Sitting down by the lake and giving Thorax some leadership advice was something that surprisingly made Ember feel a bit better. Her thoughts were no longer on Spike’s lies, and instead were focused on helping her new friend.
She also felt relief from the cool lake water touching her feet. Her entire day consisted of gorging down on bits and pieces of the gem-covered castle, so much so that she ballooned more than three times her normal size. With most of her new weight going straight to her belly, her feet became quite sore from carrying the extra pudge.
“So, what's your deal?” asked Thorax, “Why do you think you're so bad at friendship?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Ember rubs her soft, scaly belly. She would much rather keep eating those sweet gems.
“Oh, you have to! How else are you gonna solve your problems?”
“Through feats of strength and fire duels, of course,” Ember smirked, trying to show off some muscle from her squishy, flabby arms.
“Uh… No offense, but can you really fight?” Thorax raised an eyebrow.
Before he says anymore, Ember lifts a heavy boulder (not as heavy as her) over her head and tosses it high into the air. She flies up higher than Thorax could have thought possible and blasts a fireball at the giant rock. As the rocky debris rain down, Ember immense body lands with a ground-shaking boom.
Breathing heavily, she exclaims, “You see? Crushing another dragon in competition establishes my dominance and makes me feel great!” A loud growl is suddenly heard from her round belly, causing it to visibly jiggle. “Ignore that.”