Of Spike and Dragons
"I'm pregnant." Discord chimed happily.
Every pony stared at Discord with varying forms of shock or disgust.
Click.
"What fabulous faces! What poses! You will be the next stars in fashion!" Discord cooed taking a few more pictures while upside down.
"Discord." Harmony lightly chastised trying to not giggle himself. Discord righted himself then settled down near Fluttershy.
"Well I see that the shock of my 'revelation' seems to have worn off." Discord snapped a talon and a chalkboard popped into existence behind Harmony with the words Dragon Biology 101 written at the top. He then snapped out of the room.
Harmony facehoofed before speaking, "I think what is obvious to everyone here is that dragons age differently than ponies do. While ponies live to be between 80 and 150 depending on which of the three they are. Of course this excludes alicorns. Dragons, no matter the breed, have no known upper limit to their lives. Barring illness or battle Spike will live indefinitely."
Given that Twilight had previous studied every book that ponies had on dragons (with help from her friends) no one seemed to be shocked on this revelation. One of the few things that ponies got right was agelessness of dragons. They all had, very tearfully too, already dealt with the knowledge of Spike's life span.
"Now as for stages of growth..." Harmony drew an egg, an image of Spike, one that everyone suspiciously thought looked like Garble, and then finally one of that looked like the red dragon that Fluttershy had Stared into leaving his cave. “Here are drawings depicting the four major…uh stages of a dragon’s life.”
He pointed to the egg drawing. "Dragons lay a single clutch of two to four eggs. A dragon can only hatch two eggs ever and eggs are usually hatched by the mother... unless, of course, there is more than two then the father helps.’ Harmony noticed a hoof raised but waved it off,” More of that in a bit.”
“Dragon eggs are unlike other animals that when they lay eggs. When the eggs are laid they already fully developed. The egg requires a dragons fire (which is magical in nature) to be hatched. The amount of magic needed is extremely high so it can take quite a bit of time to hatch. Now there is something very interesting about the hatching process. The sex of the hatchling is dependent of the sex of the one hatching. Because Twilight hatched Spike is male. If it was a male that hatched Spike he would have been female."
Harmony paused for a minute. He could hear stifles of laughter coming from at least one mare. Spike looked like his scales could turn permanently red with the fierceness of his blush.
Harmony coughed in annoyance grabbing everyone’s attention. Even Rainbow, was on the edge of her seat. "I see that you are itching to continue so here we go. When the egg hatches he or she is known as a hatchling" He pointed to the image of Spike. "A dragon stays as a hatching for about three years. That is when they get their wings..."
"Wait!!! Are you saying I was supposed to have my wings, like, over twenty years ago!?!?" Spike interrupted his eyes a bit watery.
"Yes... I'll get to what I think why you're still in the hatchling stage in a bit." Harmony promised as Spike wiped his eyes a bit.
"When a dragon gets wings they are known as 'whelps.'" Harmony chuckled a bit before continuing. "Also when a dragon gets wings they also get their first natural growth spurt..."
"Wait, I thought dragons grew up by greed." Twilight called out like a know-it-all student.
Harmony rubbed his head a bit, a headache forming, before answering, "Yes, and no. There are two magical ways a dragon grows. Spike experienced one of them and is known as Greed Growth which can only occur during the hatchling or whelps stage. The other..." Harmony shuddered violently and stared off for a bit.
“The other?” Twilight asked unsure if she really wanted the answer.
Seeing that Harmony’s eyes were glazed over, Spike walked up to him and snapped his claws, "Yo! Harmony! Snap out of it!"
Harmony blinked, then blushed which was difficult to see given his constantly changing colors coat. "Sorry about that... I think its best that you don't know what the other magic growth is," he shuddered again, "The 'natural' way one is what I have been explaining for a bit."
"So why did Zecora talk like the greed growth was the only way?" Twilight asked, her curiosity interrupting Harmony again.
"She wasn't. But you try making yourself plainly known by only rhyming. Now the thing about dragon growth spurts is that, even the natural one at the whelp stage, they are technically magic in nature. They grow not only in body but in mind almost instantly. Which I'm sure you noticed during Spike's greed growth. This is not like ponies that slowly grow in body and in maturity slowly... I think Twilight you have noticed that even though Spike is nearly twenty-seven years old he on occasions still acts like a 'baby' dragon?"
Twilight nodded slowly. Spike glared hotly at this. Rainbow had to stile a laugh again.
