Outside of Flame-cano island, during the gauntlet of fire, a red teenage dragon flew upwards, hoping to get to the scepter first. Garble grunted as he dodged another rock before he got smacked by another, pushing the rock off of him before he got hit with another one. Garble grunted as he pushed the Boulder away, catching himself mid-air with his wings before he flew onto one of the cliff sides of the flame-cano catching his breath.
 
He grunted again, annoyed that he was getting delayed by a bunch of rocks, him, a dragon! Garble wasn't worried about that runty, pony loving Spike or that other mystery dragon, sandy rockbeach winning the gauntlet, of coarse he was going to win. He was smarter, stronger and faster then anyone of these dragons in the gauntlet, of course he was going to become Dragonlord.
 
He was about to jump going back into the fray, but then his nose caught something. He sniffed the air around him, catching a familiar and disgusting scent through the ash and smoke. Ponies.
 
"Why do I smell ponies around..." Garble said as he sniffed more, tracing the scent below him. He looked down and gasped at what he saw, a rock with some scrub he saw earlier on the beach, and two purple tail sticking out from underneath.
 
"I knew it! I did smell ponies! That dragon was lying!" Garble said to himself.
 
Suddenly Garble's stomach groaned, The dragon only having a few gems for breakfast left himself famished from his flying And dodging.
 
"I should have had more gems today..." Garble said, then he looked down again catching the pony tails. Garble quickly grew a smirk, and licked his lips before he carefully and quietly lowered himself back onto the beach.
 
Garble's feet touched the ground, the ponies just as oblivious as when he was on the cliff. Getting a closer look, he saw the rock was just a crude paper-m�ch� camouflage. How could he be so dense? Oh well, what done is done, now is the time to strike.
 
Garble quietly sneaked closer before he flipped the box. Looking down he saw a white unicorn with the curly purple tail and a purple alicorn on top with the straight purple tail.
 
"Found you!"
 
Garble quickly grabbed the unicorn by her tail and the Alicorn by her horn. He lifted them up, both ponies quick to struggle in the dragon's claws. Garble quickly realized these were the ponies that helped that little runt the first time they met.
 
"Let us go you ruffian!" He white one whined.
 
"Shut up you namby ponies, you shouldn't be so far into dragon territory. Now you have to be punished." Garble said.
 
"If you know what's good for you you'll let us go." The purple one threatened.
 
"If you know what's good for YOU, you'll be quiet and let me enjoy my lunch." Garble said as he licked his lips. He lifted the confusion alicorn above his maw before he opened wide and lowered her in, fitting her flanks safely in his maw before closing. Garble loved the taste of this pony, his tongue now licking the thrashing hooves and purple flanks, who knew ponies tasted so good.
 
Naturally, the white one screamed and thrashed even more, doing nothing against the teen dragon's strength as Garble swallowed, the pony's lower body bulging out his throat, although due to size difference not by much, as he began to lick her chest and front hooves that were starting to enter his mouth. The purple horse continued to kick his his throat, giving him more pleasure then resistance as he continued to taste the pony, she tasted like Amethyst's and Sapphire's rolled into a delicious combo. He swallowed once more, leaving only the purple horn outside of his mouth. He was quick to bite the horn off as it glowed breaking the spell and causing a scream from his first meal, before he swallowed one last time, sending the pony into his high temperature stomach acids.
 
Garble let put a sigh as he rubbed the new bulge in his body, although not a large bulge compared to the rest of his body, the bulge stilled moved around, legs and face imprints popping up constantly.
 
"That was delicious, who knew ponies tasted so good! But I'm not quite filled yet..." Garble eyed his second meal, which had stopped struggling and instead had gone quiet, looking up to him in fear. Good.
 
Garble lifted the pony upside down above him like he had done with his last meal, before slowly lowering the whimpering pony into his maw, the pulsating dragon throat welcoming her before he closed his jaws around the mare's shoulders. They were no problem, as the small pony could easily fit inside the dragon's mouth, and so Garble enjoyed her taste again, just as delicious as the first but instead had the taste of refined gems and diamonds, and a little bit of ruby. He swallowed, his throat bulging with the face of his meal as he let go of the tail, letting the limp backside hang out of his mouth. His tongue was quick to swallow out the rest of body, before he slurped up the purple tail and gulped.
 
Garble picked up the broken horn and picked his teeth of hair, while his stomach struggled and moved wildly, hooves and faces constantly pressing against the stomach as the acids began to burn. Garble rubbed his bulge before letting out a massive belch, a stream of fire spraying from his mouth as his stomach made quick work of his meals.
 
