"Nothing Special, Just Avenging My Parents' Lost Honor"
A nice cup of Seaddle's Best Coffee, some sprinkled donuts, and a book about artifacts (more specifically, trading card artifacts) that Sunset Shimmer gave away as a present. This is how Princess Twilight had planned to start off her occasionally morning. Spike had plans of his own that were similar to Twilight's, except with gems and another comic book. He never got to read that comic book thanks to the events regarding that Friendship Journal incident a while ago. To this day, he was still proud that he came up with a solution that solved that crisis. Too bad he wasn't smart enough on that day when he invited both Thorax and Ember on the same day by accident.
"Where's Starlight?" Spike asked Twilight, who was busy prepping up some coffee, as he sat down near the kitchen table with a comic book on his claws. "Normally, she's the first one here just to eat her favorite kite-shaped cereal."
"She's still tired from last night." Twilight answered as she poured some coffee into her "Best Princess" mug. "That was one heck of a date last night with Sunburst."
"I still can't believe she's dating Sunburst." Spike added as he started to chuckle. "I mean, she always spends a lot of time with Trixie that I thought they were-"
The drake stopped before frantic knocking was heard. His eyes widen a bit at the sound of panicked knocking at this time. Twilight was equally concerned as she put down her coffee. Besides the violent knocking, screams of terrified agony was also heard. Twilight and Spike glanced at each other before they raced down to the source of the knocking.
They stopped at the front door upon hearing that the knocking sound came behind it. Twilight tilted her head in curiously while Spike scratched his head. Very carefully and slowly, Spike flicked the lock switch to unlock the door. In a flash, Spike flew from the door as it opened spontaneously. Twilight yelped before something orange flew past her and towards the broom closet. Spike quickly got up on his feet before he turned to the closet.
"Um, what was that? I just saw something orange go into the closet." Twilight said before Spike turned to the front door and lightly smile at what he saw.
"Hey Ember." He casually greeted as he waved his hand. "What's with the armor and...spear?"
Twilight turned to what Spike was staring at and mentally agreed with the dragon. Standing at the doorway was the Dragon Lord, Ember. However, rather than being informally nude, she was dressed in the same armor that she used to compete during the Gauntlet of Fire. Resting on her right hand was a plain-looking spear that was emitting a light blue aura. Imprinted on the spear was the word: Justice.
Ember let out a friendly and kind smile before bowing a bit. "Hey Twilight. Hi Spike." Her face immediately turned evil and violent. "Y'all seen an orange pegasus around here?"
"Is that who's hiding in the broom close-UHMPH!"
Twilight quickly covered Spike's mouth but to no avail as Ember turned to the closet and saw it slightly open before closing. With her spear glowing as brightly as her determination, Ember stepped to the closet. Her route was halted by sheepish-smiling Twilight.
"Uh, if you don't mind," Twilight asked as she nervously looked at the scary-looking dragon. "Mind if I ask what's going on?"
"Yeah." Spike responded as he walked to the closet. "And who's hiding in the closet?"
Before Twilight could stop him, Spike calmly opened the closet and looked inside. There he saw a cowardly-looking orange pegasus dressed in royal armor. Spike raised his eyebrows as he recognized this pony. Twilight, however, recognized him quickly as she let out a shocked gasp.
"Flash Sentry!?" She screeched as Ember growled a bit.
"Descendant of Flash Magnus." Ember bluntly explained as she gently pushed Twilight to the side. "Come out of the closet, friend. We got some unfinished business."
As Ember approached Flash, he started to chuckle nervously. "Um gee, that sounds nice. Can I at least use the bathroom first?" He turned to the princess. "Say Twilight, got any bathrooms that have windows that lead outside the castle? Just asking~"
"I heard you mess your pants when I surprised you at Sugarcube Corner!" Ember roared as she shot fire from her mouth. "Stop lying and prepare to meet your inevitable fate!"
"Ember, wait!" Spike shouted as he jumped in front of her. "I don't like Flash as much as the next guy! But I've never seen you interact with him that much, so why all the hate and wanting to kill him?"
Ember giggled lightly as he softly patted Spike's head. "Nothing special, just avenging my parents' lost honor."
"Lost honor?" Twilight questioned in total confusion.
Ember sighed as she frowned upon Twilight and Spike. "Well, I guess I can tell you guys."
Before Flash could escape, Ember quickly shoved him back into the closet and closed it. Leaning against the door, preventing Flash from escaping, Ember let out a shy grin. "Just making sure this brat doesn't escape while I explain."
Ember rested her spear on the closet door as she began her tale. "Well, it happened back before I was born. My dad, Torch, wasn't Dragon Lord at the time. It was also back before my mother was still with him. I kinda forgot her name. Dad really hasn't talked much of her for some reason."
"Anyway, one day, my parents were minding their own business before some pegasi trespassed against their territory! Mom and Dad captured some of them and planned to keep them their for a day as punishment for trespassing. But then some idiot came along with a fireproof shield and messed with them so that the pegasi could escape. Then they set up a giant storm cloud while the idiot was being chased by mom and dad. Then he tricked them into flying into the storm cloud where they got shocked and had to retreat in defeat, shame, and humiliation."
