The Eyrie was just as impressive as ever. As Luna flew towards it she felt assured that the griffons were more than capable of holding up their end of the pact, which was what they needed more than anything. Reliable allies seemed to be difficult to find these days, and it seemed all the stranger that the griffons had come through for them more than their equine neighbours had. It wouldn't have been that long ago that such things would be imagined as impossible.

"So this is the Eyrie, huh?" Ember said as she studied the city. "It's bigger than my Dad described it. I suppose everything looks small to him though."

"I hope you'll remember that dragons rarely get a warm welcome anywhere in the world for those exact reasons," Luna said to Ember as they raced up the valley towards the castle. "They might be somewhat hostile to you, but I want you on your best behaviour regardless."

Angry eyes narrowed at Luna, "Excuse me? Did you really just talk to me like I'm a whelp? I am the Dragon Lord, Luna, and I do not need to be told how and when to behave."

"That wasn't my intention. My point was that even if they point a dozen spears at you, don't do anything back, unless they actually attack you. Even then, claws only, and try to not kill any of them."

"Yeah, let's just see how badly they want to kill me before I decide if I don't want to kill them."

Luna decided to leave the discussion at that, since it wasn't actually unreasonable. Hopefully it wouldn't be an issue at all, and the Emperor was aware that Ember, the Dragon Lord herself, was with them. Hopefully she'd be just as welcome as the rest of them. Assuming they still were, a treacherous part of Luna's mind said.

Perhaps the best, if strangest sign that they were welcome was the thestrals mixed in with the griffons guarding the castle, decked out in their Night Guard armour. Not a sight any of them expected, but as it led to a lack of hostilities, Luna was hardly going to complain. If the Emperor wanted to betray them, using thestrals was really not the way to go about it.

"Why are the Night Guard protecting this place?" Lightning asked, her eyes sweeping over both the thestrals and griffons.

"I do intend to ask," Luna said back, but truthfully she had no real objections. Griffonia was hosting the refugees from Nostralis after all, so if her Night Guard wanted to repay the favour by doing this, then so be it. The Emperor's guards were probably lacking after the coup anyway, so everyone benefitted.

It was a minute or two before someone came to greet them, and they were rather surprised to find it was Commander Lurin, who seemed a bit too high profile to be sent to do a butlers' job. He was at least familiar though, which helped.

"Good to see you so soon, Commander," Luna said in greeting, if a little stiffly. If she were honest, she still hadn't forgiven him for joining the Bloodfeathers in attacking Equestria. She doubted she ever would, but for now it was out of her hooves.

Lurin gave Luna a tiny bow, "You too, Princess. We were a little unsure if you were all still alive after we left you in Zebrica. We could see the flash from thirty miles away."

"We're all fine, now, thank you. I take it you got the Kuua back here in one piece?"

"We did indeed. All we need now is you to finish what you're doing, and we should all be ready to go."

"Actually, that's what we're here to discuss. We're almost ready, but there are some things that need to be done first, which involves a change to how our attack is going to work. We're planning to hold a summit on neutral territory to finalise our plans."

"Neutral territory?" Lurin raised an eyebrow like he found the idea strange, "Why not hold it here?"

"Because I'm hoping that by holding it on neutral territory, in Zebrica, it might convince them to consider joining the pact. A promise from the Emperor that he would uphold that, and end all aggressive overtures with the zebras, might be enough to convince them."

"And have you actually asked the zebras if you could do this? I doubt they'd willingly allow the Emperor into Zebrica. They had enough issues with us being there to help them."

"I haven't asked them yet, but I'm sure they'll see it my way. Apart from that, another reason I want it on neutral territory is because we're hoping to get a representative of the Saddle Arabians on board. I'm not sure how closely Faust is watching the Saddle Arabians, but if she were to catch wind of them coming here, she might get suspicious. A Saddle Arabian going to Zebrica, their long time friend and ally, would be less suspicious."

"I'm pretty sure any sign of them supporting the zebras at this time would be seen as suspicious. Unless you're going to lie and say the representative is travelling to Zebrica on a diplomatic mission to convince the zebras to join Faust I suppose."

Luna smirked at Lurin, "We have options. The final reason has to do with our most unusual ally."

"The changeling queen?" Lurin spat, not trying to hide his distaste over the changelings' inclusion in events.

