//------------------------------//
// City of Dragon Pt.2 
// Story: The Dragon Lord's Guardian 
// by Little_Draco 
//------------------------------//


The Dragon Lord’s Guardian


The City of Dragons Pt.2




It still awed the dragons, in true utter fascination and speechlessness as the white dragon named Ivory, was an enhanced male much like Spike. The rarity of a male in the Dragon Lands was one every few centuries or so. Yet one stood before them casually and without care for it.
“Are there others like us here?” Spike asked, somewhat hoping to feel some relief if Ivory and himself weren’t the only enhanced males in the world.
The white dragon’s eyes met his own. “As far as I am aware… no.” Blunt and honest, making him shrink, with his tail dropping. “It would be a bit too convenient for many males to have some sort of ‘gift’ here. The fact that you are one in your homestead and I am one here, should be far more unlikely than possible.”
This caused mass confusion amongst them. 	“What, you are saying we are a fluke or something?” He asked in a half serious tone.
“No, but the chances are astronomical, let alone something shouldn’t be by chance.”
A snort left Smolder. “I think we have hung around Discord long enough to know that there is no such thing as chances. Things happen, even if they seem impossible, for a reason.”

“Like a pair of Dragon Hunters killing our kin for some inexplicable reason without much of our insight or knowledge in a large span of time?” He responded to Smolder, causing her to pause at that and retreat.

“Hey, we are just trying to figure out what else is going on here, that is it.” Spike defended. “That sword has been killing us for centuries. While I am glad I am not the only ‘enhanced’ male here, I am still hoping we can find out where this thing came from and how we can stop more from being made. Forget what we are for the moment.”

The white scaled dragon said nothing, but he did retrieve the sword back from his desk. His arm once more turned to platinum-like as he grasped it. Studying it, he spoke. “From a simple glance, pphoenix ashes mixed with our blood, golden handle with curvature of unique design and a jewel with trapped flames, are what I can see here. The blade itself is not of any known material that I can deduce right away. It’s an unknown metal or alloy.”
“More different than your arm?” Spike queried.
“Is your arm platinum?” Ember asked almost right away, drawing away a moment from the sword. 
“No,” He responded with curt,  “though while it may look like it, my arm is also of an element unknown to the periodic table, though I plan to change that soon.” His even tone remained monotonous. He then fully coated himself in said material, transforming his body from white to an almost crystalline platinum where not even his eyes or mouth were organic anymore.
They watched in awe as he almost reflected no light from above sources, yet he still shined like if he was generating it from within. While not blinding or bright, he still had a powerful gaze to him. He moved without issues, still fluid as he would and his voice sounded almost synthetic in this form. Blacktip seemed to glow for appreciation at seeing him like this.
“I have yet to find an appropriate name for my ‘gifted’ form’s substance, despite decades of studying and using it, but I have chosen to think that it's a rarity in itself and remain… unknown. No other metals come close to its density, indestructibility and what else I can do while in this form.”
“Do you have secondary or innate abilities as well?” Spike asks, more intrigued by this, wondering if he had one as well.
“Yes, but… it would be very unprofessional or inappropriate for me to demonstrate them within the confines of the campus. For now, trust that the circumstances of our meetings still intrigue my mind as well as this weapon.” He unshifted from his form until he was fully scaled and flesh once more but kept his arm coated in his arm to keep the blade from injuring him.

His tone returned once more to its natural, monotone voice, and spoke back.“This will need to be dissected at microscopic levels, as well as checked with other periodical elements that it has close resemblance to. I highly recommend that this stay with me for at least 48 hours so that I can fully understand what I am handling. Will this be an issue?”
Spike and Ember shook their heads. “No by all means, do what you need to-”
“And after you are done, destroy it.” Ember immediately demanded, tone firm and her claws clutching into a fist. “I’d rather it not fall into the wrong claw… err wrong… hooves?” She questioned the appropriate method term, shaking her head as to ignore it. “We don’t want it to go back to its original purpose.”

Ivory gave her an understanding nod. “The blade and handle can be destroyed once I find an appropriate measure in breaking or melting point. The jewel at its bottom can be siphoned for other methods that may be beneficial if that is to your liking, Dragon Lord?”

