It was another seemingly normal day for Celestia, who sat upon her throne, sipping tea and waiting for another one of her appointmented visits to start. Most would assume the princess was bored doing this, and in many ways, they are correct, it’s just that Celestia doesn't show her boredom as easily as others. Sure, there was always the plausible attack from some deity that she and her sister defeated a thousand years ago that seeks revenge, or the fact that there was going to be some sort of celebration somewhere is enough to keep her on her frogs, but today wasn’t one of those days. Rather, these were the type of days that just want to make her walk around ‘naked’, and perhaps do something rather childish instead of being trapped in the castle. All she really wanted to do was act like a foal once more, but it seemed rather impossible to do that… emphasis on the rather part, since there were small bits that can happen. Such as this.

It was almost unexpected, to be honest. She was lucky to be in the gardens, tending to her batch of buttercups when a scroll appeared in front of her. While a scroll from Spike wasn’t strange, a bit unexpected and coincidental at times, but this wasn’t like any of Spike’s scrolls. And by that, the scroll was about twice the size of her entire self, which landed right on her, not injuring her, but making her a bit dazed. It wasn’t heavy, so pushing it off was pretty easy. The scroll itself, despite it’s size, looked a bit dirty, almost new and hastily made, all except for the golden horseshoe seal & red ribbon, which looked to be the size of a normal scroll’s.

“... Huh… who’d send this?” She asked herself, using her magic to take the seal off. It rolled open, showing the message. The handwriting, for a lack of better words, was terrible. Sure, fillies had horrible handwriting, but this made their handwriting look like that of Starswirl’s. But, she was rather patient to read it.

Dear Princess Celestia.

I… don’t really know how to say this, but it’s been awhile since we’ve seen each other… too long, to be exact. Ever since my retirement as Dragonlord, I’ve been trying to find something to do that doesn’t involve me yelling, or combat. It was quite foolish of me to forget about you, Princess. Please, when you’re available, write me back with a time and place where we can meet once again.

Sincerely,

Torch.

P.S. Sorry for my handwriting. When you’re leading a kingdom of dragons, handwriting isn’t really a skill you need to keep them in track.

Celestia stared blankly at the piece of paper.

“... Huh… Torch… never thought I’d see him again.” She then thought to herself about their past.

Little Celestia had snuck out of her parent’s castle and made a run for the Everfree forest during the nighttime. Being the only child, it was fitting that her parents would be overprotective, but she wanted to see it all! Her pink mane & tail breezed gently as she sprinted through the woods, excited to see what new things she’ll see. Much to her excitement, she ran through without a scratch and came across a lake. The lake itself shined with the moonlight’s glow, making the place even more lit than she was told. If she was able to, she could imagine flying up to the moon and give it a tag before flying back down, possible with the moon chasing back at her. Unfortunately, her wings were rather weak at the time, barely getting her a few inches off of the floor, much to her own disappointment.

However, she stopped as she heard some sniffling. It sounded pretty young, near baby-like, something she didn’t want to listen to very long. She listened to the sound and headed to the general direction, trying to find whoever was crying and how she could help them. The sound came from a cave, one that was huge compared to her size. An easy light spell was needed for her to walk through, something she found pretty easy to do, but treaded carefully, unaware as to what was around. The crying soon became louder and closer, though Celestia hoped it wasn’t a trap, as she bones laying around the cave. A gasp came out of her as she was in the presence of a dragon’s nest; boulders were placed in a circle, and in it all was tons of hay, branches, and other plants. However, in it was a baby dragon, one that was half the size of Celestia.

The baby dragon was a dark blue all over with some darker spots on it’s back, wings with blood red fins, some small red scaled that popped out from the back, and two horns that came out of the side of it’s head, coming down then curved up. He looked rather chubby, and not that threatening, despite being a dragon. It turned to her and looked rather frightened, taking a few stack back away from her.

“W-wait!” Celestia spoke, holding her hooves out. “It’s ok, I’m not here to hurt you.” The small dragon only whimpered, weakly clawing at her. Celestia was able to avoid the clawings, and allowed the dragon to take it’s steps back. However, she saw that the baby dragon’s underbelly was covered in claw and bite marks, all looking like they’re from dragons just a tad bit bigger than him. “Oh… oh my…” ‘This little guy’s been through a lot. He must not trust me… unless…’ She then remembered how dragons loved gems of any kind. She trotted away, finding some gems nearby (they were easier to find nowadays). The filly alicorn approached to the baby dragon, seeing it take a few steps back, but eyed the gems.

“Yep. That’s it. I got some yummy gems here.” She acted like she took a bit before setting it on the floor. Celestia took a few steps back, letting the dragon approach to the single gem. It took a few steps before chowing it down. She smiled, seeing it was enjoying it’s treat before laying down another one. He noticed it and pounced onto it, taking and gorging it down. Soon, Celestia left a trail, to which the dragon followed, practically swallowing each gem that was on the floor. Out of the cave, Celestia made a pile of gems and stood by the side. Her follower saw the pile and let out an excited squeal, jumping into the pile and eating to his heart’s content. Celestia only giggled at the sight, reaching out and patting his head. The touch made the dragon stop and turn to Celestia. He let out a small whimper, unsure as to what she was doing.

“There, there, it’s alright, you’re safe now. Noone’s gonna hurt you.” It looked up to her, looking a bit more comfortable, but still unsure about her. “Hm… I think my parents won’t mind having you around, but you’ll need a name… hmm… how about… Torch?” He tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“...Towch?” The dragon spoke in a little boy’s voice.

“Oh! You can speak? Well, Torch, my name’s Celestia! And I can tell that we’re gonna be the bestest of friends!”

Torch walked side to side in his cave, anxiously awaiting some answer. He did mean to write a letter to Celestia, especially during his time as Dragonlord, but he wasn’t even sure if it was good.

“Oh, why did I send it?” He asked to himself, sweating rather heavily. “I knew my handwriting was awful! I shouldn’t have burnt that piece of paper! Oh, you’re so stupid, Torch!... What if she forgot about me! It’s been over many years! … Oh, get it together, Torch! You were the mightiest Dragonlord to ever live! Nothing can scare you! Not even-” A letter popped into frame. He screamed like a little girl. Were any dragons around for a couple of miles, the tale of Torch the Girl would be passed from generation to generation, and ruin Ember’s reputation as Dragonlord.

Dear Torch,

I am quite surprised that you sent me a letter after all of these years. I’m actually excited to see you once again! We should meet each other in the old castle tomorrow, right in the Everfree forest. Please, come as you want, we have a lot to catch up.

Sincerely,

Celestia.

P.S. Thank you for being modest about your handwriting. Guess those fights don’t give you enough time to write down as much, eh?

Torch stared blankly at the small scroll. His left eye twitched.

“T-tommorow?”

Author's Note

Hello and welcome to my first legit shipfic! It was mostly based off of the cover as you saw, which we'll get to in the next chapter, actually. And yes, there's gonna be some bits thrown giving the two history, as a way to make this feel more authentic. I hope you enjoy this, since this is gonna be a more shorter, chapter driven fic I'm making.