Chapter One: Where am I? What am I?
Twilight awoke much slower than usual that fateful day. Her eyelids fluttered briefly as the irises attempted to let the expected sunlight in, but finding hardly any they remained as they were.
Hard… cold… musty.
Her still-drowsy brain was sending her mixed messages about the surrounding area, but she was most likely in the throes of sleep as such a stark description could barely define a pony Princess’s bedroom.
After all, yesterday was my first night as sole ruler of Equestria. I said goodbye to all my friends… I think. Then, I sent Spike on his way… maybe. Finally, I reviewed my itinerary for tomorrow, picked up a good book to read before turning in, and… and…
Considering everything only happened the previous evening, Twilight’s recollection of recent events seemed oddly stodgy… and incomplete. While she wracked her overworked brain for answers to these seemingly obvious questions, a few more disturbing facts became increasingly apparent.
Wait. I may not be able to remember much, but I’m pretty sure my bed had plush sheets before. So why does it feel like I’m sleeping out in the open? On solid rock, to hoof? And why is it so freezing in here? Brrrr...
Something was definitely wrong here. Nightmares didn’t feel so realistic, and they tended to focus on more horrifying experiences, like falling down an endless pit. Or being buried alive. Or slowly strangled by a mile-long to-do list (this was purely a personal choice).
Unable to bear much more of this unfamiliarity without cracking up, she opened her eyes more fully this time to reveal…
Someplace that wasn’t her castle in Canterlot. Or indeed, look anything like it.
What the… I can barely see my hoof in front of my face! Where have all the lights gone? And what’s with all that water dripping in the background? Drip, drip, drip. Doesn’t this palace have its own plumber… wait, what am I saying. This isn’t the palace! It’s… er…
Even though Twilight continued to remain in the dark (literally) about where exactly she’d regained consciousness, there was a nagging feeling at the back of her head she’d been somewhere like this before. For now though, she was in far too much of a state of flux to properly concentrate her efforts at pinpointing the exact location of this dank and dreary environment.
Well, let’s see… I’m lying on a stony substance which is really cutting into my back. Ouchie. If I squint my eyes enough, I can see barren walls covered in lichen, and even a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Am I underground? Have I been mare-napped by the Diamond Dogs? No, they’re too inept to pull off a cunning plan like that. Maybe Maud wanted to surprise me by showing me her new hideout? Nah, she’d have asked first. She might be laconic, but she’s definitely not rude. So then what...
The answer seemed to arrive with an approaching noise: a small trickle at first, but gradually reaching a loud crescendo as it neared. Torches were being waved in the air, and whatever creatures made the hubbub seemed vastly different in terms of size. There were plenty of them though, and as the bright light illuminated the murky tunnel they emerged from, it became immediately evident what they were and where Twilight had unexpectedly found herself waking up that bewildering day.
“P-Princess! Sorry to disturb you, but we need your wise guidance! The enemy is attacking again! W-With magic, this time!” One yellowish dragon exclaimed, panic clear in every syllable of his stuttered words.
“Yeah! What he said! They’ve already taken out most of our volcanoes, now they’re going after our eggs! Our precious babies!! Have they no shame?” A shorter female that kind of looked liked Spike (with a more protruding jawbone) spoke next, though her overriding emotion seemed more one of pure hatred.
“I say we get all our forces together, and hit ‘em with everything we got in one last blaze of glory! That’ll teach my traitor brothe… sorry, I mean those namby-pamby ponies that the Dragon Lands can’t be messed with!” Twilight recognised the scarlet scales and arrogant bluster of Garble immediately, though he seemed to have sprouted a foot or two since they last met. Not to mention, gained a natty-looking militaristic uniform into the bargain.
