Fire of Friendship, Burning Bright
“I'm so glad you could make it!”
Ember found herself wrapped up in a hug from the local purple princess. Ember was still taken off guard by the affectionate and personal space-invading gesture, but had sworn to herself that she would be less awkward around the ponies and had committed to practising hugs. She hadn't gotten around to actually practising for real but the couple of times she'd thought about it still counted.
So the Dragon Lord was only mostly stiff as a board, grimaced only a little and managed to gingerly tap Twilight's shoulder on the first go instead of awkwardly petting her mane first. Success!
Managing to disentangle herself, Ember managed a smile, consciously managing not to reveal too many teeth in the process.
“Well, your letter did make a good case.” Ember offered.
Twilight couldn't help beaming in response.
“Of course!” She babbled excitedly. “Getting to know other cultures and traditions can only help our two peoples understand each other better, which will lead to much better trade and, more importantly, knowledge, shared between us!”
Ember kept her well rehearsed smile up, looking down at the purple pony practically prancing in place, realising after a while that Twilight expected a reaction, so she awkwardly nodded her head.
“Yeah, of course. All of that. What you just said.” Ember awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “Say, Spike isn't around anywhere, is he?”
“No, unfortunately.” Twilight's ears drooped at the prospect of displeasing Ember. “He's in Canterlot helping to organise the pageant this year. But I know someone who'll be able to keep you company and show you around just as well! After all, she was here for the whole holiday last year.”
Ember raised an eyebrow at this, intrigued.
“Still, it must've been a long train ride and it's quite late, so I'll show you to your room and let you get settled it.”
Twilight started off through the castle with Ember in tow, before glancing over her shoulder at the dragon.
“Oh, please don't eat the walls this time.”
Ember blushed.
Knocking on the chamber door finally woke Ember from her lazy half doze. She scrambled out of the large bed in a hurry, accidentally shredding one of the many blankets she'd been wrapped in and sending feathers all over the place. After she finally managed to get across the room, Ember threw open the door. Stood behind it was a slightly smaller orange dragon with some very prominent horns.
“Ah, Smolder, good to see you!” Ember exclaimed as she looked the younger dragon up and down. “And what are you wearing?”
“Oh this? It's a Hearthswarming jumper.” Smolder relied, casually tugging on the garment in question. “It's a traditional Pony thing.”
“It's very... colourful.” Ember put simply.
Smolder shrugged. “It's a traditional pony thing. Most importantly it's warm. Princess Twilight had one ordered for you if you want one. It is pretty cold outside.
“I don't know. They look a bit weird. But I did say I'd try and get into the spirit of things.”
“Well, how about this?” Smolder smirked. “We start walking down to Carousel Boutique and you can decide on the way there?”
Ember thought about it for a moment and then agreed. “Alright, that's fair.”
“Where'd all this snow come from!” Ember a was livid.
“Well, Hearthswarming is all about the cold winter vibe.” Smolder was pretty smug with her arms crossed, watching the heavy flakes still falling. “It's supposed to be more cozy inside that way.”
“But it was just a dusting yesterday!” Ember looked around at the white powder piling up everywhere with incredulity.
“The weather team is really busy this time of year to get everything just right. Lots of shovelling, too.” Smolder nodded to a small team of earth ponies clearing paths through the deep drifts.
Ember snorted some smoke from her nostrils. “Well, it's nothing I can't deal with. Lead on, Smolder.”
The younger dragon took off down the cleared path from the castle, Ember pausing a moment before following her. The cold was much more sharp than when she'd come from the train the day before. Passing by the white covered shops and houses of Ponyville, the Dragon Lord couldn't help but shiver, forcing herself to stop when Smolder looked back over her shoulder, but Ember was sure she noticed the corner of the student's mouth turned up in a smirk.