"That's right. The zebras know ways to uncover changelings, so if she were to try something, not that I'm saying she would, the zebras would be better able to see through it. Or so I hope."

Lurin shook his head disbelievingly, "I still question the wisdom of allying with such creatures, and I certainly question your decision to allow them into your country afterwards."

"We have our motives. Now, can we see the Emperor, or is he busy?"

Lurin gestured for them all to follow him into the castle. Luna took her time, smiling at the thestrals guarding the place as she went, while part of her was seeing what damage still existed from the attempted coup. She failed to find any, making it seem like that unpleasant piece of the past had been washed away.

The Emperor was discussing things with some griffons as they arrived in the throne room, but they were quickly ushered away once he saw who had arrived. "Princess Luna," he said jovially, "welcome back to Griffonia. You too as well, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, and..."

Vapor knelt before the Emperor, "Vapor Trail, your Majesty."

"I know your name, but last I saw of you, you were barely clinging to life and missing an eye after my son got his claws on you. Was that all a trick?"

"We're in possession of magic powered devices that can heal the most grievous injuries of any pony," Luna explained. "And I do mean pony, as that's all they work for. Cuts, scrapes, fatal wounds, and even missing limbs can be restored with it."

"Powerful magic indeed." The Emperor stood and made his way down to Vapor, extending a claw that she placed a hoof in for him to shake. "You have my thanks for the part you played in stopping the attempt against my life."

Vapor blushed, "Oh, you're welcome."

The Emperor then turned and extended the same claw to Ember, "Welcome to Griffonia, Dragon Lord."

"Uh, it's-uh... hi?" Ember stuttered back, having not expected to be welcomed in the slightest. "Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to be allowed in here, let alone treated nicely. Or for you to even really know who I am."

"I've been informed of who you are, and as long as you're here as a friend, you're welcome." The Emperor returned to his throne, with Luna taking note that he seemed to have slimmed down a bit from their last encounter. "So, what brings you to me today?"

"We're planning a summit to discuss our plans for the liberation of Equestria. We almost have everything we need to defeat Faust, but there's a small complication. We need things in Equestria that can't be obtained without your help."

"So you're planning to launch a strike before the main invasion?" the Emperor surmised.

"That's correct. We have several objectives to achieve during this strike, objectives that need to be completed if we are to succeed."

Hergest tapped his claws on the arm of his thrones, "So you're telling me that our success hinges on this initial strike going well?"

"That's right."

"Then it doesn't seem as if I have any grounds on which to object. When and where is this summit to be held?"

"Zebrica, and soon."

"Zebrica?" Hergest guffawed at the suggestion, "Since when have the zebras started agreeing to me entering their country? The only reason I could think of is if they plan to kill me while I'm there."

"They wouldn't dare. They can't afford a war with Griffonia at any time, let alone now, and they are fully aware of what you're doing to fight Faust. If they were to be so stupid, then perhaps they would deserve their defeat at your claws."

"Ah, buttering me up by speaking my language I see." Hergest chuckled at Luna, "You aren't wrong though. If you can agree to get the zebras to host me, then I shall gladly attend this summit, so long as you don't mind me keeping your Night Guard between me and any potential threats until then."

"It would seem as though I hardly get a choice at this point. You've already put them to work."

"They offered, and since I'm still short on guards, and their loyalty to you is quite famous, I figured I couldn't be safer since you very much need me alive."

Luna smiled at the Emperor's logic, "Very well, but I do hope you realise I'm going to want them back at some point?"

The Emperor grinned back at Luna, "Of course. Being guarded by ponies, even the most intimidating ones you have, doesn't exactly give the best impression anyway. No offence."

"Some taken."

"Now I must insist you stay for dinner. Fully suitable for ponies, I assure you. I might even find some gems for you, Dragon Lord Ember."

"Really? That'd be great!"

"Then it's agreed. Make yourself at home, ladies."

"I don't know why you told me they'd be hostile," Ember said as they waited around for dinner, enjoying the comforts of a sizeable lounge. "The Emperor's actually pretty cool."

"He has been quite accommodating," Luna agreed. "I'm surprised to be honest. It's not like the griffons don't have two fortresses bordering the Dragon Lands, equipped with weapons designed to kill dragons. Big dragons at that. I'm rather suspicious of how nice he was to you now."

