Seven years. It had been seven years since Spike had given the Bloodstone Scepter to her. Those seven years felt like she was wading through molasses. If that was what seven years felt like then what would a hundred years be like? Five hundred years? A thousand years? Perhaps by then she'll have grown fat and lazy upon her golden horde.
“Dragon Lord Ember, the representative from the Noble Dragon Council is here, will you see him?”
Fat and lazy. A golden horde. That stuff would only be found in hatchlings dreams. For now she'd settle for slim and sexy with nearly limitless power on the side. And one annoying noble as the main course.
“Bring him in.”
If there was one thing that she had learned in those seven years it was to be ‘friendly’. Sure, initially she held onto the mantra that ‘dragons don't do friendship’ but demonstrations by Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends seemed to rip holes in that theory. Mostly by means of one little drake, Spike. That little dragon had held nearly limitless power in his claws and he just gave it away… ‘to protect the ponies.’
“Dragon Lord Spike, hmm it has a nice ring to it.”
“Dragon Lord Ember sounds better.”
And just like that she had found herself in possession of the most powerful dragon artifact of all time. Of course she tried to refuse.
“What? No! You're the Dragon Lord now.”
But that little purple and green whelp disregarded Ember’s arguments and replaced them with his own.
“No, the Dragon Lord is whoever brings the Scepter back to your father. Besides, you'll make a great leader, I was just doing this to protect the ponies. But I know you'll protect them just as well as I would've.”
And of course, there were doubts.
“You're sure about this?”
And he was. Ember shook her head,
‘And he is.’
Over the past seven years Spike had become a liaison between her and the Princesses of Equestria. He helped broker treaties, trade agreements, travel arrangements, construction projects, loans, pretty much anything that needed to get done was done by him or done by Ember. They had grown close but Equestria remained his home, and that prissy white Unicorn remained the diamond in his eye. But that was a small problem compared to the one in front of her.
“Representative Smoke, what kind of ‘proposal’ do you have for me today?”
Smoke grinned and his namesake poured out of his crooked teeth. “Dragon Lord Ember,” he said innocuously. “As you know we, your loyal nobles, only ever want what's best for our race as a whole. There have been an increasingly large number of ponies intruding on our lands. They say that they are here, “for the view”. They leave trash and destruction wherever they go; they have “wandered” into many of our caves; they have “looked at” many of our hordes, several of which are now missing precious jewels or artifacts. So, the proposal that the council has come up with is this; close the border between Equestria and the Dragon Lands, make the ponies give back what they stole and pay for the damages they have wrought.”
Ember sighed and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.
“I’m sorry Representative Smoke but I can't do that. We receive nearly twenty percent more gold, jewels, and food from Equestrian tourists than we do from just plundering and raiding. As much as I sympathize with you we cannot, for the sake of several construction projects, enact that proposal. However, I will talk with the Equestrian Princesses to see what can be done about the issue. If that is your only proposal for the day then please, see yourself out.”
It was quite clear that the Dragon Lords refusal pained Smoke but there was no way that she'd go along with that proposal. Besides with the increase in gold, jewels and the like, Ember saw that her dragons were happy for once. They were not squabbling over sparkly pieces of broken quartz, now they were squabbling over precious diamonds, topazes, and emeralds. Trade with Equestria had been an economic windfall to her growing empire; it brought her a sense of security. But like always there were bad dragons, dragons who wanted to see things done differently. Garble was one of those bad dragons.
Just the mention of his name made steam come out of her ears. Initially the red drake had not been a problem but as time went on he and his group of cronies became a thorn in her side. In the beginning his protests could be ignored then they gained influence with the nobles. That was when Garble had made his first move. He tried to fight Ember for the Bloodstone Scepter. He lost. He completely and utterly lost, making himself and his cronies look like fools in the process. It was a wonderful feeling Ember had when she could successfully say that Garble and his cronies were banished from the Dragon Lands until she said so.
That in and of itself would’ve stopped most dragons. They, having deserved the Dragon Lords ire would never show their face again. But Garble was either monumentally stupid or he wanted to die. He attacked Equestria. He attacked a small settlement called Dodge Junction, he and his pack of loyal dragons tore through that town and torched it. The Equestrian Princesses demanded justice and Ember was quick to give it. She asked her father to pound some sense and humility into Garble seeing as that drake seemed to forget it. That lesson seemed to work, her father, displeased as he was with getting his claws dirty, did obey her. After that, Garble had vanished, no one had seen or heard of any of his activities. That was two years ago.
