Burning Passion

by PonyPixel

A Reasoned to be Summoned

“Okay, let’s try this again,” Shimmy Shake said. Yona and Dotta started stomping on the ground as Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof jumped along to it. Smolder and Peridot flew into the air with Silverstream and Tarsi following behind while carrying bags of confetti.

Ocellus took a deep breath before shouting. “Listen up, hear us out, we here to cheer! Tell us why you’re all here.”

“V-I, C-T-O, R-Y!” Grace cried joining in. “Victory, let’s hear your cry!” With that, the two mares flipped in between the yaks. The dragons blew out smoke as Silverstream and Tarsi released the confetti from their bags. Grace and Ocellus flew backward, with the griffon landing in the middle of the third row of the forming pyramid.

Ocellus and Tarsi landed on each side of her. They held their arms up to hold up Smolder and Peridot. The dragons then did the same for Silverstream. They all struck a pose as Shimmy Shake and Lighthoof started to struggle to keep them up.

“Okay... Girls,” Lighthoof groaned. “Take five.” The creatures got to the floor and the mares collapsed from exhaustion.

“I knew we should’ve been on the bottom,” Peridot sighed.

“It’s okay,” Shimmy Shake panted. “We’re still getting used to this.”

“Yeah, that was our best one yet,” Silverstream cheered.

“I know,” Grace agreed. “I can’t wait to show the other students what we can do.”

“What can you do?” Gallus asked, much to the cheerleaders’ surprise. He and Sandbar walked in.

“We were coming in to see how you were doing,” Sandbar explained, walking up to Yona.

“Yaks doing great,” Yona said happily.

“Yaks are,” Dotta greed. “Friends can’t wait to perfect pyramid.”

“Oh, boy, here we go,” Smolder groaned.

“What’s the problem?” Gallus asked.

“Dotta loves the sound of her voice.”

“Yak also love snow,” Dotta spoke, “Though leaves aren’t so bad. Wish winter would come sooner.” Her mouth was now starting to talk a mile a minute.

“She’s going to be doing that for a while,” Sandbar observed, “Is she?”

“Yona tried to get Dotta to stop before,” Yona answered. The much quieter yak nuzzled against her boyfriend.

“Ah, their love is nice,” Tarsi sighed.

“Yeah, it tastes nice,” Ocellus agreed.

“You can taste love?” Peridot asked.

“Well, yeah.”

“What does it taste like?”

“It varies,” Ocellus explained. “There’s the love between parent and child, friends, or between a couple like Sandbar and Yona.”

“Interesting,” Smolder commented.

“It’s so cute to see a couple like them together,” Silverstream cooed. Smolder didn’t reply to this and just sighed quietly as she looked towards Ocellus. Suddenly, the spines on her head started to glow. Most of the cheerleaders gasped.

“What’s going on?” Lighthoof asked.

“Is Dragon Lord Ember summoning her?” Peridot questioned.

“Sandbar glow too,” Yona added. The pony’s cutie mark was glowing just like the dragon’s spines.

“The spirit must be calling you,” Silverstream cooed.

“Spirit?” Peridot questioned. “I thought you were just being summoned by Dragon Lord Ember.”

Suddenly, a copy of Sandbar’s cutie mark and an image of Smolder’s head floated into the air and then through a window. The students followed them to the castle and inside until they got to the room with the map. The cutie mark and head image were floating around in circles above the Dragon Lands.

“What’s this?” Dotta asked.

“It’s the map of Equestria,” Ocellus explained. “Our professors get called by this when there’s a friendship mission.”

“Unless it’s a false alarm from Discord,” Gallus informed.

“Don’t remind us,” Sandbar shivered. “So, we’re heading the dragon lands.”

“Yeah,” Smolder said. “I’ll get to see Garble again.”

“How are you going to get there?” Shimmy Shake asked. “That’s nowhere near the railroad and Sandbar can’t fly.”

“I think I know a way.”

---

In the Dragon Lands, a part of a stone wall was being pushed out of place. Smolder, Sandbar, and Fluttershy pushed the stone slab to the side, feeling a little tired. “Thanks... For coming... With us... Professor... Fluttershy,” Sandbar panted.

“No problem,” Fluttershy replied. “It’ll be nice to see how those baby dragons have grown. I’m a little confused about how those tunnels have just formed.”

“It’s a little confusing,” Smolder admitted, “But we’re here now. Let’s just find our problem.” The three walked around, find the area much warmer than Ponyville was.

