A bit of a minor moment, but Spike gains his wings here much sooner than in canon. Also, while Growing Wings here is still a sign of growing up, it is more a sign of maturity here than it is going through dragon puberty like canon. Ember is actually surprised by Spike getting his wings at his age, since she was a few years older than him when she got hers.
When Ember recalls how her father had to go battle against an invading behemoth army, he promised her he would return home alive. Not only did he keep that promise, he returned with many demon skulls to prove his worth. This was such a great moment that it forever made Ember believe in the concept of keeping promises.
Once Ember realizes that Spike has been kidnapped by two of her traitorous guards, she has them brought to her immediately and uses the Bloodstone Scepter to force them to tell her where Spike is. When one of the guards is brave (or dumb) enough to speak against Ember, calling her a traitor and a "pony loving bitch", hoping Lord Redskull skins her alive, Ember knocks him to the ground and stands on his face, screaming a glorious Badass Boast, before ordering both of them be executed and their heads put on pikes.
Ember:YOU DO NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! I AM YOUR DRAGON LORD! I AM THE FIRE REBORN! MY WORD IS LAW AND I AM ABOVE YOU, INSECT! I WAS CHOSEN BY THE TRADITIONS OF OUR PEOPLE TO LEAD US AND YOU WILL OBEY OR YOU WILL BE CRUSHED LIKE THE BUG THAT YOU ARE!
Twilight's plan on how they can save Spike and expose Lord Redskull and the rest of his rebellion is pretty brilliant.
She has Ember stay secluded in her room for three days while she gathers their backup, and made sure Ember was spreading false news about her health while remaining out of sight.
With Ember apparently dead, her enemies will let their guards down, and they would all gather in one spot with escorted guards for her "funeral" like with Torch's funeral.
With Lord Redskull away with his guards, the Redskull Clan will be almost completely empty, save for a few remaining guards. Garble can act as a guide for them and lead them to Spike, and weaken the remaining guards using some poisoned gems provided by the Crystal Ponies, which will basically act as a laxative to the dragons.
Once they have rescued Spike, they return to the funeral and Ember uses the Bloodstone Scepter to confront Lord Redskull and the rebellion, forcing them to confess their treachery in front of witnesses.
Twilight's plan seems to work out for the most part once it is put into motion. Too bad Unspoken Plan Guarantee was in effect and it falls apart in one of the worst ways.
It is revealed Lord Redskull joined forces with Chrysalis at some point, and she secretly infiltrated Ember's inner circle to spy on them by killing and replacing Silverback. So Lord Redskull was aware of their plan from the start and prepared a special Death Trap in his dungeon with Chrysalis' assistance.
Said Death Trap includes an energy shield of dark magic around the exit that is so powerful the two dragon guards that touch it are Reduced to Dust, and a giant crystal hanging from the room, made from the same stone as Chrysalis' old throne, canceling out all their magic, including the scepter. But Chrysalis also made some modifications to it, so instead of just draining magic it also drains their life energy.
As everyone is slowly losing strength from the trap, Garble of all people gets a shining moment. Once he gets assurance from Ember that her visions will help their people for the better, he uses the last of his strength to fly up to the crystal, even as everyone shouts the the closer he gets the worse the effects are, and after delivering his own Badass Boast before ripping it out of the roof and diving into the energy shield to destroy them both, dying in the process.
Garble: I am Garble Redskull! Heir to the Redskull clan! I am a Scale Guard to the Dragon Lord and a proud dragon despite what my butthole of a father thinks! My duty is to protect and serve and die for my Lord and my nation! And I will not fail that duty to something I eat and shit for breakfast!
Celestia tracks down Lord Redskull and Chrysalis, coming in like a meteor that ends up burning one of Lord Redskull's loyal clan members to a crisp, which is noted to be near impossible due to dragon's natural resistance to heat. Celestia demands which of them is Lord Redskull, and when he steps forward identifying himself, he is immediately stuck with three spears through his chest, leaving three clean visible holes, before he falls to the ground dead. Celestia turns her attention to the rest of the dragons and simply asks "Who's next?" before slaughtering them all off-screen.