With him gone the activities of the Dragon Lands quickly became routine and with that sad repetition Ember quickly became bored. But she had to attend to her growing Lands because if she didn’t, another dragon like Garble might rise up and make more problems.
“Dragon Lord Ember?” Her aide, Scales, interrupted. “We have paperwork to do. Specifically, denying the Nobles request for a border closing.”
Ember shook her head and turned to her purple scaled aide, “Just… just give me fifteen minutes, okay?”
Scales nodded in understanding. “You are taking a break for lunch then?”
Ember quickly bobbed her head in agreement. “Yes. Exactly.”
“Then I shall notify the guards.”
Scales walked to the throne room doors, pushed them open and slid through the opening leaving Ember in peace. The silence provided Ember with room to think out loud without anyone listening in. A couple of minutes went by and the only interruption was the delivery of her food. Emeralds, diamonds, rubies. Ember ate like a starving dragon would. She had finished her meal in a minute. A new personal best. Ember leaned back in her throne with a satisfied sigh as her stomach happily gurgled. Her hunger sated for a time, Ember settled in for a quick nap and in no time she was asleep. Her respite was interrupted by the sound of clashing metal and yelling. As she stirred from her sleep the throne room doors burst open and a dragon in heavy black plate armor rushed towards her.
His appearance startled Ember and despite the protests of her gut, she rolled away from the stranger. Once she had reached a safe distance Ember popped back up and crouched down in a defensive stance.
“Who are you!” She called out, startling the armoured dragon. He turned towards her and spoke. His deep voice reverberated through Embers chest.
“Dragon Lord Ember. I have come to you so that I can deliver a message from the dragon, Garble.”
The stranger’s reason gave Ember pause.
“What does he want.” Ember deadpanned as her guards started filing into the room. If her unexpected guest was nervous it didn’t show.
“Garble challenges you to-”
“-No. Not again-”
“Garble challenges you to one last duel. If you win he will submit to your judgement and obey it without question. If he wins you will submit to him and obey him without question.”
The temperature in the throne room had risen to near unbearable levels. Garble was back. Garble was back! And he had the gall to challenge her!
“Where. Is. He.” Ember sniped.
Her guests answer was straightforward and honest.
“The Arena.”
The only pause that Ember took was to grab the Bloodstone Scepter then she was off to the Arena.
The Arena had not been used since the last time Garble had challenged Ember; that was two years ago. As Ember flew through the maze like hallways of her home she quickly came to the realization that many other dragons were flying in the same direction. When she stopped to ask where all the other dragons were flying to she got an answer she didn’t like, ‘The Arena’. Every dragon was flying towards the Arena and they knew about Garble's challenge. News about the fight in the hallway of the throne room couldn’t have spread that fast. With the entrance to the Arena fast approaching Ember had to concentrate so she tossed aside all doubts and worries.
Bursting onto the Arena grounds left a cloud of sand in her wake. She quickly spiraled up to the highest point in the room, a flat-topped pillar that was opposite her entrance. Alighting down on it she quickly scanned the crowd of dragons below her. None of them was Garble!
“Garble! Where are you!” She shouted down to the crowd of dragons. A roar and a stream of flame were her answer. She looked to the source of the sound and the fire, it was the hulking figure from her throne room. Narrowing her eyes, Ember made a beeline for the armoured dragon. As she approached him she quickly realized how large he was. She was six feet six inches tall and this dragon in front of her towered over her own form by a good four or five feet. Landing in front of him with a grunt Ember quickly took control of the situation.
Advancing on her opponent she pressed the tip of the Bloodstone Scepter to Garble’s chest.
“You were banished and stripped of all your wealth Garble. You aren’t a Dragon anymore.”
The dark form chuckled and leaned into the Scepters tip. The Bloodstone tip , unable to find purchase, skittered across the surface of of Garbles armour. Breathily, Garble whispered to Ember,
“I’m more of a Dragon than you’ll ever be whelp.” Garble withdrew himself from Embers personal space then turned to the crowds and started posturing, “Dragons! Hear me! ‘Dragon Lord’ Ember will never amount to anything, she’ll ruin our race. You have already seen what the ponies can do. They have taken your treasures, defiled our land. What will the other races do? That’s why I’m back. I’m here to make us, the Dragons, great again!”
