//------------------------------// // Time Flies By 1 // Story: My number one dark knight // by Angelus Alvus //------------------------------// Six years passed at a blink of an eye. During this time, surprisingly, baby dragons didn’t really require any special treatment that changelings couldn’t give. But Chrysalis struggled a bit to raise a baby dragon, regardless of that. Spike was a very energetic baby and she would have to often use magic to prevent him from escaping his crib and when he did, she had to run after him. Being a parent wasn’t an easy thing. However, for some reason, while she hated the trouble he gave her, she loved seeing him smile and she started to get fond of the affection displays he gave her. Not just because, the love Spike gave her boosted her own power. Changelings had their powers boosted by feeding off from love of other species. Chrysalis lost count how many times she repeated the process of kidnapping a female and shape shifting into her to gain the affection of her boyfriend or husband. The men she had fed on were left in a catatonic state after she had drained their energy dry. She only did this with ponies, because at least they resembled changelings a little bit in body type. But not all members of her kin weren’t as picky as her. The changeling queen had never loved or cared about any of her previous victims. They were just energy supply to her. However, when Spike started to speak, at the age of three, his first word was “mama”. She didn’t really know how to react or feel at his statement. It was the first time she ever hugged Spike back. But she assumed she did this purely on instinct, after all changelings weren’t creatures devoid of emotions as some myths say about them. Parents love their children. Brothers can love each other, friends can love each other and even lovers love each other. However, for some reason unknown to them, the love they feel towards the members of their own species do not give them any power boost. Chrysalis had never imagined that she would feel parental love in her life. The other thing that baffled her was that his love towards her, gave her a big boost of magical power, but it felt different from the other people. She hadn’t fed on his energy like she did with others. It was almost like the energy passed on naturally and, even more surprising, it had absolutely no side effect on Spike. The baby dragon was still as cheerful, healthy and energetic as always and he didn’t show any symptom like any changeling victim would feel. However, his existence there wasn’t welcome for all changelings. A few of them opposed the idea of allowing a member of another species to be raised among them. After all, the changelings were fighting for centuries to survive and slowly climb their way to the top. Thankfully, two explanation came up that helped to prevent any incident and calm down the opposition. The first was a speech made by Chrysalis. She said that he was something she decided to raise out of a whim and if the dragon ever did anything that harmed the changelings, she would dispose him. She had to say this to her people in order to assure them and she was also serious with her threat towards Spike, but, for some reason when she said that, her heart ache felt like something was constricting it. She was also glad the baby dragon didn’t hear any of it. Chrysalis would make sure to raise him as a honorary changeling and he would make her and every other changeling proud. The other explanation didn’t require any kind of speech from Chrysalis. It came up on its own. And it was that dragons were natural enemies of ponies, gryphons and the “lesser” species, however, there wasn’t a single incident of a dragon harming a changeling of any way and because of Spike’s presence there, some even started to talk about the birth of a Dragon-Changeling alliance to rule the world. Things kinda worked on their own after that. Spike was taught how to speak and the alphabet. He was quite sharp for a child, by some private tutors Chrysalis requested. But she knew that it wouldn’t be healthy for him to stay crammed inside of the castle for his entire life. Sure, she could ask a few scholars to teach him, but she felt like he needed to have contact with changelings of his age and maybe even make some friends. The queen was also thankful for all the assistance her chamber maid, Hecate, gave assisting her leader to raise Spike. The dragon even started to call her “aunt” after he learned how to speak. The chamber maid, while very similar to all changelings, had yellow eyes, instead of the usual blue ones. Hecate didn’t mind all that much. In fact, she found it quite cute. She had a daughter of the same age as Spike, named Bella Noche. She would be starting school soon and Hecate suggested to her queen to enroll Spike at the same school. “Maybe our kids can get along quite well.” Hecate commented. Chrysalis had frozen at that comment. ‘My kid?’ she thought. Sure, Spike called her mother, but she thought it was mostly because she was the one who hatched him. She was shocked when she started to consider that maybe…she saw Spíke as her own son. She grew fond of the baby dragon as time passed and she felt surprisingly relieved when she accepted Hecate’s advice to enroll him into school in the near future. But it was mostly because school and friends would distract Spike from the times when Chrysalis