Like... AAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL of them.
Unbelievable! Those wimps... Ember and the pony lover... worked together... and Spike is the Dragon Lord now?!? Dragons- real dragons- don’t DO helping! But... it worked. That’s... I don’t... it’s not right. And of course, there’s that awful command Dragon Lord Spike gave me. I can’t believe any of this! How am I going to explain this to my nest-mates?
Oh yeah. I’m not allowed to.
Urgh. At least none of the dragons who were there said anything. Doesn’t mean nobody will, though.
The chamber before that room with... them in it is still pretty empty. Most of the fast dragons are in there with them and the ones who haven’t made it are super slow, and aren’t even gonna see this chamber, much the place where the bloodstone landed. I would be slow about getting through, but they aren’t going to stay in there forever, and once the scepter leaves the chamber, all the other dragons will follow. So I don’t wait long before getting to the next room.
These stupid crystal pillars. Most of them stopped moving when they got through, but not all of them. There are a bunch of dragons still trying to get through, too. This is where my command really starts.
The first I am forced to hug isn’t someone I know the name of- some all pink chick. Like, all pink with just a little purple and these super curly horns. I think she mighta been the one who wanted to make burps an official greeting? She’s recovering from getting hit, it looks like. Better get this over with, maybe she won’t even realize what’s happening. I hug her quickly, and dash through the pink and purple columns. I still feel her confused look burning into my back. This is awful.
The next dragon I see is worse, though. Fume. I’ve known this purple and yellow punk since I was a hatchling. And now I have to hug him?
Without explaining why?
Looks like he’s catching his breath right now. Eugh.... I don’t like this at all. I quickly get hugging him over with, and flee before he can say anything.
“Hey! What do you think you’re... Garble?!” He still calls after me. Ugh... Have I said how much I hate this?
There are a bunch of other dragons around there, of course, but most of them are knocked out or too breathless to do much more than stare after me, all confused. It’s still super embarrassing though!
The next area is mostly empty, thankfully. Squeezing through these teeth-like stala-whatevers was hard enough when I was most of the way through. As I approach them, though, they suddenly recede back into the ceiling and floor.
“Huh?” I can’t help saying, right before the sound of hundreds of wings beating behind me makes me realize what’s happening. I barely dodge out of the way before being bowled over by all the other dragons flying out of the cave together. Oh. After the last dragon has passed, I snap open my wings and follow.
... at least I won’t be running into any more dragons I have to hug back here.
I think I’ll just stay back here. I mean, I’m not really disobeying Dragon Lord Spike’s orders if I come slowly, right?
I’m getting close to ex-Dragon Lord Torch... I slow down even more, not entirely on purpose. The other dragons have settled in various places around the ledge he’s standing on, and are cheering, probably for the new Dragon Lord. A title I still think I should have gotten, by the way.
I have to do this in front of everyone, don’t I? Grr...
...
How do I even hug a dragon that big?
Uh...
I hug the end of Torch’s snout, hoping that will be good enough.
“What is the meaning of this?” he shouts, bringing the attention of every dragon there, if they hadn’t already noticed. Ugh...
“I can’t tell you!” I cry over the ringing his shout caused. Faintly, I hear Ember giggle through the ringing. After releasing ex-Dragon Lord Torch, I look up to glare at her.
Wait...
Is she?
She is?
SHE’S HOLDING THE SCEPTER!?!?!
That means...
Spike isn’t the new Dragon Lord...
Right?
... Do I even still have to... y’know... hug everyone?
Dragon Lord Ember (just as a weird thing to think of her as that as it was for Spike...) notices me staring at her. She smirks in this kinda... not scary (no one that small could ever scare me!) way, but it still left me with this bad feeling in my gut. Anyway, she waves at me to follow her. Since she’s obviously the Dragon Lord, I’m left no choice but to obey.
We land, just outside the view of ex-Dragon Lord Torch and the other dragons gathered.
“I bet you’re thinking of not fulfilling Spike’s order.” Dragon Lord Ember says matter-of-factly.
“Well... uh...” I stammer, caught off-guard by the authority in her voice. Seriously, when did that happen?
“Because you aren’t getting out of it. I hereby uphold Spike’s order for you to hug every dragon you meet on the way home.” Aw... man! Are you kidding me? I was so close to freedom, and she just... snatched it from me.
“Why do you even care?” I can’t help grumbling.
