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Sconce underwent a few changes in appearance.


Sconce isn't the best mother. She's a harsh critic and a nag. She's had a habit of saying nasty things to her son, Torch, since he was young and had a tendency to get physical as well. Partly that was out of frustration, yet partly also out of a misguided belief that it was all for the best. Sconce is a firm believer that a coddled dragon is a dead dragon, and the way to motivate a dragon to become the strongest and most resilient is by inflicting enough pain and humiliation that they will push themselves to new heights so they cannot be forced to suffer like that by anyone again. It is because of this logic that she has repressed her caring nature to the point something primal has to be awakened in her for her to show it.
Surprisingly, Sconce hardly allows any other dragon except Torch's father to make disparaging comments about her son and while she has always demonstrated an apparent lack of confidence in Torch's abilities throughout his life, deep down she seems to be proud and have faith in him.

The extreme abuse Torch suffers as a wee lad is played up to comedic levels so it isn't completely unbearable to watch. The characters overact and the punishments are so cartoonishly severe and disproportionate that, by all accounts, it makes zero sense that Torch survived his childhood at all. The way he turns out further plays into the absurdity of the situation: he's fine, if a little theatrical, but this is implied to run in the family. Contrary to what anybody would expect he is boisterous and confident. He just loathes his mother and his father, who somehow manages to be even worse than Sconce.

There are definitely some serious moments and implications, though, and they come into play later into Sconce's and Torch's character arcs respectively.
Torch was a better parent than his folks from the start, but Ember teaches him to be a kind father outright. Although skeptical about the 'friendship lessons' at first, he learned his lesson about dismissing his daughter's ideas when she became dragon lord and is receptive. Despite him opening his mind it is quite difficult for him to accept these new truths, as they are polar opposites of everything he's known. In the end he relents because he sees how much happier dragons are under Ember's rule.

Even Sconce learns the magic of friendship eventually. After living her whole life convinced that failing to suppress her maternal instincts would have surely ended in disaster, the realization that Torch became a successful dragon not because of her methods but in spite of them hits her like a ton of bricks.
Torch does not immediately forgive her but reluctantly does so when he recognizes the oh-so-relatable guilt of doing wrong by one's child.

Finally Torch gets closure and he, Ember and Sconce work towards a happy future together all thanks to pastel ponies.

Upvotes at import: 46 | Stars at import: 33
Posted previously at: 2018-05-14T14:22:08 | Posted previously by: QueenCold