“Ah. Greetings, Celestia. And Luna as well. It has been a while. How was the Moon? I hear you know it better than anyone in Equestria.” Dragon Lord Torch’s booming laughter echoed off the canyon walls.
“Dragon Lord Torch.” Luna inclined her head from atop the ancient stone platform that rested in the heart of the barren valley. “It is good to see you again,” she said stiffly.
“Well, I see you didn’t find a sense of humor up there.” The Dragon Lord smirked. “Loosen up. Today is a glorious day!” He waved his wing at the bare rock walls. “No one is around to bother us, and we can talk, just like old times.”
Princess Celestia smiled. “It is good to see you again, Torch. How’s your daughter?”
“Ember’s doing well. Right in that rebellious phase. Wants friends, but thinks every dragon she knows has boulders for brains. You’d like her.” He grinned toothily. “Course, she’s a bit smaller than I am, on account of not bein’ allowed to keep a hoard.” He held his claw a few feet above the ancient rock platform the two alicorns stood on. “Sleek and pretty like you ponies. I’m sure she’ll fit in just fine.”
Luna blinked. “Are you planning on sending her to Equestria as your ambassador?”
The great dragon snorted, the sound reverberating through the canyon. “Ambassador? She’ll be Lord of all dragons!”
Celestia nodded. “So you decided to continue with your plans to step down and pass rulership to your daughter?”
“Pass? Hardly. No dragon would respect her if she simply was passed lordship. No, she’s going to have to earn it.” Torch slammed his claw down, his huge talons leaving deep wounds in the earth. “I’ve been setting up an obstacle course just for her. I’m sure with her brains and determination, she’ll be able to manage just fine.” Torch puffed out his chest proudly. “Besides, it’s not as if I didn’t earn it myself.”
Celestia bowed her head. “Indeed, I well remember the day.”
“Heh, you would. Not many who can claim that. Not who aren’t standing here, anyway.” He gestured vaguely. “By the way, those rocks you gave me worked perfectly. Heh. They never expected a thing.”
Luna frowned at her sister. “Is he why I prepared those moonstones?”
“Is that what they’re called?” Torch peered down at the Princess of the Night. “She didn’t say you made them. Figures, though. You always were the dreamy one.” He narrowed his eyes. “You haven’t been spying on my dreams, have you?”
Luna snorted. “I use my powers to help the ponies of Equestria, not to spy on dreams.”
Torch pointed a talon ten times the size of any pony at Luna. “Well, you should. I might be up to something.” The Dragon Lord grinned again, his yellowed teeth gleaming dully in the sunlight.
“Spare us,” Luna said, rolling her eyes.
“That wasn’t very convincing.” Torch snorted. “Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised. You ponies have never been particularly impressed with me.”
“We do appreciate your friendship with Equestria,” Princess Celestia said, spreading her wings and flying up into the air to bring herself to eye level with the towering dragon. “Things have been much better for both our peoples since you became dragon lord.”
The great dragon laughed again, bringing with it a rain of small stones dislodged from the cliff walls. “Hardly a challenge, given what a rockhead Magma was. Too much time looking at his hoard. Though I always suspected he might have let too much lava flow into his ears.”
Luna spread her wings and flapped up to join her sister. “I did not know dragons had ears. They must be quite small.”
Torch smacked his claw back down into the broken earth, adding a second set of grooves. “Everything has ears, even dragons. They’re just holes on the sides of our heads, that’s all.” He lifted a claw, loose soil and small rocks showering down onto the land below. “But enough about that. I’m almost ready to call the dragons to go through the gauntlet I’ve created for them, and I want you to make sure that my daughter wins.” He jabbed a claw at Celestia.
Celestia stared at the claw for a moment before gently but futilely pushing on it with a gold shod hoof. “I’m certain my participation in your selection process would be noticed.”
“Indeed.” Luna nodded gravely. “I fear our presence would only delegitimize your daughter. The dragons would surely not follow someone who was simply put there by ponies.”
“Of course! That’s why you’d have to be sneaky.” Torch walked two of his talons through the air. “That new princess of yours has been taking care of that whelp you hatched, hasn’t she? Sunset or Dusk or whatever her name is.”
Celestia coughed politely. “Yes. Twilight has been taking care of Spike.”
