//------------------------------// // Spike’s Week: Day 1. Fire in our Hearts // Story: The Dragon Lord's Legacy // by Little_Draco //------------------------------// The Dragon Lord Legacy Spike’s Week: Day 1 Fire in our Hearts   Spike watched as his momma, Zynthia the Successor, manipulated and played with flames in her palms. She was sitting on her haunches and allowing the pinkish red flames dance on her claws and flicker without any signs of it dying.   He sat between his mother’s forelegs, Eliyinsa the Adviser, watching in amusement as his momma bended the fire in her claws with ease, a perpetual motion of flames dancing in the air or around her palms. She had started out with a simple small flame on her palm that somehow expanded and burned faster than he could have anticipated.  “The control is in your body, not just your mouth.” She exclaimed. Eliyinsa vowed to remain silent and let her mate teach their son. The scarlet dragoness bended the flames in paws, to and fro as if a puppeteer and danced them in unique ways. “Dragons have total control of their fires in their bodies but a true manipulator could ignite themselves and never burn the grass below them.”  From Spike’s memories, there were very few actual fire manipulators in Equestria, due to how dangerous and unstable the form was. But here in the Dragon Lands, controlled by actual fire breathers, Spike knew that this was proper technique. Of course, this was just basics. The course went on. “The heat travels throughout your body. Every part of you, from the top of your head, to the tip of your claws, down your spine, and through the tail, has heat. From the heat, you can and will be able to control your flames.” “Any part of my body?” he asked. “That has heat?” She nodded her head. “Yes, but to really control it, you must first understand where your heat stems from. Where it begins, where it travels and how it all circulates in your body.” To demonstrate, the flames danced from her paws and began to run up her arms, spreading itself as it traveled in her body. Spike watched in awe as it moved through her body, like magic and traveled downward, instead of up. The fire spread and separated so that the trails went up to her wings while the others continued down onto her legs and to her tail. The final trail went up to her head and remained aflame on top of her, between her horns like a crown. Spike found himself in cheer, seeing his momma in flames, dancing on her body with no visible reaction from them. In fact, the fires seemed like a light show and varied in colors in certain places. Her wing membranes were a little bit pinker at the base of the flame, while the ones on her head burned her traditional red color. The tail one burned a standard yellow orange flame. “Whats the difference in colors?” he asked, pointing at the flames. Zynthia switched her tail, creating an arc of flames. “Different body parts have different temperatures, each responding to your anatomy.” She ceased her tail swishes and then lowered herself to her forelegs. She then gave a small growl and her whole body grew brighter in flames, as they began to burn hotter and bigger. Spike could feel the heat from here. The scarlet dragoness then wilted her stance, which caused the flames to dim slowly. She then inhaled once, causing them to grow, before exhaling greatly and the flames completely died on her body.  “Wow!” Was all he managed to say. Both of his mothers smiled, seeing the hatchling like look upon his face. Truely, he was enjoying being treated like one of their own. “And that my son, is Firebreaking.” He nodded, still in awe at his momma’s display. He approached her, feeling up her arms at the heavily heated parts. He saw no damage, obviously, but he still wondered what was the effects or if how much in control of the flames she had.  “So… any dragon can manipulate their fires to do stuff like that.” His mother above him gave a small hum.  “It is mostly the females that can produce this ability son, though few males have shown to do so.” “Why only females?” A part of him remembered this prior but because he had so much of his memory just shoved back in at once, that small tiny area where he was just a hatchling waking up from his coma, had been partially erased. Zynthia laid in front of him with her paws right in front.  “We, as females, have this ability, because we need to keep our eggs warm. If a dragoness were to say, leave the safety and heated lands here, to search for her own place and couldn’t find one, she would need to be able to keep herself warm or her eggs. Her belly, after she has laid, could be a great place to keep her eggs warm but if she were to surround herself in flames, she would be able to keep her eggs warm on all sides.” “Along with that,” continued Eliynsa, “Is that while we are laying or caring for our young, we could light part of our bodies on fires to keep away unwanted intruders or would be egg-nappers.” He nodded in acknowledgement, though he huffed in disappointment. “So I won’t be able to do it?” “Not true,” quickly assured Zynthia. “I said to you before that most males don’t want to learn it because it could take decades or centuries to learn. However, I believe that if you wish to be greater than a Successor, an Elder, or an Advisor, you would learn this ability to become more respected.” He thought on this. “Would… would I learn from you? Even if it took me forever?” She lowered her head to meet his eyes, flashing him a disappointed sigh. “Unfortunately son, the difference between