had to leave home to go on missions or when she was in meetings to manage her kingdom. Hecate had told Chrysalis, the baby dragon used to sob and even refuse to eat while their queen was away. Also, following the queen’s orders, Hecate and any changeling else didn’t tell Spike what exactly they did on missions. The only thing Spike knew they did was that they were out there to get supplies. Chrysalis always made sure to bring a good amount of gemstones for the dragon. He could eat fruits and he started to eat fish, but gems were still his favorite food. She also decided to place a certain spell on her “son”. A spell that allowed her to communicate directly with him and vice-versa. This way, they could communicate even when they were far away from each other. Chrysalis crafted a green opaque orb around the size of an apple. She also had one with her and when the queen activated the orbs, her image would show up on Spike’s orb and his would should up on her orb, as long as they looked directly at it. The spell on Spike also had a few other perks. For example, she could send small objects like letters through him. But she had to be careful. When she first sent the orb through Spike, he choked on it for a good minute, for her desperation. She apologized to him and told him she would be careful with the size of the objects she sends him. Also, the baby dragon could send her objects as well. It was part of the enchantment that, when he focused, he could send an object using his green flames instead of just burning it. Spike had first discovered he could breath fire at the age of four, when he sneezed after catching a cold. Chrysalis had to explain him that his fire breath was no toy. He could end up burning down the castle or hurting someone. The only place where, the changeling queen allowed Spike to use his fire breath was in the bathroom to heat the bathtub water. The drake also ended up liking to ‘work’ as a messenger when he received a letter from his ‘mother’ to some army officials at the castle. The reason was that it made him feel useful to his mother and he wanted to help her the best way he could. After all, he loved her. A few days after Spike’s sixth birthday, during dinner, Chrysalis told him: “Spike, I’ve finally decided to enroll you into a school. Your classes will start tomorrow.” Spike knew what school was. His mother explained to him it was a place where many kids of his age got together to learn and have some fun. He was looking forward these two aspects of it, but he was unsure if he liked the part where he had to stay away from home for so many hours a day. Once he voiced his concern, he shoved a spoon full of soup, with diamonds floating on it, inside of his mouth. Chrysalis merely chuckled at that and said: “I think it’ll be better than just sit around playing alone, don’t you think?” “I guess so…Will you take me there tomorrow and pick me up, then?” The young dragon asked. Chrysalis finished levitating her spoon full of vegetable soup and waved her hoof. She swallowed the soup and replied: “Sorry, killer, but I’m very busy early mornings. You know that. Hecate will be the one to take you to school and pick you up because her daughter is also will attend the same school as you.” Spike then looked down at his plate a little sad and not really wanting to eat anymore. “Lately, we can only talk during dinner and before I go to sleep…” He murmured. Picking up what he had just said, Chrysalis spoke: “I have a kingdom to rule, Spike. I have things to take care of. Once you grow older will understand that.” Then she saw that he still looked at his plate just moving his spoon on his soup, she quickly added “ But doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me. I’ll have plenty time for you to tell me how your day was even if it passes your bedtime a little bit.” The drake smiled softly at his mother and finished his food imaging how school would be like. If he would make many friends and all the stuff he would learn. After dinner, Chrysalis took some time to play hide and seek with Spike. At first she thought it was just a pointless and childish game, but she started to like it little since he always managed to escape from her whenever she didn’t use magic. The hours flew by and after Chrysalis bathed Spike she took him to his room, which was built next to hers and watched as he climbed on the big bed with a green pillow and purple cover. The colors were Spike’s choice. After Spike laid his head over the pillow, Chrysalis used her magic to cover him with his purple blanket. “But, mommy, I don’t wanna sleep…” Spike said as a yawn escaped, betraying what he had just said. “Now, now, Spike. You have a very busy day tomorrow. It’ll be your first day of school.” She said as she smiled evilly and teased him: “Besides, if you don’t go to sleep, the big mean Celestia will appear and banish you to the Moon.” The baby dragon quivered at hearing the name Celestia. He had heard many stories about her and none of them were nice. He sincerely hoped his mom would become strong enough to defeat her someday. Chrysalis chuckled and said: “Don’t worry, killer, I would never let her touch a single scale of your head.” She then lowered her face and gave him a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Have a good night, Spike.” He yawned and said: ‘Good night, mommy.” She then blew the candles and left to her own room.