“You did very well, Twilight,” Celestia remarked with a smile, wiping a sheen of sweat from her brow. “Quite well indeed.”
“R-really?” Twilight muttered while panting, her legs quivering and barely holding her upright.
Celestia smiled, using a quick refreshment spell to cleanse herself of the stink of sweat. “You have done admirably, my student. Your strength is improving quite quickly and as always your multitasking is phenomenal.” The alicorn smiled gently. “Would you like me to use the refreshment spell on you as well?”
The filly nodded. “Yes please.”
Celestia lit her horn and cast the spell again, curing Twilight of the stench that clung to her. “Are you sure you are feeling alright though? You seemed a little distracted.”
Twilight frowned, rubbing one hoof over her stomach. “I’m fine. I just have a bit of a stomach ache, is all.”
“Hmm, well try to go easy on the sugar for a little while, okay? I’ll see if your doctor can figure out what's bothering that tummy of yours,” Celestia quipped, poking the filly’s stomach and making her giggle.
“Stop iit,” Twilight whined, blushing hard.
The alicorn giggled and trotted over to the exit of the room where she lifted a hoof, turning a knob that jutted out from the wall. Slowly the subtle oppressive aura that had settled over her magic began to lift, making her horn spark as it got used to the removal of the anti-magic field.
The filly sighed, rubbing a hoof over her horn. “Why do we train with a dampening field on anyway?” she asked.
“Sometimes an opponent or an area can suppress your magic, making it harder to cast spells, meaning it becomes necessary to use more power than what you would normally require.” Celestia tapped her horn for emphasis. “It's important that you know how to overcome these obstacles, and it helps grow your mana pool, and strengthen your connection to your magic. Something you, little filly, need help with.”
“But I thought you said I’m improving,” Twilight said with a pout.
“You are, and quite quickly at that, which means it's working.” Celestia smiled, and picked up the filly’s chin. “Only a week or two more and I think you’ll already be back to your old self.”
Twilight’s eyes went wide. “And if we keep going I could get stronger?” the filly asked, the three words that had boomed in her mind a week ago returning to her.
Adapt, overcome, destroy.
She shook her head, purging her mind of the strange thoughts and trying to listen as Celestia spoke.
“Theoretically, you could keep getting stronger with this type of training, but I’m not wholly certain if that is a good idea.” The alicorn ran a hoof over the dial on the wall. “It puts quite a strain on your body and your magic and should be used sparingly.”
The filly nodded, before grinning up at the alicorn. “Hey Celestia, does the dial go all the way to a hundred percent?” she asked innocently.
“Technically yes, but again that's dangerous as completely suppressing a pony’s magic is a recipe for long term damage to a pony’s health including numerous complications.” Her features grew stern and she glanced down at the filly with a grave expression. “That mode is only for the elite guard and I want you to promise me never to try it, okay?”
The filly nodded. “Yes, Princess Celestia.”
“Good.” Celestia smiled. “Now then, are you ready to go see the dragon you hatched?”
“Uh huh!” Twilight proclaimed happily, pumping her hoof in the air.
The alicorn’s smile widened. “That's wonderful as I’m sure he would like to see you again as well.”
Together they walked back to the apartment section of the castle, passing by maids, guards and dignitaries, all of whom Celestia exchanged brief, polite greetings with. Twilight for her part remained close to Celestia’s side, nearly walking under the much taller pony, and utilizing the safety that the alicorn’s commanding presence garnered. Throughout it all the filly remained quiet and subdued, not speaking unless spoken too, and jumping whenever it did happen. When they made their way down the last hall to Twilight’s room that nervousness seemed to fade and, they both smiled when they noticed Silver Bulwark standing beside the door, leaning heavily on her spear and snoring loudly.
A little too loudly.
“Ahem,” Celestia barked loudly, yet the guard did not flinch.
Twilight giggled and stepped up in front of the ‘sleeping’ guard. “Good morning, Miss Bull!”
