Dragon Lord Spike watches the happiness and love develop with the Dragons arriving in the Dragon Lands; many of them smell the scent of their missing broods and reconnect with the lost children of the raid years ago. Thorax feels the love and energy emerging from the many families that suffered greatly and hisses due to his nature as a Changeling, which doesn't bother the Dragons since they understand Changelings' habits.
Garble and Smolder bring Mina to their cave and introduce her to her mother. Chad becomes awestruck after having many visions of his long-lost sister in his native homeland, which is now a reality for him and Maar. Many other Dragons cry in happiness and ask Dragon Lord Spike and Discord to create a celebration of unity, love, and family.
For Discord, it didn't take long to conjure his clones and create an exciting, thrilling party for everyone to partake in and commemorate the new era of peace and strength. Teenage Dragons helped everyone get accustomed to the Dragon Land hobbies and the Lord of Chaos with his unpredictabilities in magic and how fun the Draqonecuus can be.
Many clones of Discord had arranged the buffet table, a concession stand for the latest comics and issues many Dragons of Dragon Town loved reading, a lava pool for swimming and cannon balls, cotton candy clouds that rain gemstones and livestock for the Dragons to hunt and cook their food if they didn't want the buffet table, gorge surfing with many lava-rock surfboards available for either upward or downward lava flows.
Mina, Chad, and every Dragon of Dragon Town become astonished by the many activities the Dragon Lands has to offer, and it's only the beginning; there's more in store for them with family activities and games Discord has thought for the trophy they'll compete in.
Thorax feeds on the love the Dragons are willing to offer since he keeps on hissing from the powerful aroma of love filtering the presence and becomes satisfied, quoting he won't need to devour anymore for the time being.
Dragon Lord Spike commands Princess Ember to drop him off at the cliff of his mountaintop; however, she insists on sitting with her partner and discussing the conference between him and Twilight. Spike complies with Ember's request, allowing Discord to take command during his absence.
Ember flies to the mountaintop, where the lava flows down into a different lava pool; the duo sits by the edge, gazing at the sky together in solitude.
Ember and Spike hold claws during the silence, with many thoughts clouding their minds about the fallout with the Princesses and Thorax while speaking with everyone else in Ponyville.
During Spike and Ember's relationship, they haven't dated but trained and hung out with other Dragons and Discord, teaching the values of Friendship and being open-minded about welcoming new friends from different countries. Their alone time would last for an hour unless they're asleep in Discord's cabin, where their dreams intercept each other, having loads of fun and adventures, even when they're silly.
"What did you and Twilight talk about when you and she asked us to leave a while ago?" Ember breaks the silence when her curiosity gets the better of her.
Spike exhales and turns to his beloved. "For the longest, I've asked Luna and Celestia to keep our information about the Dragon Egg raidings hidden from Twilight and potentially Princess Cadance due to the possibility of Princess Cadance being the primal suspect as the mysterious Alicorn that led the brigade years ago, besides Queen Chrysalis since we'd already know more from Thorax's testimony. As for Twilight Sparkle, I didn't want her emotions to dictate a bargain of me surrendering my authority for information since she could plot out many loopholes and prepare for any outcome."
Ember concurs with Spike's statement about Twilight Sparkle after remembering how emotional she was when Spike became the Dragon Lord and how controlling she tried to be when she commanded him to return home as a Princess. "I honestly don't believe Princess Cadance would cause devastation beyond imagination with her entitlement as the Princess of Love, considering her nature when she held onto Fluffy Hard -" Ember tries to remember the foal's name from yesterday's visit.
Spike laughs at the name Ember botched. "It's Flurry Heart, Ember. Also, Queen Chrysalis may thought things through while misunderestimating her enemy's potency during every circumstance, which is why Cadance and Shining's love for each other blasted Chrysalis and the Changelings away. For Cadance to initiate an awful deed, she would have to -" Spike gasps and pauses with his thought, a terrorizing probable theory that would make sense if someone wanted to hide their dark truth to relieve themselves from the guilt.
"Spike?" Ember reads his body language and determines the dread radiating from Spike's eyes with a jarring possible conclusion of Princess Cadance's motives. She's concerned about his thoughts since Spike is in a trance for the first time.
Spike looks at the sky, wishing his mind didn't ponder the thought that would allow Princess Cadance to elude the misdeed she may have committed. "Since Princess Cadance became an Alicorn during Twilight's youth, it may be possible for her to erase the memory of her invasion to maintain her status as the Princess of Love to help Princess Celestia's busy schedule in Canterlot."
Ember becomes aghast with the eerie possibility of Princess Cadance's crime if she initiates it; then another thought hits her. "The theory is equally shared with Queen Chrysalis since she's on par with many powerful Ponies in Equestria, and she may want to forget her mistakes to better herself from failure after failure."
"Honestly, I hope it's Queen Chrysalis's operation to create a wedge between us and Equestria rather than Princess Cadance's reckless action to please Princess Celestia about responsibility or remove the guilt from her loving aspect."
Spike leans his head on Ember's left side, feeling sadder about Princess Cadance's possible involvement with a cruel, hidden regret she had forgotten or refused to admit. He loves Cadance as his friend growing up and refuses to believe she would be an enemy of his kin with death and blood stained on her hooves and mind. Although Princess Celestia had mentioned the possibility in a letter she wrote weeks ago, the thought drifted from Spike's mind with the relentless pursuit of his biological parents and further development on teaching the values of Friendship among his kin.
Ember holds Spike closely and doesn't say a word, knowing there's a time and place for encouragement and enlightenment speech; right now, the best medicine for Spike is company among loved ones.
"Do you think it's possible that a different Starlight Glimmer from an alternate timeline may be the mysterious Alicorn to commence war with Dragons and Equestrian Ponies for revenge?" Ember asks with the thought suddenly popping into her mind.
Spike's jaw hangs loose after hearing the time travel concept for a probable cause used for vengeance; he remembers encountering Starlight Glimmer numerously with Twilight to prevent Starlight from deterring Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom. Each resulted in a failure that created distorted timelines filled with misery, dismay, and death.
"A corrupted Starlight loose to end Friendship..," Spike couldn't utter anything else with his mind in disarray from Ember's theory since he exposed Starlight about messing with the timelines. Why didn't he think about it and time travel to disrupt the peace? "Ember.., that's an ingenious, brilliant possibility about the supposed mysterious Alicorn. I would have never thought of time travel."
"Would it be possible for two of the same Ponies from alternate timelines to co-exist without knowing?" Ember asks Spike since he has a formidable knowledge of time travel from his experience.
"I think so, though it was only briefly when Starlight showed us her youthful past. The concept of time travel is something I want to ask Discord privately," Spike replies with new questions appearing in his mind, hoping Discord can answer each one for better understanding to rule out Princess Cadance's involvement as a suspect.
"Let's talk with Discord," The moment Ember mentions Discord's name - Discord appears behind the duo while holding onto two plates of gemstone cake slices.
"What are you two doing up here? You're missing the food fight!" Discord points to two large crowds throwing meatballs shaped like snowballs at each other for a bragging rights trophy; one side is native to Dragon Lands, and the other is Dragon Town, with many choosing different sides for fun.
"Actually, Discord, there's something we must discuss," Spike said, although he preferred to participate in the thrill of catching the meatballs and dishing some back at the opposing team; he needed clarity about the concepts of time with a new suspect for the atrocity committed.
Discord sets the two plates of gemstone cake slices aside and conjures a cotton candy cloud lounge chair to sit and hover in the air to speak with Spike and Ember since they're at a secluded place far from the meatball food fight. "What's on your mind?"