Ember pushed open two large metal doors and looked around the room she was in. It was spacious, with a large trophy case to the left showing various medals, trophies, and photos hanging up. On the right side were some chairs to serve as a waiting lobby, but no dragon was sitting there. Around the room were several armored dragons walking around, talking to one another, or two of them escorting another dragon in an orange jumpsuit across the large room.

I hope they haven’t been too rough on him, thought Ember.

As Ember walked up to the large desk in the center of the room, all the dragons froze in shock and immediately stood up straight and saluted. Ember ignored them and walked up to the nervous white dragon sitting behind the desk. He quickly got up and saluted her and tried to stop himself from shaking.

“Lord Ember, t–this is an unexpected visit,” he stuttered. “We’re honored by your presence here.”

Ember held up a claw. “Spare me the sweet talk. I’m here because I got some things to take care of here.”

The guard tilted his head in confusion. “Things to take care of? Is it an inspection?”

“No. I’m here to see a friend of mine,” said Ember. “He’s being held here.”

“Who is this prisoner?”

“Matches,” she answered.

The guard looked shocked. “Matches? Your personal bodyguard?”

Ember raised an eyebrow. “You have a problem with that?”

“Well, it’s just that there’s been some new orders given in regards to him. Happened shortly before you arrive.”

Ember leaned in and glared. “What is it?” she asked, coldly.

The guard gulped and said, “H–he’s being released.”

The Dragon Lord stepped back and looked shocked. “Released?”

The guard nodded. “Yes. From what I’ve been told, a deal has been reached with him. The process for his release is just about finished.”

Ember rubbed her chin. “Before he’s allowed to go, I do have one last thing I need from him.”

“One last thing?”

The dragoness nodded. “There’s something I need to discuss with him in private. Is there a room we can both use?”

“We do have a conference room the warden uses from time to time,” said the guard.

“That’ll do,” she answered. “Now take me there and bring Matches as soon as you can.”

The dragon nervously saluted again. “Y–yes, my Lord.” He walked over and pushed open the double doors. “This way please.”

Ember walked over to the doors and went through. She followed the white dragon down the rocky corridor. As she walked down, she couldn’t help but think of what happened not too long ago.

You can say all you want that I was responsible, but you don’t have any proof at all, Garble’s voice rang out in her head.

The dragoness snorted slightly. “I know he’s behind this, but where do I go from here?” she asked herself. “There has to be something I’m missing here. Something I just can’t put my claw on it.”

She closed her eyes. “Garble, how did you do it?”

“Lord Ember?”

She opened her eyes and stared at the confused guard.

“Did you say something?”

Ember waved a claw. “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m just thinking to myself is all.”

The guard stared at her for a moment, but then pushed open a large metal door. “In any case, this is it.”

The Dragon Lord stepped into a large, metallic room with some lit chandeliers hanging above. In the middle was a large table with several chairs around it, and at the end a large chalkboard.

The guard looked at Ember. “Shall I have some guards posted here, my Lord?”

Ember shook her head. “No. I want this to be a private conversation between me and Matches.”

“Very well,” he said with a bow. “We’ll bring him here at once.” He walked out of the room and shut the door.

Ember took a cushioned red chair at the end of the table and sat in it. She put her hands together and tapped her fingers.

“I know I’m missing something, but what?” she asked herself. “Just how did Garble do it? It’s too much of a coincidence that he was ‘concerned’ and had that camera. But there’s too many questions about his actions.”

Ember sighed and leaned back in the chair. “He’s taunting me about this, and I know it. He knows what he’s done, but won’t admit it. Somehow though, I will make him pay for this.”

The sound of the door knocking brought Ember out of her thoughts. She leaned forward and looked at the door. “Come in,” she said.

The door opened up and the white dragon was there. “Lord Ember, he’s here. I should warn you about something though.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“The prisoner is a little…restless,” said the guard, hesitantly. “His brief time here has made him a little on edge.”

Ember narrowed her eyes. “First of all, Matches is not a prisoner; he’s my friend. Second, I’m sure Matches is okay. He’s tougher than you think.”

The guard gulped nervously. “M–my apologies, my lord.” He moved out of the way. “Here he is.”

Ember saw Matches’ foot step in and smiled slightly. But as he stepped in, Ember’s smile faded and her eyes widened in disbelief. Matches was shaking slightly and had a petrified look on him. His eyes darted around and he gulped slightly.

Ember got up and walked over to him. “Matches, what happened to you?”

He said nothing.

Ember looked over at the guard and glared. “What did they do to him?”

The guard shrunk back a little. “Lord Ember, they’ve been interrogating Matches about the incident in Equestria and his failures in his duties. They may have pushed him a little during that time.”

Ember growled softly. “I’ll deal with some of the methods the guards use later, but for now, leave us alone.”

“Yes, my Lord.” The guard quickly hurried out and shut the door.

Ember looked at Matches with a concerned look on her. “Matches, what happened last night?”

Matches gulped again and his lips quivered. “They...they kept me up for most of the night,” he said in a hollow voice. “They demanded to know about everything that happened. I told them the truth, but they weren’t satisfied.”

“Why not?”

“They were asking a lot about why I wasn’t there to protect you. One guard thought I had committed treason by allowing something like this, and abandoning my duty.” Matches put a hand to his head and took a deep breath. “It just went on and on all night.”

Ember grimaced. “Don’t blame yourself, Matches. If I knew what was going on, I would’ve stepped in and stopped this.”

