//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: A Father's Advice // Story: Reflections of the Heart // by TheCloudtop //------------------------------// Spike stared at GoldHeart in astonishment. His mouth worked up and down, making him look like a fish as he struggled to form words. Finally, not knowing what else to do, Spike sat down hard. “I know this must come as quite a shock, Spike, but what I speak is the truth. I am your sire.” Still in a sitting position, Spike looked up at the dragon who was claiming to be his father. “What do you mean, you’re my father? How is that possible? According to both what I know and what you’ve told me, my egg laid dormant for many years. How was it that I hatched so long after you had died?” The massive dragon laid down next to his son, both delight and sadness presenting itself in his voice. “Spike, you must understand something. We dragons have much magic that is intertwined into our beings that affect both ourselves and the ones around us, and most of it we do not understand. When your egg was created, shortly thereafter, both your mother and myself perished. Because of our deaths, the magics that were present in your egg made you lay dormant until someone could take care of you, that someone being the pony who came and hatched you. Taking a deep breath and looking up at the big dragon before him, speech came slowly but surely to the young dragon. “You said my mother. What does that make me? If you’re a dragon, and my mother was a pony, than what... am I?” “You, Spike, are an individual like few others. Because of your heritage, you have the mind and a body of a dragon, but the heart of a pony. That is part of the reason why you acclimated so well and lived so peacefully with the ponies as you do.” Spike put a claw out in front of his face, twisting and turning it, staring at it intently. Continuing to look at his claw, Spike said, “Then I’m different from most dragons... That explains a lot, actually.” Tearing his gaze away from his claw, Spike looked back at the golden dragon. “Tell me, GoldHeart, how did you and my mother die?” GoldHeart’s eyes flared wide open, his pain made obvious from the way his body shuddered and his shallow breathing.. “Back when your mother and I were still alive, things were much different than they are now. The peace that you have known in your lifetime was not present for me and Purple Dawn. In my lifetime, the griffons were constantly at war with the ponies. As a result, Purple Dawn and I got caught up in constant battles. The village that Purple Dawn lived in was constantly in danger, as it was a key location for the war back then. We could only do so much before the village was overrun and Purple Dawn was wounded beyond what could be healed. Her injuries caused her death, and mine as well.” Spike cocked his head in confusion. “Wait, what? Why would Purple Dawn’s- my Mother’s injuries- kill you? I thought dragons were immortal, that we couldn’t be killed.” GoldHeart put a massive claw over his heart, closing his eyes as he did so. “You’re right, Spike. We can’t be killed. At least not under normal circumstances. The relationship between your mother and me could not be called normal from any perspective.” GoldHeart sighed hollowly, the hole in his heart apparent in his voice. “You know that dragons and ponies do not get along well now. The relationship, if it could be called that, between the two races was even worse in your mother's and my time. There have only been a clawful of dragon-pony relationships in history, and most of those ended badly for all involved. Something you must understand, Spike, is that the two races were, and are, vastly different. It is a fact which you, having lived among ponies since your hatching, do not fully understand. “We dragons are an ancient race, older than any other. Even the Alicorns, who are akin to gods in the minds of the ponies, are infants to the dragons. We have a long and oft times rocky history, for we are not known for our welcoming personalities. Most dragons are solitary creatures, only coming in contact with others for mating, hunting, territory disputes, and the occasional stray encounter. This is ever more true for dragon-pony encounters. In fact, had your mother not been exploring, and poked her muzzle into my cave, the two of us would never have met, and you would never have been hatched.” Spike’s voice cut into GoldHeart’s narrative. “What I don’t understand is how the two of you ever got together in the first place. Yeah, I saw what you showed me, I know how the two of you met, but I don’t know the details of how the two of you even began talking, let alone how you both wound up being together. How does a dragon that wasn’t raised around ponies even start being attracted to one in the first place?” GoldHeart chuckled, smoke coming out of his nostrils in short spurts. “I can tell you this, Spike, it wasn’t a simple process. Purple Dawn may have been born a pony, but she had a stubborn streak and a force of will that would make most dragons look like agreeable creatures. Once she got something into her head that she wanted to do, nothing could dissuade her. She was always an inquisitive sort, and she had a reputation for poking her muzzle into all sorts of trouble.” His voice fell and rose, as his narrative made the years melt away for the massive dragon. “Had it been any other pony that stuck their nose into my cave that day, I would never had seen them again. Your mother however, being the inquisitive creature that she