The Great Dragon

Firemane marched imperiously towards the fountain. The unicorn knew a crowd was watching him silently in the darkness. Only the torchlight shone on the statues in the center of the fountain made him visible.

“Why is he wearing that cloak over his armor?” Princess Harmony asked.

“Watch,” Brickhouse said.

Brickhouse’s voice was so close to Boulder’s its uncanny. The Princess thought she may tell the old Guard Captain about his ancestor someday. Once Firemane reached his target he started the fire at the end of his horn, his magic skill that got him into a great deal of trouble before Brickhouse dragged him into The Royal Guard.

The hood of his cloak covered his horn and it caught fire. Firemane spun around, Harmony first thought something went wrong and he was trying to put out the fire. As he spun his entire cloak went up in flames swirling around in a disc of fire that rose above him. The guard’s ceremonial armor now visible shinning in the fires light. He shot the cloth towards the globes which burned in a way that resembled a flaming dragon with wings stretched out in flight. The burning cloth flew into the globes above the fountain incinerated by the rest of unicorn’s fire. The globes now lit shined on the cheering crowd, even Princess Harmony was impressed. The firelight spread through the University lighting the halls as they have for centuries.

“He’s been practicing that for months,” Brickhouse told the Princess over the roar of the crowd. “Every other morning rotation that dumb colt would be leaving his shift with his mane burnt or some other such thing. I normally don’t like him showing off, but it’s for the Celebration.”

The crowd was still cheering as Firemane took his place in line with the other guards desperately trying not to smile. The Great Dragon Hall was filled with ponies here for the Dragon Day Celebration. It started out centuries ago to honor Princess Harmony’s old teacher, the kind dragon that has over the centuries became the stuff of legends. The ponies of Equestria have rebuilt their world and now have lived in comfort for centuries, few are even aware of those dark years. Except for this day, when ponies celebrate being able to learn again is the old dragon honored. Yet even for those not in school, or in the far of reaches of the land still use a number of sayings in everyday life stem from Spike’s time with the ponies of Equestria.

“The Dragon’s Choice”, is a term popular with those in The Royal Guard. It refers to a commoner who obtains a command usually an earth pony, like Brickhouse. It originates from when General Powerglide tried to assume command the Royal Guard, but no one would accept her choosing to side with Aerlies Red who was of course hand-picked by Spike. Princess Harmony sometimes gets tired of correcting ponies who thought Aerlies Red was an earth pony. In the end, Aerlies command worked out well.  And for the sake of harmony in the new world, Powerglide stayed on as Lieutenant and advisor to the Pegasus farmer.

“A Green Storm”, origin is self-explanatory, with farmers it is now used to describe a very bad storm.

“Zecora”, a traitor, slang that the Princess doesn’t approve of. As much as she objects to the folk tales about her other teacher, they still creep into the ponies’ culture.

And then there’s “The Dragon’s Breath”. Usually used by unicorns to describe a prodigy in magic. As in: “That foal must have had the Dragon’s Breath wash over her.” That term is from the miracle that happened when the foals that slept in front of Spike to be warmed by his breath during The Long Winter. In later years all had offspring with exceptional abilities of one kind or another. On the rare occasion when another princess is born they can trace their bloodline of those little ponies that spent their nights being warmed by the dragon’s breath. It also comes from the sad day Spike died, when his dying breath caused Crescent’s wings to work. The day Spike gave Princess Harmony a sister.

It all had to have come from the magic within Spike. He theorized it was from The Elements of Harmony but now that the Princess is older she has her doubts. The heart-shaped jewel she saw in his soul was powerful, familiar even, but not identical to The Elements of Harmony. It had to have been something else. A magic she needs to investigate.

Princess Shade quietly came alongside Princess Harmony and her guard. Harmony smiled without looking at her. Everypony else is so much shorter, Princess Harmony knows when her sister is nearby. She’s the only one who stands at the same height as her. Shade’s violet coat from her youth as Crescent has grown slightly darker, her black mane changed to a pitch black cloud spotted with stars. Brickhouse’s head reached only to the shoulders of two he’s sworn to protect.

“I thought you didn’t want to be here,” Harmony said. “You told me the parade always makes you cry.”

“I heard the crowd,” the night Princess said. “Did Firemane do his trick?”

