I wanted to give Torch some character development, since he’s the only named adult dragon in the show and seems to be a pretty cool guy. His portrayal in the show has been fairly one dimensional, but he has shown signs of having much more depth. His willingness to admit he is wrong to his young daughter in front of all of his subjects and his adherence to the law tell me he has a strong sense of both justice and duty. After all, there doesn’t appear to be anybody around who could force him to do these things and he was quick to validate Ember’s triumph over him despite her disobedience.  
I wasn’t sure what to do with him until I saw Campfire Tales and Shadow Play. In Campfire Tales the air above the Dragon Lands looked a lot more toxic than it is now, with the clouds being much thicker and having sickly green colors. This contrasts what we saw in Gauntlet of Fire and Shadow Play. The Dragon Lands looked a lot cleaner in these episodes and in Shadow Play we even saw the sun shining. This made me think about what could have caused that change and a theory was born.
 

 
When Torch (accidentally) earned the title of Dragon Lord, the Dragon Lands were in a state of ruin. Most of the region was inhospitable to life. Two thirds of it was covered in a blanket of toxic clouds so thick that nobody even knew what it was concealing. The rest wasn’t faring much better. Either smog trapped so much heat that plants could not grow, or they got trampled by the dragons who lived in small clusters along the coast and often got into fights over resources, pride and personal space. The population was dwindling as a result.  
According to Dragon Law it was Torch’s job to “facilitate the continuation of the species”. This was something previous Dragon Lords had lazily interpreted as ordering dragons to make more dragons… with mixed results.  
Dragons were inching closer towards the tipping point of extinction and Torch knew the constant fighting had to end. He could hardly ask the dragons to stop, though. This would make him seem weak and with honor being the social currency that determines everything from a dragon’s social mobility to their personal safety, he would breed a lot of resentment by disallowing dragons to settle disputes in the traditional way. Luckily Torch was a bit smarter and much better educated than the average dragon, so he figured that if he could simply take away their reasons to fight, he wouldn’t have to ask.  
Unfortunately the solution he came up with required patience; something dragons aren’t famous for having. As expected, his subjects weren’t too thrilled with having to work and having nothing to show for it for decades. Torch remained firm and assured them they’d get their just reward in the end. He knew that explaining himself would be a waste of time.
 
The first phase of the plan was cultivating marine life, since the land wasn’t suitable for plant growth yet. As more purifying plants were grown in the ocean, the smog started to clear and the temperature on the land dropped enough for plants to survive there.  
The second phase was cultivating plant life on the surface. This phase was much shorter than the first phase, because animals began to show up and bees started to pollinate the flowers.  
Phase three consisted of nothing except waiting and forbidding dragons from entering areas of development, as well as yelling at ponies for letting yet another mentally unstable compatriot cause a nigh apocalyptic problem once or twice per season.
 
Centuries passed and the Dragon Lands changed beyond recognition. The blanket of toxic clouds has almost completely dissipated, revealing mountains upon mountains of precious stone.  
Of course this meant that the Dragon Lands became a target for thieves, but that wasn’t a problem Torch couldn’t solve with his colossal fists.