A Dragon and his Robot Friend

by Wildcard25

The Dragon and Changeling

At the Castle of Friendship one afternoon, Twilight, Spike, and Dragotron were busy tidying up, because they had some special guests joining them soon.

After Spike finished dusting a shelf, he spoke, “Perfect,” he turned to Twilight and Dragotron, “Come on, you two. Ember and Thorax will be here soon.”

“On it, Spike.” Dragotron answered, as he was busy sweeping.

Twilight looked to Spike and smiled slyly, “And you and every pony else always call me the organized neat freak.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “Well, after what happened the last time I invited the two I just wanna make sure I don't repeat the mistake I made.”

Dragotron spoke up, “The mistake of fretting over your two friends going at war with another because you invited both of them for a visit at the same time?”

Spike did a double take, “How did you know that?!”

“Twilight informed me of the first time you invited them together,” Dragotron motioned to a sheepish Twilight, “You were so afraid of how they'd react upon seeing each other you did your best to keep them from seeing each other, resulting in you creating your own Friendship Problem addressed by the Cutie Map.”

Spike grunted at Twilight who whistled innocently. Spike looked to his robot friend, “Then you know I learned my lesson and now both Ember and Thorax are friends.”

“Of course.” Dragotron confirmed.

The three were interrupted by a knock at the door, “Oh, that'll be them!” Spike said, as he and Twilight went on ahead with Dragotron following from a distance.

The two reached the doors and Twilight opened them to reveal Ember and Thorax, “Hey, Spike.” Ember greeted.

“How's it going?” Thorax asked.

“Thorax! Ember!” Spike cheered, as the two taller creatures reached down and hugged their shared friend.

“It's good to see you two.” Twilight welcomed them.

“And it's good to see you, Twilight.” Thorax greeted her.

Ember spoke up sheepishly, “Yeah, listen about eating your castle last time.”

Twilight raised a hoof, “It's ok. Fortunately the castle's magic self repairs itself. Trust me this castle has had many damages before.”

“It's true.” Spike confirmed.

“Right,” Ember replied before turning back to Spike, “So, Spike, where is this new dragon friend you wanted to introduce us to?”

“Yeah. I've eager to meet him since you wrote the invite.” Thorax added.

“Right over there.” Spike said motioning down the hall where Dragotron was approaching.

Ember and Thorax watched in surprise as Dragotron stopped before them and waved his robotic claw, “Greetings, friends. My name is Dragotron. I'm delighted to finally meet you both. Dragon Lord Ember, and King Thorax.”

“Well, it's nice to meet you too,” Thorax replied, “Though let's skip the formality, huh?”

“Of course.” Dragotron agreed, as Ember walked closer and began circling the robot dragon inspecting him.

“Hmm.” Ember pondered, as she knocked on Dragotron's arm hearing a clanging sound. She looked up at Dragotron and spoke, “You're definitely not like any dragon I've ever seen.”

“That is because I am a robot modeled to look like a dragon.” he answered.

“Well, you definitely have the looks of one going for you.” Ember admitted.

“So you really built him, Spike?” Thorax asked his small sized friend.

“Oh, yeah with my own two claws.” Spike boasted.

“Why don't we take this discussion to he parlor?” Twilight suggested.

“Works for me.” Ember shrugged.

---

Soon they were in the parlor with Dragotron serving tea and catching up on what's new with each other.

“So, Thorax, how're thing going with the hive?” Spike inquired.

“We heard from Starlight, she and Trixie managed to help convince your brother Pharynx to finally accept change.” Twilight noted.

“Yeah. But it wasn't easy,” Thorax replied, “Pharynx was always the type to enjoy fighting and all, but when we changed he started feeling like we were becoming soft. Even though Starlight and Trixie made a few stumbles in trying to convince him they managed to get him to admit he still cared about me and the hive. And just because we're more peaceful and opened to newer things doesn't mean we don't need to learn to defend ourselves. And we wanted him to be the one to help train the hive to stay strong and now he's embraced our new life.”

Spike and Twilight nodded in understanding, as Spike spoke to Ember, “So, Ember, how're things in the Dragon Lands?”

“Just the same old, nothing special,” Ember replied, before drinking her tea, “Though word around it was you and one of your friends visited some time ago. But they wouldn't tell me why.”

Spike knowing what Ember was getting at answered, “Well, you see, Ember. Rainbow Dash and I came to Dragon Lands to recover a lost Equestrian Artifact owned by legendary Pegasus pony Flash Magnus.”

Ember did a double take, “Flash Magnus. Where have I heard that name before... Oh, I remember now!”