“That’s good, that’s good. So when he gets the call, he’ll be the one helping my daughter. And I’m sure that Princess Twilight or whatever will help him, yes? It isn’t a hard concept. I’m sure she can turn herself invisible or whatever it is you ponies do.” Torch waved his claw dismissively. “Just send them along to make sure she wins.”
The two sisters exchanged a glance. “I’m afraid that Princess Twilight would be unlikely to assist in cheating,” Luna said.
“It isn’t cheating. It’s not against the rules.” Torch smirked. “I just let everyone think it is, see? Then when they work together to get the Bloodstone Scepter, it’s all a great triumph for friendship or whatever it is you ponies call it these days.” He shrugged, the earth trembling slightly beneath the movement.
Luna frowned. “What about the larger dragons? Surely they will be formidable opposition. There must be hundreds of them who would want to compete. I doubt they would take kindly to a pony helping, rules or not.”
“I thought you ponies were supposed to be clever.” Torch snorted. “Who did you think I gave the moonstones to? I called every dragon with a hoard. Now they’re all sleeping. None of them will answer the Scepter’s call.”
“Clever.” Luna glanced at Celestia. “Did you know of this?”
“I only knew he had some sort of plan.” Celestia shook her head. “But with all the older dragons sleeping, what is to prevent the younger dragons from building hoards of their own before the competition?”
Torch leaned forward, his face close enough to the royal sisters that they could feel the heat of his breath. “What, and disobey the order of the LORD OF ALL DRAGONS not to build a hoard?”
Luna stared. “But that is how dragons grow.”
“And get stupid.” Torch sneered.
“I seem to recall you having quite the hoard when you became Dragon Lord,” Celestia said, a smile playing around her face.
“Hah! Threw it into the deepest trench in the ocean I could find, and not a day goes by when I don’t consider swimming down and grabbing it.” Torch stared at one of his talons as he rubbed two of his claws together. “Of course, it worked for me. When I tried it with some of the other dragons, well… let’s just say I have a bit more willpower.” He grinned mirthlessly.
Luna narrowed her eyes at Torch. “I see. And how did you not lose your size?”
“What do you mean?” Torch leaned forward, his hot, sulfurous breath washing over the Princess of the Night.
“Spike’s growth reversed itself when he lost his hoard,” Celestia said. “I would have expected it to be true of all dragons.”
“Oh, that.” Torch rolled his eyes. “You grow into it after a while.” He waved a claw dismissively. “Lose it fast enough, you don’t grow at all. Means a whelp can’t just sit on someone else’s hoard and become a real dragon.” He snorted. “Those end up even dumber than usual. It’s all gems for them, instead of just mostly. Only reason we haven’t conquered Equestria is because we’re all too stupid to do it.”
The alicorn sisters glanced at each other.
“I know that look. You’re trying to disagree with me without saying it. Well, maybe you’re right. We might be big and strong, but your little ponies have seen worse. And maybe those little trinkets of yours would work just as well on us as they did on Tirek and the others. All the more reason not to let some rockhead get ahold of the Bloodstone Scepter.” Torch reached down into his armor and pulled out the pony-sized scepter, the titular bloodstone gleaming in the sunlight.
Celestia glanced at the ancient artifact. “Forgive me if I’m mistaken, but you told me that the Bloodstone Scepter is a symbol of rulership; it can’t actually force dragons to do anything.”
Torch snorted. “Depends on how many gems they have. The bigger their hoard, the more control the scepter has. Another reason to be rid of them.”
“It seems strange to consign your people to a fate of perpetual immaturity,” Luna said, frowning.
The great dragon pinched the scepter between the tips of two of his enormous claws. “Ever wonder why the scepter is so small?”
Luna blinked. “I had assumed it was because it was made by a pony.”
“Maybe.” Torch slowly rocked his claw back and forth, the scepter swinging like a pendulum beneath his talons. “Or maybe there’s a reason we dragons used to be on top of the world. We used to have culture. Industry. Civilization. Legend has it, we invented smithing. And now look at us!” He swung his claw out wide, flaring his tattered wings. “Biting each other, fighting for territory like animals. There’s a few hundred of us at best. No cities. No running water. And none of those little soft things with gems in them that you brought to our last meeting. What were they called again?”
“Cupcakes,” Celestia said, smiling.
