Happy Dragon Day!!! spike (great!) plz Princess Ember (Assertive) SMOLDER

Equestria Daily's given us another pony-themed holiday this year, and it's all about those scaly, winged, fire-breathing creatures — DRAGONS!!! And here we have My Little Pony's very famous dragons: Spike, Princess Twilight Sparkle's number 1 Assistant, Friendship Ambassador to the Dragonlands, and current Royal Advisor; Princess Ember, the beautiful blue Dragon Lord; Smolder, the orange dragon student of Twilight's School of Friendship and member of the Young Six; and Garble, the red teenaged dragon bully turned beat poet and Smolder's older bro. All four of these drakes stand out among all the others throughout the show, and what's more became heroes, even though our western fairy tales have always seen dragons as villains and monsters.

Spike was hatched by a young Twilight Sparkle when she tried to get enrolled into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. After Celestia took Twilight as her personal protégé, Spike was raised by the Unicorn's parents and trained by Celestia. The Princess assigned the little dragon to be Twilight's assistant. From that moment on, he would help Twilight with any task she needed to be done, and although she wouldn't admit it, he would be the closest thing she had as a friend. With his magical flame, he could also deliver letters to and from Princess Celestia. When the princess sent Twilight to make friends in Ponyville, Spike remained at her side on their new adventure. While he would continue to assist Twilight, he would also help their new best friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity (whom he has a huge, unwavering crush on), Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Being a dragon in a pony world has made Spike feel like a fish out of water, especially since he was orphaned as an egg with his origin being a mystery. Nevertheless, he is accepted by Ponykind, and, even though he doesn't bear an Element of Harmony, he is still very important to his very best friends. He even saved all of Equestria by retrieving the Crystal Heart from the evil King Sombra when Twilight was unable to, thus, he has earned a hero status in the empire and a "modest" title: Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious. Who would have thought a little dragon like him could save the day? But you could never underestimate such a great pal like Spike. Even after Twilight Sparkle became a princess, Spike's role remained the same, but his impact on her, their best friends and all of Equestria continued to get more and more prominent. Spike would encounter other dragons, some would be his friends, others his foes.

Garble was the first dragon Spike tried to befriend, but with no success. After observing the Great Dragon Migration with his pony friends, Spike started to question his dragon roots. He then set out to join the dragon migration on a quest of self discovery. At a volcano, Spike joined a gang of teenage dragons, led by Garble, a big, red brute of a bully who looked down on ponies as "namby-pamby". When he and his gang found out that Spike lived among ponies, they challenged him to prove his dragonhood through a series of tests. Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, disguised as a dragon, stepped in to ensure Spike would not get hurt in any activity, though he fails in all of them. But once he took on a challenge on his own, he earned the dragons' respect, with Garble accepting him into the gang. Spike was thrilled until the dragons started terrorizing animals, attempted to raid a nest of phoenix eggs using Spike to lure the phoenixes away, and coercing him to destroy the eggs. Spike, seeing what bad-natured bullies Garble and his gang were, he refused. Just before Garble and the other dragons prepared to do him great harm, Spike's pony friends revealed themselves and saved Spike. Garble would not forget this, and so an enmity was formed between him and Spike and his pony pals. Hopefully, he would not be the last dragon Spike would encounter.

Ember was always regarded as former Dragon Lord Torch's "Little Princess," and she never liked it. Fortunately, the day would come when she would prove her worth. All the dragons were summoned to the Dragonlands, including Spike. Torch announced that he was stepping down and he was holding the Gauntlet of Fire, a perilous challenge designed to dub the new Dragon Lord. Ember wanted to take over, but her father forbade it due to her small size. So she secretly entered the gauntlet to prove herself a worthy leader. Spike initially had no interest in competing, but he overheard his old enemy Garble planning on using the title of Dragon Lord to attack Equestria; the bully held a grudge against Spike and his friends, and wanted revenge by destroying their home. Spike reluctantly chose to stay and compete to ensure Equestria's safety. During the contest, Ember was shot down by a sea worm, but Spike saved her from drowning. Ember was not pleased about having an ally, saying "Dragons don't do friends." However, when Garble happened upon the group and almost discovered Twilight and Rarity, who disguised themselves to help Spike, Ember covered for them. After agreeing to help one another, Ember and Spike paired up, navigating the obstacles until the last leg, when she was upset by his friendship with the ponies that they parted ways. Even though he was devastated, Spike managed to reach the Bloodstone Scepter, but Garble was right behind him, and tossed him into the rock pit. Just then, Ember swooped down and saved Spike, admitting to herself that the two of them are indeed friends. Sacrificing her own win, Ember held off Garble, while Spike went ahead to retrieve the scepter. Ember came to understand what friendship really is and Spike quickly passed the role on to Ember, knowing she would be a great leader and keep Equestria safe. She let him know that he will always have a friend in the Dragonlands. Confronting her father, Ember declared that there is more to being a leader than size and strength. Torch came to understand this, and Ember is crowned the new Dragon Lord. As part of her new position, Ember establishes friendlier dragon/pony relations through Twilight Sparkle. Through her reign, dragons would no longer be egotistical and become friendlier. Spike was also given the new role of Friendship Ambassador to Dragon Lands. The dragons and the reformed changelings would become friends as well through Ember's friendship with another of Spike's non-pony pals, King Thorax. And soon, another dragon would not only get to be a new friend for Spike, but be part of a new generation of creatures who would inspire friendship throughout far and wide.

