As the dragon began to descend, Twilight was glad of the wide-open space around her castle. Even with Dazzle where she was, and even with all her friends and Princess Celestia there, there was still plenty of room.

Fluttershy gulped. "Um. She is friendly. Isn't she?"

Princess Celestia nodded. "Amber is one of the nicest ponies I have ever met. As is Blister. Though they are both, how do they say? Snarky in the extreme. Amber will happily tell you you are full of horseapples if she thinks you are."

Rarity gasped at the use of such a word by the princess. Rainbow though only rolled her eyes. "Pff! We deal with Discord all the time. I think we can handle this."

"You wanna bet on that, Rainbow?" A filly's voice said, as the dragon finally landed next to Twilight and Dazzle. "I can out snark him any day of the week. I even beat him at it once. Just ask him," said the filly head that was emerging from the green dragon's forehead in the same way Twilights was.

Rainbow still didn't look convinced, but that was the last thing on their minds, as they took in Blister. If they had thought Dazzle was big, Blister was even bigger, and then some. Her green scales stood out next to the blue on her wing membranes and the blue scales that ran down from her lower jaw all the way to the tip of her tail.

Amber just smiled, as she settled herself back on Blister's scales. She was even younger than the Cutie Mark Crusaders if the girls had to make a guess. Her tan coat and brown mane were a nice contrast to Blister's green. Above her, the dragon's horns swooped above and around Blister's head to form what looked like a crown.

What really threw everyone for a loop, though, was the beautiful blue mane of hair that fell down from Blister's head. Rarity admitted that it was one of the most beautiful shades of blue that she had ever seen. And it was so well groomed as well. How did a dragon even groom their mane?

Spike though finally asked what they were all thinking. "Since when could dragons have a mane?"

Blister giggled as she looked at him. "I think I'm the only dragon who has a mane of her own. I rather like it," she said, running a claw through it.

Amber rolled her eyes, before closing them. Her head glowed a moment, before separating from Blister and forming into a full pony body, just about Spike's size if they had to guess. After a moment, a Pegasus filly was revealed on Blister's snout.

Amber stretched herself for all she was worth. "Oh, man. I haven't been like this in a long time. Feels pretty good to be a pony again." She flew over and landed on Dazzle's snout, before walking up to stand right in front of Twilight. "So, you're the new Dragon Knight?"

Twilight nodded, still not believing it herself. "Um. Yes?"

Amber giggled. "Come on, Twilight. I'm not going to bite your head off." She tapped Dazzle's snout. "I think you're kinda cute actually."

Both Twilight and Dazzle blushed at this, earning another giggle from the filly. "Shouldn't you call her, Princess Twilight though?" Pinkie asked.

Amber shook her head. "Being a Dragon Knight puts us above that. We answer to nopony but ourselves. Not even Sunbutt over here can tell either of us what to do. No matter how hard she tries, Pinkie."

The group gasped in shock at the filly's use of that title. Celestia, meanwhile, just giggled, having long grown used to it. "How do ya know our names, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

Now it was Amber's turn to gasp in shock. "Are you kidding? You girls are famous! National heroes! Only a complete and utter idiot doesn't know your names. You don't have to live in Equestria to know the Elements of Harmony."

The Mane 6 blushed, while Starlight looked away, really ashamed now that she hadn't known who any of them were when they had come to Our Town. How had she missed all of what they had done?

Amber nodded before she looked back at Twilight. "Time for your first Knight lesson, Twilight. Since you really need to learn it now rather than later, apparently. Do you feel anything? Something inside you changing? And I mean besides the obvious."

Twilight closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Now that she thought about it, why did she continue to kotow to Celestia as she did? Why did she just blindly accept everything the princess had ever told her? When had she stopped having a mind of her own, and just did whatever the princess told her? With no questions asked?

