The Muse of Fire
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The Muse of Fire

O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention...
Henry V, Prologue

"Has anypony seen my socket-wrench?
I swear I left it right here..."
Twilight Sparkle, Inventor

Above the sky's edge, beyond the safe little realities that ponies knew, lay the Space Beyond.

A vast, greenish-blue void swirled with mist and sparkling lights, it was adrift with worlds, like countless shimmering pearls, each of them a small, self-contained reality all its own.

Across the gap between two of these pearl-like worlds two ponies flew, surrounded by a thin, rippling envelope of air and normality. One was a cyan, rainbow-pinioned pegasus, who carried herself with an air of proud, fearlessly eager determination. The other was a radioactively pink party-pegasus with feather-duster wings. She was currently drifting along upside down and backwards, just to see if she could. Which basically told you everything you needed to know about Pinkie Pie.

"I'm tellin' ya, Pinkie," said Rainbow Dash, "it's all comin' together. Just like Commander Bronzehoof said. I play my cards right, I'm in the Wonderbolts for sure."

"Yay! I'm glad for ya, Rainbow." Pinkie did a quick flip and roll to right herself. "But I'm also glad we get to keep visiting Twilight. And the others, but mostly Twilight. She's really smart, but she's also really nice. That's really, really unusual, ya know?"

"Yeah, Twilight's okay," Rainbow allowed. "Bit of a brainiac, if you ask me. But hey, that's how she came up with that airframe thingy, and came to find us pegasi."

"And the unicorns! And now we all get to go adventuring together." Pinkie swooped a loop with glee. "Visiting other worlds, meeting other ponies, finding out all kinds of new and neat and cool stuff. It's just awesomerrific! I wonder where we'll go with Twilight next?"

Startled, Rainbow looked thoughtful at that, and also a little annoyed.

"Ya know, Pinkie, that's a good point. Who says we have to follow Twilight's lead here, anyways?"

"Um, that's not quite what I..."

But Rainbow wasn't listening. "I mean, look at all this!" She waved a forehoof at the immensity around them. "There's all kinds of worlds out here, just waiting to be explored. I could pick any one of 'em, go scope it out on my own. Commander Bronzehoof said the Legion's looking for bold, go-getting ponies. I discover a world all by myself and report back on it, that'd prove I'm Legion material, wouldn't it? They want initiative? Heh! I'll show 'em I got initiative to burn."

"That's the spirit, Dashie." Pinkie replied. "You're the bravest pony I know. No woodpeckers on you!"

"Uh... I still have no idea what that means, Pinkie."

"Eh." Pinkie shrugged. "Just somethin' we say, out on the farm walls. Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go explore a world right now!"

And so saying, Pinkie took a sharp right turn and shot off in an apparently random direction. The bubble of air stretched, then split in two as Pinkie flapped her wings and soared away into the cyan void.

Rainbow swung round to stare after her, first surprised, and then seriously miffed at having her awesome idea co-opted like that.

"Pinkie Pie, you get back here!"

"Wheee!" Pinkie cheered, apparently not even caring where she was headed.

Rainbow ground her teeth in frustration. Then she glanced at the blueish-green sphere of Twilight's world, where the earth-ponies lived. And at the more familiar light-blue, cloud-filled sphere that was the pegasus world. She tried to fix the positions of both in her mind, desperately hoping she'd be able to find them later.

Then, grunting crossly, she flapped her wings and set off after Pinkie Pie.

As Rainbow caught up, the pink pegasus was gazing about herself eagerly, and as their two air-bubbles re-merged she pointed a hoof upwards and to the right.

"What about that one, Rainbow?"

Rainbow looked at it doubtfully. The immense looming sphere was a dark, smoky gray. To be honest it looked downright ominous, like a stormcloud about to go full-bore tornadoes.

But Rainbow wasn't about to admit she thought that. "Sure. Looks as good as any of 'em, I guess."

"Yay! Then let's go!"

They headed towards it and soon were drifting over the sphere's broad, shimmering surface. It was almost like flying above the surface of an immense gray ocean, though the shimmering translucent surface wasn't water or air. It was a barrier of magic, just like the one around each of the pony worlds. From inside, the barrier looked like sunlit sky during the day, or a starry dome at night. From outside, it was see-through. Or would've been in this case, if there was actually anything to see in it.

Rainbow peered into the swirling, smoky gloom, trying to make out some kind of detail -- or any detail, for that matter.

"Can't see a thing. Wonder what's down there?"

"Only one way to find out. Geronimo!" Pinkie pinched her snout with a fetlock, took a deep breath, furled her wings, and did a cannonball, right into the shimmering surface. She plunked straight through, quickly vanishing into the murky, swirling depths.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted. Shaking her head in disbelief, she dove in as well. After all, she wasn't about to be left behind.

Below the edge of the sky Rainbow found only dense, roiling gray smoke. There was a sensation of up-and-down at least, so her flying instincts helped her right herself. Yet she couldn't see more than a length or two in any direction. Her eyes stung and she felt choked by the gray, fulminating vapors. They had a pungent, charred, disgusting stink, like a burning egg factory.

"Pinkie!" she shouted. "Pinkie Pie!"

"Down here, Dashie!" Pinkie called merrily, from somewhere far below.

Shrugging, Rainbow dove towards where she thought the sound had come from. Before she knew it she'd plunged straight through the bottom of the smoke layer, into open sky.

And there she came to a halt, hovering in astonishment at the vista spread out around and below her.

It was a world of fire.

Multiple strata of smoky gray cloudbanks plunged away, layer on layer into the depths. The clouds wreathed huge floating islands of ash-colored stone. They were like mountains, but hanging in the sky. The islands came in all sizes, large and small. The larger islands were home to fuming, glaring volcanoes and vast seas of hot red lava. The smaller ones had caverns, plains filled with jumbled piles of spear-like rocks, and honeycomb-pillared rock formations.

Huge falls of red molten lava arced from one island to the next, tumbling down and down into the sullen, crimson deeps. And the entire expanse was lit by beams of burning orange light from a distant sun, half-hidden amongst the clouds.

"Bingo!" Rainbow breathed. "Now this is a world worth discovering!"

Pinkie Pie was perched on a cloud a short distance below, so Rainbow swooped down to join her. But when her hooves hit the cloud, Rainbow almost drew back from it. "Ewwww," she muttered. "These clouds feel wrong, Pinkie. Dry, gritty... just like that stuff they have in Twilight's world: dirt or dust or whatever it is they call it. They're always sweeping it up."

Rainbow scooped up a lump of cloud with a hoof and tried to pack it into cloud-brick. She found it all but impossible: the gray vapor kept losing its shape and drifting apart. "Huh. Doesn't build all that well either. Wonder what they use for houses and stuff here."

"Must be all the smoke," said Pinkie, "from those chimney-mountains everywhere. It makes the clouds all inky-stinky."

"Yeah, probably." Rainbow agreed. "But at least this is a sky world, like Cloudsdale. Not ground-based like the earth-pony or the unicorn worlds."

"But there's hunks of ground here too." Pinkie pointed at the floating islands. "So it's kind of a little of both, isn't it? Isn't this great, Dashie? We're learning so much. Hee-hee! I sound just like Twilight, don't I? But it's true. We may be the first pegasi to see any of this."

"Yeah, that may be so. Maybe the first ponies ever!" Rainbow stared down from her lofty perch at the firey cloudscape spread before her, and felt a little of her earlier bravado returning. "We're real explorers now, Pinkie. Hah! We can stake a claim on this place... er, for Cloudsdale, I mean."

So saying, Rainbow struck a stern pose, her foreleg clutching an imaginary bannered pole. "Ahem! I hereby dub this world... uh, Pegasopolis! And nopony can take it from us."

"Except maybe the giant, pony-eating monsters flying by down there."

Pinkie was pointing a hoof over the edge of the cloud, at the chasm-like gap in the cloud layers below. And when Rainbow looked she saw dozens -- no, hundreds -- of huge, winged, lizard-like shapes sweeping by beneath them.

"Dragons!" Rainbow gasped. And she quickly hunkered down behind the cloud edge. For better tactical positioning, she told herself. "There's like, a zillion of 'em down there, Pinkie. This must be a world full of dragons."

"Arrr!" Pinkie was suddenly wearing an eye-patch and a striped bandanna. "There be dragons here all right, matey! Big fierce ones!"

"Yeah. Big... fierce... ones..." Rainbow peered cautiously over the edge of the cloud. As she watched, two of the larger dragons collided, then jostled with each other, roaring and snapping. Then an even larger beast barreled straight through them, not even slowing down, batting the others aside with its wings. It bellowed hugely, then exhaled a crackling torrent of flame.

"Gulp! Ya know..." Rainbow said cautiously. "Maybe we really oughta go and find Twilight. To tell her about this place, I mean."

"And Spike, too. Hee-hee-hee! He'll be so excited."

"Yeah, and Spike too..." Rainbow's gaze darted around as she futilely tried to guess how many dragons she was seeing. "Both of 'em need to hear about this place..."

Just then a huge shadow swept across their cloud. The two pegasi hunched in terror as a dragon the size of a small house swept by overhead, not even twenty lengths away. Fortunately it either didn't notice them, or didn't feel inclined to circle back to investigate such puny creatures.