Chrysalis makes a quick retreat once Celestia shows up, running through the forest. As she makes her escape, planning to return to her old hive, she gloats to herself that Equestria will never know she was involved and she always survives. Immediately after this, she feels a sudden pain in her neck, only for it to vanish, and she was left feeling cold. When she turns around, she sees her own headless dead body, with Luna nearby cleaning off her blade. It is clear Luna executed the fleeing Changeling from behind with one swipe. After Luna orders her guards to dispose of Chrysalis' body, Chrysalis' ghost goes into denial over being dead since she hasn't had her revenge. She is promptly silenced when she is visited by a blacked cloaked being with a scythe, clearly The Grim Reaper, and has Chrysalis Dragged Off to Hell by pulling her into his cloak. As she is dragged in the former queen can only scream for mercy, wanting another chance at life, only for it all to fall on deaf ears.
Ember, Twilight, and a few other dragons attempting to stop the rampaging Spike.
Ember (reluctantly) breaks one of his wings, which did not grow with the rest of him, causing him to roll on his back in pain, and Twilight quickly retrains him in giant chains to keep him from moving.
Ember tries to use the scepter on Spike to get him to stop, but unfortunately Spike's mind is so consumed with rage from the effects of the potion the scepter has no effect on him.
Ember uses the scepter in an unorthodox way no other Dragon Lord had. She uses it as a weapon, instead of just for authority, by using it to strike Spike's giant right ankle. Then, when he screams in pain, she flies up to him and throws the cure into his mouth, screaming the One-Liner "Taste this!"
Before the cure has an effect on Spike, he manages to smack Ember out of the sky with his giant claw, tearing through her armor and sending her crashing to the ground, her impact leaving a giant crater. It is even said if it wasn't for her armor she would have been killed in an instant.
As Spike closes in on Ember for the kill, Ember quietly tries begging him to stop. When that doesn't work, she starts screaming at him that if he kills her she'll kick his butt as a ghost. This seems to get through to Spike and cause him to recognize her, pausing long enough for the cure to take effect and change him back.
A Burning Flame In My Soul
At the end of the previous story, the letter that Brutanus wrote to Tyranus said that it would probably take Tyranus hundreds of years to gather an army and gains their respect before he is ready to return and face Ember. By the beginning of this story it has only been twenty years, and yet he not only has his forces ready but he has a plan in motion that could make him the emperor of dragons if he succeeds. Talk about being ahead of schedule and exceeding expectations!
Thanks to some training from Ember, Spike has learned how to fight like a dragon warrior, using both his physical abilities but also multiple weapons.
Smolder has become the new captain of the Scale Guard. Her final challenge to become the new captain was to beat the previous one in hand-to-hand combat, with Spike remembering she won using the best suplex he had ever seen outside of pro-wrestling.
Rainbow Dash defeats a Scale Guard rookie in a sparing match, prompting Smolder to give a speech about how all the other creatures in the world could kill a dragon and shouldn't be underestimated.
Smolder: Always know the strength of your opponents. Pegasi are great fliers and can manipulate anything in the air to their advantage. Unicorns are magic users and, despite our resistance to magic, can make some powerful spells when combined that could still hurt us. Earth ponies are also strong enough to snap necks with their kicks and can take a good beating thanks to their stamina and endurance. Griffins have gunpowder which can pierce even our hide. Changelings can sneak in and slit your throat while designed as your best friend. Yaks have mastered sieging and can tear a castle apart. Hippogriffs are undefeated in water combat and can drag you to a watery grave. And Kirins have a fire that can even burn us despite our high fire resistance.
Gallus becomes the first non-pony to join the Royal Guard, graduating at the top of his class. He later gained the respect of the rest of the guard after one mission when they had to investigate why convoys were disappearing near the southern borders and were attacked by an entire colony of tatzlwurms. The squad was abandoned by their cowardly leader Dawn Winds, who declared them all dead upon her return, but in actuality Gallus took control of the squad and spent two weeks getting everyone back to Canterlot without a single casualty, with them all arriving back just in time to crash the end of their own funeral ceremony and expose Dawn Winds' lie.
When Novo tried to force Silverstream to break up with Gallus, stating she needed to marry into a proper bloodline of high esteem rather than an orphan with nothing to his name, Silverstream outright refused and as proof of her love to Gallus she renounced her position as a member of the Royal Family, displaying the signed paperwork publicly.
In retaliation for Novo permanently stripping Silverstream of her noble rank so it could never be restored, Princess Skystar challenged her mother for the throne through the tradition of three contests: swimming, flying, and combat. Skystar won swimming and Novo won flying, forcing the two of them to do combat as a tiebreaker, with Skystar surprising everyone by disarming her mother and holding a trident to her throat, winning and becoming the new Queen.
