“That stupid fucking bitch—Signs a fucking law, fucking banishing freedom of speech!” Smolder slammed her fists into the table in anger, cracking it and sending a small jolt of pain though her wrists. "Gaaah, fuck me!” she growled. “I'll bet it was that fucking Mayor getting that dumbass to sign it when she wasn't paying any fuckin’ attention! … Again.” After rubbing away the ache in her claws, Smolder slumped in her chair and stared morosely at the cold brick walls of her prison cell. “What am I gonna do?”
Suddenly, the doors flung open, and a strange, two-legged being strode inside at a quick pace. He was wearing a forest green suit and pitch black tie and carried a suitcase at his side that looked as if it were made of ice crystals despite the flickering flame that could be seen inside.
After haphazardly laying the weird, obviously magical suitcase on the table, the creature sat opposite Smolder and stared at her through piercing golden eyes. “Still cursing, eh?” he grumbled.
“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me!?” Smolder snarled, face-clawing.
“Just sit still and shut up,” he commanded sternly, raising his voice only slightly. “I’m your best bet at getting out of here, got it?”
“Uh-huh. Sure,” she deadpanned, eyeing him questioningly. “And just who the hell are you exactly?”
“I’ll tell you who the hell I am…” He then smirked, calmly clarifying, “I’m your fucking lawyer.”
Smolder blinked. “You… cussed,” she commented, utterly stupefied that a pony—a two-legged one, but a pony nonetheless—did so.
Any other day, such an occasion wouldn’t have been that big of a deal to her, but considering the circumstances that had landed Smolder in her current prison-related predicament, it stood out vividly.
“Mhmm,” her apparent lawyer nodded. “Figured a bit of dragon vernacular would get ya to listen, especially since you probably don’t trust anything even vaguely equine right now.” He clicked his tongue and readjusted his position in the seat, adding, “Speaking of which, I was born a pegasus. Had a few adventures, got a few things…” he said, flexing his digits. “It’s a long story, and I don’t feel like going over it right now.”
“I didn’t ask,” Smolder bluntly acknowledged, having no clue what was happening but going along with it anyway. After all, if the guy really could get her out of here and back to her friends faster, why bother questioning anything?
“Yeah, but pretty much everycreature wonders, so…?” He shrugged. “Anywho, name’s Red, and nowadays, I mostly spend my time being a huge pain in the Princesses’ royal asses and making sure they don’t pull shit like this,” Red groaned, gesturing around the prison cell.
Smolder made a grand show of looking around as well before smiling blankly at him, giving him a claws-up, and praising, “Good job.”
“I ain’t exactly omnipresent, you know,” Red huffed. “And those stupid bitches are always finding new ways to dick me and everyone else over.”
“Twilight included?” Smolder mumbled, crossing her claws and fighting back the sharp dagger of betrayal she felt upon thinking of that particular pony.
“Twilight especially!” he sneered. “She’ll sign practically every piece of paper that comes under that muzzle of hers, and you do not want to know the legal nightmare that is keeping her and her friends out of prison for all of the shit they’ve done over the years. … Unleashing a shadow demon from Limbo—I mean, who the fuck does that!?” Red shouted, shaking his head in exasperation.
“Twilight?”
“Evidently. Tch, still not as bad as the pink one…”
“Pinkie Pie?”
“The other pink one.”
“Starlight?”
“The other other pink one.”
Smolder shrugged in confusion.
“Cadence.”
“Uh…?”
“The one Twilight’s brother married.”
“Oh, yeah! Her. Sorry, I forgot about her for a moment there,” Smolder admitted ashamedly, grateful Ocellus wasn’t present to reprimand her for that.
“I don’t blame ya; she doesn’t do anything. Well? Not since I sued that perverted bitch into oblivion for nearly passing that law legalizing public sex.”
“Princess Cadence did that!?” Red nodded, so Smolder whistled and whispered, “Damn. Didn’t know she was that hardcore.”