“Do you ever get snow around here?” Sandbar asked.

“Not really. We basically live around volcanos. Cold weather isn’t an issue we deal with around here.” The sound of a crying baby was now starting to be heard.

“Oh dear,” Fluttershy sighed. “Where is that coming from?” They walked towards the crying sound to find Garble with some of his friends, with the purple one holding a crying baby.

“Okay, I give up,” the dragon groaned. “I tried feeding him some crushed gems, there isn’t a scratch on him. Why is he crying?”

“Spear, calm down,” Garble said.

“Would you like some help?” Fluttershy asked while walking towards them.

“Fluttershy? What are you doing here?”

“The gave some of our students a call.”

“Which ones?”

“Who do you think, Gar-Gar?” Smolder asked.

“Smolder.” The brother and sister walked towards each other to give each other a fist bump. However, Garble left the baby on the ground, and it was still crying. He turned towards the pegasus. “Please help.”

Fluttershy walked over to the crying baby. “Don’t cry,” she said softly. She gently picked it up and gave a soft hug. The crying lessened until the baby hugged her back. “Don’t you have anything soft around here?”

“Softest thing we have here is gravel,” a green and gray dragon answered.

“Baff’s right,” Garble said. “We don’t really have anything soft for us to lie on around here.”

“No wonder this little one’s upset,” Fluttershy gasped. “There has to be something around here.”

“You can take a look if you want,” Spear said. “You’re the only one who’s gotten that kid to stop crying.”

“Could you show me to his mother?”

“I’ll lead the way. He’s my brother.” Spear and Fluttershy flew away, as Baff decided he wanted to follow, leaving Garble with his sister.

“So, how’s school treating you?” he asked.

“Just fine,” Smolder replied. “Do you remember Sandbar?” She gestured over to the pony.

“Oh, that’s right. The pony of the group. I honestly thought you were the hippogriff. Are that what those things called?”

“Yeah,” Sandbar replied. “You’re probably thinking of Silverstream.”

“Right. What was Fluttershy saying about a map bringing you here?”

“It’s a bit weird,” Smolder said. “Some of our friends were called by it before. I don’t know why it took so long for it to call us. We’re looking for a friendship problem.”

“Oddly specific. Let’s just fly around until we find what you’re looking for.”

“But I can’t fly,” Sandbar said.

“That’s where I come in.” Garble picked the pony up and took off into the air.

“Whoa, easy!”

“Relax, I’m not going to drop you. Besides, this really isn’t the safest place for a pony.”

“He’s got a point,” Smolder said. Pointing to the ground, she showed her friend the various cliffs and pools of lava.

“Fair point,” Sandbar commented, “But look for something like... Dragons arguing.”

“If that’s what you were looking for the map would’ve told you to move here,” Garble said.

“Didn’t many of them start getting along better since Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow were defeat?”

“Sort of. The older ones are pretty stubborn.”

“How about we ask Dragon Lord Ember?” Smolder suggested.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Sandbar agreed.

“That might be a little challenging,” Garble stated. His sister and her friend looked confused. “I don’t know why but she’s been a little cranky lately.”

“I’m not sure if I should be happy we’re getting closer to our problem, or worried about getting close to an angry dragon.” They flew around until they found the Dragon Lord. Ember was standing on a ledge to look over the land.

“Hey, Ember,” Smolder called as she landed behind her.

“Huh? Smolder?” Ember questioned. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Before you ask, I was given orders to come here. Along with Sandbar.”

“Hi,” the colt said after Garble let him go.

“Okay,” Ember said, “And Garble?”

“I was just giving him a ride,” he stated.

“We’re looking for a friendship problem,” Sandbar explained. “Have any of the dragons been causing trouble here?”

“I’ve heard that Fizzle’s been pretty quiet lately.”

“He’s usually like that,” Smolder said.

“Well, you go check on him. If you’re supposed to fix a friendship problem, go find it!”

“Alright, you don’t have to shout.” The two students walked off. Garble got a look from the Dragon Lord, signaling he should go to.

“Your brother wasn’t kidding,” Sandbar said.

“I don’t remember her just scream like that,” Smolder replied. “She usually has a good reason. The spirit didn’t summon all of us, so it can’t be something supernatural.”

“Let’s start with that Fizzle guy. You know what he looks like?”

“He’s about as tall as Garble, white, and has some pink spines. He should be nearby. Fizz? Fizzle!” They carried on until they came across the dragon they were looking for. Fizzle was hanging out near a pool of lava only with another drake. This drake had green scales, orange horns pointing upwards, a dark green chest with purple wings and rose-colored eyes.