"And it's because he has those fortresses that we haven't attempted to raid Griffonia in decades. The bones of their last kill still litter the ground in front of one of them."

"What kind of weapons are we talking about?" Rainbow asked. "Killing a fully grown dragon sounds impossible to me."

"Think ballista's, but big enough to fire an entire pine tree," Ember told her. "I honestly have no idea how those things can survive the strain needed to do that, but who cares because they work. We don't fly over Griffonia."

"But what if you went around the fortresses?" said Lightning.

"Honestly, I have no idea, but-" Ember stretched out on the pile of cushions she'd claimed, "-I have been assured that it's not really worth the trouble. Not to mention that if you piss the griffons off enough, they tend to start hunting you."

"They hunt dragons..." Rainbow said flatly. "Good luck to them."

"They don't go after the big ones. They go after the whelps and fledglings. The ones that they can kill." Ember hugged an arm around herself, "The ones like me. There was a big purge about five hundred years ago, and we're still recovering, all because a single dragon attacked a town east of here."

"I'm sure that's not the only reason," said Luna. "More likely was that attack being the last straw."

"Yeah, I guess. The point is that between that, and those fortresses, we leave Griffonia alone."

Luna hummed thoughtfully, "I'm sure this is all going to build up into some ulterior motive involving dragons. Hopefully he doesn't expect you to get your people to join the war, because we all know that's unlikely to happen."

"Too right. We have absolutely no reason to get involved, even if we really should." Ember made a face as she muttered to herself, "No good lazy lizards."

"Are we literally incapable of going places without something happening?" Lightning laughed. "Why can't it be, 'hey, we need you at a summit in Zebrica,' then he says 'okay,' and we all go on our merry ways?"

"You travel in the company of alicorns," said Luna, a cocky grin sneaking onto her lips. "We're barely capable of getting up in the morning without some disaster occurring. A day where nothing happens is more noteworthy than a day where lots happens."

A sharp rap at the door interrupted their laughter, and a thin faced, black feathered griffon poked his head in, informing them that dinner was ready. Hopping up from their seats they followed after him to the dining room, where the Emperor, his daughter Clarissa, and Commander Lurin were already seated.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable," Hergest said as Ember's eyes lit up at the small pile of gems on the table.

"Hey, you weren't kidding. It's been ages since I've had an emerald." Ember squinted suspiciously, "And there's absolutely no catch?"

"Only a small one." Hergest gestured to a guard in the corner, "Bring in the prisoner."

"Prisoner?" Ember asked, an emerald halfway to her mouth. "What prisoner?"

"What prisoner indeed?" Luna added, glancing at Clarissa to gauge her feelings on the matter, since she tended to not hide them so well as her father. Strangely, the young griffon didn't seem particularly worried, which only left Luna more uncertain.

"You'll see," Hergest said cryptically, helping himself to food as they waited. "By the way, those kirin you told me about crossed our Zebrican border yesterday. I had my concerns about allowing them into my country, but they agreed to be disarmed until they leave again, so I'll let them be for now. I'm curious what piece of diplomacy you pulled off to get them to leave Faust?"

"We asked nicely," Luna said tersely. "Mostly though, we had help off one of their number, who somehow managed to turn the rest of the Mareitanians against the kirin. I'm not sure of the full details, but the Mareitanians inability to conquer Zebrica was largely in thanks to the kirin all setting the Mareitanians camp alight, as well as getting themselves removed from Faust's service."

"That kirin must've done something good to get the Mareitanians to turn on their allies."

"She tried to help them in a good natured manner, to help them turn away from the war on their own. That didn't exactly happen, but what did worked so much better for us."

"Sounds like quite the adventure. I-" Hergest stopped as a door was opened, permitting entry to Captain Greywhisker, two other thestrals, and a small orange dragon with purple spines and two yellowed horns framing her head, who also happened to be in chains. Her struggles to break free only ceased when she saw Ember, and what little of her face that was visible behind her ceramic mask, mostly a pair of blue eyes, turned to fear when she saw Ember.

"What is this?!" Ember roared, slamming her claws down on the table. "What are you doing with one of my dragons? Why is she in chains?"

