Chapter 4
The rest of the night had passed uneventfully for Amethyst Thistle. When she was back in her room, the food coma had started to set in and she was barely able to make it to the bathroom, managing to brush her teeth with the complementary toothbrush placed in the suite for her. When she was done, Amy stumbled sleepily to her bed where she was only just able to crawl under the covers. With that, she quickly fell asleep and let her body start digesting the stomach full of vegetables, fruit, baked goods, and a decent amount of gems. All in all, it was one of the best vegetarian meals she had eaten in a long time. She loved Lore Finder, but neither the pegasus nor her husband could cook worth shale.
Luckily for Amy, her night was blissfully dreamless. Not so lucky was that when Prim & Proper had come knocking at the brink of dawn, the dragoness felt as if she had just shut her eyes. Regardless, the long sleep did its job and Amy felt fully awake when she emerged from the shower, steam billowing off of her scales. That being the last item on her list of morning duties, the dragoness swung open the door to the hallway to find the butler pony waiting for her.
"So, Prim, is it time for breakfast? I'm so hungry I could eat a-," Amy stopped talking when she realized what she was about to say in front of what many creatures would call a meal with an opinion.
"Eat a what, Madam?" Prim & Proper asked, wondering if he could have the castle chefs prepare whatever it was she wanted.
The dragoness grasped for straws within her mind, trying to think of something big and not an animal. "Uh, uh, uhm, I could eat a... a pumpkin! Yeah! I'm so hungry I could eat a big ol' pumpkin!" Amy said quickly.
Prim & Proper stared at the dragoness for what felt like a good five minutes before saying, "I'm not sure what you were going to say, but I can tell you that the castle has griffon chefs on staff for carnivorous dignitaries. If you desire, I'm sure they can prepare you a meal to your liking."
Amy stared at the butler pony with a slightly slackened jaw and asked, "How did you know I was talking about meat?"
"Though I am unfamiliar with that particular saying, I have met meat-eaters before; and they quite often show the same nervousness as you just did when discussing their dietary habits around ponies," Prim & Proper answered. Amy nodded and began to follow when he started towards the dining hall. "The offer still stands if you feel like making a request," the butler said over his shoulder.
The dragoness didn't want to make anypony uncomfortable, but she would have been lying if she said she wasn't getting a little tired of an all gems and plant matter diet. "I guess, if it isn't going to cause any problems, I could go for something like that," Amy finally said.
Prim & Proper's only response was a miniscule nod that could have been part of his gait and the words, "Very good, Madam. Is there any dish in particular you would prefer?"
Amy thought about it before deciding, "Chef's choice is fine. Whatever a cook for royalty makes is sure to be pretty good after all."
"As you wish, I'll tell the staff... By the way, what was the proper ending to the idiom you spoke earlier?" the butler asked.
"Uh, I'd rather not say."
"I assure you, Madam, I won't be offended."
"I don't want to take the chance."
"Come now, it couldn't have been that bad."
"Just... drop it, Prim, you don't want to know. Besides, we're there."
Sure enough, the two were now standing outside the dining hall from last night. "Hmm, I'll go inform the staff of the slight change of plans," Prim said as he started to head down a different hallway.
"Hey, wait! Aren't you going to do the introduction thingy like last time?" Amy called after the butler.
"That won't be necessary. Their royal majesties wish this to be a meal between friends," Prim & Proper said without stopping.
Amy was a little confused, but understood the gist of what he meant. The idea of "hanging out" with royalty would normally go against her laying low lifestyle, but for Celestia and Luna, she would make an exception. Pushing the doors open revealed the two alicorns sitting as they had been last evening. Upon hearing the entrance, Luna looked from Celestia over to Amy and smiled broadly, "Ah! Good morning, friend! You're just in time to see my sister before her morning routine."
As Amy walked up she said, "What are you talking ab- Oh! What happened to you!?" The question was changed when Amy jumped back and pointed at the solar diarch. Celestia had dark bags under her bloodshot eyes and her coat lacked much of the shine it had the last time Amy had seen her. Her mane, while still flowing, had many knots in it, causing the colors to twist together. All in all, she looked like death.
Celestia gave the dragoness a tired smile, "Nothing," *Yawn* "I just haven't readied myself for the day is all."
Amy moved to her seat a little hesitantly. Despite Celestia's claim, the dragoness found it hard to believe that mere tiredness alone could make someone look so bad, and she didn't want to get sick. "Don't most people do that stuff before breakfast?" Amy questioned as she finally sat down.
"Sister can't stand doing anything before drinking her morning coffee; not even sit through her hoofmaidens' pampering," Luna answered for her sister upon seeing her nod off.
The night princess gained a mischievous smile and leaned towards her sister's ear, intent on scaring her awake, but was interrupted when the doors to the kitchen opened and a unicorn came out with a tray floating beside her. Reaching the table, the mare placed down the tray to reveal a couple of coffee pots, some mugs, a bowl of sugar, and a pitcher of milk. The mare then said that the food would be out shortly and left. Amy was curious as to why there was so much coffee, until its aroma reached the nose of the snoozing sun princess. Celestia's eyes shot open and locked on to one of the coffee pots. In an instant, it was levitated to Celestia's mouth and she was chugging the black contents. It wasn't until it was nearly half empty that she put it down with a large sigh.
Amy stared in amazement at the now much brighter-eyed alicorn before her. Said alicorn gave a tiny burp and an "excuse me" before looking to the stunned dragoness. "Ah, Amy, I'm glad you could make it, we have much to discuss," Celestia said, seemingly forgetting everything prior to drinking at least three cups of coffee.
"Ah, yeah, I guess we do. Today's the day of the ceremony... So, what's that gonna be like anyways?" Amy asked as she started pouring her own cup of coffee, adding generous quantities of cream and sugar.
At that moment, ponies came from the kitchen and started to place meals in front of those sitting at the table. Each plate was different and Amy was pleased with her own. At first glance, it appeared to be a simple, large omelette with a bit of parsley on top, but it was what was inside that counted. Amy could both smell and see peeking from the side of the egg dish, white meat flecked with red. The dragoness had been served a lobster omelette.
"It's nice to see you're taking full advantage of our kitchen's staff. Poor Gustav rarely gets to show his talents cooking for ponies alone," Celestia said as she took bites from a bowl of oats and honey, occasionally dipping her bran muffin in her pot of coffee.
Amy, who had already devoured half the omelette with all the ferocity of a predator, simply nodded her head, her full cheeks bouncing from the motion. Luna chuckled a little as she ate her more dinner oriented meal of lasagne and a glass of milk, "I thought you weren't going to be hungry enough for breakfast."
Swallowing the last of what was in her mouth, the dragoness responded, "It's not my fault, the food is just too delicious. It's a good thing I'm not staying much longer or I'd be leaving a few pounds heavier than when I got here."
