“Fire. One of the most powerful and dangerous elements that makes up this world. As fire can bring warmth and light, it has become a symbol of Hope and Courage. But you must also be careful with it, as fire also has the ability to destroy and spread fear. When playing with fire, somepony is going to get burned, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. So you can send your protectors, your ‘Elements of Harmony’, but just know my General will show no mercy. By the time he’s done with you, all that you value will be nothing but ash and soot.”

It was late at night in Ponyville. Luna’s moon shone down and the stars were twinkling above. Everypony was asleep peacefully, with the exception of two figures lurking in the dark outside Twilight’s castle.

One of these figures was a red Unicorn mare with orange eyes, white hooves, a wind-swept orange and yellow mane that looked like fire, and a matching tail. On her front hooves were two rings with a ruby encrusted into them. Her cutie mark was a lit torch.

The other figure was an orange Dragon with red spines down its back. Despite it clearly being an adult, it was about as big as any other teenage Dragon.

The two intruders entered the main door of the castle and quietly closed the door behind them. Inside it was dark, illuminated only by the moonlight coming through the windows and reflecting off the crystals.

The dragon licked his lips and started heading for the nearest column of crystal. He was about to take a bite out of it when the Unicorn pulled him back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she asked in a hushed, yet harsh voice.

“I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry. Now focus, we have a job to do and I’d like for there to be no other evidence that we were here than what we came here for. Got it?” she scolded.

“I got it.” the Dragon answered, looking slightly disappointed.

The intruders continued walking through the castle. The Unicorn cast an X-ray vision spell so she could see through the doors without needing to open them all.

It took less than five minutes for them to get lost.

“Wow, this place is like a labyrinth. It looked so small of the outside, and you’d think that there would be a few signs somewhere,” said the Unicorn, “Wait, I think we’ve found her.” The Unicorn pointed at one of the many door.

She approached it and opened it enough to see inside. There, in her bed, was the sleeping form of Princess Twilight.

“We’ve found her.” The two intruders then disappeared into the room.

Meanwhile, in the Dragonlands…

Dragonlady Ember was fast asleep, tired from a relatively busy day. She had to settle three different disputes all across the Dragonlands, one of them involving a piano and a wheel of cheese (don’t ask). Needless to say, it was exhausting. Ember fell right to sleep.

Not too far away, a young Unicorn mare about fourteen or fifteen years old was talking to a teenage Dragon.

The Unicorn had a red coat, equally red eyes, an orange and white mane and tail that looked like fire, and a flame for her cutiemark. If you couldn’t guess already, this Unicorn was the other fire-themed Unicorn’s daughter. On her back was a leather saddlebag.

And you’d never guess who the Dragon she was talking to was. Time’s up, it’s Garble, that bully Dragon.

“Alright, I’ll help you,” he said, “But only if you keep your end of the deal.”

“Usually I make no promises, but for you I think I can make an exception, Garble,” replied the Unicorn with a mischievous smirk.

Garble and the Unicorn headed towards Ember’s castle, which was really just a large cave built into the mountain that the Dragonlord (or in this case, Dragonlady) used as a throne.

The two intrudes crept through the castle/cave as quietly as possible. Eventually they found Ember’s chamber. Inside, Ember was fast asleep, perfect for their plan to work.

The Unicorn pulled a fire-proof gag out of her saddlebag and got in position. They have to act fast if this was going to work. Garble grabbed a few ropes out of the saddlebag and got position as well. The Unicorn then started counting down from 3.

“3…2...1...now!”

The Unicorn shoved the gag in Ember’s mouth and tied it as quickly as possible. This, combined with the noise from the Unicorn’s shouting, caused Ember to wake up.

Garble quickly tied Ember’s wings and arms behind her back. Then the Unicorn used a spell to incapacitate her.

“Couldn’t you have done that from the start?” ask Garble.

“She was already asleep, the spell wouldn’t have worked,” replied the Unicorn, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

And just like that, the two kidnappers escaped into the night.

The next morning…

“Twilight! Twilight!” Starlight called.

“Good morning, Starlight,” said Spike, walking out of the bathroom.

“Hey, Spike. Have you seen Twilight? I can’t seem to find her.”

“Hmm, have you checked the throne room?”

“Mmhm, not there.”

“The dining room?”

“Not there either.”

“The library?”

“That was the first place I checked.”

“Oh boy, if Twilight’s not in the library, then I wouldn’t know where she is. Wait, did you check her bedroom?”

At this Starlight face hoofed. “How could I have been so stupid? That’s the one place I didn’t check.”

“Well in your defense, Twilight loves books.”

The two friends ran to Twilight’s roomed and entered. As you can guess, Twilight wasn’t there. Instead, there was a note on her bed.

Spike read the note. After he was done he said, “Oh no, oh no, oh no! This is a ransom note. Somepony has kidnapped Twilight!”

“What? Let me see that.” Spike handed Starlight the note.

“Dear friends of Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she started to read, “If you ever want to see you friend Twilight again, you will surrender to the magnificent Count Scorch and his army. If you try to fight, things will be most unpleasant for the princess. Sincerely, I.” Starlight put the letter down. “This is very, very bad.”

“What do we do?” Spike asked.

“Spike, you send a letter to Princess Celestia telling her about our situation. I’m going to gather our friends.”

“Alright.”

Starlight ran out of the library and headed towards the front door. Once she exited the castle, she bumped right into a Dragon.

This Dragon was about three times Starlight’s height, with purple scaled, blue spines down his back and equally blue frills on the side of his head.

“Oh, excuse me,” said the Dragon, “I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Um, what exactly are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk to Princess Twilight’s assistant, Spike. I think I may be his father.”

To be continued...

Author's Note

Who is this mysterious Count Scorch? What does he want with Twilight and Ember? Who is this Dragon who claims he might be Spike's father? Why did one of Ember's disputes involve a piano and a wheel of cheese?
All these questions and more answered next time on "My Little Pony: Elements of Equestria".

The next chapter will be on May 9th. Can anyone guess why?