Luna moved to restrain Ember, but stopped as the dragoness held herself back from attacking, much to Luna's relief. That didn't mean things couldn't easily escalate further. "I really do suggest you explain yourself, Emperor."

"And I will, gladly." Hergest started buttering a roll, creating a short silence that emphasised the jangling of chains as the dragon continued to shake in fear. After a few seconds he stopped and pointed the knife at his prisoner, "That one was caught trying to sneak into my country past Fort Scalebane four days ago."

"What? Why?"

"I'm afraid that you'll have to ask her that, but all she kept saying to us was that she was 'double dragon dared' to do it, and that we should let her go because her mom was going to be so pissed."

Ember sat hard and covered her face with a claw, "Seriously? Okay, fine, so the stupid teenager is stupid, but that still doesn't explain why you put Smoulder in chains."

"Smoulder huh? Cute name." Hergest grinned at the glare Smoulder gave him, "The fact is that dragons have claws that can dig through rock and cut through armour, have teeth that can chew diamonds, can breathe fire, and can fly. It's quite difficult to keep a dragon prisoner, and quite a few of my griffons have been treated for burns because of her. More importantly though is that she's lucky to be alive."

"What? She's just some dumb kid! Why would you kill her?"

"It wouldn't be out of any malice towards her, but up until a few weeks ago I had a mandatory order to kill all dragons attempting to enter Griffonia. An order that has been in place for centuries. My decision to rescind that order, in lieu of yourself aiding us, saved Smoulder's life. That, or she was aware I had rescinded, and attempted to abuse that decision by entering my country."

"I didn't know!" Smoulder protested, her voice sounding tinny behind her mask. She started struggling to free herself again, "I swear I didn't know! Dragon Lord Ember, I-"

"Shut up!" Ember roared, stunning Smoulder into silence. "I am sick to death of dragons your age pulling off dumb shit and getting into trouble! What makes it worse is that these are also dragons my age! If I'd known being Dragon Lord was more like being a glorified child minder, I might not have fought so hard to win the title!"

"But Dragon Lord-"

"I said shut up!" Ember groaned loudly, leaning back in her chair before returning her attention back to Hergest. "What do you want with her now you have her?"

"What makes you think I want her?" Hergest said, surprising them all. "I was simply waiting for the opportunity to give her back once we finally met, since it was bound to happen sooner or later." Hergest ordered for the chains to be removed, "Assuming you can keep her under control, she's all yours."

Smoulder stood still as the chains were removed, rubbing her wrists as her wings were freed and the mask removed. Even then, completely freed, she made no attempt to move closer to Ember, until she was loudly ordered to do so.

Ember grabbed a chair and placed it next to her own, "Come here, sit down, shut up, and don't do anything!" Ember waited, arms crossed as Smoulder crept towards her to sit down. Her only move past that was to swat Smoulder's claw with her tail as she went for one of the gems. "Don't even think about it."

"But I'm hungry!"

"I swear to the ancestors, Smoulder, if you don't shut up I might kill you myself!" Ember stared Smoulder down, then sat and released some of her frustration with a huff. "Thanks for giving her back."

The Emperor inclined his head in a small bow, "No problem at all, but there is a point behind all this. Monitoring and guarding the borders with the Dragon Lands is, to be frank, a massive expenditure of resources. It's not something I will shy away from, but I despise that I'm constantly having to protect Griffonia from the threat of dragons. However, and I must thank my daughter for thinking of this, with you aiding the ponies, it's clear you don't fully favour the isolationism that every previous Dragon Lord has spouted, while letting their dragons go wherever they please."

Ember shrugged, "I'm not saying that's true, but me helping the ponies is mostly about me helping a friend. Nothing more. I'm starting to see that we do ourselves no favours being the way we are, but even as Dragon Lord, it's hard to change the mind of all the other dragons."

"So you're saying that if you were to tell the other dragons to leave us alone, they wouldn't, despite the fact that dragons no longer really attempt to cross our borders?"

Ember raised a claw, then let it hang there as her jaw flapped uselessly. "I have no idea what you're trying to say."

"I do believe he's trying to create a formal treaty," Luna helpfully told Ember, "where if dragons no longer invade griffon lands, griffons will no longer attempt to kill any dragons that do so, as evidenced by his decision to capture Smoulder here, rather than kill her outright."

