Dragon Lord Ember's eyes flicked from side to side as she observed the harsh, rugged volcanic rock formations that made up the Dragon Lands over which she ruled. Twisted spires of rock reached up high into the clouded, ash-filled sky, while deep crevasses and ravines criss-crossed the hard, barren basalt and pumice surface of the ground. Rivers of lava flowed through some of these crevasses, their orange glow visible from a distance and shimmering in the haze of the volcanic ash in the air, while flecks of ash and sparks danced lightly in the wind, which carried the noxious stench of sulphur dioxide throughout the land. The only vegetation in sight took the form of dead, charred husks of trees that dotted the land at random intervals, having long since succumbed to the unforgiving conditions of the environment.
This was true dragon territory, a place where only Ember's kind could survive and prosper. And it was down to her, as Dragon Lord, to rule over this land and the dragons who inhabited it. She may not have been as massive or as intimidating in appearance as the former Dragon Lord, her father Torch, but through maintaining peace between the dragons and, even more impressively, managing to reach out and form a proper friendship with the ponies of Equestria, she had proven that being a little dragoness did not a poor ruler make.
Then again, "little" was no longer an apt word to describe Ember. Not in the slightest.
Being Dragon Lord, it turned out, came with quite a delicious little perk—tributes. It was customary for Dragon Lords to demand tribute from their subjects, which they would then provide as a token of their loyalty and appreciation towards their Lord. In return, they would be less likely to find themselves on the Lord's bad side in the future, and may even be able to call in the very occasional favour. Every dragon soon learned what sort of tribute would please their Lord the most. During his reign, Torch had mostly cared for precious metals like gold and platinum, to add to his ever-growing hoard. Ember did share some of her father's affinity for that kind of stuff, gold in particular, but what she really cared for was gemstones. And these gems weren't for hoarding, oh no. They were for eating.
Ember had always had a pretty big appetite, but her time as Princess had been spent eating only a fraction of what gemstones and meats the dragons gave her and her father. As Dragon Lord, Torch had the rights to the lion's share. That was simply how it had worked, for centuries. Ember bore her father no ill will over this—well, not too much, anyway—but she hadn't put any real meat on her bones in her life compared to her larger and more muscular brethren.
But now that she was Dragon Lord, all such restrictions were gone. She was free to eat as much as she pleased. And, admittedly, she had let this new power and freedom go to her head a little. As the months of her rule passed, Ember began to grow not upwards, but outwards. Every feast she devoured resulted in her belly hanging that bit lower, her hips growing that bit wider, her thighs becoming that bit thicker. Torch himself had greatly approved of this development, telling her that it was "about time she gained the physique of a true Dragon Lord." No argument from her there. After all, Torch's predecessor, Ash, had grown so massive during his rule that he required a hundred-strong team of dragons to carry him around by the end of his reign.
Ember had only grown larger and larger since then. Whenever she looked down at her titanic stomach now, she saw it as a reminder of her status, of her position of power as Dragon Lord... and of the image she had to maintain as such.
She was so wide now that if three grown dragons stood side by side in front of her, her hips and the sides of her gut would still be visible. Her enormous rear end just about filled the large stone throne she sat on to capacity, and her upper arms sagged with wobbling adipose. Her thighs had grown thick enough that any sort of thigh gap had long become a distant memory, and her pudgy-cheeked face looked more at home on a small child than a Dragon Lord.
Ember grunted and shifted her weight slightly upon her throne, causing her massive belly to wobble and ripple with her movement. As she did so, her stomach gurgled loudly, reminding her that it had been a few hours since breakfast. Ember smiled and gave her gut a pat, watching as the flesh squished under her claw.
"I think it's about time for another tribute," she told herself.
Licking her lips, she reached to her side and took hold of the Bloodstone Sceptre—the symbol of her power and authority over the Dragon Lands. Raising it as high as she could, she felt the fire building in her lungs as she prepared to deliver her proclamation.
"Dragons!" she bellowed, her voice loud enough to cause the very rock formations themselves to tremble and the ground to quake beneath her. "Come forth! Your Dragon Lord demands tribute!"
As her voice reverberated all around her, her eyes scanned the horizon for any sign of her subjects. Soon, she saw them on the horizon—dozens of shapes flying towards her, just visible through the ash clouds. Nodding with satisfaction, she leaned back in her throne and awaited her subjects' arrival.
