Heavy Are The Horns Part 2
Twilight found herself speechless. Nevertheless, she managed a few words.
"Wha, what do you mean?" They certainly weren't helpful words, but they were words all the same.
Ember growled, Twilight taking a reflexive step backwards. "I mean being a ruler! I hate it!" She gripped the scepter, glaring down at it, as though her will alone could destroy it. "I'm in charge of every dragon alive! Me! Do you know what I was doing before the Gauntlet of Fire?"
Twilight shrank back a bit. A shouting, angry dragon—even one Ember's size— was something she was not at all familiar with. She shook her head gingerly in reply.
"Nothing! I was just the Dragon Lord's daughter until this, and now I'm the Dragon Lord! Do you have any idea what that's like?"
Twilight found her voice, recognizing a kindred spirit when she saw one. "Actually, yes, I do. I know everything seems overwhelming now, but you will get better at it, I promise."
Her words failed to extinguish the fire in the young dragoness' eyes. "I wish I could just get rid of this thing!" She cried, slamming it against the stone floor before Twilight could implore her to stop. But it didn't break. A sharp noise echoed through the main hall, but the Bloodstone remained unscathed.
Seeing it still intact, Ember finally deflated. She sank to her knees, limply clutching the scepter. Twilight sat down beside her, examining every inch of the defeat etched across Ember's face.
"Listen, I can't say that I know much about dragons that grew up here in their homeland, but if I learned one thing, it's that your kind doesn't like to share how you feel," Twilight said softly, swearing that for a second, she saw a line of tears welling in Ember's eyes before they were promptly blinked away. "But I read your letter. I know you wouldn't have invited us here unless you wanted us to come. I'm not going to force you to tell me anything, but I can promise you this: sharing your feelings, your fears, your uncertainties, anything and everything you've wanted to get off your chest, but couldn't... it will make you feel better."
Ember got to her feet, rubbing her eyes with her forelegs. "Yeah, right, right," she replied, purposely emptying her voice of any emotion, as though she was just greeting a passerby on the street. "I'm, uhm, I'm gonna get to bed."
For all her walls, Twilight could see what was going on inside her. A battle, between her instincts and upbringing, and the revolutionarily un-dragon ideas of honest emotion and friendship. It would be quite the war indeed. "Goodnight, Ember," Twilight called after her as she retreated slowly down the hallway she'd first appeared.
"Night," the young dragoness choked over her shoulder. Looked like her walls didn't remain standing for too long. Twilight turned down her hallway, only now realizing that she was beginning to sweat. During her brief chat with Ember, she'd nearly forgotten that she was standing inside an active volcano.
She finally found Spike after checking nearly every cave-like offshoot of the hallway she had been searching. For creatures that seemed to prefer solitary existences, she couldn't fathom why the Dragon Lord's palace would need so many guest rooms. Her room was rather spacious, with two lava flows running down opposite walls providing light. This, of course, made the room even hotter than the rest of the volcano.
"Sweet Celestia, Spike, you're lucky you're a dragon!" Twilight panted as he looked up from his comic book. He had sprawled out on what appeared to be a couch carved out of the stone wall outcropping. "How is the ink in that comic not melting?"
He sat up and smiled. "Scales of Justice comics are heat resistant up to 451 degrees!" He held up the cover and pointed to a seal. "Dragon tested and dragon approved!"
Twilight couldn't help but smile. "Well, you may be okay with living in a sauna, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to make some adjustments." She charged her horn and sent two blasts of magic towards the slowly flowing lava columns at either side of the room. They encased them from floor to ceiling, stifling the oppressive heat they generated, while still allowing the light to come through. Almost at once, the room began to cool down, but not quite fast enough for Twilight's liking. With another flash of her horn, a small, blue ball of energy appeared at the tip of her horn. She touched her horn to the ground, and the ball remained, expanding slowly until it matched the shape of the room, removing the hot air and replacing it with a comfortable, pony-friendly temperature.
"Ah, that's much better," Twilight said happily, trotting over to her bed and unloading her saddle bags. Only then did she notice that her bed was also made of stone, with a rather thin layering of dried hay on top. In fact, all the furniture in the room was carved from the walls themselves, or just plain old rocks. "Rarity would have a fit if she were here..." She muttered to herself, throwing her blanket over the hay to use as a makeshift mattress.
"So, what did Ember want to talk to you about?" Spike asked. "Princess Stuff?
Twilight didn't look up from sorting her papers and notebooks. "Well... kind of."
The uncertainty in her voice worried him as he set his comic beside him. "Is she okay?" He asked a bit more urgently.
