After dinner was finished, Celestia was going to spend a little time with Spike. But first she needed to fulfill her duty as princess. She looked at the sun, focusing on its core and slowly her horn started to glow a golden aura. Spike was sitting on the ground with his mothers, but he was looking at Celestia, this was the first time he had seen the sun move so he was interested.
Once Celestia's magic was ready, she slightly lowered her head to the horizon, she had to make up for time. The sun should've been down twenty minutes ago but thanks to the enjoyable meal and family, Celestia had lost track of time. She looked to the east ready to raise the moon for the night. Once her magic locked onto the moons core, Celestia raised her head to lead the moon into position.
Now that the sun and moon were caught up, Celestia was now able to rest for a while, this time was always for her to decompress after a long day, but it never lasted as she needed to rest for the next one. Normally she would read, take a walk in the gardens, or play with her pet phoenix, Philomena. But tonight she had other plans.
She walked over to the girls and Spike and sat on the soft grass with them. "So, girls about what we talked about concerning Spike. May I see him produce a flame?"
All of the girls looked questioningly, they had never tried to get Spike to make a flame, it just happened. Rainbow looked at Spike. "Spike, can you make a fire?" Asked Rainbow.
Spike thought for a moment as he was trying to think if he could. He shrugged. "Don't know."
Celestia giggled at the simple answer, she nodded at Spike. "Do you want to try?"
Spike nodded, he looked to his mothers. "Do I want to?" Asked Spike.
Celestia giggled at the response. "It doesn't need to happen today, Spike. But would you mind if I cast a spell on you, so I'll know when you can?"
Spike nodded. He didn't have a problem with it, mainly because he didn't know what was going to happen. Spike looked at Celestia. "Will it hurt?"
Celestia shook her head. "Not one bit, the only thing that will happen is that your body will feel warm for a moment."
Spike nodded. "Ok, I like warm." Said Spike.
Celestia looked at the fillies. "Girls, I'm going to modify Spike's fire slightly with a fire messenger spell I learned long ago, it should be compatible with Spike."
Rainbow raised her hoof. "Princess, why are you doing it?"
Celestia smiled at her. "Well, I'm going to make Spike a direct link between all of us, I trust you girls with him, but there is still so much you don't know about dragons and there is so much that not even I know about them, so once his fire develops, might I ask for you to write a quick report on Spike's development every week or so. Stuff like how he is adjusting to living with ponies, how others are treating him and how he will be doing in his education when the time comes. I wish to show the kingdom that what we know of dragons are only rumors, not cold hard fact."
Fluttershy raised her hoof next. "So how will this change his fire?" Asked Fluttershy, she wanted to make sure that nothing was going to happen to him now or in the long run.
"Well from what I was told about his fire, he seems to be able to send things to ponies he knows, but I don't think we will know who or how it actually works for quite a while, so I'm going to create a link between him and myself just to make sure."
AJ raised her hoof. "So you can create a link between him and you, can you create one for others?"
Celestia smiled as she nodded. "Yes, its a simple spell." She then looked to all the girls. "I'm guessing that you would like me to create a few more links to help all of you stay in contact with him."
All the girls nodded. "Well, I don't see a problem with that." She craned her neck to look at Spike at his level. "What about you, Spike?"
Spike smiled. "I want that, but can whole family have one?" Asked Spike, he wanted to talk to all of his grandparents, aunts and uncles.
Celestia sighed as she shook her head. "Unfortunately not Spike, at least not yet, your little baby fire would be overwhelmed by the number of links created in such a short time, I believe it would be safe for about seven links right now, but we can add more as you grow up and your inner fire is more developed."
Spike nodded as he placed his hand on her muzzle. "Ok, can Marble have one?"
Celestia nodded. "Of course, who is Marble?"
Pinkie smiled. "She's my little sister, by a few seconds."
"Ok, it will be simple then, I'll just scan your memories for some trace of her." Celestia then powered her horn and looked through Pinkies memories. She found a memory of Marble, but the weird thing was it was neatly labeled Marble memories. Celestia scanned the memory and returned to the real world. "Ok, I got it ready." She looked at all the fillies and Spike. "So are we ready to begin?"
