my way. I teamed up with Spike, then abandoned him mid race, only to later undo my mistake. I never should have doubted the little guy.”
“First impressions do come a very long way. In the end, you did what mattered. Twilight is overjoyed to be sending friendship letters about dragons.”
“Despite this, I can’t make overnight changes. It’s going to take a lot more than me as Dragon Lord to convince the other dragons to see things differently. I can’t stress enough how stubborn dragons are and stuck in their ways. Some refuse to accept my rule, especially after they lost to a baby dragon raised by ponies.”
“I know these attitudes don’t change overnight. We both have plenty of time, although I do want to make this happen while my current ponies are still young.”
“We’ll make it happen, together.” Ember smiled at Celestia while holding the mare’s head up with both her talons. “I wasn’t too far off from being ignorant like most dragons are. It will be a shift that they won’t like at first, but I didn’t become Dragon Lord to maintain the status que.”
“You will likely need help, but I know you can do it. You have Twilight and I.” Celestia hugged Ember, causing the dragon to blush.
“I need a moment to process my thoughts.” Celestia looked worried.
“Did you not like the hug?”
“No, I mean yes, I did like it. I haven’t felt that closeness since... probably ever.”
“I would be interested in exploring more of it if you want.”
“Yes, I’ll love that.”
“Sadly, I must get back to Equestria now, but I will send more letters. Goodbye.” Ember watched as Celestia flew out of sight. Moments after Celestia was out of sight, Ember longed for Celestia to be back. But for now, both princesses had duties they needed to attend to.
Celestia came over for another visit, this time, having arrived in Ember’s Dragon Lord lair. Ember almost gushed at seeing her.
“The Changlings have reformed, except for Queen Chrysalis,” Celestia acknowledged, “But a new leader has taken over. It’s wonderful, but can also be horrifying, what a difference in leadership can make.”
“There’s a split among the dragons. Some are taking to embracing friendship among themselves and other creatures, but other dragons are putting pressure on the rest, saying that us dragons are meant to be how we’ve always been.”
“You are making process. It will take awhile longer, but we didn’t come into this expecting it to be easy. Recall in my letters how the pony tribes used to be separated long ago. I don’t think that should happen against in the far future.”
“The dragons prefer talons on experience over being told how good friendship is. Your pony diplomats have helped, although we still have no dragon diplomats yet.”
“The pieces are falling into place. I look forward to opening trade between here and Equestria. I feel that day is very close.”
“The reformed dragons have even taken to learning practical skills to produce resources that other nations would want.” Ember paused for several seconds to look in Celestia’s eyes, with the pony returning the same.
“We sent plenty of letters between each other,” Celestia stated, “But to be in person? For as little time there is, I want to make the most of it.” Both blushed.
“I want to cuddle with you, but, we don’t exactly have comfortable beds for any non-dragons. I don’t live in a big fancy castle like you do.”
“We can arrange a meeting for you to visit me in my castle.”
“I’ll love to! In other news, once Twilight’s School of Friendship is ready, I have a dragon student I can send over. It’s probably not a surprise for you given the difference in education standards between ponies and dragons.”
“Great, I’ll look forward to this new student. I understand dragons are taught to be aggressive?”
“Yes. It’s a wonder they’re even taught some basic life skills like math, reading, and writing. I believe in our causes, even if it looks hopeless at first.”
“I am preparing Twilight and her friends to take over as rulers of Equestria. I’ll tell them later. Then we will have a lot more time together.”
“You don’t have to quit being princess to spend more time with me.”
“That’s not the reason. I’ve been ruling for well over a thousand years, without much room for breaks.”
“I see.”
“I must go but keep the letters coming.”
Celestia made yet another visit to Ember. “Now that Twilight and her friends have dealt with three very troublesome creatures, I believe Twilight is ready to take the throne. I can finally go into retirement.”
“That’s great Celestia!”
“And more importantly for us, I can spend way more time with you now. No more having to use letters for most of our interactions.” Ember spread her wings. “Let’s go on a flight.” Both took flight.
“I never thought I would see dragons and ponies getting along, yet alone as quickly as it has.”
“Which is why friendship is such a powerful force that most creatures finally understand after all of the hard work done.”
“I’m really glad we got to this point. Although I never imagined that I would fall for a pony till some months after meeting you. When I sent Smolder to the School of Friendship, I knew it was the start of something much greater.”
“I knew Twilight and her friends would do great things, but when I first sent her to Ponyville, I did not think she would have done this much. I couldn’t be any prouder. All the major species are living in harmony with each other and here’s to it lasting ever after.”
“Let’s fly to your castle. It’s probably far more comfortable there than here. You might have noticed the lack of houses among dragons.”
Once in Celestia’s bedroom, herself and Ember tucked into her bed. “I can hardly explain these good feelings I have whenever I think about you or being with you.” Ember confessed.
“It’s love.” Ember paused for several seconds.
“I... us dragons are very picky about this. You probably never met my mother. Dragons only get together to raise more dragons. We’re not very open about our feelings. But that is slowly changing ever since I became Dragon Lord.”
“What are you really feeling about us right about now?”
“That I want to kiss you.”
“Go ahead.” Ember struggled for a moment. “Are you okay?”
“I’m worried. I want to, I really do.” Celestia was the one who connected their lips, kissing as Ember was in shock. Ember soon embraced the kiss as they held it for a few moments. “This is great! Everything that has led up to this moment, the ultimate union of our nations. Not that we needed to fall in love with each other to unite our nations.”
“My original goal was to unite my little ponies with the other sapient creatures and not only did that happened, but I now have a wonderful marefriend. I had marefriends before, but I would always out last them. This has jaded me to ever having such close relationships again.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere for a very long time. Although since I’m not a mare, does that make us girlfriends?” Celestia nodded. “I’m new to this.”
“It’s fine. Let’s cuddle.” The next few minutes were spent cuddling each other, neither saying a word.
“If dragon kind were more opened to relationships like this, especially with non-dragons, I think we could have reformed them sooner. But perhaps them being reformed is also what will make romantic relationships that much easier for them to seek out and accept. But for now, let’s focus more on us.”
The bond between Celestia and Ember would last for a very long time to come, not burning out in the process.