Introducing a member to the hoard...

Epilogue: Survival

No dragon has seen nor heard from their Dragon Lord. After her consort had to endure the final trial, it turned to a backlash for both of them. The trial caused repressed memories to emerge and caused Spike to go into hysteria, he also struck Ember and caused them to separate from each other. Driven mad, he ran off and not been seen since.

Not long after, she retreated to her own cave, having yet to show her face. However, it was noted that only her father was the one visiting her and it was he that had been trying to coax his daughter out of the cave. Due to her sudden and prolonged exposure, not to mention power drain from the Bloodstone and from Spike, the feedback from the Scepter had begun to tear at her.

Only with her help from the only other dragon she would consider withstanding the feedback alongside her, was Amethyst. Though it was at first because it seemed like the two had already gotten along, Ember had already liked her long before the Gauntlet of Fire. So, when the joke came up with them hooking up would be better than Garble’s choice came up, it was almost hysterical.

No one dared laugh though. But a sudden flux in the Scepter caused a negative surge on them both and Torch noted that two bodies was not enough, for it was adhered that Scepter had needed a third body. Spike’s and Ember’s bodies were oddities themselves to withstand a huge amount of power. With Spike being the first one to hold the Bloodstone during the Gauntlet trials and him handing it over to Ember, they had formed a bond there and then. Yet the unique circumstances between the two, the week or so apart from one another, along with the last few days together, had them inherit a huge chunk of the Bloodstone’s power. The only possibility that came in why they could handle it was because both were young; however, while Ember knew how to control her emotions and even level of her energy, Spike was already born with a different kind of magic. More specifically, pony magic. His body infused with pony magic, being surrounded by it in his life, had a profound effect on him that caused him to absorb more of the Scepter’s power, without the need of an additional body to channel that extra energy. This was only established once with the first female dragon lord prior.

However, with him gone and Ember having bonded with Spike, she had taken a lot more of the Bloodstone’s power and had no venting or stable point. As it was now, Amethyst had been her hope in preserving her life, but she too was succumbing to the power, if less so than Ember. Torch realized this as well, which is why he had made Ember take on a second mate until Spike returned…

…if he ever did.

After securing herself with Amethyst, she had yet to leave the cave, still stuck in a rut of emotional turmoil. Between rage at feeling the backlash that lingered for hours, the heart-tearing sobbing and crying that Spike had left her, or the unbearable agony knowing that he too, was in extreme pain with the backlash.

Dragons were sent to search and be vigilant for the dragon. His shape and size would slowly reside back to that of the whelpling he was, so it would be that much more difficult to find a small dragon. The sudden surge of the greed and the Bloodstone’s added power, wasn’t a positive feedback on him. Whatever memory he had witness, it broke his mind and the separation itself was all but mind-shattering for him. In the end, his fate was left unknown.

He was out there alone, half out of his mind with the other half in torment. The pain would be almost unending until he either vented it out or… burn up from the inside out without that pent up energy. How long that would take, no one knew.

Torch, for the number of times today in which he had lost count, tried to coax Ember out of her wallow. Today would hopefully be better now that he had Amethyst to help and their fellow hoard member to help.

“Ember, please… you have to stop doing this!” Begged Amethyst. “This stopped being funny the first three times!” She grunted and pulled at Ember’s tail before getting tired and letting go. “This is seriously an odd way to start out this little… hoard of yours.” She was referring to the fact that she kept having to drag out Ember out of her pillow fort, by the thick of her tail. Only for Ember to either smack, loosen, or slip out of Amethyst’s claws and sink right back in.

“And I told you, this is not humorous at all!” she yelled through the muffle of the pillows. “Just leave me be, Amethyst!” The pinkish dragoness sighed and shook her head.

“And how the blazing hells am I supposed to be the hoard of a Dragon Lord who doesn’t want to deal with her hoard?” She asked out loud. Though Torch had been watching, he shook his giant head as best he could.

“Ember did have her mother’s mood swings, though she was never like this.” He let out a huff of black smoke from his nostrils before looking at the pillows in which his daughter currently receded in. “Ember, listen to your hoard and your father. This wallowing in self-pity and sadness will not bring your mate back.” His voice softened by a large margin. “No drake around blames you for what Spike went through, nor do we Elders blame him for what had happened to him. He was in an odd state when it happened to him. We all knew the risks of what might happen. Whether it would have been a victory, a lose, an exploited weakness or anything, it was really up to you to be there for him in the end. You stuck by but that wasn't enough, so the blame is not on you.”