Spike nodded as he looked to his mamas. "I am." Said Spike as he smiled at their faces.
All the girls looked at Spike as they smiled at him. "So are we." Said all the girls in unison.
Celestia nodded as she used her magic to forge 7 links with Spikes fire. Spike was sitting there, waiting for Celestia to finish, but he yawned, as his body was feeling warm, but then his body was really warm, then he got really really warm just like when he was sleeping in the fireplace back on the farm. But as soon as he was starting to feel really sleepy, everything got really cold, the spell was complete. Celestia looked at Spike, who was shivering. Celestia became worried. 'Oh no, something went wrong.' Thought Celestia. She used her magic to bring Spike right up to her barrel to keep him warm. "Spike, are you ok?"
Spike shivered as he nodded. "Yes, but I’m cold." Said Spike.
Celestia nodded as she wrapped him in her wings. "I'm sorry Spike, I didn't expect this to happen to you, I guess your fire wasn't ready for all the new links just yet."
Spike shook his head. "No it worked. I can feel mamas, Marble and you."
Celestia sighed in relief. That was the one side effect of the spell, once a link is created the two can sense each other for a few minutes. "Good, that means it worked." She looked at the girls. “Girls why don't you come here and help him?”
All the girls nodded as they joined in on the huddle, this seemed to work as in a few moments the sound of Spike snoring could be heard emanating from the center of the pile. Celestia giggled at the sound. ‘Well, it looks like I’m no longer needed here.’ Thought Celestia. She looked to AJ. “Applejack, am I to assume that Spike is going to stay here until he’s able to live with each of you?”
AJ nodded. “Yes, Princess.”
“Ok, it will take me a few days to get everything ready, but when I get back I will be giving him a few things, for him to use in the future.”
AJ looked at Celestia questioningly. “Like what?”
Celestia rubbed under her chin in thought. ‘In reality there are a few things that he will really need, and some that he could go without, but really, he has been through so much, who cares.’ Thought Celestia. She looked at Applejack. “Well, off of the top of my head, I doubt that living in a wooden home with a dragon who can’t control his fire is very safe, so I’ll be adding a spell of fire resistance over the house. Then I think that it would be prudent that he is given something that he could use when he’s going to school. So a pair of saddle bags... actually I know of a place that has something similar to saddle bags, but made for bipedal creatures like Spike, it’s called a backpack. Lastly, I don't think that having Spike sleep in a fire at night is a good idea, and its not like there is another dragon to keep him warm, so to counteract this, I’ll enchant a blanket with a small portion of my magic to keep him warm as he sleeps.” She looked at the rest of the girls. “And when the time comes for him to start living with you all, I will provide similar accommodations as well.”
All the girls smiled at the kindness of the princess. “Thank you Princess.” Said AJ.
Celestia smiled as she carefully picked up Spike and placed him on AJ’s back. “It’s no problem my little ponies and dragon.” Celestia got to her hooves and smiled at the new family. “I must be going, It was lovely to meet you all, I hope to hear good things when the time comes.” Said Celestia as she quickly placed a spell on the house.
Spike snored as he was enjoying the warmth from his mother, but in his sleep he muttered a few words. “She...Nice...Pony.” Muttered Spike as he continued to sleep.
Celestia smiled as she opened her wings to their full length and started her trip back to the castle.
All the girls watched as Celestia was flying away. AJ looked at the girls. “So, in the last two days, we all got our cutie marks, found a abandoned baby dragon in the Everfree, adopted him, and met the princess?” All the girls nodded.
“We also became friends.” Added Pinkie.
“And family.” Added Rainbow.
“And mothers.” Added Rarity.
“To the greatest dragon in the world.” Finished Fluttershy.
AJ laughed as she nodded. “I wonder what’s going to happen tomorrow.” She looked at the still sleeping Spike on her back and smiled. “Knowing you, something amazing.” Said AJ, she kissed his head.