"Exactly," the Emperor said, giving a nod of thanks to Luna. "Fort Scalebane, and Fort Firewall, do an excellent job of deterring dragons, so if they're already staying out, why not make an official agreement of it? That way no dragons would die needlessly, and I'll be able to free up a lot of resources and griffons that could be put onto other things, like certain upcoming wars against Faust's Equestria. What do you say?"

"I-uh... Luna?"

Luna smiled softly, trying to not come across as patronising, even though the concept wasn't that difficult, all things considered. "I think you should accept it. It'd take a little work on your part to keep your dragons from illegally crossing into Griffonia, but the payoff is no dragons would die for the silly reason of trying to do that."

"But I really don't think my dragons would accept that. They really don't like changing their mind on things."

Luna lost her smile, "Then perhaps you need think on this differently that you currently do. The only thing that'll change is that your dragons will no longer be subject to a death penalty just for flying too far north."

"Exactly," Hergest said, waving a claw at Luna. "I hate to say it, Dragon Lord Ember, but your dragons are increasingly becoming relics, refusing to change in a world that is leaving them behind. A refusal to acknowledge borders until enough of you have died is proof of that. Force them to change, and your people might finally be seen as more than terrible beasts that bring fire and destruction wherever they go."

"And we can do away with laws necessitating the killing of children?" Luna asked, giving the Emperor a foul look.

"Don't blame me for what needed to be done. If a youngling enters our country, a mother or father tends to come looking for it. You know what any parent will do if they think their child in danger, and with dragons, that could include wiping an entire city out, and then some. Stopping the child at the border prevents that. Besides, we do try to deter, rather than kill outright. Unfortunately, not all dragons pay attention to that."

"He's talking about me, isn't he?" Smoulder muttered, earning herself a quick reprisal around the back of the head from Ember. "Ow."

"So," Ember steepled her claws as she locked her gaze with the Emperor, "if I force my dragons to no longer fly into Griffonia on a whim, you're saying that you'll no longer kill them on sight? I still don't get what's stopping them from flying straight up here though."

"You are," Luna said, "by telling them not to, Dragon Lord."

"But dragons have always gone where they've pleased."

"Except Griffonia, where they will be killed, and they sort of accept that."

"So..?"

Hergest slammed his claw down on the table, "So do your job as a ruler, and rule them! The way you're talking, the position of Dragon Lord has no actual power if you can't stop your dragons doing one simple thing!"

Ember stood, smacking her chair over backwards. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! I don't know what you think you're trying to do, but I will not be yelled at!"

"He's trying to help you," Luna said calmly, hoping to defuse the situation again. "Are you aware of why Equestria allows the dragon migration through our skies when it happens?"

Using her tail, Ember flicked her chair back up and sat, but didn't once let her glare at Hergest abate. "I get the feeling the answer is because you can't stop us."

"Far from it. An agreement was made in the post exodus era, before my sister and I came to rule." Luna's eyes glazed a little, and a breath of laughter escaped her. "We thought the dragons were invading, and for their part, the dragons did plenty of damage. Our pegasus forces engaged them, and killed several before the Dragon Lord at the time demanded to know what was going on. Turns out that the dragons migrated that way every quarter century, and were just as confused by us being there as we were by them. In the end we agreed that if the dragons passed peaceably, we would make no effort to stop them."

"And it works," Ember murmured to herself. "If that works, perhaps this can too."

"And from that agreement, perhaps you can move on to being welcomed into Griffonia as visitors, rather than invaders. That's how Equestria does it."

Hergest choked mid-swallow as Luna said that, and rapidly banged his chest to clear it. "Let's not get carried away."

"Oh come on dad, the smaller ones aren't so bad." Clarissa flicked her eyes over towards Smoulder, "Some of them are actually alright, once you get to know them."

Luna raised her eyebrows in surprise as Smoulder shrunk down under the weight of the attention Ember was now giving her. "Well said, Princess Clarissa."

Hergest sighed, seeing the start of a battle he probably wouldn't win. "We'll have to see. For now we should work on getting the dragons to obey their Dragon Lord's word in not casually invading our country."

"I think I can do that," said Ember. "I also accept that if it doesn't work, you have every right to defend your borders like you always have."

"Agreed. All we need is a little time to get this into writing, and-"

"Actually," Ember interrupted, "do you mind if I write this up? Paper doesn't tend to last very long in the Dragon Lands."