“Hey, that crotch biscuit of hers, Flurry Heart, had to be baked somehow, and if I know anything about that poor sod who married her, I guarantee ya that shedid most of the cooking.”
Smolder was silent for a moment before a round of laughter overtook her. “What— What the fuck, dude!?” she croaked out between laughs.
“What? I thought it was common knowledge that everything Shining does is half-baked and under-cooked,” Red said with just a hint of a smile. That smile only grew once Smolder snickered even more—the tension of the current debacle having been relieved, if only a little. Eventually, she quieted down somewhat, so he asked, “You okay, kid?”
Smolder’s jovial mood quickly faded away upon being asked that. “Yeah, I guess?” She tapped her claws against the table for a bit before growling, “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? I stay trapped in this dumb room for a few more days? All I did was cuss—which I was entirely within my right to do!” she declared, huffing a small puff of smoke. Before Red could comment on that declaration, Smolder’s looked away, recognizing, “But since you’re apparently my lawyer, I’m guessing it’s not that simple. Is it?”
“Eh, should be relatively simple,” Red reassured, causing Smolder to let out a loud sigh of relief. “Main problem is gonna be getting my team to actually cooperate with me for a change.”
Red’s weird briefcase suddenly jerked of its own accord.
Opting to ignore that for now, Smolder asked, “Wait, ‘team’? I thought you were my lawyer.” She then thought about that for a moment and added, “And… Why are you my lawyer? I didn’t even ask for a lawyer.”
“‘If a suspect fails to request a lawyer after incarceration, they shall be assigned one,’” Red quoted smugly. “A little law Celestia and I managed to sneak into the justice system a few years back. And lucky for you, you get me!” he boasted, smiling brightly despite his dry tone.
Red suitcase jostled again.
“And them,” he corrected. “Speaking of which, you guys ready to come out yet?”
The suitcase unlocked.
“Oh, guess they are.” Red then opened the item, and out of it erupted two streams of magical energy, one a frigid wind and the other a shimmering flame. They then darted on either of side of the bipedal pony before coalescing into twin imposing, dragon-esque figures.
The female of the two yawned and stretched out her limbs before giving her feathery, sapphire wings a small flap, dislodging the ice crystals that had clung to them. She then looked to her partner and watched as he stretched as well, letting out a thunderous crack and relieved groan upon doing so.
“Must you always keep us in that fucking box?” he asked, examining himself to ensure his body had fully formed. “It’s cramped as shit.”
“I don’t make the rules of this universe; I just live in it,” Red snarked.
“So you claim,” the “dragoness” shot back. She then turned her attention to Smolder who was just watching the two with an expression of deepest confusion. “And I see this is the whelp—”
Red coughed indignantly.
“Sorry, force of habit.” She coughed and course-corrected, “This is the child that requires our aid?”
“Bah! We shouldn’t even need to be here,” the crimson one snarled, leering at Smolder in something akin to annoyance. “Surely, you could handle this issue yourself; after all, you are a dragon much like us.”
No, they weren’t. They may have looked exactly like dragons, but being one herself, Smolder instinctively knew they weren’t. What they really were was a mystery, but it was a mystery Smolder didn’t particularly care about.
“Hey, I tried to handle all of this mess myself!” she protested indignantly.
“And you clearly failed,” the scarlet “dragon” countered, causing Smolder to wince and fall silent. He then turned to Red and continued, “In any case, we are here. So, tell me, what possible crime could she have committed that she needs our help?”
“Didn’t I already tell you?”
“You did,” the “dragonness” assured, nodding. “He wasn’t listening.”
“Of course.” Red sighed, face-palming. “Well, Iggy, you’re gonna just love this one.”
“I know that tone…” Iggy grumbled, sharing a disgusted, hesitant glance with his twin.
“Just promise to use your inside voice,” she deadpanned. “We don’t need another ‘incident’ like last time.”