Looking back at her life now, Twilight saw many times when she should have stood up for herself. But hadn't. Out of fear of disappointing the Solar Princess? Out of fear of something else? Lesson Zero, the Canterlot Wedding, the Crystal Empire's return, and most damning of all. Tirek and letting Discord handle him.

Amber nodded, as she saw it finally click for her fellow Knight. "Now you're getting it. That's you finally thinking for yourself, and not just believing everything you see or hear."

Twilight's eyes opened, but their gaze was distant. "When did I become such a pushover?"

There was no answer, but Twilight knew in her heart what it was. Becoming Celestia's Faithful Student had changed something in her. Made her believe and buy into whatever the princess said, without thinking if it was the right thing. No more though.

Her love for Celestia and Luna was still there. But no more of the mindless devotion she once had. From here on, Twilight Sparkle stood on her own four hooves. She would fight her fellow alicorns if need be. And if they didn't like it? Then they should have thought of that before making her an alicorn herself, now shouldn't they have?

Celestia smiled, finally seeing the light in Twilight's eyes. One she had longed to see for so long now.

Amber giggled. "Why are ponies always this dumb? It's not as bad as it used to be. But you'd think ponies would be smarter nowadays."

"Hey! We're not that dumb," Rainbow grumbled.

Amber rolled her eyes. "Sure you're not. The Weather Factory just destroyed itself. Not because you had your head shoved up your flank when your pet tortoise followed his natural instincts. That must have been the other rainbow-haired Pegasus that did a Sonic Rainboom."

That shut Rainbow up real fast. She still wasn't proud of herself for that. "Is she always like this?" Spike asked.

Blister nodded. "She always has been. Usually, the ponies in question have it coming as well."

Twilight though had other questions. "So, can you help me?" She asked, craning her neck as far as she could to look at the Element of Magic merged into Dazzle's chest. "Princess Celestia said you could."

Amber flew over and looked at Magic herself. It was real, just like she thought. She hadn't thought of this in centuries. She gulped. "I can try. But I don't know a thing about Magic. I only knew about it."

"But Princess Celestia said you could help? Shouldn't the First Knight know everything about this kind of thing?" Fluttershy asked.

Amber sighed in annoyance, as she landed on Blister's snout. "I don't know what they say about me, but even I don't know everything about being a Dragon Rider. None of us do. I had help when I first started. But even Lumena didn't tell me everything there was to know."

"Who?" Applejack asked.

Amber gained a faraway look in her eyes, smiling at some long-ago memory. "She was the pony who helped me become a Knight in the first place." She chuckled. "I say she was a pony because that's what she looked like. But she was... Something else altogether. I never figured out what she was." She looked again at Twilight. "She looked like you, Twilight. Right down to being an alicorn as well."

Twilight blinked in confusion. "But. I wasn't alive at that time. And there's nopony in my family history with that name. Let alone an alicorn."

Amber nodded. "I know. Lumena said she just liked that form. Whatever that meant. I still don't know a whole lot about her."

Twilight and her friends shared a look. "So where is she then?" Pinkie asked.

Amber shrugged. "Who knows? She used to pop up all the time to come see me. But I haven't seen her in decades."

Twilight and Dazzle shared a puzzled look. "Decades? You do not look that old?" Dazzle asked while Twilight nodded.

Blister nodded. "It's a side effect of being a Dragon Knight. Neither of us has aged a day in over a thousand years. I've only gotten bigger, and grown in my mane."

Amber nodded, her ears dropping. "One of the few side effects of being a Knight. Whether you were immortal before now or not, you are now. I can show you most of them. But not here. We don't have enough room." She smirked at Twilight. "If you don't mind that is?"

Twilight shook her head. "If you can show me, then I'll follow you. I don't know who else to ask, and I have so many questions."

Amber nodded, her Knight Mark blazing with power as she remerged with Blister. Her smirk grew as her head appeared on the dragon's forehead. "Try to keep up," she giggled before she and Blister spread their wings and took to the sky.