"Ah yes, I suppose you will be leaving soon after the ceremony, won't you?" Celestia asked.
Amy nodded and answered, "Yeah, I figured either tonight or in the morning, depending on how things go."
"Tis a shame; we've just met, and already you are leaving. I would have found great pleasure in learning more about you and your adventures," Luna said a bit solemnly.
Amy's heart sunk a little at that, not wanting to make a new friend sad in less than a day. "Hey, we can still be pen-pals. I mean, I may not be around all the time, but you can send letters to Lore and she'll give them to me," the dragoness offered.
The smile returned slightly to Luna's face and she said, "I would like that, thank you Amy."
Amy smiled back and began eating the rest of her meal at a more sedate pace. Things only remained quiet for a minute before Celestia spoke, "You know, I too would like to learn more from you, though not entirely on a personal level. I am sure there is much you can tell us."
The dragoness looked a little confused, "What do you mean? Like, what I know about the other lands and stuff? Not to seem rude, but I hope you don't want me to spy or anything like that. I'm all for telling you about my adventures, but I'd rather stay out of politics."
Celestia's eyes widened at the response before she shook her head, "No, Amy, you misunderstand, I would never ask that of you. Mother forbid, diplomatic relationships have been strained between some countries, Equestria included, and I'd rather not disturb the hornet's nest. No, what I meant was that you could help us learn more about dragons."
The dragoness quirked an eye ridge in question. The sun princess saw the obvious confusion and elaborated, "What I mean is that even Luna and I, with our thousands of years of experience, know relatively very little about dragons and their ways. You could help us understand your kind better and, in so doing, perhaps help better dragon/pony relations."
Understanding came to Amy and she looked away from the pair of expectant eyes. "I'm probably not the best one to ask about that kind of stuff. I don't spend a lot of time around other dragons, ya know?" the dragoness explained weakly.
This didn't seem to deter Luna much however, and she tried to help her sister, "Even if you know not the entirety of dragon culture, you could still help teach us about other aspects of life for a dragon," the dark alicorn said before giving an example, "For instance, I always thought that dragons were born without wings and grew them in adolescence. Yet here you are, a dragoness long out of childhood who is wingless."
Both alicorns knew Luna had said something wrong when Amy's fork was bent in a clenched fist. The dragoness noticed this equally as fast and stuttered out an apology as she tried to bend the utensil back into shape. "That's... an odd misconception. Winged dragons are born with their wings... Only a certain race of dragons are born without them... how did you come to that conclusion anyways?" The dragoness said, trying to move the conversation away from herself. In truth, she was regretting not wearing her cloak and was feeling self-conscious without it hiding her form.
Celestia clearly saw her discomfort and tried to go along with Amy's silent wish. "As I've already said, ponies know very little about dragons, both in their habits and biology. As it is, we know dragons breathe fire, eat gems, fly... and that their eggs require magic to hatch. Infant dragons have rarely ever been seen," the sun princess said, not mentioning only one hatching and baby dragon had been observed in Equestria to date.
Amy had finished fixing her fork, though it was still a bit wavy, and halfheartedly went back to finishing her meal. "I'm not surprised, dragons prefer to hatch their young away from others and spend their first few years raising them in solitude. It's just the parents and their hatchlings in the beginning until the young can better protect themselves," the dragoness said, seeming to be more interested in her food than her words.
Luna jumped on the new topic, "Celestia said dragon eggs require magic to hatch, how do they get it?"
Celestia was the one who answered this time, "All dragon fire is magical in nature, the theory is that dragons must dose their eggs in flames until they gather enough of magic to hatch."
Amy smiled a little and tapped her nose. "Yep, it takes quite a lot of magic though, usually a year's worth of magic from both the mother and father, sometimes more," the dragoness said before getting a pained look on her face. "Hey, when's the ceremony going to be anyways?" Amy asked.
Celestia was glad to be taking the last step out of the conversation on dragons and into business, not liking the discomfort it brought the young dragoness. "It will start tonight, a few hours before dusk. At least that's when the guests will start arriving. If you wish, you do not have to be there until the ceremony is underway."
Amy looked like she wanted to accept the offer but after a moment of contemplation, she shook her head, "Nah, I better show up and mingle with the guests. The whole reason I came here was to make a name for myself amongst the elites. If I don't rack up some business from this, Lore Finder will chew me out." The dragoness shivered a little at the thought. Lore Finder had made Amy feel like a scolded child on more than one occasion and the dragoness wanted to avoid another tongue lashing if she could.
Celestia's eyes widened a little at the revelation before she chuckled, "How honest of you to admit such a thing. I hope you succeed in your endeavor though if it means more discoveries like the Sun Spire."
Amy's own eyes widened when she realized what she admitted and covered her mouth. "I didn't just say that out loud, did I?" the dragoness muffled from behind her hands.
Luna couldn't resist and started laughing loudly. "Oh, you most certainly did, though, We believe it quite noble of you to deal with Canterlot's most snooty to please a friend," said the dark alicorn when her laughter died down a little.
Amy snorted a little herself and loweered her hands. Giving the dark alicorn an incredulous look, the dragoness said, "Snooty? Is that proper terminology, Princess Luna?"
Said princess blushed a little, but didn't stop smiling, "Oh, 'tis accurate enough. I'm surprised those ponies don't bump into each other with how far up in the air their noses are."
Celestia rolled her eyes, but didn't disagree. "Yes, yes, the nobles are snooty, but they were a great help in running the kingdom after... you know," the sun princess finished lamely. The mood had been sobered by her words and Luna turned from happy to cheerless.
Amy could guess what Celestia was referring to and why it soured the mood, and, in a similar fashion to the princesses, wanted to move away from the melancholic topic. "Hey, snooty or not, they have deep pockets and I have a lot of expenses that need paying," the dragoness said with a toothy grin.
Luna smiled a little at that and said, "How advantageous of you, Amy. Though, I fear for our subjects' bank accounts after having a run in with a charmer such as yourself."
Amy's grin turned into a sly smile as she said, "Hey, any investment made to Amethyst Thistle and Co. is guaranteed to pay off... At least, that's what I'll be telling the guests tonight."
As amusing as the little back and forth was, Celestia finally cut in, "Yes, I'm sure you'll do fine tonight, but until then, I have preparations to see to and Luna should get some sleep so she can actually be awake for this event."
Celestia leveled Luna a deadpan stare and she replied with, "Twas not my fault! My alarm clock didn't go off!" When her sister's stare didn't change, Luna threw her hoofs in the air, "Fine, I find weddings boring! Are you happy now!?"
The day princess smiled a little and began to stand, "Very. Now, we really must be going. Amy, feel free to look around the castle and city. Prim will escort you anywhere within reason. Prim & Proper!" Amy didn't jump this time when the stallion appeared out of nowhere, and she could have sworn she saw a bit of disappointment flash across his face. "Would you be so kind as to be Amethyst's escort for the day and make sure she arrives at her celebration on time?" Celestia asked, more out of courtesy as the stallion would never refuse.