“So, you see this shop here?” Smolder stopped in the street, allowing Ember to catch up before pointing a claw. “That's Sofas and Quills. I always thought it was really odd that they only sold two things, until-”
“Yes, that's all really interesting, but can we just keep moving?” Ember interrupted, snapping at the other dragon.
“What's the rush, you're not cold, are you?” Smolder didn't try to conceal her smirk this time.
Ember glared at the orange dragon, balled her claws into fists and snorted a puff of smoke from her nostrils. The intimidating posture didn't manage to last more than a few seconds though as Ember's body was wracked by a powerful shiver. The dragon lord huffed and looked off to the side, unable to meet Smolder's mirthful gaze.
“Fine. I admit it. It's really cold and that jumper is looking really good right now. Can we hurry to this boutique place. Please?”
“Well, since you asked so nicely, right this way!”
It didn't take long for the two dragons to make it to the aptly aptly named circular clothes shop, especially when the local ponies out and about wisely decided to step well out of the way when they barreled through.
The bell on the door had barely enough time to jingle before Ember slammed it behind her, practically making the whole building shake. The noise immediately attracted the attention of the proprietor, who quickly trotted out from behind rows of clothes racks adorned with far too many colours for Ember's tastes.
“Oh! Ember, Smolder! Welcome darlings.” If there was any irritation on Rarity's part at the mistreatment of her front door she was quick to hide it once she spied her patrrons.
“Hi Professor Rarity,” Smolder gave a little wave, “we're here to pick up Dragon Lord Ember's Hearthswarming jumper.”
“Of course! Just one moment, I'll be right back!” Rarity did a little prance on the spot before heading out to the back of the shop.
“I didn't think ponies wore clothes that much.” Ember remarked, starting to nose through racks of dresses.
Smolder just shrugged. “Not really, it's more of a thing in Canterlot or for special occasions.”
“So it isn't armour or anything like that?” Ember tilted her head in confusion as she kept poking through a rack.
“Not these ones,” Smolder explained, “they're actually quite delicate, and expensive.”
“I don't get it.” Ember declared, stepping back. “It's all so... frilly. Why would anyone want to wear all of this?”
“Well, you wouldn't catch me wearing any of this stuff, heh.” Smolder awkwardly scratched at her crest.
Ember opened her mouth to probe further but Smolder was saved by the return of the fashionista, now carrying a very brightly coloured garment with her magic.
“That's about as brightly coloured as I was expecting.” Ember deadpanned.
“I'm glad! I designed it especially to bring out the colour of your scales!”
Rarity floated the garment over and the Dragon Lord tentatively took it in her claws.
“Oh, it's been enchated so your claws shouldn't damage it too easily,” Rarity said, “but try to be at least a little bit careful. It probably isn't up to really rough handling.”
“Well, go on, try it on.” Smolder nudged Ember gently with an elbow, breaking the older dragon from her trance like state staring down at the item in her claws.
“Oh, right, of course.” Ember quickly replied, awkwardly pulling the jumper over herself. It took a couple of tries to coordinate getting her wings and arms through the appropriate holes, but managed with a little patient touches of magic from Rarity, with Smolder desperately holding her mouth shut and tears streaming from her eyes in desperation to avoid bursting out into roaring laughter.
Ember looked at her reflection in a convenient mirror. She looked herself up and down in it.
“This doesn't look as bad as I thought it would.” Ember declared simply.
Smolder's suppressed laughter turned into coughing and Rarity's smile turned pained.
“I'm glad, darling. No trouble at all.”
Shortly after leaving the boutique, Smolder stopped and faced down Ember.
“That really wasn't called for back there!” She snapped.
Ember was surprised. “Excuse me?”
“Professor Rarity went out of her way to make you something nice.” Smolder explained. “You should be thankful for the effort.”
Ember couldn't help but frown at the younger dragon. “What are you on about? I was telling the truth. Isn't that something friendship's supposed to be all about?”
“Yes, but that gift isn't just about it's looks.” Smolder said, crossing her arms.
