Meet The Scorchhearts
As Spike’s parents twirled their long lost son in their arms, still alternating between crying and cheering with joy, the rest of the group was still standing to one side observing this beautiful reunion.
“Wow, they missed him quite a lot I take it?” said Rarity.
“Can you blame them? They had believed their first born son was dead for over a millennia, now fate has finally returned him to their loving arms.” interjected Yam “the beauty of it all almost brings a tear to my eye.”
Crystal chuckled “well I guess this means they’ll have to tear down that shrine of him.”
“Shrine?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.
“Well being an egg, they didn’t really have anything of Artair to bury so they settled for painting a picture of said egg and making a shrine around it; it’s got flowers, jewelry, offerings, the whole nine yards. It’s actually pretty nice, of course now that he’s alive they don’t really need it anymore….” Crystal replied.
Twilight hummed slightly and returned her gaze to the trio of dragons that were hugging it out and the very first thing she noticed was the expressions on the parents’ faces; it was one of happiness and love, pure untainted love for the dragon they had clutched in their arms, like a massive cloud of darkness that had been hanging over their heads for their whole lives had finally been lifted, Twilight could tell that having their son returned to them meant the world to them.
‘They love him, they really love him with all their hearts, maybe even more than I do, could I really take that….no don’t think like that, they could still be hiding their true colors’ Twilight thought to herself.
She stopped her train of thought when a large shadow fell over her, looking up she saw that the dragon she assumed to be Spike’s father was now towering over her, the paragons had taken a step back leaving the elements of harmony completely alone in front of this absolute beast.
The warm and light that had existed moments ago had vanished and gave way to what can only be described as a level of intimidation that struck fear into the ponies right into their very primal instincts that were screaming at them to get as far away from that dragon as possible, but the glare he was giving them had frozen their limbs in place.
He was only slightly taller than Princess Celestia but from Twilight’s perspective he might as well have been a hundred feet tall and his wide ripping muscles bulging under his armor looked like they could crush her head like a watermelon if they wanted to; she had taken on dozens of Equestria’s greatest threats but the dragon standing before her made her want to sink down to the floor in terror.
“So are you the ponies that have been taking care of my son for all this time?” thundered the dragon, the walls themselves seeming to shake with every syllable.
Twilight meekly nodded.
“Have you raised him right? Kept him safe and happy?”
Another nod in response, where was he going with this?
Before she could even realize what was going on, she found herself and all of her friends wrapped up in the dragon’s arms in a massive bear hug, his cheek snuggled into hers.
“Thank you! Thank you so much! Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards all of you! If there’s anything I can do to repay your kindness you just have to ask.” bellowed the dragon.
The entire group did a collective double take, somehow the overly threatening dragon that had been standing before them mere seconds ago had been replaced by one with a warm and inviting aura, his features softened, and the previous primal fears had dissipated; although the hug seemed to be squeezing the life out of them
“Honestly Frinad do you have to do that every time?” said the female dragon, Spike still cradled in her arms “they’re just ponies.”
Setting Twilight and her friends back on the ground, allowing them to suck in air again, the male dragon turned to address his wife. “You know it’s the only way to ensure they were telling the truth, I wanted to be absolutely sure that their intentions with our son were pure.”
“OKAY TIME OUT!” shouted Rainbow Dash “what are you two talking about?!”
“Oh just a little technique I developed a while back, I call it the dragon engine, it’s a sort of aura I give off that makes me appear far more intimidating than I actually am, and I’m already pretty scary to begin with.” explained the dragon “it causes weaker foes to immediately surrender and prisoners to start spouting the truth in the face of it; I do over my apologizes for using it on you, I was merely attempting to test the strength of your character and whether or not you had actually been treating my son with kindness, the fact that none of you broke down speaks volumes for yourselves and-”
The dragon froze as his eyes sunk to pin pricks and realization washed over him.
“By the gods where are my manners? I haven’t properly introduced myself!” said the dragon before extending a hand towards the group. “I am lord Frinad of the noble dragon clan, co-ruler of the Vlemm Enclave. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“And I am Lady Layla of the noble dragon, the co-ruler of the Vlemm enclave and Frinad’s wife, it’s nice to meet all of you.” added Layla “we have much to discuss concerning current affairs.”
Twilight and the rest of the girls took turns shaking the royals’ hands and giving their own introductions.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship.”
“I’m Pinkie Pie! The world’s greatest party pony!”
“The name’s Applejack.”
“Rarity, and the pleasure is all mine.”
“I’m….I’m Fluttershy.”
“Rainbow Dash, the fastest Pegasus in Equestria!”
“Starlight glimmer, Twilight’s student.”
Frinad and Layla smiled. “Well now that introductions are over and done with.” said the former “how about I give you a full tour of our lovely home while Layla makes dinner, assuming she’d be alright with such an arrangement.”
“Of course my love.” replied Layla, finally placing Spike back down on the ground. “I’ll inform the rest of the help that dinner shall be ready within the hour.”
With that the dragoness sauntered off into the halls of the castle
“Right then. Allow me to show you all where you shall be residing for the time being.” Said Frinad.
*******************
The castle itself was nothing short of a marvel of technology and architecture that combined together to make the castle of friendship seem like a summer cottage.
