A Dubious Greeting

To his surprise, he appeared to be in a volcano.

There were small pits of lava here and there, one of them slowly pouring a stream of the liquid magma off the edge, presumably into a larger pool below. He breathed a little sigh of relief that the portal hadn't spat him out over one of those.

There were a number of small pits around him, and when he peered into one, he saw a small pile of enormous multi-colored eggs. They radiated warmth onto his face and he slowly backed away from the lip.

He heard movement and his gun immediately swung around to point at...

Daren Allswinger was a stout soldier. He had flown through the ranks of the marines to join the Special Operations Raider Regiment, and from there had been hand-chosen by the higher eschelon of Overture to oversee some very interesting engagements. He had trained extensively to be as hardened and unmoving as a human possibly could in the face of any threat or danger.

But when Daren swung his gun around to point at the movement behind him, he faltered.

It was a dragon.

Four legs. Two leathery wings. Claws. Smoking snout. Horns and enormous razor sharp teeth.

Of course, he remembered Twilight Sparkle mentioning the dragon lands and the Dragon Lord Ember with her Bloodstone Scepter. It had only been a minute or two ago after all. But he hadn't really believed her. Who would? Sure it was a magical talking unicorn that was saying it, but come on... dragons?

There was no denying it now.

The dragon--a red one with a broad mishapen snout and orange wings--seemed just as surprised by him as he was of it. It let out an undignified squawk, then scampered away over the lip of the little recession he was in.

Now that made him uneasy.

If it had just run off to raise some sort of alarm, Daren could be in some real trouble. He was armed to the teeth with spare magazines and various grenades, but he only had so much ammunition to go around--he didn't want to waste any if he could avoid it.

Daren hurried over to a large boulder nearby, taking cover as he loosened the velcro on a couple of magazine pouches and grabbing a flash grenade in his off hand. He wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary, but still, better to be ready.

Suddenly he heard an angry feminine voice say, "There's nothing here, Garble! What are you talking about!?"

Daren peeked around his boulder to see a slightly smaller blue dragon standing beside the red one he saw earlier.

"But it was just here, Lord Ember, I swear!"

"UGH. Quit wasting my time."

Only mildly surprised to hear them speaking english as the pony had, Daren made a quick caluclated decision and stood up abruptly.

"T-There it is! Lord Ember!"

The blue princess slumped her shoulders and reluctantly turned back around.

"Garble, I swear..."

She froze when she saw Daren standing there, looking startled. Daren immediately sidestepped the boulder and bowed low.

"Dragon Lord Ember," he said in his rich baritone voice, "It is an honor and a privilege to meet you."

"W-What... are you?" She said, sounding mostly just confused.

"I am a human, Lord Ember. A sort of... highly evolved ape or monkey. I come from another land. Twilight Sparkle sent me to make your acquaintence."

The blue dragon immediately relaxed.

"Oh, well if Princess Twilight sent you, then, uh... welcome? I guess?" She looked around awkwardly, "I wasn't exactly expecting to host a visitor. How'd you get here, anyway? The hatching grounds are in the center of our territory--you must have been seen before now."

Daren hesitated. He guessed it would be a bad idea to explain the whole truth here, so he practiced a little misdirection, "She sent me here with a sort of portal thing. Said it was the easiest way to send me over such distances." Twilight had mentioned the Dragon Lands as if they were something far away, after all.

"I see... well, come along, uh..."

"Daren. Daren Allswinger."

"Come along, Daren. Let me, I guess, introduce you to the Dragon Lands."

Daren obediently walked up out of the hatching grounds and stood beside the two dragons. They were small, only three or four feet tall, and he towered above them. The red dragon--Garble, he supposed--seemed nervous, but was putting a tough face on it. He followed the two dragons down the lip of the volcano as Ember gestured behind her.

"So obviously, that was the hatching grounds, like I said. It's where our eggs stay warm until they're ready to hatch. Up ahead is the lava lounge, where dragons come to bathe and relax."

