The surprise arrival of a group of fearsome dragons over Canterlot precipitates a panic in Equestria's capital. With tensions running high, a response needed and almost no information to work with, the Princesses reach out to the only pony they can call on for help.
Thrust into a precarious maze of political imperitives and Phyrric choices, where the wrong word said at the wrong moment could begin a war, Spike must use all of his wits to bring the two sides together peacefully. He knows it's possible... but he seems to be the only one who does.
Chapters (8)
Hey, great to see you're still around!
Strong opening chapter, I'm looking forward to where it goes.
This is pretty cool. I absolutely loved your Daring Do story. I’ll bite this!
8686 has a new story?
Excuse me if I fave before reading.
Uhh, why not just ask Ember? She and Spike correspond regularly, and she is the Dragon Lord, so either she knows what's going on, or can order the dragons to tell her, and, if it's hostile, order them to stop.
Between seasons 6 and 7... calibrating... okay, so Ember has just become the dragon lord, but none of her other episodes have happened yet. Roger that.
I'm curious whether this will be part of the same universe as Eclipse and Of Dragons and Horses, Songs and Solace, but I suppose we'll learn the answer to that soon enough.
9567786
I wanted to make it fit, and I really tried to find a way to do it, but unfortunately they're not really compatible. Sorry.
I'm fairly sure you've ratcheted up the tension a little too high. They may be strong, but we've seen fully grown dragons be cowed by Fluttershy before. I'm pretty sure if Celestia spoke softly and carried a big stick, they'd see reason. Either that, or she could just threaten to have Discord turn them all into multicolored hamsters if they killed anypony.
9568104
Like they said, even if ponies like fluttershy are good 1v1 (and I'm not convinced that 'the stare' would even work all the time like that) the problem is that they can't fight an entire army with a few super-weapons.
As for Discord, I don't think he works that way, and I wouldn't be surprised if there where other powerful beings out there similar to Celestia, Luna, Discord or Tirek, so you can't just assume the dragons don't "know a guy" willing to help.
Always love me a Spike story, and gosh darn the political intrigue you’ve set up here is fascinating! Can’t wait to see where you go with this1
Maybe it's a doomsday thing.
Eh. Was the long bit about the nature of war, simulations, and the parts with the yaks really necessary?
So...guess Celestia's gonna be the 'bad' politician in this. As usual.
Celestia, like a Momlestia, is worried about her precious son.
9569893
Well. The politician. As opposed to the faithful Friendshippian.
Oh, well, that was easy. All Spike has to do is chill with Ember until Celestia shows up, explain the situation, and problem solved. The dragons could easily move to Ponyville, where there's more room and the ponies are most used to giant creatures running around.
Celestia is just making more excuses cause she's not mare enough to admit it.
9569886
Yes. Basic writing: establish the normal thing before throwing something abnormal into the mix.
9571703
Couldn't they have just cut that all out and told Spike, "Dragons just showed up out of the blue, and we're really concerned as to why." In what way was the yak simulation relevant?
Celestia does realize that she's going to have to murder at least one of those dragons in order to sell a deterrence strategy, right?
Yeah Spike what are you suggesting?
It's a good story, even if the general conflict and the inevitable resolution could be seen almost from the very start. In fact, the IDW comics did a very similar storyline featuring Spike and Ember regarding a conflict with the yaks. Also one involving a convocation as well.
However, there was excellent dialogue, and some nice twists and very good attention to detail that made this a good read nonetheless. I really liked you portrayal of Ember's character and personality here, along with Spike's well-meaning shenanigans. The addition of Dash and the pony foal were good twists that added some nice unexpected twists to the story but still blended in well with the overall plot. Along with the epilogue!
Kudos to you!
So, usually when I read one of your stories I think 'I'd be great if 8686 were on the show's writing staff.' but after an author's note like that I'm thinking ''I'd be great if 8686 were the head of the UN.' -- You're too good for this world.
Anyway; I did enjoy this story a lot, mostly because it took your old Spike story, A Friend of A Friend, and kicked it in the teeth.
Diplomacy really shows all of Spike's good qualities; smart, confident, reliable, good natured, helpful, optimistic, resourceful, respected, level headed, nice, and (most importantly) friendly.
To me this fits well in the series, between Gauntlet of Fire and School Daze, better than Triple Threat did. Thinking of this as the bridge of why/how Smolder joined the School of Friendship.
And all I can say, again, is; thanks for the story!
I don't know whether to shake my head or to stand and applaud.
I also don't know whether to be ashamed to admit that I laughed... but I did. A lot.
I'd be lying if I said that I saw in this story all of the things you mentioned in the author's notes. But then, I've never been one who tries to parse a story for anything beyond surface-level metaphor and meaning.
I also didn't apply the events depicted in it to the real world. Which is just as well, as that would only serve to depress me -- there are too many leaders who would light that match without a moment's hesitation or reflection.
But what I did see is a compelling story about how peace is preferable to war. A story that unfortunately seems like it could only happen in a world of fantasy, but still... it was heartening to read about leaders who found a way to do the right thing even in the face of mind-clouding fear.
So I'm not the one to determine how successful you were in achieving what you set out to achieve. But I enjoyed what I did read.