The home itself occupied two acres of land and stood at five stories tall with dozens of rooms; including an indoor swimming pool, ballroom, workshop, a game room with dozens of amusements, a hedge maze, a kitchen that could fit at least 50 chefs within it comfortably, a massive library, and more bathrooms and bedrooms than anyone could count.
“And this is the dining room.” Said Frinad, pushing the doors open to an ornately decorated dining hall with a long handcrafted wooden table with matching chairs, covered by a silk tablecloth with an intricate design, a gold and diamond chandelier hanging overhead. Fancy paintings adorning the walls.
“Amazing. Even the dining hall in Canterlot isn’t this nice and I would know!” Said Twilight in awe.
“Well personally I don’t much care for it, I feel it to be too much.”
Rarity looked at the dragon with a raised eyebrow “whatever do you mean?”
“Miss Rarity, I am a simple dragon with simple tastes, I care not for such superficiality and status symbols. I prefer functionality; Give me a small wooden table with enough room for my family lit by candle light and I am content.”
“So why do ya have all this stuff then?” Asked Applejack
Frinad shrugged in response “when they were first building the house I had asked for a simple concept, one that would be enough to house my wife and I along with any hatchlings we may have had. But according to the architects we had done so much for the noble dragons and the Vlemm Enclave that they insisted on such extravagant decorum and design, I tried to talk them out of it but they persisted.”
Frinad motioned around the room. “It just feels completely unnecessary. Just because I lead the dragons doesn’t mean I should be placed on a pedestal above the rest of them. But enough about me and my problems! Layla should have dinner ready right about-“
“Now!” Said Layla as she burst through a set of doors on the opposite end of the room, a covered plate balanced on each arm, followed by several other dragons in formal wear having additional plates balanced on each arm.
They made quick work of the set up, placing each plate the exact same distance from each other with near perfect precision.
“Now we’re aware of your species’ dietary habits and have accommodated with a strict vegetarian menu.” said Frinad
“He’s right. I’ve prepared quite the feast for us all without the use of meat: I made Colcannon which is a mix of mashed potatoes and cabbage, a cheese fondue bowl with beer and bourbon, baked potatoes, soda bread with brown butter, vegetable shepherd’s pie, spinach quiche, and for desert dark chocolate mint cookies with white chocolate mint frosting” said Layla as she placed down the final plate.
The mares blinked in confusion at the sight of such a large quantity of food
“um, Layla. Ah don’t mean ta be rude but ain’t this a little too much food for just us?” said Applejack
“Oh it’s not just for us, some of the dragons who work within the castle walls will be dining with us as well. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Why exactly?” Twilight asked, back in Equestria royals didn’t tend to eat together with the ponies that served them
“Well first of all mom and dad hate eating alone, always have.” Interjected Griffith. “And secondly we believe that the help deserves the exact same amount of respect that every other dragon does and having dinner with them is one of the many ways we like to show that respect towards them, but enough chatter, let’s eat!”
Whatever tension was left in the air had quickly dissolved away as everyone joined together at the dinner table, the sounds of eating and chatter filling the air. The ponies were largely ignored in favor of Spike; who every single dragon at the table, sans his family, wanted to talk to. They were nearly climbing over each other to have the privilege to talk to him.
The conversation somehow found it’s way over to the subject of Spike’s wings and with it came the story of his molt and how he tried to hide it from his friends at first, but when they found out he had no choice but to seek out Zecora for her advice on the matter.
It was only when Spike mentioned his fight with a certain avian predator that Frinad spit out his wine.
“Y-you took on a fully grown roc all by yourself?! Fresh out of a molt no less?!” stuttered the dragon as he wiped the spit off his chin.
Spike shrugged “It was no big deal, I just did what I had to, and considering I was working on nothing but instinct I’d say I did pretty well.”
Frinad let out a hearty laugh and pulled Spike into a one-armed hug.
“THAT’S MY BOY!” he boomed, squeezing his son tight.
While every other dragon at the table was distracted by the so-called ‘lost prince of the Vlemm Enclave’, Applejack seized the opportunity to survey the group and see if she could discern anything from the way they acted around him.
Unfortunately there really wasn’t much to see, they seemed to be kind and polite enough, not to mention they all showed a genuine interest in Spike and getting to know him not just as a legend but as the dragon he was if their inquiries were anything to go by.
It was only when she shifted her gaze to Spike and his parents was her curiosity piqued.
The pair seemed to completely gush over their son, keeping him as close as they possibly could without making the baby dragon uncomfortable. Almost like a mother hen trying to keep her newborn chicks close, Frinad and Layla seemed to be sitting next to Spike in a protective manner.
In a way it made Applejack slightly jealous of Spike, since he had something returned to him that she had been so cruelly robbed of: family.
Don’t get the wrong idea, she had plenty of family between Granny Smith, Big Mac, Applebloom, and the dozens of relatives scattered around Equestria and she loved them with all her heart. But no matter how much she loved them, there would always be a part missing, a scar that would never heal from the day her parents had been ripped away. It wasn’t a loud accident by any means, there was no dramatic climax or violent death, it was simply the fact that they had went off on an apple delivery one day and never returned.