Matches walked over and sat in one of the chairs. “You couldn’t have known this would happen. Especially doing something like this.”

A thought clicked in her head. “Something does bother me, Matches. The guard said that you were released because of deal. What was it?”

Matches bowed his head down. “I...I had to confess to my crimes.”

“What!?”

“The captain gave me a choice, Ember,” he said. “He said if I confessed that I had purposely abandoned my duties and failed to protect you, they wouldn’t make me stand trial.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem too bad,” said Ember.

“On one condition.”

“Condition?”

Matches buried his head into his hands. “They dishonorably discharge me.”

Ember’s eyes widened. “WHAT!? Matches, you can’t be serious!”

“What choice did I have?” he asked. “If I didn’t take the deal, I’d stand trial and be thrown into jail. No matter how you look at it, Ember, I was done for.”

“They can’t do this,” spat Ember. “I’ll talk to the captain and make him take you back!”

“Ember, don’t even bother,” he said. “What good would it do? Even if you order them to take me back, I would never get the trust of the captain back again, and every guard there would see me as a failure.”

Ember frowned. “Matches, I don’t know what to say.”

The drake held his hand up. “Don’t say anything. All I got to say to myself now is what am I going to do now?”

Ember rubbed her chin and then snapped her fingers. “Matches, there is something you can do now.”

“And that is?”

“Help me prove that it was Garble who did all of this.”

Matches looked at Ember, and his eyes steadily narrowed. He got up and snorted. “Who did all of this?” he asked in an icy tone. “I’m looking at her right now!”

Ember gasped. “W–what?”

Matches pointed at the Dragon Lord. “It’s your fault everything led to this!” he barked. “If you just told me about what was going on between you and Rarity over Spike, we could have stopped it from getting as bad as it did!”

“But, Matches!” argued Ember.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses!” he shouted. “You held back this secret for so long, that it got out of control! Now look at what’s happened! The Dragon Council has stepped in and taken control of this matter! I’m officially no longer a guard! Now this alliance that a dragon you cared about so much created is in danger of falling apart because of this damn love triangle!”

Ember glared. “I wasn’t the one who started this!” she argued. “Rarity threatened me to stay away from Spike, and wouldn’t stop stalking me every time I was with him. She’s as much to blame too!”

“And that doesn’t make you any less responsible?”

Ember opened her mouth to respond, but couldn’t find the words.

“You don’t get it, Ember,” said Matches. “You’ve talked about how much you care about friendship, and how much you wanted to change dragons. Yet, I’ve seen the opposite from you.”

“What do you mean?”

Matches crossed his arms. “Remember the day you announced about going to Equestria to the fellow dragons? You said you wanted to learn about friendship, and pass on what you learned from Spike. Well, you’ve done a poor job showing that!”

Ember glared. “Hey! That’s not true!”

Matches raised an eyebrow. “Really now? When you first became Dragon Lord, you said you wanted to change the way dragons were. That instead of relying on brute strength and intimidation, you valued wisdom and compassion. Yet, I’ve seen the very same things you were against.”

“But I–”

“Just let me vent!” bellowed Matches. “If you truly cared about friendship, you would have trusted me! If you wanted to pass on what Spike taught you, you and Rarity would never have done something like this! Now look where it’s landed all of us!”

“I didn’t want it to get like this!” yelled Ember. “I was so tired of how Rarity treated me! I had to do something to tell her to back off!”

“So it never crossed your mind to tell me this!? Aren’t friends supposed to trust each other with stuff like this!?”

Ember shrunk back a little.

Matches took a deep breath. “I just have one question for you, Ember,” he bitterly said.

Ember gulped a little. “W–what?” she nervously asked.

“Was it worth it?”

Ember froze. “Excuse me?”

“Was it worth it?” repeated Matches. “Was this petty feud between you and Rarity had worth all of this? You have nothing now. I’ve heard some guards talk about how they don’t trust how you rule. The Dragon Council has taken over this entire investigation. The alliance is all but finished. Worst of all, Spike, the dragon you said you cared about, doesn’t even trust you any more. Was it all worth it in the end, Ember?”

The dragoness said nothing as she looked away in shame.

“You know what? There is actually one good thing from all of this,” said Matches.

Ember looked up. “There is?”

“Yeah, you and Rarity can now spend the rest of your lives bickering to each other about how much you cared more about Spike than the other.”

“Matches, wait!”

“Oh, please, Ember. You two will make such great friends,” he said, sarcastically. “She’s really about the only friend you have now.”

Ember gasped. “Matches, you don’t mean…”

The drake got up and walked over to the door. “Maybe some of those dragons were right. Maybe dragons don’t do friendship after all. Not after what I’ve seen.”

Ember got up. “Hold on, Matches.”

He opened the door. “Goodbye, Lord Ember,” he spat.

The dragoness froze from the cold way he said it. Matches walked out the door and slammed the door shut. Ember stayed frozen in place for what seemed to be hours. Everything around her seemed to become a blur and fall apart. All her hopes for making things right, had been snuffed out. She looked down at the ground and clenched her fist tightly. With a loud roar, Ember punched the wall nearby.

Ember ignored the throbbing pain from her hand and put her head against the wall. “I got nobody left now,” she said, sorrowfully. “Almost the entire Dragon Lands doesn't trust me now, Spike hates me for what I did, and now I’ve lost so many friends over something so stupid as a love triangle.”

Ember felt something click in her head. “Love triangle,” she said. “I wonder.”

She thought back to what Matches said. She’s really about the only friend you have now.