“I didn’t mean to trigger the volcano,” he grumbled, rolling his eyes. “Alright, Red. What happened?”
“She cussed.”
“I— You— What— Come again?”
“She cussed,” Red repeated, resting his head in his palms. “Mayor Mare didn’t like it, drafted an anti-swear law, and tricked Twilight into authorizing it.”
A moment of silence passed during which Smolder swore the room became hotter than it had been before.
Iggy took a deep breath and let out a small, slow cloud of smoke. “Red?” he mumbled.
“Yeah?”
“What. The fuck! Is wrong with ponies?”
“I believe the answer is that they are prone to radical moralism and self-congratulatory thought-reform,” the “dragonness” answered on Red’s behalf.
Iggy contemplated her words for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Yeah. That sounds about right.”
“If you two are done insulting my species now…?” Red said, shooting them both irritated looks.
“Oh, please!” Iggy exclaimed, smirking devilishly. “We’ll never be done insulting your species.”
“There’s just so much to insult,” his twin added, mirroring his smirk. “It would take us centuries to get through a tenth of your kind’s flaws.”
“And I thought Silverstream jamming out to Heavy Metal was the weirdest thing I’d ever hear in my life,” Smolder whispered. She then blinked when all eyes returned to her. “Uhhh? Should I even ask what’s going on at this point, or should I just roll with everything that happens and assume this is all a weird fever dream?”
“Okay!” Red interjected before either of his associates could speak. He then gestured to them, clarifying, “First of all, these are the other members of my team: Ignis and Gelu.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” the latter said, bowing her sapphire-scaled skull respectfully.
“Yeah, hey,” the former greeted, flicking his spiked, crimson tail in impatience.
“Okay, uh… I’m Smolder,” she said, not sure what to do other than give a polite wave. “Thanks for taking my case, I guess?” They are absolutely going to fuck me over, aren’t they? Smolder figured forlornly.
“It’s no trouble at all, Miss Smolder,” Gelu comforted. “You do not deserve to be punished for exercising a right as basic as your freedom of speech. And believe me… My brother and I know quite a bit about unfair imprisonment,” she commented, sparing Red an icy glance.
“As to how they got in my brief case?” Red resumed, not meeting Gelu’s eye. “Magic. Don’t question it; it’s not important. What is important, however, is getting you out of here and back to your friends and freedom.”
“And pissing off the Princesses, I presume?” Ignis guessed.
“Well, I mean… If we do, we do,” Red said, failing miserably to hide an eager grin. “When was the last time we screwed with ‘em? The ‘Great Cake-slice Caper’?”
“No, I’m pretty sure it was when you called them bigots for trying execute that one colt.”
“Oh. Yeah. Eughhh… Still can’t believe they did that.”
“To be fair,” Gelu began neutrally. “That colt befriended a demon, and none of us—least of all Celestia—knew if the demon had possessed him or not.”
“Okay!” Smolder yelped, rising from her chair and backing away from the trio. “I’ve had it! Nope, nada, nuh-uh, no way! I’ve had enough crazy for today; get out,” she ended angrily.
Ignis and Gelu shared a glance while Red just groaned in exasperation. “Um, what?” Ignis asked.
“I said, ‘get out’!” Smolder repeated, pointing toward the door. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on right now, but I cannot handle it!” she hollered. “I… I can’t!”
“Smolder, calm down,” Red implored in a softer voice than he had been using preciously. “We’re sorry for the abruptness of everything, but we really are here to help you.”
“Oh, you’re here to ‘help’ me, huh?” Smolder growled, backing even further away from them. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, what the fuck to do, or what the fuck is gonna happen to me!” she yelled, breathing harshly as she fought back to tears.
“What’s going to happen is that we’re going to get you out—”
“And how are you gonna do that; thanks to that bitch, Mayor Mare, I genuinely broke the law!” Smolder snarled. “How are you gonna defend me against that, huh?”
