Once Ember notices you are no longer paying her any attention, she turns hers towards Spike. Most of their conversation is about the intricacies of friendship, but then they start talking about dragons. Turns out Spike knew shockingly little about his own heritage, so it looks like Ember is about to give him a rundown. Deciding that this might be worth your time as well, you place the book on the coffee table.

“So how long does it take for a dragon’s wings to come in?” That is actually a good question, one you’d been aching to know the answer to since you’d met Spike. The fact that the dragon is as small as he is surprised you. Heck, you have yet to run into a dragon the size of the ones from the movies you used to watch. Well, aside from Ember’s dad.

“Why do you ask, Spike?”

“Well, this one time, I went out of control hoarding stuff and grew really huge,” he pauses for a moment, which you take to imagine him being as big as Torch. The mere thought is hilarious, but the actual events had probably been pretty sketchy. “Rarity ended up breaking me out of the hoarding, but I still never grew any wings.”

“Hm.” Ember puts a claw to her chin in thought. “Very few dragons have fallen prey to the curse of hoarding, and those who have were already pretty big.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” You butt in. Spike seems curious as well.

“What I mean is that the growth of a dragon’s wings may have to do with their age, and not their metabolism,” she explains. You sort of understand, but beckon for her to continue. “It doesn’t matter how big a dragon is, because sprouting wings is a matter of how old you are.”

“Huh, I guess that makes sense. How long ago did you start growing yours?” Spike asks. You’re curious about that as well. You actually had no clue how old Ember was, but you knew that Spike was around fifteen now. The lack of growth in him may have been a result of his metabolism not growing out of control due to greed, but you find it more likely that dragons simple age very slowly.

“My wings grew out about two years ago, around the time I turned nineteen.” Ah, so she’s twenty-one then. “But it varies from dragon to dragon.”

“How old were Garble and his friends?” You ask. They looked a lot older than Ember and Spike, that much was for sure, but that could also just be their metabolism. Honestly, this conversation had only served to further confuse you on dragon physiology thus far.

“Garble is actually older than me, but I’m not really sure how much,” she replies. “Between you and me, I know why he’s such a jerk to everyone.”

“Why’s that?” Spike asks.

“He’s what the dragons referred to as a bareback for the longest time, because his wings grew in really late.” Okay, that is something you’ll need to remember to bring up next time you see him. “He’s also a, uh…” Ember mumbles out the rest, and you and Spike lean closer to her.

“He’s a what now?” You asks. You’re sure it’s something juicy as hell, since she’s reluctant to say it.

“He hasn’t… you know.” It takes you a second, but then it dawns on you, and your eyes widen as a smirk grows on your face.

“Oh. Oh!”

“What? What is he?” Spike asks. You’re not sure whether you should tell him, because you really don’t want Twilight to find out. The look on his face makes up your mind, though.

“He’s never had sex, Spike.” You expect Spike to blush at that, but he surprises you by falling out of his chair and rolling around on the floor, laughing his butt off. You turn back to Ember while he does, smirking. “Why’s that such a big deal with dragons?”

“It’s seen as some kind of status booster,” she shrugs. Ah, you had known some guys during your time in school that had thought of it that way, but you’d never cared much about it yourself. “Personally, I don’t understand it.”

Spike seems to have calmed down his laughter and hops back into his chair, scooting it closer to the two of you. “I’ll have to remember that, but what else can you tell me about dragons?”

Ember offers Spike a warm smile. “Did you know that not all dragons breathe fire?”

Spike’s eyes go wide at that, and you listen with interest. “Really?”

Ember nods. “Mhm. Lots of dragons in the Northern and Southern areas of the planet live in cold places.”

“Lemme guess, they have frost breath?” You ask, and she nods again. “How come none of those dragons came here when your father sent for everyone?”

“Would you like the full history lesson?” She sighs.

This could be a cool chance at learning some more history of the planet, but you can also tell she doesn’t really wanna explain everything right now. Fortunately, it looks like Spike wants to hear about it, so you decide to make a compromise with her. “How about an abridged version?”

“Alright, that’s fine,” she replies. You and Spike look giddily at one another, then back to her as she begins talking. “Thousands of years ago, before ponies even inhabited the planet, the dragons were the dominant creatures.

“The leader of the dragons was Brimstone for a lot of those years. Once some other species started popping up, Brimstone wanted to attack all of them so that dragons would be not just the dominant creatures, but the only creatures on the planet. Some dragons liked that idea, but—”

“What do you think of it?” You interrupt, curious.