was, came back to my cave, again and again, despite my attempts to drive her away. You see, Spike, at first, I never even talked to her. She would come around my cave every few days, and try to get me to talk to her, and I, in turn, would chase her away, breathing fire at her, until she left the edges of my territory.” Spike just sat in silence, awe filling his face, as he listened to his parent’s story. GoldHeart closed his eyes as he reminisced. “It was not until she told me that unless I was willing to turn her into charcoal, that she would not leave until I talked to her. At that point, she had been coming around for two months give or take a few days, and I was intrigued. I had never before been spoken to in such a manner, let alone by a pony. Normally, the very sight of me was enough to scare away any intruders. So, we talked. That first day, we seemed to talk for hours. Time was of no consequence, for she seemed to fill a hole inside of me that I did not know I had. “She talked about such things as family, and friends. I, being a solitary dragon, had little experience with simple conversation. She told me about the day to day life in her village, and how even though she loved her family and friends, she longed for something more. When I asked her what she wanted, she simply looked at me, and said ‘You’. “ When that day ended, I was happier than I had ever been before. Mind you, it took much longer than that for me to open up to her; no matter how I was feeling, I was still a full grown dragon, and we do not change, or at least allow change easily. It wasn’t for almost a year that I let my guard down around her, and it was even longer than that before I let her into my cave.” Spike spoke up again. “Okay, I get where the attraction came for you, sort of, but where did it come for my mother? How did she wind up being interested in you?” The gold dragon laughed. “Funny you should ask that. I was just thinking of that myself. You see, I asked her that once, and she turned the deepest shade of red I have ever seen in anyone. Mind you, this was about two or three years after we first met. After a lot of coaxing, she told me it was the color of my scales and they way they sparkled in the sun. According to her, that was what first attracted her to me. Afterwards, she said, it was my way with words--witty, she called me--and my ferocity. Mind you, I was always gentle towards her, but she said it was the way that I spoke. With passion, she said.” GoldHeart shook his massive head. “I only wish I would have had longer to be with her, and I wish we had survived to raise you.” Spike spoke up again. “ Yeah, that is something I am really confused about, and something you have yet to explain. How exactly did you die?” GoldHeart sighed. “That is the most complicated answer yet, Spike. As I said, we dragons have a lot of magic that is contained within us, and we do not comprehend most of it. However, one of the few magicks in us that we do understand, is that the first individual we fall in love with, we are bound by the magic within us to be with forever. It has to be a mutual attraction. Because we live forever, a spurned heart in our race could cause no end of turmoil and pain among us. It is for that reason, or we so assume, that we are bound to the object of our first true attraction.” GoldHeart sighed with a passion that seemed to resonate in his entire body. “I had already been bound to someone when I had met your mother. She was a dragoness that I had met long ago, while I was still growing and maturing. We were close, at first. As time went on, she changed. She went from being gentle and kind- for a dragon anyways- to a brute, acting vicious to everyone around her. Naturally, I left. It was over a century later that I met your mother.” Spike chewed on a claw, deep in thought. “If you were bound to someone already, then how were you able to be with my mother?” Spike asked, his brow furrowed. “Spike, that is something I cannot tell you, for you are in a similar situation. You must figure that out for yourself. Although, I must point out a couple of things. You would not be bound to Rarity if she did not have true feelings for you, and you need to take some time and really consider what your feelings are for Fluttershy. Is she someone you truly love, or is she just a scapegoat, so you do not have to face Rarity? You must be honest with yourself, both for your sake, and especially for the sakes of the ponies around you.” Spike stood, his face lighting up. “Wait a second. You just said that I would not be bound to Rarity if she didn’t have feelings for me. If that is true, then why is she able to go around with all the different stallions she has?” “Because, Spike, she is not a dragon. While the magic within you resonates in response to her feelings for you, it does not bind her as it does you.” GoldHeart looked Spike up and down, his eyes shining. “My time is short. I don’t have much longer to speak with you like this. I love you, my son. Remember, you must be honest with yourself, and with the ponies involved in all this. I will always be watching.” Spike stood. “Wait! Will I ever get to talk to you again? What if I need you?” GoldHeart smiled. “Just listen to what is inside your heart, Spike. I will not be, and have never been, far from you.” GoldHeart faded slowly away; a flash of brilliant light was the last that Spike saw of him. Spike laid down, sleep overtaking him; the last thought in his mind before drifting off was GoldHeart’s words, “You must be honest.”