It was a beautiful day in the Dragon Lands.
Which meant that the sun was barely visible through the acrid haze of smoke and volcanic gases. It was a sweltering, suffocating environment, which was exactly what Smolder needed.
Not that she didn’t like Equestria, but there was a saying Dragon Lord Ember had rudely shoved into her brain: you can take the dragon out of the Dragon Lands, but you can’t take the Dragon Lands out of the dragon.
Garble and his pack of semi-cognizant hangers-on were out lava surfing, leaving the vacationing Smolder to her own devices. And in this case, that meant gem scavenging. She had been silently grateful for the School of Friendship’s casually handling her specific dietary needs, but pony grown gems were sort of bland. Naturally formed gems, influenced by draconic magic, now those babies hit the spot.
She came across a small vein containing emerald and had a few nodes as a snack, and packed the rest away for dinner.
She found a lone purple gem about 10 kilometers from the caves. Smolder glanced around cautiously, but no other dragon was sniffing around this particular patch of volcanic ridge. She loved amethyst; it had a peppery flavor and went well with a sweet, crisp peridot. She licked her snout greedily and pounced.
She crouched above the purple gem and smirked.
“Heh. I guess it’s my lucky day.”
She reached out.
The moment her claws touched the gem, she jerked back with alarm and disgust.
“Ew! It’s alive?!” She crouched down to sniff the offensive hors d'oeuvre, but recoiled at the stomach-curdling magic oozing from it.
Before Smolder could step backwards, the gemstone began to glow with a blinding white light. She blocked out what she could, peering around her claws as carefully as she could.
Light, like limbs, sprouted from the stone. Two legs and two arms. Torso. Head.
Featureless and bright, this being of light slowly alit on the ground. The glow faded.
The purpled-coated biped stretched its limbs, mumbling under its breath. It stuck a finger into its nose and yawned.
"Man, that was a nutso battle. Wonder where Peri got that blaster-"
The being finally noticed Smolder and started.
"Whoa, are you a dragon!?" The being cried. "That is so cool!"
Smolder's stomach rumbled. She groaned and said, "You've got to be kidding me."