//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: Examinations: Dragon 
// Story: Fire and Steel 
// by shirotora 
//------------------------------//

Ember followed the pony through the halls and up the stairs, Smolder at her side.

"Miss Smolder," the pony, Moondancer, began, "if it's alright with you, we'd like to run a few preliminary tests on you first, to get a baseline for non-thaumic aware dragons."

"Huh?" Smolder replied.

"They want to know how normal dragons are so we can compare it to me," Ember translated

"Yes, that."

"Oh." Smolder shrugged. "Meh, sure. Why not?"

Moondancer continued, "To be honest, I'm rather curious about dragon physiology. We know so little about your race, so this is a good opportunity to get some answers."

"Wait, what about Spike?" Ember asked. "Haven't you ever tested him?"

"Spike's still a minor, so we can't perform many tests outside of a basic physical," Moondancer explained.

They finally arrived at a room on the top floor. Inside they were greeted with more gadgets and gizmos than either of them had ever seen. Some resembled the stuff they saw in Twilight's basement, though obviously better quality. There were also lots of machines that were totally new to them.

"Lemon Drops, Lyra! We're here!" Moondancer called out. 

There was a commotion from the corner and a light green unicorn mare came stumbling into view.

Her eyes landed on the dragons, sparkling with excitement. "Oh, my gosh, I'm so happy to finally meet you!" She took Ember's claw, despite it not even being offered, and shook vigorously before repeating with Smolder.

"Forgive her, she's... excitable," Moondancer said. "Where's Lemon?"

"She went to get us some refreshments," Lyra replied.

Moondancer nodded. "That's a good idea. We'll probably need it. Well, we don't really need to wait for her. Let's get started.

"Lyra, could you prep the two-dee-pee?" Moondancer requested. 

Lyra gave a salute, "Aye aye, captain!"

Moondancer turned back to the dragons. "This first one is a two-dimensional photographer. It views and photographs three dimensional things in two dimensions. In short, we can take a picture of your insides without cutting you open. Is there any objection to this?"

"Objection?" Smolder beamed. "That sounds awesome. Let's do it!"

Admittedly, it wasn't as awesome as she thought it would be, though it was still pretty cool. Seeing her insides as if she were sliced into sheets was freaky, but in a cool way.

Moondancer hummed in thought as she examined the images. "One heart, liver, spleen, stomach, two kidneys... three lungs?"

Ember chuckled. "Nah, that's two lungs and one firelung. That's where our firebreath comes from."

"Fascinating," Moondancer whispered as she peared closer, changing to another image showing deeper inside Smolder. "Yes, I see. The interior is structured differently."

After a few more moments studying Smolder's images, she said, "Alright, Miss Ember, your turn."

Ember took her place in front of the machine. A few seconds later, she was looking at her own insides.

"Yes, it seems to be mostly the same..." Moondancer studied the image, her keen eye trailing down until her eyes alighted on something. "Oh, that's interesting."

"What?" Ember asked.

"This," Moondancer pointed to a spot just below her stomach. 

"I-is that...?" Ember stumbled, wide eyed.

"I think it is," Smolder replied.

Moondancer looked at Ember. "Am I right to assume that is an egg?"

Ember nodded dumbly.

"And I take it by your expression it shouldn't be there?"

Ember shook her head, "I-it's not a huge surprise, but it's almost a moon early. I've heard of it starting early for some dragons when they first get a mate, but..." she turned to Moondancer, grabbing the mare by the withers, panic in her eyes, "you have to tell me, is it... i-is it... fertilized?"

Moondancer focused to get her heart back under control. "I-I can take a look. Just calm down, please."

"Yeah... calm down," Ember said, stiffly backing away and forcing a smile.

Moondancer moved closer to the image, keeping one eye on the panicked dragon as she studied it.

After a moment, she said, "It hasn't quite finished moving into position. Though it likely will by this evening. In other words it isn't fertilized yet, but if you engage in intercourse with a compatible partner at this point there will be a possibility."

Ember sighed, both in relief and resignation. "I guess I can't put it off anymore. I'm going to have to talk to Luke."