“Ah, yes. Cupcakes. Ones big enough that a dozen ponies don’t have to make them for me.” He swung the scepter up in his claw before letting go, snatching it out of midair with his enormous talon. “No grown dragon even cares to make armor. All they do is sit in their caves and count their gems.” His clenched talon slammed down, shattering the earth beneath him, the furrows dug by his claws collapsing into each other as the land settled. “And for what? To make sure none are missing when they finish a nap!”
The royal sisters winced and covered their ears with their hooves as they were blown back through the air by the force of his shout.
“We weren’t always this way. The scepter must have been made for claws like Ember's, not mine. I can’t even visit your castle without sitting on someone’s house,” Torch grumbled.
“And what of the older dragons, when they wake?” Luna asked as she flapped her wings, regaining her position before the huge dragon.
“Well, that depends. Your sister mentioned to make sure they didn’t eat the stones. What do you think would happen if they did?”
Luna’s voice trembled slightly. “Any dragon who ate a moonstone would likely never wake.”
“That is why I specifically told you to hide the gems in their hoards, to ensure that didn’t happen,” Celestia said, her eyes hard.
“Really? And here I thought we were all on the same mountain.” Torch scowled. “Why else tell me exactly how not to use them?”
Luna winged over in front of her sister, turning her back on Torch. “I should return to the castle and try and devise an antidote. If I work to reverse the spell on the moonstones, it may not be permanent.”
“Oh no, you won’t. I’m still lord of the dragons, and I won’t allow it.”
Luna whirled in midair. “And simply leave them to sleep for all eternity?”
“That’s our agreement. No magic on us, no fire on you. That’s the deal, remember?”
“Indeed. Though I wonder if the next dragon lord will feel the same.” Celestia’s steely gaze remained firmly fixed on the ancient dragon.
“You could ask her.” Torch snorted. “Of course, how do you think they’ll feel if they find out you had a hoof in poisoning them in the first place?” He jabbed a talon at Luna, the massive claw stopping just a foot short of her face. “You’re the one who made them. And I can’t imagine that they’ll be real happy with Ember, either. There’d be trouble. Even the scepter has its limits.” He lifted his clenched claw up from the ground, opening it to reveal the bloodstone scepter, the ancient artifact bearing not a single scratch from the impact.
“It seems you leave us with no choice,” Celestia said, shaking her head as she tucked in her wings and descended towards the ruins of the ancient platform below. “Give us the signal, and we will ensure Spike and Princess Twilight will be there.”
Torch tucked the scepter into his armor. “You have one week to prepare. I hope that princess of yours is ready.” He spread his enormous wings, sending a powerful blast of wind down the broken canyon as he took to the air.
Luna flapped her wings valiantly against the sudden gale before coasting down to the ground in front of her sister. “Surely you realize that Spike and Twilight are too honorable to fix such a contest.”
Celestia watched the great form of Dragon Lord Torch diminish as he soared towards the horizon. “I do. Which is why I intend not to tell Twilight anything but to accompany Spike to the Dragon Lands when the time comes.”
“Is that wise?” Luna glanced back over her shoulder before looking back at her sister. “We might at least warn her of Lord Torch’s plot.”
Celestia shook her head again. “No. If it is as he says, and his daughter is a good po—dragon, it would be best for Twilight not to know that he intends for Twilight to rig the contest on her behalf.”
“And if she is not?”
Celestia smiled thinly. “Well, then, it is a good thing that the hero of the Crystal Empire – and assistant to our newest princess – happens to be a dragon who Twilight would certainly help to win.”
Luna sighed. “He is a bit young to have rulership thrust upon him.”
“I agree. Which is why we will do everything we can to help him should such a thing come to pass.” Celestia stepped forward to put her hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “But we must do what is best for all of Equestria, no matter how much it might pain those whom we love most.”
“A lesson I have learned all too well.” Luna stepped away from her sister.
Celestia nodded gravely. “I am sure that Twilight will jump at the chance to learn more about dragon culture.” She glanced up into the sky once more at the dot heading towards the horizon. “I just hope this goes better than it did with the Golden Idol of Boreas.”
“Please, sister. From what you have told me, it is not your fault that the one you sent to take the Idol from the griffons never returned.”
Author's Note
Thanks to TuxOKC, Winston, and ChappedPenguinLips for offering to look this story over before it was posted.
