The Way To A Dragon's Heart

You and your father learned the hard way that it would be impossible to return to your own world, so these last few months, you began to adapt to your life in the Dragon Lands. Even after your conversation with Ember, you still kept your taste for fighting, which was no issue since dragons enjoy battle. Most dragons steer clear of you, however those who harassed you were easily defeated in a fight.

Having been transformed by Ember has affected your personality, so you’ve began thinking of yourself less of a human and more like a dragon. You preferred to go around barefoot due to the tough scales on your feet and often went out on hunts for animals like manticores and cockatrice.

Right now you were in the middle of a training session doing push-ups on your fingers.

“887... 888... 889...” you counted. All the while, some teenage dragons were looking at you impressed. You’ve done all these push-ups without hardly taking a break.

“Damn, that runt makes it look easy,” one of them said out of a combination of jealousy and admiration.

“Pah, that’s nothing, I could probably do that in my sleep!” another dragon bragged. You recognized it as Garble’s voice. Of course he was trying to act cool since you beat him down when you met him.

“Then why haven’t you done it yet, Garble? Or are just all bark and no bite?” you taunted. You made sure not to lose count as you insulted him.

You’ve just reached 900 push-ups. ‘I’m not that tired, I can still do a hundred more!’ you said to yourself as you continued counting.

You didn’t know it, but Dragon Lord Ember was watching you from her castle alongside your father. “He’s a stubborn one, you know that?” Ember told your father, making him chuckle.

“Of course, but perhaps it’s my fault that I made him this way. Before all this happened, I wasn’t exactly the best father in the world. I felt more like a coach than anything else. Every day since his early childhood, I took him out for runs and signed him up for all sorts of martial arts. I never stopped to realize that he was only a child. Perhaps I should have allowed him to experience what fun was like,” he explains.

Hearing this peaked Ember’s interest. While she had overpowered you before, that was before you were transformed by the Bloodstone Scepter. ‘Should I ask for a rematch?’ she thought to herself while she watched you continue your training.

“Dragon Lord Ember, don’t take my son lightly. At the rate he’s training, he’ll even surpass you when you least expect it.”

“Is that so?” Ember asked, smirking and stroking her chin. “Hmm, then I guess I’ll just have to find out for myself. Besides, you forget that I’m pretty strong, too.”

“Alright, but be careful out there,” he said as Ember unfolded her wings. Taking off into the air, the blue dragoness soared down and landed right beside you.

“978... 979... 980... 981...” you grunted, determined to finish your last set of push-ups. All the while, Ember taps her foot impatiently waiting for you to finish. “997... 998... 999... 1000!” Now that you were finished, you sat on your knees, stretching your arms out. You then see Ember looking at you impatiently.

“What’d you need?” you ask.

“I can’t help notice you’re always pushing yourself to your limits like that. If you’re able to do 1000 push-ups like that, I’d like to see how well you can handle yourself against me,” Ember said, smirking.

You smiled and held your fist up proudly. “You’re on, but don’t be surprised when I win!” you warned.

The dragons around you were really getting interested since you’ve accepted their leader’s challenge. “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!” they chanted.

With that, you and Ember backed away from each other slowly to begin to fight. Rushing towards each other, you exchanged hard punches and kicks at remarkable speed.

“I won’t lose to you again!” you shouted before delivering a hard kick which Ember blocked. She began sliding slightly to the slide as she tried to absorb the impact.

‘It’s heavy!’ she thought, impressed by how much you’ve improved. You dart your eyes to the side where Ember was and went for an uppercut, but she was quick enough dodge by bending her upper body backwards.

You’ve seen this happen to this other guy you sparred with back in your hometown. You knew how to get past that kind of defense. You quickly got down and kicked in a horizontal motion, sweeping Ember off her feet and sending her falling to the ground. She quickly pushes against the ground with her claws, springing back up to her feet.

She jumps over your head and performs a spin kick, which you blocked by using your left arm as a shield and your right arm to hold it in place. Ember backflips and lands a shot to your face with her tail.

