A few hours prior

Dragon’s Peak, the tallest mountain in the Dragon’s Badlands. Once a fierce and fiery volcano, it was now a hollow shell of its former self and drained of all its magma. The dragon’s had adopted it as a meeting ground for only the most dire of situation or as a base in wars. Today, it would be used as the house of revenge.

Cyndra had roared into the very winds as her message of vendetta traveled with the breeze, finding the ear of every other dragon in every rocky cave, every swampy marsh, and even the occasional hollowed tree. No dragon would ignore the call of the high dragoness. Soon, the land was blotted with the shadows of a thousand dragons, all taking flight towards the same destination.

The interior of Dragon’s Peak was like a long cylinder cave, its stony passages going down into the deepest and darkest parts of the earth, so deep that not even a dragon would dare venture for fear of what could be hidden in its shadows.

“Why are we here?” one dragon asked another. “What urgency does the dragoness imply that we must travel to Peak so late in the morning?”

“Perhaps it is war?” another replied. “Maybe the Manticores or the Hydras are planning an invasion.”

“It could be a drought, the lakes have been looking thin recently near my hunting grounds and the food might have to migrate.”

The dragons continued to talk among themselves, giving their own feelings on what the dragoness could want.

Finally though, Cyndra herself arrived. As she glided into the heart of the dead volcano, every dragon grew silent. The High Dragoness perched herself on a stone landing, clearing her throat before she began to speak.

“Dragons...” she said, her voice echoing through the cave-like mountain. “I have called upon you, my fellow brood, to say that I have suffered a greatest and most unforgivable tragedy.”

Murmurs and banter quickly questioned the dragoness, but soon died down so Cyndra could resume.

“This day... I have lost the life of my one and only child... murdered in my very cave while on a morning hunt.”

“What monster attacks a child!?” screamed a dragon.

“Who was it?”

“Burn them!”

“Who be the wicked?!” one dragon asked with steam coming out of his nostrils, as rage overcame him.

The dragoness closed her eyes, “Of all the creatures to do this... a pony unicorn did this to my child...”

Silence spread across the volcano, until an eruption of outrage filled it. “This is an outrage! Those accursed equines mock us for being savages, yet they now hunt our whelps for sport?!”

“Death to the equines!” a chorus of voices echoed over, with it becoming louder as dragons agreed to this suggestion.

“Enough!”

The dragons turned to their leader, who was shedding a tear and fury etched onto her face. “We will not commence an action that will lead us to war!” she proclaimed as the dragons sat in silence. “We will, however, deal with this culprit in the most suiting manner.”

“And what do you propose we do?”

The dragoness gave a sly smile at this question, “We rip his pride, and lead him here... to face our wrath.”

All the dragons began to whisper at this suggestion, “How do you know what his pride is?” one dragon boldly asked his leader.

“Let me show you,” she told him, as her eyes began to glow white. The lava pool in the centre of the gathering glowed the same colour as the dragoness. A moving image began to display, showing the pony rushing to his homeland.

The images skipped until the pony gave the dragoness’ child’s heart to an innocent as a gift, “So this is why you slayed my child you foul vermin!” she shouted to the pool with the dragons shouting in return.

“I suppose taking away your ‘pride’ will suffice.” she said to herself as her gaze focused on the crystal, and her eyes began to shimmer in a blueish colour. “Poor little pony princess, you have no idea that you’re in love with a monster.”

“What will you do?” roared a dragon. “Kill her?”

“Roast her?”

“Tear off her skin?”

“No!” sneered Cyndra. “This pony has done nothing to me... but she can still be useful to me. Those foolish unicorns think they know magic, that they are masters of the arcane arts. They know but a mere fraction of the mystical powers of the universe. They carry ignorance in their  hearts, but this one seems pure. This... princess is so innocent, like my child was.”

“So what does the princess have to do with this?”

“She wears the heart of my child,” she said. “A maturing source of unbalanced magical energy, capable of things even the Earth Mother would fear. It has everything to do with the princess and it will be how I get my revenge.”

Some of the dragons seemed a little confused and unsure of what their Dragoness was saying. They were still titillating the at the idea of full on warfare but they knew that Cyndra would never allow it, so they resumed their idle silence.

“What is to become of her then?”

“A dragon,” Cyndra said. “A fire-breathing, winged, fully grown dragon. With my powers unlocking the untapped magic of the heart, I can weave a spell to transform that innocent little girl into one of us.”

“Are you mad?!” one dragon cried. “Why would you give her such power?”

“A mere side-effect of the true purpose,” she said. “She’ll become what he hates, what he hunts for sport, and in the end, he’ll either realize what he’s done... or kill his beloved princess.”

“Cruel, cruel, irony,” smiled a drake. “I like it!”

“I approve!”

“So do I!”

“Then it is settled,” the dragoness said. “Do we all agree on this plan?”

The dragons roared in unison as their eyes began to glow bright red and focused on the pony princess, who was in her room admiring the crystal she wore around her neck.

“Then my fellow dragons, lend me your power... so that I may bring about justice to our kind.” Cyndra called out as she focused her magic on the pony, with the dragon’s feeding their own magic to her.

“Pain, pain, a mother’s pain,” she began to chant, the reflection of the pony looking curious as she heard her voice. “Hell hath no fury like dragon’s rage,” the pony began to look nervous as the dragoness smiled. “Revenge is a journey you must embark,” the princess looked absolutely terrified. “Until he has a Reversal of Heart!”

And with that, the pony in the pool began to turn into a dragon herself, and once it was done, the pool’s image disappeared to reveal nothing but lava.

“So it begins...”