Chapter 0: Prologue (optional)
This isn't technically required to read for this story. This is just a thorough, fleshed out set up for the world the story is set in. The first chapter will contain the information in a shorter, not so fleshed out way.
Equestria was a land of friendship and acceptance for the most part. You would find the occasional non-pony here and there. There were griffons, minotaurs, donkeys, mules and hinnies, and the latter two were proof of interspecies pairing. Granted, griffons hadn't been the most sociable of creatures, but after Gilda had learned from two of the Element bearers, she helped spread friendship among her kind. This resulted in more friendly griffons, which made the integration into pony society smoother.
A similar thing occurred after Spike, Princess Twilight's personal dragon assistant, did the same for the newest ruler of all dragons, Lord/Princess Ember. She too had learned the value of friendship and spread this throughout her subjects. Eventually she asked Princess Twilight if dragons could be allowed to live among ponies.
While there weren't any technical rules or laws against this, Twilight nevertheless made it official with Princess Celestia. She also attempted to make it official with Cadance in the Crystal City. That fell through when Ember was caught having taken bites out of random things throughout the city, buildings, flower beds, café tables and chairs.
All this was before even meeting with Cadance. Ember seceded that perhaps rebellious dragons wouldn't fit in too well in the city when their own ruler was slightly more controlled. Her point was accentuated when Cadance found a bite sized chunk missing from her throne after Ember had departed.
It was decided that dragons would be integrated through the main, populated areas of Equestria.
When Ember brought the news to her kind, the older ones were indifferent and chose to stay in the Dragon Lands. The younger dragons had no issue, especially considering it allowed them more space, and many departed to explore Equestria's territories and maybe make a new home.
Lady Ember had made sure to tell her subjects that they were not to antagonize the ponies for no reason, and even attempt to make friends. To their credit, they did just that, but while dragons had become more friendly with one another, how they did so was still very different from how ponies did it.
Dragons mostly came off as rude and obnoxious, and unfortunately, their infamous reputation preceded them. This made most ponies uncomfortable with the idea of even being close to dragons. An unfortunate amount even judged them immediately as creatures that weren't to be trusted or associated with.
Assurances from Celestia and Twilight did little to help, and Ember never bothered, accurately believing that most ponies wouldn't listen to her and her subjects wouldn't be affected by any soothing words.
Twilight refused to give up, despite how bad the situation was, and even when it got worse.
A few scattered reports were coming in of both dragons and ponies being attacked by the other, there were even a few confirmed deaths. The reports weren't reliable in the exact causes. Collected statements conflicted with one another, claiming that the attacks had been provoked and unprovoked, the result of simple arguments or fights started out of the blue. The only reliable information was that most of the attacks were done on the not so large dragons, the ones who could be taken down easily by a group. The incidents increased in number, albeit a small amount, but that was still too much.
A big issue with these incidents was that they occurred with little witnesses, or rather few actual witnesses. Many prejudiced "witnesses" were quick to make false statements, badmouthing the dragons. The same went for the dragons in their accusations of the ponies.
The only thing that kept dragons in Equestria was their own stubbornness, refusing to be forced out or allow ponies to think their harsh words and attacks were enough to actually do so.
This disheartened the princesses, and devastated Spike and Ember, the latter of whom sank into a slight depression. Spike persevered, joining Twilight in trips throughout the land to help dragons improve their friendship skills. Not many came to learn, which made the process longer than desired, but progress was made. However little it was.
A high point was when pro-integration groups began to emerge. Ponies and dragons who had actually befriended each other or were open to doing so invited others with similar thinking to join. They all eventually joined forces into one organization, the Equines and Dragons for Solidarity. The EDS. It wasn't long before they were endorsed by Spike and the princesses, the former of whom became the role model for friendly dragons.
Spike and Twilight were frequently helping in the efforts of the EDS, but their previous duties restricted their free time. Thankfully the EDS became capable of delivering the same kind of effort as when Spike and Twilight were there. The improvements allowed Ember to come out of her depression, giving her hope for her kind and their being accepted. She even met with the EDS on occasion, lending a helping hand.
While the EDS and others sympathetic to the cause helped to temper the tension, it didn't extinguish it completely. Outspoken protesters became fewer in number among ponies, and even fewer among dragons since they just wanted to be left alone. Less provocation mean less complaints. There were still the occasional unfortunate attacks and even killings, however few they had become.
Nevertheless, the overall improvements allowed Spike and Twilight to focus on their professional and private lives, including a long awaited goal for the former. If only he were aware of the turn it was going to take.
Meanwhile in Hell. Not Tartarus.
Hell. The fiery pit of eternal damnation, the section of the afterlife reserved for the worst sinners who ever lived. It was here that the father of all evil, the Devil resided. He watched over his domain, reveling in the screams and cries of the punished, along with the groans of anguish from punishments that were purely meant to annoy for eternity. Those latter punishments were for sadistic shits and giggles.
Satan looked upon his kingdom, observing the carnage of the torture, his ears soaking in the cries of pain and the sobbing of the damned being told that whatever they ordered in Hell's food court wasn't available only to hear the server say they were eating said food on their break. And the customer complaint section worked exactly like the DMV.
It was all so deliciously horrifying, so sadistically evil, so amusingly grotesq-
BORING!!!!!!
After so many years since the creation of sin itself, the Devil was BORED with it all. Having to live with it all wore down even an immortal like himself. It wasn't the first time this had occurred, and even his usual ways of messing with the mortal world, his go to boredom annihilator, had become boring thanks to the goody four hooves princesses. His causing trouble and their stopping it had made the whole thing routine.
There was one way however. One way of causing trouble that was different, that broke from the mold. It left the princesses conflicted with how to approach him, whenever they dared to actually come into his home.
The Ghost Rider.
The Rider was the Devil's bounty hunter, tracking down those who had escaped from Hell, weaseled their way out on their way to Hell, and even the occasional overlooked occupant to be. This went for both mortals and non mortals, murderers and rapists, wannabe satanic deities worshipped by cults, even those who worshipped Satan. Sins were sins.
And unfortunately, even the process of making a Ghost Rider had become routine. Make a rigged/unfair deal with a desperate individual, fulfill his end only for a loophole to basically negate the whole thing, make the individual his Rider at a time that results in inconveniences which just so happen to coincide with a nuisance the Devil needs taken care of, the Rider host is made a fugitive of the law and a recluse from friends and family, the host has to struggle to keep the Rider (secretly a sentient sprit in itself) at bay, occasionally come to an understand with those in high positions of power, rebels against the Devil and keeps the power of the Rider etcetera.
But then.....something happened.
The Devil sensed that something quite bad was going to happen. Something that would leave an unfortunate individual open to accepting any help that they could.
This was an opportunity the Devil couldn't let pass. He could try a new way if making his newest Rider. It was already going to be different from his choice of host alone.
A dragon.
It seemed so obvious to grant a creature of fire this power, though also the slightest bit redundant. But this should prove to be interesting, as it was the first time he would ever make a dragon Rider.
He decided to shake things up by also not intervening so the trauma could be prevented or after it happened.....in a sense. Time was immaterial to the Devil, but he chose not to learn all "future" events, if only to avoid a more severe boredom.
And he also had no spirits to bond to this host. So why not use the host themselves to make a new spirit?
"Oh yes. This will definitely provide me with some fun."