Her siblings were naturally devastated when they heard that their parents had disappeared, just as much as she had, but one of them had to be strong and pull them out of the muck so that they could keep going and never quit like a real apple family member; but of course it came at the cost of making the poor filly grow up far sooner than she would have liked.
To this day she holds onto the vain hope that one day Pear Butter and Bright Mac may come back home one day but she knows in her heart that it will never come to pass, their family will always be missing a few branches from its tree.
And here Spike was, sitting between a pair of parents who loved him more than anything else in the world, parents he had lost so long ago but had finally been returned to him and made his family whole again, which was the sort of thing she could only dream off.
But that quickly gave way to another thought; sure he had her parents taken away from her in the past but at least she got to know them and have fond memories of them to treasure for the rest of her life, but Spike didn’t, the poor baby dragon had never even gotten to know his parents until now and even with the rest of the girls at his side he was still fairly alone in this world. But now he had a family to call his own, a whole one, and the elation he must have felt from such a reunion, to actually have that unconditional love that only true family could give…..could she really take that away from him? She could see the smile on his face clear as day, sitting between his ma and pa like that, not to mention the joy he had shown when he had met them for the first time a mere few hours ago.
Applejack shook these questions out of her head, it was too early to make any judgement calls about the current situation, she had only known Spike’s family for a few hours now, there was still the chance that they were hiding skeletons in their closet; no, until she knew for certain that their intentions with spike were pure, the farmer pony would err on the side of caution and remain vigilant.
“And that’s why you should never cast transmutation spells on yourself.” said Layla, finishing up her story right as the orange earth pony tuned back into the conversation.
“Oh that reminds me.” said Starlight, swallowing down another bite of food, she had to give it to Lady Layla, this was one of the best meals she had ever had. “Griffith told me that each noble dragon has an ‘aura’ that gives them specific powers and abilities, and I was wondering what yours are?”
Frinad scratched his chin for a moment in thought and then smiled mischievously, “how about I show you mine? Here take this.”
The dragon handed Starlight one of the larger knives from the table, placing it in her hoof, before standing up in front of her and spreading his arms.
“Now then, stab me.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Stab me, go on stab me.”
Starlight’s eyes began to dart back and forth from the knife and the dragon.
“You really want me to stab you?”
“Of course, don’t be shy now! Trust me, I’ll be fine.”
“Well okay.” Starlight meekly said as she brought the knife down onto the dragon’s chest.
But to her complete and utter surprise, instead of digging down into his flesh like she expected it to, the knife bent and warped upon impact with the dragon’s broad muscular chest. The unicorn quickly looked up at Frinad in confusion.
“Unbreakable scales my dear! Nothing in this world can cut through them!” said Frinad with a laugh, placing the now useless knife onto the table “I’ve been stabbed, shot, sliced, caught up in explosions, and even had corrosive acid dripped onto my scales and none of them have managed to draw a single drop of blood for all the years I have walked this earth!”
“That is so cool!” said Rainbow Dash “It’s like you’re invulnerable!”
“Very nearly” said Frinad “but my scales only protect me from external damage; internal damage such as the type that results from bludgeoning or impacts will still hurt me but that’s what all the muscle is for!”
“And what about Layla?” asked Twilight.
“Well I am what you would call the resident sorcerer of the Vlemm Enclave, my powers are closer to yours then they are to noble dragons, princess. I am essentially a master of spellcraft and magical manipulation, being able to cast a wide variety of simple and complex spells for any occasion. The staff I carry around with me isn’t merely a scepter, it acts at a focus for me, something to funnel my naturally occurring magical prowess through and enhance the overall effects of my spells. I’d offer you a demonstration but this is not the proper place to do so. Perhaps later this week I may show you my abilities.” explained the dragoness, holding up the staff for emphasis “Now then, since we’ve given you a bit more insight to our lives, how about you tell us about yours? Namely how exactly you came into contact with my son in the first place?”
Pinkie Pie nearly lept out of her chair at the question, waving her hoof around in the air. “Ooh! Ooh! Let me tell it! It all started during the summer sun celebration in Ponyville a long, long, long, long, long time ago….”
******************************
After an abridged version of what they’d all been up to since that fateful day so many moons ago and a delicious dinner, the crowd cleared out of the dining hall and split off to attend to their own matters; in the case of the Scorchearts, it was finding a place for their pony guests to sleep, or rather finding a bedroom for each of them. Griffith had long departed for his own room to do ‘things’ as he called it.
“Didn’t we see like a hundred bedrooms during the tour?” asked Rainbow Dash
“Yes but most of them are occupied by the help and I don’t think any of them would be willing to share a room with ponies.” Layla replied.
“That’s another thing I was wondering” said Starlight, looking up at the dragons “why do noble dragons hate ponies so much after so long? Was it just because we didn’t help you all out during the war?”
Frinad and Layla came to a screeching halt in their tracks, the ponies behind them nearly colliding with their backsides, and turned around to face them.
“Oh that prejudice runs far deeper than just that my dear.” growled Frinad, his expression darkening “and it was all your kind’s fault.”
“Wait what did we do to you?”
“You want to know what you did?! We asked for your aid and in return we received nothing but persecution and misery!”