“We’re—”
“And even if you did get me off scot-free, it’s not like I’d be able to go to school again!” she ranted on. “Twilight and Starlight saw to that, so… I— I won’t be able to see my friends again, will I!?”
“No, Smolder, you will see your friends again; I promise,” Red said, trying desperately to calm her down.
“And where will that be!? Knowing that whore, Mayor Mare is probably gonna go after them for cussing too!” Smolder supposed, her maw quivering. “I don’t want to see my friends behind bars! A-And I don’t want to behind bars myself! I-I-I don’t— I don’t want to go to jail!”
“Miss Smolder, it is our job to keep you out of jail,” Gelu stated.
“And you think you will!? Even if you do, you think I’m ever gonna be allowed to step foot in Ponyville again!? No, I won’t be; those bitches won’t let me!” Smolder wildly screeched, backing against the wall. “They won’t… They’re just gonna kick me out, and I’ll have to go back to the Dragon Lands. I-I’ll… I’ll have to leave my friends…”
Smolder slowly slid down the wall and curled up into a ball, hugging herself with her wings and sobbing into her claws. “I don’t want to leave my friends.”
Red, Gelu, and Ignis all stared at the sullen dragonness before meeting each others’ gazes and sharing a firm nod.
Red then stepped around the desk and toward Smolder’s form, sitting beside her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Smolder? It will be okay,” he assured soothingly. “We really will get you out of here, okay?”
Smolder sniffled quietly before looking up at him, murmuring, “You will?”
“We will.”
“P-Promise?”
“Heh. I’ll do you one better: Cross my heart, hope to fly; stick a cupcake in my eye,” he recited, performing the motions flawlessly. “I Pinkie Promise that I’ll get you out of this place and back to your friends, a free dragon. Okay?”
Smolder wiped her eyes as dry as she could and sniffled again. She then nodded weakly, mumbling, “O-Okay. Okay…”
Red breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but sadly, the brief moment of respite came to an abrupt end when a new voice echoed to them from further into the building.
“But Princess—”
“DO NOT DARE ‘BUT PRINCESS’ US, TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”
“And right when we were about make some actual progress,” Gelu bemoaned, face-clawing.
“Oh, goody; Moony’s here,” Ignis grumbled, putting on his harshest glare and preemptively aiming it at the door. “At least now I’ll finally have someone to yell at.”
“WE UNDERSTAND THAT THOU WANTS TO RECTIFY YOUR MISTAKE,” Luna continued shouting. “BUT THEE CREATED THIS MESS, AND NOW, WE MUST FIX IT!” she ended, throwing the prison door open with all of the dramatic fanfare that many had come to expect from the Princess of the Night.
Only to come face-to-face with Red, Ignis, and Gelu…
“Oh, son of a—”
“Language,” the three lawyers all cut her off with every drop of sarcasm they could muster combined.
Luna face-hoofed, groaning weakly. “Yes, yes… We know. Oh, we very much know,” she huffed, turning and leveling a glare at the uncharacteristically timid Twilight Sparkle behind her.
Enter the Princess and Dragon Lord
“See what your mistake has caused?” Luna asked a rather exasperated Twilight. “Now we not only have to to deal with undoing a law that, frankly, I’m astonished got passed without me or Celestia signing it, but now Redsopine is involved,” she ended with a grimace.
“Love you too, Moonie,” he sang.
“Shut up!”
“Who even is he, Princess?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at him and wincing at the glare he shot back.
“A ‘lawyer’ in the most technical sense.”
“Which is always the best kind of sense.”
“One of the most infuriating ones at that,” Luna continued, ignoring Red’s snark. “He makes it a habit to humiliate everyone he can every time he so much as enters a courtroom, especially my sister and I.”
Smolder sank in her chair.