This time she did look up. "Yes, she's alright," just in the middle of an emotional crisis she thought to herself. "She's going through the same thing I went through when I was first made a princess," she continued reassuringly.
It seemed to work as he smiled gently. "Nerves, huh?" he asked. He was well aware how Twilight had acted when she was concerned about her newly appointed responsibilities. Better than anyone, in fact.
"Yeah," Twilight replied, crawling into bed and shifting on the uncomfortable bed in vain to find a pleasant position. "Goodnight, Spike," she yawned, pulling a sleeping mask she'd borrowed from Rarity across her eyes. Unfortunately, the lava flow had no on/off switch. Thank Celestia she came prepared for such a scenario.
Ember found her way back to her bedroom, her modest hoard being the only thing any dragon slept on. She stuck the scepter into it, her father already long since asleep in the next room. He stayed in the throne room, where his—one of the most vast hoards any dragon had ever seen— resided. She curled up on the mound of gems and gold, trying to settle in. She thought back about what Twilight had said.
How could sharing feelings do anything to help anyone? Dragons had survived for millennia without the need or want to even interact with another living creature. What made this pony think she could upend thousands of years of proven tradition?
The arrogance! she thought.
As soon as her anger had flared up, it began to recede. After all, what harm could it do? She supposed that she truly had nothing to lose by at least giving Twilight's ideas a try. She tossed to her other side, the coins and jewels clinking and rattling below her in the dim light of her room. Why was it so difficult for her to express herself to Twilight? Was it because she was a pony? Honestly, Twilight and Rarity were the first two she had actually ever seen in the flesh before. Sure, her father had told her stories about their kind. Not particularly kind stories, but not hateful ones either. Mainly focusing on their lack of strength.
Her dad sure did love that word. She thought she had it, just not in the way he knew it. To him, strength was size, might, and raw power.
She thought differently, and apparently so did her mother. He said that's where she got her wits.
Ember rolled over again, this time to face the ceiling. She wondered what happened to her mother. Torch didn't say, but she also didn't have the courage to ask. In fact, he had never spoken of her mother before, as far as she could remember. Who was she, really? Was she still alive? Why was he telling her about her now? Maybe she resided too far away to hear the Bloodstone Scepter's call? Was such a thing even possible? All her told her was her name. He said she was the most beautiful dragoness he had ever seen. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to relive the story her father had told. Not right now, anyway. It brought up so many raw emotions, feelings that she was still unsure whether to bottle up or try to express. That struggle was still raging on inside her as she tried to silence both sides of the civil war in her head.
Tomorrow would be a day for baby steps. Twilight mentioned in her letter that she wanted to learn all she could about dragon culture and history. Ember knew exactly where to take her and whom to talk to. Perhaps after she got a bit more comfortable around her, she might be able to try this 'opening up' with emotion she had mentioned earlier.
Unknown to Ember, Spike was laying wide awake as well. He, however, was experiencing a different sort of crisis. One of the heart. He still carried his torch for Rarity, but ever since the Gauntlet, his mind would wander back to Ember every now and again. He didn't get it. It wasn't as though he was reliving their adventure, though he sometimes did. He would just... think about her. If asked, he wouldn't have even been able to explain it! It wasn't anything about her in particular, it was just... her.
He rolled over to look across the room. Twilight lay, gently snoring after finally falling asleep. Another series of thoughts began to drift into his head. He was a dragon, without wings, raised by ponies. Why would Ember ever want to spend time with him? The only time he'd ever been a respectable size for a dragon was when his runaway greed turned him into a monster. Was that what all dragons were destined to be? Monsters? He wasn't, of that he was sure. But, how long could he suppress his natural instinct? Would such a suppression keep him as a 'baby' dragon forever? How was he to find a mate then?
Spike felt his cheeks flush. Why was he thinking about mates? He stirred again, shifting to another side of the rocky couch. He was a dragon. Dragons eventually found mates. Dragons raised hatchlings after that. Would he be content to give that up for a life of servitude? He banished the thought. He loved Twilight, and Ponyville, and all his friends. Why would he want to give up something he loved just to be a 'proper' dragon?
Once again, his thoughts drifted back to a predictable place. Or, rather, a predictable face. The memory of her hug washed over him as he envisioned her smile.
What is happening to me? he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
Twilight awoke with a crick in her back, but otherwise slept fine. She quickly brushed her mane and tail, then going on to inspect her spells she'd cast the night before. Everything seemed to be holding up. Satisfied, she continued with her morning routine. Once done, she left Spike to sleep in as she trotted down the hallway. She was hoping there would be some sort of breakfast arrangement, but after seeing her bed the night before, she began to doubt it. Once back inside the main hall, Ember sat at a small table, munching on a few gems she'd probably hewn from the walls themselves. Next to her was a smaller bowl, presumably for Spike, and a moderately sized bowl full of grass.
