//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Letters From a Princess to a Dragon Lord // by NotanImportantPony //------------------------------//         “Spike! Spiiike... mmmm.” Twilight hummed in annoyance as she didn’t hear the clitter clatter of Spikes feet. Clearing her desk off with her magic and discarding certain ‘failed’ letters Twilight got up, suspended her one successfully written letter in her magic and went to look for her number one assistant. Of course, these days he could be found pretty much sitting in front of the Dragonstone every time he had a free minute.         Today was no different, for only a week prior Spike had fallen asleep and Twilight had carried him to his basket and lay him to sleep. The next morning Spike had ran into Twilight’s room and told her that Ember had written back. Twilight quickly teleported herself, Spike, two stacks of parchment, one dozen quills, five correctly labeled folders, and one sheet of five questions for Ember to the Dragonstone’s room.         Apparently Ember had just finished writing down the answers to the five questions Twilight had sent her when Spike walked in. He had a short written conversation with Ember then left to get Twilight.         Now that she was there, Twilight set herself up to record whatever Ember had wrote.         Twilight had Spike tell Ember that they would work on transcribing the answers and that they would be silent for some time.         Twilight gave Spike the go ahead to start reading.         “Question One: When do dragons get their wings?         “Ember wrote that dragons get their wings through maturity. Dragon’s wings start appearing when they begin puberty and they grow to match the dragons size at the end of the first pubescent cycle. During that time Dragons will go through multiple growth spurts of varying intensities. Sometimes the growth spurts will be induced by greed, in which case dragons are usually restrained by their parents until the urges subside. Other times, if the dragon is growing naturally they will shed their scales and new ones will grow in, it is at that point the beginning of wings will appear. This process usually lasts anywhere from six months to three years.” “You better hope that Spike gets through his in six months otherwise he’ll be ‘laying claim’ to all the mares around him.” Spike stopped reading and scrunched his brow,         “Twilight? Why would I want to ‘lay claim’ to-”         “-Nope! No need for that Spike, just keep on- keep on reading.”         Spike raised an eyebrow at Twilight but continued reading.         “Question Two: How long do dragons live for?         “Ember says that; Dragons can live for as long as they want but, every so often they will enter a Dragonsleep where they will sleep from a year to several dozen centuries depending on their age. They usually begin their sleep cycle a century or two after the end of their pubescent cycle. They often sleep with whatever they have managed to horde however, if even the smallest thing from their horde is stolen they will wake up and well, there’s a reason why no-one disturbs a sleeping dragon. You’d have to be an idiot if you want a several thousand year old dragon chasing you.” Spike stopped reading and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Heh. Oops.” Twilight up from her papers, “Hey Spike, don’t worry you didn’t know too much about dragons when you did that.” Twilight reassured and comforted Spike. “Yeah... Thanks Twi.” Spike took a breath and continued. “Question Three: How long can a Dragon Lord rule before they choose a successor? “Dragon Lords can rule for a thousand years but if they break Dragon Law the dragons  can determine a new Dragon Lord. A very good example of this was Dragon Lord Flame, he choose to attack other dragons who defied his rules. Those who defied him went to the Council of Dragon Elders to press their case. They were decided to be right in their act of rebellion and the strongest of their warriors were dispatched to rein in Dragon Lord Flame. Flame resisted and he lost. The leader of the rebellion, Coal was elected to the position of Dragon Lord. He took to the position readily and expanded the dragons borders, trade routes, and he ordered the construction of great cities in the most notable spots in the newly formed Dragon Lands. “The greatest of these new cities was the capital Torch, it lay in the greatest caldera known to dragonkind, what you now know as the Flamecano Islands. During the time of the  Great Construction, Coal peacefully disbanded the Council of the Dragon Elders and gave them positions of power in his new regime. At the end of his reign dragons from all over the world traveled to Torch to celebrate the end of Coal’s reign. His reign, one that had transformed the dragons from nomadic and barbaric packs to a proud and powerful civilization that superseded Equestria ended in tragedy. “Upon passing the Bloodstone Scepter to his son-- my great grand dragon-- Steam, The caldera exploded, vaporizing everything around it for miles.        