Silence reigned in the large cave and Amethyst and Torch looked towards the pillows, waiting for a response. After a moment, the pillows shuffled and Ember slowly emerged from the pillows with a solemn look. Looking at both her father and Amethyst, she sighed sadly and spoke in a somber tone.

“I-I… I just don’t know what to do?” she asked. “Spike was… is one of a kind and I… I thought that if he won the trials, it would make everything easy…”

“Nothing in life comes easy, dear Ember,” Her father responded. “Take it from a dragon whom has lived to see lifetimes of many and few, that life is an unbearable pleasure in which sometimes we take for granted. If you mother was awake to be here, I know she would say the same.”

Ember looked up at her father.

“And what would mother do if she were in my situation?” A small sniffled left her. “What would she do if you were gone and it was just her?”

Torch didn’t respond right away, for it was a question he never had a thought on. His life, from hatchling to now, had always been to be straight forward and worry not about the future, but of the present. To live in the moment and see where life would go. It was his exploration of the world, did he encounter Ember’s mother. She was… and still is, the most beautiful dragoness he had ever laid eyes on. Next to her, was Ember of course. But the dragoness that stole his heart and made him as weak as a hatchling, he was struck that he could be so easily swooned by her. Her wonderful sapphire scales that glistened like crystal blue ocean water in the sun, her stunning violet eyes practically glowed when any light was seen through them, and lastly was her personality.

She was the odd ‘-ness’ out, being raised outside of the dragon lands. However, it was her love for everything that made him love her. Her interests in ponies, her love for nature, her careless wonder about the world, made her one of the freest spirits in the world. She was not after a hoard when they met. She was not looking for a title after he became Dragon Lord. She did not lay and asked to be ‘bred’ like a common concubine. They took time to love one another and it would be almost a thousand years after they loved and became bonded through eternal flame, had they decided to bring a hatchling into the world.

She had only had one egg, but it was all they needed. Then, when the egg hatched and brought forth their ‘teardrop’ of joy into the world. Torch realized more than ever, that love was a lot stronger than greed or hate. He never allowed incidents affect the ponies because he didn’t hate them. He could never be stubborn to share his hoard of gems to the weak or the hungry dragons in his rule. All of this and more because of the one whom made him feel like the biggest and strongest dragon ever, long before he even became Dragon Lord.

Recovering from a nostalgic and a small trip to memory lane, Torch looked towards his daughter. A genuine smile touched his giant muzzle, something Ember hadn’t seen in a long time.

“If your mother were here, my little Ember, she would be strong and make sure to hold on to the one she loves. She would never give up, she would hold her head up high, and make sure that no matter what happens, she would always leave her heart open for her loved ones, She is here now, watching us through her dreams and I know for sure, that we should not give up hope on Spike. He might be little, but he is the strongest dragon I have ever met. He had passed the trials, no easy feat of themselves, he endured much pain and mental feedback and still walked.”

“There are few dragons that could managed that and not fall ill or lost themselves completely to the feedback he endured. I know for sure, he will return, not only stronger, but his love will be brought forth.”

Ember stared at her father, trying to find any false hope or lies through his teeth, but her father was never one for open lies. He just spoke carefully about certain words. But she knew her father was never one to misguide his daughter, nor dare fill her with mind and heart with deception.

She didn’t respond, for another set of footsteps began making her way into the cave and all the dragons turned to find a smaller dragoness coming in. All eyes turned to the smaller dragoness, whom somewhat meekly made her way into the cave with the giant dragon and her ‘future hoard members’ with an uneased form.

“I’m… here, Em- Uh… I’m here, Lord Ember.”

Ember sighed and made her way towards the smaller lithe dragoness. She came up to her breast and was about the size of Spike, though she had wings. Her light violet spines and tail fin countered sky-blue eyes that also countered her bright orange scales with her horns to her head.

Laying a paw on her, Ember gave a small smile towards her.

“Thank you for doing this Smolder. I know it was short notice… but I am glad you came.”

The smaller dragoness, known as Smolder, did her best to look up at her Hoard Mate or Hoar Maker. Though she had yet to fully call her that, Smolder knew it would be a matter of instinct and time before she warmed up to Ember’s various role titles. To her, she was still Ember, Current Dragon Lord, Iconic Dragoness across the Lands, The Fearful and Glorious Leader… and friend.

“Yeah… it’s no problem,” she said a bit hesitantly. “Though I am not sure why me? I mean there are plenty of other dragons whom would be better or trusting than me.”

