Little Ember

by Heresy Incarnate

Loneliness

Darkness, crying and then silence, cold loneliness.

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It was the morning of the day The Lunar Sister had said I should be expecting the official carriage, and with The Great Meeting ended the day before, it was the first and last chance for me to truly give Amber and Mother the goodbye’s I needed to. I had held in my tears until it was only us remaining, and I still felt shame at what a poor excuse for a Dragon I must have looked like. The agreement had been that Amber would remain until the end of the most recent Great Meeting, but Mother had in her generosity allowed him to stay in order to send me off. I kept my posture as straight as possible while tears streamed down my face, and to an outside observer Amber would seem the most upset, constantly fidgeting and looking around as if the carriage was going to materialize out of thin air.

He seemed to have worked himself into quite a tizzy because he wheeled on the spot and was going so far as to point an accusatory claw at Mother of all Dragons.“I probably desire and appreciate positive Dracono-Equestrian relationships more than your average Clan member… but even I think just letting one of their Princesses’ waltz in here like she owns the place and then effectively kidnapping the Matriarch’s daughter is just a step too far, don’t you? I mean, what of or pride? And what of Little Ember now being forced into their central lair without adequate warning whatsoever?” For my part in the conversation I stood to the side, a silent mess for both sides to see, not that Mother seemed intent on responding just yet. “I mean, look at her! She’s only barely past the age of being a hatchling, she is clearly not wanting to participate in this government of theirs, and she’s expected to, what, listen to a law made by an ancient tart without even the barest understanding of our culture and society?”

Mother lifted a claw to Amber and he froze mid tirade. She did not raise her voice but as usual her words still carried heavy weight. “That ‘ancient tart’ was a friend of mine from way back when. Though it has been too long since The Solar Sister has visited, I still hold her in high esteem. Furthermore, though Little Ember still looks like a hatchling to us, I have seen enough Pony folk to know that she is almost older than you both physically and mentally, and as such also needs to find her place in the world.” She turned her gaze to settle on me, lowering her claw again. “I am sorry Little Ember, as for the suddenness of this summons, I have no solution. It tears at my heart to have to let you go now, but I must remind myself as I remind your brother, you are a hatchling no longer.” I was beginning to have trouble seeing, I stumbled my way over to Mother and leaned against her snout, attempting to open my wings and embrace her with them. I could feel the warm air rushing out of her nostrils as she continued. “And do not worry about our pride either. You are my precious, treasured, beautiful daughter, and I could think of no better teachers for you than The Royal Pony Sisters.” Mother wrapped a wing around me and her head, and somehow lowered her voice to a whisper. Barely audible beyond a hum and only audible at all to me, pressed against her snout. “And I will not always be here to help you Little Ember, The Long Sleep approaches and I would trust no others to watch over me and keep my territories while I wasn’t truly present.”

Her wing furled up and I thought I understood. I backed away and tried to dry my tears the best I could as Amber stopped frantically searching the sky and then focused on something far away. “There they are! We aren’t missing anything are we? Oh I would hate for you to miss something and have me uncertain whether it was the difference between life or death and...”

I interrupted him in Draconic for the benefit of Mother, “Amber.”

“Yes?”

“Silly Child, have wings, have book weight, have pride.” Back to Equestrian. “I don’t need anything else.” As I turned back the chariot was pulling up, pulled by a team of 6 winged ponies dressed in either immaculate purple or golden armor, staring straight ahead without the slightest sign of personality. The carriage itself was ornate, large, and open, revealing the sole passenger of The Lunar Sister, seated in one of two exceptionally plush seats which seemed to have golden trim.

It looked more suited to preservation in a horde than actually using, but I held a strong pose anyways, lowering my head as to give off the impression of strength and dominance. If I was to learn how to be some sort of royalty, then I had better get used to conveying the feeling of power to those I would be overseeing. The Lunar Sister nodded at me. “Are you ready Little Ember?”

I boarded the chariot and nodded in return. “As ready as I’ll ever be Lunar Sister of Canterlot.” She seemed to shake her head at this but she commanded that the chariot move, and we were off to my new home for the foreseeable future.