"The only reason he isn't still acting like a hatchling all the time is the unusually long time his has been in that stage.... and that I have been working on him during his sleep to help him compensate. Now let’s see..."
“Wait what!?! You have been seeing him for years?
“Yes.”
“In his dreams?!”
“Technically, no, but I…”
“Spike, why haven’t you told me this?” She snapped forgetting who was in the room her anger overtaking her,” He could have been a danger and you didn’t think to bring this voice talking to you to me sooner!?!”
Suddenly Twilight head was shifted by magic back to Harmony who had somehow gotten right in her face. She gulped mightily at the look that Harmony was giving him. “I suggest you drop it.” He spoke with such coldness that everyone shivered at the mental drop in temperature.
Harmony demeanor suddenly shifted back to his normal self or as least as much as anyone could guess, "Ah, yes, I was on whelps... A dragon stays as a whelp for about twenty to twenty-five years. The final stage is an adult dragon….”
“Wait. Wait. Stop! Are you saying that not only that I should be in the ’whelp stage’ but should be either an adult or near it by now?” Spike eyes were getting more and more teary as he spoke.
Harmony went over and lifted Spike head so he could see the warmth in his eyes. “Do not fret for the reason I am here is that you are closer to an adult then you think.”
Spike looked deep into those eyes and could see that he was speaking the truth. But as he looked further there was something else. Spike’s mood turned from sad to sour. He is hiding something again…
“Hmm…” Harmony mused for a moment at the change in Spike but let it drop. Turning back to the chalkboard he continued, “Wings are a sign of a dragon becoming a whelp. A name is the sign when a dragon becomes an adult. This name, translated, is known as a Hoard Name. This name has a meaning that is similar to the meaning of a pony's cutie-mark though not completely. Unfortunately it’s not a concept that is easy to explain or understand to a non-dragon."
“That’s it?” Spike huffed,” That’s all that it takes? A name?!?!”
“Yes and no, Spike it’s more complex than that…”
“Seems simple enough. Though I hate the name ‘hoard’…”
The room again turned dark and the temperature dipped dramatically, “No pony takes their cutie marks lightly, nor should you take Hoard Names lightly or despise them. You are a dragon and should have respect for the ways of the dragons even if you are among ponies.”
Harmony paused for a minute to let that sink in. "Now as for growth spurts in this stage... They have several growth spurts while as young adult though these spurts only make the body grow not the mind unlike those of a whelp or during greed growth. Adult dragon's mind matures like a pony from then on slowly and by experience. The number of spurts and when they occur as far as I have been able to gather vary between dragons."
"Now I skipped a bit here and given Spike’s outburst I think this is now the best time to explain about dragons and names. To a dragon a name is a possession, a representative of who they are. Most dragons have three to four names throughout their lives two are magical in nature the others are not. A dragon's egg name, one of the magical ones, usually signifies what the parents see or want as their destinies. For example, Spike's roughly translates to 'glittering sparks in darkness that brings hope.' Long winded I know but that is typical for an egg name... While the name is magical in nature it’s not important right now how so I won't go over it.”
Harmony paused for a moment. Twilight wanted take advantage of the lull and ask why it wasn't important but after the last outburst she felt it best to wait even though it was driving her crazy.
“Spike's current name corresponds to a hatchling name. It usually is related to a physical attribute or something that the hatchling does at hatching. A whelps name is sometimes different depending on whether a dragon has it or not usually depends on its liking or disliking its hatchling name and most of the time they don't. Teenage rebellion seems to be the same in all the races...”
“A Hoard Name is the very first thing a Dragon hoards and before you panic they aren’t grabby like during a greed growth. Dragon aren’t as greedy as you think they are they don’t steal as that is dishonoring and lessen the value of what they stole. Try not to base what you know of dragons by the encounters you have had. Their culture is richer then what you can see. They just don’t show it to just anyone.”
“So they also hoard their culture.” Twilight asked.
“No they don’t… Ugh, now is not the time to learn that. We are dealing with biology not sociology.”
“Equestrian, please.” Rainbow hotly stated confused at the bigger words.
“We are dealing with bodies not with how said bodies interact with bodies,” Harmony rolled his eyes a bit.
Rainbow snickered a bit at this which made both Twilight and Harmony to facehoof.