Princess Celestia placed a hoof on Dazzle's snout. "We will be here waiting for your return, Twilight. If anypony can teach you right now, it is Amber. I have full confidence in her."

Twilight smiled a little, as Dazzle looked up at her. "Just let me drive our body for now. Relax and enjoy something very few others have ever had the chance to experience."

Twilight nodded, as she felt her companion spread her wings. Everyone around her gave the two of them plenty of room, Celestia quick to grab Spike in her magic as he made a run to make sure Twilight didn't leave him out of this before Dazzle pushed herself off the ground. Quickly gaining altitude, she came alongside Blister and Amber.

Amber and Blister shared a smile, before flying off into the west at a rather fast pace, forcing Dazzle and Twilight to keep up.

Twilight wasn't sure how long they flew for. Ponyville had disappeared beyond the horizon long before, and what towns or cities there were had long ago given way to wild and untamed lands. Forests, rivers, and mountains, for as far as the eye could see.

While she had grown used to flying, Twilight found the experience of flying but not actually doing any of the work, rather fun. She could feel every flap of Dazzle's powerful wings. In fact, she could feel everything that her dragon companion did. It was an odd feeling to be sure. But Twilight rather enjoyed it. Maybe this was normal?

Finally, though, Amber and Dazzle began to descend to the ground below. With no idea of how to do the same, Twilight urged Dazzle to follow them. To the alicorn's surprise, the dragoness did so without hesitation and was soon gliding to a smooth landing in a large clearing. Forest surrounded them on three sides, while a river flowed by serenely on the other.

Amber smiled as the two came to a halt before her and Blister. "You got the landing right at least. That's a good start."

Twilight smiled sheepishly, before looking around. "Where are we anyway?"

Amber rolled her eyes. "The maps call it the Undiscovered West. There's not a town or pony for hundreds of miles in every direction. The nearest town I can think of is Tall Tale. But that's hundreds of miles north of here."

"And we came out here, why?" Dazzle asked.

Blister rolled her eyes. "Do you really want to do this in a place where ponies live? Ponies are scared to death of dragons. Better to do this as far away as possible. Though we have nothing to fear if we are attacked. Even less so than we used to."

Dazzle and Twilight shared a look. They couldn't really argue with that logic. Twilight, though, watched in surprise as Amber closed her eyes, head glowing, before separating from Blister and reforming into her Pegasus form. "How do you keep doing that?" She asked.

Amber giggled as she stretched. "Easy, really. Just concentrate on your pony form, and your Knight Mark will do the rest. It gets easier every time you do it too."

Twilight wasn't so sure about that but decided to at least try it out. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on her pony form. Her Knight Mark glowed in her mind, and she felt herself separate from Dazzle, her body reforming into her usual form. She blinked as she tried to reorientate herself after being merged with Dazzle for so long.

Amber chuckled. "Let that be your second lesson on being a Dragon Knight, Twilight. Welcome to Dragon Knight Bootcamp. By the time you go back to Ponyville, you'll be as ready as you'll ever be."

Twilight frowned. "What about you? Where will you go? Where is your home?"

Amber's ears fell. "I don't have a home or a family. I haven't had either in a long time. I'm an only child. Mom and dad never had kids after me. As much as they tried. Though they couldn't have been more proud of me when I became a Rider if they had tried."

Twilight felt her sink. That wasn't fair at all. But the look in the filly's eyes said that was a story for another day, and so Twilight kept her question to herself for now. "I have so many questions. I don't even know where to start."

Amber smirked. "Trust me. Been there. Done that. At least you have someone here to help you. I didn't. Had to learn the hard way. Lumena only guided me."

Twilight and Dazzle shared a look. "Like what?" Dazzle asked.

Amber's smirked as she flew up to be eye level with the alicorn. "Like this." And punched her in the face.

Author's Note

First I need to thank Not Quite Equine for the cover art of Amber and Blister. Made during her last art stream on Twitch a few days ago. Even if I didn't ask for it as such back then. But it still works.