He looked up and was shocked to see a dragon jump directly into a pool of lava. He was even more shocked to see it bob gently to the surface, spitting out a long stream of lava from its mouth.

"Wow, you dragons, uh... can really take the heat, huh?"

Lord Ember chuckled, "Yeah, we're a lot tougher than those namby pamby ponies. And you humans, I suppose, if you're some sort of monkey like you said."

Daren let out a low, dangerous chuckle of his own, "Oh, I'm tougher than you might think."

She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised, and he shook his head amicably.

"Just don't want you thinking I'm some lame pushover, that's all."

"Yeah, that's good. Gotta be tough around here. Dragons don't like it when you're too soft. Everything's gotta be rough and tough and hard as scales." She rolled her eyes, "It gets a little old, to tell the truth. I like it when Princess Twilight visits, it's a nice change of pace. Over here is where we keep our gems for snacking."

Daren's eyes bulged as they rounded a corner and he saw massive pits with piles of massive precious gemstones, some as large as his hulking fist. Then a dragon casually walked by, rummaged through one pile, grabbed a small emerald, and popped it into his mouth, crunching happily.

"Y-You... eat them?"

Lord Ember laughed, "Well sure! What else would we do with them?"

Daren shook his head, then reached out towards one pile as they passed it, "May I?"

"Yeah, go ahead. Not like we have any shortage," she said, grinning.

He reached out and grabbed a fistful of gemstones, stuffing them into one pocket, then carefully picked out a massive crystal clear sapphire with a very regular cut to it.

"Ooh, good choice. You have good taste."

Daren grinned as he tucked the gem into his vest, feeling it bulge against his chest. If he ever made it back to Earth, he would be set for life, now.

He continued following her as she casually passed the mounds of immeasurable wealth surrounding them. "Now, just over here is where we cook our hunts. Some dragons still eat theirs raw, but most these days are more civilized and slice up the meat and cook it, especially the younger dragons."

Even as she spoke, a dragon swooped in carrying a large sheep carcass. It dunked into a nearby pool of lava, instantly burning away the wool, then landed and sliced the sheep open with a claw, having apparently already drained it of its blood during the flight over. It ripped out a huge chunk of meat and slapped it down on a slab of stone which Daren now saw was sitting directly over a pool of magma. The meat immediately began to sizzle, cooking in its own fats.

He turned to Lord Ember as the dragon suddenly snapped up the half-cooked chunk of meat and gobbled it down in one. "Have you ever considered seasoning the meat to make it taste better?"

Lord Ember sighed, "Yes. Got the idea from the griffons, but it's hard to get these thick skulls to change. Course, I can just command them with the scepter, but I try to avoid doing that."

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes, "Right, I guess you wouldn't know." Then, as if it had been often repeated, she tiredly recited, "The Bloodstone Scepter with Ruby Gem signifies the King of Dragons. Through Dragon Gauntlet or single combat, may the scepter be passed on. Wielded with mastery and spoken with authority, all dragons obey its say. Woe is he who disobeys, for all others then destroy him." She rolled her eyes again, her voice returning to normal. "It's an ancient poem or something. Basically, the scepter means I rule the dragons, and every dragon has to obey, or instantly become enemy to all dragons. That's why I don't like using it--the threat is pretty high to be throwing it around for every little thing. The fact that I am Dragon Lord is usually plenty to get them to do what I say."

"Interesting. Is it... well, I assume it is a very majestic scepter, no?"

She shrugged, "Sure. It has the most succulent looking ruby at its top, and a suitably carved claw-like rod to support it. It was clearly made by a dragon with good taste. If you knew to pick out that blue gem you'll definitely be able to appreciate it. C'mon, my throne is just a bit further."

Daren was really beginning to feel the heat passing this close to the pools of lava and pressed forward, saying, "Can we hurry up a bit? My poor monkey hide can't take this much heat so close to the lava pools.

Lord Ember giggled, "Yeah yeah, c'mon. Just a little further, ya wuss."

She jogged forward and he and Garble hurried to keep up. They whipped around a corner, putting a large stone cliff between them and the lava pools and slowed to a walk again. Daren let out a sigh of relief.

