Cinder yawned as she pulled herself off of her pile of treasure. She rubbed the exhaustion from her eyes and opened them. It was as dark with them open as it was with them closed, but that was to be expected when you lived underground.

With an annoyed grunt, she shot a plume of yellow fire from her mouth and lit the wall sconce, bathing the room in light.

Cinder was a rarity amongst Dragons in the modern day. Most were red, orange and black in color, but she was a nice, warm yellow. While most nowadays had sharp spines that were more like blades, hers were dull, rounded and teal. She was clearly not a fighter, which made her easy pickings for the violent and aggressive older dragons.

The difference was made even more clear when comparing her treasure pile, which merely consisted of a small pile of gems she thought were too pretty to eat, when compared to the massive towering hordes of golden coins, pearls and shining gems owned by others.

Her eyes took a second to adjust before she looked around her room. It was barren aside from her pile and the torch burning against the wall. Said walls were made of stone, with ash piled against the walls. Such was the nature of fire breathers of course. Rather than a door, the room merely had a large, flat, disk shaped boulder against the hole which allowed her access to the rest of the subterranean Dragon Lands, which had been buried deep underneath ash centuries ago by the eruption of a Supervolcano.

This was her home. This was the only thing she had even known, and perhaps the only place she would ever know. It was dark, boring and violent, but was there really any other way to live? If there was, she didn't know.

She sighed as she pulled herself up. "Time to start the day I guess." She said, her voice echoing in the room. The small dragon, who didn't even have wings yet, started walking to the boulder to enter the hall and once again wander the halls looking for something, anything, to do while the days went by, when the boulder slammed 'off the hinges' before she could do it.

Standing in the door frame was a tall, black dragon with glowing red eyes. He wore a suit of dark grey armor which had small holes for his blood red spines to poke through along his back, and for his large black wings to flow behind him like a cape.

"Cinder." he said, his voice a guttural hiss. His name was Onyx, and he was one of the Dragon Lord’s many personal guards. The Blazeguard, as they were called. Elites, bullies and immune to any consequences they might entail due to their status.

"Hey Onyx..." Cinder started with a gulp. This was weird. Onyx usually waited until she stepped out of her room before laying into her. "C-can I help you with anything?"

Onyx slowly walked up to her, he towered over her, almost three times her size, and he looked like he wanted to step on her. Hate filled his glowing eyes, along with... jealousy? What did he have to be jealous of?

"The Dragon Lord and the General want to speak with you." He growled. So that's what he was jealous of. But why would they want to speak to her? She was one of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. She was weak. She couldn't even protect herself from other whelps and hatchlings.

"Now!" He yelled, causing Cinder to jump from her thoughts with a 'meep' before she rushed out of the room. Angering the Dragon Lord and the General were good ways to get stepped on, incinerated, then stepped on again. She certainly didn't want that.

Cinder rushed through the dimly lit ashen stone hallways, pushing past the other hatchlings, and ducking between the legs of the larger dragons. She ignored the tired grunts and gasps her lungs made as she ran, until she arrived at the large ominous doors to the Dragon Lord's Chamber.

The halls in this section of the kingdom were much, much larger than the hatchling quarter. These hallways were where the Goliaths of old walked. These were where the Dragons who could burn entire cities and forests rested and traveled through, each one at least five hundreds years old.

She didn't know why she was here. Hatchlings were not usually allowed in this part of the kingdom. If Onyx was just pulling a nasty trick on her, she could expect to be viciously beaten. She gulped before she slowly walked forwards towards the two Blazeguard at the gate, who each gave her a nasty red eyed glare.

"H-hello." She squeaked, her voice chalked with fear. "I w-was asked to come here..."

One of the Blazeguard grunted and opened one of the two large doors to the room. "Enter." He gruffly stated as he stared down at her. She recognized this one. His name was Ash, and he was the second in command of the Blazeguard under Captain Garble, the third largest dragon in the Kingdom. He was a professional rather than a bully. He did his job, and his job only. During his breaks he merely ate before going back to work rather than tormenting those smaller than him. There were even a couple rumors that he sometimes stood up for the hatchlings, but she never saw it, and she didn't want to bring it up.

Cinder nodded to Ash, before darting inside. She didn't want to keep her leaders waiting any longer than she needed too.

Just beyond the doors was a stone platform, looking over a vast cliff face. Cinder luckily noticed this before she took a very long, and nasty plunge. Burning at the bottom of the cliff, was a sea of smokeless fire which stretched on for what seemed like miles to Cinder. One half of the fire burned a dark amethyst, and the other a light green.

These were the colors of fire which sparked fear in the heats of the Ponies of old. The colors of fire which lead a wave of smoke and chaos which gripped the world with fear a thousand years ago. These were the colors of fire of the Dragon Lord, and the General.

Cinder slowly walked up to the edge of the cliff and cleared her throat. "Umm H-hello?! You asked for me to come here!" She shouted, her voice once again echoing throughout the room. There was no reply, until she saw stirring in the fire. There was a sudden blast of wind and heat which almost knocked Cinder off her feet. She saw movement in the fire, as in a slow movement, two dragons rose from the fire, colossal in size. They dwarfed all other dragons in the kingdom, and perhaps all other dragons in history.