"It would be my pleasure, Princess," Prim said to the alicorn before turning to Amy, "Where would you like to go, Madam?"
Amy, not even realizing all three of them had finished their respective meals, hadn't really had a plan set for the day. Thinking it over, she looked to her escort and said, "Well, I guess we should head back to my room so I can get my cloak, then we'll just wing it from there." The dragoness swept an arm towards the doors and asked, "Ready to go?" Prim nodded his head and started walking, Amy following behind him.
"Perhaps asking her what she knew of dragons was not the best course of action to take. She seemed quite shaken when you did so." Luna pointed out as they both saw the purple tail disappear through the door.
Celestia sighed and said, "Yes, it was not the most tactful of attempts at gathering information, and I regret causing the girl discomfort, but you cannot deny that we learned something from the blunder."
Luna nodded once and commented, "I suppose. We now know that Spike will most likely not grow wings... I hope he takes it well."
Celestia began to leave the room, "We learned more than merely what her words told us, sister. Her actions were just as telling."
Luna silently agreed and followed her sister, going to greet two guests that had arrived last night.
~8~
Spike had spent most of the chariot ride as a jittery mess as the reality of the situation truly solidified within his mind. He was going to discover his true origins from a dragoness. A dragoness who was, more than likely, his blood relative, his sister if he guessed what she was going to say in the library right. There were so many questions Spike wanted to ask the mysterious Amethyst Thistle.
Who were his parents? Where were they? These two were very important to him, but there was another question that terrified him to ask. Why was he left in Equestria? This question, he held in, but the others and many others he had bounced off of Twilight and theorized the answers of. Something he was currently doing as the two finished a meal delivered to their rooms.
"Hey, do you think Pinkie Pie was onto something when she said I could be a prince? That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?" Spike said as he bounced a little on the edge of the bed he was sitting on. He wouldn't complain to Twilight about it, but he definitely preferred having his own bed over the basket back at the library.
Twilight smirked a little and gave her assistant a sidelong glance as she pushed the serving trolley and plates outside the doors to be collected, "There's as much chance of you being a prince as there is of me becoming a princess."
Spike crossed his arms and said, "It could happen, and for all we know, it may be right."
Twilight's smirk grew a little sad as she made her way to the bathroom, speaking as she walked, "If you're a prince, than you'll probably have to leave to rule over the dragons." In truth, though she doubted that specific possibility, the idea of Spike returning to where he came from had played through her mind a few times since the dragoness burst into their library. It worried Twilight that her surrogate little brother may leave when all was said and done.
Spike stared at the lavender unicorn as she went through the doorway and he heard the faucet begin to run. Letting out a sigh and flopping back onto the bed, he said, "Yeah, that would suck... If I am the future ruler of the dragons, then I'll just do it from here." Though he didn't know what would be revealed to him when the time finally came to confront his past, he was adamant that it would not change the fact that Twilight was his family and that Equestria was his home.
His words helped lift Twilight's spirit a bit as she rinsed the remaining toothpaste from her mouth. "That would be a sight to see, maybe you'd have a throne next to the princesses," she said as she re-entered the room with a mane brush levitating besides her.
Spike lifted his head a little to look at the mare, "Where is Princess Celestia anyways? I thought we'd see her by now."
Twilight rolled her eyes in exasperation as she started to comb her mane out and answered the baby dragon's question, "Weren't you listening when we were greeted at the front entrance? The princesses won't be able to see us until tomorrow morning. Besides, it's way past your bedtime as it is; we can go over everything when we're all awake."
"Oh, come on, Twilight, I'm not a baby anymore. I just turned ten, for crying out loud!" Spike said to the unicorn.
"Which is still young, even by pony standards, and you're a dragon. Your body still has a lot of growing to do, and it needs sleep to do it," Twilight answered back with a well-rehearsed line. Getting the dragon to sleep was not too difficult on most nights, but the mare had had to remind him of his age for all sorts of things over the years.
Spike groaned and said in a pleading tone, "But Twilight, I can't just go to sleep right now. I can't stop thinking about talking to Amethyst."
The unicorn had to admit, the young dragon had a good point. Even she was going to have trouble sleeping tonight. Putting the brush down on the night stand between the two beds, Twilight rubbed her chin in thought before her eyes widened. "Aha, I got it! We'll just use the tranquility spell I learned to help me sleep the night before tests," Twilight exclaimed, "That was a real lifesaver when I was a little filly."
Spike searched his memories for a bit before snapping a claw and saying, "Oh yeah, I remember Princess Celestia teaching you that. Wow, that was a long time ago... Are you sure you can still cast it?" He didn't want to say it, but Spike was always a little worried when Twilight was casting spells on him. She hadn't hurt him or anything, but the dragon had read quite a few horror themed comic books that used a spell gone wrong for the premise.
Nodding her head in the affirmative, Twilight answered, "Of course I can, I still use it sometimes when I get really stressed out and breathing exercises aren't cutting it. It's a pretty simple spell."
Spike mulled it over before finally crawling to the middle of his bed and getting under the blankets. Sitting with his head above the pillows and lower body covered, Spike said, "Okay, I trust you. Hit me with your best shot." With that, the dragon shut his eyes and tensed a little, waiting for the mojo that never came. Opening one eye, the baby dragon looked at the mare sitting in the bed across from him, "What gives? Why aren't you doing the spell?"
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Twilight said, staring at him expectantly. When Spike only tilted his head confusion, Twilight dropped hers in resignation. Pointing a hoof to the bathroom, Twilight said, "Brush your teeth first, Spike."
Spike laughed a little nervously and jumped down from the bed. "Yeah, I'll do that," he said as he made his way to the bathroom. It took him only a few minutes to polish his fangs to a shine matching the gems they crushed and to make his way back to his bed. It was a little laborious to climb into the thing, as the mattress was level with his eyes, but he managed.
Once again in the position to sleep, he looked at Twilight expectantly and said, "Well?"
Twilight smiled as her horn lit up, "Okay, here we go. Just relax and let the magic soothe your mind." It wasn't a flashing beam or explosion of light that emanated from the unicorn's horn like Spike expected, but instead a softly glowing tendril of magic lazily snaked its way to the baby dragon's forehead.
Spike remembered seeing Twilight cast the spell on herself, but this was the first time he'd seen it cast on anyone else. "Cool," was all he managed to say before the magic finally reached him and he felt his entire body relax. All the scenarios that had been playing through the young dragon's mind started to fade away and were replaced with a soothing calm. Spike hardly realized he had fallen backwards and his eyes had closed. As he fell asleep, he began to dream of Rarity feeding him gems, causing a gentle smile to spread across his face while he slumbered.
Twilight watched him with a smile of her own as he began snoring softly before she turned her magic inwards so as follow his example of dreaming peacefully.