You quickly recovered getting excited as you continued to exchange blows with the dragoness. Of all the opponents you’ve ever fought, Ember has proven to be the most toughest. You felt a whole new respect for the Dragon Lord.

As you both stopped for a moment panting in exhaustion, you actually began chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Ember asked, smirking confidentiality.

“I’m just pleased, that’s all. It’s been such a long time since I’ve been this excited. I guess in addition to those pretty looks of yours, you’re the toughest opponent I’ve ever faced. I like that!” you said with an excited smile.

“Same thing to you! Out of all the dragons here, you’re the toughest one I’ve ever fought ever since I became the Dragon Lord.”

With that you and Ember rushed towards each other, colliding your arms against each other. This was going to be a long match.

It was sundown and you and Ember were still going at it. Both of you were covered in bruises and sweat from the long fight.

‘I’m running out of options. I’ve got to finish her now!’ you thought to yourself as you looked down at your fist. ‘It all comes down to my last punch!’

‘He’s good. I don’t think I can pull of anything fancy. But I’m not going to let him win! Not by a long shot! I’ll take him down... with one last punch!’ Ember thought, clenching her fist.

The two of you stared each other down, panting in exhaustion, raising your fists up. In a flash of blinding speed, you and Ember ran towards each other, shouting with sheer determination. The gap between you two got smaller and smaller until both of you were close enough to throw your last punches at each other.

Both of you hit each other on the left cheek. With nothing left in your systems, you and Ember collapsed to the ground. Lying down next to each other, it wasn’t long before you both lost consciousness.

Torch and your father have been observing the fight from above. Torch was just as impressed as your father was.

“That’s some kid you’ve got there,” he said, with his arms crossed. ”No one has ever managed to hold their own against my daughter.”

“I could say the same thing. No one’s ever been able to keep up with my son up until now. Your daughter is very strong.” your father said.

“I see a good rival for Ember. What do you think the future between those two will look like?” Torch asked letting out a puff of smoke from his nostrils.

Your father stroked his chin as he gave some thought into his answer. “To be honest, I can see them becoming real close to each other, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon. If given the right amount of time, they might actually grow fond of each other.”

Torch snorted for as a father he couldn’t help being overprotective of his daughter. “I will not allow my daughter to go steady with such a troublesome boy!”

Your father just shrugged. “He might not be so troublesome in the future. If they do end up getting together, I’d most likely welcome Ember into the family.”

Down below, you stirred yourself awake and noticed Ember laying beside you. You chuckled as you were still pretty sore so it was quite hard to move.

Soon, Ember began to wake up as well and let out a yawn. “You’re sore too, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah. Looks like it’s a draw,” you stated before forcing yourself to sit up. Ember did the same, but then she almost falls forward. You catch her by the shoulder and sit her up.

“Clumsy much?” you asked with a smirk, making her blush with annoyance. You chuckled at her adorable expression. “You should see your face right now.”

“J-Jerk...” she muttered before looking around to see if anyone was watching. To her relief, all the dragons that have been watching them have left. Her blushing face grew more red, growing more embarrassed and annoyed. “Are you going to keep holding me like that or are you gonna let go of me already?!” she snapped.

“Alright, alright, jeez. No need to get your scales in a twist.” you retorted, letting go of her.

“You’re lucky I’m spent, otherwise I’d kick your ass right here, right now!” she growled.

You just chuckled. “I’ll take you on anytime, any day,” you said before feeling a strange itching sensation on your back. You reached behind you to scratch your back when you felt that something big was beginning to form on your back. You grunt in pain as it began to push out whatever it was that was trying to exit out of you.

With one, thunderous roar, you pushed and felt the pain in your back slip away. You end up falling to your hands and knees, panting more exhausted than before.

“I guess it had to happen at some point,” Ember says, casually.

“What the hell just happened?” you asked.

“Look over your shoulders, they’re in plain sight,” Ember replied pointing at your back.

You quirked an eyebrow, looking over each shoulder, letting out a gasp. Over both of your shoulders, you finally earned your dragons wings. You open and fold them impressed at how you could move them so easily. What was also impressive was the wingspan. They had to be at least 7 to 9 feet wide.

