Dear Dragon Lord Ember,
I hope my letter reaches you well. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to find a mail carrier willing to go as far as the Dragon Lands. I know it hasn’t been long since Spike, Rarity, and I left for Equestria, but I just couldn’t contain myself. I just have so many questions about your rich culture!
My very first inquiry is actually about Spike. He sends his regards, by the way. Anyway, we were wondering if it was uncommon for a dragon to not have wings. In our fleeting experiences with Dragons, we never had the opportunity to meet a Dragon like Spike, who had no wings. Is Spike’s condition unique, or are there other Dragons like him?
The next question is for you, personally. I know that Dragons do not have friends. Or, at least they didn’t before you met Spike. I wanted to know if you had made any other friends since our departure. You so kindly offered to correspond with me about Dragon culture, but I was so excited to learn so many new things that I may have forgotten to reciprocate. Here in Equestria, I am the Princess of Friendship. Granted, I am rather new at it, but I know a lot about friendship. So if you have any questions about friendship, or have any friendship problems, please let me know. I would be more than happy to lend a helping hoof.
Princess of Friendship,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Did I mention Spike sends his regards?
With a grunt, Ember reduced the offending letter to a crumpled ball. A searing heat rushed up her gullet as she brought the paper to her lips. Just as the flames reached her lips, Ember pulled the paper away and opened her maw, releasing the flames out of the sides of her mouth.
As much as it irritated her that the pony princess would ask something so irritating right off the bat, she did agree to correspond with her. Not to mention, it did keep open a vital communication line with Spike. That was the whole reason she agreed in the first place.
Sighing, she uncrumpled the paper with her claws. With little other choice, she looked around the barren rocks. Then she looked back at the single scrap of paper… the only paper in all of the Dragon Lands. And what of pens? Ink?
“Crap,” she muttered.
“Ugh! I can smell them from here!” Garble complained, holding a claw to his nose as he flew well above rolling forests and hills.
“Good, that means we’re close,” Ember replied.
Snorting out a breath through his nose, Garble shook his head. “I still don’t see why I have to come along to some puny little Pony town.”
Ember thrust her scepter in Garble’s direction. “Hey, you’re the one that volunteered to be my bodyguard. Besides, don’t think that I’m unaware of your attitudes toward Ponies. If anyone could benefit from a cultural exchange, it’s you.”
“What do you even care about some stupid Ponies?” Garble shot back.
Ember scoffed, but as she turned back to look, a spire appeared over the next hill and she forgot all about her back and forth with her de facto bodyguard. “Hey! I think that’s the place!”
A few minutes of flying, and the duo found themselves flying over a hamlet filled with Ponies of all colors and kinds. Pausing in their flight, they stalled over a busy market. “So, where is this Pony princess?” Garble asked.
Ember looked all around. There was no coliseum to address the masses, or a volcanic cavern to house a great leader. “I, uh…” Closing her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, Ember tried to think of someplace else a princess might call home. “Aha!” Her eyes popped open, as she thrust her scepter toward the ground. “We’ll just ask the masses. Surely they would know.”
Folding her wings, Ember fell to the ground with Garble right behind her. Landing forcefully, Ember spread her wings as she spoke firmly, “Who among you can answer my questions?” She barely even got halfway through her greeting before the masses started shouting and fleeing.
“Ugh,” Garble groaned as he rolled his eyes. “See? What good are these weak little Ponies to us?”
Ember raised a claw to her cradle her face as she sighed. Then, she quickly lowered it as she sniffed. “Hey, do you smell that?”
Tentatively, Garble sampled the air. “That smells pretty good,” he said, licking his lips.
“It must be a banquet. For the Princess!” Ember took off after the alluring aroma, leaving Garble to scramble after her.
Ember found herself inside a strange building. Almost as soon as she entered, the Ponies sitting around tables vacated, hastily sneaking by and out the door and, in a couple of cases, out the windows. The only Pony to stay was a pudgy round one standing behind a counter. Inside the glass box were dozens of strange shapes, arranged neatly and with enticing colors. Judging from the half-eaten doppelgangers arranged on the abandoned tables, these things were the source of the good smells. Who knew Pony food was so colorful? Part of her wondered if that was why the Ponies themselves were so colorful.
“You there,” Ember said, pointing at the portly Pony. “This is a banquet for the Princess, is it not? I demand an audience with her.”
“I… um,” the Pony stammered. “That’s not really…”
“Hey!” Garble snapped. “Do you not know who this is?”
“Oh my gosh! It’s Dragon Lord Ember!”
“Uh, yeah,” Garble muttered as all attention snapped to a pink Pony bounding down a stairway.
“Oh, that’s the one Spike talked about, right?” the first Pony asked her posture relaxing. “But I thought you never met them, Pinkie?”