The guard leapt to attention, saluting the filly and yawning. “Morning already? Sorry, young miss, late night last night.”
The filly giggled again, returning the salute. “Would you mind opening the door for us?”
“Sure thing, so long as you don't mind this vagabond following you in,” Bull remarked, jerking her head in Celestia’s direction and smirking.
“Nope! Not at all,” Twilight announced happily, stepping inside when Silver opened the door for her.
The two older ponies shared a grin, and a slight bob of the head, before Celestia followed after her student and stepped inside Twilight’s room. A room that had come a long ways in the last week, gaining the appearance that somepony actually lived here. Several posters were pasted on the walls, a few more books sat in the shelf, and all manner of nick nacks both large and small were littered throughout, the filly having found time in her busy schedule to start emptying some of the boxes. Celestia smirked, evidently reality had finally settled in and Twilight realized that she was truly going to be living here, contrary to her first assumption.
With the door now shut firmly behind them, Celestia raised an eyebrow, gazing down at the smaller pony. “Was there something bothering you, Twilight? You seemed tense.” Her eyes narrowed. “No one was bullying you again, were they?”
The filly shook her head. “No, nothing like that. I just…” The filly pursed her lips. “His name is Spike, you know, he isn't an it.”
Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Usually dragons name themselves.”
Twilight nodded. “He did, and he likes being called Spike.”
“You only met once, and he was barely a minute old at the time, how do you know that's what he likes to be called?” Celestia asked innocently.
The filly nodded determinedly. “I just have a feeling that's what he likes.”
The alicorn leaned down and nuzzled the filly. “That's good, trust those feelings. Some may say trusting your emotions is the wrong thing to do, but oftentimes your heart knows before your head does.”
“That's silly, the heart can't think, it's just a mass of muscle and stuff!” Twilight replied.
Celestia rolled her eyes. “Metaphorically, Twilight.” She shook her head. “Now enough about that, do you want to see Spike now?”
“Yes, please!” she announced happily.
“Good, but remember after this you must have a bath.” The alicorn wagged her hoof at the filly. “Just because you don't smell bad anymore doesn't mean the sweat is completely gone.”
Twilight nodded. “Right.”
“Good.” Celestia chuckled. “Because I had a student many decades ago that always used that spell every morning and night, merely using a towel to keep herself dry and when she finally forgot to renew the spell I thought she was dead because of how bad she smelled!”
Twilight giggled. “Ewww!”
“Ew is right. I was just about to plan her funeral before she suddenly woke up.” Celestia chuckled, rolling her eyes at the mere memory. “Now just hold on a second, I will send a quick notice to his nurses.”
The filly nodded, eagerly bouncing on her hooves and looking at the door expectantly.
Beside her, Celestia lit her horn and reached out across the castle, ringing a bell that would alert the nurses to the fact that the pair were now ready to receive the baby dragon. Trusting her staff, Celestia sat back down, waiting for the nurses to arrive with their package. In the meantime she chatted idly with Twilight, pressing her on various topics and discovering what she was doing during her self-guided study time. If Celestia was being honest, it was really just time that the alicorn hadn't had a lesson plan, but still, self-guided study sounded better than ‘Twilight turned out to learn faster and know more than Celestia had accounted for, time’.
The filly regaled the alicorn with her research into dreams, launching into an eager retelling of all the different ways one could interpret a dream. “And if your teeth fall out it's probably anxiety, like if you went to work in your pajamas.” The filly pointed out with a smile.
Celestia nodded. “Very interesting. I never was very good when it came to dream interpretation, or magic.” Her face grew dark for a moment, before she shook her head, her dour expression replaced with an eager smile. “Tell me, Twilight, do you suffer from nightmares at all? I remember Miss Touch saying something about a particularly nasty dream you had about a week ago.”
The filly sighed. “Yeah, it was kinda weird, it was after that whole Blueblood thing.” The filly growled the name, but quickly shook her head, distracting herself from the sudden bout of anger.