~8~
Little Amy stared in wonder as the large, emerald dragoness breathed a long, continuous stream of fire gently over the surface of a purple egg. The dragoness kept this up for a while longer before the flames started to peter out. When she did stop, it was accompanied by a large gasp for air. Her golden chest heaved in tandem with her breathing as she said, "I hope he gets here soon; I don't think I can keep this up much longer."
Amy looked up at the larger dragoness, worry clear on her face, "Why not take a break? I'm sure dad will be back soon, then he can take over."
The dragoness looked over to her daughter, "Oh, I wish I could, dear, but stopping the process, even for a few minutes would allow magic to start seeping out."
Amy's eyes went from her mother's to the egg, clearly in thought. Losing magic would mean having to put more back in, which, in turn, meant she'd have to wait longer to meet her little brother or sister. Suddenly, the answer came to her like a bolt from the blue. "I'll do it! I'll feed the egg!" Amy exclaimed, excited by both the prospect of being able to help her family and getting to flex her inner fire.
The dragoness looked a little concerned as she said in a calming voice, "I don't think that would be a good idea, Amy. Hatching a normal egg is already difficult, and this egg is special. I wouldn't want you exhausting yourself, or burning out your flame."
Amy looked determinedly into her mother's eyes and stomped her foot, "Come on Mom, I'm a great fire breather, I can do this!"
"I don't know dear, I just don't want you to hurt yourself," the dragoness said in a placating tone.
The child was going to retort, but was interrupted by the rumbling words of another, "Let her try, Love. You know our fire is stronger than that of other dragons."
Amy perked up and turned with a smile. The baby dragon ran to the approaching figure with an exclamation of, "Daddy!" before tackling the only front leg he had planted on the cave floor.
Though the girl was light, Onyx only had two of his three legs currently allotted to the task of holding him up and his daughter's enthusiastic hug disrupted his tentative balance. The large dragon flailed a bit with the gem laden arm that had been held to his chest, quite a few shiny morsels falling to the floor as he did, before he managed to correct his footing.
"It's good to see you, my little fire-starter," Onyx said as he sat down and Amy backed up sheepishly. He began to pick up the gems that had fallen, his daughter helping him. "Sorry I've been so long, Love. I had to go deep to find these gems," the large dragon said slightly quieter as he finished his task and moved a bit awkwardly towards his mate.
Amy jogged behind him with her small arms filled with their meal as her mother rose to her feet. As the dragoness did, her daughter could not help but admire her. This was her mother, Orchid, the one many believed to be the most beautiful dragoness of all. She was amazingly long and slender, her body widest at her flaring out hips and shoulders. Her lithe, muscled body was covered in bright green and golden scales that went well with her lighter green spines and piecing yellow eyes.
As Amy watched her mother stretch her stiff limbs, her gaze was drawn to what had unfurled behind her. A pair of large draconic wings rose from her mother's back, casting a large shadow along the cave's floor and walls. The sight of them sent a small pang of sadness through Amy's heart and made the bareness of her own back feel all the more prominent. The baby dragoness quickly squashed down the sentiment as she and her father reached their destination, reminding herself that she had gifts of her own that those with wings lacked.
When her parents neared each other, they shared a quick but loving embrace, laying their necks across each other's, Father lowering to do so. "It's alright, Onyx, I know it is getting more difficult to find food in these old caves," Orchid reassured her mate in response to his apology.
"It wouldn't be if we had a better place to live. You deserve better, Love, and this is no place to raise hatchlings," Onyx replied, his tone growing sadder as he went on.
Orchid put a claw to his lips, "Hush, you big lug, our children will be happy, healthy, and loved, no matter where we are." When she saw the small smile her words had brought to her mate, Orchid looked to her daughter, "Now, are you sure we should be letting Amy tend the egg? I don't want her exhausting herself."
This turned the black dragon's smile into a grin, "Of course she can do it! She is a magic dragon; her fire is far stronger than any dragon her age! Isn't that right, my little fire-starter?"
Amy jolted a little at having the attention brought back onto her, but soon donned a determined frown and furrowed brow as she placed the gems at her feet and stepped around them. "Sure is, Dad, I can definitely help my brother... or sister," the baby dragoness said.
Both parents looked to each other with proud smiles as their daughter's fire shined bright. Taking a small step back from the egg, Orchid said, "Go ahead dear, try your best... but if you feel tired, don't be afraid to stop. Your father and I won't think any less of you."
Amy chose to ignore the embarrassing conclusion to her mother's words, not intending to fail in this. Walking up to her sibling's egg, the older sister got on her knees and ran her hands over the smooth surface, memorized by the purple spots set upon a lighter background. Beneath this thin shell was her family, and the little dragoness noted with some worry that the heat from her mother's fire had started to seep through it, leaving the egg to cool. Not wasting any more time, Amy took a deep breath and released it upon the shell, a strong flame rolling from her mouth and over the egg.
"A little less, dear, it can only be taken in so fast, anymore will go to waste," Orchid said to her daughter in a hushed tone. The only acknowledgment she received for her advice was the intensity of the flames dropping. Amy was enraptured, watching her fire dance across the round surface in wisps and waves, mesmerized by the sight of her own essence being drawn through the shell and feeding the life inside.
The little dragoness lost all track of time as she continued to breathe life into her sibling, the breaks to take more air into herself hardly being noticeable as she did so. Amy only stopped when she felt her core start to grow cold and she gasped, gulping down oxygen to feed both her inner fire and her own lungs. The girl looked around, surprised to see her parents were no longer standing across from each other and instead were lying side by side on the other side of the egg. Her father was wearing a proud smile while her mother had a look of amazement on her face.
"I've always known she'd have a strong fire, but never that strong. Even I'd have to try hard to do that!" Orchid exclaimed as her own smile began to match that of her mate. Amy was both confused and proud when her mother reached forward and plucked her off the floor. As the large dragoness lightly held her to her golden chest, Amy craned her head back and asked, "Did I do good?"
Onyx burst into laughter that shook the cavern and Orchid looked down at her, "Good? You did great, dear! I've never seen a dragon your age hold a flame for so long, it's simply amazing."
It felt as if Amy's tired fire burst back to life as pride swelled in her chest. She was going to ask how long she had managed to last, but was cut off by an unexpected voice, "What's a freak like you have to laugh about?" The words hung heavily in the air and the atmosphere instantly soured. All three dragons looked to the cave entrance, Orchid putting her daughter down next to the egg and moved in front of them both protectively. Onyx joined her soon after, all traces of mirth gone from his face as he stared down the intruder.
"What are you doing here, Flem?" Onyx asked. Amy peeked between her mother's legs to get a better look at the dragon who had shown up. He was a portly thing, standing as tall as Orchid, allowing his large stomach to almost scrape the ground. True to his namesake, he had yellow scales, spines, and a white under belly, making the fat dragon resemble a freshly coughed up loogie.