“I could’ve sworn I’ve seen you before,” Fizzle said.

“I’ve might’ve flown around a few times,” the drake said.

“Fizzle,” Smolder called, grabbing the dragon’s attention.

“Smolder?” the white drake replied.

“I got called here. Ember said you were having some trouble with something.”

“Not at the moment. Though, you think you could help me with this guy? I think I’ve seen him before.” The mysterious dragon looked to be nervous based on his expression and sweat.

“He has a point,” Sandbar commented. “He looks very familiar.”

“I... Um... Passed by a couple of times,” the drake said nervously.

Smolder and Sandbar looked at each other before they started figuring things out. “You wouldn’t happen to be...”

“Hey, what’s that!?” The drake pointed at something, making Smolder, Sandbar, and Fizzle turn around. This left the drake enough time to fly off.

“I can’t believe we fell for that,” Smolder groaned.

“Yeah, he got Clump too,” Fizzle told. “We have no idea where he came from.”

“Well, do you have any problem we can help with?” Sandbar asked.

“Aside from that guy, nothing.”

“Welp, thanks anyway,” Smolder said. “Come on, Sandy.” The two walked off, leaving Fizzle to himself.

“What’s that guy usually like?” Sandbar asked.

“Like Garble, his actually pretty nice. Just pure pressure from some bullies.”

“Speaking of which, was Clump one of them?”

“He’s gotten better. His family is huge. Like... Huge.”

“Wait, there’s that drake again.” He pointed to where the mysterious dragon was, flying around in the air as if he was looking for something. Smolder promptly dragged her friend under a cliff before he could see them.

“Okay, as soon as he takes off, we’ll follow him,” she said.

“You sure about that?”

“Fizzle doesn’t know where he came from. He has to be something else.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Who else do you think has those colors?”

“I... I thought it could be, but I didn’t see a good reason why.” The dragon then flew off. Sandbar got picked up by his friend, and they took off after him.

“We just came back this way.”

“You know this place better than I do, so I’m going to take your word for it. Where’s he going?” They followed behind and made sure not to get spotted. When the drake landed, he looked to be to hyperventilating.

“What’s wrong with him?” Once they landed behind him, Ember walked up to the drake.

“Princess... Ember,” the drake stuttered.

“Where were you?” the Dragon Lord asked.

“I was... Busy back home. My brother’s getting tired of taking my place.”

Smolder and Sandbar looked towards each other. “That does sound like him,” Sandbar whispered. “But we would he come here?”

“Who cares?” Smolder replied, “I’m asking.” She flew up the cliff, taking the older dragons by surprise.

“Weren’t you with Fizzle?” the drake questioned.

“I’m more curious about who this is.”

“I’m the Dragon Lord,” Ember said, trying to change the subject.

“Uh, guys,” Sandbar called. The tree turned to the colt who was struggling to get up the cliff.

“Oop, sorry,” Smolder apologized. She walked over to help her friend when they heard a flash. After getting the pony back on the cliff, the green drake was gone again. In his place, was a rock with... Eyes? The rock tried to close them, but the students weren’t buying it.

Ember groaned in defeat. “Come on Thorax,” she sighed, “You’re caught.” A sigh came from the rock as there was another flash, revealing the changeling king.

“King Thorax?” Sandbar questioned. “I thought it would be you but... What are you doing here?”

“Visiting Ember,” Thorax admitted.

“Something you have barely done in a while,” Ember stated.

“A while?” Smolder questioned.

“How often have you visited?” Sandbar asked.

“Well,” Thorax said. “It started after Twilight became the new ruler of Equestria.”

---

Several months ago.

---

At the changeling hive, the changelings were all relieved that Queen Chrysalis was now sealed in stone. Thorax was relaxing with some of the changelings. He was relaxing a bed of leaves. He could barely remember what parts of the hive looked like before he took charge.

He often spent most of this time thinking about the other kingdoms. Yakyakistan, Seaquestira, Hippogriffia, Griffonstone. Then he thought about the Dragon Lands. He then thought of Ember. She did help give him some pointers on how to be a good ruler, and he also gave some tips to her. Though, once he started thinking about her, he couldn’t get her out of his head.

“Maybe I could go and visit her,” Thorax said to himself. “Yeah. Equestria is safe now. Chrysalis isn’t coming back anytime soon. Who am I going to get to watch the hive though?” He thought for a moment before he thought of someone.