“Because,” she says, “Spike told me his reasoning behind it on the way back here. And, well, I agree with him. Plus he’s my friend, and friends have each other’s backs. ... Or something like that. I’m still new to this whole ‘friendship’ thing.” Her response makes me growl a little under my breath. Not only has runt forced me to continue embarrassing myself, but she actually made friends with the pony lover?
“If that pony lover hadn’t been here, you wouldn’t have won.” I grumble.
“I know.” She says. “I’m glad he came.”
We stand there quietly for awhile. Me glaring at her, and her smugly smiling back.
Because I can’t do anything about her being dragon lord.
Because I can’t do anything but obey her order.
Because she has every right to give that order.
And we both know it.
“It’s time for you to go home, Garble.” Dragon lord Ember says, getting into a launching position. “And don’t forget to hug every dragon you meet on the way.” She takes off, back to the other dragons.
I’m just glad my home is the other way.
I take off, and as I fly away, I hear Ember call after me, one last time, “Remember, all of them!” Hah! Like I’d forget! I'll prove to that smug jerk that I can follow orders. No matter how... embarrassing.
I start flying back towards my pack on the outskirts of pony land. Unsurprisingly, some adults are flying in to see the new Dragon Lord. It's tradition, from what I've been told. The young, fast dragons compete for the title, and the older, slower ones come and see who got it.
Distracting myself with thoughts of tradition doesn't get me out of my very not traditional assignment. I hug the closest one, I don't recognize him. He's probably one of those loners. He briefly gives me a funny look, but is too busy to actually ask. I offer no explanation.
I also give the other dragons that he's flying at the front of hugs and no explanation. There's a gap between them and some of the older ones in another group.
Maybe... maybe this isn't so bad. I mean, I've never really seen how different two dragons can be from each other. Some of the dragons I've hugged have even given me a smile. Those feel... nice.
But...
I... I can't tell anyone.
They'll think I've gone soft...
Then again...
Fume probably already thinks that, after I hugged him...
Heck, maybe I have gone soft.
I still won't bee no namby-pamby pony lover, though.
I still have some pride.
The next group of dragons to hug only makes it more clear.
I have gone soft.
I don't hate it as much as I thought I would.
I'm not sure I hate it at all.
I'm getting pretty close to my pack's volcano. Still haven't seen our elder, strange.
Oh, wait, never mind.
There he is.
His scales are all kind of a dull, gray color. His spines are worn to the point of being round, his wings are really torn up, and he lost his horns a long time ago. His shape, something I wouldn't have given thought to not even a day ago, is kinda round all over. He doesn't have much of a neck, either.
My pack's elder is really, really old.
Like, he saw the original rise of Discord.
He tells stories of it, sometimes.
From the tales he tells, those were a dark time in our history. Enough to turn him gray early.
The elder is so old, no-one remembers his name, especially not him.
But, he kinda lost that before anyone else in the world was even lain, so...
I give him a hug, and help him to take off. Old coot can barely move his wings without help.
He gets to flying, though, and I swear be loses like, ten thousand years of age. He's really that good of a flyer.
When I see that he's in the air, I turn to the inside of our volcano.
Half of the dragons there are giving me a look of surprise.
The other half are asleep.
I shrug a little, and start going around, giving hugs.
The ones that aren't out cold for the next hundred years give me a look of surprise, a question, or, for just a couple, a small smile.
Well....
I’ve almost reached the end of my little journey. There’s only one dragon left to hug, and she is probably the most important dragon in my life.
It’s funny, I started this mission hating every step, but now I fear the end of it.
Well, I guess it’s time to hug the dragon most deserving of all the hugs I’ve been giving lately. I hug her long, dark red neck. She is silent for a moment, then...
“What’s gotten into you, my little hoarder? You haven’t hugged me since you learned how to fly!” she says, shocked at the hug I’m still giving her.
“Nothing, mom.” I reply, quietly. “Ponies are just a lot smarter than I gave them credit for.”
Author's Note
So... this is a thing.
When I say Lance gave me the idea, I mean that pretty much whenever we talk about The Gauntlet of Fire, he mentions that he thought Garble probably enjoyed the hugs by the end.
So I took it to the only logical conclusion.
Which wound up being heartwarming, I think...
Also, I know that it's been a long time since that episode aired, but I've been busy with stuff. So, yeah. Hope y'all enjoyed!
Lance, I blame you.