"Wait, I read something like this in my comics." Spike realized before his tone turned incredulous. "Your parents fought Flash Magnus!"
"Flash Magnus?! Wielder of Netitus along with being one of Dash's role models!?!?" Twilight was utterly baffled as she shook her head. "I thought that Flash Magnus story was fake!"
"...like how you thought Daring Do was just a fictional character?"
Twilight said nothing in response to Spike's statement.
"Yeah, that was the idiot's name. Flash Magnus." Ember answered before continuing her story. "Anyway, my parents never got over that fact and they also told me about how they lost their dignity that day. Ever since then, being Dragon Lord was one of my dreams. The other dream was to find Flash Magnus and kick his stupid butt!"
"Of course, that was a while ago. He's passed away from old age. However, when I was invited to the Crystal Empire, I spent a lot of time at their library. Besides eating the crystal walls, I looked up some history books that talked about that idiot."
Ember backed away from the closet before pointing at it. "Then it turns out that this idiot hiding in the closet is the descendant of that idiot." Her claws clenched as steam shot out of her nostrils. "IDIOT!"
She suddenly grabbed the door and ripped it out of the hinges, revealing a fearful Flash Sentry desperately digging out of the closet. It was a total failure, due to the fact that the floor was made from indestructible crystal. He paused his digging when he noticed Ember standing before him while clenching her spear.
"Please don't fight me!" Flash begged as he got down on his knees. "I'll do anything! I'll stop bumping into other ponies! I'll start showering! I'll start brushing my teeth three times a day! I'll stop stealing those waffles down at the palace's buffet!"
"You steal waffles?" Spike said in surprise before he glared at Flash Sentry. "You dirty, little waffle thief..."
The drake suddenly jumped next to Twilight as he hugged her foreleg. "Stay away from Twilight, waffle thief..."
"Spike!"
"What? Stealing waffles are bad."
"I know it's bad, Spike. But that's the least of our worries." Twilight's face expressed a disapproving frown towards Ember. "You can't fight Flash Sentry. That won't solve anything!"
"I don't care!" Ember shouted back with an enraged look in her eyes. "My dad is a bit of a grouch and I never knew my mom, but I'm not gonna just sit there and let their defeat go on in shame! I'm not doing this because I really want Flash to die."
She pointed the spearhead close to Flash's snout. "I don't hate you, okay? Sure you may be annoying and you have a huge crush on Twilight that's a little far-fetched than Spike's crush on that fashion horse-"
"HEY!"
"But I'm doing this because I love my parents. I wanted to be Dragon Lord to impress my dad. My mother."
She turned away as she bowed her head down. "Even when my dad didn't let me enter the Gauntlet of Fire, I still joined. I disobeyed my own father just to impress him. And in the end, I did." She lifted her head towards Spike. "And honestly, I couldn't have done it without Spike. You didn't just give me the title of Dragon Lord. You gave my father's respect. You gave me satisfaction that I finally impressed my mother, wherever she may be."
Spike and Twilight, despite the current predicament, was unable to not feel sympathy for Ember. Twilight was reminded how she always wanted to surpass her former teacher, Celestia. Now Celestia was no longer her mentor, but her equal friend in terms of royalty. Spike was the most touched. He had always saw himself as a little, useless runt whose purpose was just comic relief. He never knew he had such an impact on Ember.
The Dragon Lord's claws clenched together in a ball as steam shot out of her nostrils. "But I want to do more. I want to show my mom and dad that their daughter can do more! I am Ember, daughter of Torch, winner of the Gauntlet of Fire, and lord of all dragons!!!"
She suddenly lifted up her head to roar and shoot out an impressive amount of fire in the air. Miraculously, nothing burned down nor catch on fire.
"And if it means avenging their lost honor by some STUPID pony with a STUPID shield, then so be it!"
Lifting up her glowing spear in the air, she then boomed in a loud voice: "PREPARE YOURSELF, FLASH SENTRY, DESCENDANT OF FLASH MAGNUS, WIELDER OF NETITUS, FOR I, DRAGON LORD EMBER, WILL STRIKE THEE DOW where'd he go?"
She turned around and saw Flash flying from the entrance with sweat shooting out of his face. "STOP FLYING AWAY, YOU COWARD!" Ember shrieked as she zipped away, leaving Spike and Twilight standing there in disbelief.
"As much as I respect her wishes to make her parents proud," Twilight admitted as she looked down at Spike. "I still don't think that killing Flash Sentry is a good idea. Ooooh, I don't know what to do Spike!!!"
Spike stepped away a bit as his mind was undergoing a deep thought process. All of a sudden, he had an idea! It was a far-fetched and unexpected idea, but at least it was worth trying!
"How about we-"
"-show Ember that our past is not our present? Like how Sunset Shimmer once taught you?"
"Hmmm...well, it's a long shot, but I don't have any other ideas, so it's worth a shot!"
Author's Note
Just like How Do YOU Do It, Spike?, this popped in my head. So I had to write it, regardless of the errors that it has and the poor execution of the concept.
This story will probably not be good, so I hope at least someone writes a better story with a similar concept so that this story will seem obsolete.
And in case you're wondering: No, I didn't put in a Grief is the Price We Pay reference. I'm afraid that if I put it here, you guys wouldn't like it since I already put one in another story of mine.