A mixture of guilt and nervousness filled the Dragon Lord. “Perhaps Matches is right. There is only one pony I can talk to. A pony I need to tell a lot of things.”

Ember walked over to the door and opened it. “It’s time to finally settle this thing once and for all.”

Twilight looked horrified. “What did you say?”

“For the third time, Twilight,” said Luna in a bit of an exasperated tone. “The lawyers turned down your request.”

“This isn’t fair!” objected Spike. “What’s the deal with those guys?”

“I agree with Spike,” said Fluttershy. “Why would they do this?”

Luna narrowed her eyes. “They were cowards in the end unfortunately.”

Starlight tilted her head in confusion. “Cowards?”

The princess nodded. “Oh, at first the lawyers were all too happy to take on the case,” she said, sarcastically. “They must have thought that the idea of coming to the defense of a hero of Equestria and one of the Elements of Harmony would have elevated their careers.”

“Somehow, I’m not surprised by that kind of thinking,” said Applejack.

“As irritating as I found their actions, I figured as long as one of them would help, things would be okay,” continued Luna. “But then I told them where they were going.”

“The Dragon Lands,” said Starlight.

“Correct,” said Luna. “Once they heard they were going there, they immediately changed their minds and refused to take the case.”

Rainbow snorted. “So they’re going to a different place to do their job. What’s the problem here?”

“The problem is that these lawyers cared more about their own lives than their personal gain,” replied Luna. “There have been stories about ponies going to the Dragon Lands that are grim. They refused to go there in fear the dragons would kill them.”

“So make them do it!” offered Rainbow. “Give them a lot of bits or something to make them change their minds!”

“I did offer them all a huge reward for their efforts,” said Luna. “But they said they’d much rather turn in their badges and retire than deal with the likes of dragons. I assure you though, that those cowardly lawyers will be more afraid of what I’ll do to them once this is all over.”

The group looked at one another with worried expressions on them.

“What do we do now?” asked Pinkie. “Summon a lawyer?”

“We’d probably get the same response Luna got from all those lawyers in Canterlot,” said Applejack.

“We can’t just leave Rarity like this,” said Fluttershy. “We need to find somepony fast.”

“You got any ideas, Twilight?” asked Rainbow.

The alicorn didn’t respond.

“Twilight?”

No answer came again.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and turned to the princess. “Hey, egghead! You got any ideas!?”

The group turned around to see Twilight had a hand up to her chin and had her eyes closed.

“Twilight?” asked Spike.

The princess opened her eyes and got up. “I think I know what I need to do.”

Starlight smiled. “That’s great! What’s the plan?”

“I need to get to the library and read some stuff.”

Everyone in the room gave Twilight a deadpanned look.

“You can’t be serious,” said Luna.

“Twilight, is this really the best time for something like reading?” asked Rainbow. “Even if it was for a Daring Do reading club, I don’t think this is really the time for that!”

Twilight waved a hand. “Rainbow, it’s not for something like that,” she assured. “This is something I need to do immediately in case everything else fails.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “If everything else fails?”

“Correct, Spike,” said Twilight with a nod. “In fact, I think you better come with me to help. I could use your assistance.”

The drake looked shocked. “Help you with reading? Rarity is in trouble right now, Twilight! What good would reading some book be?”

“You’ll understand when we get to the library,” she replied. “But in the meantime, we should explore some other options.”

“Other options?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight looked over at Princess Luna. “Did you go around Manehatten or the Crystal Empire to see if anypony would take the case?”

Luna shook her head. “I spent most of the day arguing with the Canterlot lawyers about taking the case. Why do you ask?”

Twilight looked at the clock to see it was about to be six o’clock. “I need you and the girls to do some quick looking around for a lawyer,” she said.

Applejack frowned. “This is going to be a bit hard, Twilight,” she said. “We got a long way to go and we don’t have a lot of time. It’s hard enough getting to Manehatten, but to go both there and the Crystal Empire is impossible.”

“We should split up then,” suggested Luna. “We can cover more ground that way.”

“That’s what I was going to suggest,” said Twilight. “Princess Luna, you take Applejack and Pinkie to Manehatten to search for any lawyers available.” She then turned around. “Starlight, you take Fluttershy and Rainbow to the Crystal Empire. All of you meet back here in two hours, okay?”

“Right!” said the group.

Starlight took Fluttershy’s hand. “Better hold on tight,” she said. “This is going to be a long teleportation.”

Fluttershy gulped a little. “O–okay,” she nervously said.

“Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with magic like this,” said Rainbow. “Did Twilight ever tell you about how she accidentally switched our–”

“RAINBOW!” Twilight’s face went red.

Starlight smirked a little. “I’ll have to ask about that later,” she said. “See you all later.”

Her horn glowed, and in a bright, pink flash, the three were gone and the smoke around them went up into the air.

Luna nodded and held out her hands. “All of you should take my hands too. We have little time to and a lot of ground to cover.

Applejack took Luna’s hand. “Let’s do this.”

Pinkie squeed in excitement. “This is going to be fun!”

Luna smiled softly. “We shall return, Twilight. Hopefully, with better news this time.

The night princess’ horn glowed and in a blue flash, they were all gone.

After they were gone, Spike turned to Twilight. “So what’s the big idea you got?”

Twilight smiled a little. “Let’s just say the Dragon Council isn’t going to know what hit them.”

Spike tilted his head in confusion and raised an eyebrow as the alicorn left the room.