Flem strutted towards the group with a superior's stride, but his swaying stomach ruined any illusion of nobility he tried to create "Oh, me and my brothers were just flying around, looking for something to do, when I decided to take a little break," The fat dragon said, walking up to the pile of gems that had been left on the ground and running a claw through it, continueing to speak as he did so, "I didn't expect to hear anybody out here in the middle of nowhere, especially not another dragon. So when I heard you, laughing like an idiot, I came to check it out, and look what I find, the freak and his freak loving mate."
Onyx growled at the insult to his wife, but refrained from doing anything to make the situation worse. Amy, on the other hand, was having trouble listening to this phlegm colored stranger insult her parents, and could bear being silent no longer when Flem picked up one of their gems and popped it into his mouth. "Hey! Those are ours, Fatso, go get your own!" the little dragoness yelled as she weaved between her. Before she could reach the dragon, she was snatched up by her mother and held protectively.
Unfortunately, this did nothing in preventing Flem from seeing the child, and what he saw made him snarl, "I knew it! I knew we should have hunted you freaks down when we had the chance! Now you're multiplying!" In what could be considered a very stupid move, the obese dragon stepped towards Orchid threateningly.
Before Flem even knew what was happening he was pinned against the wall with his windpipe was squeezed shut. "Insults are one thing, but no-one threatens my family!" growled Onyx as he held the now wheezing dragon high enough that only the tips of his hind claws were touching the ground.
Amy always knew her father was strong, but seeing him holding a tub of lard like that up with one arm and standing on only one leg was amazing. The little dragoness was pulled from her admiration and back to Flem as he barely managed to say, "You're... making a... big mistake... freak!"
Onyx's response was to tighten his grip on the fat dragon's throat, eliciting a squeak from him. The large, dark dragon was silent, bringing his other claw up to Flem's neck and started to twist his head slowly.
It was when pops began to be heard and Amy's eyes grew wide that Orchid quickly stepped to her mate's side and pulled on his shoulder. "Stop, Onyx! You can't do this, not in front of Amethyst," said the dragoness in a voice somewhere between telling and pleading.
Onyx looked over his shoulder and into his mate's begging eyes. When her words fully sunk in, he turned his gaze down meet that of his daughter's, and he saw that it was full of fear and confusion. He squeezed his own eyes shut upon seeing that, ashamed of being the cause of such things appearing on his daughter's young face. Without turning back to the mucus colored dragon, Onyx tossed him to the cave floor and brought his own front legs back under him.
Flem coughed harshly, reacquainting his lungs with air while rubbing his abused throat. His eyes roamed across the other dragons in the room, the most hate being directed at the dark dragon, before landing on the purple egg. When Orchid saw him looking at her unhatched child and heard the snarl, she knew she made a mistake in moving away from it. Onyx saw this as well and acted quickly, saying, "Leave, or I won't let you go again."
Flem stumbled to his feet, keeping his eyes on the egg that had been revealed when the dragoness had moved. "Don't think this is over freak, When my brothers hear about this, you're gonna be sorry!" the stronger dragon merely stepped forward with clear intent and bared his teeth.
The show did its job as the fat dragon fell backwards with a yelp. As he rolled over and scurried out the cave, he yelled back, "Just you wait! You're gonna pay for this!" With those final words, Flem reached the entrance and started beating his wings, their proportionally small size resulting in a laughably slow take off.
They watched in silence until he was out of sight. When he was, Onyx turned around and made his way to the egg. Without a word, he laid down and began to breathe fire onto the shell. Orchid and Amy followed soon after, mother laying next to father and daughter climbing in between.
It was Orchid who spoke first, "What are we going to do, Onyx? They know where we are now. What if Flem and his brothers do come here?" Though she was trying to stay calm, Amy could hear the slight quiver in her mother's voice, and it made her begin to shake in fear. Beyond worrying for her when she wandered off, the little dragoness had never seen her parents scared of anything.
Onyx continued to breath fire, not giving any indication that he had heard his mate until he finally stopped. "We look for a new home," the dark dragon said without turning his head.
"But where? This is the most gem rich area we could find," said Orchid. Though she did not say it out loud, all three of them heard what was unsaid; and we hardly have enough to eat as it is.
"Then I'll protect us, Love," replied Onyx. Before his mate could argue against such a thing, he added, "I'll never let anyone hurt my family, no matter what."
With that declaration, he bent his neck to nuzzle his mate and then down to peck the top of Amy's head. The words, combined with the loving gesture, quieted Amy's fears as all that had happened caught up to her. Nestling down, the little dragoness shut her eyes as Onyx turned his attention back to their youngest family member. Lying between two loving parents, Amy let the sound of her father's crackling fire carry her away.
~8~
Amy's eyes fluttered open and took in the sight of yellowed paper covered in small, black text. When she tried to lift her head, it stuck slightly to the parchment, and she heard the beginnings of a tear. Coming to a stop instantly, the dragoness reached up and peeled the paper slowly away from her cheek.
Amy looked down at what she had removed from her face, finding a book whose text had become unreadable. As she tried to puzzle out where she was exactly, she was startled by a masculine voice from behind, "I hope you enjoyed your nap, Madam."
Spinning in her seat, Amy came face to face with a familiar stallion as he approached. "What is it with you and scaring people, you weirdo! You're going to give someone a heart attack!" yelled the dragoness, glaring at the stallion as he fought to keep a smirk off his face.
Succeeding fairly well, Prim & Proper said, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Madam. I've simply been waiting until you were done with your studying."
Prim's words knocked loose the mental block in Amy's head and she remembered where she was and why. After retrieving her cloak from her room, the dragoness had decided to go into the city and see the sights. It was enjoyable enough... for a time at least. As much as she liked seeing the beautiful city, the suspicious glares quickly ground away Amy's patience and it was the accusation of shop lifting while browsing a book store that had her deciding enough was enough.
She knew it was partially her own fault for wearing a cloak with the hood pulled up, but the presence of a castle servant should have at least dampened any mistrust held by the pompous populace. After practically being chased out by the store owner, Amy just asked Prim & Proper to take her back to the castle. He completely agreed with the idea, not wanting to talk down anymore ponies from calling the royal guard.
The tour had eaten up a fair chunk of the time before that night's festivities, but there was still time to kill. Luckily, the walk around town had lasted long enough to give Amy a bit of an appetite and warrant lunch. Unlike her last two meals, this one was royalty free and she only had the company of Prim & Proper. The dragoness again ordered the chef's choice and was served grilled fish with lemon. After some persuasion, Amy managed to get her escort to sit down and eat with her, quite a feat when the stallion kept insisting that such a thing was not proper etiquette.