“You want me to do what?” Pharynx asked after being asked.

“I just want you to watch the hive for about an hour. You’ve done it while I was checking on Ocellus at the school.”

“And tell me again why you’re leaving this time?”

“I just want to visit Ember.”

“...Seriously?”

“Look, I’ve barely talked to her after we helped save Equestria. I just want to have a normal visit with her. No threats, no reasons, just a normal visit.”

The king’s brother huffed. “Fine. But if you’re gone for more than an hour, I’m coming for you.”

“Okay. See you later.” Thorax took off. Since the Dragon Lands were pretty far from the hive, he would have to good pretty fast if he wanted to actually spend some time with his friend.

Ember was looking over the Dragon Lands, minding her own business. She could see Garble giving some poetry lessons, looking to her left, she could see some dragons actually sharing some gems. Things were looking good and she was thinking about heading to the lava pools when she heard something.

She looked behind her to see the changeling king flying towards her. Thorax was sweaty and out of breath. “Thorax?” Ember questioned.

“Hey... There,” he panted. “Your home’s... Far away. And hot.” Thorax tried landing on his own feet, but his exhaustion caused him to stumble. Luckily, Ember managed to catch him.

“Easy buddy.” She helped her friend lie down so he could catch his breath.

“I told my brother I’d be gone for an hour. I wanted to visit you. I forgot how far away this place was and... I only have so much time.”

“You wanted to visit? Why?”

“Just because. It’s been a while since we had a proper conversation.”

“You could’ve just waited for another threat coming our way.” Ember chuckled to herself as Thorax tried joining in, though not as loud.

“I have to say, it’s pretty warm here.”

“That’s what you get when you live around lava. You want to take a look around?”

“Sure. I haven’t really seen this place.” The changeling stood up and changed into his new dragon form.

“Why did you do that?”

“I thought I’d take it easy and try and blend in.”

Ember just gave a shrug. “Whatever you say.” After grabbing her staff, Ember showed her friend around her home.

“So, this place isn’t pretty... Rocky.”

“Yeah. It feels nice when you’ve got stones under your feet.”

“I don’t know.”

“Right. You’re not as tough as a dragon. How often do you shape-shift?”

“Not so much nowadays. Some changelings can flip-flop between different forms, myself included.”

“Interesting. And how else does your body change?”

“What do you mean?” The two stopped to look at each other.

“Like... Do you feel weird when you change into new forms? Like, going from anything with legs into a fish.”

“Oh, that. It can be a little confusing the first time you transform. After a bit of practice, you get used to it. Any other questions about changelings?”

“A few. Do you eat anything besides love?”

“We can. We have sushi at the hive sometimes. Though, love is our main source of sustenance. Believe it or not, it has flavors depending on what kind it is.”

“Could you give me some examples?” The real and fake dragons slowly floated down towards the ground as they looked to be in for a long talk.

“For love between friends, it can taste like a nice bar of chocolate. For love between parents and a child, it tastes like bubble gum. And romantic love... Oh, I can’t get enough of that.” Thorax was now starting to drool a bit. “That can taste like red velvet cake with frosting from one of the finest chefs in all of Equestria.”

“Cool. Now, please stop drooling.”

Thorax quickly saw what she meant. He snapped back to reality and whipped his mouth. “Sorry. That’s just how I taste love. It seems to vary from changeling to changeling.”

“Well, maybe you liked to try some gemstones. I know a good place where you can get some.” She led her disguised friends over to a cliff where several gems were sticking out of. The Dragon Lord pulled two out and tossed one to Thorax.

“What kind of gems are these?”

“It seems like you have a sapphire. I’ve got myself a sweet amethyst.” She tossed her gem into the air caught it in her mouth. “Delicious. Try yours.”

Thorax was a bit more cautious as he had never tried a gemstone before. He slowly took a bite, though he had to try pretty hard just to break a piece off. When he finally did, chewing it felt even harder, even with his dragon teeth to help him. After swallowing, he had mix opinions.

“It feels like I’m swallowing gravel.”

“Yeah, it feels good, doesn’t it?”

“...Depends on how you like it. The taste seems... Weird to me.”

“Really? It tastes just fine to me.”

“Enough about food. Is this where you get most of your food?”

“Yep. We also have fish from time to time.”

“From where?”

“Let me show you.” She led her friend away from the rocky area until they got to some cliffs over the ocean.

“I thought I saw one near here. If you don’t have anything fishing rods...” He didn’t even finish as Ember started laughing.