Yes, grass. Like what the cattle on Applejack's farm ate.
"Morning Ember," Twilight said with a somewhat fake smile.
"Ponies eat grass, right?" she asked, a few gems already between her teeth.
She's not trying to offend you, she just doesn't know. This is an opportunity to help her kind learn! she told herself as she took a seat across from her. "Actually, we're more accustomed to grain, but... I mean... technically..." Twilight said, taking a hoofful of grass blades and trying some so as not to be rude.
Horrid wouldn't even begin to describe the taste. She muscled the raw fiber down and smiled once again.
"No worries, theres a whole field of that grain stuff a few minutes flight south of here," Ember said, failing to notice Twilight's obvious distaste for her breakfast. "It's on the way."
Her curiosity piqued, she asked "On the way? To where?"
Ember swallowed her mouthful of gems and replied "You wanted to learn about dragon history and culture and junk right?"
Twilight nodded silently.
"Well, there's only one other dragon in the world almost as old as my dad. Plus she's like, the historian of our race or something."
Twilight felt as though her brain was about to jump for joy out of her head. "You mean... I can talk to a dragon about all of recorded dragon history?!" Her ear to ear grin was genuine this time around.
Ember simply stared at her, eyebrow raised. "Uh, yeah."
With a soft squeak, Twilight fainted, falling in a heap to the floor just as Spike entered from the hallway.
Ember peered over the table at the unconscious princess.
"Does she do this often?" she asked.
Spike couldn't help but smile. "Not as often as you'd think."
Stats
Page generated in 0.034 seconds
Total duration
1,015 users online
9,624 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice story so far!! Keep it up! :)
And got damn it, brain! Why do you always have a song ready when it comes to this situations? :/
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEjM_wF1VBA]
This wouldn't happen to be measured in Fahrenheit, would it?
-Ambassador of the Changelings,
Dopple Ganger
7138207 it is.
7138207 I was about to say that...
Hmm, I'm curious about Ember's mother now.
7138373 She'll be talked about, I just didn't want to exposition dump the story Torch told Ember.
7138380 Oki Doki Loki
7137551 Weeeeeeelllll... problem with all those 'assumptions' is that a narrative is supposed to provide such details about central plot developments.
That's rather fundamental to good storytelling and script writing.
Looking good overall, but... Spike is a still a child, if not a baby dragon, isn't it too soon for him to think about a mate?
Nice Fahrenheit 451 reference.
7138600
This is true.
But we also can't forget: the show is only 22 minutes, give or take. There's a LOT that never make it into the episodes that should be there--which only leaves it to us bronies to create "logical assumptions" to fill in those gaps.
There perhaps hasn't been as many stories popping up here related to a single episode as there were since Twilight got promoted to alicorn--and this is one that's essentially giving us a fresh introduction to the culture of an entire species. The dragon migration was only one small feature of that culture. And the ponies' other encounters don't even come close to scratching at the surface to rate a mention. THIS episode, however, is a major element to that culture. In one fell swoop, we've been introduced to not only the ruler for perhaps the past few centuries, if not a millennia or so, but how that ruler and his successor was chosen, how the rulers relate to the common dragon, how dragons relate to other species, and so on....
I'm afraid this is only the beginning.
These chapters are too short! I just start really getting into it and it's over. If only each chapter was 5-10k words... oh, who am I kidding, it still wouldn't be enough. Great job getting me hooked on this.
Good start to the story. I will be waiting for more.
7138788 It would have been pretty simple to fill some of them:
Celestia: "The dragons glow when the Dragon Lord calls them. The current Lord, Torch, is an old acquaintance of Luna's and mine." *establishes timeline, relative age of the current Lord, and the likelihood that he's on good terms with the ponies.
Dragon Lord Torch: "As I am quite old, I have called of the young dragons not yet with a hoard to compete." Gives the reason only the young dragons were there with a bit of nuanced detail to boot.
Those additions would have taken seconds, which could have been subtracted from minor scenes which added little to nothing to the overall story. Such as Rarity's inevitably pointless sneeze.
Keep it coming. You've got a good story.
7138840 Agreed. On the other hand, I've studied a little about what goes into shows. Yes, from our perspective, just a few seconds of dialogue could fill in SOOOOO much. I agree, her sneeze was rather contrived, but they had to have some way for the ponies to get revealed.
But consider if they DID put in those few sentences you suggested. Yes, that would fill in soooo much. But we'd STILL be looking to see what else could've been put in there...and more...and more...