“If it helps us rather than destroy us, I don’t care what it’s used for.” A stoic nod was given to her. 
“Very well. I am glad to be of service. For now, I ask that you find accommodations for now as the evening is fast approaching and the campus offers no guests rooms.”

“We’ll go explore the city for a bit,” Spike provided, almost excitedly. “I think it would do us some good to explore the City of Dragons.”

A nod from Ivory. “Indeed. I will contact you when I have any updates to Blacktip. For now, thank you for your friends. I hope you enjoy yourselves here.”

“Thank you for your help Ivory. We’ll see you soon.” With that said, the party turned away, except for Blacktip. The doors closed and the green drake turned back to the white one. Ivory set the blade back down onto his desk and approached the green drake.
“I am happy to see you again, Ivory. I missed you.” He pressed his head against the white dragon’s neck, who in turn hugged him back.
“As do I, though I wish this were under happier circumstances.” Brushing his claws over his face, he asked, “Though I have to ask why didn’t you allow the Dragon Lord and Guardian to know of my ‘enhancements before claw?”
“Ah, we have a ‘enhanced’ female with us, acting like a guard of sorts. She… has an affinity to Spike, later seeking some payment for eggs in their future.”
The dragon cocked his head, lifting a brow with it. “Why? Are there no other suitable males worthy for her?”

Blacktip gave a small cocked grin. “None that have ‘gifts’ like him and have saved Equestria on multiple occasions or impressed the Dragon Lands to such a high degree.”
The smallest glints of a smile formed at the edge of Ivory’s maw. “Ah, so she only seeks those with enhancements and titles.” A nod from Blacktip. “Then you didn’t wish for me to demonstrate my gifts to them?”

A sigh left the green drake as he brushed his snout against the bottom jaw of Ivory. “No, since they will now tell her of you as well.”
The smile slowly rose and he pressed his head against the green drake. “I thought… that you wanted to had a third to our little-”
“I have yet to see you in months and I wish to keep it that way for a bit more.” The archivist firmly stated, pausing as he then gave him a kindle. “Perhaps with our time here we can grow with that a bit more, but for now, let me take my friends to go explore the city. Then we may resume this conversation and the possibility of a third later.”





“So, we got about two days here or a week, depending on the situation, what can we do for fun here, Blacktip?” Spike asked his teacher as he rejoined them as they left the building.
“Oh, there is not enough time to show you everything, yet that will not stop us!” With much enthusiasm and much vigor, he led them off to the city. He became a guide to them, much like any newcomer who enters a new city and begins to show them much.


From the campus, he led them back to the downtown district they passed through first, which held the shops, the businesses and so on for dragons.
“So, when you were here last time, you saved Dragon town?” Spike asked, bringing back up the newspaper he showed them.
“Indeed I did!” The larger drake boastfully confirmed. “Though it wasn’t Dragon Town directly I was saving specifically, rather the residents of the nearby town were being set on fire and blaming the dragons. You already read the article, but for those of you who don’t know. It was Princess Luna who sought me out to help and discover the reasons for the fires. The ponies automatically blamed the dragons but she tasked me with trying to find the true culprit.”
“Which turned out to be who?” Smolder asked, somewhat bewildered that dragons would or rather wouldn’t do something like this and have them blamed.
“Oh, it was a ‘Firesnail’ that was doing all the fires,” Blacktip answered, a small amount of mirth in his voice. “Little bugger crawled out of the sewers and began to leave a trail of fire and destruction in its wake.” A pause. “Incidentally. Had to give him up to the Princess after to be studied to avoid more accidents.”

“Damn, and I thought Ponyville’s luck was bad.” Smolder commented lightly. “I mean, a ‘Bugbear’ or ‘Hydra’ wanders in, a building gets smashed!” She punched her fist into her open claw for effect. “The town is covered and rebuilt in like… what a day?” A shrug to the nonsensical explanation of the town’s almost immediate recovery. “But you get a Firesnail burning down buildings and suddenly, the fire breathers get blamed and they don't even bother to check if it's them or not. Even Ponyville’s got standards.”

“Well Fillydelphia has its own standards.” Blacktip replied offhandedly. “Its recent haphazard events with this, may have changed its views if only for the time being.”