“Better? No. Trustworthy? No. Since Spike left, there are thousands around whom would love to get a chance to be part of my hoard, but all of them would only be in it for my personal hoard or a title. You however, I know would not betray my trust. You got raised a lot better than most dragons, so your friendliness has been seen as weakness to others but not to me. You slowly gain the trust of others and make it seem as though it is to remain within a circle of associates but I know that deep down, you want to true friends.”

Smolder brushed her arms.

“I… I just want to be around others who aren’t always hard headed all the time… or…”

“Mean?” finished Ember.

Not meeting her eyes, she nodded.

Giving a small smile, she leaned down towards her hoard.

“I know what you mean. Spike changed my view in that way.” Looking up, Smolder met the kind of eyes of her Hoard Master, not seeing any anger nor regret towards Smolder’s weakness. Instead, understanding and compassion filled her ears and she was met with warmth unlike any other before.

“Spike showed me more care and more love than any other dragon…” She paused as she felt her heart began to burn with warmth then, it felt like it was taken away, immediately filled with ice cold. The surge was beginning to take more. She turned to Amethyst. The violet dragoness quickly went over to where the Bloodstone Scepter was held in the hoard room. Ember than turned back to Smolder.

“This is your last chance Smolder. You can still back out. I won’t make you do anything that you don’t want to do, especially if your parents had no knowledge of this.”

Smolder seemed hesitant but her eyes saw the Ember kept wincing in discomfort and pain. She needed a third body, a third part of her a broken piece and until the piece was fixed, she had to act like temporary binder until she was fixed.

Amethyst came back with the scepter in claw, handing it to Ember. Ember held onto it and presented it in front of Smolder. The small dragoness could practically feel the power radiating from it. Something she herself wished could have done the first the Gauntlet of Fire had been announced, but her parents hadn’t allowed her to leave the cave yet. But here and now, was an opportunity to present itself and it was practically being handed to her. Not in the ideal way she thought but to even understand a small fraction of its power, was practically every ‘ness’s' dream.

But this wasn’t power, this was survival for Ember and she needed a dragon she could trust. She chose a close friend and a dragon who wouldn’t abuse her power.

With not much else to go on, Smolder slowly reached out and wrapped her claw around the Scepter. Instantly, she gasped a power surge ran from the Scepter into her body. She felt… warmth and a wave energy fill her body from top to bottom, almost like the first time she breathe her first, big flame. Tingles ran up and down her body, running from her head to her spines, almost making her feel light headed before the power surge stopped and she let go.

She blinked, her mind slowly coming back from the transfer, her eyes looking at Ember. A smile was on her muzzle and seemed more at eased then before. A sigh left her as, if she had been released from a great burden. Her features seemed to brighten and the pain from the physical aspect was gone. Only the broken heart remained.

“Thank you.” She responded before she grabbed and pulled in Smolder for a hug. Smolder let out a small grunt before sighing softly and gently hugging back.

“My parents are gonna kill me once they hear of this.”

“Aww so cute!” squealed Amethyst before she half leaped and scooped them up both in a tight hug. Both females groaned in at the pink dragoness’s high and lovable enthusiasm but nonetheless, allowed her to enjoy their newly formed hoard.

The moment was enjoyable before Torch, whom had been watching the whole exchange with a small amount of satisfaction cleared his throat and caused them all to separate.

“As much as I enjoy this moment and happy to see you have successfully found your hoard, preventing your demise, I think that it’s time to announce this to the rest of the dragons.”

Ember, as much as she wanted to find Spike, knew that the rest of the Elders and the dragons must be coaxed into knowing she would be alive and was secured in her survival.

Torch then blinked and pulled his head out, causing all the girls to look up. The larger dragon had pulled out his head from the top, before returning and looking down at them with alarming eyes.

“It seems as if Spike has been found.”

Author's Notes:

RomeoDkat
Badwolf231
Both still amazing guys. Thank you!!!!
So, a question came up if I plan to add anything to Dragon Tails.
Yes I will. Two stories will be added after I include the final epilogue.
The time line those will take place will be after the final epilogue. So anything said there will contain traces of the future of the sequel is to come.

The final epilogue will be set up tomorrow. After that, I will try and update my mother stories until I have the commission ready for the sequel as well as the set up for it.
Lastly, any characters that I write, that do not belong to the show, are of my own creation. If you wish to use the names or ask to draw them, please let me know. I use these character names in other websites.
Thank you for reading and see you in the final chapter.