An hour and ten minutes ago…
King Draco sat beside the bed of his daughter's body, holding her claw tightly. He had failed. Her mother. Her sister. And her. He swore to make sure she grew up, to make sure she lived a long and happy life, just as every fighter deserved. But it was his mistake of letting her fight, letting her think she could do what she wanted, even as a runt.
This was the price.
Her scales had dulled completely grey, and her breathing had stopped long before she was given to him. King Draco ran his claws over the spines atop her head, then kissed her forehead. He readied to leave and have the fighters carry her to the ceremonial platform to burn her body.
But he heard a loud gasp.
He spun around, and as he did he saw it. Color blasted into life, transforming her once orange scales to several dark colors. Most of her scales were dark grey, the ones over her belly being purple while the thin muscle of her wings was red. Her spines were now green, the ones on her head tipped blue. The axe-like formation of pikes at the end of her tail was an even darker purple. Slashes of yellow ran down her back, and over her eyes. Ember coughed hoarsely for air, her father running back over and hugging her.
"Father?" Ember groaned.
"Yes. Yes, it's me Ember," he laughed, which was strange to her. What was even stranger was the fact that he was… he was…
"Father, are you… crying?" She asked. King Draco wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded with a smirk.
"My heart is not stone, Ember," he told her, laughing. "I thought… we all thought you passed on. Draco… Draco and I shared the pain."
She was surprised to hear that he was this disturbed by her loss. "Where is he?" Ember questioned, standing up in her new form.
"He was… thrashing his room," King Draco sighed. "Ember… before you go I must tell you something."
She sat back down, a bit worried for Draco.
"He loves you." Ember blushed powerfully, not believing her own father was telling her this. "Do not say otherwise… because I know you love him. I was… fearful at first, of your relationship with him. But I saw the pain only family should have in him. He was heartbroken and angry, angrier than I've ever seen. He took he blame of your amnesia heavily, and he still punishes himself mentally for that fact. I've never seen a love greater than what he showed me. Which is why… I want you to tell him. Tell him your love for him, and always keep faith. I was never a true father to you… I never truly acted as I should have since your mother passed."
"But for her sake and yours, I'm going to be the father you need now. Always have faith, no matter what odds are against you. Go, go and show him you're fine. Tell him what you feel within your heart." Ember smiled and gave her father another warm embrace.
"Mother was right," Ember whispered. "You can be soft."
He chuckled softly and nodded. "Only with the two of you."
Ember smiled at him, and then…
…she ran.
Past all of the other fighters excited and happy to know she was alive. She bolted past Flare and ran to her room, going across the tunnel and looking inside Draco's room. It was completely trashed, nearly everything being broken. She stepped in the mess, looking for some kind of hint as to where he had run off to. She spotted a drawing above the mess of emerald and rubies, and she looked at it. It was absolutely horrible, but the worst part was that her name was at the bottom. She placed it on his bed and looked around again, a gleam in her eye catching her attention. Ember brushed away the gems and picked up the beautiful necklace. The locket opened, showing a picture of Draco and his mother when he was younger. There was another picture behind it, and she moved the first to see it.
It was her and Draco, smiling at the camera that took their photo.
At first she didn't think anything of it, but the ledge looked familiar.
"The old carrier platform!" Ember exclaimed. She closed the trinket and bolted back into the tunnels, running to the abandoned project site.
She feared the worst, hearing her father speak as if Draco was going to kill himself. Just as she reached the entrance, a beautiful flute symphony reached her ears. She slowly rolled the rock out of the way and stepped out into the cool night, listening as she stepped closer to Draco. He sat at the very edge of the cliff, her ruby flute sideways while he played it. She kept silent for a moment, the notes entrancing her. They were beautiful notes, certainly nothing like she had ever heard.
Then it hit her… hard.
"I'm not that bad!"
"You shot me! What the Tartarus?!"
"I love all my friends."
"Maybe you could learn how draw?"
"Me and Moon are tied at 42. Maybe I could wrestle you some other time?"
"I'm just trying to be a good friend."
"Going out the same way we came in, remember?"
"Maybe when this is all over, I could take you to Manehatten."
"EMBER!"
"I love you, Ember. I love you."
She remembered. Everything, even her time not knowing. Her attention was brought back to Draco as he stood up and held the flute to the moon, chuckling as he spread his arms and stepped closer to the cliffside.