“So what’s going to keep it from going back to… well like the ‘Firesnail’ incident?” Spike asked.
Blacktip turned to him automatically, almost pointing at him with his snout. “You Spike. You have already turned many views and minds about dragons just with your recent events. If not just for saving the Crystal Empire, or Equestria on multiple occasions, then everything else has with. You are the adopted son of Princess Celestia, brother to Princess Twilight and Prince Shining Armor and mate to the Dragon Lord. Whether you care enough for titles or not, that is up to you.”

“Then why isn’t he recognized here?” Amethyst asked, seeing many just passing a glance at them. “It’s not like there are many Dragon celebrities here like us, right?”

“Hmm, not like you but they do have their own Dragon Celebrities here just like how Equestria has its own, outside of the Princesses. For now, not much of Dragon politics of home reach here,” As he said this, a dragon who wasn’t paying attention, bumped into Ember by accident. 
“Whatcha where you going eh?!” The dragon bellowed out. 
Ember growled. “Hey! Don’t you know who I am?! I’m the Dragon-”
“Don’t care! Fuck off!” The male paused and looked at Spike. “Yo! Spike Sparkle! Nice to see you!” He waved and moved on, causing Spike to briefly smile if only to falter when Ember threatened to use the Bloodstone Scepter. 
“That might not work, as he is a younger generation and could just find it as an annoyance,” Blacktip recalled to her, interrupting her before she could use it. “He may not even listen directly to your command or ignore it with ease. And you don’t want to waste unnecessary energy on just one dragon now.”

Ember growled but sighed angrily in defeat, slinging it back on to her. Spike gave her a comfort hug. “Don’t worry, like Blacktip said, Dragon Lands ain’t got that much news, so Dragon Lords may not have an influence here.” A pause as he repeated mentally what the dragon had said. “Colorful language for a dragon though.”

“Perhaps with more involvement from Equestria and the finished railways, they may start developing telegrams or news articles for it. Give it time.” The green drake then motioned on. “Come, we can’t be distracted by something petty. Though don’t expect less than ideal words from dragons here. They are not as censored here as ponies are.”

And so, Blacktip led the group around town, causing awe and delight for them. Shops designed for dragons by dragons, occupied the town. The design is stone and steel making it a very unique set as a whole. Heat resistant glass with intricate design, showed that Dragons did have their own style outside of Pony based buildings. The air, while stained with certain and perhaps off putting scents for ponies, filled their nostrils with a sense of belonging and atmosphere for them.

Sulfur based food products mixed in with meats and gems hovered around restaurant based themes or food stands on the streets. Amethyst and Garble seemed to lick their chops at the powerful odor of food.
Dragons, both quadruped or bi-peds, walked the streets with clothing or accessories, normally seen on ponies, but designed specifically for them. Smolder herself feeling so much more confident in the fact that she could walk through the streets here with a dress or clothes on and not feel a damn bit of shame.
Ember and Spike were just as awed by all this as the other but more so at how well civilized the dragons were here. Manners, cleanliness and ideal society seemed to be so alien and yet, distinctively close to the dragons at home. The ideal shops, businesses and other situations found in pony society could be found here, but with draconic flare.

They passed a group of whelps that were playing in a semicircle of what looked like a game of hot-potato. Though the potato was a toy… grenade of sorts?
“Huh, why are they playing with a toy grenade and not a ball or something?” Spike asked Blacktip.
“Oh… it's not a toy, it's a real flashbang grenade.”
“WHAT!?” It was Smolder and Spike who exclaimed that out loud, while the others remained confused at their outburst with their Yeti friend taking a few cautionary steps back, covering his face and eyes. Blacktip just flashed them a grin and motioned for them to watch. While the others remained oblivious to what a ‘flashbang grenade’ was, Smolder and Spike were in hysterics at the game.
It was when one of the whelps, a purple and yellow one, missed the catch by centimeters and landed by their feet. A few seconds later, the grenade detonated temporarily blinding and deafening the one who dropped it, causing the others to laugh and for the whelp to laugh as well themselves at the misfortune. The young dragon shook their head, clearing their senses quickly of noise and brief flash of light. An adult dragon nearby chittered with the others at the briefly stunned youngling before pulling from their pouch another flashbang, pulling the pin and tossing it to them. One caught it on the handle, preventing the grenade from going off and began tossing it back to another, having the others doing some ‘faux’ throws or stunts to get the others to drop it. All this, in front of many eyewitnesses who gave them a glance and moved on or watched from the sides.