Layla sighed “we had just lost the dragon lands to the horde dragons, our numbers were dwindled and spirits low. We sought to seek out Celestia’s aid, believing that with our combined efforts we could have repaired the damage to both of our kingdoms and create a brighter future for both our peoples. But we could barely send a foot on the mainland before we were attacked; upon sighting us, angry mobs of ponies attempted to lynch us, skin us alive, ‘monsters’ ‘freaks’ they shouted. We were chased right out of the first town we entered, and the next one, and the next one until we had to constantly be on the move since none of your people would accept us. They even organized groups of warriors to hunt us down, we lost thousands of our own to those barbarians.”
The female dragon began to tear up “my….my mother was among those killed by hunters”
Frinad brought his wife into a tight hug as she broke down crying. “We tried to contact Celestia, to get her to call off her ponies but our pleas fell on deaf ears and we were ignored. What was once a one-hundred thousand strong army had dwindled down to a mere few thousand. In the eyes of the noble dragons, you killed just as many of us as the horde dragons did and for that you are no better than they are.”
“B-b-but Celestia never mentioned-”
“And why would she?! Even if she was aware of our suffering at the time, admitting that she doomed an entire race to near extinction would be a massive black spot on her so called utopia of friendship, something that would bring great harm to her own personal image” barked Frinad, slowly beginning to seethe with rage. “You would like to think that you have the most perfect kingdom in the world where every creature can grow happy and strong, but where was that happiness when my people needed it the most?! WHERE WAS IT?! NOWHERE.”
Frinad stopped himself mid-rant and sucked in a deep breath of air, bringing himself back down to a calm state of mind. “I apologize for that outburst, it’s just that the war of the Broken Fang and what followed it is a rather sore subject for Layla and I. In fact it’s bitter for all noble dragons, I’d avoid bringing it up in conversation if I were you.”
“But Frinad things have changed, ponies have changed, we may have been less accepting of other species in the past but we’ve come such a long way since those times.” said Twilight.
Frinad turned around and continued to lead the group down the hall, still holding his teary eyed wife close to his chest. “I’m willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt and believe you princess, we’ll even go so far as to extend the olive branch and provide you with a warm welcome and pleasant stay on the Vlemm Enclave while you remain here. But I warn you now, if I discover you have hidden interests that threaten my people and the enclave as a whole, none of you shall leave this place alive.”
The seven ponies let out a collective gulp at the dragon words.
“Do not be so nervous little ponies, if you are all as accepting and friendly as you say you are then you honestly have nothing to fear, noble dragons do not bring harm without reason. Anyways, here we are, I hope it’s to your liking.”
The dragon pushed the door open to reveal a quaint little bedroom with two triple decker bunk beds nestled in on corner of the room, hand carved out of wood, a door leading into a rather futuristic bathroom occupied the opposing wall and a set of sliding doors leading out to a balcony lay directly across from them, there was also a small living room with a set of couches arranged around what looked like a television embedded into the wall.
It was like a simple but beautiful hotel room.
“That remind me.” said Layla wiping away her tears. “We were hoping that you might be as so kind as to let Artair sleep in our room for the night, it’d be very pleasant to have some more alone time with my son. Please? We’d only be right down the hall from you all.”
Twilight rubbed a hoof under her chin. “Well you have been pretty nice and welcoming to us so far and he won’t be too far from us…sure, but Spike yell for us if they try anything.”
“Thank you princess Twilight, thank you” replied Layla with a slight bow.
On that note, the trio of dragons walked down the hall to their room; leaving the ponies alone in their new room.
“So….what did you all think of them?” said Rainbow Dash as she threw herself onto the couch.
Rarity quickly took the seat next to the cyan Pegasus “well they certainly seem to care for Spike.”
“Pretty nice too, fer the most part that is.” added Applejack.
“I know” said Starlight “it’s amazing how Frinad can go from extremely kind to absolutely terrifying so quickly, it’s like he’s flipping a switch.”
“Not to mention Layla, one way or another I’m getting that cookie recipe from her” Pinkie Pie pulled out another mint cupcake and bit into it for emphasis.
“That may be true but we can’t let our guard down, we’ve only been here for a day. There’s so much more of the enclave we have to see, be on the lookout for anything suspicious.” said Twilight.
The rest of Twilight’s friends murmured in agreement before settling in, it was a long day and they all wanted to get some rest. They’d certainly need it for the big week ahead of them.
******************************
Speaking of which, while the mane seven were winding down, Griffith was busy at work in his room for the coming days.
He had a large holographic screen pulled up in front of his desk, the faces of all of the other Paragons displayed on the screen in real time.
“Okay so how do you guys want to do this?” said Griffith.
“I still think that it was a bad idea to bring them here.” grumbled Dylan.
“We know, you’ve said that three times now Dylan.” replied Saphria.
“Well I think the most logical route would be to split up in teams of two and show them the various aspects of the Vlemm Enclave we are the most involved in, Connor for example can show them the agricultural basing and the woodlands.” Yam explained.
Crystal spoke up “but we can’t hide anything from them, we have to lay it all bear good and bad, otherwise they might think we’re trying to pull something over them...and to be honest we kinda are.”
“Crystal, planning a fun week for Artair’s pony friends is not underhanded.” the mechanic said with a snort. “Getting Artair to stay with us is just a side benefit. But you’re right, we have to show them all the sides of the Vlemm Enclave if this is going to work.”