There were groups of dragons that cheered for Garble, most sat still and stared at him in indifference. He could talk and make promises but the only way for him to prove himself was to fight. That was the reason for the challenge. If he could beat Dragon Lord Ember then he’d earn the respect of his fellow dragons. But until that came to pass, many would take what he said and disregard it. But Ember could not disregard his challenge, that was why she would beat him. She had to win because if she didn’t, then Equestria might very well burn. Time was of the essence.
“Garble! I accept your challenge.”
A cruel red light shone in his eyes as he heard Ember’s exclamation. Turning to her he leaned down to look her in the eyes and she flinched back. He quickly stood up and laughed.
“You won’t win. You can’t win. You can’t even look me in the eyes.”
Turning from her he walked into his loyal crowd of Dragons. Ember, shaken by what she had seen in his eyes turned and abruptly walked into her aide. Both of them were quickly knocked onto the backs much to the amusement of Garble and his followers. Scales was the one to help the Dragon Lord up.
“Dragon Lord Ember, I am so, so sorry. I thought you saw me.”
Ember shook her head and grasped Scales lightly by the shoulder.
“It’s okay Scales. I did see you but I just have a lot of stuff on my mind.”
“Like those… bozos, right?” Scale said nervously, gesturing to Garbles and his group.
Ember laughed softly, “Yes, Scale. Just like those ‘bozos’… nice use of Equestrian by the way.”
Scales face lit up in an embarrassed blush and she looked away. Thankfully, Embers next question took her minds off her immature statement.
“Is my armor ready?”
Scales quickly pointed her Lord in the direction of her battle armor. It was very similar to the set that she used in the Gauntlet of Fire. It was a bit larger to accommodate size changes plus there were two dirks, short thrusting daggers, affixed to the hips. Sliding next to her armor Ember quickly looked over it and her weapons of choice.
“Are you ready?” Scales asked as she took the helmet off the armor stand and held it in her claws.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Ember replied nervously.
As the armor was put on her she could see clear across the arena. Garble was just lounging on a rock, flicking stones at one of his lackeys. But something was different about him. In previous fights, Garble had never used armor. That, and his attitude, his speech, they had changed. Before, he carried himself with a childish swagger but now he walked around like a warrior, a killer. As the the last bit of armor was put on Ember she stepped away from her aide and practiced some movements. That didn’t stop Scales from noticing the stiff way in which her Lord moved. Picking up the two dirks Scales quickly flagged down Ember to give her the weapons.
“Ember, don’t be nervous ju-”
“-Something’s not right.” Ember interrupted. Scales shook her head and patted Ember on the shoulder.
“Ember…”
“Yeah?”
“Kick his ass for me.” Then she pushed Ember into the arena’s fighting ring before she could respond.
Both opponents approached the arena’s center. They stopped when a massive hand came down and blocked their line of sight.
“That is far enough.” A voice rumbled.
“Dad!” Ember squealed as she saw the judge.
“Ember.” Torch replied. “The Scepter, please.”
A small pink dragoness approached Ember who surrendered the Scepter. The Scepter wielding dragon quickly retreated behind Torch. Ember couldn't help but look in her father's eyes, she was that he was sad but behind that she could make out his pride and honor. He was glad to be the father of a Dragon Lord. A brief cough from him set her straight.
“Now, the rules are clear. The winner becomes the dragon lord. The loser is banished or killed. The only weapons that will be used are the ones on you right now. No outside help. No cheating or I will squish you. Do both of you agree with the rules?”
Ember and Garble agreed to the rules. Torch nodded,
“As soon as you see your opponent you will fight.”
He gave them no time to prepare for as soon as he finished his sentence his hand shot up revealing Ember to Garble. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours, then Garble twitched. That twitch shattered everything and the next few minutes became a blur of clashing metal, fire, roars, and pain. Both opponents were evenly matched, Embers speed was negated by Garble’s armor. The places where she needed to hit him were well armoured and her dirks weren’t going to cut through his thick plate. Despite all his training Garble was unable to land any solid blows on Ember, she dove or dodged his attacks with ease.
The battle had to turn sometime,and it did when Ember clipped her left wing on a stray stone shard. That mistake cost her the battle. She tried to control her descent but, much to her horror, she found that her left wing was not responding. The landing was a hard one, it tore one of the dirks out of her hand, trapped the other one beneath her and blinded her with dust and small stones. She came to a stop at one of the cliff edges. She tried to clear her vision before Garble took advantage of her blunder but she had no such luck. The only warning she had that Garble was on his way was the steady, hard breathing rhythm he had while in combat. Thinking quickly she sheathed her remaining dirk then dove to her left.