"Are you alright to continue, or do you need a break?" Lyra asked. "I can get you a lemonade."

"That sounds nice," said Ember.





An hour, one missing pony, and several snacks, and tests later, Ember and Smolder sat in lounge chairs, cold drinks in claw, listening to the ponies talking.

Eventually, the door opened, and in walked a couple older ponies, an evil looking one, and Celestia herself.

"Ah, princess, thank you for coming. Your timing couldn't be better," Moondancer greeted with a bow. 

"I take it you've found something interesting," Celestia guessed. 

"Interesting? Try 'world shaking'!" Lyra said, excitedly.

"Lyra!" Lemon Drop scolded. "Have some respect."

Moondancer continued, "Her excitement isn't misplaced, your highness. What we've discovered here will change how we look at magic."

The evil looking pony spoke, "I find it highly unlikely that we could learn much about magic from a dragon. Even if they did learn a few parlor tricks."

Ember snarled, "Parlor tricks?! I'll show you parlor tricks!"

"Chancellor, let us see what they've found before deciding its importance," Celestia said.

"Of course, my apologies," the chancellor replied.

Moondancer gave the chancellor a dirty look before continuing. "First off, the report we received from Spike during his time in the Dragon Lands is right about at least one thing; dragons don't have kernals."

"Well, it can't be more decisive than that," the Chancellor said. "No kernal, no magic."

Moondancer gave him a flat look. "They don't have a kernal because their bodies are directly connected to the magic field."

Moondancer's horn lit and a projector brought up an image. The image showed a bundle of white shaped like a pony.

"This is a pony's magic well," Moondancer explained. "Notice the two points where it's brightest? These are their kernals, the metaphysical organ that produces mana." 

The next image is of a much brighter pony, this one with wisps of white leaking from it. "This is a pony with fonts, kernals that produce an excess of magic."

The next was obviously draconic in shapt, but unlike the ponies, there was no difference in brightness.

"This is Smolder. Notice the uniformity of her mana? There is no single point that her mana comes from. This suggests she is her kernal.

"And this... is Ember."

The image that came up next had the gathered ponies jaws floored.

It was like some mass of tendrils and vines, like an explosion of white.

"Wh-what is this?" One of the older ponies asked.

Moondancer levitated a pointer and gestured, "Head...arm... leg... leg... I think that's her tail..."

"This is... incredible," Celestia said, wide eyed. "Never, in all my years, have I imagined such a thing. It is like she is... part of the magic field. It's almost like-" Celestia's eyes shot even wider. "May I have a copy of this data? I need to cross reference something."

"Of course, your highness," Moondancer said. "Lyra!"

"Already got it," Lyra said, floating a box over. "I figured you would want a copy, princess. I mean, you're as big a nerd as Mooney and Twilight."

"How dare you speak-" the old pony was cut off by a giggle from the princess.

"Says the pony that introduced me to O&O," the princess shot back.

"Hey, I didn't say it was a bad thing," Lyra said. "Nerds rule."

"Darn right we do," the princess agreed. She quickly turned her attention back to the data before her. "I must admit, I'm quite baffled by this. All we know suggests this should be impossible. Though, that was before the information sent by Spike."

"What information?" The chancellor asked. "I've not heard of any new, important information."

"I've only been made aware myself a few days ago," Celestia said. "According to this information, dragons may have been the original race on our world, as well as the greatest spell casters ever known."

"That sounds quite unlikely," the chancellor scoffed. "What is the source of this information?"

"A dragon elder," Ember said. "The eldest, in fact, probably the oldest being alive, Star."

Celestia twitched. "Star? Ancient silver dragon?"

Ember gave her a confused look. "Uh... yeah?"

The temperature in the room jumped several degrees. "She's still alive?"

"Yes..."

"Oh... that's..." Celestia said, the tips of her mane turning red. "Interesting. Excuse me."

She vanished in a flash of light.

Lyra stared at the place the princess just was. "What just happened?"





"Hey, babe," I said as I finally caught up to Ember and the others. "Learn anything useful?"