“As a reminder, once they have that name no greed growth... Now because Hoard Names are a part of a dragon's hoard it's rare for a dragon to share that name to anyone. Most dragons are known by titles, the location of their hoard, or if you're lucky or have difficulty pronouncing their titles or locations they will allow a ‘nickname.’” The room again went a bit dark as Harmony coldly stated the next part,” NEVER, EVER call a dragon by their previous names. If you are lucky they will ignore you, if not... not good. That I think covers the basics though I had to skip and skim over some things otherwise we'd be here for a lot longer..."
Harmony stretched a bit popping a few joints. "Alright, now I think we should get to something that will be of more interest to Spike here."
"Like what? I have learned more about dragons than ever before. What could be of more interest to me?" Spike snapped up upon hearing his name. His preoccupation lost.
"For example, your 'breed' and your issue with your size." Harmony plainly answered, "First, you are a Spark dragon. If he was female it would be Sparkle, and yes I know the irony of it."
"A what dragon? I have never heard of that kind of dragon." Twilight interrupted, ignoring the snickering Rainbow. Harmony glared at both of them.
"I'm not surprised you haven't heard of a Spark Dragon. With pony's limited knowledge of dragons they are surprisingly aware of nearly every breed. However, even most dragons don't know of Spark Dragons. They are extremely rare and an Elder race much like alicorns. I suspect that besides Spike here they may only be a handful left, if any at all." Harmony pulled something out of his saddle bag. "This is a reference guide on dragons that I wrote many years ago. Try not to drool over it as it’s my only copy. It covers everything I have spoken about plus a bit more as I am only doing an introduction into this."
"And what of my parents?" Spike asked steadying himself mentally for what he was sure to not be a happy answer.
"Dead." Harmony bluntly answered. “How and why I will discuss with you, in private, later. As for your egg it was laid some time before Luna's banishment. I don't remember the exact year... pony reckoning is different from dragons never mind that as a being as long lived as I am years can get a bit blurry.
“How long lived are you?” Twilight asked.
“Not a question you should be asking. However, I am close to ten thousand years old.” Harmony shook his mane a bit,” We are here about Spike not me. Now, as for how Spike’s egg came into the care of Celestia's school that is a story for another time." Spike looked like he was about to interrupt but his mouth wouldn't open due to Harmony keeping it shut with his magic. "Later, I promise."
"I suspect that the one of the reasons that you are stuck in the hatchling stage may have something to do with the method of your hatching. It may be preventing your ability to enter the whelp stage. No dragon that I have known has even been hatched by anything other than dragon fire.” Harmony turned to face Spike staring right at him. Spike squirmed a bit under that gaze but Harmony did not stop, "The other is that you don't know who you are.”
“I’m a dragon though I didn’t know I was a Spark Dragon.” Spike answered a bit miffed at what he thought Harmony was insinuating.
“That is not what I meant. I don't mean knowing yourself here," He put a hoof to Spike's head, "but knowing yourself here," he moved his hoof to Spike's heart. "You are a dragon that acts like a pony. This is in complete conflict with being a dragon. I think somehow you don't want to become like those dragons you met at the Dragon Migration. Yes dragons are beings of raw power but they also of passion, honor, loyalty, and nobility. These traits are in you and are you. But you fear so much becoming like those... 'jerks' I believe is the word you used or like the 'monster' that you became on your birthday... This ‘pony’ part of you is inhibiting your ability to be who you really are. You want to protect those you love but you can't do that as a hatchling. This is a conflict that must be resolved."
Harmony suddenly yawned ever so slightly, "That's enough for today... Spike I need to speak to the Bearers in private for a moment. I suggest you take this time to take a look at the Dragon Reference Guide." He watched silently as Spike excitingly exited the Council Chambers for his room then spoke again, "What I am about to tell you can never leave this room and a Pinkie Promise will not do. I will need a Magic Oath from you all."
"Magic Oath? Never heard of that spell before." Twilight questioned looking a bit flustered. Her talent was magic and to not know such a spell was a bit disheartening.
"It's similar to a tell-the-truth spell but this one will prevent you from spilling what you promise not to say. And before you try to learn, duplicate, reverse magic, or write it down let me make myself clear. This spell if or one like it is used or written down by anypony will get you banished from Equestria at minimum... That includes you Princess Twilight Sparkle."
“What give you the right to order her like that?” Rainbow flew into Harmony’ face threatening him with an outstretched hoof.