“I’ll show you how it’s done.” The Dragon Lord dived into the water, much to her friend’s shock. In a few seconds, she resurfaced with a fish in her claws. She held it in the air and breathed fire on it. In several seconds, it was cooked, albeit a little burnt.

“That’s... Creative.”

“My dad taught me a few tricks on fishing.”

“Wasn’t he the original Dragon Lord?”

“He was. I like the title, it’s definitely better than being called... Princess.”

“What?”

“Okay, technically I’m supposed to be called Princess Ember. I have the other dragons call me Dragon Lord. It makes me sound tougher.”

“I don’t see what’s wrong with being called Princess.”

“It just sounds... Girly. Do you know what I mean? It just doesn’t sound right to me.”

“Princess doesn’t sound girly to me.”

“It’s just... Dressing up. It just seems silly to me. Think about it. No creature normally wears clothing in Equestria, so why should we waste it just to dress up in something that’s more of a hassle than anything to have around?”

“I see. I think it’s more of a hobby than anything. You don’t have to be a part of it if you don’t want.”

“Thanks for that. It’s nice to get some things like that off my chest. You want to try fishing?”

“Like that?”

“I’ll show you.” Grabbing his claw, Ember dragged her friend into the ocean. Up close, Thorax could see tons of fish swimming past their legs. “Our claws are pretty sharp. Just reach and grab one of them.” The disguised changeling did as she said, but the fishes just kept slipping past him.

“They’re too fast.”

“You’ve gotta act fast.” Ember demonstrated as she swiped up another fish. “Try again.” Thorax tried. When it looked like he finally caught one, the fish flopped around and slipped out of his grip.

“Darn it.”

“Relax. I’ve caught another one. Just give it a good roast.” She handed her fish to her friend, though he wasn’t so confident. “What’s wrong now?”

“You see, changelings can copy the form of different creatures. However, we can’t really copy their abilities, such as breathing fire.”

“So, you’re not immune to lava?”

“Probably not. I’m not going to find out.”

“Okay then.” Ember took the fish back and held it by its tail. She then blasted it with some fire until it was nicely cooked.

“Thanks.” Thorax was given his fish back and noticed that it had some burn marks. “You don’t have any...” Before he could even ask his question, Thorax got his answer as he saw Ember sinking her teeth into the fish she caught earlier. He figured he should try doing the same and was happy to find that the fish was nowhere near as hard as gemstones.

They got back to the rocky area. Ember led Thorax to a pool of lava, which she hopped into. “You sure you don’t want to test it?” she asked.

“I’m good,” Thorax replied. “I prefer not to get burnt.”

“Suit yourself.” The dragoness sat back and relaxed.

“Okay, your dad was the original Dragon Lord.”

“He was. Though, he was pretty forceful. Ordering dragons what feelings to show.”

“Gotta be better than being told to feed off of love. I’m glad Chrysalis is gone.”

“I haven’t really heard much about her.”

“Lucky you. When she was queen, all we did was hunt and feed. Hunt and feed, hunt and feed, every day. Every time we just get filled up we get hungry after less than an hour.”

“Wow. I thought that the dragon’s greed was bad.” Thorax looked confused for a second. “One thing at a time. How did you coop with that?”

“I couldn’t. But then I felt this huge surge of love coming from the Crystal Empire.”

“There’s a Crystal Empire?”

“Yeah. I had to hide until Spike found me.”

“So, that’s how you met Spike. Tell me how you took the throne.”

“I had a bit of help.” The two talked for ages. Once Thorax was done telling his tale on he became the king, Ember explained the Gauntlet of Fire. “Wow. You really went through all that?”

“It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. At least I had my abilities with me. Your team had barely any of their powers.”

“He does do well with a team,” said a deep voice.

“Uh oh,” Thorax sighed. A dark green drake with red horns and chest along with purple wings.

“One hour. You said you’d be back after that.”

“It’s already been that long?”

“Who is this?” Ember asked.

“My brother, Pharynx,” Thorax answered.

“Oh. I didn’t recognize him.”

“Yeah, I’m a changeling,” Pharynx said, “It’s our thing. Speaking of which, they’re wondering where you are.”

“Sorry, I lost track of time,” the king apologized. He turned to Ember. “I’ve gotta go.”

“No, I get it,” she replied. “Make sure your hive doesn’t turn into chaos.”

“Right. Hopefully, we could meet up sometime again.” Thorax and Pharynx took off. Once they were away from the Dragon Lands, they changed back into their normal forms.

