Since the day she ascended, Dragon Lord Ember has strived to move beyond the shadow of her father's rule. She's pursued some strange things to achieve this, perhaps none more strange than forging a close friendship with Twilight Sparkle, now ruler of Equestria. They've exchanged hundreds of letters over the years, growing closer and more familiar to each other with every one.
Ember knows her feelings for Twilight have changed, but the distance between them had provided an easy excuse to ignore them. Had, because with a summit between the Dragon Lands and Equestria starting, Ember and Twilight have the opportunity to once again enjoy each other's company.
And Ember is not the only one trying to come to terms with her feelings.
Ember vector by tyler611
You have this habit of surprising me when I least expect it.
As always, your language is beautifully poetical and the sort of—I don't know how to describe is—vast intimacy that you inject your stories' atmospheres is something highly unique. I quite enjoyed the back and forth between Ember and Twilight. You do Ember quite well, but the way that you write Twilight especially impressed me. People (including myself) tend to play completely into her bookworm tendencies and forget about how much grit she really has.
I think the pacing was on point, if I had to tell you to change anything I think that I would love to see the actual content of the letters exchanged between Twilight and Ember, if only to add a little more context for the purpose of giving weight to the events taking place here. I also would have loved to hear Twilight talk about Smolder a bit, but that's less of a critique and more of a vain desire. All in all though, this was pretty freaking great.
You know, when I first saw this story I thought it'd be longer?
No bucking clue why the like-to-dislike ratio* is as bad as it currently is. You've written quite the story, mate!
:)
*it's since improved (thank Celestia), but at the time I originally commented it was at 11-to-5.
9930194
Haha, I'm not sure if it was my intention to surprise, more me being reluctant to remove certain parts of the story that had been conceived when it was a straight-up comedy. And thank you kindly for the compliment. There's something that's always been quite appealing to me about Twilight getting the chance to show her rougher, resilient edge; it's one of the things I like about her character. I was initially torn between using Twilight or Moon Dancer; in the end I went with Twilight because a) the show provided some canon opportunities to make their established friendship more natural and b) because she's only character where I feel such a relationship could work, in a way that felt natural to me and not just the whole 'opposites attract/same personality' thing. Hopefully I've managed to convey that otherwise what's the point, haha!
Critiques are a fair cop, chum! I can't remember if I said on my blog that I went though a couple of iterations of this story before settling on the published version; one of those was a story that was told through letters, but I opted against it because it struggled to convey the physicality of the romance, which needs to be there in my opinion. Plus I had only just finished Proximity, and that had a similar vibe to it. But I concede completely that the letters were an important part and that some context may have been lost in their absence.
And yeah, I wanted to add Smolder because best dragon reasons (and for a wider sense of universe continuity) but yeah, it's a pretty shallow addition.
9930318
Haha, oh gosh yeah, probably something to do with the ship. Or the subject matter. Or my writing. Or [insert motivation here]. Honestly though, I couldn't care less. I had a blast writing this one, and as long as some people have enjoyed it that's all that matters. So I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for championing the cause. It's appreciated, chum. Really glad you liked it.
Huh, not a pairing I would have really thought of. Well done!
9930908
Thank you very much, both for commenting and for reading the story. I genuinely hope you enjoyed it.
Huh, so is it really that rare? I genuinely didn't think it would be, but I appreciate my observation skills are pretty woozy more often than not.
That was a gorgeous story. The emotionality was raw and visceral and I loved it. Kudos!
9930999
Oh goodness, thank you so very much for the lovely comment, and for taking the time to read my story in the first place. That really does mean a lot.
I'm delighted that you enjoyed it. Raw and visceral is the type of thing I'm aiming for, in terms of writing romance at least, so I'm chuffed that it worked for you on that front.
Thanks again. Hopefully I'll see you back round my way in the future!
Interesting ship
9931270
Well if you're going to be remembered for something, it may as well be for interesting ships.
A surprisingly emotionally driven story for a ship I frankly have never seen done. This was pretty good!
9931279
Ha! True that my friend, true that.
9931404
Oh well that's very kind of you to say. Thanks for taking the time to read my work and to comment. It means a lot and I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's always fun to try and bring some believable emotion into the ships that are a little less common or usual.
My only question is how much of Twilight and Ember's courtship ritual did you make up? I didn't watch any dragon related episodes after Gauntlet of Fire.
And now I'm tempted to do TwilightxEmber ship story myself. Just because this was so good.
9931854
Hello! Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read my story, and to leave such a lovely comment. I'm delighted you enjoyed it.