"Uhh..." Rainbow whispered anxiously, "m-m-maybe we should go and talk to Twilight? Like... right now?"

"Yeah..." Pinkie nodded nervously. "Good call, Dashie!"

An amazingly short time later, pretty much just long enough for Twilight to load a small knapsack with notebooks and quills and other research gear, then grab her flight goggles, the cloud-gray airframe was dropping through the outer smoke-layer of the dragon world, then cautiously descending into the open, cloud-wreathed skies below.

Twilight was buckled in beneath the airframe, her goggles strapped tight to her face, her forehooves working the pedals that drove the propellers mounted on the upper surface of the craft's wings. Rainbow and Pinkie were flying to either side, underneath the aircraft's wings where they wouldn't be in the way. And Spike was buckled into a small seat within the airframe itself, right behind Twilight. The baby dragon stared around eagerly at the smoke-belching volcanoes and glowing lava pools.

"So, where are they, Rainbow?" Spike asked. "Where's all the dragons?"

"Huh. I dunno." Rainbow stared around, surprised herself. "There were like a ton of 'em before, Twilight, honest!"

"I believe you, Rainbow. But where'd they all go?"

"Maybe it was some kinda migration?" Pinkie suggested. "And now they're all tucked up safe at home, having cocoa and singing dragon-songs, or whatever it is dragons do once they're all migrated out."

"Cocoa sounds good to me," Spike agreed. "I dunno about the singing though."

"Maybe it's just as well they're not still here," said Twilight. "I wouldn't want to go hoof-to-hoof with a whole flight of dragons while piloting this thing. Maybe it also means it's safe to explore now, to see if we can figure out where the dragons live? Could the two of you keep an eye out above, and to the sides? Spike and I will concentrate on the ground. That way we'll have all the bases covered."

Pinkie Pie saluted. "We're on it, Twilight!" And she began fiercely peering around, in all directions.

Rainbow frowned at her, then looked at Twilight. "Uh, thanks for comin', Twi. We were gonna claim... I mean, explore this place ourselves. But ya know... the more the merrier... safety in numbers... uh, that kind of thing?"

"Are you kidding me, Rainbow? The chance to explore a world of dragons? And maybe help Spike figure out where he came from? I wouldn't miss it for the world! I mean... for any of the worlds," she added quickly. "Hmph, we're going to have to come up with new ways of saying things like that."

With the pegasi as lookouts Twilight steered the airframe downwards, towards one of the medium-sized floating mountains. Then she circled round it, staring eagerly at the jumbled terrain and glowing pools. "Oooh! There's just so much to see!" she said. "I wish I could take notes. But my hooves are full just flying this thing."

"I'm on it, Twilight!" Spike dug into the knapsack, hanging from a hook next to him. He brought out a blank journal and quill and held them at the ready. "Fire away!"

"Thanks, Number One Assistant." And as they flew along, Twilight gazed down at the landscape and dictated observations, about the mountain-like islands, their arrangements, the pools and flows of lava, the mineral formations strewn across the landscape, whatever else came to her mind. Spike dutifully scribbled industriously, only occasionally asking her to pause as he sounded out a word.

Rainbow shook her head, amused and a little jealous at the lavender pony's obsession with detail. "Egghead," she muttered. Though not too loudly. Then Rainbow looked across at Pinkie Pie, still staring about in all directions, totally focused on her job as lookout. A little disgustedly, Rainbow returned to watching out on her side of the aircraft.

"Huh," she grumbled to herself. "Some explorer I turned out to be. Even Pinkie Pie's a better lookout. Why exactly am I here again?"

Then her attention snapped downwards, towards a large glowing cleft in the ground of the island below. Something about that glow was bothering her.

Like... hadn't that cleft been dark before?

"Twilight!" she yelled. "Bank left! Now!"

Surprised, Twilight leaned and cranked hard with her right hoof, putting the airframe into a sharp sweeping turn. And she was just in time. A blast of smoke and hot steam roared from the cleft, punching through the air right where the airframe would have been. Twilight banked right and pedaled hard, bringing the airframe level again.

"Wow!" said Pinkie, hovering nervously alongside. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine, thanks to Rainbow." Twilight grinned. "Sorry, I was a little too focused on geography and geology to watch out for little things like incipient geysers."

"Hey, no problem." Rainbow smirked. "We're your spotters, Twi. And we future Legionnaires are on the job!"

Twilight nodded gratefully, then focused her attention on the ground again, looking for any similar fissures. "These islands," she went on, "they're highly active, volcanically speaking. Which is kind of puzzling, when you think about it."

"Uh, Twilight?"

"One second, Spike. I mean, it takes a lot of heat to melt rock like this. Where's all that heat coming from? In the earth-pony world there's heat underground, which can produce lava. But here..."

"Twilight?"

"And where does all the lava go? Like, is there a huge pool of it way down at the bottom of the world someplace? And how does it get back up here? Or does it just fall right out of the world? And then how's it replaced, and --"

"Twilight!"

"What is it, Spike?"

"Uhhh... is cloud-brick supposed to do that?" He pointed anxiously at a span of the airframe next to his seat. It was cracking, and bits of it seemed to be almost boiling off.

Twilight stared around at the rest of the craft, and saw it was the same, all over the airframe.

Spike tapped his claws together nervously.

"I... think we might be running out of airplane, Twi."

"Hang on, Spike. I'll try to bring us in for a landing."

But the strange disintegration was accelerating. With loud popping sounds, several of the main spans snapped in half. Then the entire craft simply fell apart into fragments and whiffs of vapor.

"Yiaaaahhh!" Twilight shouted, as she and Spike tumbled from their straps and plunged towards the ground.

"Ohmigosh! Ohmigosh!" Pinkie Pie yelped. "Ponies and dragons overboard!"

"Aw, geez!" Rainbow said. "Pinkie, you get Spike! I'll grab Twi!"

"Gotcha, Rainbow!" Pinkie dove after the dragon, and quickly snatched him up in her hooves. Meanwhile Rainbow put herself into a power-dive, pushing herself to the limit, chasing after Twilight. She all but slammed into her, grabbing hold with both forehooves. Then she strained her wings, trying to turn the fall into some kind of survivable landing, on the rapidly approaching rocky ground. She managed it just barely, though it was a rough-and-tumble touchdown. They came within a length of rolling right into a pool of lava to the right.

Twilight's knapsack wasn't so lucky. It, along with the remaining gearing and straps from the airframe, struck the pool dead center. Bursting into flames, the tangle of gear sank into the glowing mire.

Rainbow sat up, wincing and rubbing her head. "Ow. Okay, this is gettin' old. And you could stand to lose a few pounds, Twilight."

"What?" Twilight glared at her.

"Everypony okay?" Pinkie came in for a landing, setting Spike on the ground. He immediately ran over and hugged Twilight in relief.

"We're fine, Pinkie," Twilight said. "Thanks to Rainbow."

"Heh. That's two ya owe me, genius."

Spike stared around nervously. "Twilight... are we stuck here now?"

"Don't worry, Spike," Twilight said. "This is exactly why I packed along the portal gem from the unicorn world. We can use it to go back there and..."

She stared at the pool of lava nearby. "... and it's currently at the bottom of that," she finished gloomily.

"Oh, no problem, Twilight." Spike beamed. "I'll go get it." And before anypony could stop him, he ran to the pool's edge and dove straight in, vanishing beneath the glowing surface.

"Spike!" Twilight shrieked, horrified.

The ponies were all speechless. For a while there was no sound but the slight bubbling of the lava pool, and the rumbling and trembling of the ground from the volcanic activity all around them.

Then Rainbow finally found words. "Poor little guy," she said, and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Look at it this way, Twilight: maybe it was over real quick. And he didn't feel a thing."

"Spike..." Twilight's eyes pooled. Even Pinkie Pie looked ready to burst into tears.

Then Spike splashed to the surface, spitting a stream of lava. "I can't find it anywhere," he called. "It must have sunk too deep, or melted or something."

"Spike!" Twilight yelled. "Are you crazy? Get out of there!"

"Huh? Why?"

"That's lava!"

"Huh." Spike stared around himself, then lifted a clawful of the glowing rock and watched it flow back into the pool. "Thought it felt a little chunky. But hey, this stuff feels great." He lay back and backstroked in a small circle. "It's even better than a hot bubble bath back home."

"What? It doesn't hurt you?"

"Nope, not a bit."

Pinkie was all smiles. "Hee hee hee! Dragons are fireproof! Who'da thunk it?"

Spike stared at them. "You mean ponies can't swim in lava?"

"Uhh... that'd be a big nope!" Twilight shuddered.

Rainbow nodded. "There's an old pegasus saying: flame and feathers do not flock together."

"Oh." Spike shrugged. "Well, more for me I guess." He continued paddling, while the ponies looked at each other uneasily.

"Okay, look," Rainbow finally said. "Worst case, we lug you two back home. Or Pinkie and I fly back to Cloudsdale, and get help from there. Either way, I say next time we come back with an aircraft that doesn't melt in a hot breeze."

Twilight nodded gratefully. "I'll note it as a design flaw, see if I can fix it in the next model. All right, for the moment we appear to be safe. And since we don't actually need to head right back... maybe we can still explore a bit? Here on the ground?"

"Yeah sure, I guess." Rainbow nodded. "It makes sense, long as we're here."