Ember leaned in for a quick kiss. "Lots. What about you?"

"I got my soul photographed," I said. "You learn how to unlock dragon magic?"

"Not yet," Ember said. "Though I did learn something else, though. Something pretty important. We'll talk about that later, though."

"See, now I'm curious," I said, teasingly. "Is it a good something or a bad something?"

"That depends on you," she replied. 

"I'm afraid that will have to wait," Sunflower said. "Right now, you need to get ready for dinner. I'm told you brought formal wear? Will you need a hoof getting dressed?"

"Maybe," Smolder answered. "I've never worn clothes before, much less a fancy dress."

"Ember and I should be able to handle it," I said. 





We were escorted back to the palace and to our rooms.

As soon as we got inside, I felt Ember's nervousness spike.

"Give me a claw with this," she requested. 

"Sure."

As I helped her don her armored dress, she finally spoke, "So... I found out something. Um... how can I put this? I guess... my season started early."

I paused, my mind processing that.

"You're season? You mean... are you... pregnant?" I asked. 

"What? No. Dragons don't get pregnant," Ember stated. "If you meant to ask if my egg is fertilized, no. It only just set. But... if we have sex and we're compatible, it will be."

"Oh..."

"So..." Ember said. "I guess that just leaves one question. Do you want to have an egg with me?"

I had to sit down. This was pretty heavy. I mean, it was easy to see us starting a family together, but was it too soon?

"Do you?"

"I mean, I had thought about it, and I wouldn't mind giving it a try," she answered. "I figured I'd leave it up to you."

"Honestly, I do want to, someday, but I'm not sure if we're ready," I  replied. "Can I think about it?"

"Oh! Yeah! Take your time. We have a week," she assured. "But... until you decide, it might be best if we don't share a bed. I'm not sure I can control myself enough to not just jump you."

I nodded as I fastened the last buckle. "I suppose that's the responsible thing to do."

She gave my a coy smile. "Maybe you can keep Smolder company."

I chuckled. "Maybe I will."





I checked myself out in the mirror. If Conan the Barbarian had to attend a formal dinner, this was what he would wear.

It was a nice, black suit, but with an open chest. Obviously, my spike would have torn any fabric covering it. Along the collar, going all the way down the hem was deer fur.

"Looking good," came Ember's voice. 

"Not as good as you," I replied. 

Her cuirass was altered to be more form fitting with intricate engravings that almost looked like fire. Attached to it was a burgundy skirt, open in front and lined with similar fur as my suit. The bracers finished off the ensemble, also having been refitted and decorated with gems to make them look more like jewelry. 

"I feel weird, wearing a skirt with armor," she admitted. "I mean, I can't fight with this. Plus, the engravings just weaken the armor."

I chuckled. "Think of it as ceremonial armor. It's not for fighting anymore, it's for looking good.

"But I always look good," Ember said with a smirk.

"This is true," I said, punctuating it with a kiss. "Now, why don't we get this over with."

"This is going to suck," Ember grumbled as we left our room.

We only had to wait a couple minutes for Smolder's door to open.

"So... what do you think?" Smolder asked as she stepped out.

Her's was an actual dress, no armor involved. It was the same purple as her spines, falling down to her feet. It was open backed, of course, to let her wings out and the front came up to a v-neck that was tied off behind her neck.

Ember gave a whistle. "Dang, Smolder. You look great. There might be something to this whole fashion thing."

"I agree, you look amazing," I said before giving her a sly grin. "Though, I must say, your bag looked far too thick and heavy for just this."

Smolder blushed, looking away. "Yeah, well... I got more than one. You know, just in case."

"Don't be ashamed to like fashion. Who knows, maybe you'll be the first dragon fashionista," I said.

"You really think so? It's not lame or anything?" Smolder asked.

"Yeah, right. If making stuff like this is lame, everything is," Ember replied.

A pony clearing her throat interrupted us.

Sunflower smiled apologetically. "Sorry to interrupt, but everypony's waiting."

"Right," Ember said, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. "Well, time to enter the world of politicking."

Sunflower laughed, "Try not to kill anypony."