She raises an eyebrow at you, as if the answer is obvious. “I think it’s a stupid idea, obviously, or you wouldn’t be alive, you idiot.”

“Oh, she got you!” Spike laughs. Yeah, you had kinda walked into that one, damn it. “Keep going, Ember!”

“... But there were other dragons that knew that it was a terrible idea. If you destroyed every species but the dragons, then they would have to eat just gems for the rest of time, and the dissenting dragons brought up a good point. What would happen when the planet’s supply of gems ran dry?

“Those dragons ended up rebelling against Brimstone, but their revolt wasn’t successful, and a lot of them died,” she pauses, looking a bit sad at that. You’re about to say something when it looks like she’s regained her composure. “Anyways, one of the dragons, named Gelid, led the rebellious dragons to the Southern ice caps.

“Brimstone cut them off from all other dragons, and it’s remained that way ever since. So whenever the appointed Fire Lord summons any dragons, those dragons are left out,” she finishes explaining.

You have a few questions, though. “Why not go find them?”

“The areas they live in are too harsh for normal dragons to go to,” she answers. “We’ve tried to send parties to find them in the past, but we’ve never been successful.”

“Yeah, remember how cold you were in the Crystal Empire, Spike?” The young drake nods. “Well the polar caps would be like five times as cold, especially at night.”

“Whoa, and there are dragons that live there? That’s pretty impressive.” He looks awestruck, and you almost feel bad that he’ll likely never meet any of the dragons Ember was talking about. “What else can you tell me?”

Ember leans back in her chair, and her tail slithers around a bit as she thinks. You’re enjoying learning a bit about dragons, and Spike has looked ecstatic as he’s listened to Ember. No doubt he was going to relay all of this information to Twilight, who was then going to write numerous notes about it. “Why are you so much smaller than your dad?” You ask.

That seems to catch her off-guard, and she glares at you. “I’ll have you know that I’m still a young dragon.”

“Aren’t you twenty-one?”

“Dragons age differently, you idiot!” she exclaims, and you chuckle as you try to calm her down to no avail. “My father is over three hundred years old, for your information!”

“Wow, dragons really live for that long?” Spike asks, wide-eyed.

Ember pinches the bridge of her nose in frustration, but manages to give Spike a smile and a nod after a moment. “My father isn’t even that old. Some dragons live to be thousands of years old.”

“What are the age groups like?” You ask.

“When a dragon is born, they’re referred to as a ‘wyrmling’,” she explains. “A wyrmling is equivalent to what ponies call ‘foals’.” She pauses for a moment to take a sip of her coffee. As she does, you’re reminded that she brought you a cup as well, and you take a sip as she continues.

“After about five years, a wyrmling begins to go through some changes. Their spinal column grows out, and their claws begin to separate.”

“I don’t remember that happening,” Spike comments, looking over his hands.

“Most dragons remember very little about their time as a wyrmling. Anyways, for the next ten years, a dragon doesn’t grow much, if at all. You might notice that Spike hasn’t grown at all since you’ve met him?” She guesses. She’s right, of course. The little guy was the same size he was the day you first saw him. “After that stage, another growth spurt occurs. Dragons get taller, and they begin to, uh…” She pauses, blushing, but manages to spit out, “sexually mature.”

“So are you sexually mature?” Spike asks bluntly, and you immediately laugh.

Ember slowly nods, which doesn’t surprise you, but there’s one thing you’re curious about now. “How do you know?”

“What?” She looks confused, as if your question had an obvious answer.

“How do you know you’re sexually maturing?” You repeat.

“I don’t know, you just kind of know,” she answers, shifting uncomfortably. Screw it, that answer was fair enough, and she clearly didn’t want to talk about it anyways.

“Ah. Human females know because their body starts to expel eggs. They get cramps, bleed a bit, it’s pretty gross.”

“That sounds… unpleasant,” she replies, her face blanching.

“Yeah, trust me, they let the guys know that it is,” you chuckle. You couldn’t exactly blame them for it either. No other mammals on Earth had periods, so it was definitely unfair. “You can continue, sorry.”

She smiles graciously, and does just that. “It’s during that time that a dragon typically tries to find a mate. Other species seem to think dragons will mate with anyone, but that’s not always true.”

“Do you have one?” Spike asks.