"Count me in!" Pinkie chirped.

"Works for me," Spike said as he swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. "Ya know, I'll be sorry to leave this place. Warm lava pools, hard rocky ground under my claws, even that weird eggy smell in the air..."

Twilight wrinkled her snout. "Sulfur. To each his own, I guess."

"I mean it smells kinda familiar." Spike stared around, a grin on his face. "Like... maybe this is the world I came from? Yeah! Then that would mean... I'm home!"

"Well that's funny," said a large, gravelly voice from right behind them. "I don't recall seeing you round here, runt."

The ponies and baby dragon turned round slowly, and found themselves facing a large greenish-yellow dragon with intense burnt-copper eyes.

"Uhh... hi there!" said Twilight. "Sorry if we're trespassing. We're just visiting, and --"

"What are these things?" the dragon rumbled. Twilight realized he wasn't talking to her, but to Spike instead, ignoring her completely.

"Uhh... they're ponies?" Spike answered. "And they're, well... they're not from around here."

"I can see that," the dragon rumbled. "But where'd they come from?"

"They're from... other worlds. Yeah! Worlds inhabited by ponies like them."

"Spike..." Twilight gently warned.

"Other worlds?" The dragon's rumbling voice drowned her out. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, you know?" Pinkie said. "Those lights on the sky at night? Well, those aren't it actually, so forget about 'em. But if you flew past them, past all those stinky clouds up there, you'd be in spaaaaaaace..." The pink pegasus waved her hooves expansively. "And there's tons of worlds out there, all different kinds. Some of 'em even have ponies in 'em. Hee hee hee! Like jelly in a doughnut!"

"Pinkie --" Twilight said, horrified. But again Rage interrupted her.

"Ponies, eh?" He turned back to Spike. "Are they good eating?"

"Huh!" Rainbow scowled, shaking her forehooves threateningly. "You just try it, buster! And we'll give ya butterflies like you wouldn't believe."

"Rainbow!" Twilight stared at her, aghast.

The dragon merely chuckled in response. "I like your ferocity, pony. Almost worthy of a dragon. But how'd they get here?" He stared at Spike appraisingly, as if sizing up a competitor. "Did you capture them? To hold for ransom? To start your hoard?"

"Uh... yeah!" Spike said. "That's right. My, uh... hoard!"

"Very resourceful." The dragon nodded approvingly. "You got a name, runt?"

"I'm Spike! And this is Twilight, and that's Rainbow, and Pinkie Pie."

The ponies waved nervously as Spike named them. Except for Twilight, who eyed the dragon coldly. "And you are...?"

"Rage," the dragon snarled, through teeth like thresher-blades. Then he shrugged. "Says it all, really. But now if a runt like you can just snatch up a bunch of ponies, they can't be all that hard to catch. Or worth very much. They probably come in herds, common as basalt."

"Oh no, they're not common at all," Spike replied. "In fact, they're very important ponies back home."

"Spike..." Twilight warned.

"Yeah!" Rainbow snickered. "And Twilight here? Where we're from, she's basically one-of-a-kind."

"Rainbow!" Twilight stared at the pegasus, beginning to despair of getting any of her friends to listen to her.

Rage gave Twilight an evaluating stare. "Is that so?"

Rainbow nodded. "She's basically our resident egghead. She's an inventor. She can make just about anything. Plus she can figure out magic spells just by reading 'em."

"Interesting..." Rage stroked his chin with a claw. "Might be something to this, then. These ponies, they're like... collectors' items?"

"Oh yeah," Pinkie nodded. "Gotta catch us all! Hee hee hee!"

At this point, Twilight didn't even bother. She put a hoof to her face, and shook her head in disbelief.

"Hmph," Rage rumbled, "sounds like work, a lot of work. Not into work. I like to think smarter, not harder. And it seems to me, a better strategy is... to start with the really valuable ones!"

Snapping out wings the size of barn doors, Rage leapt forwards, snatching up Twilight in his claws. Then he powered away into the sky, carrying her off. The hurricane-like downdraft from his wings bowled the others over.

Rainbow recovered first. She jumped to her hooves, then she leapt into the air, shaking her hooves furiously. "Hey! You get back here with our friend! Yeah, you! I'm talkin' to you!"

Rage ignored them as he powered away into the sky.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled desperately.

"Spike!" Twilight called back to him. "Look after Rainbow and Pinkie!"

And then she and Rage were gone, hidden by the clouds.

The two ponies stared at each other, then at Spike. "Huh?" Pinkie asked, scratching her head. "Look after us? What's she mean by that?"

"Yeah," Rainbow added, looking at Spike. "Shouldn't we be looking after you, little guy?"

Spike's eyes went wide and he pointed a shaking claw. "M-m-maybe we should talk about that later?"

Turning, the ponies saw a group of dragons approaching. These dragons were smaller than Rage, and a variety of shapes and sizes and coloration. But they did have one thing in common.

They did not look friendly. Not in the slightest.

Twilight wasn't worried. Afraid for herself, yes. Concerned about leaving her friends behind, yes. Ashamed that she'd somehow managed to land herself in exactly the kind of predicament her parents might have warned her against, if they'd known... yeah. That too.

But not worried. Twilight was an inventor. Which meant when things got rough, she fell back on her core skills: organizing, designing, and creating. And she had plenty of time to think, hanging in Rage's claws as the dragon flew high into the clouds above the island. More than time enough to formulate a complete, foolproof, sixteen-point plan for distracting her captor, sneaking away, going to ground behind a boulder or outcropping somewhere, then bushwhacking her way back across the rocky waste to rejoin her friends.

And then Rage suddenly changed direction, angling out through a gap in the clouds, toward a smaller island located some distance away. On reaching it, he swept up a towering cliff face, then unceremoniously dumped Twilight onto a broad plateau at the top.

Twilight picked herself up grumpily, and peered cautiously over the cliff's edge, at the heart-stopping drop below.

Her wonderful, efficient, foolproof plan suddenly had a major flaw in it.

"Dragons!" Rage bellowed. "Hear me!"

Twilight turned to look. She saw Rage addressing a number of other dragons that were scattered about the plateau. It was difficult to call them a tribe, or a group, or even just a random mob. The only thing the dragons seemed to have in common was proximity. Aside from being loosely gathered in one place they appeared to want nothing at all to do with one another. A few of them looked up at Rage's call. The rest went on talking amongst themselves or snacking on gems.

"Dragons!" Rage bellowed again. "I have made an important discovery! There are... other places, other lands, inhabited by creatures like this one -- creatures called ponies!"

A few of the dragons looked at Twilight disinterestedly.

"Yeah?" said a skinny, lime-colored drake. "So what, Rage? What's so special about 'em?"

"What indeed? You may well ask." Rage snorted. "I've discovered these ponies know all about... magic!"

In response, the dragons rolled their eyes.

"Oh, come on. Not the magic thing again," the skinny dragon sneered.

"Yeah," said a fat brown dragon. "You still going on about that, Rage? Give it a rest, why don't ya? The magic's gone, and that's that."

A large blue dragoness with curling horns nodded. "It went away with the last of the Dragon Lords," she said viciously. "And it's not coming back. Certainly not for the likes of you, Rage."

Rage's teeth ground with a sound like knives being sharpened. "When my father was Dragon Lord --"

"-- he ruled the Dragonlands with an iron claw," the skinny dragon interrupted, in a sing-song tone. "Yeah, yeah, we know. It doesn't make you Dragon Lord in his place. You're just another dragon, like all the rest of us. So shut it, why don't ya?"

"Yeah! We don't need magic," said the fat dragon. "And we don't need a Dragon Lord either, tellin' us what to do. We can decide things for ourselves."

"Decide?" Rage was beside himself. "Don't make me laugh, Belch! You can't even decide which color gem to eat next."

Belch looked guiltily at the gemstones he'd been weighing in his claws, then hid them behind his back.

"I'm a picky eater. What's it to you?"

Rage sighed, with a long-suffering air.

"Dragons used to be something," he growled. "Something great! Something important! But look at us now. Sitting around, stuffing our faces, fighting amongst ourselves. We need a purpose. We need strength! We need leadership! We need --"

"What I need right now," growled a burnt-orange dragoness who'd been lying with a foreclaw draped over her face, "is a little less noise around here. I'm trying to sleep off an emerald hangover. So go find someplace else to relive the glory days, Rage. And let us ordinary dragons get on with being dragons, huh? Just let us be!"

Rage's eyes narrowed. He rumbled dangerously, looking about to explode. And then he suddenly swung round, leapt into the air, snatched up Twilight again, and flew away, heading for a nearby mountain peak.

"Yeah, get lost!" the skinny dragon called after him. "And good riddance to bad news."

Growling to himself, Rage flew up to a cave near the top of the peak, where he dropped Twilight onto the cliff edge in front of the cave. Then wheeling about, he swept inside the cave and flung himself down upon a comfortable dome of rock, muttering viciously.

Twilight stared down the near-vertical face of the mountain below the cliff. Her foolproof escape plan now had two serious flaws. "Nope," she told herself firmly, "Definitely not. I am a pony, not a mountain-goat."

She turned to look at the dragon. Rage seemed amused by her predicament, snorting small puffs of smoke. The feeling of helplessness made Twilight dangerously cross.