“Don’t forget the nobility, news reporters, Royal Guard, Wonderbolts—” A cloud of midnight blue light surrounded Red’s head, muting him to the relief of everycreature present. Except Smolder who merely sank in her chair further, feeling sick again.
“And every time he does,” Luna continued, apathetic to Red flipping her off. “It’s a coin-flip whether the judge has enough sense to kick him outbefore he can incite a riot.”
“What…?” Twilight muttered, completely confused. “You aren’t serious, are you?”
“As serious as you were when you made saying words illegal,” Luna said, causing Twilight to blush and look away. “If my sister is to be believed, before I returned from the moon, Red managed to both start and end a war in the same day.”
A quick flourish of Umbra’s magic was enough for Red to escape Luna’s magic, and he immediately took the chance to say, “Yeah, that was a fun case. Had a good laugh with that one, heh-heh.”
“I’m going to die,” Smolder suddenly whimpered, letting her head smack into the table. “I’m going. To die.”
“No, you won’t; Mayor Mare didn’t make swearing punishable by execution,” Twilight clarified, hoping it would help.
It didn’t; it just earned her the unamused glares of everycreature in the room; even the guards behind her gawked at her in disbelief.
“Anyway,” Luna resumed, stepping forward and placing a comforting hoof on Smolder’s shoulder. “Miss Smolder, I’m terribly sorry this happened to you. It is an absolutely abhorrent abuse of power, and we will not stand for it.”
“Of course not,” Red muttered, crossing his arms. “Wouldn’t want to give me another chance mock you and your sister, right, Moonie?”
“I vehemently refuse to allow Smolder to suffer because a corrupt politician wasn’t emotionally mature enough to tolerate a few words of criticism,” Luna corrected bluntly. “This upcoming trial—if you can even call it that—is nothing shy of a sham and a gross destruction of our laws and everything the stand for. You may not think highly of me, Redsopine,” she continued. “But do understand that I will not stand for anyone to be harmed because of foolish creatures with too much power, let alone a child.”
“That because you were…” Red reflexively began only to stop halfway. He smirked and said, “Nah, I get it, Luna. I get it.” Luna smiled, but not wanting that to last long, Red added, “Still though, Moonie, if you think you’re going to take over the case, you’ve got another thing coming. You know how much my team and I value freedom, especially that of speech and choice.”
Ignis and Gelu shared a glance.
“And I’m sure you know this law will actively take those freedoms away,” Luna countered. Before Red could resume, she added, “And worse: Set a precedent for further corruption of the law.”
“Wait, it will?” Twilight asked, dumbfounded. “How?”
“Sure, it’s just a few swear words now,” Red began, not taking his eyes off of Luna.
She continued to meet his gaze as well, adding, “But if this faux trial rules in Mayor Mare’s favor, it will be called upon in further, similarly corrupt court cases.”
“And then practically every politician or business or what have you will be clamoring for the courts to prohibit any other words or phrases they don’t particularly like.”
“Until it will be completely and utterly illegal to criticize them at all, regardless of how horrid they may be.”
“All it needs is time and enough creatures willing or paid to let it happen,” Red grumbled, shooting a pointed look Twilight’s way.
“And then the very concept of freedom of speech will be a long-forgotten relic of a non-dystopian time,” Luna finished.
“…Oh,” Twilight chirped, ruffling her wings anxiously as her mane began frazzling. “I-I didn’t consider that.”
“We noticed,” Red deadpanned.
“I started the end of the world…?” Smolder mumbled, somehow paling even more than she had previously.
“Of course you didn’t, Miss Smolder,” Luna assuaged, lifting the dragon’s head up and giving her a gentle smile. “None of us are going to let any of this come to pass.”
“For as sarcastic as I can be, I ain’t playing around this time either,” Red said more to Luna than to Smolder. “No jokes. No messing around. We’re stopping this trial.”
“He says as such, but I’ve ten Bits he’ll start his defense with a cheap joke,” Ignis whispered into Gelu’s ear.