males and females in Firebreaking, is vast. In truth, I could show you how to focus your flames from your palms, conjuring them from the center, but not to spread on your body. Again, females do this to protect themselves and their young. Males… would only do this to show off or be something else.” Spike thought about what they had told him he could be if he didn’t choose to be a Successor, Elder or Advisor. His fourth option would surely be something worth trying to learn it for, right? “So… who would I ask to help me, if I am to choose the other option you gave me?” Eliyinsa met her giant eyes with his. “The same one whom would teach you to become your desired role here.” Spike realized that he wouldn’t need to focus on Firebreaking for awhile, so he decided to do something else. While he wanted to learn how to fly, his mother’s had him learn how to first adjust to his wings. “You can’t just open your wings and expect to fly right away. That is not possible.” Sure, because he figured your are born with the wings on your back and you learn how to fly after your first molt.  Eliyinsa was the one instructing this time. She was actually lighter and smaller than her mate, plus her wings matched Spike’s almost down to the talons. It was a weird coincidence but nonetheless, she felt that this would make training him faster. She wasn’t going to start off right away.  Rather, she was going to teach him first his anatomy of his wings. “Your wings are more than just another part of you, they are an extension of your mind and body.” All three were outside, on top of a large cliff that overlooked the Dragon Lands. Here, the black dragoness had her wings drawn out, allowing the heated wings to sway her back and forth with the strong zephyrs that came. Spike spread his wings, only to almost get thrown backwards as the sudden opening, throwing him onto his back. “Whoa!” He landed on his back with a thud, earning a grunt loud enough that his mothers heard. This earned both of his mothers a chuckle, knowing this might  have happened. “You should have opened them slowly, son.” Eliyinsa snorted with merit. Both saw Spike sighed with annoyance, closing his wings to his sides before sitting up on his haunches. “Should’ve figured that out.” Indeed, the winds were strong right now, powerful enough to get a dragon as large as his mothers airborne but also a little too strong to send him flying backwards and on his tail.  “We all learn in our own ways, Spike.” Zynthia mused. She used her giant paw to uproot Spike to standing once more. The young drake begrudgingly did so though he kept his wings clamped shut on his back. The strong winds should have told him to wait but seeing how this was his first time using them, he was excited. “I was the same way after I molted.” “What you first must learn is that pony wings and dragon wings are different.” That, he knew of. “Feathers and soft bone are nothing compared to skin and muscles that keep you airborne. While its true that those pesky pegasi have speed, maneuverability, and agility, dragons on the other claw have stamina, strength and stability. Our wings may not look it, but a dragon could stay airborne a lot longer than any pony. Due to the sizes we grew into, many assume they could out race or outperform a dragon. While speed has been a bit of a defect for some of us, there are other ways to compensate.” A purplish glow with a light touch of pink, cascaded over her scales, like a light passing over before her body ignited into a gentle violet flames, with a rosey pink at the tips of the flames leaving her body. This was the first time he had ever seen his mother’s fire and the way it danced around her body, made her look all the more stunning. As she allowed her body to be consumed, she focused them on her wings and her palms, making her wing membranes catch on fire and her palms as well, with the ground itself heating up around her.. He suddenly found himself being pulled back from her by Zynthia, giving her room as they watched as his mother crouch herself, low to the ground. He knew she was about to take off, but he didn’t expect what would happen next. Eliyinsa focused all her fire downward, then like a rocket, launched herself with such force and power, that ground below her cracked. The sheer explosion would have sent Spike flying had Zynthia not been there to hold him. She had dug her claws to the ground just in case. As soon as she took off the ground, she shot up at extreme velocity in the sky. He watched in almost disbelief that right before Spike and Zynthia, they saw and heard the crack of thunder. Spike’s jaw hit the floor, as his mother had just broken the sound barrier. A light violet and pink trail left her body as she flew, taking a sharp turn east, where he saw her flying at breakneck speeds across the lands. He wasn’t the only one seeing this, as many dragons around heard his mother break the sound barrier along with her flying and circling the skies in sonic speeds. The trail that left her made her look like a black comet with a violet streak tail. He was still reeling, his mind in utter shock and joy at seeing a creature, let alone a dragon, flying at speeds near Rainbow Dash’s level.  