“You do?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah. Many years ago before my dad was Dragon Lord, a bunch of pegasus ponies I believed that were called the Royal Legion flew across our lands to the other side to get to their comrades. My dad and several other dragons at the time weren't exactly thrilled to have them in our land.”

“Understandable considering how territorial dragons can be.” Dragotron admitted, as Spike nodded allowing Ember to continue.

“Dad said one of them used a special fireproof shield to distract him and the others allowing his comrades. Your Flash Magnus, of course.”

“Correct.” Twilight confirmed.

“He led my dad and the others into a storm, and they backed off valuing their lives. Dad always felt embarrassed about what happened.” Ember snickered.

“Right. Anyway, we retrieved the shield from Garble who was using it as a gorge surfing board. After he forced me to gorge surf him for it.”

Ember scowled, “Forcing a kid to gorge surf against an experienced one? The coward!”

“Hey, I beat him,” Spike boasted, “But he wasn't willing to give it up, so Rainbow and I tricked him into another race and he just left the shield and went back up the mountain allowing us to grab it and go.”

Ember laughed, “No wonder Garble felt so ashamed that day.”

“Anyway, we needed the shield and several more artifacts from some more legendary ponies to rescue them from limbo.” Spike explained.

“And did you succeed?” Ember inquired.

“We sure did.” Twilight confirmed proudly.

“Well, good for you guys.”

Dragotron spoke to the two guests, “Spike has informed me it was thanks to him the both of you managed to help change the ways for yourselves and your kinds,” he turned to Thorax, “He was the only one who befriended you when all other ponies would not.”

“It's true.” Thorax nodded and smiled at Spike.

Dragotron turned to Ember, “Spike helped you when competing in the Gauntlet of Fire for the title of Dragon Lord.”

“Yeah, though technically he got the scepter before me.” Ember admitted.

“And yet he renounced it to you knowing you would make a better leader.” the robot countered.

“Yeah, but it hasn't been easy leading my kind,” Ember confessed, “There was the whole debacle with the yaks thinking they broke a sacred vow to dragonkind on purpose and rather than talk we automatically reacted with violence. Turns out it was all just a misunderstanding because of an ancient yaks bad drawing skill.” she sighed.

“And yet according to Spike it all worked out between both the dragons and the yaks.”

“Yeah, but I still feel like I got a lot to learn about being a leader.” Ember replied.

“I still struggle with it every day.” Thorax added.

“And so do I when I have to step up when my mentor and her sister cannot.” Twilight put in.

Ember looked at Thorax and Twilight before speaking, “Ruling ain't so easy, is it?”

“No it's not.” Thorax replied, as the group laughed.

Ember turned to Dragotron, “So, Dragotron, Spike built you to look like a dragon, but do you still have the behavior of a dragon?”

“For the most. I do fly and breathe fire. And though I do not require nourishment like my pony friends in town, I am capable of eating gems. Sadly I cannot taste them.”

“Well, that's a shame. Because all gems have a unique flavor to them.” Ember said.

“Oh, yeah. Helps me determine what gems sold in stores are legit or not.” Spike added.

“All so you can be of service to Rarity.” Dragotron noted, resulting in Spike giving him a stink eye, while Twilight and Thorax chuckled.

“Well, robot or not, I still consider you enough of a dragon.” Ember admitted.

“And a friend as well.” Thorax added.

“Thank you both.” Dragotron thanked them.

“And if you're ever in the Dragon Lands, you should try gorge surfing. It's all the rage.” Ember recommended.

“I'll keep that in mind.”

“So any of you interested in doing other activities during your visit?” Spike asked his two friends.

Thorax and Ember were curious, until the Dragon Lord spoke up, “Well, there is something I heard that you ponies do. And I'm curious about it.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked, as she and Spike were curious.

---

Later on at the Ponyville karaoke club, inside Twilight and several other ponies were watching as Spike, Thorax, Ember, and Dragotron were up on stage doing karaoke together.

All four were singing along to the lyrics being projected via magic provided by DJ Pon-3.

“It's always a good time!” they sang, “Whoa oh oh oh, oh oh oh. We don't even have to try. It's always a good time!”

The ponies watched and rocked their heads to the rhythm, as Twilight and the girls were sitting down watching.

“Now this is awesome.” Rainbow admitted.

“And it looks like Dragotron's really hittin' it off with Ember and Thorax.” Applejack noted.

Twilight smiled and nodded, “That's because he has a part of Spike within him. The part that enabled him to befriend Thorax and Ember in his own ways. They really are quite a pair.” she said watching Spike and Dragotron sing side by side with their friends.

Comments

[Aadilmode]

This is an awesome story. Please complete it when u get time. I loved it. I had a similar idea to write such a story but u my friend beat me to it. And I have to say I'm much obliged to read this masterpiece.