"So what happens now?" she demanded.

"Eh?" Rage replied, surprised by her apparent lack of fear.

"I mean you're obviously not going to eat me," Twilight said. "Or you would have already. So what are you going to do now?"

Rage's look turned sour. "That depends," he growled.

"On what?"

The dragon snorted, then regarded her at length in silence, as if doubtful whether to go on. Then he reached behind him, into the gloom of the cave.

With a loud, ringing clatter, a staff made of crystal, a large crimson gemstone set in its claw-like tip, rattled across the shelf. It came to a stop right at Twilight's hooves.

"On whether you can tell me how this thing works, pony!"

"Well now... whatta we got here?" sneered the leader of the dragons surrounding Spike, Pinkie, and Rainbow. He was burnt orange in color, and lean and tough-looking, scarred from several fights.

"Some runt," said a bright yellow, blue-horned dragon beside him. "I never seen him before. And look at this, Blaze! He brought his pets along to play with. Aww, that's sweet!"

"Hey! My name's Spike!" Spike tried standing tall, tried looking tough and cool himself. He had a sinking feeling it wasn't working.

"And we aren't pets," Rainbow added. "We're ponies!"

The dragons looked at each other. And laughed. "Ponies?" Blaze said in disbelief. "Seriously? You're facing the Slag-Hill Gang, and you're goin' with that?"

"Yeah." The mud-colored, overweight drake next to him laughed, "they look like the kind of fluffy nightmares I get after a rose-quartz bender. Especially that pink one."

Pinkie Pie grinned, giving her best You-Don't-Have-To-Be-Crazy-To-Be-Me-But-It-Helps look.

"Right." The orange dragon nodded. "I bet Sparky here --"

"Uh, Spike?"

"Whatever. I bet he just wanted something soft and dumb along that he could push around. Probably had to look real hard to find it, too, the little wingless wonder."

"Hey!" Pinkie shouted. "You better be careful! Spike here is tougher than he looks." Grabbing up Spike, Pinkie slung him on her back and then jumped into the air, hovering at eye-level with the dragons. "Where we come from he's known as Spike the Brave and Glorious. He hauled us back here against our will, kicking and screaming. Oh, please don't hurt me, Spike," she added, hunching in midair with a meek and helpless look.

"Uh... yeah, right." Spike said. "That's me, Spike the Brave and Glorious. If you want to address me by my full title."

"And," Rainbow added, "we may be ponies, but we're tough." She hopped into the air, shadowboxing with her forehooves. "That's why Spike brought us along. To be his bodyguards. So that nopony -- I mean, no dragon would ever mess with him."

While the dragons took this in, with derisive smiles on their faces, Rainbow leaned closer and whispered. "Nice work, Pinkie. Now when I say go, you take Spike and clear out. I'll distract this bunch... uh, somehow."

"Just run away? That wouldn't be very Brave and Glorious."

Rainbow smacked her face with a hoof. "Pinkie, don't bury yourself in the part. Sometimes ya just gotta know when you're outmatched. Now for once, do what I tell ya. When I say go, get!"

"Um, okay..."

Blaze was glancing around at his companions, a triumphantly smug look on his snout. "Well," he said. "If these ponies think that they're so tough, and little Spunky here --"

"Uh, Spike?"

"Whatever. If thinks he's so brave, then I guess it's up to the Slag-Hill Gang to show these losers what real dragons are like. Am I right, guys?"

The other dragons nodded eagerly and began closing in. A few even took wing, cutting off escape into the air.

"Eeeh..." Pinkie whispered. "Ready when you are, Dashie."

Rainbow looked round, gulping. There was no way out. She knew she could probably duck around the slower ones and make a break for it. But Pinkie? Not toting Spike around, no way. Gritting her teeth, Rainbow decided she'd just have to fight it out, hopefully clear an opening for them to get away.

"Pinkie..." she began.

Before she could say another word, there was a massive, bellowing roar from overhead.

Looking up, the dragons and ponies all saw a large, deep purple dragoness, with green-and-yellow horns and shining green eyes. She descended on the group like Doom incarnate, and landed on the rocky plain with a thump that shook the entire island.

She bellowed a challenge, which wasn't so much a roar as an extended thunderclap. More felt than heard, it left everyone's ears ringing.

"Aw, stonescales, it's her!" Blaze said. "C'mon guys! Let's fly!"

The gang all took wing, flapping away at speed. And leaving Spike and the two pegasi staring up fearfully at the new arrival.

Who stared back at them, concerned.

"Are you three all right?"

Spike blinked, then grinned. "Yeah! We are now."

"Well... just be careful from now on. Who you pick a fight with, I mean. And maybe you might live long enough to have wings."

So saying, the dragoness turned abruptly away, flexing her wings in preparation to leave.

"Uh, wait!" Spike hopped down from Pinkie's back and ran over to her.

The dragoness round at him sourly. "What?"

"I, uh... just wanted to say... um, thank you?"

"Don't mention it," the dragoness replied disgustedly. "Seriously, just don't tell anyone."

"Uh, okay. My name's Spike, by the way. What's yours?"

The dragoness looked uncomfortable. "Sear," she finally hissed uncomfortably, as if admitting a crime. "It's a proud name," she added tightly. "I'd like to keep it that way, if it's all the same to you."

"Sure thing," Spike said. "And these are my friends," he added quickly, pointing to them. "Rainbow Dash, and that's Pinkie Pie!"

"Friends?" Sear looked skeptical. "Dragons don't do friends."

"Well this dragon does," Spike said. "The ponies, they found me and they looked after me. More than that, they showed me how nice it is to have somepony who looks out for you. They taught me how to be a better dragon." He shrugged. "Sounds like friends to me."

The dragoness was staring at Spike curiously, almost wistfully. "That sounds really nice, Spike. But one thing you're gonna have to learn about being a dragon is that nice doesn't cut it here. You have to be tough, fierce! Be no one's friend but your own. I mean, even when you don't really want to," she added with a frustrated scowl.

"Seriously?" Rainbow asked. "I thought dragons liked being total bad-asses! Uh, no offense."

In response, Sear covered her face with a claw.

"It's who I am," she said. "Whenever I see something small or defenseless being pushed around and made to suffer, I want to help, want to defend them. So I dive in, and usually just make a bigger mess of things. I'm lucky I'm large for my age. It means I can usually just scare off other dragons, before it gets really nasty."

"Woahhh..." Pinkie said. "You mean it could get worse? Up to now was just a preview? Yowza!"

Sear shook her head in annoyance, and stared up at the smoky clouds.

"I like being kind!" she sighed. "There, I said it. Fine! So what kind of dragon does that make me?"

Spike stepped closer, and cautiously put a claw on her foreleg. "The kind of dragon I wish more dragons were like."

Sear gave him a dour look.

"Thanks, Spike. If that actually helped I'd probably feel grateful or something. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

"Uh, wait!" Spike said.

"What is it now?"

"Well... see, we came here with another pony. Her name's Twilight, and she was ponynapped by some dragon and carried off. We gotta go find her. And I was wondering... maybe you might help us?"

Sear looked doubtful.

"Why should I? I mean, what's another pony to me, more or less? They're not dragons. No offense," she added, glancing in Rainbow's direction.

Spike shrugged miserably, not sure how to put it.

"Because... well, Twilight's the pony who found me, and gave me a home. And she's been kinder to me than anyone I know. So I owe it to her to find her and help her out. Because..." Spike looked up at Sear pleadingly. "She means more to me than just about anything. You know?"

He bit his lip, eyes damp.

The dragoness rolled her eyes.

"Okay, you can quit it with the little hatchling look." She snorted crossly. "And if anyone asks, I'm not helping you. I'm just... making sure you don't end up as charcoal. Got that?"

"Sure! And thanks."

Sear just shook her head.

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"

Twilight stared at the staff. She carefully reached out a hoof to touch it. Clearly it was some kind of magical artifact. Her skimmings of texts from the unicorn world told her as much. But how to work it?

She looked up at Rage, and quickly decided it would not be a good idea to tell a large, testy reptile that earth ponies couldn't actually work magic. "Well," she said carefully, "first things first, I'm going to need to hear all about its history."

"Huh?" Rage looked surprised. "Is that necessary?"

"Oh, very!" Twilight said. "It's essential to the operation of any magical artifact to have a full understanding of its history. Who it belonged to, how it was passed down, any enchantments and curses it might have had placed on it. Uhh... that kind of thing?"

Rage seemed to consider that at length. Twilight began to fear he would simply lose patience with her.

Then he suddenly grinned toothily.

"Well, pony, you're in luck. Because history happens to be a pet subject of mine. I can tell you anything you want to know."

"Oh! Well start at the beginning," Twilight encouraged. "And don't leave anything out, not even the smallest detail."

"It all started with the first Dragon Lord..." Rage said, with the comfortable air of someone telling a favorite fishing-trip story. And Twilight sat patiently and listened. She was mostly stalling for time, to come up with a new escape plan. Yet as Rage settled into relating the history of dragons and the Sceptre, she found herself fascinated, despite herself.

Twilight wished her notebooks and quills weren't ash at the bottom of a lava pool. She didn't want to miss a thing...

