A Visit Between Princesses
The sky was clear today, which was good, considering what was planned. Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, stood at the open gates of her palace, looking up to the heavens, a look of eagerness upon her face. Beside her was Spike, also staring into that blue above, seeming just as excited as she was. Every once in a while, the monotony of this was interrupted by the young drake looking to his older friend, before once more resuming his stares. Then, after who knows how long, a smile broke out across the face of the young Princess, and she pointed a hoof into the sky.
"There she is!"
The figure in question was a dragon, a fact which could be determined even from this distance. Her wings were stretched out wide, and she glided through the air about as gracefully as one would expect. Her scales a light blue in colour, offset by the darker hue of the spikes that dotted both her head and back. Twilight and Spike, seeing her approach, took an instinctive step backwards, giving her room to land. And land she did, for with a few flaps of her wings, she slowed herself down, landing gently before the doors of the palace.
"It's good to see you again, Ember," Spike commented.
The she-dragon, Ember, after furling her wings behind her, raised an eyebrow at the youngster.
"You know, it is customary now to refer to me as Lord Ember."
Naturally, Spike seemed a little nervous at this, only for that feeling to leave him soon afterwards, as Ember let out a hearty laugh, before then patting the top of his head.
"Relax, pint-size. I'm just joking."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Spike assumed a more secure and serious pose.
"Yeah, well...I knew that."
Shaking her head at this, Twilight kept her smile as she looked to her guest.
"I'm so glad you decided to come. I think this is the first time a pony and dragon head of state have ever received one another."
Folding her arms, Ember nodded.
"Actually, it'll be the first time a dragon leader has met any other leader. At least...in a peaceful manner anyway."
Understandably, a remark like that caused Twilight and Spike to look to one another with some concern, until, in the end, the latter spoke up to the older dragon.
"Um...is that another joke?"
Here though, Ember simply shook her head. The young drake scratched the back of his head and looked away in a display of awkward nervousness, and Twilight, after clearing her throat in a similar manner, then stepped aside, gesturing to the inside of her palace.
"Well...um...why don't we get things started?"
Ember nodded, allowing Twilight to lead the way inside. Once in, the Princess used her magic to close the doors behind them, and once within the place in earnest, the new dragon Lord started to observe it more closely.
"Very impressive. We dragons have seen many pony structures in our time, and none of them have ever been this...interesting."
Turning to her, Twilight bore a look of pride.
"I know. I was rather impressed with it myself. The design, the size..."
But here, Ember raised a claw.
"Oh, I was actually talking about how tasty it looked. I mean, a castle made of crystal? I was salivating at the sight of it during the entire approach."
Twilight was, for a moment, taken aback by that comment, but, when she looked to Spike, she saw him give his fellow dragon a nod of agreement, before then looking to Twilight and shrugging his shoulders. Frowning at him slightly, Twilight then regained her smile, making her way over to the friendship table at the centre of the room, with Ember and Spike close behind her.
"Well, all things considered, I'm glad we could have this talk. Ponies and dragons, well..."
As before, Ember gave a nod of agreement.
"I know We've never really been friends. Well, apart from you and Spike of course."
Taking her seat, Twilight gestured to an empty chair nearby. Getting the message, Ember nodded back, sitting herself down before hearing the Princess speak up again.
"Actually, I did want to talk to you about that. A number of dragons still have a great dislike for my kind. Are we going to have to be worried about encountering them in future?"
Ember shook her head.
"I wouldn't worry. After my ascension, I gave the command that ponies weren't to be hurt. My subjects may grumble, but now that their Lord has given a direct order, they cannot disobey."
A sigh of relief escaped Twilight at that.
"That's good to know."
Then, her eyes widened as she then looked to Spike.
"Oh! Spike? Would you be so kind as to get the dragon Lord and I some refreshments?"
Smiling, the drake gave a salute to his friend, before merrily jogging off in the direction of the kitchen. Twilight giggled at this, but soon stopped when she noticed Ember keeping her eyes on the now-distant Spike.
"So...is Spike your servant?"