“And what happened in the dream?” Celestia prodded.
“It started off normal, I was playing in my old room when all of a sudden I started dreaming about this place really far away.” The filly pointed upwards for emphasis. “Like on another planet or something. I was like this bug thing, and my mommy had told me to go away, and though I didn't want to, I went anyway.”
“Why did you do that?” Celestia asked.
“She was my mommy, so of course I would do what she said.” Twilight frowned. “But then it started getting stranger, everything went wrong and then there was just darkness.” She shivered suddenly, clutching herself with her forehooves. “And cold.”
“Odd,” Celestia lamented. “Dreams don't usually let you feel such things like heat, though the mind usually does remember such details.”
An uncomfortable silence hung over the room, until suddenly Twilight perked up and stared at the wall to the right of the door. Celestia blinked, following her gaze and listening to the sound of the distant cry of an infant, one with a slightly strange voice. “Ahh, that would be the nurses,” Celestia remarked.
Twilight nodded, her eyes following something only she seemed able to see, tracing along the wall as the wailing got closer, until all at once it stopped. The filly smiled, her gaze turning to the door, which opened a second later to reveal a pure white unicorn nurse with bright red hair and a needle for a cutie mark.
She smiled faintly and tugged at the trolley she was pulling behind her. “Good afternoon, princess,” she greeted warmly.
Celestia nodded. “Good afternoon to you as well. How has your charge been?”
The nurse’s smile faltered. “He was a bit of a hoofful until we got near your door.”
The smiling face of an infant dragon poked out from behind the nurse, his tiny hands gripping the edge of the small cart he had been wheeled in on. The nurse smiled and gently picked him up in her magic, an action the dragon did not seem to notice at all, his gaze locked onto Twilight’s orange orbs.
“He seems to like you.” The nurse remarked with a smile before turning towards the cart, reaching inside. “Just let me get his sucky, and you can hold him.”
Twilight shook her head, quickly trotting over to the dragon. “He doesn't like his sucky, he wants his tail.”
The nurse opened her mouth to speak, but found her telekinetic aura overpowered by the filly, who grabbed the dragon and brought him close to her chest, where Spike used his small claws to grip her fur, clinging to the filly’s chest. “Okay then,” the nurse remarked, before turning to Celestia, who merely shrugged, prompting the nurse to drop the soother back in the cart.
“It's fine, Nurse Prick,” Celestia dismissed.
The nurse winced. “I prefer Little, if you don't mind.”
“Of course, Miss Little,” Celestia remarked offhandedly.
The alicorn watched as the two children sat on the ground, both grinning and staring at each other, the dragon’s tail stuffed into his mouth. The alicorn tapped her chin, her mind deep in thought as she tried to read into just what was happening between her student and the dragon she had hatched.
“I’ll be right here in case you need anything,” Little Prick remarked before standing next to the alicorn.
Celestia didn't respond, merely watching as the two children hugged tightly, before Twilight pulled back, sitting him down in her lap. “You know I missed you while I was studying,” she pointed out.
The dragon held tightly to the filly’s fur, babbling incomprehensible baby talk that seemed to go a mile a minute.
Twilight nodded. “I know, but I have to study, I can't see you all the time.”
Spike’s face contorted, before he grinned and spouted another line of baby noise at the filly.
“Yeah, it is kind of stuffy in here,” Twilight replied, before turning and opening the window. “Better?”
The baby dragon smiled and erupted with happy gibberish.
The nurse blinked, staring from one child to the other before looking up at Celestia expectantly. “What is going on?”
The alicorn’s brow furrowed and she shrugged. “Those who bond with a dragon whelp often display an uncanny knack for understanding their needs and wants,” she replied. “And it's hypothesized that this is the work of harmony connecting the two in order to make sure the dragon gets what they need from a pony that wouldn't instinctively know.”