Even with the two eating together, conversation was pretty much non-existent. The most she could get out of him was what his daily duties consisted of. She complained a bit about how she was treated by the ponies outside and Prim apologized on behalf of their atrocious behavior. Eventually, they both finished and Amy had to think of something else to fill the time.
After being denied her chance of buying Lore Finder a souvenir, the dragoness decided to do something else nice for her best friend. Doing some thinking on the matter, Amy resolved to study up on pony history and lore, serving the dual purpose of avoiding another Sun Spire incident and getting Lore off her back about it. With her mind made up, the dragoness asked Prim if he could show her the royal library.
A small hint of relief flashed across the stallion's face as he told her to follow him. If Amy had to guess, he was probably happy at the thought of her being somewhere she couldn't make his job any more difficult. When she entered through the large doors and into the library, she was shocked by the sheer size of it. Amy had been told by a filly Lore Finder many years ago about her visit to the Canterlot Royal Library, and had subsequently joked that it sounded like Nerd Paradise. After she saw it for herself, however, the dragoness didn't understand how her completely accurate observation had earned her an only somewhat playful hoof-slap. Those things were dangerous.
Not sure exactly where to start, Amy had asked the librarian to direct her to the history section. The aging stallion, though grumpy about being pulled from his own reading, told her where to go and Amy soon had a stack of reading material sitting upon a desk. As the dragoness had theorized, pony history was comparatively boring when stacked against those of other kingdoms, countries and cultures. Even so, she read on, finding there to be spikes on interest, what with the reign of Discord, the conflicts between the three tribes before Equestria's formation, and more recent events found in newspapers.
She hit a particularly dry spell while reading a book on agricultural history in Equestria, when she shut her drying and strained eyes for a moment, or at least she thought it was a moment. "How long was I out, anyways?" Amy asked as she felt her face and the moisture on it.
She turned her back to him and wiped the drying tears from her face as he answered, "Long enough, Madam, that the ceremony is in one hour."
Amy almost spun around again, but stopped herself, opting to berate the stallion while looking away, "Are you serious!? What were you thinking letting me sleep that long!?" Amy huffed and looked down before saying, "And I drooled over this book, too! I hope that come out of your pay."
Prim & Proper came up beside the dragoness and looked at the smudged and slightly torn page of the large history book she had been reading, "I had every intention of waking you up if you had slept any longer; I just thought that after the nerve fraying experience earlier today may have left you needing a little rest. As for the book, I'm sure Dewy Decimal will understand; there's no reason to worry."
He looked to Amy and she turned her head away. The stallion sighed a little to himself and said, "If I may be so bold, Madam. You should freshen up before the ceremony... you have something on your face."
Amy gave a sigh of her own, having a good idea what he was talking about. The dragoness moved the book aside and used the well-polished surface of the wooden desk as a makeshift mirror. Though not perfectly reflective, Amy could make out the tear stains running from her slightly reddened eyes to her left cheek. She expected these things. What she had not expected however was the large ink splotch on her face.
Amy brought a hand up once again to wipe at her stained cheek, but was unable to remove it. The butler stallion once again spoke, "May I suggest soap and water, Madam?"
The dragoness finally turned and gave him a light knock to the top of the noggin, "Yeah, real funny, Wise Guy. Just take me back to the room, will ya. I need to get ready, and that includes cleaning this gunk off me." With that, Amy got up and stomped out of the library, glaring at the librarian when he looked as if to shush her. Prim & Proper rubbed his head, more to straighten his mane than to sooth any pain, and followed after the annoyed dragoness.
Amy could hear her escort stop and exchange a few words with the other stallion, but she was to0 agitated to care what the two said. After the awkwardness during breakfast, the day had only gotten worse. First were the glares, than the accusation, and then a pony she hardly knew saw her cry. Absentmindedly rubbing her sullied cheek, Amy thought to herself, "I wonder what will go wrong next?"
~8~
Spike could hear something in the distance, but ignored it in lieu of remaining in blissful slumber. Unfortunately the sound missed the memo and continued on, getting louder as it went. Spike rolled away from the annoyance and pulled the blankets over his head to block it out, but the sound only got more distinct with time. The baby dragon could now recognize the sound of a vaguely familiar voice saying something. Whatever it was was no concern of his, however, and he just told it to leave him alone, though his words were muffled by the cloth shield he had erected.
His words went unheeded, as whoever owned the now identified as feminine voice started poking him. Spike could make out his name, but still swiped a claw backwards and restated his wishes to be left alone. This was a mistake apparently, as Spike heard the voice grunt in annoyance. The baby dragon felt something envelop him and heard the agitated voice say, "I said, get... Up!"
With that, Spike was hoisted up into the air, blanket falling from his awakened form as he ascended. He yelped and started flailing his arms, looking around frantically for his attacker. His eyes soon landed on the scowling face of Twilight Sparkle, horn glowing with magic. "What gives, Twilight!? I was trying to sleep!" Spike said, on the verge of yelling.
Twilight rolled her eyes at that and said, "I could see that. As for 'what gives' breakfast his here." With that, she motioned with a hoof towards a food laden trolley.
"I would have ate when I felt like it... And put me down, will ya!" the baby dragon punctuated his command with another bout of flailing.
Twilight released her magical hold, allowing Spike to fall to the mattress with a yelp as she said, "Even if it wasn't time to get up, the princesses are supposed to be arriving shortly, and I would prefer not to eat in their presence." Spike untangled himself from the sheets commenting on how he doubted they would mind. "That doesn't matter, Spike. It's disrespectful and I would rather avoid it if possible. Now eat up," Twilight told him as she magically moved the trolley between their beds and climbed onto her own.
Spike grumbled, but complied, and the two ate in silence. Despite their mundane argument, neither could deny how nervous they were. Today was the day everything would change, and though they hoped for the best, they knew that it could end poorly. Amethyst could refuse to talk to them, or try and flee again, and there was, of course, the possibility that the young dragon's past was not at all a happy one.
Spike didn't particularly enjoy the meal, as he had not yet washed the taste of sleep from his mouth before eating, something he rectified after with a trip to the bathroom. With that, the two sat in silence as they waited for the princesses. A wait that was, luckily, not too agonizingly long, cut short by a knock at the door.
When the two shouted simultaneously for whoever was at the door to enter, it was revealed to be the celestial alicorns. Twilight was off the bed in an instant to greet Princess Celestia with a hug, as had become the norm in recent years. "It is nice to see you again, my faithful student, though this is more than a casual visit," said the solar alicorn as she lifted her head and looked into Spikes eyes.
"Indeed we do," Princess Luna said as she stepped forward, "we've learned much of our new friend, Amethyst Thistle, that I'm sure young Spike would wish to know about."
Twilight stepped back and looked at the princess of the night, head slightly tilted as she asked, "Friend? Didn't you just meet her yesterday?"
"Yes, I would most definitely count her amongst my friends. Besides, didn't you yourself find five good friends in a single night?" Luna asked back with a smirk.