“Holy shit! This is too cool!” you exclaimed.

Ember giggled at your excitement. “I presume you want to give them a try?” she asked while flexing her own wings.

“Not a bad idea. I was thinking of going out for a nighttime hunt anyway since that sparring left me hungry,” you said. The thought of eating delicious manticore made you lick your lips. As much as you’ve come to enjoy the taste of gems, you like the taste of meat even better.

Ember raised an eyebrow at your excitement. “You know, you’re starting to act like a dragon,” she stated.

“Maybe so, but what’s so bad about that? I’m starting to like dragons and I like being one, too, even if I’m only half-dragon.”

With that you and Ember took off into the air. Fortunately, the forest where you go to hunt isn’t too far from the volcanoes. You were so focused on wanting to eat, you didn’t notice Ember looking over at you with her cheeks slightly flushed and a smile on her face.

Before her feelings could take over, Ember shook her head. ‘What am I thinking? Do I actually like this guy?’

Preoccupied on your destination, you took no notice of Ember’s behavior as you looked down. As the forest come into view, you took a dive with Ember following you close behind.

Upon landing, your eyes scanned the forest to see if there were any creatures nearby. Suddenly, you catch the sound of rustling and you turned to see a full grown manticore growling and preparing to pounce. Holding your ground, you waited until the beast jumped forward before unfolding your wings and flying above it. With a quick dive, you landed onto the manticore, digging your claws into its sides before biting its neck.

It let out a roar of pain and squirmed a few times before you sunk your fangs deeper into its throat. As you did so, the beast fell over lifeless. You stood over the manticore licking the blood off your lips.

‘Show off,’ Ember thought, having watched the entire thing. “Hey, if you’re done gloating over there, I’d like to get home and get that thing into the kitchen, already!” she called out.

“Why wait? We can cook it right now,” you suggested, as you never had any trouble eating your kills in the forest.

“Uh, hello? We’re not the only ones with the stomachs, you know. Our fathers are probably hungry, too, so hurry up and grab your dinner so we can get back to the castle,” Ember persisted.

“Alright, alright. Jeez, you’re no fun when it comes to food,” you retorted.

“Oh shut up!” Ember growled as you lift the lifeless manticore over your shoulder. After making sure the corpse was secure, you and Ember unfolded your wings and took to the skies again, heading back into the direction of the dragon kingdom.

Once again as she watched you flapping in the light of the moon, Ember began to blush.

Torch tapped his foot, impatiently waiting for his daughter to come back. “I’m going to be furious if that son of yours is doing something he shouldn’t be with my daughter,” he snarled.

“Now now, Torch, let’s not make false accusations. Besides, my son’s not the type to play with a girl’s heart,” your father assured. At that moment, the doors to the dining room opened and you and Ember came in with the dead manticore still on your shoulders.

“Who’s hungry?” you asked, presenting the manticore up with both arms like you’re some kind of champion.

“Very good, son. It looks delicious,” your father said. Unlike you, your father wasn’t much of a hunter.

Ember rolled her eyes “Puh-lease, that little feline could barely pass as a snack for my dad.” she sassed, looking away with a smirk.

“It wouldn’t be a snack if he weren’t so-” before you could finish your sentence, your father flew towards you and covered your mouth.

“Son, don’t you remember the last time you called him by that word?! He nearly killed you!” your father warned you. You knew very well what he was talking about. Back then, a week after you had adjusted to your new life in the Dragon Lands, you made the biggest mistake of calling Torch “fat.”

The result of that was a massive thrashing from the giant former Dragon Lord. It’s true that you were strong, but Torch was way stronger than you’ll ever be.

You all sat down and began digging into the meal. All the while, you noticed how Torch was looking at you and Ember with great suspicion.

“Pops, why is he looking at me like that?” you whispered.

Torch gave your father a look, signaling him to keep his mouth shut. “I’ll explain later, right now just try to ignore it and eat your food.” your father said, before sinking his fangs into the meat.