But he also saw, that despite her fast speeds, the focus of her velocity is her using her palms and her wings as propulsion. It reminded him of Trixie’s rockets, being lit and shooting up to the skies an exploding. He hoped that didn’t happen with his mother though… For what seemed like magic, probably some form of it, Eliyinsa had circled the Dragon Lands in a matter of a few minutes, her trail being seen far away. Eventually she had focused her way back towards them, with her trail disappearing and she began to decrease her speed. She approached them all but dropping her speed to a near dead stop by throwing her wings open into a complete stop in the sky before quickly turning into a glide, circling overhead until she land gracefully in front of them, as if she had never left the very ground. Spike’s mouth still hadn’t come up, though he was aware that Zynthia had a grin that showed a bit amusement at seeing her mate show off.  Eliyinsa had her own smile, though it was more pride than anything, along with merry at seeing her still stunned face, son. Finally, Spike looked at his mother with joy and almost leaped into the air as he saw the most amazing display of speed and aerial maneuverability on a dragon.  While seeing Rainbow Dash perform and pull off the Sonic Rainboom was amazing, seeing something close to it being pulled off by a creature three times the size and weight, let Spike know that dragons were truly capable of matching up with ponies.  “Mother that was amazing!” His body was shaking with excitement, tail wagging happily. He ran up to her, hugging her arm in a tight embrace. Eliyinsa bristled with warmth and the attention she was receiving.  “I don… I can’t….” He was truly speechless yet she knew what he was trying to get at.  She leaned down meeting her eyes to him, flashing him with a grin. “Never underestimate what you are, son.” “And never downplay what you can accomplish.” Added Zynthia. “Believe it or not, it took her half a century to do something so complex.” “So… will I be able to learn that?”  Eliyinsa nodded through some hesitancy. “Again my son, what you learn and what you accomplish is up to you. I could teach you everything I can today and you could master it by tomorrow or by the end of this century. Your willingness to push beyond your limits and your mind is all on what your goal is. I have no doubts that you can and will learn whatever you are taught. You didn’t past the trials without pushing yourself and we have full assurances that you can learn this.” She flashed her violet eyes towards him. “But if you wish to learn all of it this week, we will teach you.” He thought on it. In truth, yeah he wanted to learn that neat little trick to propel himself at near mach levels of speed close to Rainbow Dash, but… this was his week. He wanted to learn what it was like to be raised a dragon. After all, his home is here too now and whether he came to live or visit here, he could always learn from his mothers on how to do this. After all… dragons had long, long, lifespans. He had as much time here as he did with Equestria. But he at least wanted to know what it was like to be a hatchling, raised among dragons. “I have plenty of time to learn that,” he answered, hugging his mother’s leg. “Like you said, it could take centuries to learn. But I don’t have centuries to be a hatchling, so what else could you teach me while Im still young?” "We will find a way to get you to learn how to fly quickly, my son." Zynthia promised. Once more, the motherly love he received from both females let him know that he was making their moments count. Mother and Momma were about to go into full loving parents mode. He felt their affection all day. When they were teaching him something about his inner flame, or how to dig for certain gems with his claws or tail, he felt a wave of love wash over him. He knew most of this stuff, but he enjoyed learning it from dragons and not just on his own or half guessed words from unicorns with basic understandings on dragons. He feigned surprise on a certain things that he knew of, triggering some praise and warmth with his mothers and feeling them brush against him or nuzzle him with love. The few surprises he did have were even better because it made him appreciate their teaching and knowledge more meaningful. They are two of the smartest dragons in all of the lands and he felt that every bit of information was truthful and accurate. He didn’t blame ponies for lacking good bios and knowledge on dragons, but it felt better hearing it directly from the mouths of his mothers.  Though there was one bit of subject that he was trying to avoid. He knew it may come up, but whether it be today or tomorrow, he knew that being his age, he would have to hear it. “Do you wish to know how the reproductive system works between a male and female work, my son?” Zynthia had asked. A small whine left him, a bit of red hitting his cheeks as he nervously twiddled with his claws. He already got this lesson from both his pony mother and his pony sister. Celestia used references for her words on certain anatomy parts as well as playful meanings and keeping it simple. Twilight on the other claw was… brutal. She gave detailed diagrams, sketched out the body parts, both internal and external as well as using long complex wording that flew over his head. Her lecture made him feel like it wasn’t worth trying to tackle or make an effort to actually learn how to properly mount a female. Again, since that was pony anatomy and not dragon, it was way different. Not to mention he already knew how things worked since he and Ember had… gotten close to doing it. Swallowing, he answered a shyly. “Um… c-can we maybe s-skip that or save it until the end?” He gave an embarrassed, uncomfortable smile. “I kinda… already know about how it goes.” Both dragons looked at him a bit owlishly. “How can you know of how things work son? You yourself said the ponies knew little on dragon biology?” His mother questioned.  