“It was amazing!”

“I’ve seen him practicing. He was upset about being assigned to light the globes every night on top of his guard duties. You know how he is.”

“A spoiled delinquent who wants to be a hero,” Brickhouse said.

Shade laughed. “So to cheer him up,” Shade continued. “I would sometimes tell him stories about Spike. He was only interested in the stories of battle, but enough sunk in that he took his duties seriously.”

Harmony could only image the tales she told him. Shade has always been affable to a fault. Very few would strike up a conversation with a dragon even if they were told he was friendly. Shade probably walked the guard all around the University telling him what it used to look like. And what it was like in those sad days when ponies would hide in a dragon’s lair to avoid the cold.

It’s been The Equestrian University for centuries; both Harmony and Shade still call it Spike’s Place from time to time. The Great Dragon Hall used to be Spike’s bedroom. The stone floor worn in a circle where he slept now surrounds a fountain placed where Rarity’s bed once was. In the center of the fountain is a small marble island with two statues locked in battle. Discord himself, petrified as he was strangling Princess Harmony so long ago, now holding a statue replica of Spike. It is now a portrait of Spike’s battle from The Day of The Green Storm, but its purpose is deeper than a historical monument. When the statue of Spike was created, Harmony took the heart-shaped ruby she absorbed from Spike’s soul and placed it within the statue. Now Discord is frozen in stone wrapped in a statue imbued with the very magic that hurt him. Hopefully he will never break free from that.

Most of the other rooms have buildings and streets now. Spike’s bedroom is the only one of his rooms left open as a grand entrance to the school below and the castle above. It also is proof to the younger generations The Great Dragon existed. They can see where he slept, they can see the size of hall leading outside, and if that doesn’t convince them, Spike footprint has been preserved in stone where he stomped his foot in anger.

The old rooms where Spike’s friends would stay have been converted to link to the castle so both Princesses can visit the University using their own private route. Very few of those rooms have been preserved with the exceptions of placards indentifying the historical significance of the rooms as they related to Spike’s friends and each room named after the pony it was originally built for. The three have been watching over the ceremony from the balcony of The Rainbow Dash Room.

The band started playing and the crowd began to sing along with the tune.

“Majesties, if you will excuse me?” Brickhouse said and trotted out of the room and downstairs to take place in front of his troops.

“Oh here it comes,” Princess Shade said.

The Royal Guard assembled in front of “the dragon”, a purple and green float. A facsimile of Spike made just for Dragon Day Celebration. No way near as large as Spike, the first one was a scale replica of The Great Dragon, resulting in the embarrassing problem that it was too large for the troops to pull. This one like all the other models since is smaller than actual size to fit through the streets and to be more manageable for the poor guards pulling it. It’s designed with two main platforms, one being the head for the two Princesses to ride. Harmony never realized the impression she made on her subjects as she rode on Spike’s nose. She and Spike just took it for granted; to the refugees staying at his home, it was a wonder that she will be remembered for forever. The other is the tail which will carry the new students into the university. A tradition unintentionally started by Spike himself as he brought the foals to Docket’s school that day. There are far too many inductees nowadays so only a few are selected by lottery to join in on the celebration this way.

“Are you OK?” Harmony asked her sister half in jest knowing her disposition.

Shade nodded and smiled but a little choked up.

“Then you should join me then.”

“Actually,” Shade said. “I want to take my old spot.”

As the band finished their song, the two Princesses Flew out to their places on the dragon float. The students were awed as Princess Shade joined them. She greeted the intimidated pupils warmly and talked with them till they began to relax in her presence. Harmony could tell Shade was telling them of the first ride, how she and all the other foals had no idea where they were going. Most everypony romanticizes that time and Shade paints a prettier picture than Princess Harmony. After all Crescent was just a little foal back then. Silver, even though just a few years older, saw the grimness of those days.

“Make way for the Princess!” Brickhouse bellowed. The traditional announcement, an exact quote of Spike’s, which begins the parade. Harmony remembered Aerlies Red’s voice cracking during the first celebration when he tried to shout over the crowd. The troops pulled the dragon along, both Harmony and Shade waved to the crowd.