“But I’ve been with him for weeks, as had the rest of the staff, yet we can't get him to stop crying no matter what we try.” She frowned, glancing down at the dragon. “Even after studying every single book on dragons that the library had and consulting every expert we could find.” She sighed. “We just give him every toy and try everything until eventually one of them works.”
Celestia was about to ask a question when Twilight suddenly gasped, and whispered, “Really?”
“What is it, Twilight?” Celestia asked, leaning closer.
“He's hungry.” The filly grinned. “Aren't you, Spike?”
The dragon nodded his head and burbled more nonsense.
Turning back to the cart, the nurse quickly produced a bottle of formula and was about to start warming it with a spell before Twilight suddenly spoke up. “He doesn't like it like that. Let me do it.”
The nurse glanced from the filly to Celestia, who nodded. “If you say so,” she lamented, before handing the bottle to the filly.
Twilight gripped the bottle in her magic before using a simple heating spell to warm up the bottle until the contents therein were boiling hot. Little raised her hoof and was about to step in when Celestia placed a hoof on her withers. “Trust her,” she said simply, pointing to the filly, whom was staring lovingly at the dragon. “Do you think those are the eyes of someone who would hurt a child?”
The nurse watched as the dragon eagerly began to suck away at the bottle held aloft in Twilight’s magic. “N-no,” she stuttered, awestruck by the strange exchange.
“Exactly.” Celestia smiled faintly, sitting down next to the filly and smiling at the pair. “Why don't you wait outside for a bit, Miss Little? Something tells me we are going to be here awhile.”
Little nodded, and beat a hasty retreat, slipping out the door after one last look back at the strange pair, the mare shaking her head before vanishing as the door slammed shut behind her.
“You two sure made fast friends.” Celestia pointed out with a smile. “Enjoying your time with your little helper?”
Twilight smiled. “Uh huh! But he isn't my helper.”
“He isn't?” Celestia asked, looking down at the bright green eyes of the baby dragon whom was staring up at her inquisitively.
“Nope.” The filly smiled, hugging the dragon close as he continued to drink the last of his milk. “He's my son.” She looked up at the alicorn hesitantly. “I mean, if that's okay.”
Celestia paused for a moment. “First tell me why you said it like that.”
Twilight frowned, looking down at the dragon, who turned to her, a small smile spreading across his face. “I don't know, it just feels right, like there is a piece of me in him.” She extended a hoof to the dragon, who in turn gripped the hoof tightly in his tiny claws.
The alicorn tapped her chin, deep in thought, she was, after all, right in a way.
The eggs they had been given were the equivalent of magical stillbirths, with the dragon’s mother not having the necessary magic to hatch the egg. After the first few months spent without the magical infusion necessary, the egg required extraordinarily more magic, making it all but impossible for the mother to hatch. This rarely happened, but sometimes if the mother was injured or starving they may not be able to muster enough magical fire necessary to hatch the egg. When that happened it required immense magical concentrations or continual low grade exposure to magic to eventually hatch.
This was the reason why Celestia used to have a number of the eggs at her school so they may eventually be saturated with enough magic that they could eventually be given back to the dragon whom would finish the process with natural dragon magic. But Spike’s egg had been here for centuries and been all but written off, the amount of magical energy necessary to hatch reaching far beyond what any mortal pony should be capable of wielding. And that was without even factoring in the fact that the actual hatching should only be possible of being completed by the egg’s progenitor.
So the assertion that she was the dragon’s mother wasn't too far off, after all, the filly had, in essence, breathed life into the long dormant egg.
Said filly looked up at Celestia expectantly, an expression mirrored by the dragon who had replaced his bottle with his tail, his claws still gripping Twilight’s coat as he stared up at the alicorn. “Being a mom is a lot of work, Twilight.”
Her eyes lit up. “I know, but he’ll be good! Won't you Spike?” She looked down at the dragon and nodded. “Right?”