“Alright everycreature, calm down! Calm down! Now, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here, but if there’s one thing I am sure of, it’s that ponies would never do the things you just described!” Twilight decided to jump in at this point, and did I always sound this… rough? It must be an early morning thing. “Surely you must be mistaken! There’s peace between our two nations, and I intend to make sure it lasts forever! Now, more to the point, I have some questions of my own. Namely, how on Equestria did I get here, and…”
But the enmassed dragons weren’t listening. They’d gotten into a deep huddle as soon as Twilight had mentioned the word ‘peace’, and as much as Twilight tried pricking up her ears to hear their muffled conversations, she was only able to pick up a few snippets of chatter here and there.
“...She’s lost her mind… must’ve fallen out of bed last night and banged her head on the ground good… poor thing.”
“...Well, I always said we never should’ve let a girl rule us… If that little shrimp hadn’t cheated, I would’ve taken the sceptre and we’d have wiped out the equine scum by now… guaranteed!”
“Who cares what you think, Garble… you’ve always been an unapologetically macho sexist… but you’re right in one sense, we can’t let this go on… if she doesn’t recover, maybe time for a hostile takeover?”
Twilight did not know what these ignorant and insulting reptiles were talking about, and frankly by this point she didn’t care. All she knew is she’d had enough...
“Okay. I think I’ve been pretty patient and understanding so far, considering everything that I’ve had to deal with… like waking up hundreds of miles away from home in a chilly cave, hearing a lot of unproven allegations of pony misdemeanors and being frozen out of your meeting like my opinion doesn’t matter. But questioning my very sanity?! You’ve crossed a line there. Only a trained psychiatrist is allowed to do that… and my friends sometimes, on my most neurotic days. From what you’re saying about me though, you dragons are clearly neither. So I’ll ask again… what the hay is going on around here?!”
...And if she had to use the Royal Canterlot voice to get some clear answers, she’d have no hesitation in doing so.
“Geez, lady. We was jus’ kiddin’ about. But you haves to admit, you are sorta actin’ a bit screwy.” One particularly large dragon who seemed to make up in height what he lacked in intelligence and body odour winced at the loud sound.
“Yeah, those damn ponies are causing us enough problems, without our Princess nearly setting off a cave-in in our own headquarters!” A greenish creature with sharp talons scratched at his ear, presumably to stop it ringing. “Besides, where do you get off talking like that to us? Who’s side are you on anyway?!”
“Wait, I think I know what she's doing here. This is one of those ‘surprise’ drills she’s always pulling on us. This one must be the classic ‘what to do if I ever get amnesia and start siding with the opposing force’ routine. Am I right, or amIright? She didn’t elect me as Head Of Defence for nothing, chumps.” A suddenly sniggering Garble thought he had it all figured out, and leaned over Twilight’s nonplussed form to address her like she was a mere hatchling.
“Okay then Princess, I’ll bite. But be warned: it might hurt a lot, as I have very sharp teeth. We’ve been fighting against all of Ponykind ever since that crazy Twilight Sparkle took over the throne exactly a year ago and declared war on the Dragon Lands. Every other species has taken sides in the epic struggle, but the way things are looking right now, we’re on the verge of getting our scaly butts whooped. Only a miracle can save us now, and yesterday you said you had a cool plan. We finally had some real hope for the first time in ages: but now, we found you… like this. There, how’s that? Pretty close to how we’d react if such a terrible thing happened, I reckon. Oh, and one last thing... your name is Ember. So, do we pass with flying colours or not, Dragon Lord? D-Dragon Lord?”
But Twilight, or ‘Ember’ as she was now known, was no longer listening. All it took was a cursory downward glance to know that Garble was telling not one word of a lie. I-I have blue scales, instead of a lavender coat. M-My hooves are now four clawed limbs. T-The wings on my back feel leathery instead of feathery. There are sharp spikes on my neck. Non-magical curved horns on my head. Plus, I think I’ve discovered the mystery behind my coarser voice... sorry everypony, but I really think I need to go back to sleep now. N-Nighty-night…
Ignoring the many shouts of concern around her, Twilight fainted dead away, desperate to see the infinitely warmer ambiance of her Canterlotian bedroom greet her by the time she emerged from the void.
Well, good luck with that.
Author's Note
Another intriguing idea I had to commit to print before the inspiration went away. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think please! 