The guard looked at Ember with an anxious look. “Are you sure about this, my Lord?” he inquired.

Ember nodded. “I’m positive. Now is she ready?”

“Yes, Lord Ember, but I have to express my concern. You’re talking to somepony who attacked you by yourself. Shouldn’t at least one or a few guards stay around in case she tries anything?”

“I’ll be fine,” replied Ember. “She’s got no way of attacking me here. Her magic is nullified with the ring on her, she’s in chains, and she and I are separated by this.” She put her hand up against a set of thick iron bars set into some thick, black stone. “Now bring her in.”

The guard hesitated a little, but bowed in acknolwedgment. “Yes, my Lord.” He left the room and closed the door.

Ember took a deep breath and took in her surroundings. Aside from the iron bars separating the room, there was little else. The stone wall around the bars were formed into a small table on both sides. A few torches lit the room since there were no windows. At the back of the room was a door similar to the one on Ember’s side.

The dragoness let out another deep breath. “I just hope she’s willing to talk; even if she hates my guts.”

The door at the back of the room opened and a green dragon entered. “Lord Ember, the prisoner is ready.”

“Bring her in,” ordered the dragoness. “Leave us alone. This is something I want to talk to her about in private.”

The guard saluted. “Very well, my Lord. Don’t hesitate to shout for us though if she tries anything against you.”

Ember grimaced. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think that’ll be needed. Now bring her in.”

The guard bowed and stepped aside to allow the prisoner in. Ember watched closely as the orange suited prisoner was let in and then escorted to the chair nearby. Upon the lights of torches allowing Ember to see her guest, her eyes widened a bit.

“Rarity?” she asked.

Ember figured that the unicorn was feeling down with her current situation, but was shocked at how she looked. Rarity’ mane was a complete mess with it being disheveled and was no longer curly like it was. Her eyes were bloodshot and Ember noticed a bit of moisture around them. She was shaking slightly in terror.

“Rarity…” she whispered.

“We’ll leave you now, my Lord,” said the guard.

Ember jumped a little as she was broken out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat and nodded. “Thank you. Now leave us.”

The guard bowed and walked out of the room. When the door slammed shut, an eerie silence descended upon the room, save for the crackling of the fire from the torches. Ember tapped her fingers against the table as she tried to think of something. Rarity was motionless and looked dead eyed as she stared at the floor.

Ember cleared her throat. “Um...hey, Rarity, how are you?”

The unicorn didn’t respond.

Maybe that was a bit too much? thought Ember. She rubbed the back of her head. “You doing okay? I know the Dragon Council talked to you about...well, you know.”

Rarity whimpered a little, but said nothing.

Okay that was too much. Perhaps a better approach is needed. She took a deep breath and said, “So, I figured you had to be lonely with nopony to talk to and I thought that maybe I’d come by to cheer you up.” Ember forced a smile, but tried to not make it too wide.

Rarity looked at the Dragon Lord with the same dead eyed look as before, but mumbled something.

Ember raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

Rarity closed her eyes and looked away. “Come to laugh at me, Ember?” she whispered in a hollow tone. “Laugh at how I’ve fallen? I bet you’ve been laughing this entire time I’ve been held here.”

The dragoness narrowed her eyes slightly. “No I haven’t,” she said, firmly. “Truth be told, I’ve been dealing with my own issues here, Rarity. Even if I wasn’t dealing with my own problems, I wouldn’t make the time to come here and laugh at you.”

Rarity scoffed and frowned.

“You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to,” said Ember. “But I did want to come by and see you. There’s been a lot on my mind since that day at the beach, and I think it’s time to finally settle some things.”

Rarity slowly turned her head back to Ember, but was staring at the floor. “What do you want from me exactly? I’ve lost so much now. I’m stuck in this prison. I’ve got no friends around here. But worst of all, I’ve lost my beloved Spikey Wikey.” A few tears ran down her face, but she quickly wiped them away.

“I’m actually in a similar position to you.”

Rarity looked at Ember with a mixture of anger and incredulous on her. “Excuse me!?” she shouted. “You are in a similar position to me? Unless you’ve been arrested, you’re not stuck in this prison! Plus, you at least have a friend!”

Ember frowned as she looked down. “I don’t think so.”

Rarity stared at Ember curiously. “You don’t think so? What do you mean by that?”

“...Matches. It’s Matches,” said the Dragon Lord. “We had a bit of a fall out.”

Rarity looked shocked. “What!?”

“I was coming to the prison to see him and see what I could do to help him out, but he was being released after he made a deal with the guards. In exchange for his confession about failing his duties, he would be released, but would be dishonorably discharged from the Guard.”

The unicorn frowned. “That’s horrible, Ember. But why was he angry at you?”

Ember had a solemn expression on her. “It’s all because of what happened at the beach. He yelled at me about how I didn’t trust him about the feud between us, and that because of what I did, he lost everything. I tried to let him know that I never wanted things to get as bad as it did, but he wouldn’t listen. Now I don’t even know if he’ll ever want to see or speak to me again.”

Rarity moved a little and rubbed her arm. “I’m sorry to hear that, Ember,” she said.

Ember let out a sigh. “Don’t worry about it. In a way, Matches was correct; I’m responsible for this mess we’re all in. But it goes beyond that. Even here at home, I’m kind of a prisoner here now.”

“A prisoner?”

“It’s hard to explain,” said the dragoness. “Ever since the beach incident, dragons have been questioning my leadership skills. Some think I’m weak because I allowed myself to be beaten up by a pony. Others think I was too foolish to trust ponies so quickly and to encourage stuff like friendship. I’ve never felt so unwelcome here at home.”

