ARTIST NOTE:  
“The gauntlet experience was… interesting. I like to think I wasn’t as bad as a lot of the other dragons, but I suppose I was doing it mostly for the cool title. But the little guy really opened my eyes. So, I decided to change a few things during my term as the Dragon Lord.”  
“Like what?”  
“Well, there’s the occasional letter to Princess Sparkle, although she mostly just wants trivia about daily life. I think she might be writing a book, but I don’t know who’d buy something like that. ‘How do you fold up your wings when you sleep?’ ‘Do different dragons prefer to eat different jewels?’ ‘Do dragons grow for other reasons than greed?’ That kind of thing. And of course, there’s the question of the throne.”  
“The throne?”  
“I don’t exactly fit that of my father’s. Maybe one day… but for now, I decided to get a new one. Smaller one, but still stately, you know? Hard rock, sitting on the edge of a cliff, dramatic skies behind it?”  
“Sounds impressive.”  
“I sure hope so. It’s surprisingly hard, being a Dragon Lord - especially a progressive one. On my first day, I decreed I’d listen to any of my subject’s problems, and try to help them as much as was in my power. You know? Progressive sort of deal, but vague enough.”  
“How is that working out?”  
“It’s a mixed bag. There’s a lot of positive response, but it doesn’t leave me with a lot of spare time. I suppose word travels fast. Even though most dragons don’t want to admit it, but we still have feelings behind those thick scales, so a lot of them come to me with… unusual problems. “  
“Like what?”  
“There’s always peer pressure, which I like to give them good advice on - tell them they don’t have to prove anything to anyone other than themselves, that sort of stuff. But some dragons just need someone to talk to, or someone who cares about them…. and… huh.”  
“What?”  
“No, it’s silly… I just…”  
“Yes?”  
“I do care about them. When I decided to fight for the title, that was all I wanted - a name, a badge of power. But now that I have it, I feel responsible. It’s like I’m not one of them anymore, but I somehow have the power to help them. They look up to me, and I’m afraid of letting them down. But you know what?”  
“What?”  
“I’m not. I’m not going to let them down, and I am going to be there for them - for each and every one of them. I’ll listen to them, I’ll share whatever wisdom I can muster, I’ll pet their scales and rub their bellies if that’s what they need. Because I care.”