Deep in the heart of the Dragon Lands, there was a massive cave that acted as the Dragon Lord's Great Hall. Within the royal palace on a grand throne of stone lounged the newly named Dragon Lord Garble. The biggest of grins was on his face as he shoveled in clawfuls of gems with his left claw while holding onto the Bloodstone Scepter with his right claw. Ever since he had claimed the all important symbol of power in the Gauntlet of Fire the previous day, Garble was filled with a since of power and command. He now knew that every single dragon would forever respect him no matter what.
There was only one slight damper on Garble's mood, and that was that Spike had slipped away as soon as he had claimed the scepter, and he was unable to find him. This meant Garble wouldn't be able to dish out any embarrassing punishments on him. But, in the end, Garble just shrugged it off and decided to forget about the shrimp. After all, he was the Dragon Lord now. He had no reason to even think about Spike anymore. What could possibly even bother him now?
CRASH!!!
Garble spat out pieces of gemstone and tightened his grip on the Bloodstone Scepter, sitting up straight as stared with wide eyes at the sight before him. Something huge and colorful had smashed right through the roof of the cavern and landed right in the center of the chamber. When the dust finally settled, Garble couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Standing proudly in their Rainbow Power forms, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends all had their eyes on the shocked Dragon Lord. Twilight flared her wings out and declared loudly, "Garble! Your time as Dragon Lord ends here, and it ends NOW! We're here to end your reign, and give the Bloodstone Scepter to a dragon who truly deserves it: Princess Ember!"
Garble's jaw nearly hit the floor after hearing this. In a way, this whole situation was giving him a feeling of deja vu. It was during the Dragon Migration, shortly after he first met Spike. Three of the ponies before him had jumped out to defend Spike, but the purple pony ended up using unicorn magic to teleport the four of them away like cowards rather than actually fight. Of course, Garble and his gang had simply laughed at them when they first showed up. But now, however, Garble didn't feel like laughing at all. Even though the ponies looked quite ridiculous in their powered up Rainbow Forms, even Garble had to admit that the ponies looked quite powerful. The six of them were literally glowing with magic, and he could feel that magic radiating onto his scales. However, after his shock finally subsided, Garble felt an insanely furious rage boiling up inside him.
Garble clenched his teeth until they hurt, and his eyes were shooting death glares at the Mane Six. "You pathetic, puny ponies dare barge into my kingdom, break into my Great Hall, and attempt to take my Bloodstone Scepter so you can give it to whoever you want to?"
Garble raised his tightly clenched left fist and slammed it onto the arm of his throne, striking it so hard that the rock cracked.
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT!?" Garble roared.
Undaunted, Twilight stepped forward and replied, "We are the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony! And those very Elements, along with the power of the Tree of Harmony, give us the right to remove an evil dragon like you from power! Now, surrender the Bloodstone Scepter, or I swear that we will imprison you in Tartarus until the end of time!"
As the six ponies glowed even brighter with each of their individual colors, Garble could help but lean backwards a bit. He blinked his eyes, then he sneered and said, "Well, the little pony princess has some spunk. I gotta admit, that wasn't a bad threat. But here's a better one."
Garble stood up from his throne and held out the Bloodstone Scepter in front of him.
"Any pony who tries to take this Scepter away from me. . . burns. Every. Single. One."
Much to Garble's surprise, this statement didn't have much of an effect on the ponies. Even Fluttershy still stood firm, her mind focused on being there to support her friends as opposed to being afraid.
Princess Twilight shook her head in disappointment and said, "Sorry Garble, but we've already fought stronger villains than you. You're nothing compared to Tirek, who you'll be meeting soon enough. But if that's the way you feel, then so be it."
The Alicorn floated up into the air, and she was soon followed by her five friends.
"Alright, girls!" she said, "Let's show him what-."
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
The ponies were surprised to see an orange and purple blur zoom past them. It turned out to be a dragon about a head taller than Spike, and she was hovering in between the ponies and the Dragon Lord with her arms held out as if to block whatever attack the ponies launched.
"Smolder! What are you doing!?" Garble shouted in alarm.
The younger dragon paid Garble no mind, and she shouted at the ponies, "I mean it! You punks leave Gar-Gar alone!"
Rainbow Dash's serious face changed into a huge smile. "Gar-Gar?" she echoed, and she literally fell out of the air and rolled around on the floor laughing.
Garble face palmed and said, "Smolder! We talked about this!"
Smolder huffed and said, "Alright. Sorry, bro."
Twilight's eyes went wide and she said, "He's your brother!?"
Smolder nodded and said, "Yeah! And I'm not gonna let you ponies come in and take over like you own the place!"
"We have no choice," Twilight argued, "If we don't stop Garble, he'll have the dragons destroy all of Equestria!"
Smolder gave Twilight a look of shock and said, "What? Where did you get that crazy idea from?"
"Because we heard him say he would!" Twilight shouted impatiently.
"You're crazy!" Smolder argued back, "Garble's really a sweet, sensitive guy! He wouldn't say something like that! Right bro?"
Smolder turned to Garble, who now had a nervous look about him. Garble's eyes were darting around anxiously, and he was shuffling his feet a little. Finally, Garble looked past Smolder and pointed at Twilight and shouted, "How dare you spy on me, you stupid pony!"