He was trying to kill himself.
She quickly spun him around, looking at his shocked and speechless expression with a hint of amusement and relief. And she hugged him… and he hugged her back. His arms gripped her as if she were his only source of life. "I'm back."
He looked confused, and she kissed him to answer the question. It slowly escalated until he was holding her up, both of them going wild with their pent up desires.Her tail wrapped around his leg out of instinct, but the rain caught them off guard. Even so, they laughed together as he carried her inside and to her room. Even if there were other teens and fighters outside, she wouldn't have cared if they saw them kissing and wrestling tongues (which she won) in the middle of the tunnels. Still, they made it to her room where things took a turn to her liking. She pulled off her shirt before ripping his to shreds, as well as his pants.
The feel of his rock hard muscle rubbing her breasts and belly felt incredible, and his abs weren't the only thing that was rock hard. He carried her over to her bed and put her down, roughly placing loving kisses and nibbles on her neck, before going down to her body and running his sharpened teeth over them.
After all she had been through, she thought he deserved a flame to the face or a few claw marks for all his teasing. The claw marks were definitely going to come if this went where she thought it was going. But still… she loved the fact that it was him teasing her for what she wanted.
"I want this, Draco," she told him, looking into his cosmic eyes. "I want you."
He gave her the smile she so loved and stripped down to the skin. While she did look forward to this moment, she couldn't hide the embarrassment of seeing his most sacred place. They laid together, and spent the next hour making up for all the time they had lost.
Morning after…
Ember yawned groggily, stretching out her new form. A painful soreness in her legs made it hard to move them. She giggled as she remembered their love making the night before. Ember looked to her sleeping lover, smiling happily.
"Completely worth it."
"Worth what?" Draco moaned, turning on his side. She laid back down and kissed his lips.
"That monster you've kept hidden," she smiled, laughing softly at his faint blush. "Of all things, I didn't know you had this much stamina."
Draco smirked and laid on top of her, laughing as she tried pushing him off. "If I recall, you enjoyed it very much, princess," he chuckled, stretching over her.
"Draco!" Ember laughed, shoving him to the side. She quickly climbed on top and held his legs together with her tail while she pinned his arms down with her claws. "Surrender?"
Draco leaned his head up for a kiss, which she returned happily. But… he slipped his arms up, and flipped them over so that he was back on top, pulling her claws behind her back. Her wings fluttered quickly, but even they couldn't lift him off of her.
"Yes." Ember laughed as she wiggled out of his grasp and laid beside him, looking up to the ceiling while her claws fiddled with his fingers.
"Draco… what now?" He turned to her, seeing the small frown he hated. "My father might need me here… and it wouldn't be fair to your mother if you stayed here."
Draco sighed and kissed her forehead, hugging her close. "As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter," Draco told her, nuzzling her cheek. "Do you want to come back to Equestria with me, or do you want me to stay here? I'm sure our parents can understand… but I want you to pick."
She thought for a long time, looking to him and then around the room in thought. Her frown changed into a soft smile, and she turned to him. "I think we should give Moon a chance to rub it in our faces," Ember chuckled, followed by him.
"Alright. We can talk to your dad later on… but now," he smiled, pulling her leg over him. "I have you all to myself."
Ember smirked and gave him a passionate kiss. "What did you have in mind?" She purred, her claw tracing over his torso.
"I thought we could cuddle… see what goes from there," he shrugged, earning another laugh from his beloved.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Ember sighed, leaning back into him.
"Ut veda ulsh dot bekova nugasko! Ulsh rikat duun ot jrem! (That damn boy is getting stronger! He killed one of us!)" The Alpha roared at his brethren, receiving vicious growls and more roars. "Det ulsh voknosh ulsh vuka, dret ufol vel rut balaska ulsh! DUUNZ epiij! Drut dit dot! Neroph ut misma! Jre'ol zuur drut drek trarg! (If he realizes his power, there will be no stopping him! ONE cycle! That is it! Prepare the queens! We'll burn that *translation terminated for safety of the reader*)
Trillions of roars echoed through the galactic intercoms, hundreds being that of his own higher-kind. Thousands of ships began disabling FTL travel systems, readying massive weapons and forming an armada unlike anything ever seen.
"Jro'ol ket gosk, Doshu'um. Gosk (You'll die soon, Doshu'um. Soon)"