Secrets in Equestria

Ember had agreed to marry Spike knowing that he would be the closest dragon to her loving him. The preparations were short but very unenjoyable. The two needed rings and of course, rings were made from dragon scales from the bride and groom. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to go through. “Can’t we just buy a, ow, ring.” Ember flinched as one of her scales were pulled from her. She dreaded this part of the engagement and she was sure that Spike wouldn’t like it either.

“Of course not, you and Spike will be life mates and so you must always have a piece of each other.” Torch said pulling off another scale. “The rings are symbolic Ember and they must be made from the bride and grooms scales. With the rings, you two will always be together and every dragon will know that you are taken. Any dragon that wishes otherwise will be punished should he or she try and push you and Spike away. On top of that, all dragons will know just who you belong too. With his purple scales on your claw and your blue ones on his, not even Garble would dare talk to you without Spikes permission.”

“I don’t, ow, get any of these traditions or laws or anything for that matter. Nothing about any of this makes sense to me. Ow, DAD!” Ember yelled after having another scale pulled from her.

“Ember, these laws, traditions, and customs are for the good of all dragons.” Torch pulled another scale from Embers body.

“I don’t see h-OW!” Ember yelled and pulled away. Her body was sore, throbbing and bleeding now. She just didn’t understand the point of any of what was happening. The rings made from scales made a little sense but normal rings would suffice too. When Ember turned to stare at her father, she noticed her scales in Torches claw were red from Embers blood. “This is torture!”

“This is marriage Ember, it isn’t easy but it can be done. I’m all done; I have all the scales needed to make Spikes ring.” Torch left to meet with the ring maker.

Ember couldn’t wait to live in Ponyville if even if only for a little while. She was in such pain that she had to hobble over to bathing pond in the cave. Her blood dripped along the ground making a trail. When she entered into the water, the water stung and turned red from the blood dripping off Embers body. For the first time in her life, Ember cried in pain. “I hate my own kind, they are so screwed up.” She couldn’t imagine how Spike must be handling the descaling for the rings. What did it matter though, they had to go through with it. Ember sunk into the water as far as she could. After a while, Ember was finally able to relax and then the dress makers came in.

“Princess Ember, we must make your dress.” Ember turned to the dress maker and snarled at her.

Spike was having a rather upsetting moment. He did let the de-scalers take his scales off but every time one did, the scaler found him or herself at the opposite end of the room. Spike may have to go through this but he wasn’t going to make it pleasant. By the time the needed scales were taken off, the scalers were either covered in blood or knocked out. Now whether it was Spikes or their own, none of them were sure. “Who else wants to tick me off?” The dragons around the room backed as far away as possible from the enraged dragon.

“Please Spike; this is necessary for your wedding.” One of the terrified de-scalers said nervously. The de-scalers weren’t fighting dragons; they were simply doing their jobs. A beating was not part of their job description.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a part of your world. If you have the scales, please leave me.” The de-scalers disappeared in a second. Spike weakly walked over to the nearby bath and got in letting his blood flow into the water. “This is stupid, why am I even doing this? I barely know Ember and yet I’m marrying her and going through all of this just to help her.” Truth was; Spike knew the answer. If the situations were reversed, he would have wanted away even if that meant marrying a complete stranger. “Twilight won’t be happy about this but all well. I’ve made my choice; I just hope it was the right one.” After Spike had time to relax, the dressers came in with a few different tuxes. “Let’s get this over with.”

Spike climbed out of the bath and looked at the different suits. Every one of them were decorated from jewels of some kind. There was Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, and many others with a blue decoration on it. After thinking about it, he chose the Emerald tux. In the center was a blue dragon Spike could only guess was supposed to be Ember. Spike grabbed the tux and then hung it up. “Let me guess, I can’t see Ember until tomorrow?”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to see her? The descaling is a private matter but I see no reason you can’t go and see her.”

“Leave!” Ember yelled from behind. The dressers left in a hurry. “How are you Spike?”

Spike saw Ember and smiled. She was wearing a red dress with a purple picture of him in on the shoulders. “I’m fine but I want to kill every dragon right now.”

“You and me both.” Ember and Spike looked at each other before giving each other a wide smile. “It looks like we have one thing in common.”

“Yep, the mass murder of dragons.” The two started to laugh but stopped as it was too painful. Spike started to sit when he noticed Ember trying the same. He quickly grabbed onto Embers claw and helped her down before sitting down himself.

“Why did you help me?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Ember wanted to respond but knew Spike wasn’t clear on everything dragon. “I don’t think Twilight will be too happy about this.” Spike said thinking about the return to Canterlot.

“Your pony friend?” Spike nodded. “Why should she care what you do? Are you a slave or something?” Ember asked.

“Hardly, we have complete respect for each other. There is no controlling what the other does. We do usually talk to each other first to make sure that we are doing the right thing. We don’t want each other to get hurt. This is a big decision I’ve made and Twilight won’t be happy I didn’t talk to her about it. I guess she’ll get over it though.” Ember cocked her head not understanding. “Look, I love Twilight like my mother, it’s why I care. She raised me from an egg Ember, I owe her a lot. I can’t always talk to her about everything though and it upsets me.”

“I understand Spike, I think. I suppose I don’t want to disappoint my father or make him upset and that’s why I go along with everything. Can I ever have freedom and still make my father proud of me Spike?” Ember looked up at Spike with hopeful and curious eyes.

Spike looked out the cave entrance as he thought. He couldn’t know, he had never done something to upset Twilight but he could make a good guess. “Look out of the cave Ember and tell me what you see.”

Ember turned her head to the entrance. “Um, flying dragons and a sunset. Why do you ask?”

“I see the same but I also see your father out there and I think he really does love you. The problem is the love has gone too far. He wants you to be happy and I believe he would do anything for you. He also knows your traditions, laws, and customs. He truly believes that you will be happy with the strongest dragon who will also keep you safe. In safety there is a bit of control and that’s where the main problem is. A little control isn’t a bad thing. It kept me safe when I was too young to know better. Twilight forced me to eat when I didn’t want to. She wouldn’t let me go out if she wasn’t with me. There are a lot of things she has done to keep me safe but as I got older, she has learned to let me go. She still worries about me but she knows I wouldn’t do something bad or stupid.” Spike looked at Ember. “You’re father hasn’t let you go yet and as far as I can tell, he never will so long as you have to do as the laws, customs, and traditions continue. I’m free to make mistakes and do as I wish but even if Twilight is furious with me for making this kind of decision, I know she will love me and be proud of me. Will your father love you no matter what you decide to do?”

“I will never know because I will always have to do as you say.” Ember heard a chuckle come from Spike. “What?”

“The funny thing about that is you do have to do as I say and I say once were married, you don’t have to do anything I saw unless you wish to.”

Ember turned to Spike with a big toothy grin. “You mean it; you’re going to order me not to do as you say?” Spike nodded and Ember couldn’t help herself. She painfully tackled Spike and gave him a big hug. The two laid there on the ground with their arms wrapped around each other and Ember whispered in Spikes ear. “I can’t wait for tomorrow, to be with you.” The two fell asleep moments after the sun went down.