Her words may not have sounded hostile, but, nevertheless, Twilight then immediately threw her hooves up, shaking them frantically in an almost defensive manner.
"Oh! No! Spike's a friend! Really! He just...really loves doing this kind of thing."
Lowering her hooves again, Twilight then let out a brief chuckle.
"Actually...you should see him when I haven't got something for him to do. Freaks out even worse than I do."
Briefly, she looked away, a ponderous look upon her face.
"Well...almost worse than I do."
Ember's eyebrow, as one would expect, was still very much upwards, even during the long and uncomfortable silence that had followed Twilight's words. But, thankfully, this did not last long, as Spike then returned from the kitchen. Sure enough, he was carrying a tray, and upon it were three full cups of tea. Setting it down, Spike then handed one cup over to Twilight, then one to Ember, before reaching out and starting to drink his own. Twilight gave him an appreciative smile, but Ember, in a display of curiousness, raised her own cup and started to sniff it.
"This is...some kind of drink?"
Looking to Twilight, Ember saw her give a nod in response. Slowly, she opened her mouth, stretching her tongue out to the unknown brown liquid in her cup. Cautiously, she took a single lick of it, tasting it in her mouth for a few moments before turning to her host yet again.
"It's...hot. Which is a plus, I suppose."
Another nervous giggle emerged from Twilight after that, and she soon resumed downing her own drink. When she was momentarily done, however, she then looked to Ember, bearing that same enthusiastic smile as before.
"So...I was actually hoping we could maybe discuss what we might be able to do about our respective peoples now."
Ember raised her eyebrow, prompting Twilight to continue.
"We know so little about one another. There's so much we could learn, so much we could do for each other. I mean, now that you're dragon Lord, I think it's safe to say that dragons and ponies are going to go through a peace we...well...have never known before."
Putting her cup down, Ember let out a sigh.
"I wish I could say things will be good from this point onwards, but the truth is...most dragons simply do what they will."
Turning to Twilight, Ember narrowed her eyes.
"Oh, sure, they'll obey a command when I give it to them, but for the most part a dragon will simply wander around, maybe find a cave or gather a hoard of treasure. We've never really had much interest in, what do you call it, diplomatic relations?"
Twilight's ears dropped slightly.
"Oh...I see."
Sensing that she had disappointed her, Ember looked deep in thought for a moment.
"But...I suppose...the next time I have a gathering of my people, I could try and encourage them to...I dunno...make some friends?"
Looking up to her, Twilight offered the dragon a small smile.
"Thank you. I think it might help your people to try and reach out to others. I know it's not for everybody, but...if Spike and I can be friends...then I'm sure things between our peoples can improve on some level in future."
Ember nodded.
"They'll complain, that much is certain. I can't tell you how many orders my Father gave that they didn't agree with. Do this, do that, agree with me, all that stuff."
Thoughtfulness crossed her face for a moment.
"But...being friends with you ponies helped grow Spike into being the dragon who won the sceptre. If doing that can make a dragon into a winner like that, into a more compassionate dragon than most would think us capable of being...maybe my people really would be better off getting to know you lot a bit more."
Twilight's smile widened.
"It won't be easy...but I think dragons and ponies can do well by being friends together."
Ember too began to smile at that, but, when she looked down to her cup, she let out a long sigh.
"You know...if I'm being honest...I don't think tea is really for me."
Giggling slightly, Twilight nodded to that, gesturing to Spike. The young dragon nodded back and, for a moment, he leapt off his chair and started running for the kitchen yet again. Naturally, Ember was rather curious about this behaviour, but said nothing. Instead, she waited for her young friend to return, which he did so mere moments later, this time, carrying a small chest in his hands. Placing it upon the table, he opened it, and Ember's eyes widened. For within was a collection of glistening gems and crystals. Looking to Twilight, the dragon Lord watched as her host broke into a wider smile than before.
"I brought a couple extra cases in, just in case you didn't take for pony food."
After a while of simply staring in surprise at the offered gems, Ember cracked a sly smile of her own, turning to Twilight and speaking up in a more confident manner than before.
"Princess...I think your people and mine are gonna get along just fine."