Rarity looked a little remorseful. “Ember.”

Ember let out a sigh and looked down with anguish. “Some Dragon Lord I turned out to be. I let this whole thing get out of control. I’m not seen as a trustworthy leader with the other dragons now. My actions cost my only friend here his job and my friendship with him. Even my own feelings get in the way of what was best for both Equestria and the Dragon Lands.”

Rarity said nothing and looked away.

“Maybe Spike was better off being Dragon Lord,” said Ember. “If I convinced him to keep the title, maybe this all wouldn’t have happened. Maybe I wouldn’t have lost his friendship. Maybe I wouldn’t have the chance to...to…” The dragoness’ cheeks flushed red as she looked away.

“Stop.”

Ember looked back at Rarity. “What did you say?”

The unicorn’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I said stop. As in stop beating yourself up over this.”

The dragoness was confused. “What are you talking about? It’s my fault that everything led to this. If I wasn’t so stupid I wouldn’t have–”

Rarity slammed her hands against the table and glared. “You are not at fault, Ember!”

Ember was shocked by the sudden outburst of the unicorn. Her mouth was agape as she stared at Rarity.

“This was never your fault, Ember,” said Rarity. “The only one who is truly at fault for everything from Spike hating both of us, to my imprisonment, is me alone.”

Ember gasped and opened her mouth to speak. Rarity held up a hand though to silence her.

“Let me finish, darling,” she insisted. “I’ve had a while to think about this whole thing and my actions. I’ve thought about everything over the past couple of days and the way I acted around you and all of my friends. In the time I spent alone in my cell, I thought of the day I heard you were coming and how furious I felt.

Rarity narrowed her eyes slightly. “I thought about how Spike always went on about you, and how upset I was getting. I thought at first those thoughts were just because he was too worried about you when I knew Spike made the right choice, but those thoughts started drifting towards jealousy.”

Ember looked a little surprised. He talked about me that much?

“I was jealous about how Spike seemed to care so much about you more than me,” said Rarity. “But rather than find a better way to deal with how worried I was about Spike leaving me, I decided to do anything I could to make sure you would never make any advances on my Spikey Wikey.”

She let out a sigh and sunk back into her chair. “You were right about me in the end, Ember.”

The dragoness raised an eyebrow. “Right about what?”

“About what you’ve said about me,” answered Rarity. “You were right about how I’ve been around Spike. How I used him and how I’ve been around him. Instead of being happy for him about how felt about you, I selfishly held onto him like as if he was more of a piece of property than a friend. For all my talk about how much I care about him, I never even bothered to tell him how I really felt. Now because of what I’ve done, I’ll never have that chance.”

She looked down and tears streamed down her face. “I don’t deserve a wonderful dragon like him after all I’ve done to you and him.”

Ember leaned back as she took in everything she heard. A mixture of feelings overwhelmed her as she tried to decide what to do or what to say. She glanced back at Rarity shaking slightly and a few tears running dripping down.

She took a deep breath. “Rarity, I appreciate what you have told me; I really do. The truth is though, I’m just as much to blame as you blame yourself.”

“Ember, you weren’t the one who–”

“I was the one who hit you first that day on the beach,” interrupted Ember. “If I was truly the Dragon Lord I was supposed to be and carry on what Spike taught me, I wouldn’t have let my own feelings get the best of me, and I wouldn’t let things spiral out of control.” She looked away in shame. “In the end, I was no better than you.”

Rarity shifted around a little. “Ember, there is one thing I do want to know.”

“And that is?”

“What do you truly think about Spike?”

Ember froze up. She had heard that question and statement multiple times, and always felt a mixture of anger and embarrassment. But now, she felt no anger, no frustration, just a mixture of regret and nervousness.

“Ember?”

The dragoness let out a sigh. “I’ve been asked that so many times now over the last couple of days; by both you and Matches. I always gave the same response that I saw Spike as a friend only, but now, after everything that’s happened, I can’t lie anymore.”

“So it is true then.”

Ember nodded. “Spike wasn’t like other dragons I’ve seen here in the Lands. Some of the male dragons here were either overly macho, loud, boastful, and just obnoxious. Most of them weren’t like that at all. They were nice and all, but they never really interested me.”

“Like Matches?” inquired Rarity.

“He’s different for sure,” replied Ember. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really nice guy and he is pretty cool, but he and I were strictly friends. Even if I did have some feelings for him, I think Matches has his eyes on someone else.”

Rarity smiled softly. “I see what you mean.”

“But Spike was a different dragon,” continued Ember. “Sure, he was pretty childish, but yet very mature. He may be a runt and not as strong as some of the other dragons, but he’s resourceful and smart. He goes out of his way to help others and make friends with them. He even went out of his way to save me during the Gauntlet of Fire. Most dragons never cared much about one another that much, but Spike was something else. He was just...wonderful.”

“I know the feeling, darling,” said Rarity. “Truth be told, when I first met Spike, I thought he was just being childish by him chasing after me. But over the years, I saw how wonderful he was and just how he was there for me when I needed somepony. He led a rescue effort to save me from some Diamond Dogs and was always around to assist.”

“Something I’ve been wondering, Rarity,” said Ember. “You knew he loved you and you grew to have the same feelings. Why not tell him sooner?”