Twilight blushed, "Noted. I guess I'm just surprised, after how she acted yesterday, I figured she'd have been..." the unicorn struggled a moment while searching for the right word, "shy around two princesses."
"And she was, as most anyone is when first meeting us, but she was very friendly and charming after the initial nervousness faded," Celesta answered.
Spike, who had been listening as the ponies talked about his probably-sister, could no longer contain himself, "Tell me about her! Was she funny!? What kind of things did she talk about!? Did she tell you about her adventures!? Did she mention me!?" As the baby dragon spoke, he hopped off of the bed and made his way to the princesses, putting his hands together in a pleading gesture before saying, "You gotta tell me!"
Both alicorns leaned back with eyes widened in reaction to Spike's desperate plea. They were still a little surprised when Twilight removed him from their personal space with her magic, causing him to release an indignant "Hey!" as she did.
"Spike! You know better than to act like that with the princesses!" Twilight reprimanded before she looked to the royal ponies apologetically, "Please forgive him, Princesses, he's just been really excited since coming to meet Amethyst Thistle."
It was Celestia who recovered first, a soft, kind smile appearing on her beautiful features, "There's nothing to apologize for; I understand how exciting this must be for both of you." The sun princess lowered herself onto the carpet, taking a moment to get comfortable before she spoke, "Now, why'd don't we all sit down and talk?"
Spike didn't hesitate, plopping down, and Luna only thought on it for a moment before settling down herself, legs curled up underneath her, but Twilight stayed standing, looking on in horror. Celestia cut off her student's arising statement about how the princesses shouldn't have to sit on the floor and that they should at least use the beds. "This isn't a council meeting, just a get together between friends. Please, Twilight, have a seat," the princess asked in a calming tone.
That did the trick, though Spike thought he saw a flash of sadness across Princess Celestia's face as her student took her request as more of an order, lying down with a quick, "yes, Princess," and even offering the alicorns pillows from the beds. Luna accepted the offer, placing the pillow under her forelegs, which got an eye roll from her sister.
Once they were all settled in, Celestia looked to Spike and asked the question he was more than glad to answer, "So, what would you like to know, Spike?"
"Everything."
Expecting that answer, the princess began, "Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning..."
And so it went, Celestia spoke of their dinner and how it had only taken a request to turn the affair into a less formal one; a fact that Spike was proud of and Twilight was amazed by. The princesses told of their conversations and the many stories Amy regaled them with, starting with the discovery of the Sun Spire, although this was done after Celestia stated, "You didn't hear this from me." This took quite a bit of time as Spike wanted to hear as many details about Amy's adventures as he could. Luna did a spectacular job of retelling the adventurer's exploits, somehow making them sound even more exciting than the dragoness had. Celestia often spoke a few words here and there while Luna wove the tales, and Twilight would excitedly point out which stories correlated with which Daring Do novel.
Eventually, the two neared the end of all that had occurred the night before, telling how they parted ways. "That can't be all of it; she must have said something more!" Spike exclaimed. He knew the princesses weren't going to be grilling her for information, but he had hoped they would have learned more about her past. It wasn't that the baby dragon didn't like hearing about his probably-sister's adventures, but he had hoped to learn more of her youth and family.
"I know you must feel disappointed, young drake, but it was never our intention to interrogate Amethyst Thistle. She is a guest of honor, after all," answered Luna.
Before he could say anything in response, Celestia spoke, "Do not worry Spike. Though we did not learn much from dinner, we did gain some new insight during breakfast." The baby dragon scooted forward, asking what it was they learned, not noticing the slightly sad tinge in the solar alicorn's voice. "Well, in our attempt to learn more about dragons, we confirmed the process dragons use to hatch their young," said Celestia hesitantly, trying to stall in revealing the more important discovery.
Twilight clapped her front hooves together, "So they do use dragon fire to transfer magic to the egg!"
The unicorn was too excited too have noticed her teacher's behavior, but Spike caught on and asked, "What else did you learn?"
It was Luna who started, "Well, she came to the dining hall without her cloak, and I noticed something...odd."
"Sister asked why Amy lacked wings," Celestia finished, deciding to treat the situation like a stuck on bandage.
Twilight cocked her head in question. "But I thought dragons grew their wings in adolescence."
Though Twilight hadn't quite grasped what the princesses were trying to say, Spike had an inkling of what they were trying to say, and it made a pit form in his stomach. "She isn't going to grow them, is she?" the young dragon was more making a statement then asking a question.
The sun princess had a solemn expression when she saw the resignation on Spikes face. "No, as it turns out, dragons have wings from the day they hatch. As Amy told us, she is of a unique race that never get them... I'm sorry, Spike, I know how much you looked forward to flying one day," said Celestia, sounding truly remorseful for having to deliver him bad news. Twilight caught on then, and hugged her surrogate brother.
Spike didn't really register the comforting embrace as he lost himself in thought. The revelation wasn't actually as shocking as the ponies around him thought. He had suspected the moment Amethyst had come barging through the library doors yesterday, but had tried to put it in the back of his mind. If he were being completely honest with himself, Spike had suspected the fact that he would never be able to fly under his own power long before he saw the dragoness, though he could never tell why. "I suppose it makes sense now, my body knew It wasn't suppose to fly from the beginning," the baby dragon thought in resignation.
He was brought from his musing when he felt Twilight begin to shake him. "Spike... Spike! Snap out of it Spike!" the unicorn practically yelled, the vigor of her shaking increasing with her voice.
Spike pushed on her chest as he said, "I'm okay Twilight, I was just thinking. Calm down will ya?"
Twilight bent down and looked him in the eye for a moment before sitting back up and sighing, "Sorry, I was just worried you went into shock or something... Are you sure you're okay with this?"
The baby dragon sighed himself, but his wasn't in relief like hers. Looking to the side, Spike spoke, "Yeah, Twi, I'm sure... I kind of figured as much before now anyways, this just confirms it." The dragon then turned to look at all of them and added with a small smile, "At least now I won't be waiting for something that will never come."
Each of the ponies seemed to have varying levels of surprise on their faces, though Twilight beat the other two with her mouth falling open slightly. Celestia, however, was the first to recover; a small, but proud smile appearing on her lips. "That's very mature of you, Spike, I'm glad you won't let this slow you down in life," said the white alicorn.
"Hey, why worry about things you can't change, right?" the dragon responded, his weak smile becoming more genuine.
"Verily! I agree, Young Drake, and there may very well be something else your kind can do that winged dragons can't do." Luna added, hoping to brighten the mood even further.
Spike hadn't thought of that possibility, but now that she had mentioned it, he felt his curiosity rising. "You think so?" the dragon asked as he put a hand to his chin in a classic thinking pose.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there was. I mean, the three pony tribes have their own unique attributes and abilities, maybe the same is true for different kinds of dragons," Twilight commented, the possibilities noticeably lighting her eyes and a wide smile starting to split her face.