During Scald's bragging in the second-to-last major chapter, it occurred to me that if he followed his line of reasoning all the way to its logical conclusion, then there would be no reason for him to respect the authority of the dragon lord. The end result would be an intra-species war until only the most powerful dragon remained to truly do whatever he or she pleased. Luckily, his mind never got that far, because the subsequent events would have resulted in a lot more collateral damage.
(Plus, as the story showed, things ultimately wouldn't have ended well when that sole remaining dragon tried to exercise their "right" across the rest of the world.)
I remember the Watchmen quote that came along with that particular comic as well.
i.redd.it/bsf81978pz7y.png
Children
Oh man oh man oh man!
Twilight baiting was great. Starlight was great. Luna was great. This is great!
I think I'm supposed to hate you.
I like the war simulation room. I also appreciate the differing strategies in this and in Of Dragons.
I am not fond of these deterrence talks...
Ember reminds me of Ragnarok, though!
Everything Celestia did made so much sense. And yet it failed so spectacularly.
What a wonderful disaster
Oh boy. I hope Spike has a good plan.
Spike's plan was brilliant
I think you're being too harsh on yourself. This was excellent. You did a great job handling the differing points of view, the conflicts they created, and the resolutions they needed.
You have once again shown yourself to be a master of the craft.
this is a dragon story that I wasn't even aware of could possibly happen. As an avid fan of dragons, none of my stories will compete close to this. You've written this and the most political yet amazing way that would definitely fit the show. I have no doubt that if the show were to have continued on, something like this would have been amazing to see and understand for references. I am still amazed that this had a plan unseen that it still makes me smile when I read the final chapters. I hope that there is more like this in the future and I applaud what you have given us with this story.
It took me a long time to finish this, but am I glad I did. Wonderfully done and executed better than for which you give yourself credit. As with so many of your stories, this could very easily fit into the canon events of the show, as the lesson is, as you say, an important one.
Thank you for writing.
The quality of this chapter is pretty amazing. It's all setup and genre character conversations, but has genuinely funny moments, and Spike enjoying being Spike in his tell-tale inner/outer monologue. Best of all, you've given a bunch of reasons to start rooting for him: His legacy as the brave and glorious, his acceptance among ponies, not letting down his friends, his relationship with Twilight, and ofc the his dragon-ness. 6k words of SOL and the equivalent of the pre-theme song setup has no right to be this good.
👏👏👏
A lot of ponyfiction likes to play around with how powerful the alicorns are, and depending on which ones you subscribe to, that thing growing out of Luna's head arguably gives her the ability to cause genocide.
Speaking of which, Discord is on friendly terms with the princesses, and also depending on the fanfic, Discord's powers can make the dragons' strengths utterly trivial.
You know this point is going to come up after the war room scene in the previous chapter. For a nation who seeks to foster peace through trust and friendship, extorting peace with the implied threat of a lethal weapon would be antithetical.
This is probably helping Luna's case here, but I'm pretty sure this crisis started because the situation was already reversed.
So let me get this straight. After telling Ember about half a dozen times that she shouldn't have come here unannounced, you're going to try to sneak Ember into the castle for a word with the princesses, also unannounced. Damn it, Spike, find some paper, write them a letter requesting an audience, and deliver it to them via dragonfire.
What a strange amount of people asking Spike for help.
Spike is the one who has spent the most time among dragons? Seems unlikely that Luna and Celestia wouldn't, in all their centuries ore millenia, have spent more time than Spike around dragons
"What we have here is a failure to communicate!" - Cool Hand Spike.
Fabulous story.
And this right here. This was a stop reading and laugh for a solid 30 seconds imperative.
I always enjoy the tales you spin.
Thank you for sharing your craft.
This is underrated. Needs more views and likes
" It's going to be fine "
Famous last words.
Uhm wrong? Those are Yak. Yak smash!!!
They will celebrate how great Yak are. No doubt 🧐
Ahem. Again. Yaks!
Increase the heat! They live in -20 all the time!
However, being balls of Fluff will ruin your day when the sun is up, pretty sure Yona was melting during EQ summer days.
Plus heat will dry em out.
Controlling wate supply will let em give up within a few days tops.
Cold should work against Dragons and Changelings, given their hot n dry lands...
PS. Unless you soak the Yaks beforehand, turn em into sponges and ice cubes....buuuuttt that might be a tad too cruel for ponies to do...
At least those are my two bits.
Not that it's smart for Yak to attack a land with magic, airforce, ruler of day and night and Discord etc etc etc...
Who could combine their magic to go full Tirek on them.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2019/2/11/1959444.jpg
(and yes, there are more like that 😂
A Wild Fluttershy appears!
Fluttershy used stare. It's not effective.
Yak used trample. Missed.
Fluttershy used element of kindness! It's super effective!!
Yak drop 15 bits and retreat.
Spoke the Alicorn which rules because she's an Alicorn and has tremendous power
Author's Note:
* Spike has flown on Princess Celestia at least once in the comics, in case you were scratching your head.
Wasn't it in the comic where she told him WHY she never helped Twi?
In the show she comes off as lazy or so but the comic stated she did so for twi to learn etc.