Rarity frowned. “I was going to tell him once he turned eighteen. I may have loved him, but I don’t think Equestria would smile upon hearing a famous fashionista was dating an underage man. I was going to tell him, but my nerves got the best of me. I feared he had moved on from me since he wasn’t doing any of his usual acts to sway me. I wanted to tell him, but I let my nerves and time ruin what chance I had.”

She looked up at Ember. “Then you entered the picture.”

“The Gauntlet of Fire happened,” said the dragoness. “Then I met you, Princess Twilight, and Spike.”

“And you know the rest,” finished Rarity.

Ember leaned back into her chair and took in what she heard. “You know, I’m glad we talked to each other.”

Rarity smiled a little. “I...I agree. It felt refreshing talking to you about this.”

Ember sighed. “Why didn’t we just do this in the first place?”

“Probably because we were both acting like stubborn mules. Though I admit that I was probably worse.”

Ember smirked. “At least you can admit that.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes slightly, but then burst into laughter. Ember laughed along with Rarity for a couple of seconds and then calmed herself down.

The Dragon Lord got up. “Listen, Rarity. I know this has been hard, but I promise to help you out in any way I can.”

“You mean it?”

“I promise you,” Ember held out a hand, “friend.”

Rarity smiled and a few tears rolled down her face. She tried to put her hand through the bar, but could only get a few fingers on Ember’s own claws.

“Thank you, Ember,” she siad.

“How touching.”

Ember’s smile faded as she heard the mocking voice. The door opened and a cold feeling fell upon the room.

Ember turned around. “What are you doing here?” she demanded.

At the doorway was Garble smirking and was leaning against the door. “I was just around and couldn’t help but overhear this conversation.”

“How did you even get here?” asked Ember.

Garble shrugged. “It’s not too hard when there are no guards around to protect the Dragon Lord. Another careless mistake on your part, Ember.”

“Get out of here!” barked Ember. “This is a private talk between me and Rarity!”

Garble laughed. “I’m surprised of what you’ve done, Ember.”

The dragoness raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

Garble stepped forward and the door shut behind him. “I mean when I heard you say not all dragons had the same conclusion I had, I thought you were going to see that little bodyguard of yours, Matches. But this is just rich! The Dragon Lord talking with the very same pony who attacked her? Imagine what the other dragons will think if they heard about this!”

Ember glared, but said nothing.

“Your reputation as Dragon Lord is already bad,” said Garble. “If word reaches the other dragons how you were having a nice, friendly chat with this pony instead of dealing with her yourself, they’ll demand that you step down and let another dragon become the Lord.”

“Let them complain all they want,” said Ember. “They can say what they want, but I’m done moping around and beating myself up. I’m going to fix things one way or another.”

Garble scoffed. “I don’t know whether to call you brave or stupid.”

“What do you even want from us?” asked Rarity. “Is jail like a second home to you?”

Garble narrowed his eyes. “Watch it, pony,” he warned in an icy voice. “Otherwise my old man is going to make you really regret it.”

“Bold words coming from a dragon who has to rely on dear old grandpa to do your dirty work.”

Garble took a step forward. “Why you damn little–”

Ember put a hand in front of Garble and pushed him away. “Enough!” she ordered.

The drake grumbled and shot daggers at Rarity.

“You know Rarity does have a good point,” said Ember. “What more do you want from me or her? You’ve gotten what you wanted. The new friendship between ponies and dragons is now almost destroyed, you got dragons loving you and thinking that you’re their ‘hero’, and you even managed to get some of them to consider you for Dragon Lord. Why don’t you just beat it already?”

Garble smirked. “Hey, don’t get mad at me, Ember. I was just doing what any dragon would rightfully do.”

“You can say that all you want. I know for a fact that you did this just to spite me and this alliance. Nothing about your so called story makes sense. You weren’t there out of ‘concern’, or because you wanted to ‘protect me’. You did this just for some twisted revenge over how you lost the Gauntlet of Fire and I became Dragon Lord because of Spike! It’s only a matter of time before the truth is revealed for what you truly are; a lying, manipulative bastard!”

The smile on Garble’s face slowly turned into frown. “So, Ember, you think you’ve got it all figured out, huh? You think I did this all just to get back at you alone?”

“That’s the obvious solution,” said Rarity. “What else would make you do something like this?”

“Heh. You’re not too bright, pony,” said Garble. “Oh, sure I was angry at Ember for deciding to embrace friendship and all that other stuff dragons don’t do. There was one another dragon I really wanted to get back at.”

Ember’s eyes widened. “Spike,” she whispered.

The drake clapped his hands slowly. “And the gem hits the ground. I got to say it took you long enough to figure it out.”

Rarity got up and snorted. “You! Why would you do this to Spike!?”

“I wanted to hit him where it hurt most,” he answered. “I figured I couldn’t hurt him physically without attracting the attention of his stupid pony friends, so I went about another way to get back at him the best way possible; through that so called friendship he loves so much.”

Ember’s eyes narrowed. “So you just decided to have Rarity arrested through some insane scheme just to get back at him!? You didn’t have to go after her!”

Garble laughed coldly. “Oh, Ember, you don’t understand at all.”

“What?”

“Oh, I’ll grant you this much; you are correct for the most part. I was just going to break that friendship you had between you and Spike and watch everything fall apart. But then I heard an interesting conversation on the night of your welcoming party between you and Rarity. A talk about a certain dragon.”

Ember pointed at Garble. “You! I knew I saw something that night! You spied on us!?”