“So, what's that got to do with it?” Ember said, trying to keep cool as her temper started to rise.
“You're not shivering out here in the cold anywhere, for a start.” Smolder pointed out. “Rarity put a lot of thought and effort into it so that jumper would be more than just looks, and you just dismissed it all!”
Ember recoiled as if struck, glancing down at the garment she was wearing and then to all the snow around her.
“Oh,” she breathed.
“See?” Smolder asked, crossing her arms. “You've gotta look beyond your gut reaction when dealing with ponies and other creatures. There's a lot more than meets the eye.”
“Yeah, I messed up there, didn't I?” Ember muttered, staring at her feet.”
The Dragon Lord was snapped out of her reverie by a friendly punch to her shoulder.
“Hey, don't sweat it,” Smolder said, smiling, “that's why you're here, right? So you can learn how to understand the ponies better? I've just had a big headstart on you is all.”
“Yeah, you're right.” Ember said. “I know I picked the right dragon to send to the school Spike was so insistent I send someone to.”
“I'm glad you did, to be honest.” Smolder was reflective for a moment, before perking up. “Right, so you want to do more traditional Hearth's warming stuff?”
Ember agreed readily and Smolder led the way through town again. This time Ember was able to spend a lot less time shivering and actually appreciate what Smolder had to say about the various parts of town, the ponies that lived there and the antics that she and her friends would get up to.
Before long they were in the center of the small town, where there was a hive of activity that was difficult to ignore.
“That's a big tree.” Ember said, simply.
Indeed, there was a full grown pine tree being erected in the middle of the square by a team of Earth ponies. When fully upright it would stand taller than any of the surrounding buildings. Other teams of unicorns and pegasi were standing by with boxes full of decorations and lights to go up when the tree was fixed in place.
“It's the town's biggest holiday decoration,” Smolder explained, “at the top they have the Fire of Friendship burning. I'm pretty sure Princess Twilight would like you to light it this year.”
“Well, I wouldn't want to make a fuss,” Ember looked a little bashful, “don't make a big deal of it, you know?”
“Oh, don't worry about it,” Smolder explained, “every year they get somecreature to light up the tree and make a small event out of it. You don't have to say anything or do anything other than light the flame.”
“Oh, right. That doesn't sound too bad.”
“Yeah, but that isn't until this afternoon when it starts to get dark,” Smolder said, “so in the meantime we can go do other stuff.”
Smolder tugged at Ember's claws and led her off to the side of the square where there was one of the most strangely decorated buildings Ember had ever seen. While she couldn't judge, living in a place where bare caves were the peak of exterior design, but even so the giant gingerbread house took her aback a little.
“Is that, well, food?” Ember asked.
Smolder laughed. “No, but I asked the same thing when I first saw it! It's Sugarcube Corner; the best bakery in town for sweet pastries.”
“So, pastries are a part of ponies' Hearthswarming traditions?” Ember asked quizzically.
“Not exactly,” Smolder explained as she held the door open for Ember, “but hot cocoa is a pretty big thing in winter here and they do the best ones by far.”
“Okay, then I shall try this “hot cocoa” thing.” Ember declared.
“Great! Just go grab us an empty table and I'll be over in a minute!”
Ember drifted over to an unoccupied corner and sat down, finally stopping and looking around the busy space. The interior was about as colourful as she'd expected from the outside, but in a way which politely let the senses know they were present, instead of holding them up in a common assault. The Dragon Lord thought about it and came to the conclusion that all of the colours in the decorations worked quite well thanks to the bright and varied palette of the café's patrons. The indoor seating was busy today, no doubt because of the cold weather. Ponies of almost every colour and often in vivid hues sat or stood, most of them chatting away to a friend or companion in the way ponies are wont to do.