“I didn’t!” Pinkie said, her voice grating with chipper, sing-song quality to it. “But Spike went on and on about how pretty she was and her really cool red scepter!”
A burning swept through Ember’s cheeks. “P-pretty?”
“This is our Dragon Lord!” Garble shouted at Pinkie. “She is strong, and tough, and, uh, strong! She’s not pretty!”
An audible growl escaped Ember’s lips as she thrust her arm out, shoving Garble aside. “You know Spike? Where is he?”
The pink Pony sat down raising a hoof to her chin. “Well, if he’s not at the castle, then Spike is probably running some errands for Twilight.” She looked back at Ember, smiling. “You might get lucky and bump into him at the market!”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Ember said, marching up to Pinkie Pie. “You mean to tell me that the Princess is using Spike as her errand boy?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Pinkie said, waving a hoof dismissively. “Twilight is always having Spike do things for her. Shopping, cleaning, cooking…”
“I’ve heard enough!” Ember shouted as she turned about, storming over toward the exit. “Come, Garble!”
Fuming, Ember blindly exited the shop. She didn’t know where this market was, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Either way, she couldn’t stand to sit there and hear about a proud dragon being reduced to some pampered Pony princess’s lap dog. Was this the “friendship” that Spike and Twilight so espoused?
“Heh, figure’s that sorry excuse for a Dragon would be a servant to these pathetic Ponies,” Garble said, slamming the door behind them with his tail.
“Bite your tongue!” Ember retorted.
Grumbling, Garble crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you we should’ve just invaded and taken over. Not like these weak Ponies could do anythi—waugh!”
Garble’s tirade was cut short by a multicolored blur smashing into him. Snapping around, Ember saw little more than a dust cloud. “Garble, what’s going on!”
Sitting up and holding his head, Garble mumbled, “I dunno. There was a flash of color and blue…”
“Yeah, that was me.” Ember looked through the clearing dust to see a cyan Pegasus standing, shoulders stiff and wings flared as she dug a forehoof into the dirt. Her tail flicked as she looked between the two Dragons. “I heard a couple of Dragons were harassing everypony, but I had no clue it was you again.”
“Why’re you looking at me, you dumb Pony!” Garble shouted as he got to his feet, patting off the dust.
The Pegasus pointed a hoof at Garble. “You’re that Dragon that kept bullying Spike during the Dragon migration. Don’t think I’ll let you get off so easily this time!”
“I don’t have time for this nonsense!” Ember shouted as she stepped between the two. Staring down the defiant Pegasus, she pointed at her with her scepter. “You know Spike? Take me to him. Now.”
“Yeah? Why should I?” the Pony retorted. “You’re the ones that came here totally making a mess of everything.”
Growling, Ember stepped forward until she was face-to-face with the Pegasus. “I am the Dragon Lord, and you will take me to Spike!”
“Ember?” The group looked up to find a shadow fast-approaching. “What in the wide, wide world of Equestria are you doing here?” Twilight asked as she landed. “You’ve got all of Ponyville in a tizzy!”
“You!” Ember marched over to the self-appointed Princess of Friendship. “Had I known what you considered ‘friendship,’ I’d not have let Spike leave the Dragon Lands!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
Before Ember had a chance to retort, the blue one interjected. “You know these Dragons?” she asked, elbowing Twilight.
“Rainbow Dash, didn’t you pay any attention when Spike and I told you about our trip to the Dragon Lands with Rarity?” Twilight hissed at Rainbow. “This is the Dragon Lord, Ember, and that’s… why is Garble with you?”
“Dragon Lord? This scrawny, little Dragon?” Dash said, pointing at Ember. “The way Spike described her, I thought she’d be… you know. Bigger.”
Growling, flames escaped Ember’s lips as she wrung her scepter. “I’ve had more than enough of this!” She thrust the scepter, pointing it gem-first at Twilight. “I came in response to your letter, but I’ve changed my mind! I’ll have nothing to do with you ponies or your so-called ‘friendship.’”
“Heh, you tell them, Dragon Lord,” Garble said, a smug grin on his face.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Twilight said. “Just what are you going on about? I don’t understand.”
Ember leaned in, her nose a hair’s breadth from Twilight’s. “Tell me, Princess, is it true that you have Spike out running errands?”
“Yes, he should be done soon, though,” Twilight replied. “If you want to come to the castle and wait—”
“And you have him cook, and clean?” Ember asked through grit teeth.
“Well, yes, but I don’t see what that—”
“Enough!” Seething, Ember stepped back, holding up her scepter. “I’ve heard enough,” she said again. The scepter glowed, its red magic shooting through the air to summon Spike. “We’re leaving these Pony lands, and we’re taking Spike with us. Forever!”