“Don’t sweat it Griffith. If there’s one thing I know how to do it’s show everybody a good time. Besides.” Mia leaned back in her chair “this place is great, we just gotta prove that to Twilight and her posse and we’ll be good to go.”
“Either way, we’re going with Yam’s plan. Everyone clear? Remember that the fate of the vlemm enclave is riding on us.” said Griffith.
“When is it not?” said dylan before exiting the video call alongside everybody else.
Griffith took in a deep breath and fell down onto his bed, gazing at some of the scorch marks on the ceiling from failed experiments.
‘Bahumut watch over us this week….I….I can’t lose my brother.’ Griffith thought to himself as he slowly drifted off to sleep.
He never thought that the fate of the future would come down to a simple week long vacation, but here we are. He just hoped that everything went right….yeah, like that ever happens.
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When will they confront Celestia over what happened, is there more to it then they know, or is it all accurate?
9635554
It probably is. Even if that makes no sense at all. How can the ponies kill thousands of completely overpowered dragons?
Makes. No. Sense.
I really, really, really hope I'm wrong because, again, it makes no sense and seems contrived just to have the "noble" dragons be in the right. Again. Somehow. Who knows, the rulers seem a little unstable so we might get a definite answer from Celestia later on. It would make a lot more sense if the "noble" dragons attacked first because, well, they've shown themselves to be quite ready to say one thing and then do something else if it benefits them; nevermind that a vast majority of ponies are very peaceful. Even with Zecora they didn't attack her, they ran away and hid.
9635941
To be fair the noble dragons were half-starved, injured, and exhausted refugees when they arrived on equestrian shores all those years ago. They barely had any fight left in them at all, combine that with the fact that they had to constantly stay on the move with very little time to rest and recover from their losses and they weren’t exactly in the best condition to defend themselves even with their powers.
9635957
They were an army several thousands strong. How big were those towns that they could field a strong enough force to threaten that? Field these supposed dragon hunter bands that decimated an, albeit weakened, army? Nevermind that it was many, many years ago, when Equestria was likely less densely populated?
Still, let's give them that they were weak to the point of helplessness. Every single pony in the past they met being a violent murderer and Celestia not giving a crap about creatures in need is extremely difficult to buy. Even something like, Celestia turned pony society around since then would mean the ponies back then were all bloodthirsty maniacs. Feels a little like saying the Smurfs used to hunt wizards for sport in the olden day. If there is any truth to the "noble" dragons' claims, it needs a damn good explanation, because honestly, can you truly see ponies come across a wounded creature begging for help and their first reaction is to skin it alive? Seriously?
9635941
Depends, they were driven off their lands by the other dragons, so they lost, and were greatly weaken, maybe worst, were attack as they fled. Protecting the refugees as they fled would lead to many losses and wounded.
Thus why they sought a alliance, they were too weak, and needed help.
But were attacked and driven off again and again, if many were in a weaken s state then yeah, can see them fall in battle easy to the ponies.
Also may of refrained from doing much except defend, least they get into another war with another country.
Plus this takes place further back, so the country could been more armed to deal with threats.
Second think you are confusing Ponyville with the another town or so. Ponyville is famous for handling threats by the citizens in one way. AAAAAAHHH RUN AWAY RUN AWAY AAAHHH OOOOH FAINTS."
Everyone runs, screams and faints. The Mane Six are the one to handle threats...every threat...all threats...all the time now.
Back then sure the army were more trained, and better equipped.
Last which you may not like but..Celestia may not of know what was going on. While she is the ruler, she was ruling Alone at the time, and had to rely on nobles and other ponies to keep track and control of the country.
So yeah some Nobles or higher ups with Xenophobia attacked the Noble dragons and hid what they were doing from Celestia.
9636007
exactly. Not to mention the added mob mentality, bigotry that existed back then, and general paranoia from nightmare moon.
and celestia didn't actually know what was going on, between trying to restore order and pony nobles blocking all of the noble dragons messages she was completely unaware of their plight. But the noble dragons didn't realize this and mistook her ignorance as indifference and became bitter towards ponies because of it. Honestly if frinad, layla, celestia, and luna all met up together in a room and talked it out the noble dragon leaders might be willing to forgive them.
9636032
Yes thank you for confirming it! I figured that was the reason, heck wouldn't be surprised if some parts of Equestria were treated almost as bad by unicorns in the Noble clans.
There a fic where it part of a plot, the thestrals nation suffered greatly under the Unicorn nobles, and Celestia wasn't aware of it at all.
She assumed everything was fine and Dandy.
anyways if they talk about you said might, but I'm sure something else happened as well, and Twilight and the others may still blow it, they keep looking for any excuse to drag Spike back.
This may backfire and Spike may finally have it and strike them.....with Harsh words.
9636032
9636183
I had worried that would be the case. Making pony nobles the Enemy of Everything Good And Decent is a go-to move for many stories which don't wish to have complex conflicts. Knowing that it really was "dragon=good, pony=bad!", to me, is very disappointing. It turns all those ponies of the past into vile murderers and the ponies today need to be forgiven for coming from such a horrible, horrible people who almost made the poor, victimised dragons go extinct. It throws ponykind under the bus to lift up the dragons. Again. I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but what happened to the "noble" dragons needed a good explanation and I don't feel just making the ponies of then into villains so the OCs can be victims is one.