To answer your question: It was all made up. So far as I've seen (I think I've watched all the main dragon-y episodes now), there's nothing like that in the show. Which is fair enough, the content was enough for me to push the rating to a T. I just figured that dragons are pretty primal and physical creatures, and would probably assess a future partner by their ability to protect and pull their weight. A throwdown felt natural to use from that point on.
I wish you the very best with your story should you write it. I'll definitely read it, that's for sure.
Oh Twilight...
First I was laughing at the sheer banter between these two, then I was crying. Why story do you have to make me feel this way?
9931920
Oh, I saw that you added this to your RiL pile earlier. Thank you for getting to it and letting me know your thoughts so quickly. I appreciate it a great deal.
Honestly, I went back to that paragraph so many times; I was (and still am if I think about it long enough) convinced that it was a little too heavy handed for it to really be effective. So I've got a right smile on my face now on reading that it worked for you!
I'm glad you liked the banter, too. That was one of my favourite parts to write!
9931933
Trust me... it worked. It just did.
I can tell, Twilight's snark is eternal here.
I’m reminded of Changeling Courtship Rituals. Appears dragons don’t like dragging it out that much.
9932624
Oh is that a fic on the site or just a concept in general? Forgive my ignorance but genuinely curious.
And yeah, I imagined it to be a pretty direct (or otherwise impatient) affair.
9932630
It’s a story by Codus Ex Equus. It also has a sequel called Pony Courtship Rituals.
9932630
Will there be a sequel? Where we can see them explore their relationship?
9933877
Hello there. I wouldn't rule one out completely, but I've got no plans to at the moment. I'd want to avoid making a sequel for the sake of it; the story would have to have enough about it for it to stand on its own two feet independent of this story. The particular character arcs present here have been resolved for the most part, so it would be about be finding some new ones, and some new conflict to develop. There's certainly no shortage of that to find between these two though.
All that being said, I am running a lottery for my followers to 'win' a free commission, details of which are here, so that's another route by which a sequel could appear.
At any rate, I hope that answers your question. Thanks for reading. I really appreciate it.
That's a very nice and original fanfiction ! This is the first time i've seen this shipping between twilight and ember anywhere, and even though i was a little surprised by this idea... this is really well executed, i couldn't stop reading until the end ! ^^
)
I'm just a little surprised there was no mentions about spike, since he's relatively close to ember too (and even more now if she's going to be family
9934494
Hello! Thanks for taking the time and read my work. It's super appreciated, and your comments have put a big smile on my face. I'm delighted you enjoyed it, but also that it succeeded in presenting an unusual ship in an engaging way for you.
Honestly, I'm not a huge Spike fan at the best of times, so I would be reluctant to have him as a character in there unless it was necessary to the plot, and in this story he wasn't relevant. That's probably a harsh mindset to have, but hey, I'm only human!
As you say though, if their relationship is explored further in another story then I could see Spike having some roles to play for sure. Though to be honest I'd be more keen to throw in some Shining Armor/Ember scenes and dialogue. That could be fun.
9934567
With pleasure !
Personnally i really do like Spike when his interactions are not centered around him or his crush life, but of course that's my point of view and to every one their tastes ^^
Ember/Shining Armor scenes seems so much fun though ! I'll read it for sure if it happens ! :D
9934606
But yeah, I do find it a little weird that he's shipped with so many characters.
Of course! There are so many characters in the show and comics, it would be a terrible shame if we all agreed on them!
As for the rest, we'll watch this space I guess. Hopefully I'll see you around my neck of the woods again anyway, but if I publish another Emberlight then I'll look forward to your thoughts on it!
This was wonderful! You write Ember really well. I love how tsundere she is, lol.
This story drips with beautiful romantic imagery. The yearning and hesitation battling inside them was really captivating. I love that dragon courtship involves battling each other. That was cool.
This was a fantastic read! I don't find enough stories like this. I'm a very picky reader, but this is definitely going into my recommended list!
This was very well written.
First time reading a Twilight/Ember shipping story, and you made it work.
I really enjoyed this. Bravo!
9934863
Oh, well thank you very much. I'm absolutely over the moon that you enjoyed reading this, and I'm so very grateful for you taking the time to do so. There are a lot of stories on this site after all! I really had a blast writing Ember, she's a lot of fun when she's all conflicted about feelings and stuff. I didn't want to go too far down that road, which is why I ended up going all in with the violent dragon courting rituals (well, that and I had fun imaging Twilight cutting loose and giving as good as she was getting). Imagery is my thing, though, and if that was all my stories were remembered for then I'd be a happy lad. So it means a lot to hear that you liked it.