“You’re on,” she responded with a smirk.
Smolder rubbed her eyes, not even bother to hide she was wiping tears again, and stared at them all, confused. “Okay, I’ll bite. But here’s a question: How the fuck are you guys going to win and keep me out of jail!?”
Though she still flinched at Smolder’s cussing, Twilight answered, “Well, I fully intend to rescind my signature on Mayor Mare’s proposal, citing how I was deliberately uniformed of the proposal I was signing and wasn’t even allotted any time to properly look it over.”
“The public is going to be really happy knowing one of their Princesses signed something without even knowing what it was,” Red sneered.
“I know,” Twilight said, glancing at him. “But I don’t care what kind of humiliation I might face; I played a part in all of this happening, and I will make it right,” she vowed, not quite able to meet Smolder’s eye.
“Admirable of you,” Gelu complimented.
“Oh, uh? Thanks?” Twilight said, caught off-guard upon being addressed.
“You’re welcome. Now,” she continued. “Is anyone going to acknowledge that our little orange friend has diplomatic immunity or…?”
“You read my mind, Gelu,” Red said, sharing a smirk with the two dragons. “With this kid being sent to your school as a representative of the dragons, there’s a good argument we can make concerning her diplomatic status.”
“I do indeed recognize that, Redsopine,” Luna said, nodding. “However, Mayor Mare was unfortunately rather thorough in her wording. Her ‘law’ specifically excludes any form of exceptions to be allowed, so there is a substantial risk Smolder diplomat status will be ignored in the court.”
“Gee, Twilight, thanks so much for permitting a law that deliberately refused to acknowledge context,” Red deadpanned.
She gave a quiet cough but said no more.
“Moving on,” Red resumed, massaging a building headache. “Why exactlyhaven’t we arrested Mayor Mare and putting her on trial for attempting to pass a law that you yourself considered an abhorrent abuse of power?” he asked Luna.
“I question this as well,” Ignis spoke up. He gestured to Luna and Twilight, acknowledging, “You’ve both admitted this law should not be allowed, yet you are here, claiming we will prove Smolder’s innocence, rather than in a courtroom having the law annulled.”
“My sister is doing just that as we speak,” Luna explained. “And Mayor Mare is with her, arguing for the law to be upheld regardless.”
“Wonderful…” Red snarled. “And if Sunny fails?”
“We are to do exactly as we swore to do a moment prior,” Luna answered simply. “Defend Smolder.”
“Speaking of which,” Gelu spoke up. “Regarding her status as a diplomat, there’s another element to consider here. Lord Ember.”
“We informed her of the situation already,” Twilight revealed. “She didn’t send us a reply yet, but we expect it soon.”
Ignis harrumphed and said, “In that case, don’t be surprised if it’s a declaration of war she sends back.”
“Declaration of war!?” she yelped, shocked, her mane frazzling even more.
“That’s a rather extreme accusation to make, Mr. Ignis,” Luna commented. “That the Dragon Lord would declare war for—” She stopped talking and glanced at Smolder. “Er? Would declare war for something we can so easily remedy.”
“You don’t have to mix words with me, Princess,” Smolder said, still a little miffed regardless. “Even I don’t think Lord Ember cares enough about me to declare war over me.”
“Didn’t she already do that once before?” Red asked.
“How did you—” Twilight shoved a hoof into her mouth, but it was too late.
“Wait, what!? Ember did declare over me!?” Smolder squealed. “When!? Why!?”
“Remember when that Neighsay guy closed down the school, and you and your friends thought it was a good idea to camp out in the Everfree Forest?” Red said, earning a nod. “Yeah, needless to say, none of your guardians were particularly happy about their students disappearing on them.”
“Ohhh… Whoops.”
“With that said, there’s another, equally unfortunate, possibility,” Gelu said, examining her claws. “And that’s the other rulers pulling their students out of your school to avoid the same fate as Smolder is at risk of suffering.”