Those dragons that did not attend, those too young or too old wept for the loss of everything they held dear. But they survived, they did not thrive, they could not thrive and eventually those great cities crumbled into ruin and the dragons went back to their nomadic ways for they were without a leader. “I talked with my dad and he told me a story from his youth, He was the one that found the Scepter. He gathered the dragons of his clan together and made home for themselves on the outskirts of the city of Torch. That was how he got his name. He shut up after that and didn’t talk too much after that. He actually looked pretty tired. I guess being old and retired does that o dragons, But yeah, That’s the story of our culture. Be proud of it.”         Twilight and Spike gazed at each other, Twilight in awe at the amount of history she had at the tips of her hooves and Spike at the fact that he had something to be even prouder of. But Spike still had two more questions to read and Twilight was chomping at the bit for moar.         Spike drank from a cup of water by his side, took a big breath and began again.         “Question Four: What is Dragon Law?         “Dragon Law or more appropriately, Dragon Laws are a set of rules that were put down by Dragon Lord Coal to ensure peace and prosperity throughout the Dragon Lands. They worked very well for the duration of his rule. After the destruction of the majority of Dragon Culture, Dragons, and the city of Torch, Dragon Law faded from existence but resurfaced when my father found the Bloodstone Scepter and began his rule as Dragon Lord. I wasn’t able to get much information out of him or the dragons that went to the Dragon Archives. It was really freaking annoying!”         Spike and Twilight shared a small chuckle at Ember expense. Taking another sip from his mug, Spike swallowed and began the fifth question.         “Question Five: How old is Dragon Culture?                  “It depends. If you want to know the age of the current Dragon Culture it’s roughly one-thousand years old. It really changed under each Dragon Lords rule. So really each Dragon Culture is a thousand years old plus or minus a few hundred years.”         Twilight’s eyes glistened as she walked up to the Dragonstone and hugged it.         “Thank you Ember.” Twilight shifted her head down as she felt something scratch her stomach. She sat back on her haunches and saw what Ember had written.         ‘Twilight. Thanks for asking me about Dragons and their culture. I found out a bunch of stuff even I didn’t know. It’s awesome. Thanks girl!’         Twilight shook her head and quickly turned to Spike.         “Spike! Can you tell Ember that we have some more questions for her?”         Turning back to Twilight, Spike set down his mug of water, set his claw to the stone and nodded.         Twilight began narrating.         “Questions Six through Ten.         “Question Six: Do Dragons have pets?”         “Many of my friends have pets, Applejack, an Earth Pony has a dog named ‘Winona’, Pinkie Pie who is also a very interesting Earth Pony has a toothless gator named ‘Gummy’ and you’ve met Rarity, she has a cat named ‘Opalescence’ oh and Fluttershy has allot of pets, she takes care of them all, she has this cute little rabbit named ‘Angel’; Rainbow Dash a pegasus has a tortoise named ‘Tank’; and I have a pet owl, his name is Owlowiscious.”         “Question Seven: Why didn't any of the older and larger dragons answer Dragon Lord Torch’s summons and try to become the new Dragon Lord? It seemed like it was just all the adolescent dragons like Garble, Koal and their buddies!         “Question Eight: During the Gauntlet we noticed that many of the dragons were wearing armour. How and why do Dragons have armour. And can I have some to study?         “Question Nine: Would you allow me to visit the Dragon Archives?         “Question Ten: When Spike starts his first pubescent cycle. How do I deal with it?”         At the end of the tenth question Spike shot Twilight a look.         “Really Twilight? I’ll be able to control myself. Don’t worry.”         Twilight just rolled her eyes and smiled. Turning around she asked Spike to follow her to the Castle’s Library to help her organize her notes and papers for her upcoming book on dragons.         Spike dutifully followed her out the door of the refurbished storage closet and closed the door gentley behind them with a light ‘click’. Inside the room the Dragonstone’s surface was wiped clean and a few words, unreadable in the dark appeared and they waited to be read.