9636294
Yeah yeah and Ponies are picture perfect and never and anything wrong we get it.
9636301
Mass-murder. Attempted genocide. Creating death squads for creatures begging for help.
That's what the ponies did, according to the story. Yeah, how foolish of me to think that's a bit much.
9636308
That what you believe is being told. What i read is they tried to ask for help and got driven off over and over, Sarvation, wounds not treated, exhaustion. Denied helped, forced to run till etheri claimed by wounds, disease, lack of food and death.
There no need for death squads, nor were they trying to commit genocide, just drive them away which they did.
Dragons Noble or not are not immortal, they are not invincible, even a Grizzly bear can fall if wounded enoughed, and it was hinted celestia had been ignorant of what been going on.
Plus the as you said Zecora was feared and mistrusted by every pony in Ponyville, except Twilight. Be glad she didn't; go to Dogde Junction, they form angry mobs there.
9636346
It's what the dragons said happened. Don't get me wrong, I would welcome it if it turns out not to be so black and white, but I have no reason to doubt it's accurate, even if Celestia may not have been personally involved.
I certainly hope there won't be a shamalyan twist where the Nobles turn out to be evil after all and just using everyone, because I think I'd suffer a heart attack if it did.
9650420
oh no. the noble dragons are very honorable and altruistic. their main flaw is that they they are somewhat bigoted towards ponies.
Please update sometime soon.
Methinks Celestia has some questions to answer for when Twilight gets home.
When are you going to update? I just have a feeling that Cobalt is going to betray the Noble Dragons because of them starting to become friends with the Equestrians because he blames them for his wife's death.
You should probably change the story's rating to T because of the part when Yam has to take off Griffith's mechanical arm when it becomes stuck under a pillar while they are being chased by the Royal guard.
so ... will there be any updates soon?
When wilthis be updated?
this is an fun read and I hope you make more of those awesome story.
Might want to set the story to teen because of a ripped off arm.
Love this story so far can't wait till it picks up again.
Update?
When is the next chapter?
I’ve been with this story since late on in it release. But now I feel like it’s dead
I hope it isn’t due to wanting to know what happens. I’ll just have to wait, see, and hope this isn’t dead.
Please stay safe.
11001413
meh, as long as it gets some attention I'm happy.
besides, I've already written a magnum opus on Ao3 for ducktales 2017 and have gotten a few other popular stories; at this point I've already achieved my dream of becoming a good fanfic writer, now I'm just doing it for fun. (I also might get back to some of my other stories too, like the dragon of sweet apple acres and hellspike. Just wanna finish up some other stuff first.)
After having read everything one more time... I finally realised something that had been bothering me all throughout but I just couldn't pinpoint. However, considering what we discussed the last few chapters, I feel like harping on it now is beating a dead horse and I don't want to upset anyone with commentary that's no longer relevant. So, would it be okay with you if I explained this point of criticism? Or would you rather I keep it, since you already said you want to start over?
11001530
Go ahead, worse case scenario it covers something I've already thought about and best case I get something to consider for the re-write.
11001572
Alright. And thank you.
Well, what I noticed is this: To me, almost all the time, but definitely whenever Dragons and ponies are pitted against one another, it seems like the latter stop having brains. And I don't mean that in them acting stupid—they just stop having agency. They don't act. They react.
The ponies don't really make much plans. That seems to get worse over the course of the story, in fact. They don't work together as a team. They have no clever ideas, they rarely, if ever, work to their strengths. That's not even going into their powers, they don't really use those effectively either, but they have no tactics, they don't cover each other, they don't work together, despite being the Elements of Harmony. The only thing they ever really do well is punch stuff. Which is why Applejack has overall the best track record, and Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are also reduced to punching if they ever do anything worthwhile. The Dragons even joke about how Rainbow Dash fails to learn or adapt in any way, shape or form.
It's not just combat, though. They don't have agency in a lot of other sitations either, probably more so even. Take literally ANY social interaction between pony and Noble Dragon. It's always, always the dragon who leads the discussion, regardless of topic, regardless of sitation, regardless of level of knowledge, skill, intelligence, wit. Dragons, will have the last word. Ponies, have their brains switched off. They're left reacting.
The story has Yam lecture the ponies, including FLUTTERSHY, on animal care. The same Fluttershy who feeds worms to birds and fish to ferrets. Animal care is her entire thing. But she faints right away from the sight of a cooked chicken.
And even if we run with the whole Pony=Super-Vegetarian thing (and the show does say they are)... why then can't the ponies make a point about predators in their regions not needing meat anymore, for example? Ponies are magical. Literally. They change places just by being there. And if not that... then Fluttershy could mention that even if the Dragons can't talk to animals, she can. The point about sapient versus nonsapient is moot with Fluttershy. She can talk to anything on that dinner table. But she doesn't say that, because her brain kind of switches off when the dragons have to make a point. She doesn't get to be proactive.