Seeing their dropped mouths, the older green drake turned to them, a Cheshire grin on his snout. “You do realize that we can stand the blast of a volcano, right?” Blacktip reminded them with a grin, a novice to his intelligence as well as humor. “What’s a ‘Flashbang’ compared to an active volcano? Even a whelp could survive the explosive force of an actual fragmentation grenade, providing it isn’t without intent to harm them.”

“T-They play with actual-” Smolder couldn’t even finish the sentence but Blacktip shook his head. “No, those are illegal.” A pause and he motioned for the nearby adult who watched them play. “Besides, you have to be 35 and older to purchase a grenade and even then, buying them from ‘Equestrian’ police or military is prohibited. So dragons here created their own version of an explosive grenade that adults can have their version of the game but on a more… professional aspect. Kinda like ‘Hoofball’ or ‘Buckball' but this is called ‘Live One’. They toss a grenade that is set on a ticking timer based on rules and such. Those younger, practice with flashbangs or other non-damaging or harmful versions of grenades. I can explain the rules of the game if you wish later.”
“What’s the short version?” Amy asked, now somewhat interested in the game so far.
“So, like Hoofball, you are trying to get the ball on the other side of the field through opponents and touchdown on their goal, right?” Nods were given to those who understood it. “Here it is the same thing, however the rules are played in different aspects. Dragons who have wings are allowed only one flap to catch or throw the grenade per round. The grenade itself is on a timer when not held down at the handle. Depending on the season and weather, it can be five seconds or ten, but the goal is still the same. However, the team that reaches the other side of the field, must not only get to the goal, but destroy the opposing team’s post, a wall of rock or some other barrier, completely. With ponies, they reach the goal, they get points. WIth dragons, it's a matter of damage to the wall as well as the amount of time left on clock. Most damage to the wall wins. Got it?”
While Spike and Smolder, who knew of explosive arsenal weapons, were awed by the laid back culture of were still off put by this. But seeing the whelps continue to play like nothing really happened, made them feel a bit more comfortable at the fact that despite them not being part of the Dragon Lands, they still carried their inheritance of durability.
“Come, we still have more to see then the whelps playing ‘Live One’. The rules and games can be seen in other areas or watched live. There are other areas to try.” He walked on with the others in tow, showing them more, but tame things of Dragon town.

A small walk led them back to the bar area, where the smell of sulfur and molten steel could be felt. Ralph looked uncomfortable and voiced his concerns through a labored voice. “Hot! Toxic! Bad Air!”
All the dragons paused and turned to him, with Spike quickly concerning himself with his health. “Oh shoot! Sorry Ralph, totally forgot you are literally out of your element. You want to head to a hotel or something? We might be able to get you one with air conditioning.”
The yeti bobbed his head in strenuous agreement, trying to deal with the heated and toxic environment. Blacktip quickly guided them to a hotel. “Come, they do have some here for ponies, those that do businesses or vacation around Dragon Town.”

As he guided them, Spike noticed that not once had he seen a sign of Shadescale since their departure from the University. He looked up, didn’t see her form and half wondered where she was at. While he knew she was supposed to be guarding them, he hoped she was enjoying herself at least while here in the area.

Blacktip had guided them to a hotel at the edge of dragon town, with vacancy for ponies available. A quick check in for all parties associated thanks to Spike’s card, including a room for Shadescale and Blacktip, they gave Ralph his own room with an air-conditioning unit. Spike went with the Yeti to his room, hoping to keep him safe.
“You’re going to be fine on your own, right?” Spike asked their yeti friend as he helped him guide him to his room. Poor guy was sweltering and his mask seemed to barely filter any of the heat or bad air quality out.
The door opened with a click of keys and was greeted with a simple large bed but a strong a.c unit by the window and television. Ralph walked over, turned it on full blast, letting out a strong sigh leave him as a powerful jet of cold air hit him. His fur blew and he seemed to be assured that he was going to pass out from the air outside had he remained silent any further.
“Better! Hot is not good! Air is safer here. Enjoy selves! Have fun friends!” Spike smiled and nodded. 
“Sure! I'll see if we can get you souvenirs or something.” The yeti was thankful and gave a thumbs up. Giving one in turn, Spike walked out, closing the door behind him and rejoined the others.