Smolder gasped in shock and said, "Garble! I can't believe you! Why would you ever say you'd do something like that!"
"Urrrrg! I had to!" Garble exclaimed, "I became a laughingstock after those ponies not only tricked me into leading my gang straight into a tree, but let Spike get away with that phoenix egg after telling me off! Ever since that day, all they ever do is look for excuses to bully me!"
Garble shut his eyes tightly and trembled slightly as he spoke with a pained expression on his face, "If I don't act as tough and as mean as possible at all times, they laugh at me! Heck, I kinda have to act tougher and meaner than the average dragon sometimes!"
Smolder stared at her older brother in disbelief. "Seriously, bro?" she asked, "I mean, it's one thing to hide your sensitive side. Heck, I keep my secrets likes to myself too, that's fine. But to totally change who you are around everyone else but me? That's just messed up."
"Um, excuse me, Garble?" Fluttershy spoke up gently, here wide eyes focused on the Dragon Lord, "But, am I to understand that you hate being bullied yourself, but you have no problem bullying Spike?"
Garble opened his eyes and looked over at the Pegasus. Garble shrugged and said, "Well, he is kind of a weakling."
Fluttershy, still powered up by the Rainbow Power, zipped right over to Garble and said indignantly, "Hmph! I'll have you know Spike is stronger than you are any day!"
Garble sneered and said, "Yeah, right! That little cupcake-making, blanket-cuddling pony-dragon? Ha! Give me a break!"
Fluttershy gasped in indignation, then she moved in close to Garble and looked him right in the eye as she proceeded to tell him off, "First of all, there's nothing wrong with being a pony! Second, Spike isn't afraid to be who he is, no matter what you or anycreature thinks! That's real strength! Not like some dragons I know."
Garble's jaw dropped yet again, eyes wide as the strength of the burn Fluttershy had given him began to sink in.
Smolder smirked and said, "For a pony without a horn, she's sure got a point."
Twilight cleared her throat loudly and said, "Okay, so, for the record. . . No invasion? No war? No dragons raiding Equestria and burning it to the ground?"
Garble shook his head and said, "No. I just said that to look tough. It's not like a Dragon Lord has to do whatever they say they're gonna do before they become one. No one can laugh at me or tell me what to do now." Garble shrugged and said, "Anyway, I don't really care about Equestria or the ponies there, but I'd never start a war over something stupid. It'd just be a waste of time and energy, and I've got better things to do, and bigger ideas." Garble then grinned and said, "I'm thinking. . . a lava surfing tournament league. . .maybe a dragon builder's union to help make the Dragon Lands look cooler. . .some statues. . .maybe some castles. . ."
There were six flashes, and the Mane Six returned to their normal forms. As Fluttershy went back to join her friends, Princess Twilight bowed graciously to Garble and said, "Great Dragon Lord, please accept my apology. This intrusion was merely out of fear for the safety of the ponies of Equestria. Had we known that you did not intent to invade Equestria, we would never have come here."
Garble smiled. He didn't smirk cockily or viciously. He simply gave a genuine smile to the Alicorn before him. "Ya know what, pony princess?" he said, "Coming here like you did? That took guts. I'm actually impressed. Heh. Maybe there's some hope for Spike after all."
Twilight looked up and said with a smile, "Thank you, Dragon Lord."
"Did I say you could stop bowing to me?" Garble said with a frown.
Twilight immediately lowered her head back down.
". . . . Okay, that's enough," Garble with a sly grin.
As Twilight went back to standing up straight, Smolder flew over and nudged her in the side. "See, my brother totally has a sensitive side! You should hear his poetry!"
Twilight blinked here eyes at this. "Poetry?" she echoed.
"Smolder! Shut it!" Garble said, growing stiff with embarrassment.
"Oh, come on, bro!" Smolder said with annoyance, "Did you forget about that long, pointy, shiny thing you're holding in your right claw? You're the Dragon Lord! You can do whatever you want, and no dragon would dare laugh at you! So quit hiding who you really are!" Smolder then smirked coyly and said, "Unless. . . you're too scared and really are weaker than Spike like that Pegasus said?"
Garble appeared to think about this for a moment, staring at the Bloodstone Scepter, and then at the audience of six ponies and one dragon before him as he tapped his right foot. Then, he made up his mind and said, "Be right back."
Garble zipped away, only to return two seconds later with a set of bongos. Garble sat on the floor and began playing the bongos as he began reciting words with great emotion and expression, clearly putting a lot into his words.
"Fire. . .dragon
Wig and waggin'
Feelin' like. . . I be saggin'
Rage and lava
Balaclava
Warms the soul like. . .java."
This went on for a few minutes, with Garble getting more and more into his beat-poetry as time went on. When he finally concluded with a few final beats on his bongos, the ponies all stomped their hooves in applause as they voiced they approval.
As Garble gave another genuine smile to the audience, Twilight thought to herself, "Wow. Who knew that things would work out so perfectly?"
"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"
Everyone looked up to see Princess Celestia herself descend down through the hole in the ceiling the Mane Six had made earlier. In the elder Alicorn's wake was Princess Ember, with Spike riding on her back.
Princess Celestia landed with a thud in front of Twilight. She towered over the younger Alicorn and said with stern voice and a steely gaze, "Did you attempt to overthrow the government of a foreign nation to install a ruler of your choosing?"
All the young Princess could say in response was, "Eep."