“Meet up again?” Pharynx questioned.

“Ember’s a good friend. She’s the one who’s given me some advice on ruling over the hive.”

“Yes, but you can’t just ditch your responsibility to go and hang out with a friend.”

The king gave a frustrated groan. “You’re right. Maybe... I’ll visit her once a week.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’ve left the hives longer than an hour before. Just one hour, one week. I’m not asking for much.”

“I think you’ll have to check with the other changelings before then.”

After getting back to the hive, he explained everything to the changelings. “Doesn’t this seem a little risky?” one of them asked.

“I’m well aware of the dangers of going to the Dragon Lands. I’ve managed to avoid any areas that would’ve been fatal to a changeling.”

“You really can’t expect them to just except you’ll be gone...”

“For an hour a week,” Thorax stated.

The changelings talked with each other. “That doesn’t sound too much,” one said.

“Maybe two hours,” another one suggested. “The lands are pretty far away.”

“Thank you,” Thorax said. “I was afraid I was pushing my luck.”

“Princess Twilight said all creatures need to share friendship.”

“Exactly. So, starting next week, I’ll be able to visit any of the other kingdoms once a week for two hours. While also budgeting extra time for travel.”

“Then I’ll keep an eye here while you’re gone,” Pharynx said. “Though, you’ll have wait next week.” The king sighed as he knew his brother was right.

As days went by, the changeling king waited until he could visit Ember again. The Dragon Lord meanwhile, just waited for him to get back. She got a bit impatient and almost forgot about her friend coming to visit again.

After one week, Ember was just minding her own business as a drake walked up to her. “Princess Ember,” he said.

“What?” Ember asked. She didn’t like being called that. She saw the green, orange, and purple drake. “Where were you?”

“I was setting up how I long I could visit here,” Thorax explained. “I’ve got two hours to spend with you.”

“Wow, really? Great. Now, I can show you around this place.” She took off with the disguised changeling following behind.

---

“And then each week we spent some time with each other,” Thorax explained, finishing the story.

“Wow,” Sandbar said. “So, you two have spent...” He paused as he calculated the total amount of time the two have spent together.

“About thirty hours with each other,” Ember said.

“Right. Ocellus is more of the brains of our group.”

“You think she would’ve mentioned this,” Smolder commented.

“She wasn’t at the hive when I started this trip,” Thorax said.

“Maybe you could spend your four hours here talking about that,” Ember said. “You’ve got extra time since you didn’t come last week.” She sounded pretty angry near the end of her sentence.

“I’m sorry, I was... Busy... With... The changelings heading to the friendship school.”

“Mm, hmm. Sure.”

“Okay, is that the problem?” Sandbar asked.

“Depends, what kind of problem are you looking for?”

“A friendship one,” Smolder explained. “Which is something you have right now.”

“Did your spines glow like Spike’s?” Thorax asked.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Ember admitted. “He just missed a week.”

“Yeah... Yeah, that’s it,” Thorax spoke.

“You sure about that?” Sandbar asked. “I feel like there’s something else going on.”

“To be honest,” Ember said, “I think we’re running out of things to talk about. I already told Thorax about my plan on how to change the ways of the dragons.”

“There’s gotta be some other things. Maybe something you were too afraid to do.”

“I... Haven’t introduced him to my dad.” The fake drake felt his blood go cold.

“He’s huge,” Thorax stated.

“If I can get through to him about becoming the new Dragon Lord, I can get through to him about you.”

“Then let’s start with him,” Sandbar said.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Smolder said. She picked up Sandbar, and then followed Ember to her father. Thorax took off a little later than they did, as he wasn’t just feeling nervous about Ember’s dad.

Comments

[Comickook]

Rather good one-shot. Yeah, the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up are pretty well done in all the right places. I could EASILY see this being a mid-Season 10 episode if there actually WERE a Season 10 outside the comics. I can understand Smolder getting summoned and POSSIBLY Sandbar if you go by the logic of him understanding how friendship can develop into something more, but I'm surprised Ocellus wasn't ALSO called. There's no rule that says only two have to be called after all. And, yeah, I can understand Thorax being worried about Ember introducing him to her dad (pretty much THE ULTIMATE Overprotective Dad with the size and strength to match).

Anyway, all in all, quite wonderful work.

[PonyPixel]

10528827
Yeah, these guys were a missed potential. I’d much rather watch an episode centered around to explore one of them (say Ocellus) over Pinkie by having a sulk not being able to play an instrument she’s clearly not good at.