Once the rooms were secure for the two days, the belongings stored and set, the dragons resumed exploring the rest of the town. It was at the moment however, did a large shadow appear under them, quickly forming the shape of a dragon. Almost like living, liquid shadows, the dragoness slowly formed up by them, almost startling those not used to her.

Spike was still impressed by her ‘gifts’ of shadow conjuration, manipulation and forming. It was not just enough for her to be invisible but that aspect already made her like some super hero in a comic. 
The others were also impressed, minus Ember, at how strange but beautiful her powers were. A far from queer aspect found in other dragons, yet still alluring and downright amazing. Garble was a little more the freaked out while Smolder, having never met dragoness, was in awe and possibly a little blushful of her looks taking form. From the beautiful shades of blue of the ocean to the near transparencies of her wings. 

Once her form fully manifested, she gave a small bow. “Forgive my absence, but I had to adjust to being surrounded by tight spaces in buildings once more. Canterlot seemed more open than this but I feel that I have adapted to the environment more. Once I understood how the dragons moved about, it seemed to grow on me.”
“That’s alright, Shadescale. I can understand all this being so different.” Spike responded with assured understanding. “Though I hope you have settled yourself now?”
“I have, though I hope you have found some information on the weapon.”
“Not yet, so we have to wait until tomorrow or the day after to get some answers from our sources. That means staying here for the time being until our… uh.” A pause as Spike turned to Blacktip whom he was silently wondering if he should bring up there was another male who was also enhanced like himself. 

The green drake gave a shrug but decided to move on with the conversation. “We will get word soon, but for now let's continue to explore. There is something here for all of us, whether food, souvenirs, or something to add to your hoards.”
“Oooh! Pinwheels?!” Amethyst asked, almost taking a leap forward.
“How about food?” Garble asked, speaking for the first time since they arrived. He had been unusually silent since. “I’m starving now.”

“Food sounds wonderful!” Blacktip agreed. “The variety here is staggering!” Once more, he took lead to a part of the town where it was a block dedicated to food vendors and markets. The actual scents of various food types hit them with a powerful wave of pungent odors that varied from mild to mouth watering. Even for those who haven’t tried most foods outside of just games or gems, like Shadescale, could still feel the effects of the food varieties strike their taste buds from scent alone.

It was not just the gems that they smelled, either fried, marinated or roasting, but it was the blends of so much more that wouldn’t be found in Pony cuisines. The major big one.
Meat! Sweet, savory, tender and succulent meat! From sight alone, they saw bovine, swine, poultry, fish, insects and so many other varieties that competed with one another. Spices of all kinds heavily filled the air, cutting off any normal air in the area, tickling their noses with thousands of mixtures and signatures that dared them all to try a sample of each. 

As they walked behind Blacktip, they salivated at all the food stands and restaurants that they passed, each one making them more and more hungrier. Shadescale felt like she was overwhelmed by the scents and turned to Spike and Blacktip, as her tail swayed with ravenous hunger. “Which of these concessions may we choose? I am feeling such a craving for odd food I never knew was possible!” There was a certain agitation in her tone, but the stomach growled louder. The others seemed to agree on something with her for the first time.
“Well, whatever you want first, though note that the restaurants may take your ‘card’,” Pointing to Spike. “-More than the actual stands, so if you can we can find one that takes ‘Equestrian Credit,’ then please you may choose.”

Sensing his friends and hoard’s hunger, he quickly scanned the stands, walls, windows or other sorts of advertisements that stated they take his ‘card.’ He knew that may be difficult, as ‘Equestrian Credit’ mostly catered to Equestrians only, and the limit to them actually visiting ‘Dragon Town’ to buy cuisines seemed low, he doubled down on scouring each one. Yeah, they have gems but he wasn’t sure how the currency exchange went.
“Is there a price or set for gems, jewels and all that, Blacktip?” Spike asked his teacher.

The green drake bobbed his head side to side. “Yes but it also has to do with finiteness, purity, value and so on. Some are easy to use, others tend to be more on what they find interests in and/or whatever the market has an abundance of.” He snapped his fingers and conjured up a hefty bag that landed in his palms with a heavy set of jingles, indicating gems. “This should cover us until we can get you an ‘Equestrian bank’.”