You sighed and took more bites out of your meal. ‘Yeah right, easier said than done. How am I supposed to enjoy my meal when I have “Jumbo” here staring me down like that?’ you asked yourself in your thoughts.

As you kept eating, Ember would sneak a peek at you for only a second before looking back at her own food and taking bites out of it. Torch can see that his own daughter is starting to grow attached to you, but you have yet to notice. Regardless, he wasn’t convinced and thought you were pretending to not be interested.

Finally he couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “What’s going on between you two?” he asked dangerously.

You ended up dropping your meat back on the plate and looked straight into the giant dragon’s infuriated gaze. “What the hell is that suppose to mean?” you asked, not sure why he’s acting this way.

“Don’t play dumb with me boy, what’s going on between you and Ember?!”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” you assured before going back to your meal.

Torch was taken aback of how you could act so calm. He was about to yell again when Ember spoke up. “Dad, leave him alone! There’s nothing going on between us, so just drop whatever it is you’re thinking and let’s just keep eating.”

Torch squinted his eyes before finally backing off. The rest of the time went by without anyone making another sound. Once you were full, you got up from your chair and stretched your arms and wings out.

“Okay, I think I’m gonna call it a night,” you said before going to the top floor, where Torch gave you one of the spare guest rooms.

While laying on your bed you thought about what Torch said about you and Ember being together. The thought of dating someone else never crossed your mind before. You were always so caught up in your training and pigging out that you didn’t have time to hang out with someone who’s the opposite gender, or much less, date.

As far as dating goes, you had no clue on how that works at all. On top of that, you started to think about what it’d be like to have Ember, not as just a friend, but someone to love and cherish, but you shook your head that last thought.

“Great, now my mind’s going soft. What’s worse, Torch isn’t going to like what I’m thinking.”

After a few minutes of thinking about it, you lost the ability to care what Torch would do. Despite her proud and slightly conceited personality, Ember has proven to be a great leader who cares about her fellow dragons. You weren’t sure if you have feelings for the dragoness or not, but did she have feelings for you?

You were about to shut your eyes when you heard a knock at the door. “You still awake?” No doubt that was Ember’s voice.

“Yeah, come on in,” you answered and the Dragon Lord did just that.

“What did you need?” you asked as Ember sat down on the edge of the bed.

Ember let out a sigh before she spoke. “Sorry about my dad snapping at you. It’s always the same with every other male out there whom he thinks is “hitting it off” with me.” she said.

You just chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. To be honest, it’s only natural for a father to get protective of their daughter.”

“That’s no excuse for him to antagonize you like that. I mean, yeah, you’re a bit of a jerk, but you still try your hardest to be good.”

“Tell me, all the other dragons here seem to be so aggressive and conceited. Where’d you learn about friendship?” you asked

“Well, during the last tournament for the position of Dragon Lord, I met a dragon who taught me about friendship a few years ago, but he doesn’t live here in the Dragon Lands. His name’s Spike. He still comes over to visit. Lately, he’s told me that he’s found someone to love. Believe it or not, she’s a human, too. He says her name’s Emily,” Ember explained.

“Wait, there are more humans?!” you exclaimed.

Ember nodded and blushed in embarrassment, since she forgot to tell you. “That’s right. Most of them are in Ponyville. There’s a few in Canterlot who are married to the princesses and actually gained immortality after... “bonding” with each other.”

You noticed how the blush on Ember’s cheeks deepened upon saying “bonding.” Knowing what she was implying, you felt your own cheeks began to heat up.

“Anyway, I don’t have anything to do tomorrow... shall I take you to see the other humans?” she asked facing away from you.

As your face began to cool off, you nodded. With that, Ember got off the bed and was about to leave when you stopped her.

“Tell me something Ember, what am I to you?” you asked.

Ember didn’t turn to face you, as her face turned a darker shade of red right after asking her that, but she answered you by saying, “Right now... you’re like a close friend to me.” With that, she closed the door, leaving you alone again.

‘A friend,’ you thought as you laid your head back onto the pillow. ‘I never thought I’d have any friends at all. I guess my luck’s finally turning out for the better.’