Or look at the situation with Griffith's bet against Twilight Sparkle. If they can convince her Spike is better served staying with the SND, she will agree to leave him be. Okay, fair enough. Then the dragons explain how their society is deeply racist... and then how much Spike's natural parents are sticklers for manners, unlike Celestia or Twilight herself who are very approachable... then when they do meet those parents, they get blamed for something that happened long before any of them were alive (and which sounds like complete bullsh*t, but that's besides the point)... then THREATENED WITH DEATH TO THEIR FACES. And... none of it registers with them. They just... absorb it. They stand around like a bunch of lemons. Instead of, you know, pushing back on literally ANY of the above. Worse, Twilight thinks those dragon rulers who just openly told them they will murder them without a second thought, they're really nice people. Because her brain switched off as soon as a dragon had a point to make.
Twilight could've pointed out how insane it is to expect her to agree to let Spike stay with a bunch of pony haters. Just imagine that with Twilight Sparkle's snark.
TS "So... you're saying most young dragons here learned to hate ponies, and this hate is learned from their families?"
Connor "I'm not sure I would say it's most of them, but it is widespread, yes."
TS "And that'll make friendships between ponies and dragons really difficult, won't it?"
Connor "I guess. Is that really any important to you?"
TS "(deadpan) Hello. I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, currently residing in Ponyville. Perhaps you've heard of me?"
She, or any of the ponies really, could be poking holes in the SND's holier-than-thou manner at any time. They could have politely informed Dragon Mom and Dad that they're taking a big risk threatening the Elements of Harmony, and what usually happens when you do that. Or just let them stand their ground, point out how THEY were the ones who had foreign intruders infiltrating their lands, from a nation with a long history of caring not one bit about the rights of others (memory-wiping, anyone?). Or tell them how it's because of Twilight that Spike hatched at all. Or that they, Frinad and Layla, are part of an agreement where it is in their own best interest not come across as unstable psychopaths with a personal grudge. Or just... stand their ground. Push back. Nicely. Stand tall. Stand proud. "We accept your terms. But if we find you plotting against Equestria, we WILL fight you. And we will WIN."
I hope I'm making sense with what I'm saying. It' a bit rambling, apologies for that. So, essentially... there's an issue with the pony characters losing agency over the course of the story. The longer things go on, the worse it gets. In fights, they pretty much get bullied by the Dragons because the story both wants said Dragons to be the plucky underdogs and far more powerful and resourceful than their foes; it's telling that only Ember and Thorax actually get taken seriously by them. When the combat parts are over and there's a truce, the ponies lose their status as physical obstacles, so instead, they're used to show how smart the Dragons are, get lectured, stand in awe, and cower in fear, and that's pretty much it.
And I wonder if that may be a side effect of the size of the cast. The more characters there are, the less time to flesh out each of them. So the ponies, as the ones the readers are already familiar with, had to be used to give the Dragons time to shine—but in the process, they had less and less agency as those situations proved more and more one-sided. That's speculation, though.
11001756
yeah that's another problem I had here, I tried to make the noble dragons have sort of a 'grey morality' to them where they held a sort of bigotry towards ponies but not without a decent reason and while being a relatively peaceful and enlightened society were still incredibly xenophobic; but I wound up completely botching their characterization and made them racist jerks with a 'holier than thou' attitude.
Then there's the matter of how the ponies were frequently the subject of the 'worf effect' where they were just punching bags to show off how powerful the dragons were which was another big problem of the story itself. Not to mention how they never seem to be phased by any of the noble dragon's threats towards them, which again was a big failure in terms of characterization on my part; I wanted to make the noble dragons flawed but ultimately good creatures who were just trapped by fear-induced ignorance and just wanted their prince back.
You don't need to worry about me taking that criticism the wrong way, I'm already well aware of those faults and agree whole heartedly that they're a big problem with the story.
In the re-write I do plan on keeping that Xenophobic attitude, it's a core piece of the story conflict. But try to soften it up as being the result of centuries of isolation and fear brought on by the near genocide they suffered so long ago, while also showing that the Noble Dragons do have several redeeming qualities to themselves such as a very peaceful and almost utopian society devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and the arts as well as a few fringe groups amongst the dragons, namely the younger ones, being more willing to listen to Spike's views about ponies and their teachings. While also making the battles between the ponies and noble dragons a bit more give-and-take with both sides getting their licks in.
I like the concept I built here, really I do, but the execution needs some serious work.
11001836
So do I. Like the concept, I mean. And I hope I could communicate the issue there; that's it not just a matter of who is more powerful than who, but also who gets to have agency and be an active character. The ponies were outclassed in strength and regularly trounced in battle, true, but there was also the fact that they didn't get to have much of an active presence in social interactions. They were mostly talked at, or talked over. Like with the Fluttershy versus meat dinner example above. Or take how Saphria shut down Rarity's inquiry about Yam's crush, instantly knowing she was a gossip, answering all questions and ending that discussion. Or Crystal seeing right through Rarity, insulting her in the process and telling her she isn't going to prank her now that she knows Rarity is too dumb. Or the many, many instances of Spike or the Dragons brushing aside blame by saying "I'm not trying to excuse their actions" when that's exactly what they were doing, and nobody pushed back. Well, you can see a trend there.