"And how would you do it?"

"Do you have a stone slab we could use?"

Rainbow didn't know what she was looking at as she watched Ember create her... document, for lack of a more accurate word. She had blown a wisp of fire onto a claw, and was carving said flaming claw into the dinner tray sized stone slab, leaving a purple line behind it that didn't diminish in brightness, which at least informed her it was magic. That didn't make up for the fact that it was being written in a language she didn't know, and it certainly didn't come close to making up for how useless she'd felt so far being here. But that was hardly important.

"I don't get why you're doing this," Smoulder complained as Ember worked. "We're dragons! We don't need rules, and boundaries, and... whatever the hell it is you're doing now! We just take what we want!"

"Except you don't," Luna answered in Ember's stead, stopping in her production of a paper copy of the treaty, since that seemed more sensible for the griffon proponent of this agreement. "You don't go to Griffonia on pain of death, and you don't go to Saddle Arabia for similar reasons. Meanwhile, you're tolerated in Equestria and Zebrica so long as you behave, and those are the only two countries I can think of that do that. Protest all you want, but the fact is that you're not really welcomed anywhere, and are effectively prisoners in the Dragon Lands because of that."

"Except we aren't prisoners! We go where we want!"

"And then return home soon after because a mob wants your head, and that's if you're lucky, as you were. If you went places in peace, and didn't impose yourself in a way only thirty plus tonnes of dragon can, then you might find that you'd be more than welcome to travel where you want, within reason."

"Uh," Rainbow held up a hoof, "I thought this thing was about keeping dragons out of Griffonia? Was I wrong?"

"No, you're quite right, but it opens a path to dragons being permitted entry as guests, rather than intruders. This is basically enforcing that the dragons respect Griffonia's borders."

"But- But-" Smoulder stared at Ember in disbelief, "But Dragon Lord Ember! You can't be serious! We're dragons, we don't care about borders!"

"We'll see about that," Ember said, tracing her claw in a circle, then another. "If being forced is what dragons understand, then that's what I'll have to do. I'm done here, Luna, if you are?"

"All I need is yours and the Emperor's signature, and this is as good as done. I assume you need similar?"

"Something like that." Ember stood and slung the rectangle of stone under her arm. "Hopefully the Emperor isn't adverse to a little bit of pain."

Luna rolled up her own document and slid it into a tube for safekeeping, even though they were only going as far as the throne room. "I'm sure that depends on what you're calling a little bit?"

"A small prick of the claw, and maybe a slight burning sensation. Nothing really harmful, I can promise that much."

"Blood magic?"

"No, dragon magic. Using blood. There's a difference." Ember shrugged, not caring that Luna would still call that blood magic. "It'll be good, don't worry."

Still feeling a little unsure, but willing to trust Ember, they made their way to the throne room, dragging Smoulder along with them, even if the young dragon insisted that she neither wanted or needed to be there. Ember insisted, so that was that.

"Done so soon?" the Emperor asked, genuinely surprised as they entered the throne room. "I thought carving a document into solid stone would take a few days at least."

"Not for me," Ember said dismissively. "Besides, I was working on something a bit different, and runes are a lot easier to carve than your writing."

"Very well, shall we get started then?"

A table was quickly placed on the floor in front of the throne, and the two documents placed upon it. The Emperor quickly placed his signature on the paper one, although Ember was far less keen to do so.

"Can't you do it for me?" she asked Luna.

"No, I can't. It is rather the point that you do it."

"Oookay..." Ember picked up a quill between two claws, and quickly crushed it. "Yeah, I have no idea how to use this, or even write in your language. Could I just put a claw print on it, or something?"

Smoulder rolled her eyes at Ember, "How about a lip print since you're kissing so much griffon ass today?"

"And how about I use your blood instead, smartass?"

"I'm sure a claw print will suffice," Luna said, waiting until she got a nod of consent from the Emperor before painting ink over Ember's claw and pressing it to the treaty. That done, she scattered some drying dust over the document, rolled it up, then placed it back within its protective tube to present to the Emperor.

"You can't believe how relieved I am that you agreed to this," he said, passing the treaty over to another griffon who scurried away with it. "I suppose I need to sign yours now?"