The dragon seemed to half nod, but whether he was actually agreeing or just mirroring Twilight wasn't certain.
Celestia giggled, ruffling the filly’s mane. “Well, in that case, I guess you two are going to have to see a lot more of each other, huh?”
Twilight grinned. “Did you hear that, Spike? We can hang out more often!” She gasped. “I can even show you my book collection!”
The alicorn placed a hoof on the excited filly’s shoulder. “He will still has to stay with the nurses sometimes. A baby dragon needs a lot of attention and care and you still have schoolwork to do.”
Twilight frowned, an action the baby dragon quickly mirrored. “Okay, but when I get all my homework done I can go see him, right?”
Celestia leaned in, booping the dragon’s nose and giggling when his eyes crossed, staring at the alicorn’s hooved limb. “Tell you what, Twilight, I’ll tell the guards to let you in whenever you want. But,” she raised a hoof, “you must be done with all your homework and all other responsibilities, okay?”
Twilight grinned. “Yes! Oh, thank you, princess!” The filly lifted up the dragon. “Say thank you, Spike!”
The baby dragon popped his tail out of his mouth and burbled something that sounded close to thank you.
Celestia giggled. “You are welcome, Spike, and Twilight.” Her lips pursed and she placed her hoof on the ground. “Do you know what he's saying?”
Twilight shrugged. “Not exactly.” The filly frowned. “It's like a feeling, sometimes it's stronger, other times it's not.”
The alicorn nodded slowly. “I will have to include more lessons on dragons now, won't I?”
The filly nodded. “Mmmhmm!”
Celestia smiled, watching as the filly began patting the dragon on the back, aiming his mouth away from her while she did. Sure enough a second later the tiny dragon let out a belch, before burbling happily, grabbing Twilight’s hoof and clinging tightly to the limb.
“Oh and Twilight, could you do me a favor?” Celestia asked suddenly.
The filly looked up at her quizzically. “Sure.”
“Could you ask Spike to try not to bite the nurses or cry quite as much? Maybe if he heard you say it, it might stick.”
Twilight nodded, pulling the dragon up to her eye level and fixing him with a stern expression. “Spike.” The dragon blinked, staring into the filly’s golden orbs. “Please don't bite the nurses, and only cry when you need something. Okay?”
The dragon pouted, and burbled something before pouting again and muttering some more.
“I think he’ll be better now,” Twilight said, placing the dragon back in her lap and watched him curl up on her tail.
“It looks like someone is tired,” Celestia remarked.
“Daww, I wanted to play some more.” The filly sighed before shrugging her shoulders. “Spike is kind of tired though, maybe next time.”
Celestia watched as the dragon curled into a tight ball, Twilight’s tail in his tiny claws, his eyes closing. Using her magic, the alicorn opened the door to the hall. “Nurse Little, I think your charge is ready for his nap.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” the nurse muttered before trotting inside and finding the dragon nearly asleep.
Twilight reluctantly watched as the nurse leaned down and picked up the dragon, using her hoof to cradle the dragon against her chest. Despite how gentle she was, Spike still woke up, his eyes snapping open, and a growl already on his lips. Just as he was about to bite the object of his ire he suddenly turned to Twilight, who shook her head disapprovingly, prompting the dragon to close his mouth and pout.
The nurse, who hadn't noticed any of this, calmly placed the baby back into the cart and tucked some of the blankets under him, which Spike promptly ignored, standing back up and gripping the side of his cart in order to look back at Twilight. Nurse Little smiled, and began to push the cart from the room, watching as the dragon began to tear up the further away he got, yet no matter how much his eyes watered, he did not cry.
By the time his cart had disappeared around the corner, Twilight had to wipe her own eyes of the numerous tears that had begin to build there.
“Are you alright, Twilight?” Celestia asked, draping a wing over her back, and pressing a worried hoof against her student’s shoulder. “You were crying.”
The filly sniffed, wiping away the last of her tears. “I’m okay, just… proud.”