Gauntlet of Fire: How It SHOULD Have Been
"Do I smell....Ponies?" Garble asked suspiciously as he began walking toward Spike and Princess Ember, who were looking extremely nervous.
"Uhh.." Was all Spike could say, as he was pushed aside and thrown into Ember's arms as he looked at the seaweed behind them.
"And does this seaweed have two pairs of eyes!?" Garble said in a bit of a stronger tone, as he ripped the seaweed away in his claw, revealing two ponies, who were smiling, but looked petrified."PONIES?! No way! I would expect this from you little runt, but from the Princess? Ha! Well your father won't like this! You two are coming with me!" He continued as he grabbed the two mares and took off with rapid speed.
"SPIKE HELP!!!!!!" The girls screamed as loud as their lungs would allow.
"What are we gonna do?!" Spike yelled running in small circles until stopped by Ember.
"Look Spike. I'll help you save your friends, but only because I know what my dad does with ponies. Now come on! We only have until the end of the Gauntlet to save them!" Ember motioned for Spike to hop on her back, and the two took off through the crowd of dragons and boulders after the fiery red dragon with two hostages.
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"Where are you taking us?" Twilight asked shakily, she had given up trying to get out of the dragon's grasp.
"Where we take ALL ponies that try to come to the Dragon Lands, uninvited!" Garble replied harshly.
'I don't like the sound of that' Rarity mouthed to Twilight.
A few minutes later, the three arrived to a small cave looking house, where Garble used his tail to open the door, and toss the ponies inside."Lord Torch will be with you..soon." He said with a smirk and chuckle, before slamming the door shut, and flying off.
"Oh this is HORRIBLE! Spike has no idea where we are, our lives are most likely on the line, and the only view we have of the world is this small and tacky window!" Rarity said going into tears as she buried her face in her hooves and slumped to the ground.
"Rarity, you have to think positive! I'm sure Princess Ember know where we are! I just wish we could use our magic." Rarity lifted her head, although tears still rolled down her cheeks.
"Why not?"
"Well, I did a bit of research, as you know, before we got here, and I found out that the only pony magic that can be used is levitation spells, I'm not sure why though. Must be something to do with dragon magic.
After a short moment of silence, Rarity stood to her hooves."What do you think Garble meant?"
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow.
"When he said,'What we do with all ponies that come here, uninvited.' What do you think he meant?"
"Honestly, I'm not completely sure, but it obviously isn't a good thing. What with that menacing grin and laugh he played earlier.
"I hope Spike gets here soon! I'm worried more about him than us right now." Rarity said looking out the small window with a frown.
"Me too Rarity, me too." Twilight responded joining her friend by the window.
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"Where exactly are we, going?" Spike asked, taking another scan of the area.
"To the Dragon Lands Dungeon, where we keep all unwanted guests, like ponies, until we're ready to...get rid of them." Ember replied slowly.
"You mean you.....How? Why?" Spike had fallen toward a mixture of being terrified, yet still concentrating on the landscape.
"Well, mainly because most dragons don't do friendship, or anything like that. As for how, well there's easy ways, and hard ways. And from the way Garble looked, they won't get it easy."
"Huh...?"
"Well, the easy way is usually just banishing them somewhere, but the hard way...."
"Tell me Ember, please!" Spike pleaded, wanting to know the stakes as risk.
"Well, you know that lava pool by my dad's rock, and the tree hanging over it...?"
"No....Come on! We have to get there, before that happens!"
"Well, the cave they're in is right there so no worries!" Ember said perking up as she quickly, but gracefully, flew to the ground, and they both ran up to the door."
"Twilight!? Rarity!? Are you in there?!" Spike yelled, but received no reply."You don't think they fell asleep do you?"
"I wouldn't think so? Oh no...."
"What? You are-AH!" Spike yelled jumping back Ember blew a breath of fire onto the lock and pulled open the door, but when they peered inside, all they found, was emptiness."Where are they?!"
"My father has them! Come on, we have less than ten minutes!" Ember said frantically, grabbing Spike's claw, and took off flying as she threw Spike on her back.
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"AHHHHHH!!!!!!" Twilight and Rarity screamed as they felt themselves slowly falling downward, toward LAVA!!!
"Rarity! Quit struggling! That'll only increase our weight, making up fall quicker!!"
"Listen to the purple one!" Lord Torch said with a laugh, followed by laughter from a small crowd of dragons that were also there. However, their laughter was interrupted by a sudden command.
"Let them go! NOW!" Emder yelled as Spike and herself flew into the scene.
"SPIKE! EMBER!" The two mares said with slight relief.
"Ember? How dare you side with a pony loving dragon, and ponies themselves! I command you both to follow my orders!"
"NO!" The two dragons yelled in unison.
"WHAT?!" Torch replied, infuriated.
"We've all followed your orders for WAY to long, now as I said before, LET. THEM. GO!!!" Ember repeated.
"As you wish." Torch said, as the rope holding the mares above the tree, untied, and the girls began falling at moderate speed toward the pond-like lava pool.
"GIRLS!" Ember yelled, flying faster than she ever had before as she raced by the tree, and Spike grabbed the end of the rope, just as the two were about to hit the pool.
After dropping the girls beside the pool, Ember flew herself and Spike up to her father. "Why?" Ember asked.
"They weren't welcome." Was the only reply.
"Can't you just try to be allies? Or even friends?" Spike asked.
"Dragons don't do friendship!"
"DAD! That should be a thing of the past! You know, if there was ONE thing that I learned from Spike here today, it was that friends, can be more helpful than one might first assume. Tell me, have YOU ever had a friend?"
"Well...."
"That's what I thought! Now if you'll excuse me!" Ember finished as she and Spike went back to the ground.
"Um, Spike! A little help here!" Rarity called, the two were still bound together and sitting uncomfortably against a tree.
"Oh sorry!" Spike responded, as he ran over, and began releasing his friends.
"Thanks you two, we would've been gone if it weren't for you guys!" Twilight said showing a grateful smile.
"Wait, since the Gauntlet was never won by anypony-Er, dragon. Who is the new Dragon Lord?" Rarity inquired.
"I think, it's safe to say the new Dragon Lord, is Princess Ember!" Lord Torch said."As well as I wold like to give apologies to you two."
"Oh it's quite alright!" Twilight responded.
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"That was some adventure!" Twilight said on the walk home.
"You said it!" Spike replied.
"I don't think I'll ever look at...Lava..the same way EVER again!" Rarity winced, before all three of them dove into laughter, as they continued to laugh and chat, all the way back to Ponyville, eager to tell their friends about their adventures in the Dragon Lands!