Sear banked to the right, circling around over the rocky plain of a neighboring island that she'd led them to. Rainbow was flying to her right, and Pinkie on her left, still carrying Spike on her back. Pinkie seemed to have appointed herself Official Steed to Spike the Brave and Glorious. She even hummed a stirring anthem to herself as she flew.

Sear was looking around in confusion. "That's strange. I thought he'd be here."

"Who?" Spike asked.

"Rage," the dragoness replied. "From what you said, sounds like he's the one who snatched your friend. Usually he's lurking around here someplace. Him and that rabble of dragons that hang out with him, mostly out of habit. I figured they'd be right here."

"Why?" Rainbow asked. "What's so special about this place?"

Sear's tone became uncommonly small and awed as she answered.

"The Lair..." she said. "... the Lair of the Dragon Lord."

"Oo-oooh!" said Pinkie Pie. "I love visiting cultural monuments! Does it come with a guided tour?"

Sear glared at her. "Are you out of your pony mind? No dragon in the Dragonlands would dare disturb it!"

"Well, I'm not from around here," Spike said. "And I'd like to see it. I mean," he added quickly, "if that's okay?"

"Sure. Why not?" Sear motioned with her head. "It's over this way."

A short flight over hills and glowing chasms brought them to a broad plateau. In the center of this was a wide depression, surrounded by ranks of hexagonal pillars, something like a natural amphitheater.

And in the center of that, there was what looked like a wide, multidigited claw. Formed from dark volcanic rock, the outcropping jutted from the plain, as if grasping for the gloomy, ash-darkened sky overhead. Glowing lava welled up from a vent between two of the stone fingers near the top, then switchbacked down the front slope, and finally tumbled over a wide, curtain-like falls to form a broad pool in front of the outcropping.

Sear swept down and landed by the edge of the pool. And then she stared up at the giant stone claw, with a kind of fearful devotion. "This is it," she said. "The Vault of Fire, the lair of the first Dragon Lord. The place from which he announced his rule over dragonkind. And the home of every Dragon Lord since. Well... up until the last one disappeared."

"Under mysterious circumstances, I bet," said Rainbow. "Foul play and suchlike!"

"Not a chance, pony." Sear frowned. "No dragon would dare!"

"So, what did happen to him?" asked Pinkie.

Sear shrugged. "None of us knows. One day he was there, huge as life. And the next..." She waved a claw vaguely. "Gone, as if he'd never been. We've been leaderless ever since."

"Why?" Spike asked. "Why doesn't some other dragon just take over?"

"Because we're dragons, that's why!" Sear snapped. "It's how we think. We think only of ourselves, of defending our lairs and our hoards and trying to look impressive to other dragons. It's all that seems to matter now."

"Well, that's not true," Spike objected. "You don't think like that for a start."

Sear gave him a sour look. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me."

"I mean," Spike went on, "what if other dragons felt the same way you do? What if they're just afraid to show it?"

"Not likely." Sear shook her head. "And even if they did, good luck getting any dragon to admit it. It'd take a lot for that to happen. Like the rule of a new Dragon Lord. Dragons would fall in line then, they'd have to."

"I thought you just said dragons only care about themselves," Rainbow objected. "But you'd be okay letting some other dragon boss you around?"

"You don't get it!" Sear said. "The Dragon Lord's word was law. The Bloodstone Sceptre saw to that. It had some kind of enchantment. Whichever dragon held the Sceptre could command all dragons, unconditionally. And yeah," she allowed, "it wasn't always great. Particularly if the current Dragon Lord happened to be in a pranking sort of mood. But at least it kept us from endlessly plotting and scheming against each other. Or just lazing around all the time, like we do now." She snorted crossly. "If we only had that kind of authority again, that kind of power again -- keeping us together, keeping us organized..." She shook a balled claw at the heavens, her tone suddenly fierce and snarling. "... then dragons might really be something! We could be the kind of power that dragons are meant to be!"

Nervous about the sudden aggression in her voice, Spike tapped his claws together. "So..." he asked cautiously, "what happened to this Sceptre?"

"It stopped working." Sear tossed a claw helplessly. "The enchantment broke, the magic faded away, who knows what. That's probably why Rage grabbed your friend," she added. "If I know him, he's got some kind of scheme in mind to restore the Sceptre's power and make himself Dragon Lord. It's all he ever talks about these days."

"Hmmm." Spike considered that. "Well, if we could fix this Sceptre, maybe Rage would give Twilight back?"

"Fix it? How do you mean?"

"Maybe there's something in the Dragon Lord's Lair that might help?" Spike pointed at it. "Like, I dunno, a spellbook or a set of instructions, or... something. Anything!"

"Even if there was," Sear said, "no dragon would dare disturb the Lair. It's... how do I put it? It's sacred. It's the one place we dare not go."

"Why not?" Rainbow asked. Then she grinned eagerly. "Oh, I get it! Is there some kind of horrible curse on it? Or some really nasty monster you'd have to fight to get in or get out of the place? Because," she whispered behind a hoof to Pinkie, "that would be so totally awesome!"

"No dragon knows." Sear shook her head. "Maybe it's a command placed on us by the Sceptre while it was still working. Or maybe it's merely custom. Either way, like I said, no dragon in the Dragonlands other than the Dragon Lord would dare enter the Dragon Lord's lair."

"Well, I'm not from the Dragonlands," Spike pointed out. "I was hatched on one of the pony worlds. So maybe this curse, or whatever it is, doesn't apply to me. In any case, if there's something in there that could help rescue Twilight... then I gotta go check it out." He pounded his claw with a fist. "I gotta! I'm her assistant. I owe it to her to try."

"Can't fault ya for loyalty, bud," said Rainbow. "And normally I'd be right with you, but uh..." She fluttered her wings, then nodded at the pool and falls of glowing lava.

"It's okay," Spike said. "Just wait for me here, all right?" He looked up at Sear. "And would you mind keeping an eye on my friends, just to be on the safe side?"

Sear was eyeing him unreadably. But then she nodded.

"Sure. Got nothing else to be doing right now."

"Okay, cool. Well, here goes nothin'..."

Carefully climbing down off the edge into the glowing pool, Spike tested its depth with his feet. Then he struck out swimming across the pool, heading for the curtain of lava. Looking back, he saw Rainbow and Pinkie waving at him.

"Go get 'em, Spike!" Pinkie yelled.

"We're all rootin' for ya, little guy!" Rainbow added.

Spike smiled back, uneasily. Then working up his courage, he reached the lava curtain.

And, holding his breath, swam through...

"So," Twilight said, "let me see if I have this straight. The sceptre --"

"The Bloodstone Sceptre," Rage corrected sternly.

"-- right, Bloodstone Sceptre, sorry. It was gifted to the first Dragon Lord, then passed down. And whichever dragon held the Sceptre was Dragon Lord and had absolute authority over all dragons."

"More than that, pony. No dragon could refuse a command of the Dragon Lord. The staff's power ensured that."

"Impressive," Twilight said. She eyed the staff with interest.

"It brought us together," Rage went on. "Bound us under a single leader. Before that we were, well... you saw."

"And the last Dragon Lord --"

"-- my father," Rage put in archly.

"Right. One day he just... went away and left it behind?"

"He vanished," Rage corrected her sternly. "Just disappeared, suddenly. None of us knew where he went. We only found the Sceptre where he'd left it."

"And following that, the Sceptre no longer had the power to bind dragons to whichever of you held it?"

"It should've been me!" Rage snarled. He slammed the cave floor with a claw, making Twilight jump. "Every dragon knew he planned for me to succeed him, when it came time for it. Even when other dragons tried to claim the Sceptre for themselves, it didn't work for any of them either."

"I see." Twilight nodded. "Okay. So now I know its history, more or less. But where did the Sceptre come from originally?"

"Before I answer that, pony," Rage growled. "You tell me something."

"Um... okay?"

"Where did you come from?" he glared at her. "You and those other ponies with you. The pink pony said you come from other worlds. But that's ridiculous! What other worlds? There's only the Dragonlands, after all."

"Well, the places we come from are... above the sky, like Pinkie said."

"Huh. Nothing up there but smoke," he grunted.

"True. And you can't see the other worlds from here anyways. But if you were to fly above the smoke, and -- look, maybe it'd be easier if I just showed you?"

"Huh. All right." Rage hauled himself up from the rock, and stretched. Then with one claw he grabbed up the Sceptre. And with the other he reached to grab Twilight.

She flinched back. "Uhhh, do you mind? Your talons are really sharp. Besides, I'm a pony, not a parcel."

"Hmph." Rage snorted. "What do you suggest?"

A few minutes later they were soaring high into the cloud-wreathed skies, with Twilight perched carefully on Rage's back, clinging tightly to one of his spines.

Rage glared back at her. "You tell anydragon about this..."

"Don't worry," Twilight called. "My lips are sealed."

She was glad at least that her flight goggles had escaped falling into the lava. She peered through them into the slipstream, as Rage flapped upwards, towards the smoke layer.

"The barrier's above all that," Twilight said, pointing at it. "I wish it was clear here, so you could see --"

Rage exhaled a broad blast of fire. It beat the clouds back, leaving a broad area of clear sky behind.

"Well, that's one way," Twilight agreed, wide-eyed. "Okay, so it looks like more sky up there. But if you just fly a little higher..."

"There isn't any 'higher', pony!" Rage eyed her over his shoulder. "This is where the sky ends! Any dragon knows that. Those that forget end up with bruised wings or a cracked skull, or worse. So all this talk about other worlds..."