“And after all the effort you went to to unite all the kingdoms under the common banner of how friendship is magic and whatnot,” Ignis sneered, reaping a bit of pleasure in seeing Twilight’s horrified expression. “One little slip-up was all it took to send all those efforts crumbling down.”
…
Twilight fainted.
Luna leveled an annoyed glare at Red and his team, but he merely shrugged and responded, “Hey, she’s the one who screwed up here; we were just acknowledging it.”
“Do you guys really think Ember will declare war over me?” Smolder asked, letting out something between a laugh and a whimper. “Or that the other kingdoms would? You— You can’t be serious, guys; Grandpa Gruff doesn’t give two flying fucks about Gallus! H-He wouldn’t take Gallus away would he?” she said, definitely whimpering now. “Thorax and Novo wouldn’t… They wouldn’t make Ocellus and Silver…”
“So long as we can prevent this trial and undo this ‘law,’ you need not fear any of that, Miss Smolder,” Luna said, giving Smolder another warm smile. “Upon my honor as a Princess and my very life, I swear to you we will not allow any of this to pass.”
Smolder stared at Luna and swallowed anxiously. She then glanced at Red and his team, and they all gave her their own attempts at an encouraging smile. Smolder took a breath and let it out slowly, saying, “Alright, I-I guess. No wars, no prison? I’m going to get out of here and back to my friends?” she asked, her tailing swishing nervously.
“No war. No prison. You will get out of here and back to your friends,” Red promised, winking.
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed down to them through the building, followed swiftly by the sounds of various terrified screams.
“What was…?” Luna whispered, looking up at the ceiling. Another roar released, and a haggard Royal Guard quickly burst into the room, shouting, “Princess! Princess, the castle is under atta—”
He was cut off when the prison wall exploded, causing them all to flinch and cough as a thick cloud of dust was kicked up. Amid the chaos, Ignis and Gelu discreetly faded back into Red’s briefcase, not wanting to deal with the current situation whatsoever.
Once the dust clears, they all looked up to see Dragon Lord Ember silhouetted against the harsh rays of the afternoon sun, Bloodstone Scepter in claw and looking pissed beyond words. Behind her, her father Torch towered over the walls of the Royal Palace and a good three dozen dragons hovered in the air in formation around him.
One particular scarlet-scaled dragon darted out of said formation upon seeing Smolder with his own eyes.
“Where. Is. Twilight?” Ember said, narrowing her eyes even further.
“Okay, maybe a little bit of war…” Red muttered to himself. He then cleared his throat and approached Ember, greeting, “Hello, Lord Ember, pleasure to meet you. My name is Redsopine, and I’m Smolder’s—” He choked on the last word when Ember grabbed him by his suit and glared at him. She then breathed a cloud of smoke directly into his face, and he squawked outthe word, “Lawyer.”
“Smolder doesn’t need a lawyer,” Ember said without skipping a beat, tossing him aside and stepping further into the cell. Upon seeing her target passed out on the ground, she made to move forward, but Luna quickly stepped in her way.
“Lord Ember, I must request you halt.”
“Why, so you can throw me into one of your little prisons too!? Good luck with that!” she said, leveling her scepter at Luna.
The Royal Guards all rushed to Luna’s side, aiming their spears toward her, but Luna quickly lowered their weapons with her magic, hurriedly saying, “We’re not going to arrest you or Smolder; we know the ‘law’ Twilight signed is wrong, and we’re trying to undo the damage!”
“Like I believe that!”
“Ember, stop; it’s true!” Smolder declared, putting herself between Ember and Luna. “They’re trying to help me out here!”
“Yeah, so if you could hold on the war declarations a little longer, that’d be appreciated,” Red groaned, standing back up and brushing off his suit. “It’ll be a lot harder to keep her free if you declare war.”