Harmony casually used his magic to force her back onto her throne. “You are in no position to ‘threaten’ me over this matter. If the Bearer of Magic does use or record the spell Celestia and Luna will not hesitate to do exactly what I said. Now do you agree or not?”
"Then you should be banished as well for doing it..." Rainbow countered. She put on a smirk on her face knowing that she got him there.
"Nice try, Bearer of Loyalty, but I'm the only exception. Don't believe me? Ask the Princesses."
Twilight gulped slightly. The bearers looked at each other for a moment then in turn nodded. Rainbow was a bit slower at it she was not happy about this alicorn threatening her friends like that.
"Good." Harmony's horn glowed for a moment then died out. "There, done. I also added a sound bubble so we don't have any accidental overhearing."
Harmony breathed a sigh then slowly began. "There was something I left out about the Hoard Name. When Spike finds what his name will be it will imprint him with that name so hard that he will instinctively despise all his previous names."
"That doesn't sound that bad...but didn’t you already say that?" Twilight began before Harmony shook his head slowly silencing her.
"If he was raised by dragons, no... and, yes, I did, but you really should let me finish," Harmony sighed heavily again feeling the headache getting worse. "You remember when I said that outside of greed growth that dragons never hoard until adults and that they begin to hoard at adulthood starting with their name?”
Everypony nodded.
“Good because that is important for the next part as something else that happens when they find their Hoard Name. As you know dragons don't like someone else trying to hoard or steal their hoard..."
"But I don't have a hoard, and I make sure to..." Twilight began to object before getting cut off.
"Please try not to interrupt this is going to be very difficult as it is.” Harmony now had a headache of migraine proportions but he shrugged it off needing to continue,” When a dragon becomes an adult they forget everything from childhood... The only thing left is memories of emotions and their names which is part of their nature. I have no idea how they remember their names... This ‘forgetting’ mechanism protects not only the parents but the newly adult dragon as dragons tend to kill anything that tries to steal their hoard. Dragons also don’t just share hoards either… So along with the ‘forgetting’ they are driven also to leave the nest to find a hoard..."
Harmony couldn't continue for at that moment Twilight stopped thinking and only reacted. "NO I WILL NOT LOSE HIM!"
"You can't interrupt this process or tell him. You risk not only his life but your own." Harmony stated bluntly. Everypony was in different states of shock or disbelief. Twilight, however, had gone off the deep end and was past the point of hysteria.
"I don't care. There has to be a way. I will find a way even if I have modify a memory spell!" Twilight resolved, hiccuping as her emotions went wild. "I WILL..."
"ENOUGH!" Harmony shouted in the Canterlot Royal Voice. Lowering his voice once he noticed everyone calmed down though Twilight still sobbed. "He. Is. A. Dragon. You know that Bearer of Magic. Quit treating him as a pony. He will die if he remains as he is and the world will plunge into darkness worse than anything you have seen yet. No matter what you try to do his memory will be wiped without anyway of recovery, period.” Harmony eyed everyone for a moment and saw for the moment that he was not going to be interrupted, again. Staring straight at Twilight he spoke again. “While you will lose Spike, if you play your cards AFTER he becomes an adult you might gain him as a friend. A friend for a dragon is a rare thing and they treasure that friendship almost like that friend is part of his hoard."
With that Harmony teleported out of the chambers leaving six very distraught ponies behind.
The starry void again filled Spike's vision.
I must have fallen asleep reading that book.
"Harmony, why am I here?" Spike called out into the void.
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Harmony shimmered into existence near Spike.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Spike crossed his arms while raising a brow.
"Spike I didn't bring you here. You brought me here."
"How?" Spike sputtered a bit slack jawed.
"...I think... well that is... uh..." Harmony stammered trying to come up with something, anything.
"Enough! You are leaving things out. I may not be the Bearer of Honesty but you have always been one to leave something out.” Spike began ranted pointed an accusatory claw at Harmony, “Now, I expect some things to be left out. However, now is not the time to play riddles and ‘read between the lines. Celestia's letter hinted on something grave. I can forgive giving the abridged version when time is of the essence but you never give 'abridged' versions.”
“Well… I... That is…”
“But what you are leaving out I'm sure are the more important aspects of the story." Spike countered Harmony's continuing stammering, tapping his claws on his crossed arms.
"Wisdom and insight..." Harmony whispered almost to himself although Spike heard it clearly with his draconian hearing.
"That's the other thing you do."
"Hmm?" Harmony raised a brow.