"Look, just trust me on this. Fly upwards! But... slowly."

Unwillingly Rage did so. And Twilight reached up a hoof, feeling for -- yes, there was the barrier. She felt the tingling as her hoof passed right through it.

"There it is. Just a little higher."

Glancing back at her, Rage grunted crossly. And then abruptly flung himself upwards...

... and found himself drifting in the Space Beyond, surrounded by a thin, dragon-sized bubble of air. He stared around at the glowing, blue-green mist and countless worlds, shimmering like pearls, stunned into silence.

"Fry me alive..." He finally said. "It's true!"

"I know how you feel," Twilight said. "I found it pretty mind-blowing myself, when I first found my way out here from my world."

"Hmph. You must be quite the mage, to manage all this."

"Er, no no, just an ordinary earth-pony. Uhh... who's read up a lot about magic," she added quickly.

"Where's your world, then?" Rage peered around. "Where do you ponies come from?"

"Oh it's... over that way a bit," Twilight gestured vaguely. She didn't think it was safe, letting giant fire-breathing monsters know where home was. "But look, I answered your question. I showed you where we ponies come from. Now tell me where the Sceptre came from."

Rage wasn't paying attention. He was staring into the misty distance, looking thoughtful. "This must be where he came from..."

"He? Who do you mean?"

"The Mage... the one who gave the first Dragon Lord the Sceptre. And his power over dragons..."

"Really? Who was he?"

"We never saw him much. Kept to himself. But he gave the Dragon Lord authority over all dragons."

Rage looked back over his shoulder, eyeing Twilight speculatively.

"Hmph. You wanted to know where the Sceptre came from, pony? Maybe it'd be easier if I showed you."

"Wahh!" Twilight yelled as Rage suddenly folded his wings and dove back through the barrier. Then he continued onwards in a screaming power-dive, heading for the smoke-belching islands far below. And Twilight clung to the spine for dear life, wondering what in the world -- or rather, the worlds, drat it -- she'd gotten herself into now.

"Woah," Spike whispered, as he climbed out of the pool.

Beyond the lava curtain there was a large, dragon-sized cavern. Its walls were spangled with inset gemstones, casting a shimmering glow over everything. And piled in the center was a huge heap of treasure -- gold, gemstones, precious jewelry, the works.

It was the Hoard to End All Hoards.

But tempting as it was, the heap of gemstones and gold wasn't the thing that immediately caught Spike's eye. Instead, it was the library. It filled a smaller nook to one side. On tables and shelves and in large open chests, there were books and scrolls, plus a variety of artifacts: crystals and talismans and jewelry and mysterious-looking devices.

In a far corner stood a tall oval mirror, set in a gilded frame. Spike wandered over to the mirror and peered into it, seeing only himself staring back.

Then turning to one of the tables, and clambering up on a chair, he paged through a few of the books sitting on it. And he quickly realized two things: one, that this was just what they needed. And two, that he was way out of his depth here.

"Yep," he said, finally. "Spellbooks. But which do we need?" He glanced from book to book, completely at a loss. "Aw, geez! We need Twi to come take a look at all this. She'd have it figured out in no time."

From beyond the glowing lava curtain, Rainbow's voice called.

"Hey, Spike? You all right in there?"

"Fine, Rainbow," Spike called back distractedly, still staring around at the spellbooks and artifacts. He was trying to remember things as best he could. He felt sure that Twilight would have a ton of questions -- assuming they found her again.

"You're alive, Spike?" Sear called, sounding amazed.

"Yeah, I am," Spike called back. "Didn't hurt me a bit."

There was a pause.

"I'm glad to hear it," Sear finally replied.

"Look, Spike," Rainbow went on, "I don't wanna rush ya. But you might wanna come out here soon. We may need to bug outta here in a hurry."

"Why? What's up?"

There was no response. Spike climbed down from the chair, trotted back over to the lava pool and dove in.

When he surfaced on the other side of the lava falls, he immediately saw what Rainbow had meant. Approaching the Lair from seemingly every direction were hundreds of dragons. They were gradually gathering and landing on the hexagonal pillars of the amphitheater around the Lair, and in the open area in front of the Lair itself. Not crowding close, and definitely not there just because seemingly every other dragon for miles was here. Just sort of... casually present, you know. Just to see what all the fuss was about.

Spike quickly moved to hide himself behind a convenient rock jutting out of the pool. Happily, none of the dragons had noticed him. Then he dove under again, and swam for the edge, where he pulled himself out as quietly as he could.

Sear had moved a short distance away from the rock pool, acting as if she'd only just arrived herself. Rainbow and Pinkie were crouched behind her, trying their best to stay out of sight of the growing crowd of dragons. And as Spike hurried over, a large blue dragoness with curling horns came in for a landing nearby. "Sear?" she said. "Why are you here?"

"Could ask you the same thing, Cobalt," Sear tossed back casually. "What is all this? What's going on?"

"Got me," Cobalt replied, and tossed her head indifferently. "Rage just came roaring by, telling every dragon in sight to gather at the Lair. Said he had some kind of important announcement. That we'd be sorry if we missed it."

"And you all showed up? Just like that?" Sear smirked. "You'd think he'd figured out how to make the Sceptre work again."

"Eh, wasn't much else going on," Cobalt sighed, and flopped down where she was standing. "Might as well see what's got him so worked up this time. Just for the entertainment value."

Spike rejoined Rainbow and Pinkie, hidden behind Sear's considerable bulk. "Hey guys!"

"Hi, Spike!" Pinkie said. "What'd you find?"

Before Spike could answer, Rainbow shoved a hoof against his snout to keep him quiet, then pointed her other hoof up at the sky. Above them, they could see Rage powering down out of the sky, with the Bloodstone Sceptre gripped in one claw. On his back was Twilight, still clinging to a spine for dear life.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled, waving at her. And he would have run straight over to meet her but Sear stopped him, motioning with a claw for him to stay put.

Rage came in for a landing before the Lair, and briefly eyed Sear and the two ponies with her, before turning to face the still-assembling crowd.

"Dragons!" he boomed. "Hear me!"

"This had better be good," sneered the orange-scaled dragoness from the crowd. "My headache hasn't worn off yet."

"As some of you may know," Rage went on grumpily, "the first Dragon Lord was given the Sceptre and its power over all dragons by a mysterious and skilled Mage, a worker of enchantments... and magic!"

"Here we go with the magic thing again," grumbled Belch from further back in the crowd. "He's never gonna give that up." Several dragons around him nodded agreement.

Rage glowered at him. "But we never knew from whence this mage came... until now." He looked around at the gathered crowd. "I have determined the source of this Mage, and his magic." He grinned, and pointed a clawed finger upwards.
"He came from above the sky!"

There was silence, punctuated by a cough or two. And the inaudible but deafening rolling of hundreds of slit-irised eyes.

"That's it, he's gone right over the edge," muttered the orange-scaled dragoness. "Desperation will do that to you."

"You doubt me?" Rage rumbled dangerously. "I have proof! I've seen the worlds this mage and those like him come from. And I know how to reach them, through the power of creatures like these!"

He reached a claw around, plucked Twilight off his back and held her up for all to see. "Ponies! Ponies who can work magic and cross the boundary above the sky. And who can restore the power of the Sceptre, and the legacy of the Dragon Lords!"

He held the Sceptre aloft as well, triumphantly.

Again there was silence.

"Really," called the skinny lime-scaled dragon sitting near Belch. "Well, let's see ya do it then."

"Yeah," called another, dismissively. "I'm missing some choice basking time right now, Rage."

There were similar mutterings and grumblings from the assembled crowd. Rage snarled warningly at them, and at least the nearer dragons fell silent. Then he looked pointedly at Twilight, sitting on his claw and looking like she'd rather be anywhere else right now.

"Well, pony," Rage said. "You know our history, and that of the Sceptre. So work your magic, and restore our legacy."

"Eeeh..." whispered Rainbow. "He does know that earth ponies can't actually work magic, right?"

"I don't think he does, Rainbow!" Pinkie whispered back.

Twilight swallowed, and looked from Rage to the Sceptre, completely at a loss.

Then her eye fell on Spike, who was hopping from foot to foot in eager excitement, gesturing wildly and pointing at himself.

And Twilight turned back to Rage with a look of arch superiority. "All right, I suppose I could indulge you. But for a spell of this magnitude, I'm going to need some help... from my assistant over there, Spike."

She gestured at him, and Rage looked at him doubtfully.

"That runt? What can he do?"

"Apparently more than you give him credit for," Twilight retorted. "Now, do you want the Sceptre working again or not?"

Rage still looked uncertain, but he reluctantly set Twilight on the ground, then waited as Spike ran over to her and whispered hurriedly in her ear.

"A-ha," Twilight said, nodding. She glanced around at the assembled dragons. "I take it no dragon has ever actually seen the original imbuing of power to the Sceptre, right? Because it took place in there -- in the Lair itself!"

"What difference does that make?" Rage repied.

"All the difference in the world," Twilight said. "Or worlds -- whatever, yeesh! I need to re-enter the Lair to recover the magic used to charge the Sceptre."

Rage clutched the Sceptre tighter. "And take its power for yourself? Not a chance, pony!"