Harmony looked back at Shade to check on her. As she expected she was tearing up, the students with her forgot their nervousness and sought to comfort her. No doubt she’s remembering her young days in this cave.

The troops pulled the dragon to main entrance of the university where the faculty stood outside to greet them. The students from the dragon’s tale will be brought in, then the other students following in the parade. A nice informal mixer is held to get everyone comfortable before the boring welcoming speeches and class assignments are announced, during the mixer it is the Princess’ duty to inspect the school and library.

As the students were brought down they crowded around Princess Shade enthralled with her tale.

“-he showed up with my mother, right on the balcony of the tower Discord had locked me in. My mother climbed off of Spike and gave me a big hug. Then Spike said ‘Go back inside until its safe’ and flew right at Discord who didn’t even know Spike was there.”

“I heard he swooped down and chomped on Discord and breathed fire with Discord still trapped in his jaws,” a colt energetically said.

“Yes, that’s about all I saw. Oh I don’t want to talk about that, it was scary! Spike was so sweet all the other times. That’s how I like to remember him.”

Harmony felt a twinge of jealousy watching her sister. Being so gentle Shade is a natural when comes to treating with her subjects. After one meeting they are drawn to her.  A few more for the night shift I suppose, Harmony thought. She politely fought her way through the crowd of little ponies to talk to her sister.

“Could you do the inspection, Shade?” Princess Harmony asked her sister. “I need to talk privately with someone.”

Shade knew her sister’s plan. They have talked about this before in the Twilight hours.

“So now we have to prepare ourselves,” Shade said flatly.

Harmony nodded. “I’m certain its time.”

Shade took a deep breath and smiled. “We had a good run.”

“And it’s not over yet,” Harmony said returning the smile.

Princess Harmony politely excused herself from the College Board and the two sisters parted. Away from the library the noise of the crowd dwindled. Harmony thought to herself she’s never been in the school when it was this quiet. It made her want to sneak down the hall as she did when she was still just Silver creeping into Spike’s cave for the first time. But she didn’t want to scare the old Professor she came to see.

The classroom is unlike any others in the University. Yes, the room itself is structured in an amphitheater design, but it is so cluttered with artifacts, souvenirs, prints, paintings, rugs and sculptures the chairs are barely visible. Professor Wit is so revered among his peers and University Staff he is allowed a great deal of leeway.

Princess Harmony still thinks of him as little Quick Wit, the annoying inquisitive magical prodigy she personally taught so many years ago. One day she became so fed up with the little grey unicorn’s hyperactivity she assigned him to read Spike’s memoirs. A huge and sometimes ponderous autobiography published after The Great Dragon’s death Spike titled: “A Dragon Among Ponies”. She was hoping for just some peace and quiet as the little colt struggled with a book far beyond his current level of learning. Instead it changed the unicorn’s life. Quick Wit became enthralled with the great beasts and his interest grew to the study of all the more exotic life in Equestria. As he focused his studies on this subject he got his mark, a dragon flying over a star.

After graduating he spent a few years as an adventurer travelling to the far ends of the earth studying dragons in the wild, learning more about dragons than any pony in history. He published his own memoirs the titled: “A Pony Among Dragons”. Quick Wit was welcomed back to the University where he took up a job teaching part time and obtained several grants to continue his expeditions and research projects. He became a Professor, earned tenure, and is now the leading scholar in The Equestrian University; who is now the dottering old Professor too busy preparing for his first lecture of the semester to even notice Princess Harmony has entered his classroom.

The Princess could see very little of the bright eyed little unicorn in the version mumbling to himself today. His orange mane now white with age, wrinkled, and mangy from the burns he has suffered. Professor Wit lost all of his magic years ago when his horn was shattered. It was the incident that burned half of his body and almost killed him. All of his scars come from his most ambitious project.

The old unicorn finally noticed The Princess, he smiled a toothless grin and began to feebly bow.

“Oh stop,” Harmony said and hugged her former student. “When will you let me heal those scars of yours, Witty?”

“The answer is still never, Your Majesty,” said the Professor with a smile. It was a trait Harmony admired in this grown up version of Quick Wit. He wants his students to know that even though they live in a world that would not be here without The Great Dragon, dragons themselves are cruel and dangerous. All other dragons are not friendly and cannot be tamed, even though some have tried.