"Better, monkey?"

Daren let out a friendly chuckle, "Yes, much." He looked up to see a huge carved stone in a sort of jagged chair-like shape. Lord Ember spread her wings and leapt up onto the massive platform, seeming even smaller against that hulking figure, and bent to pick something up. She glided back over and pointed a staff at his chest which had the most incredible ruby at the end. It was nearly the size of his head and so clear he could see straight through to the ground while still making out his reflection on the surface. He let out a low whistle.

"Impressive. Very nice, Lord Ember."

She grinned and pulled the scepter back, smacking it in her other claw.

Daren furrowed his brow as he thought back over the poem she had recited earlier, "So, hold on, am I understanding the poem right and any dragon could just up and challenge you to a fight and possibly take the scepter?"

Lord Ember shrugged her shoulders, waving the scepter around casually, "Well, sure I guess, but no one ever does. If you lose, you're immediately exiled at best, and killed at worst. You'd have to be damn certain of your victory to try it," her snout split into a wicked grin, "And every dragon around here knows I'm the fastest and fiercest around."

Daren considered briefly, then nodded. "Then I challenge you."

She frowned in confusion. "You what?"

Daren widened his stance, lowering his center of gravity, "I challenge you to a fight for the Bloodstone Scepter."

Lord Ember laughed awkwardly, "Don't be ridiculous. You don't have scales or claws to fight with. And you aren't even a dragon!"

He shrugged, "Nothing in the poem says anything about the dragon lord needing to be a dragon."

She frowned more intensely, "You... you're serious? You're actually challenging me?"

Daren nodded and she slowly lowered the scepter.

"Fine. Time and place?"

"Here and now."

Ember shook her head, bemused, then lowered herself into a defensive stance.

"Fine. But we need an audience."

His thumb flicked off the ring of the flash grenade he still held.

"Garble is witness."

She hesitated, then shrugged her shoulders.

"Alright. Garble, back off."

He seemed stunned by the turn of events, "B-But Lord Ember--"

She pointed the scepter at him, roaring "BACK OFF AND STAND WITNESS!"

He lurched backwards as if struck, then flew rapidly back and stood at a respectful distance. A few other dragons heard her bellow and lurched to attention, bearing witness themselves, assuming the loud command was for them as well.

She turned back to face him, cautiously lowering the scepter to the ground, never taking her eyes off of him.

"I warn you, human, you'd better have some neat tricks to challenge me. We begin immediately. Are you ready?"

Daren grinned as he relaxed his grip on the grenade, allowing the spring loaded fuse to begin counting down. He now had exactly three and a half seconds.

"Oh, I think you'll be surprised. I'm ready."

"Then--"

He lightly tossed the grenade into the air and quickly covered both ears with the palms of his hands, scrunching his eyes closed just as he saw her head turn upward to follow the motion.

BANG!

Even through his hands, his ears still rang from the sheer proximity of the explosion, but he dropped into a close-quarters combat stance and, seeing Ember stumbling backwards with both claws over her eyes, he quickly lurched forward and planted a boot in her chest. She was heavier than he expected, but she was in no state to counter him and fell backwards with a yelp. She instinctively took to the air, blindly rising upward.

Almost casually, Daren raised his arm and fired three quick rounds into the center of her chest.

She crumpled back to the ground, letting out a soft gasp, purple blood pulsing out onto the rock around her. He knelt and placed his gun against her forehead.

"How's that for tricks?"

And with a twitch of his finger, she was dead.

The fight had lasted barely ten seconds.

A stunned silence surrounded him as he slowly reached out and placed a hand on the Bloodstone Scepter. It seemed to hum slightly in his grip. He stood and turned toward the dragons assembled, pointing the scepter toward them. The ruby on the end glowed dimly.

"I am Daren Allswinger!" he bellowed, "Dragons, who is your lord?"

Compelled by the magic of the scepter, they chanted, "You are, Lord Daren!"

He grinned with satisfaction.