"Deflect."
Harmony laughed so hard that soon he was wheezing. Spike on the other hand was getting angrier.
"Easy... brother." He mouthed.
Spike took a few deep cleansing breaths. Mainly he did this to not get angry at the word brother, again, but to calm down from his earlier frustrations. Zecora's breathing exercises works on more than Twilight, it seems.
Harmony looked nonchalantly around while they both calmed down. After a long and admittedly awkward pause Harmony answered. "Yes, you deserve the unvarnished truth. Given that you can detect that I am hiding the truth even though what I said was so close to the truth. Normally, you shouldn't. You seem to know that what I was saying was slightly... off. That means that its almost time... Spike... I can't give you too much yet as it will put you and your friends in even graver danger then we already are. Well actually it will get more dangerous but too quickly and before you all are ready. I'm trying to minimize that as best as I can. I am sorry, but that's all I can say on the subject. I do promise that I will tell you as much as I can.”
Spike eyed Harmony for a long time before responding. "Very well... If you don't mind I want to dream a bit."
Yeah probably about wings... Harmony chuckled at that. "See you soon, brother."
Spike shimmered and disappeared. Harmony sighed deeply and waited patiently, knowing he was watching.
"You know, Harmony, I’m simply booored of all this Slice-of-Life. When are we getting to adventure? I mean it is tagged as such," came Discord's voice. There was a flash of light and Discord appeared as a constellation of stars.
Harmony blinked, then answered. "If... I understood you correctly, then not much longer. Spike's harmony abilities are beginning to surface... Which I'm trying to delay, Discord. They shouldn't be manifesting until he figures out his name. He's old enough to have one but his body is still a hatchling leaving him without dragon magic. His harmony magic won’t work completely until then as his is currently in a disharmonious state."
Discord's expression went suddenly dead serious. Harmony resisted the urge to gulp. It was never a good sign when this happened. "What is it?"
"I think we are running out of time for delaying." Discord shuttered and pointed. In front of them both, they could see what was going on outside of the Plane of Harmony. Dark clouds seemed to be forming on the horizon near Ponyville. Harmony eyes went wide in shock at the sight.
"By all things that buck! Not now! Discord gather the Bearers and Spike and have them meet me near Hidden Claw's cave in the morning. I guess you are getting your adventure 'tag', whatever that is, Discord sooner than I wanted to."
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So... Harmony tells Spike that he needs to reconcile being a dragon as not being a jerk, implying he could stay true to what he thinks is good and still be a dragon. Then turns around and tells Twilight he's going to lose everything that makes him himself except whatever he started hoarding, and probably turn into a jerk anyway who will suddenly have violent triggers like if anyone calls him his old name or messes with his horde he will freak out and attack them.
That's... awful, yeah. I mean whoever Spike is now will basically be dead.
Well that explains a few thing's about Spike's situation and makes a lot of sense. Though I see things getting difficult when Spike loses his memories of his friends. I wonder just what is on the horizen that has even Discord on edge.
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Harmony has a tendency to leave out the "more important" things when he speaks something in which Spike called him out for. You may need to read between the lines with anything Harmony says.
Remember Harmony himself admitted that he has only scratching the surface That includes the Hoard Name.
4764804
You seem to be quite interested in what Discord does especially when he's "Out of Charter" don't you?
This review is brought to you on behalf of the group: Authors Helping Authors
Name of Story: The Last Keeper of Harmony
Grammar score out of 10: 5 (readable, but needs a lot of work)
Pros
+ The premise is great. Spike not being able to physically grow plays really well with his insecurities.
+ You've got the character dialogue down pat. Especially Discord. You nailed it with him.
+ The dragon biology is quite elaborate and well thought out.
Cons
- The grammar, and the prose in general, makes it hard to read.
- You really shouldn't spell out a character's emotions so bluntly, like with "he hated feeling useless."
- Harmony gives a big fat wad of exposition, which pretty much brings the story to a halt.
Notes: I'd suggest getting yet another editor. I see you've had this edited, and I know you've been begging for editors, but plenty of grammar errors and awkward phrasing remains. Also, I've only read up to this chapter (Of Spike and Dragons), but I'll read the rest later.
Enjoy your review!
(Sorry I was so late getting back to you, and thanks for reviewing Score!)
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Thanks for the review... I have been trying to get a reliable editor but have had no such luck... with exception of the prologue nearly everything was self edited...