"Oh, I don't need the Sceptre. I just need one of you to bring me in there, to recover its magic." She gestured at the Lair's entrance. "I mean I'm good and all, but there are limits. I don't do walls of lava."

The assembled dragons looked at each other, uneasily. Even Rage looked nervous. "No dragon but the Dragon Lord would dare enter the Lair," he rumbled.

"Why the heck not?" Rainbow yelled from behind Sear, forgetting she and the others were trying to stay hidden.

"Because, pony," Rage replied, "no dragon who tries it has ever come back alive!"

"Well that's not true," Spike said. "I just --" But he quickly found Twilight's hoof shushing him.

"Well?" Twilight said, glancing around. "Are none of you up to the challenge? Are none of you willing to face the risk?"

Spike turned then and looked at Sear, motioning with his eyebrows. Sear sighed, and rolled her eyes.

"All right... fine," she said. "I'll do it."

"You, Sear?" Rage growled. "Why? What's in it for you?"

She made a face. "Something you wouldn't understand. Well, pony?" she added, "are we doing this?"

Twilight nodded, and allowed Sear to pick her up in her foreclaws. Then Sear turned, squared her shoulders, spread her wings and leapt forwards. Twilight barely had time to shut her eyes and hold her breath before they struck the wall of lava with a thunderous splash, disappearing inside.

For a long while, there was silence in the amphitheater.

All eyes were on the wall of lava. Minute after minute passed, with not a sound but the trickling and bubbling of molten rock.

And then, with a tremendous splash, Sear suddenly returned through the lava curtain, with Twilight in her claws. She landed and set Twilight down, then bowed and backed away from her respectfully.

And Twilight stalked straight up to Rage, and held out her forehooves.

"Give me the Sceptre," she ordered.

And the change in her attitude made every dragon in the amphitheater nervous. There was an absolute certainty, an unquestionable strength in her tone.

"Why?" Rage demanded.

"Because before I do this," she said quietly, "before I grant this kind of power to any dragon, I need to know the kind of dragon I'm dealing with. And you haven't been entirely honest, have you?"

"What do you mean by that, pony?" Rage thundered.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, if you'd care to use it," she snapped. "And all that talk about no dragon entering the Lair of the Dragon Lord, no dragon coming back alive? That's a lot of hooey, isn't it? I know you've entered the Lair yourself. Because otherwise, you wouldn't have had the Sceptre to begin with!"

Rage glanced around, uncomfortably. "Uh..."

"You found it in there, didn't you?" Twilight challenged. "Along with the Dragon Lord's armor and jewelry, sitting atop his hoard where he left them when he disappeared?"

"Well... alright, yeah," Rage allowed. "When no dragon had seen him all day, I took a chance. Maybe I just got lucky or something. And I found the Sceptre in there. But it should have been mine, in any case!"

"That remains to be seen. Now give it to me."

Rage glared at her, his teeth grinding, but said nothing.

"This is what happened before," Twilight said patiently. "With this Mage you spoke of. Dragons couldn't decide which of them should rule. So they left it to the Mage to decide for them. And he granted the Sceptre to the first Dragon Lord, the one he thought was worthy. You want to do this thing properly, don't you?"

Rage looked like he was going to refuse, going to fight to keep the Sceptre.

Then he sighed, his shoulders sagging. Gently, he put the Sceptre in her hooves.

"Yeah," he admitted. "I don't want there to be any question, any doubt. It's why I couldn't stand it when the old drake just up and vanished like that. Because then there was no one who could grant me the title properly. No way I could earn it, like all the Dragon Lords down through the ages."

"Fair enough." Twilight nodded. "Now, all I need to do is imbue the Sceptre with its magic again. Here, Spike, hold this for me a minute."

Surprised, Spike took hold of the Sceptre, and held it aloft, balanced in his claws, as Twilight placed a hoof on the staff and then loudly chanted a lengthy sequence of arcane syllables. She enunciated them carefully, as if to be certain she didn't get one wrong.

There was a sudden inrushing glow, a swirling of power which was sensed by everyone present. It coalesced in the Sceptre's gemstone, which glowed fiercely, sparkling with radiance.

And Spike's eyes went wide as the Sceptre's power swept outwards, flowing around him as well, and through him. He held the Sceptre up, suddenly standing tall with a fierceness that was completely unlike him. And from the Sceptre's gemstone a roaring pillar of fire blasted into the sky, reflected in fiercely shimmering glory by the eyes of every dragon present.

"Woah!" Spike gasped. "What was that?"

Twilight smiled. "The last time the Mage was here, he decided which dragon would rule, because he wanted a dragon who would serve him. But I don't have that right to choose. A dragon needs to decide. And I can't think of any dragon better suited than my assistant, Spike here."

"What!" Rage growled. "You're putting this runt in charge of us?"

"Only if he wants to be," Twilight said. "Or he could pass the Sceptre on to one of you, one who he thinks is deserving. That's how it's supposed to work. When a Dragon Lord's rule nears its end, he or she is supposed to pass the Sceptre on to another dragon, one who's proven themselves worthy."

"No!" Rage lifted a claw angrily. "We don't have to put up with this! I don't have to put up with this! That Sceptre should've been mine! Rrrrrr!!!"

"HEY!" Spike shouted, pointing the Sceptre at him. "Back off, ugly! Don't you dare touch Twilight. Or any other pony! Don't any of you dare! The ponies are our friends!"

Rage froze, his eyes slightly glazed.

Reluctantly, he lowered his claw. "Yes, Dragon Lord Spike..." he muttered. Grudgingly, but compliantly.

"Yes, Dragon Lord Spike..." The words were echoed by the entire crowd of watching dragons, standing there mesmerized by the glittering of the Sceptre's gemstone.

"Woah..." Spike stared around, then up at Twilight. "Did I just do that?"

"Uh huh." And she smirked. "Don't get carried away with power, bud."

"No way. Uh... so, what do I do now?"

"Like I said, it's up to you, Spike. And sorry for putting this kind of pressure on you. But I had to do something in a hurry."

"It's okay. I get it." Then Spike looked up at Rage. Who sighed.

"I'm sorry I called you a runt, Dragon Lord," Rage said. "And yeah, much as I hate to admit it, your pony friend is right. That is how power got handed down, from dragon to dragon. Usually through some kind of test of courage. I just... wanted my chance. A proper chance. Wanted to carry on the tradition. All I wanted was to prove myself. I don't know if you can believe me, after all I did, but... well, that's how it is."

"Actually, I kinda do," Spike said, surprising everyone present -- himself included. "I mean, if it was me, I'd want to prove myself. I'd want others to respect me for who I am and what I can do. I guess maybe any dragon would feel like that. They'd want a leader who commands that kinda respect from all dragons -- and for all dragons. They'd want a leader who makes them feel good about themselves, feel proud of being dragons."

He thought about that. And then turned to look at Sear. Who bowed her head, claws held out supplicatingly, prompting looks of astonishment from every dragon present. The sight of such a monstrous, powerful dragon lowering herself, humbling herself, before a mere hatchling... it made an impression, that was for sure.

"I understand, Spike. If that's how you feel about it, then... I'll go along with it..."

"Oh, good," Spike said. And put the Sceptre in her open claws.

Sear blinked in amazement as the Sceptre's spell washed through her. "Spike! What are you doing?"

"Yeah, what she said," Rainbow yelled. "You're just giving away that kind of power, that kind of respect? Just like that? What is up with that?"

Spike shrugged. "I live with Twilight and the other ponies now. I don't want to give that up. Like I said, they're my friends. And I don't need some kind of magic Sceptre to tell me that. And it's like I said earlier: if there's any dragon I wish was in charge here -- it's one like you."

Sear stared at the Sceptre in her claws, then up and around at the crowd of watching dragons, suddenly bowing their heads to her...

And she smirked evilly.

"Well then, little one," she said, a crafty edge in her voice. "You should make certain you know all about those to whom you grant power. Make certain they don't have a hidden agenda all along. Like looking for a chance to seize power? And then using it to crush their enemies? All those who've made them feel miserable, despised for who they are..."

She bared her teeth fiercely, glaring around at the assembled dragons, who were held motionless, powerless, trembling under her baleful eye.

And then she smiled down at Spike. And chuckled at the scared look on his face.

"Oh, don't worry, Spike. That's not gonna be my thing. It's not who I am. And I think you know that, or you wouldn't have given this to me."

Spike let out a relieved breath. "Phew! You had me goin' there for a minute."

"Likewise," Twilight said. "The last thing this place needs is a tyrant out for revenge. None of the worlds would be safe from that."

"You know, I couldn't agree more?" Sear said. "Well then... let's see if this thing actually works."

She held the Sceptre aloft and raised her voice. It boomed out over the watching dragons, echoing off the distant walls of the stone amphitheater. "Dragons, hear me! What Spike said, about the ponies being our friends -- that goes double for me! The ponies are our friends and allies, and no dragon will harm any of them! Furthermore, there are going to be a few changes in how we live as dragons. From now on, we don't take advantage of the small, the weak. We help them, we protect them. We prove we're worthy of our power as dragons, by using that power wisely -- to help others!"

Then she smiled down at Spike. "Those we hope we can call our friends...?"

Spike grinned back. And even though he felt no compulsion, even though the Sceptre's power didn't affect him, he stood tall and bowed humbly to her.