That dive saved her life, Garble's spear would’ve made a hole through her chest but, because of her dive she only lost the last six inches of her tail. However, now she was stuck between a rock pillar and Garble. Half blind and cornered Ember followed her instincts; she tried to fly. Her jump propelled her over Garble but her wings didn’t provide any lift. Her left wing worked fine but her right wing, the one that contributed to her crash, seized up sending her plummeting onto Garble. In an attempt to block Ember from flying Garble had raised his left arm, that was what Ember landed on. Both parties were stunned at the result, Ember tried to tear herself off of Garble but just this once he was faster.
With a roar, Garble ripped Ember from his left arm and threw her into the rock face. The symphony of ‘cracks’ and ‘snaps’ that her body made when it hit the pillar was music to Garbles ears. The whelp’s wings were broken. He quickly walked over to Ember’s shuddering form then cruelly picked her up by one wing and started dragging her towards the cliff edge. He watched as blood from his latest wound ran down his arm and onto Embers broken wing. It was only a couple more steps to the edge when he felt his opponent start to struggle. He stopped that in an instant by swinging her over the cliff and letting go. He watched as Ember’s broken body landed on a small protrusion above a lava flow.
Seeing her twitch and move, Garble flew down to the same ledge that Ember’s body was resting on. He poked her with the broken shaft of his spear to see if she moved again. She did. That filled him with joy and vigor. Quickly making his way over to her slim body he picked her up by the neck then held her over the side of the ledge. Moving her so much seemed to aggravate her, but it was too late. She tried to fight back, but it was futile. Garble quickly tightened his grip and Ember stopped. Looking up at him with blurry eyes she tried to speak but Garble would not hear it. He looked away from her to the dragons above him grinning maniacally.
“Look at her!” He shouted in sickening glee. “Look at where your Dragon Lord is now.”
Many Dragon in the crowd protested, telling him to let her go, to end it. He laughed.
“Is that any way to talk to your new Dragon Lord?”
The arena fell silent at his proclamation.
“That’s right! This little-” He violently shook Ember. “-hatchling is nothing but a little blue runt. She couldn’t even fight properly. A real Dragon Lord fights with Strength and Pride not friends and rainbows.” He shook Ember again then leaned in close and whispered, “Where are your friends now.” Before opening his claws letting Ember slip through his grasp.
The crowd held their collective silence as Ember’s body fell into the lava flow. No one could hear her body hit the boiling surface but they could all see it. Garble noted the crestfallen looks on Embers supporters as he flew back towards the center of the arena. Settling down from his brief flight Garbles eyes settled on Former Dragon Lord Torch, then they slid down his mountainous body to the Bloodstone Scepter held loosely in his claws. Smugly, Garble sauntered over to the grieving father and snatched the Scepter from his claws. Torch didn’t even notice.
Garble made his way across the arena to the raised dais. As he approached the obsidian throne he could feel the power emanating from the Bloodstone Scepter. At the foot of the throne he turned around and looked to the center of the arena where the blood soaked sand, broken armor and broken weapons lay. Even after having just fought the greatest battle of his life there was no sign of fatigue or injury; the Scepter had healed him. Looking down at his now unblemished scales he saw red sparks jumping from them.
“It feels good to be the Dragon Lord.”
The crowd roared around him, cheering his victory, waving their arms and spewing fire in the air.
“Garble! Garble! Garble!” They cried. But the most vocal dragons were his loyal followers, many of whom were pointing claws at him and crying his name in joy. Garble raised the Bloodstone Scepter into the air, letting out a roar and a burst of fire. The wealth and power of an entire race was his. Equestria would fall, incinerated beneath the flames of his armies, the ponies’ wealth would be stripped away and with the power of the Scepter under his command nothing would stop him.
He was deafened by the cheering crowd, and they were blinded by the haze and smoke of the battle. He never saw Ember crawl over the lip of the throne behind him. He didn’t hear her land then stalk towards him. He was not aware of her as she raised a sharp obsidian flake above her head then plunged it down into his neck. He never felt the heat of the spitting lava that his lifeless corpse fell in when Ember tossed him off his perch. But the crowd saw it all and they cheered for the true Dragon Lord who had returned from the fiery abyss.
Ember had come back, she was victorious, she was alive, she was the Dragon Lord.
Author's Note
---This does not represent the finished product---
Five out of Thirty-one. Only 26 more to go. Choo! Choo! It was satisfying to write Ember killing Garble.
Comment if you have questions or concerns... or if you're really nice donate a cookie