“Should have thought of that before entering.” As the thought of only bringing a small bag's worth would have helped. He then looked up at the large bag that Blacktip had conjured. “I’m still not close to learning how to do that yet, right?”
Blacktip gave him a wink. “Patience ‘my apprentice,’ patience. Now, let's find something to fill our bellies.”

The older green drake then guided them around more, trying to see who wanted what. It was a tricky or downright difficult choice for them all, as each stand or restaurant tore them from direction to another. Was it better to eat the large steak that was being grilled over charcoal the most appetizing, or was it the deep bowl of fish stew with gems?

For them it was a war with their bellies, but they all seemed to have chosen separately from one another based on their cravings.
A stand had large bugs turned into micro-snacks on the go being deep-fried, while on the side of it had chicken burgers being made. Smolder seemed to have jumped for that with a giant chicken burger filled to the brim with toppings, sauce, gems and a side order of bugs.
Her older brother thought that giant carp soup would help him, though he quietly had them add vegetables and a heaping amount of peppers into it.
Amy and Ember seemed to agree with a large slab of pork belly intestines and snouts on kabobs with sulfur dips on the side. 
Spike and Shadescale chose a large steak, marinated in various spices that was downright mouth watering. A helping side of rubies hallowed out with ghost peppers jelly completed their order.
Lastly, Blacktip had a large charred, six foot serpent’s tail around a spear to go along with a side of sprinkles of quartz on it. 

They sat on part of a benched area, enjoying themselves as they gouged on their food. As they did, they watched more and more as the evening settled into the night, a new type of environment started. Unlike magic based or electrical ones, the street lights were lit up by dragons, though not specially assigned dragons, but just common residents.
Any dragon that passed by a lamp, would either blow directly at the lamp with flames, or those that didn’t reach, pull open a small latch from the post, flick a switch which released either fluid or gas, ignite it with a spark of their flames, and light up the area.
This was enough to spark interest for Spike to start the conversation. “Huh, so dragons just participate in lighting the street lights. There is no assigned job for a dragon or electricity?”

Blacktip took a bite of his serpent's tail, chewing for a moment before swallowing to respond. “While it is not their job or obligation, it does put the city in a better mood when dragons courteously ignite the street lights for others. The whelps or hatchlings at night to play or for the ponies who are not used to the dark.”

“That is strangely harmonious and selfless of dragons,” Ember commented lightly, albeit with slight reservations. “But with only a century, it surely couldn't have been that easy.”

“It never is with us, Lord Ember,” Blacktip sighed, as he did remember the last century of the tough uprising. “While we are not fully there yet, know that I watched huge differences rise between us from decades ago to where we are here. Between the Dragon Lands and Dragon Town, know that we can change our nature for the better.”

They ate the remainder of their meals in light chatter, with them asking questions about things here and there. Spike quickly bought more food, a fish sandwich with crispy crickets for Ralph back at the hotel.

“Now, the night life is not as glamorous as Manehattan or Las Pegasus, it does carry its own after dark.”

“You think it's safe enough for Ralph to come out then?” Smolder asked. “I mean, the Night time may help out the poor guy.”

“I would leave him for now. We do have some other non-habitable areas to explore that may now be suited for him.” No one argued so they went on. 

As they continued to explore the area, Spike pulled up to Blacktip. “Hey, can I ask you something about Dragon Town?”

Blacktip, having an understanding of what he was going to ask, responded first. “Why Dragon Town isn’t well known to most of Equestria and other dragons?” Unfazed but not denying the fact that it was such a simple but obviously complex answer, Spike nodded.
“Twilight had little to no answers about dragons and yet… here is a town dedicated to us.”

Blacktip mussed to himself, focusing on the query for a moment before responding. “Even though we are surrounded by a species we once regarded as ‘puny; or ‘weak’, we still won’t share our knowledge with them?” A small ghost of a smile formed. “At our core, we are still selfish or uncaring creatures, bent on remaining on top regardless of how society works around us or tries to control us. What anatomy we do give out, is only to keep their interests at bay, but only real Dragon doctors, biologists, and even professors are allowed to give out information on Dragon biology but to only other Dragons. Not even Celestia herself could get a hold of that information from us.” A small, cold but sad look was given to Spike. “Even if it meant to give you a chance to survive growing up.”