"Your word is my command, m'lady -- Oh Great Dragon Lord Sear!"

"Your word is our command, Great Dragon Lord Sear!" echoed the crowd. The dragons were all looking a little dazed, as if still considering what her commands meant for them.

Sear then looked at Rage. He ground his teeth, but nodded compliantly.

"Dragon Lord Sear," he acknowledged. "After all, you were willing to face the curse of the Lair, willing to risk your life. That... sounds like a fair test of courage to me."

"Well..." Sear allowed, "I did have a little help, a example set by my friends." She eyed Spike. "But just as long as you're okay with it, Rage. And who knows? Maybe you'll be Dragon Lord after me?"

"Yeah, about that," Twilight said. "That's something you're going to have to keep in mind. There's a reason the last Dragon Lord disappeared so suddenly. The Sceptre's power, the spell that drives it, it has a kind of accumulating curse associated with it. That means that if any dragon tries to keep its power for too long... uh, I'm not quite clear on exactly what happens, but I can't imagine it'd be pleasant."

Sear's eyes went wide, and she stared at the Sceptre, looking nervous.

"The last Dragon Lord, he must have forgotten," Twilight went on, "or maybe he just didn't feel like giving up power. And he left it too late. Either way, you'll need to remember, and make sure the Sceptre is passed on to a similarly deserving dragon, when the time comes."

Sear looked thoughtful, then nodded. And bowed her head to Twilight.

"I hear and obey, Oh, Wise and Powerful Mage of the Hoofed Ones."

Twilight blinked. "Who, me?"

"Well, somebody needs to interpret the original Mage's writings for us. And I don't see a reason why it shouldn't be you, Twilight Sparkle... Mage of the Dragons."

"Mage of the Dragons..." the assembled dragons intoned in response.

And Sear chuckled at that.

"You know, I could get used to this? Maybe it's good this thing has a time-limit." She looked over at Rage. "So how about it, Rage? When I've had my turn, you want to be my official successor? Just to be sure there's no lingering questions the next time?"

Rage snorted, and nodded fiercely. "Set me any challenge you like, Dragon Lord. I'm up for it!"

"Yeah! Dragon Lord Sear! Grrrr!" The cheering from the assembled dragons in response was loud, and long, and heartfelt.

Except from the dragon with the headache, who groaned, and then sighed resignedly.

"Oh, what the flame," she muttered. "Can't be much worse than the last one was..."

Some time later, the assembled dragons had been dismissed and had flown off to their own lairs and hoards, leaving only Rage and Dragon Lord Sear behind.

And Rainbow finally had a chance to ask the question she'd been fighting to hold back all along.

"Okay, Twilight. I know you're a genius inventor and all. But how the hay did you manage to work that spell? The one that powers the staff thingy?"

"Ahem... Bloodstone Sceptre?" Sear said, motioning with it.

"Yeah, whatever." Rainbow waved a hoof vaguely, still focused on Twilight. "How'd you do it? I thought earth ponies couldn't do magic. I mean, not all that great," she added hurriedly, with a glance at Rage.

Twilight smiled. "That's because I had a little help from my friends..."

And she called out across the lake of lava, through the curtain of molten stone, into the Lair. "Isn't that right, your Highnesses? It's okay, you can talk now."

"Oh, my word!" replied Princess Rarity from within the cave. "Thank goodness for that, Twilight. Is everything all right over there?"

"You know we still can't see what's going on," added Princess Fluttershy. "Did the spell work? We cast it just like you told us, just as you spoke the words."

"You did it perfectly, Your Highnesses," Twilight called back. Then she smiled at the astonished looks on her friends' faces. "That mirror in the Lair? The one next to all the spell-books? It works just like the portal gems from the unicorn world. In fact, it's the other way round: the portal gems are linked through the mirror, as a kind of fast-travel network. I was able to reactivate it, and then contact Princesses Rarity and Fluttershy to ask for their help, since they're much better at working magic than I am."

"And this... mirror-portal?" Sear said. "It's how the original Mage of the Dragons came to us? Which is why we never saw him arrive or saw him depart? Because he used the mirror in the Lair?"

"What?" Rage growled, as if offended. "Right under the very nose of the Dragon Lord himself?"

Twilight nodded. "The original Mage likely set it up as a way of getting easily from world to world, without having to open a portal on his own every time. Probably it was a way of saving magic power. And it's likely that's how he reached the world of the unicorns after he was done with this one... bringing along a certain dragon's egg...?" she added, with a hinting look at Spike.

"Me?" Spike goggled. "You mean... it was Grogar?"

Twilight nodded. "The Mage of the Dragons was Grogar himself. The writings in the journals in there prove it. I think even with his power, he was afraid of the dragons' might and aggression. So he created the Sceptre as a way of using their desire for power against them, to keep them fighting amongst themselves. Which meant all he had to worry about was one dragon: the Dragon Lord."

"One dragon to rule them all," Pinkie Pie whispered, amazed. And then looked around at everyone. "Whaaaat? It's just somethin' I read in a book someplace."

"Now," Twilight said reluctantly, "since we've gotten all that sorted out, I think maybe it's time we headed home, before we run into anything else around here. We can use the mirror in the Vault of Fire to get ourselves to the unicorn world. And then I can build another airframe to get Spike and me home. And maybe also borrow another portal gem to replace the one we lost. And we'll need to come up with a plan for how to deal with Grogar if he shows up again. After all, he created this portal network, so he could use it himself." Twilight shook her head, fretfully. "So many things to do. I wish I hadn't lost my notebook. I need to make a checklist to keep track of everything!"

Sear nodded, and held the Sceptre aloft. "We owe you a lot, Twilight... Mage of the Dragons," she said humbly. "You've given us back our pride, our sense of purpose. At least, that is, if Rage and I have anything to say about it. And if you need anything from us, if you need our help in facing this Grogar..." Her teeth ground fiercely as she said the name. "You just let us know, and we'll help you. After all... it's what friends do. Er... that is how you ponies say it, right?"

Twilight nodded. "Absolutely. And thanks... Dragon Lord Sear." She and her friends bowed in return. "Now, um... for starters, could I trouble you and Rage to give me and my friends a lift back into the Lair? Like I said, I'm good and all, but I don't do curtains of molten rock..."

"Goes double for us," Rainbow said.

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie nodded.

"Sure," Sear replied. Then she looked down at Spike, with a smile. "And thanks, Spike."

"For what?"

"For believing in me. For trusting me with this kind of power." She shook the Sceptre gently. "For making me feel like who I am means something. I mean, for once in my life I dove in and helped something small and weak, and this time it actually made a difference. That means a lot."

"Well, sure! No problem. Ahem, I'm Spike, the Brave and Glorious. It's what I do!"

Sear snorted, amused. "You know something, Spike the Brave and Glorious?"

"What?"

"If I had a little dragon of my own -- and I'm not saying I want one, mind you, but... I think I could do a lot worse than someone like you, Spike. You're a good little drake."

"Oh. Wow." Spike smiled up at her. "Thanks, Sear!"

Sear motioned with her head. "Now go on, get outta here. Your pony friends need you hanging around a lot more than I do."

Spike nodded, and then turned to find Twilight smiling down at him.

"You ready to head home, Number One Assistant?"

"You know it, Twi!"

And thus, the newly appointed Mage of the Dragons returned to that distant world from whence she came, somewhere in the vastness above the edge of the sky, in the Space Beyond. And from that day forth, things were much kinder and more peaceful in the world of the dragons, under the determinedly benevolent rule of the Great Dragon Lord, Sear the Caring.

Until one night.

It was a rainy night, deep in the dark and chill of the cold season, when not even the pools and rivers of fire could fully drive away the uncomfortable chill in the air.

In a rugged lean-to of rock shards a small pink dragon sat, forlorn and alone and very hungry. Her name was Scales. Her stomach growled, but she was too scared to go out into the pouring rain to scrounge for even one gemstone. And she felt too miserable and helpless to want to try.

There was a blinding flash of lightning. And when her sight had recovered, Scales found herself looking at a massive dragon, hovering in the air above her. It was the Dragon Lord. Scales was afraid, but the Dragon Lord told her not to be. And then took the small dragon along, back to the Great Hall of the Dragonlands, for a huge feast of gems and storytelling.

Scales sat with the Dragon Lord's family and friends and had the biggest, best dinner of gemstones she'd ever eaten. And then, while the dragons were telling stories, Scales realized that it would be so easy to seize power from the feeble and sensitive Dragon Lord. She saw her chance... and she took it! She claimed the Bloodstone Scepter, and took over as Dragon Lord. And she forced the old Dragon Lord to live out in the cold, just as she used to. And she laughed, long and cruelly, at how easy it had been.

For, as any dragon knows, peace and kindness and compassion and friendship, they are not things you can take for granted. They have to be earned, and maintained, and above all else, fought for. Or else the true nature of the dragon, the one all dragons must constantly fight against, will emerge and destroy them all.

Or at least, that's how the Great Dragon Lord, Sear the Caring always ended the story, when she told it on story nights.

And no one questions the word of the Dragon Lord...

The End

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and My Little Pony: A New Generation,
their characters and indicia are the property of Hasbro.
No infringement is intended. This story is a work of fan fiction, written by fans for fans of the series.