Unfortunately, those seconds quickly add up--and before you'd even begin to get satisfied, we'd be looking at a 3 hour movie---AND there'd STILL BE MORE WE'D LIKE TO SEE!
Which puts us back to why all that and other things got cut in the first place: Time = $$$$. Those few seconds that didn't get cut mean less time for the commercials paying for the show to air. Also, filling in those details means less potential for future episode opportunities with those same cultures and individuals.
Look at the griffons, for instance. Would there even be the interest in them had we been introduced to the state of Griffonstone back in Season 1 when Gilda showed up? Would the appearances of griffons in the sporting games of Season 4 be looked at as intriguing characters in their own right or wouldn't we be looking at them as just "the racially token poor folk from the ghetto trying to win a medal"? Would there ever have been a point of visiting them again in Season 5?
As it sits now, however, when the show ever gets around to revisiting Gilda again, we will see if she was able to lead her nation into a new age of prosperity or her efforts to rebuild will still be at the starting gates or somewhere inbetween.
Granted, in the early seasons, the producers may never have expected the show to have lasted this long. But with the brony community bolstering their viewership, we can be sure they're already looking at scripts for Seasons 7, 8, 9,.... Which means future episodes will revisit old ideas, characters and cultures, as well as new characters and cultures will get introduced, and more gaps in their backgrounds when they are.
....which...also means....more stories here, too
Don't you enjoy being part of that vicious cycle?
7138964 The problem with Rarity's initial sneeze is that it DIDN'T lead to them being revealed. It was a red herring for those who were expecting that to be the case.
World-building is a tricky thing, but when the option is there to leave out a couple pointless filler scenes and replace them with a few key details, that tends to be what great writers manage to do in what little time they have.
I would point to the hectic madness of "Animaniacs", which managed to tell entire stories in a few minutes time will every single detail relevant to those particular shorts.
Or, an even better example of stellar animation writing: "Batman: The Animated Series". That show won Emmy Awards for writing, and actually influenced the canon of the comic itself. "Heart of Ice" is one of the greatest feats of animated storytelling in television history.
Give Twilight that access and she'll never leave
7138735 that depends on how you view spike up to this point. I was using the fact that no one has called him a baby dragon in a while. Ember even called him a runt in the episode, instead of a baby, so I took that to mean that by now, maybe he's around 12/13 years old range.
Expected more of a Pinkie style "Twilight bouncing around the room" gag at the end like when she learned she was going to be an Aunt but fainting works too.
7139712
Then I think it could be good to put it in, like "Spike was now a teenager according to the dragons' law" or point he has grown up a bit or stuff like that. Without information, one can assume he's still at the age and size he has in the show.
7135285 srsly, noob supreme rulers amiright?
7139820
Size yes. But he's CMC age in the show. As for draconic biological maturity, being a dragon makes that ambiguous at best. I mean he did hit adult hood twice before reverting, and yes it could technically be considered artificial, but for a species who uses magic for eating, growth, birth, thermal regulation / metabolism, and are highly magical creatures, it still kinda counts.
That said, with how many different types and styles of dragons there are. I hope we get Spike's dream form, rather than the fannon trope of Kaiju lizard Spike like when he hit adult hood the second time.
This chapter. I like it. Another.
You're really starting to build quite the interesting story. However, technical errors are still cropping up. If you'd like, I'd gladly beta for you. Please PM me if you're interested.
You changed your name.
7137944 We meet again.
7141396 I have. but this is the last time.
7141399 I have a way of bringing people together.
I'm really enjoying this so far. Can't wait for more
7141579
Hey if you need an editor, I'd be happy to help.
BAD SPIKE!! You are supposed to perform the horizontal mambo with RARITY so you can found the race of longma, dammit!
affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/wp-content/uploads/holy_grail_god.jpg
DO AS I HAVE COMMANDED!!!
Oh, I am loving this story so far. Keep it up!
7143707 The solution is obviously harem.
7144259 That would be acceptable...
I want HD video of it.
Nor she'd be too comfortable with it, either, I'd venture.
Unnecessary paragrpah break there.
If I had to define this fic so far in one word, it'd be "comfy". I really like it, and I like the vague hints about what's to come. I'll keep reading and see how Adventure~y things get.
Keep it up, chief.
Oh! Grass is bad but hay is good right! Eh! What is a princess like you too good for grass? Are cows just stupid idiots? Eh? I..uh...mean if..that's ok with you...
8755835
Humans used to have very large digestive systems, but when we learnt how to cook they shrunk considerably.
I assume this is what happened with ponies aswell, and cows need like 3 stomachs all in order to digest grass properly.