Smolder was the first dragon to attend Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship after the Storm King's defeat. Although Smolder didn't want to, Ember forced her in order to represent the dragons. Like many dragons, Smolder can seem arrogant at first but she has a kind heart underneath her loud exterior. She does not like to do as she’s told and is often up to mischief with her friends. Tough, competitive, and initially resistant to the idea of friendship, she opens up to some of her fellow students, and becomes much friendlier overall. And it turns out that she secretly likes cute things, like dresses, makeup, and tea parties. Besides the Young Six, Smolder also becomes a very great friend to Spike, teaching him more about their dragon life, such as explaining to him about Molting and showing him how to fly with his new wings. He even helped him expose the deceptive, lazy dragon bum, Sludge, who pretended to be his father just so he could live in his castle home. Smolder's role would grow to new heights when she and her friends worked together to stop the machinations of the evil Cozy Glow. When the psychopathic filly threatened to drain magic from the world of MLP, the Young Six worked together to remove the magical artifacts to shut down the spell Cozy used to drain the magic.

However, a new surprise would catch many off guard. When Spike and Fluttershy went with Smolder to the Dragonlands to help cheer up her sensitive brother, they were shocked to learn that Smolder's brother was actually Garble! Despite their enmity, Spike agreed to cheer the bully up, but with no success, while Fluttershy went to check on the dragon eggs, which haven't hatch for some reason. Spike decided to trade tasks with Fluttershy: she would try to cheer up Garble, while he went to try and help with the dragon eggs. It was then Fluttershy discovered a big secret: Garble was a beat poet who expresses himself through his rhymes, performing exclusively for Smolder, and keeping it hidden from his friends for fear of being mocked. And in order to keep himself from being picked on he would pick on others, like Spike. However, ever since Smolder left for school (and even before then), Garble has been creatively repressed. Meanwhile, Spike discovered that the ground was too cold to let the eggs develop and realized that Garble's friends were draining an underground lava reservoir so that they could surf and swim. Encouraged by Smolder and Spike, Garble performed his poetry for the other dragons, causing them to laugh so hard that they produce a fire hot enough to hatch the eggs. Ember proclaimed that her subjects will start to celebrate their differences rather than make fun of them, and Garble was declared a hero.

All four of these dragons would be heroes again when the final villains, Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow, terrorized Equestria. Spike helped his pony friends in a battle against the villains; Spike even protected Rarity from Chrysalis with his flame breath. However, just when they were almost destroyed, the friends were rescued by all their other friends and allies, pony and non-pony. The Young Six used everything they learned at the School of Friendship to bring the races together again and convince them to fight alongside each other. Ember brought the dragons to join the battle, and they and Garble fended off Cozy Glow. Seeing how her school was a good thing after all, Twilight confronted the villains and told them how, despite how much darkness there is in the world, there will always be those who seek out the light through the Magic of Friendship. Her passion brought her friends, the Young Six (including Smolder), and the legendary Pillars of Old Equestria to her side, and the power of their combined magic created a rainbow of light that stripped the villains of their stolen power, saving the day once again. Dragons are indeed some of the coolest creatures, and among some of the greatest friends and heroes.


Well, here it is. And this was perhaps one of my hardest projects. Even though I used my pre-made vectors of Spike and Smolder, and the background wasn't too difficult to make (especially with the time I had left), the real drudgery I had to deal with, and what took up most of my time was making the perfect vectors for Ember and Garble. Since there was not one reference for the poses I had in mind for them, I had to make said poses through one or two references. It's quite a long story so to speak, but I really liked how it turned out. I especially love Ember's vector.

Spike, Ember, Smolder, and Garble by me

Background by me

While I'm glad I made this, I am disappointed of the timing Equestria Daily made to inform us of Dragon Day; it was brought up last Tuesday. Had they announced it earlier, I would've made this way before then. Now I fear it might compromise a project for Friendship Day, which is this Thursday. I'll see if I can make it and get it done in time with the limited resources I have (as in premade vectors). Otherwise, it'll probably be postponed to next Sunday. We'll see…