Thanks again; that feedback really has made my day!
9934877
That was weird.
Haha, I'm glad you finally got to in the end, and my apologies again for the random vanishing act!
I'm super pleased that you enjoyed it, and it means a lot to me that you took the time to do so. Especially:
I'm genuinely delighted that it was mine you decided to take a punt on. I'm a big fan at attempting to make unusual and less common pairings believable and enjoyable, and I'm glad it worked for you. It felt very natural, to me at least.
Thanks again!!
This is a fantastic story. I love how the characters act and play out their emotions. The visual descriptions are perfect. there enough there to hook us the readers in and its long enough to leave us satisfied with its ending. Fantastic work.
I also enjoyed the story of Firestorm cause of dragons and gryphons.
There one part that tossed me threw a loop and it was;
I lost who was speaking and how the conversation was going. If that can be changed so its easier to follow would help out the readers of this story. Other than that it was a wonderful read. I cant wait to see more of your work.
9938662
Hello! Thanks ever so much for the feedback, and for taking the time to read my work in the first place. There are so many stories out there, so it means a lot that you took a punt on mine. I'll definitely review that section again if clarity is an issue; the only person speaking in that exchange is Ember (the second time responding to Twilight's groan), but I suspect the word 'replied' is the issue there. I'll give it some thought and make some tweaks to improve things
Thanks for bringing the issue to my attention, and I most certainly look forward to seeing you round my way again when I get a new story out and into the world!
9939070
Well all I can say it was a wonderful read and well made. i hope your next story is better than the last.
9939674
Aheh, no pressure. No pressure...
Wow. That was so deep on so many levels. I got as much information out of the information that wasn't there as what was. You created a very deep and personal connection between the characters without having to tell us about it and thus said so much more. And I love seeing in your notes that you loved writing this story, it shows.
9942898
Hello there, and thank you so much for such lovely words. Suffice to say, what you enjoyed about it was what I was aiming for, so it's really nice to read that it worked for you. I enjoyed writing these two; there's something about their personalities that connect so well for me, and I think that helped carry the story through the bits that were in danger of becoming repetitive.
Hope to see you around my neck of the woods again in future, but until then, thank you very much. I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to read my work and comment.
So outside Tirek, granny Smith, a few backgrounds, that pretty much covers all the "You can ship Twilight with anyone" theme. Seriously outside the few I've mention Twilight has been with everyone...
9943459
I was only really on board with Twilight/Pinkie Pie before writing this, but I'm a proper convert now.
Haha, she's absolutely incorrigible isn't she?
I await the Granny Pie shipfic with baited breath!
This is so beautifully written; I really hope to see many more stories from you in the future.
9951899
Thank you so much! I loved writing this one, so I'm absolutely over the moon that you enjoyed it. I'll do my best to continue delivering stories that you like.
9951922
I'm sure you will! I love seeing unusual pairings like this handled with such care.
9952048
Neat. Well unusual pairings like this is kinda what I enjoy doing the most. There's something affecting about taking two characters that don't cross paths much, if at all, and saying "How can I make this work in a believable way?"
Thank you for the follow, by the way. Very flattered. I'm looking forward to checking your stories out too.
9952064
To be fair, Ember and Twilight are a pairing that comes across more as rare than less plausible. Their occupation puts them in a fair deal of contact, and they've met in multiple episodes, so they're less out there than some other romances. I'm quite fond of both, though.
This was a wonderful story! And with such a rare pairing. Really like the very sudden flinging of Ember into a boulder.
I featured this on episode 284 of my podcast, Pony 411.
Uhhhh... the summons for the gauntlet of fire proved otherwise, didn't it?
9992415
They could have ignored it, but there would have been consequences
Plus it itched a lot
I've been away from the site for a few weeks, so please excuse the delay in responding.
9960175
Eee, I'm genuinely flattered! Thank you for taking the time to include it, and for reading my story in the first place. I'm over the moon that you enjoyed it! The boulder sequence was a personal favourite part for me when writing (well, most of the duelling sequences to be honest), though I was worried it was going to create a little too strong a dissonance with the tone of the story in general. Hopefully I've kept on the right side of that particular line.
I'll be sure to check out the podcast this weekend. Thank you again!
9992415
Anybody except a dragon, then. I'm just gonna call artistic licensing with the source material there, haha. Thanks for spotting that quibble though! Appreciated.
9997724
Will there ever be a sequel?
This meant to be a really important moment for the story, but I'm just kind of confused by the description of Twilight's motion. This is making me think she's doi g something like a one-handed pushup.