To her right, rose Dragon Lord Ember. She was massive, her body coated in pure black armor. Every inch of her body was covered, even her wings. All that could be seen beneath the visor of her helmet were her blood red eyes, and the jagged white teeth of her snarling maw which had claimed the lives of hundreds, perhaps even thousands.

The Dragon Lord was a being of legend. It was said that a thousand years ago she covered herself in the black armor to mourn the loss of one she loved, before using it to protect her while she lead her forces against those who allowed him to die. The original color of her scales were lost to time. Some say they were as black as her armor, others say they were white, the color of death. More said her scales were as blood red as her eyes. None knew for sure, but those who knew her before she donned it, never told a soul.

To her left, rose General Spike. His purple scales and green spines were lashed with the fire which danced across his form. His legends were on par with Ember's. It was said he was a citizen of the ponies. Raised by them. That he was seen as a hero to them. That was until he had similarly loss someone close to him. The same one that Ember had lost. It is said his rage at the loss was so great he grew to his current size overnight, before he renounced his fealty to Equestria in a rampage.

Compared to Cinder the two were like gods. She was but a mere ant to them. She was so in awe of them that she nearly forgot to throw herself to the ground in a bow.

"Feh." Came the booming voice of Ember, which echoed through the room. "The others were right about this one." Cinder looked up to see Ember bringing her head closer to her, until her single blood red eye was the only thing in her vision. "She looks so small and pathetic."

"Indeed she does." said General Spike as he stared at her with his emerald green eyes. The massive behemoth slowly sat back on his haunches and brought a talon, thrice the size of Cinder to his chin. "That makes her the perfect candidate."

"Yes it does." Ember said, a smile slowly appearing on her armored face.

Cinder didn't know what they were talking about. She felt herself suddenly get grabbed by the tail and hoisted into the air by one of Ember's metal claws. "Tell me little one, what do you know about the outside world?" She asked.

"Th-That it's full of ponies and other creatures that are inferior to us dragons my lord..." She whimpered.

"Yes." Ember said with a dark smile. "Good girl. You get a gem for that." She said as she snapped her claws, which produced a deafening crack which shook the cavern.

Cinder covered her ears in response looking up and whimpering at what she saw. The dark roof of the room was filled with hundreds of pairs of glowing red eyes, all staring directly at her. One of the pairs broke away and slowly flew down from the ceiling,

It was a member of Blazeguard, and in his hands was the largest and most beautiful diamond Cinder had ever laid her eyes upon. Her mouth started to water as she stared at it. When the Blazeguard handed it to her she wasted no time in devouring it. Hatchlings were only ever given rock crystals and garnets. Gems of poor quality. The dragon equivalent of gruel.

When she was done with it she licked her lips. It was the best thing she had ever tasted.

Ember brought her closer to her face and stared directly at her. "Can you perhaps hazard a guess as to why you are here in our presence hatchling?"

"No ma'am."

"Hmph." Ember said as she placed Cinder down into Spike's open palm, allowing the small dragon to stand up. "For the past thousand years we Dragons have been buried under ash, hiding from the inferiors above. It has been FAR TOO LONG!" She roared, prompting Cinder to squeal and cover her ears.

"We say, no longer shall we stay beneath the ash. It is time for dragons to rise back into the skies. To rise into our destined place as the lords of this world!" Spike said as he carried Cinder up into the air, to be face to face with him. "And you, my little dragon, are going to help us achieve our goal."

"How would I do that sir?" Cinder said, her knees shaking.

Ember smiled as she looked at her. "You. You are small. Non-threatening. Weak. Those traits are shared with all members of that pathetic country of Equestria. You would fit right in." She said.

Cinder stared at her, before Spike finished the point. "You would be the perfect spy." He said.

A second Blazeguard suddenly landed right behind Cinder, and without warning latched a metal collar around her neck. Said collar had a clear red gem in the center, right below her chin. Cinder grunted before it activated, and the wall of the room, farthest from the cliff she was previously standing on suddenly came to life with a shimmer, showing all within the room Cinder's point of view.

"This collar with allow us to see everything you see." Spike said with a chuckle. A third Blazeguard, Ash, landed in front of Cinder and dropped a bag of supplies into her arms. "Now then. This guard will escort you out of the Kingdom, then fly you across the sea to Equestria. Once there you will head to the village of Ponyville. Do you understand?" He asked.

"Yes sir..." Cinder said.

"Good. Now go." Spike demanded. Cinder couldn't say anything before she was suddenly scooped up by Ash and carried out of the room.

Spike and Ember grinned towards the door, before they started to giggle together. Then chuckle. Then finally they threw their heads back, and laughed which was echoed by the Blazeguard's own maniacal chuckles. The Age of the Dragons would begin soon.

Author's Note

My attempt at making a serious story begins now lol

Edits have been made on 8/17/2019 thanks to my new editor Salty Alty