But more than that, it wasn't just ponies sharing the space. Ember spied a kirin, a couple of griffons and hippogryphs, a clawful of changelings and even a diamond dog all rubbing shoulders. Most likely students at the school enjoying themselves before going home for the holidays. Ember had dealings in the past with most of the species present, but she was surprised that every creature seemed to be getting on so well together. Their individual cultures were disparate and more often than not at odds with one another, but here they all were sharing the same room and getting along as if they were all cut from the same cloth.
Ember felt a shiver run down her spine. She'd seen this before when different creatures were united by a common enemy, but never this many simply living and going about their day this harmoniously before. This must be the real “Magic of Friendship”, I keep hearing about. Ember thought.
The dragon was so distracted by her own thoughts that she didn't notice Smolder returning and was only snapped out of it by an orange arm waving in front of her face.
“You OK there?” Smolder asked, before pointing down to the mug in front of Ember. “I got your cocoa.”
“Ah, thank you.” Ember replied, glancing down at the drink in front of her. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what was presented in front of her. There wasn't any liquid actually visible in the mug, but instead what could only be described as a towering edifice of whipped cream standing proud above the rim, somehow supporting a smiling gingerbread pony standing out of the side and liberally covered by shimmering and sparkling dust.
“Wait, that isn't?” Ember asked, perplexed.
“What?” Smolder hadn't really been paying attention, eagerly attacking her own creation. “Oh yeah, it's gem dust, it's a really nice touch.”
“But ponies can't eat gems though, right?”
“Oh, no,” Smolder explained, “but it's something they do specially for their dragon customers. Spike's been living here quite a while after all.”
“Huh, that's neat,” Ember murmured, “nice of them to think about stuff like that.”
“Yeah, they're good like that here.” Smolder agreed. “Now, might want to start on yours before the cream melts everywhere.”
Once Ember had finally deconstructed the top of her beverage and started on the cocoa itself, she hummed to herself.
“Bit for your thoughts?” Smolder asked.
“Well,” Emer started unsure of whether to continue the line of thought after this morning's debacle, “it's very nice, but it isn't really very, well, hot.”
“Ah, no, it isn't.” Smolder agreed. “For a pony it would scald their mouth if they tried to gulp it down straight away. To be hot for us it would be really dangerous for ponies or most other creatures to even have to handle, so it's one of the things you just learn to live with.”
“It is nicely warm though.” Ember stated.
“Yeah, it's good on a day like today.” Smolder furrowed her brows in thought for a moment. “you know, I've just thought of something else we could do that's good on a cold day like today. Once you've finished we'll get going.”
A short while later the pair had trudged a short way across Ponyville to a much less assuming building and stepped inside into the warmth again. This time, the transition from outside to inside was much the opposite of Sugarcube Corner.
“Oh wow, that's a lot of lights.” Breathed Ember. “And sounds.”
The Ponyville Arcade was like nothing Ember had ever seen before. An array of machines filled the building, all of them adorned with brightly flashing lights, colourful screens and loud noises all trying to attract passing creatures.
“Kinda like a hoard in really good torchlight, but with more sound, isn't it?” Smolder asked while casually getting some bits exchanged for tokens.
“Yeah, it does,” Ember agreed, “So, this is something ponies do for Hearthswarming?”
“Eh, kinda?” Smolder shrugged. “The whole point is spending time with others and to enjoy yourself. This place is a pretty fun place to hang out. Me and my friends come here all the time.”
“So, what do you do with these things?” Ember asked.
“You play with them. They all do different things.” Smolder explained. “I'll show you one of my group's favourites first.”
The orange dragon led Ember to a machine consisting of what appeared to be two tiled dance floors lit from beneath with various symbols painted on top and a screen at roughly head height scrolling through lists of the symbols on the floor.
“It's called “Prance Prance Revolution”. It's one of Ocellus' favourites. She always beats me unless she's letting me win. I think this game's designed for creatures who stand on four legs instead of two.” Smolder looked over the unit with a fond smile, before smirking and looking at Ember. “Which means I've actually got a decent shot of winning fair and square for once!”