His face burned redder with shade, he looked away from them afraid to speak. “I just… know…” Was all he could respond. Zynthia was the one went wide eyed and a small grin formed on her muzzle. Turning to her mate, she spoke to her openly. “Torch had mentioned prior to the trials that Ember and him had some coitus.” He grin grew when she saw her mate’s eyes widen. “According to Ember, they did not mate but they were covered in their secretions… excessively, especially him.” Spike wanted to die now. Forget learning more about being a dragon, just head back to Equestria now! He shied away and used his wings to hide himself, wrapping them around his body. Meanwhile Eliyinsa grew a Cheshire grin and both females looked down at their son. He was hiding behind his wings, trying not to be embarrassed.  “Son?” his mother cooed at him, almost sounding like a purr. “Is there something you wish to tell us?” A muffled ‘No’ was his response, choosing to stay hidden. His mothers chuckled at his, making him squeeze his wings tighter around him along with wrapping his tail around him too. Zynthia moved over to him, approaching from behind and leaning in close to him. “Did you and Ember have some sort of… issue on why you couldn’t mate?” He heard the predatory growl from his mother, he could actually hear the corner of her snout pulling up as she held her grin.  Eliyinsa also leaned down to meet her shy son.  “Was it something on your end or hers?” No response, the teasing was too much. Both mothers gave weary grins but they knew that he didn’t wish to Spike live the rest of this week in embarrassment and shyness.  “We wont ask much more, Spike.” His mother said smoothly, though it didn’t take away her grin. “If you wish to learn more subjects, then we can move past this. But… we will bring it up some time again this week. If you and Ember are to properly consummate in your future, then it is up to us to teach you to do so correctly.” Spike stayed as he was though he responded still through his wings. “I already got this lesson twice, I don’t need to go through it again… please!” It irked the two mothers to know that he was already told about how mating goes, but that was how ponies mated. The differences were large and both of them knew that he probably got a few things wrong. Clearing her throat and not commenting ill towards his pony family, she spoke evenly, trying to retain her motherly tone. “Regardless of their teachings, we will teach you properly on how dragons successfully mate son. We will make sure that when you and Ember are ready, you may please her in ways that may surprise her.” That teasing tone made him shutter. “We can even do demonstrations that will help you…” Without allowing her to continue, Spike immediately screamed in fear and shot out of his cave. He learned quickly, there and then on how to fly, for he shot open his wings and flew out the cave in a hurry, not realizing he had just flown out without stumbling or flaying around. He disappeared from view right away. Both mothers looked at the cave entrance. They were a bit surprised that he learned how to use his wings that quickly but they gave each other smiling glances. “Well, he learned how to fly quickly so that’s one lesson down. Perhaps we can teach him how to Firebreak if he saw us mating.” Zynthia growled to her mate, ideas brewing in her mind. Eliyinsa snorted, flashing her a smirk. “If we wish to mentally scar him, yes though I think that since he is not of our flesh, it wouldn't matter.” She paused. “Did you plan this so he could learn how to fly sooner?” Zynthia licked the snout of her mate. “I did promise that we would teach him how to fly quickly, though I figured he would have crashed several times along the way. I am glad that you went through with it though. He may have the body of a teenager but his mind is still young. His prior experience with Ember may have left both of them needy.” She then brushed against her, rubbing her cheek against the other. “Also, if we are to teach him on how to be a dragon, he must learn quickly if he is to catch up with others that are at his age… err physical age.” Eliyinsa nodded and kept her eyes locked on the cave entrance. For a moment, they sat in silence, wondering if he was coming back. “How long do you think it will take?” Eliyinsa asked. Zynthia hummed for a moment, trying to guess the time. She narrowed it down between Spike realizing he just flew, the time he would understand on how he was flying, what made him fly, then add into account that he was just embarrassed by his mothers on how dragons should mate. The drake would likely stay away from here, check his new wings out and giving them ago with excitement. Either he would get over confident and fall or he would learn how his body made flying possible and would do laps around the land. He might seek out Ember to show her that he could fly, showing off and then speaking to her about what he learned, all of today until the moment he left. “Give or take, a couple of hours.” She then looked towards her mate. Eliyinsa was giving her ‘longing eyes’ of need. “Did discussing that….” She nodded, her body was pushing against her, rubbing herself against her larger mate. Zynthia gave a final look at the entrance before turning to her mate. “We have time, but we need to do it inside the lava pit so he doesn't comeback to the smell.” Eliyinsa growled with excitement.