“If you want to call it that,” he said. “Once I heard about this fight over who would want that loser Spike more, I had to take advantage of the chance. It was far too easy to push you two to fight each other.”

“What did you do, Garble?” demanded Ember.

“Oh, a little misunderstanding here,” he replied in a mocking voice. “A little pushing there to pit you two against each other. Even a little love letter tossed in to really heat things up.”

A thought crossed Rarity’s mind and she narrowed her eyes. “Hey, wait a minute! You were the one who wrote that love letter in the library; not Ember!”

“Well it’s not my fault you fell for it like the idiot you truly are. It was all too easy to make you and Ember fight each other. Honestly, you two were doing all the work. I just sat back and watched the fireworks.” Garble laughed and shook his head. “It was so satisfying seeing Spike’s heart ripped in two as both of you fought one another. I managed to destroy this alliance and break his heart all in one swoop!”

Ember glared and black smoke started billowing out of her nostrils. “I don’t understand it, Garble,” she said, angrily. “I know you were against this alliance, but did you need to go this far? It’s not like I was forcing you to be friends with ponies. This isn’t fair and you know it!”

“Not fair!?” sneered Garble. “I’ll tell you what’s not fair! Being friends with a species that’s always portrayed us as if we’re nothing monsters! They always got in our way and pushed us around!”

“And you think doing this is going to change how ponies view dragons!?” inquired Ember.

“We are the dominant species, Ember!” barked Garble. “We haven’t had to rely on alliances or friendships with other kingdoms because we have always taken care of ourselves. We never needed those wimpy ponies and their so called friendship. After how ponies have treated dragons for so long, there is no way in Tartarus we should even be friends with them! If it were up to me, by now Equestria would have been invaded and burnt to the ashes!”

Ember clenched her fist tightly.

“What’s wrong, Ember?” asked Garble. “No witty comeback? Got nothing to say to me again?”

“Just why?”

Garble raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Why tell us this?” she wondered. “Why tell us this now and gloat about it? What’s to say I arrest you for what you’ve done?”

Garble laughed again. “I wanted you to know who it was that beat you and Spike for what you’ve both done. I wanted to see both of you see everything you’ve worked so hard for fall apart, and know that you can’t do anything about it. Besides, you can’t touch me at all!”

“What!?”

“I’ve already told that pony princess, so I’ll tell it you; you’ve got no proof.”

Ember’s eyes widened.

“Think about it. All you got is my word, and only you and Rarity have heard it. Even if you do arrest me, what have you got to prove I did this? What evidence do you got? You got not nothing! You can’t do anything to me at all! It all worked out so much better than I thought!”

Ember and Rarity stared in horror.

“There are two ways you can get out of this, Ember,” said Garble. “You could just let Rarity face up to what she did. If she’s lucky enough, maybe she’ll serve the rest of her life rotting in a cell.”

A sinister smile formed on his face. “Awww you can’t do that, can you?” he asked in a mocking tone. “That would make Spike hate you even more and would never forgive you. You’d lose two of your precious friends.”

Ember growled softly.

“Maybe you could try to arrest me and try to save Rarity by proving I did it.” Garble laughed coldly. “Awww you can’t do that either. Not only do you have no evidence, but you’d make a fool of yourself in front of the Dragon Council and all the dragons. They would never trust you again, Rarity would still be convicted, and you’d lose everything in the end.”

Rarity slammed her hands against the stone table. “Who do you think you are doing this!?”

Garble smiled confidently. “Just a dragon looking out for what’s best for his home.”

Ember was beside herself. “You!...I’m going to get you for this, Garble!” she bellowed.

The drake rolled his eyes and smirked. “Oh, come now, Ember. That’s a really cliche thing to say.”

“Just you wait, you lying sleaze!” she vowed. “You haven’t gotten away with it yet!”

“You’re serious, aren’t you? Well I’ll tell you another thing I told that pony princess. Good luck trying to prove something that I didn’t do.”

Ember smirked. “Don’t count on it yet, Garble. You’re not as invincible as you think you are. You should be the one watching your back.”

Garble rolled his eyes. “So be it then. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. Everything’s gone perfectly for me, Ember.”

“We’ll see about that,” she vowed.

“Ha! Just you try it.” Garble walked over to the door and looked back with a smug smile on him. “You’ll understand soon that there’s nothing you can do now. You can’t win.”

Garble opened the door, but a clinking noise caught everyone’s attention. Ember and Rarity looked over and saw a rounded red crystal with a yellow aura swirling around inside on the floor. Before Ember could open her mouth, Garble jumped on the crystal like a predator pouncing on its prey.

“G–give me that!” he demanded in a panicked voice. He quickly put the crystal back in his pocket and looked nervous.

He cleared his throat and smiled nervously. “I, um, got to get out of here. Good luck, Ember. You’ll need it.” Garble ran out the room and the door shut behinded him.

Rarity and Ember looked on in confusion and anger.

“What was that about?” wondered Rarity. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

“I don’t know,” said Ember. “But judging from the way he was going after that thing, whatever it was, it’s very important to him.”

“It looked like a crystal, but I couldn’t really tell. What’s so important about it?”

Ember narrowed her eyes. “It’s got to be connected to Garble’s plan. I know it has to. I’ll need to see what’s got him so riled up over a crystal.”

“Ember, what are we going to do now?” wondered Rarity. “Garble does have a point. You sent the guards away, so now only we know of the truth.”

The dragoness said nothing.

“Ember?”