Old Prof. Wit had collected several abandoned dragon eggs over the years he would show them to Princess Harmony and Shade after each expedition. One in particular piqued the interest of both Princesses, a yellow egg with red spots. Just seeing it made Harmony’s horn hurt like the time she saw Spike fly overhead. There was something that can only be described as potential in that egg. Princess Harmony asked to keep that egg which Quick Wit presented to her as a gift. For years both Harmony and Shade tried to hatch the egg in hopes of unlocking the potential and perhaps the next Spike, but to no avail. Eventually they decided to give up and simply kept the egg they were both strangely drawn to.

Professor Wit on the other hand had similar goals. He was once one of the most renowned magicians among unicorns and had a wide cache of eggs that he tested. Most were failures either not hatching, killing the poor dragon inside the egg, one exploded into a fully grown dragon that flew away. But one he managed to hatch properly into a quirky pink and blue baby dragon he named Theory Know-How. Raising the dragon himself was a learning experience he still considers his greatest achievement. He followed Twilight Sparkle’s example and made sure not to spoil the dragon, being kind and firm with the creature. Quick Wit instructed Theory Know-How on several chores to keep him busy and employed the pink dragon as his personal assistant. They developed a report over the years and what Quick Wit thought was a friendship. Quick Wit taught everything he could to the dragon that despite his comic appearance was very bright. He considered the dragon to be a colleague and would assign Theory Know-How to teach classes when the Professor was too busy, much to the horror and sometimes the amusement of his students.  As the dragon got older and larger his demeanor never changed. Theory Know-How was polite to everyone with poise of a gentlecolt. Then one day in The Great Dragon Hall, the adolescent dragon was admiring the statue of Discord and Spike in battle and must have had dragon epiphany of some sort. He looked at the unicorn that raised him with the same look he has given the Professor a million times in his life.

“Quick Wit,” the dragon said with a semi-formal tone no different than if Theory was ordering from a restaurant. “I think I’ll kill you today.”

Professor Wit remembers nothing after that. Days later he came to with Harmony at his bedside. The Royal Guard’s quick response saved his life. Both Princesses and The Guard fought the dragon and drove him off. Professor Wit, broken and scarred, insisted he remain this way. He coped with the loss of his magic by reminding himself the earth pony students he has taught over the years get along just fine without magic. His burns he kept as penance. As he healed he wasn’t sure if he should even teach again, it wasn’t until his teacher, the Princess, asked him personally. On his first day back, the yellow and red egg he gave to the Princesses was on his desk under glass.

“A day you learn something, anything, is never wasted,” he always told his new students. “And you learn most from your failures. Just try not to fail every day.”

It’s a nice way to break the ice. But Prof. Wit still isn’t sure he learned anything from Theory Know-How. Princess Harmony thinks otherwise.

“I’m assuming this isn’t part of your official visit?” he asked the Princess.

“No, I’ve been thinking about a few things. And thought you might be able to help.”

“Oh? About what?”

“Dragons of course,” Harmony said with a smile.

Prof Wit laughed a little, Harmony joined in. Her eyes drifted to the egg on the Professor’s desk.

“I just don’t know what went wrong,” the old grey pony said staring at the yellow and red egg along with her.

Harmony knew full well what was haunting him, to the Professor the only thing that has remained from his experiment are the scars, for someone as like the Princess it could have been yesterday.

“If you had the chance would you want to ask him?” she asked.

“Hmm, I don’t think he will ever come back,” he sighed. “If I was still young and foolish I would go looking for him. But I don’t think Theory would give me an answer that satisfied me. He’s dragon after all.”

“So was Spike.”

Quick Wit nodded. “Quite a riddle that one was. If not for that footprint in the hall and you and your sister having known him, I would assume Spike never existed. Just another storybook legend, like Sombra.”

“I was thinking of the differences in how Spike was raised compared to Theory,” Harmony said. “What do you think was the reason he attacked you, when Spike was so - nice?”

The old Professor raised his eyebrows slightly amused. “Forgive me Your Majesty, but I have never seen you be so blunt.”

“I’m sorry, it’s important.”

The Professor clucked his false teeth pondering. “Spike was simply a different dragon, different from all others I would say.”