"Thanks for the meal, turns out you namby ponies are good for something after all, dragon food!" Garble laughed, put the horn away for now. Being a dragon and eating gems had speed up his digestive system to burn through anything not made of anything resembling gem within minutes. His bulge was already starting to stop moving and the gurgles got louder as he took off from the beach and flew towards the Volcano, he had a scepter to win.
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"Maybe if we were in Ponyland, but like I said, dragons don't do friendship."
 
Spike watched as Ember flew away, leaving him behind. He found himself truly all alone. Twilight and Rarity were no where to be seen, and Ember had just left him in the middle of the volcano. He slumped as he began to walk away, but he bumped into something knocking him on his rump.
 
"Hey runt."
 
Spike rubbed his head, immediately scared as he saw Garble standing before him, except his stomach seemed a bit bigger...and louder.
 
"Where's you partner, that Sandy Rockbeach dragon?" Garble asked.
 
"Oh, he decided he had enough of the gauntlet and...left." Spike explained, a gurgle escaping Garble's stomach.
 
"Really? So your all alone now. No pamby ponies to help you?" Garble asked.
 
"O-of course not. I'm here by myself, I'm an independent dragon." Spike said. Garble just laughed as he picked Spike up by his head, lifting him so they looked each other at eye-level.
 
"Really? And how's a runt like you going to beat true dragon like me?" Garble asked.
 
"I-I-"
 
"Honestly, you'd be put to better use If I just ate you." Garble said with a smile, while Spike's face went pale.
 
"W-what?" He asked scared.
 
"Say hi to ya pony friends, they tasted pretty good, can't say the same for you though." Garble said as he opened his mouth and threw Spike inside, his cheeks bulging with the Dragon well before he gulped Spike down, one large bulge travelled down his throat until it added to his already pudgy middle.
 
"Eh, you were okay twerp, but ponies taste better." Garble said as he took flight once again, letting out a small fire belch.
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Ember finally landed, the scepter sitting right in front of her, stuck in a cluster of hard gems. She hesitated to reach for it, feeling a bit weird. Why would she be feeling weird? She had made it, she had won the gauntlet, their was no way she was feeling guilty or sad for leaving Spike behind, she wasn't angry at herself for leaving him, she wasn't lonely, dragons just don't do friends.
 
Unknown to her, Garble had arrived on the scene, and was quick to pounce on the unsuspecting princess. He knocked her gold armor off as the two tumbled before Garble pinned Ember to the ground.
 
"Well what's this? I though Lord Torch told you to stay out of the gauntlet." Garble asked.
 
"He doesn't control me, I can do what I want!" Ember said, snarling and trying to push Garble off. Had he gained weight?
 
"Still, you defied a Dragon Lord's order, I think that means you committed a crime. So I'm placing you under Dragon's arrest." Garble said.
 
"You can't do that! I'm the princess!" Ember said.
 
"Of course I can, Torch has higher authority then you, and I will to, especially after I deal with you." Garble said as he lifted Ember up, standing up.
 
"What are you doing Garble? Don't do anything Stupid!" Ember said.
 
"Trust me Ember, this while be delectable." Garble said.
 
Ember could barely get out her question before Garble shoved her head into his mouth, Garble quick to hold down her wings and arms. Garble's lips widened a bit to allow the Dragonesses shoulder through to join her head in his throat. He licked the blue scales, finding a slight blueberry flavor, but nothing compared to his first meal. He was quick to push the Princess in so he could trap the scepter and be done with the gauntlet, licking over her wings before her torso disappeared under red scales. Garble grabbed what was left of her with his forked tongue before pulled her in and taking a huge gulp, the dragon princess quickly falling into his sagging stomach.
 
Garble waddled over to the scepter, the added mass of digested ponies, dragons and pre digested Dragon princess that thrashed like mad slowing him down. He pulled the scepter out of the red crystals, a red beam shooting through the sky, signifying the end of the gauntlet. Garble sat down and leaned against the crystal, scepter in his claw while the other rubbed his bulging, active stomach.
 
"It's like you said Ember," Garble paused to release a loud, long flame burp that cause a black spot on the volcano rock, "Every dragon for themselves."
 
Garble grinned as dragons began to surround him bowing to their new lord. He would wait until his stomach was done before returning to Torch, then claim his rightful title, although his plan was very different from when he started the gauntlet. Forget stealing everything in Equestria and burning everything else, there were to many delicious ponies for that.