Before long, dozens of dragons of all ages had arrived and stood at the foot of Ember's throne. Ember was very pleased to note that they'd all brought respectable loads of gemstones with them. Armloads of rubies, sapphires and garnets filled their arms as they stood before their leader, eager to show their loyalty towards her.
"Alright," Ember announced, surveying the crowd. "Everyone, form a line and face me. I'll be receiving tribute from you one at a time. None of that simpering sycophantic stuff, please."
The dragons formed an orderly line, as requested. The first dragon, a young female with emerald-green scales and cornflower frills, stepped forward.
"My Lord," she said, bowing respectfully, "this one is Inferno. I bring you the tribute of these fine sapphires, if it pleases you."
Ember nodded as Inferno placed the sack full of gems at the base of her throne. "Very good. Thank you, Inferno."
"The pleasure is all mine, my Lord," Inferno replied, bowing once more before retreating.
The procession continued in much the same way for the rest of the dragons—greet their Lord, place down their tribute, receive thanks, move along. The procession moved along like a well-oiled machine, the long line of dragons gradually growing shorter as their pile of tributes grew larger. Not all of the tributes were gemstones. Some were gold, some were silver, and some were...
"Fizzle," Ember said patiently, "you are aware that we're supposed to be friends with ponies now, right? That means we can no longer accept ponies as tributes."
Fizzle blinked confusedly, while the bound and gagged stallion in his arms wriggled and moaned desperately. "What? I thought that was just something you said to make that princess go away last time."
"Well, it wasn't," Ember snapped. "Now for goodness' sake, put him back where you found him."
Grunting irritably, Fizzle flew off with his prisoner. Once he had gone, Ember turned to address the crowd.
"Many thanks to all of you for your tribute," she boomed. "You have all shown your loyalty towards your Lord. I am very pleased. Now, you are dismissed."
"All hail Ember!" the crowd cheered, before they dispersed in all directions. Once she was alone, Ember grinned as she looked over the glimmering piles of gems before her.
"And now," she said to herself, "the main event."
Reaching out and grabbing a sack at random, she tore it open to reveal that it was stuffed with garnets. Without further ado, she raised the bag high above her head, tilted her head back, and simply poured the bag's contents into her maw. The gems clacked against one another as they poured into her mouth, her cheeks swelling as they filled to capacity. Tossing the now-empty bag aside, Ember set to work on masticating the load of garnets, relishing how they crumbled into little shards between her sharp teeth as she chewed. Once she'd softened them up enough, she swallowed, the massive load of gems creating a visible bulge in her throat as she did so.
"Now, what next?" she mused to herself, surveying her load of tributes as she absentmindedly picked her teeth with a golden dagger that had been left for her a few weeks prior. Her eyes flitted to two sacks side by side, one filled with sapphires, the other with emeralds.
"Oh man, I love sapphires and emeralds! Which to choose, though?" She placed a claw on her flabby chin. "Sapphires... emeralds... sapphires..." Then she grinned.
"Why not both?"
Grunting slightly as she struggled to lean over her massive gut, she grabbed hold of both sacks and set them down on the armrests of the throne. From there, she leaned back in her seat and happily devoured great big mouthfuls of gems, alternating between the bags. She ate noisily and greedily—Dragon Lords had no reason to care for manners or decorum, after all. The hapless gemstones all fell before her greed, vanishing down the eternal pit of her maw as she gorged herself.
"Mmm, yeah," she moaned, patting her flabby gut as it gurgled and churned, relishing the feeling of fullness within. "That's good stuff. I think I still have room for a little more, though..."
Deciding to finish her feast off with a large sack of rubies, Ember elected to simply shove her face into the bag and eat from it like a pony eating from a feedbag. As she glutted herself, she felt the remaining gaps in her stomach being filled with glimmering gemstone goodness. As she withdrew her face from the bag, she felt a familiar tightness building in her chest. Wincing, she braced herself for what was to come...
BUUUUUUUUUURP!
A massive jet of flame shot from Ember's mouth as she belched loudly enough to cause the throne she sat on to tremble, scorching the rock formation in front of her. The smell of burning lingered in the air as she slumped back in her throne, patting her gut with a contented sigh.
"Oh, yeah," she told herself happily. "It's good to be Dragon Lord."
END
Author's Note
Apologies if this is of lower quality than usual. I was battling through a serious case of writer's block to get this one out.
