Ruling an up-and-coming empire is largely an unpleasant task: there are disputes to be resolved, budgets to be balanced, infrastructure to maintain and policies to enact - and made sure they're followed through on. This isn't helped by the fact that, as a dragon, Princess Ember is supposed to perform these duties without complaint, clemency or compromise. It was thankless for her father and thankless for her, especially when they were supposed to perform duties above and beyond their normal tasks.
Ember really doesn't want to have to personally execute a traitor. But that's part of her job, part of what she's expected to do, part of how she's expected to show strength of character.
He. Must. Pay.
All of my thanks to Flashgen and Regidar for pre-reading the story.
Picture was created by bassybird, and will be deleted upon request.
A powerful tale of obligation and its consequences. You said quite a lot with a little here. Hauntingly well done. Thank you for it.
Even when he's given a chance to show SOME amount of bravery in facing death..... Garble became a coward. Like he always was.
Omake:
TS: Hey Spike, remember Ember, the dragon you left in charge of the Dragon Lands? Well, she may have kinda turned into a bit of a powermad tyrant, declared the Dragon Lands an empire with herself as empress and swore to spread conquest across the land in a newfound quest for world domination.
S:......Crud.
Spike's spines then light up as the cutie map displays his symbol hovering over a hologram of the newly formed Dragon Empire.
S: Double crud.
A dragon that kills by poison isn't even a pony.
—A Game of Thrones
An interesting story that shows the difficulties of ruling an empire, country, kingdom, or any similar entity. Ember's character and her thoughts while preparing to execute the traitor were done masterfully, and it was given just the right amount of emotional weight to where it conveyed a darker tone, but not so dark that it took away from the story. The premise was enough to grab my attention, and the story itself was entertaining as well. Keep up the good work.
8462372
Seems to me the actual coward is Ember. She does everything in her mind to deny the simple fact that yes, this is her doing. It falls on her. Nobody else.
8466044
You mean executing an assassin who thought he could at least die with some dignity only to back down at the last second? She may have hated what she did but for a bastard like Garble she had no choice.
8466053
That's it. She did have a choice. Nobody put a gun to her head. She wants to be empress, but she doesn't want responsibility. She blames everyone for it, from Garble to every other dragon in existence. She's in denial over what she's doing, because she's unwilling to face reality. She even tells herself it's not a head she's holding up, it's just a rock, because she is too scared of what she has just done.
8466549
Okay. Keep making Garble seem more innocent for what he did so you can feel good about supporting him.
8466552
Oh? Can you prove me wrong then? Pivoting to Garble doesn't address my points.
Here, look at this:
This is what I'm talking about. Ember refuses to acknowledge her actions. She's begging for it. She's a coward.
8466567
She's still a TEENAGER.
8466568
They both are. But no matter, is the quote wrong? It's just one instance. Ember keeps making excuses for herself because she can't deal with what she's done.
Look, attempted murder by poison is cowardly. So is forcing an execution and then acting like literally everybody else made the decision instead of yourself. That's not how it works.
8466580
She's in a position of power Spike gave to her and overtime she'll learn that sometimes being a leader is tough. Garble was going to be a monstrous dictator who would wage war on Equestria. I feel bad for her but she had no choice. It doesn't matter if her blaming others is cowardly. Garble is even more cowardly.
8466582
She is cowardly, though. Whether or not she overcomes it will define her future.
This right here is the crux of the story:
She is the one who is without autonomy. Though she is armed, she is without arms.
Have you ever been shot at while armed? You have very well conveyed what it feels like to have power, but not autonomy. To look at the man pointing a gun at you and be angry. Not angry that he is trying to kill you, but angry that he has removed your agency. Angry that he is forcing you to become something you never wanted to be.
In gunfighting school, they tell you to ponder the ethical, moral, and philosophical implications of killing. Because if you wait until someone is shooting at you to deal with those issues, you will hesitate. I hesitated, the first time. I will never forget those sixteen shots, or what went through my head in that short eternity.
But here, Ember had a night to ponder and reflect - a sleepless one, I am sure. This was no split-second decision she made. She could have walked away from her position, from the dragon kingdom, from the authority that bound her hands. What sort of violence would have erupted in the wake of such a power vacuum? In light of this assassination attempt, probably a lot of it. This one execution probably saved many dragon lives, but... She did make a choice.
Interesting dilemma, but an even more interesting story, because you skip the dilemma entirely. We don't even know whether Ember is aware there is a dilemma. But we feel her powerlessness.
8466589
I honestly think you both are right.
Garble was a coward for all events leading up to this. But so was Ember, she could have given him just 5 more seconds to explain himself. But she didnt and they both ended up paying for it. One with there sanity and one with there life.
8714911
Well said.