Thing is, I understand the problem with introducing a lot of new characters and giving them enough attention to flesh them out. Which is why I wondered if it would work better with a smaller cast. Character dynamics are easier to explore when it's not fourteen or so characters to juggle at the same time.
This is just spitballing here, but what if most of the Mane Six weren't currently around? Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack had no real impact, and Rainbow Dash very little. Including Rarity as Spike's love interest (even if one-sided) could work to explore that conflict, but to be honest, Ember played that role much better. Spike only ever mentioned his crush on her once, to mock Yam about her own crush, it was a non-factor otherwise. Still, it could be very interesting to see how the Dragons react to Spike having been crushing on Rarity for the longest time, then making a great connection to Ember, the current Dragon Lord who is only in that position because of him, and maybe even Gabby as completely out of left field girlfriend material. Last one could create problems with the timeline, though...
Back to the first point. If the pony cast is smaller, it gives the Dragons a greater fighting chance and there's less characters to focus on, meaning more attention to each individual. A, let's say, Twilight, Starlight, Ember and maybe Gabby team-up could be fun. Throw in Thorax if needed, but he's got a Hive to rule and unlike the Hoard Dragons, his people aren't fiercely independent antisocial jerks. Maybe the Noble Dragons even waited for most of the Elements of Harmony to be gone before striking.
On the note of the Noble Dragon genocide, I don't actually have a big problem if there was a costly war with the other Dragons. Ember's people's society seems to revolve around personal power, followed by riches. Bullies and thieves are idolised, as the story with Scales shows. Violence is pretty common. Even Smolder has to remind herself that they don't raid pony towns anymore now. The Bloodstone Sceptre is a way for the Dragon Lord to keep their subjects in line through sheer force; perhaps the initial disagreement with the Noble Dragons came from that as well. Maybe they argued for a better way to keep the peace than a magical sceptre enforcing obedience. Take a Dragon Lord fearful of losing her power if the sceptre isn't needed anymore, and voilà, there's a reason for war. Heck, said Dragon Lord could even have believed the sceptre is necessary and taking a different route will lead to chaos and disaster.
Following from that, if you want to have ponies involved in there too, well, back in Flash Magnus's days, the Pegasi also warred against Dragons. It's also possible the ponies back then couldn't differentiate between Noble and Hoard Dragons, because there's essentially no real visual difference whith younger members of either. Imagine some pony village opening its gates to a group of Dragons, thinking it's the Noble Dragons... and then they burn it to the ground. Of course some ponies will stop helping any Dragon then, because they can't be sure it's not the violent ones. You don't need to have evil, moustache-twirling pony nobles conspiring to hunt Dragons for their scales, they could simply be frightened and confused, collateral damage in the War of the Broken Fang; Dragons fighting each other over their lands, destroying things, some asking for help, some asking for help only to turn on them, all a big mess until the ponies decide to fight off any and all Dragons showing up to protect themselves.
11004471
that actually is a good idea. I mean I was juggling eight OCs and ten or so canon characters; narrowing the field would certainly help.
I was thinking I could split the party up a bit; have several artifacts that were left behind by the last creatures to know that the noble dragons even existed in the first place in case the need to locate them ever arose, which the mane six decide to hunt down in order to locate spike. The noble dragons become aware of this quest and decide to send out a few of their agents to intercept them and retrieve the artifacts before they can be utilized (they wouldn't resort to destroying them because of their need to collect knowledge) and their home becomes exposed to the world. I was even thinking that fluttershy (or one of the other mane six other than twilight) accidentally gets transported to the Noble Dragon city where she is kept 'prisoner' and I use that term loosely as she is allowed to roam around in relative freedom with nothing more than a tracking collar that shocks her if she attempts to enter any areas she isn't supposed to be in, even getting to see and talk to spike whom she is surprised to not only see safe but actually pretty happy. During her time there she actually starts to come around to certain aspects of the noble dragons and starts to sympathize with them, agreeing with spike that if they could just get equestria to see that then maybe they could stop the conflict all together.
I do plan on keeping the war though. The tensions between the noble dragons and the horde dragons started over arguments over collecting wealth vs collecting knowledge which fostered a sort of racist resentment on both sides, horde dragons being seen as idiotic brutes while noble dragons becoming viewed as weak and spoiled. Peace talks were created but both sides were simply too prideful to back down and make any sort of compromise and tensions only rose further. The bloodstone scepter might actually be better off as the object that started the war; although the side that created it was up for debate: was it the noble dragons who's scientific pursuits went too far and created a terrible power that quickly caught the eye of the horde dragons to seize it at all costs? Or did the horde dragons make it, causing the noble dragons to panic at the prospect of such a powerful weapon in the hands of such violent creatures and launch a preempted strike? Both sides claim it was the other at fault, but nobody seems to know for sure where it came from or who made it, the only thing they can agree on it that it was ultimately a mistake but it's too late to go back now.
and I do love that approach to the noble dragons being some what friendly to equestria, but their image became sabotaged by horde dragons. In fact that could have been part of their war efforts, the horde dragons knew that if the noble dragons got the princesses on their side then they'd be put at a disadvantage so they took steps to ruin their relationships and turn ponies against all dragons.
Is this dead because was really enjoying it 😢
Dead?
11285969
Seems so
Such a shame, I really liked this story