“Oh, is that so?” Ember furrowed her brows and stepped up onto one of the dance floors. “We'll see about that!”
Some considerable time later, the duo stepped out of the arcade into the crisp winter air.
“Well, that was fun but we'd better hurry back to the square, or we'll be late for lighting up the tree!” Smolder exclaimed, leading Ember on a dash through the streets. As the pair approached the middle of town, they passed increasingly large groups of ponies all heading in the same direction. The square was more or less packed when they arrived, with more or less the entire population present to watch. Enterprising ponies had set up stalls selling hot drinks and snacks at the periphery and were managing a roaring trade.
Luckily a small podium had been set up near the tree, with a small number of ponies on top. Ember still wasn't good with telling her ponies apart, but the large white one with wings and very shiny gold regalia was a pony that was difficult to confuse with others.
Smolder and Ember made their way up onto a platform, before Ember stopped a familiar purple pony and gave a small, respectful bow.
“Greetings, Princess Twilight. I take it we aren't too late?” Ember asked.
The pony laughed in response, taking a few moments to compose herself.
“No, you're in good time, but you might want to tell that to Twilight.” She said, pointing a hoof at another purple pony, this time with both wings and a horn.
Smolder had clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.
“I am so sorry, Counsellor Starlight!” The younger dragon managed to blurt out an apology from behind her claws.
“Eh, don't worry about it,” Starlight waved it off as Ember hurried away to address the correct pony, “it's not the first time.”
After a short while of Starlight explaining Ember's first trip to Ponyville, Smolder rejoined the Dragon Lord in time to catch the tail end of her conversation with Twilight.
“So, you know what you're supposed to be doing for this, right?” The alicorn asked.
“Yes, Smolder was really helpful explaining it all.” Ember said. “I've just got to light up the tree, right?”
“Yes, that's exactly right!” Twilight sat back on her haunches and clapped her forehooves with a bright grin. “I'm really proud of you, Smolder!”
“Aww, it was nothing.” Smolder replied, awkwardly blushing and running a hand through her head fin.
“Well, it's close to time now, so if every-creature can take their positions, we'll get started.” Twilight announced, addressing everyone on the stage.
Ember didn't really pay too much attention to Twilight's speech, instead staring up at the looming bulk of the tree, rapidly darkening in the encroaching gloom. It was pretty tall, but Ember was confident she could manage flying up to the top pretty quickly.
She almost missed the nudge from Smolder's elbow.
“Huh?” Ember asked.
“Psst, that's your cue!” Smolder hissed in a stage whisper.
Ember realised that Princess Twilight had stopped talking and was now eagerly looking towards the Dragon Lord, along with every other creature in the square.
“Oh, uh, right!” Ember strode confidently to the front of the stage, addressing every-creature present. “As Dragon Lord, I thank Princess Twilight on behalf of all dragons for inviting me to this important event. Now I will light up the tree to get the Holiday started!”
Without any further waiting on ceremony, Ember crouched and jumped into the air, beating her wings strongly to get to the top of the huge pine in just a couple of seconds. Completely ignoring the shiny red button on the podium where she'd just been standing.
Ember took a deep breath and with a roar of superheated air lit up the tree of Friendship. On fire.
Quickly returning to the podium, Ember congratulated herself on a job well done. The entire tree was engulfed in seconds, the dry resin in the tree helping to light any parts she'd missed in moments. Her eyes took in the awed speechless faces of the crowd, mirroring those of the creatures on the podium. Even Smolder was looking at Ember's handiwork with eyes bulging in awe.
Ember landed next to the younger dragon, basking in the warmth of the fire and smiled at the magical star dancing in flames at the top of the towering inferno.
“You know, I'm starting to like this holiday.”
Author's Note
I really hope you enjoyed this little read!
Unfortunately, while the entire story came to me fully formed within seconds of reading the prompt, I find writing incredibly difficult and procrastination much easier, so about half of this was written in the last couple of days before the deadline.