She turned around and had a determined look on her. “There may be a way out of this, Rarity. It’s a bit of a longshot, but it may be the best choice we got to bringing Garble down.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “And that is…?”

“There are certain things a Dragon Lord can do when it comes to trials. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Garble faces up to what he’s done. First off, I need to talk to Master Ash immediately.”

Rarity frowned. “Ember, no offense, but what good will that do? You heard Garble. We only got his word, but no proof.”

“That’s true, but it’s time I took back control now things. The Dragon Council needs a reminder as to who their leader is. I understand they want to know the truth as soon as possible, but it’s time I stepped in and straighten some things out.”

“What do you plan to do, Ember?” inquired Rarity.

“I need to tell them the truth,” she answered. “It’s time they knew the truth that day on the beach.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Ember, you don’t mean…?”

The dragoness nodded. “I’m going to let them know you never attacked me first. I was the one who struck first and instigated the fight. Once I do that, I’ll bring Garble in to explain about his actions.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Why not just have me acquitted and release me?”

Ember grimaced a little. “I know you want to leave this place as soon as possible, Rarity. However, most of the dragons believe Garble is a hero now. If I let you go now without much of an explanation, it would make things worse and only anger them more.”

Rarity nodded slowly. “I understand, darling. You do what you must to make sure Garble doesn’t get away with this.”

Ember nodded. “Just hang on a bit longer, Rarity. I promise you that you’ll be a free pony soon. Do this not only for your sake, but do it for Spike’s sake too.”

“I’ll be waiting,” said Rarity.

“I’ll be back later,” said the dragoness. “Hopefully, by the time I get back, your friends will find a lawyer so I can explain things to them.”

“I’m sure they have, darling,” assured Rarity. “I know my friends won’t let me down.”

Two flashes of light went off in the Friendship Council chamber. Princess Luna and all of Twilight’s friends were back with dejected looks on them.

The night alicorn looked at Starlight with a grim look on her. “Judging from the way you all are looking, I take it there’s been no luck on your end, Starlight?”

The unicorn shook her head. “Nothing at all. I even went to ask Sunburst for some help to track a few lawyers down, but they all refused. They refused to go to the Dragon Lands and face the wrath of the Dragon Lord.”

“We haven’t had any luck either, sugarcube,” said Applejack. “I asked my Aunt and Uncle Orange for some help, but even some of their best lawyers were too scared to face up against dragons. We ran around the whole city as fast as we could, but we got nothing.”

Starlight bit her lip. “This is really bad. No lawyer at all, time is running out, and even if the Dragon Council allows a trial, we don’t have anypony to defend Rarity.”

“I hope Twilight has had better luck on her end than us,” said Fluttershy.

Rainbow looked around the room and had an impatient look on her. “Speaking of which, where’s Twilight and Spike? Are they still in the library?”

“Maybe we should go check up on them,” said Pinkie.

“Good idea,” said Starlight. “Whatever she’s doing, it better be helpful for Rarity’s sake.”

They all headed out of the council chamber and walked down to the library. They pushed the door opened and looked around the vast room.

“Yo, Twilight!” called out Rainbow. “Where are you!?”

Applejack slapped Rainbow behind the head. “Quiet! I think we can find her without you yelling like a banshee.”

“Hey, I want to find Twilight as soon as possible,” argued Rainbow. “I want to know what she’s been up to.”

“We also got to let her know the bad news,” said Fluttershy, glummly.

“That you don’t have a lawyer?”

“Yes. What else would we…” Fluttershy’s voice trailed off. “Wait, who was that?”

“Over here.”

The group looked to the side and saw Spike smiling at them.

“There you are, Spike,” said Starlight. “What are you doing though?”

“I was getting another book.” He held up a thick, black one. “I was about to go back to Twilight when I heard Rainbow’s yelling.”

The pegasus smirked at Applejack. “Told you that would help us find Twilight.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Can you lead us to her, Spike? We need to let her know about this lawyer thing immediately.”

“No problem.” He waved a hand. “Follow me.”

The group followed Spike down the hall and passed by several bookcases. They came upon a clearing in the room and saw several books around a large table. Sitting at the table was Twilight, with her eyes racing across the page of an open book.

“Twilight?” asked Luna.

The alicorn looked up and smiled. “Oh! Welcome back, girls! How’d it go?”

The group had glum looks on them.

Twilight’s smile faded a little. “Could’ve been better?”

“You can say that again,” said Applejack.

Rainbow glanced at all the books around Twilight and glared. “Don’t tell us you’ve been doing nothing but reading this whole time.”

Twilight nodded. “I have, but this is for an entirely different reason.”

“Really now?” asked Luna. “Pray tell, Twilight. What exactly have you been reading?”

Spike handed over a book. “This.”

Luna took the book and everypony crowded around to read the title.

Court is in Session: A basic gude to court procedures

Applejack looked confused. “What in tarnation?”

The group looked at some of the books around Twilight’s desk and saw various other titles. The Rule of Law. Law for Dummies. So you want to be a Lawyer. It was just a few of the books around Twilight’s desk.

“What’s this all about, Twilight?” wondered Fluttershy.

“When Princess Luna mentioned about how she couldn’t find a lawyer, I came up with an alternative plan. Since it seems none of you could find a lawyer willing to take Rarity’s case, it’ll be up to me and Spike now.

Luna had a bewildered look on her. “Twilight, are you seriously suggesting what I think you’re about to say?”

Spike nodded. “She is, your highness.”

Twilight stood up. “I’ll take Rarity’s case by being her lawyer!”