Spike scooted away from her, already knowing what the prospect of discovery did to the mare.
Celestia must have noticed Twilight's change in demeanor as well, speaking before her student could go off the deep end... again, "I took note of something else that could be of importance when Luna asked the question. She tensed and became very uncomfortable when it was asked. So much so that she crushed a fork with her bare hand without even realizing it."
That got Spike's attention and he voiced his disbelief, "Really? Why?"
"We do not know the answer to that, as we did not push the topic and risk upsetting her anymore than she already was," Luna answered, "but it is safe to assume that her lack of wings is a delicate subject for her."
Twilight voiced the question he himself was thinking, "But why? What could have happened to make her feel that way?"
"I'm afraid the only one who can answer that is Amy herself, and until she tells us, we can only theorize," Celestia answered.
That brought Spike back to the whole reason why he had come to Canterlot, and he said as much, "But when? We've been here since last night and I haven't even seen her yet."
"I know you are anxious, young drake, but sister and I both think it would be better to wait until after the ceremony tonight," said the princess of the night.
It wasn't voiced, but they all knew why it was this way. Amethyst Thistle was willing to fill an entire street with smoke to get away from Spike when she saw him, and she could pull a similar stunt here to escape. If that occurred, the ceremony would more than likely not be happening. Then again, Spike personally thought learning of his origin was more important than a fancy party, although he did not say it out loud; he was sure that the princesses had their own reasons for wanting things to go off without a hitch.
"I've gone this long without knowing, I guess I can wait a little longer," Spike began, "So how are we going to do this? I mean, she'll probably try and run again, after all."
Celestia and Luna looked at each other before turning back to Spike and Twilight The older sister said "Well, we've considered that possibility, and here's what we're going to do..."
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,063 users online
1,858,755 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Unfortunately the pc i was using crapped out on me. Im reading and typing this up on my cell. Ive noticed you made a mistake of using 'your' instead of "you're." As well as in.spikes.dialogue hes missing a few words as well. In the third to last paragraph you're missing end quotations and put a comma instead.
Youve.also got a word cut in half:
"the looked a little confused, " i dont actually.know who is speaking but the dialogue says its Amethist.
There are a couple more.gramatical errors and word.misusage. Wish i could help mre but i am severely limited.
I suspect that that right there is why Amy gave Spike's egg up. If it takes more than a year's worth of magic from two adult dragons, Amy by herself as an adolescent probably had no hope of hatching him. I bet they lost their parents for some reason and she gave up the egg to what she guessed was the best hope for that amount of magic.
And that dream flashback probably answers what happened to their parents.
interesting details and head scratchers here.......next chapter now!!!!
I can't wait for more!!! Thanks for updating this!
There is no way in Hell Twilight has that much magic. She can barely move an ursa minor and a water tower of milk(strange as that sounds). With the amount of magic two adult dragons produce in a year, you could burn nations, carry mountains aloft, slay demons and destroy armies! And Twilight had all THAT magic? No. Absolutely not. More likely Spike's parents were wrong and their magic stayed in his egg. Twilight was just a spark for the fire.
3730432
I can see what you mean, but really, it's debatable as there are a lot of factors to consider. After all, Twilight did turn Spike into a giant, transfigured some ponies into plants, and was creating a pretty massive light show that day. I've always figured Twilight just doesn't know how to use all of her magic consciously, like she has a massive well of it, but only has a comparatively tiny cup to pull it up with.
There's of course other factors to take into consideration, like how many ponies tried to hatch the egg before Twilight, was Celestia amongst them, and (like you mentioned) how fast is the loss of magic from the egg when it's not receiving any. Another factor to consider is how much magic it actually takes. If you remember, Orchid told Amy to cut back on the fire because the egg could only passively absorb it so fast from this method. One can assume from this that dragon eggs don't necessarily need all the magic that two adult dragons can produce in a year, just a nice amount of it spread over that time period.
Well, thanks for the comment, a lot of the things I mentioned above I had yet to consider until now, so you've helped me in some later chapters.
Good chapter, I can't wait for the big confrontation and to see the rest of Amy's past. I'm anticipating some feels.
On a side note, it's funny how 300+ people have apparently read this chapter, but only 20some have actually done what you asked and checked out your blog post. How's that for courtesy, eh?
Well anyways, I'll check it out know, see you there.
I wasn't aware we were supposed to wash our faces with soup. I would have imagined that would burn. Then again, I'm not a dragon...
3730432 Granted the show did reveal that, Twilight, when in complete control, isn't exceedingly strong, moments of emotional duress cause her physical appearance to change, meaning when her mane and tail catch fire. Also, younger Twilight was startled into a state of uncontrolled energy flow, I dubbed 'Magic Storms', to which Celestia said that Twilight had extreme amounts of untapped magic potential. Plus the possibility that Dragon Fire may have a lower magic output than Unicorn magic. Add all of this together, and you have the formula for a very believe able and canon friendly answer!
3727180 are you using a samsung galaxy SII?
3731342 Also, the egg might not have lost all the magic from the dragons at the time.
wait... you didn't... YOU DID!
3731342 still,even if she has the a high output, she couldn't have the raw arcane power needed alone.
AUGHHH! WHY DO YOU TORMENT US WITH CLIFFHANGERS!?! XD
Kidding of course! I love this story and your writing and grammar is near flawless (especially when compared to all the half-hearted and may-sue authors on Fanfiction.net)
3734616
You mostly have Bemmo to thank for the flawless grammar. I'm pretty creative and good at writing fluidly, but my technical skills aren't great. Editing takes forever because of it.
3734296 That's true, but without an outside source feeding into the egg to keep its magic levels stable, I can think of no other possibility.
Luna and Celestia scheming, eh?
Well this has been a good chapter. NOW I NEED MOAR DAMNIT *cough* excuse me. May I have more plz good sirre
3738198 so basically... my theory is best?
Damn, they are swanky up in Canterlot! I only get to bathe in soup twice a year for special occasions!!
Again, I feel like the ponies are trying to pry into something they shouldn't. This is something dragon related. So Spike should be the one to ask and listen. And now, ponies are racists. Typical! The more I read, the more I wish I had a Louisville Slugger nearby to do some justice to inequality.
Why is there such a big gap in between the writing with only the word "deserve" in there? Plus it looks like some of the writing is kinda mixed up in there...
I'm liking it so far.
soup? soup is good against ink stains? XD Or did you mean soap? XD
Smartass.
...well, now I'm vaguely dreading the following chapters.
Prim& Proper, you really don't want to know how that idiom ends. I mean it's implied that it's not something I've would do...but no, you really don't want to know.
" Not this one. This one was spellbinding. It was swarms of fun.
I'm going dragon huntin'
i like howmature everyone feels
I think this might be the best explanation I've seen for Luina not being there