“Witty, your hubris is getting the better of you. It just can’t be that.”

“Look at the size of Spike, Majesty. I have never seen an adult dragon of the size of him. Dragons are timeless beings such as yourself, but also simple. They are cruel and greedy, and somewhat lazy. For The Great Dragon to turn out the way he did he must have been under a very powerful spell.”

“My sister and I are not timeless,” Harmony snapped.

The Professor was a little shocked at the Princess’ scolding. “I-I’m sorry Majesty.”

Princess Harmony clenched her eyes shut forcing herself not to cry. “No, I am sorry. I shouldn’t be angry with you. Never with you. Everything you said was correct.”

“Majesty? What’s wrong?”

Harmony opened her eyes and sighed. “The Elements of Harmony, I know you know of them.”

“Yes. You used them against Discord, and your Sister used them during The Changeling War.”

“’A talisman of great magic’ Spike called them,” Harmony smiled at the old memory. “He knew so much. He told me he helped use them one time.”

“Well that must be it then!” Quick Wit cheered in an annoying eureka moment.

“No it’s not. Poor Spike was a baby when he was touched by them, he had no idea how they work. Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, and Magic. The Magic comes from the host, not The Elements. But,” the Princess’ voice trailed off. “But The Elements of Harmony choose the host, a-and eventually leave.”

“Leave?”

She nodded. “They will soon stop working for me and my Sister.”

“Majesty –“

“I feel them drifting away from my control, Witty. I feel the connection with The Elements of Harmony fading. Princess Shade feels it too.”

The weight of Princess Harmony’s words fell hard on the old Professor, someone as old as he is not comfortable with change. And this he fears is a drastic change.

“What will happen to you and your Sister when the connection is completely lost?”

The Princess shrugged. “We will grow old and die.”

Professor Wit gasped.

“It won’t happen for a long while, Witty,” she said to reassure him. “Right now we have to plan for the future.”

Quick Wit nodded, more to reassure himself. “And you think the future is in dragons?”

“Maybe. This has happened before. The Elements left Princess Celestia and Luna to choose another. Celestia helped guide the way, and Spike was part of that. Eventually what he learned guided me.”

“A good plan,” the Professor said. “If only we can find a dragon willing to be raised for such a task.”

“Oh Spike didn’t know of any plan, he just grew up with us. He certainly didn’t plan on falling in lo-“ the Princess’ eyes grew wide, the puzzle solved. “Witty! That’s it! Love!”

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

“You taught Theory Know-How everything, but did you love him?”

Quick Wit shrugged. “I suppose I did.”

“Witty, please. I know you. I was there. I mean did you love him like he was your own flesh and blood?”

The Professor should be insulted, but the puzzle was being solved in his mind as well. “Not like my children, no. I treated him like a ward.”

“Did he love anypony at all?”

“No. He was never that close to any of us.”

“But Spike did feel love! He was loved by friends, his adopted sister, he loved Rarity; he loved them all so much he was sick with heartache when I met him.”

“And Theory Know-How never felt love,” Quick Wit added.

Both were too wrapped up in solving the equation to realize the darkness of the situation the old Professor left for his pet dragon. He raised him, taught him, but didn’t love him. He put the dragon on display as a monster without even noticing. No one could ever be accepted in that environment, especially a dragon. The Princess and the Professor went quiet for a moment both staring at the egg.

“Maybe that’s why my Sister and I couldn’t hatch that egg?” she asked herself staring at the yellow and red egg. “I-I don’t know if I could love that dragon the way it needs. Shade and I were both hoping for a replacement for Spike. I don’t think either of us would want to care for a baby dragon.”

Quick Wit sighed. “I suppose neither of us is qualified.”

“No we’re not. We need somepony with no ambitions for herself or the dragon. A caring and innocent soul who will only see a baby dragon that needs loving care. I can help, but none of us can get too involved.”

“I think I lost you, Majesty.” Prof. Wit said with a smile.

“The Elements of Harmony have decided to choose another, that someone will have to be properly trained to protect the realm, and as the years pass someone will have to protect her.”

“I see.”

The Princess raised her head as she has during formal proclamations for many centuries. “A new acceptance test will be added for all students this year. All ages will participate. The one who hatches that dragon egg will be personally taught by me.”