"Yeah, but it'll be a bit different to how we signed yours, and it'll tell me that you mean this. Give me your claw."

"My claw? What do you- Aghh!" Hergest hissed as Ember sliced a small cut into the middle of his claw, then waved the Imperial Guard back as they came to protect their master. "A little warning might've been appreciated, Dragon Lord."

"And give you a chance to back out?" Ember grinned as she held Hergest's claw above the tablet, letting his blood drip down into the rightmost of the two circles she'd made. As it landed, it seeped into the stone and lit it up with a lavender glow that grew to fill the circle. Once it was full, Ember pressed the Emperor's claw onto it, holding it there as he grimaced from a burning sensation that only just fell short of being unbearable.

Hergest pulled his claw away the moment Ember released it, and cawed irritably as he held it up and flexed it. "I hope that had a purpose, Dragon Lord."

"It does," Ember responded as she cut her own claw and repeated what she'd done with the Emperor. The entire tablet lit up as she removed her claw, and after a few seconds a frenzied screaming could be heard from Smoulder as her scales lit up like a Hearthswarming tree and started to scratch vigorously at herself.

"Agh! What the hell! This fucking burns!"

Ember grinned as she stood over Smoulder, "Yeah it does, and it will continue to do so until a griffon gives you permission to be in Griffonia. Emperor, if you'd be so kind? Or don't be. Makes little difference to me."

Hergest took one look at the stricken Smoulder to decide that maybe he could cut the young dragon a little slack. "Smoulder, you have my full permission to be here."

All of a sudden the glow left Smoulder, and the itching stopped, although it took her a little longer to stop scratching. When she did, all she managed was to look up at Ember, her eyes full of betrayal.

"Why would you do that to us?"

Ember leaned in close to Smoulder, her grin growing more predatory. "Because I'm the fucking Dragon Lord, that's why. And before you think you now have free reign to be here, the moment you become unwelcome here, the burning comes back until you leave Griffonia. You might want to be on your best behaviour."

"I can't believe this."

"Most impressive," the Emperor complemented, "and more than worth the pain. So this will affect all dragons trying to enter Griffonia?"

"It will, and I doubt any will try to put up with it long enough to cause you any trouble."

"Excellent!" The Emperor clapped his claws together, then shook the injured one as he was reminded that it hurt. "With that done I can start transferring griffons out of Forts Scalebane and Firewall, and get them ready to assault Equestria."

"I would be happy to assist," Luna offered, and together she and the Emperor left, talking between each other.

Rainbow looked at her fellow Wonderbolts as Ember started into an argument with Smoulder, and saw in them the same thing she was experiencing. "So that really is it? No fighting? No drama? Nothing?"

"Is that really so bad?" a smiling Clarissa said as she walked up to them. "Not everything has to involve dramatic amounts of danger. There'll be plenty of that to come."

"Our previous experience of Griffonia says otherwise," said Lightning. "Last time there was a coup, and Vapor almost died, and plenty of other stuff. To go from that to being fairly useless is... weird, to say the least."

Vapor crossed her eyes a little and raised a hoof as she tried to think, "Weren't you the one bitching about always being in danger? Or something like that?"

"Maybe, but now its absence makes me suspicious. Anyway, is that, like, it now? A treaty has been made between dragons, and now all we have to do is get the Emperor to Zebrica to plan the attack on Equestria? As well as whoever else we'll have going?"

"That does seem to be it," Vapor agreed, nodding. "Almost like it was meant to be."

"I don't care if you don't like it!" Ember shouted loud enough to stop all other comversation. "I'm ordering you to go home and tell the other dragons what happened here, now!"

"Alright! Sheesh... quit acting like you didn't seriously fuck with our freedoms without asking any of us first."

"You can also consider getting over it an order too." Ember rolled her eyes and sighed as Smoulder flew away, grumbling loudly. "So what are you guys talking about?"

"About how this is really weird because nobody is actively trying to kill us right now," said Rainbow. "You'd think the creation of a lasting peace between dragons and griffons would be a bit more exciting."

"I know right?" Ember shrugged at all of them, "Whatever. Is anyone hungry? I'm hungry."

"So weird," Rainbow muttered.

Author's Notes:

Quickly skimmed through because I'm tired, so probably more full of errors that usual. Enjoy.