Spike felt annoyed and even saddened with that explanation but Blacktip then added, “When you have a whelp surviving an explosive force of a ‘grenade,’ brush off magic with ease and use pointy swords as toothpicks, what do you think goes through the mind of a pony when they feel like they cannot compete with a species this powerful?” He then bobbed his head in mental counting. “With the likes of alicorns, Discord, Tirek, demi-gods, and so on, you think they wish to know how truly weak they are on a one on one?”

A hard thought came to him, one that was recent. When he asked his mother, Celestia, about research on ‘Anti-Dragon weapons’, her funding stopped when he was born. That before him, they were looking for ways to kill or harm a dragon. Outside of tremendous force or killing them while young, it was almost impossible.
“They would do anything to gain that information to hold it over us?” He responded out loud, earning looks from the others. “We have no real weaknesses but if they ever found it, they would hold it over us like…”
“Like we would hold it over them how weak they are to us. Not every creature is infallible, as we know from the last few years of your sister and her friends stopping deities from destroying the world or causing mass hysteria. But they are not everywhere at once, hence why there is a sudden need to find ways to deal with threats on simultaneous occasions.” Blacktip finished, unapologetic. “Yet here we are, in a city surrounded by ponies, sticking to their rules, to their laws, and working almost harmoniously together.”

“Why then?” He asked. “Why live like this then? Why a secret if not, why not public? What would we gain if the whole world didn’t know that ‘Dragons’ and ‘Ponies’ can live alongside one another?”
A shrug. “Perhaps we wished to see why the world changes around the ponies and not us. The last few years have shown us that ‘ponies’ view themselves as the main characters in a world full of magic and wonder. Especially with helping save it, on multiple occasions.”
“But they are not.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. Some are the star of their own story, while others are just part of the ‘background’  yet still a part of the narrative overall. I’ve told you that before but it is true. We, the dragons here that is, chose to see how a pony's life works for whatever reason and see where it went.”
“For what purpose?” Spike asked, slowly a picture forming in his mind but not fully seeing the grand view overall.
He was given another shrug. “That I can’t answer but maybe Dragons seeing how the ponies cared, loved and cherished one another was possible or it had given us a purpose we never dreamed of. To ‘love’ thy friend, to ‘care’ for thy neighbor’ and to ‘strive’ for Harmony, may have been the catalyst for us to start working alongside them a century ago.”
 
He then stopped, forcing them all to stop as he had brought them over to a view where not only was most of Dragon Town seen, but also the city next to it.

“We may not be there yet,” He lectured on, “To fully trusting ponies yet, as we know that there are those out there, seeking ways to end us, but that should only enforce the ponies that wish for Harmony and peace to stand by us when the day comes to confront them. We have as much of a right to live and exist, alongside other creatures. Our pasts shouldn’t be defined by our future, as we have yet to be part of it. We can only move forward together and hope for a better outcome if we work to an ideal state of Harmony. Yes, there will be many hurdles and falls we will go through but this city is just the start of what a society can achieve if we strive for a better future.”

“So where do we come in to help change that for other areas?” Ember jumped in, having heard everything else. “We are still cautious with our biology, we won’t share with others, and who knows what will happen if these hunters decide how to publicly reveal how vulnerable we are.”

“That is the change happens, Ember,” Forgoing her title and treating her like another dragon. “We show the ponies here that we can be their Friends, their allies, and maybe even family. Love shouldn’t be restricted to species alone.” A small glance to Garble who dipped his head with a small blush but somewhat content no one made fun of him for it. “As for us, we start here and now by making history, not by war, but by Friendship between the species. You are the last of a generation raised by the old ways but also the first of a generation where you embrace better ones.” 

For the time, the dragons contemplated his words, absorbing what this all truly meant for them. It was a trait they admired about Blacktip, as he was the first Dragon to live between both worlds.
A dragon who lived part-at-home with his kin and grew up in a city where Dragons lived next to ponies. Spike was given these lessons from him, at the start of his training, of what it truly meant to be part of two worlds, closer to home yet distances apart. Suffice to say, he still had a lot to learn.

The interest of Blacktip and his vast intelligence hadn’t gone unnoticed, especially by a certain dragoness.