She shakes her head, which isn’t very shocking. With how uncomfortable she was talking about sexual stuff, she was definitely pretty innocent. “I don’t really have any interest in letting a dragon touch me like that. Male dragons aren’t very, um, gentle.”

“Shocker,” you reply sarcastically. “This may sound wrong, but why can’t you see a dragon’s… you know. Junk?” Your term seems to be lost on the Dragon Lord, and she blinks a bit. Alright, it looks like you’ll have to just take after Spike and be blunt about it. “I’ve seen you walk around, and I’ve never noticed your genitals.”

Her whole face lights up red at that. “And just what are you doing trying to look at my genitalia, you freak?!”

Spike snickers and leans towards you as Ember fumes. “You woke the beast, man.”

“It’s not just you,” you defend yourself. “It’s the same with all dragons, I was just wondering.”

“If you must know… you pervert,” she adds under her breath, “they’re concealed under our underbelly unless we grow aroused.”

“Hey, man,” you reply, “I’m just curious about dragon physiology. You’re only flattering yourself if you actually think I wanna see your freaky reptile bits.” You give her a smug look, and she’s about to shoot back a reply when Spike interrupts both of you.

“You still haven’t finished explaining how dragons age, Ember.”

She lets out a sigh and sticks her tongue out at you. “You got lucky this time.” Taking a moment to recompose herself, she picks right back up where she’d left off earlier. “It’s during this stage that most dragons begin to sprout their wings. There are a few exceptions—”

“Like Garble,” you recall.

“Like Garble. The next age group is when a dragon starts to grow to the size that Garble and his friends are,” she continues. “From then on, dragons begin to age at a slower and slower rate.”

“That’s pretty cool,” Spike comments. “Does that mean I’ll live for thousands of years?”

“As long as nothing kills you, yes.”

“Well hopefully I can avoid that,” he smiles. “But that does mean I’ll outlive Twilight…” He sounds a tad morose, and you frown.

“Yeah, but you’ll get to make all new friends,” you attempt to comfort him. “‘Sides, you shouldn’t focus on the future, you gotta live in the moment.”

“How long do ponies live for?” Ember asks. You actually aren’t too certain yourself, and it doesn’t look like Spike is either. You knew Granny Smith was probably around a hundred years old, which absolutely decimated the age limits of equines on Earth, and nobody ever talked as if she was close to dying any time soon.

“Well, I know one pony that’s around a hundred years old, but that’s it. Celestia and Luna have been around for thousands of years, though.”

“Interesting. I thought dragons were the only creatures capable of living for such a long time?”

“Well, they’re alicorns,” Spike says.

Ember raises an eyebrow at that. “Alicorns?”

“You’ve never heard of alicorns?” You ask, kinda surprised. You would think that over the thousands of years that Celestia and Luna had ruled, the dragons would have known about them. Of course, she was also a pretty young dragon, and she had said herself that many dragons had no interest in learning. “Not even from any of these books?” She shakes her head, and you look to Spike. “You wanna explain or should I?”

“You’ve got it,” he chuckles. “You’re more like Twilight than I am.”

Well he has you there. You had done your best to learn about Equestria during the three years you’d been here, and even Twilight herself was surprised at the amount of knowledge you’d retained up to this point. You turn back to Ember, and begin to explain. “Okay. I assume you know about the basic pony species, right?”

“You mean earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi?”

Well at least you wouldn’t have to explain those to her. “Right. Well, as far to my knowledge, an alicorn is something of a combination of all three, but with a few enhancements.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, everyone knows that the main attribute of a pegasus pony is its wings that give it the ability to fly. Unlike dragons, pegasi are born with their wings.”

“I see. Are they able to fly as foals?” She asks, and you nod. “That’s gotta be a strange sight.”

You think back to watching Pound Cake fly around, and she’s definitely right. It’s both strange and hilarious, though. “Then you have unicorns, who have the ability to perform magic.” You pause, assuming she’s going to ask a question, but she doesn’t. “Then there are the earth ponies, who are more physically gifted than the other two.”

“And where do alicorns fit in this?”

“Alicorns are basically a better version of all three species mashed together into one pony. They have bigger wings, larger horns, and are generally larger than most ponies. They also have a much higher capacity for magic.”

“How much higher?”

“Well, Celestia moves the Sun itself with her magic, and Luna does the same with the moon, so I’d say so much higher that you can’t put a number to it.”

Ember’s eyes go wide at that, and she reels back a bit in her chair. “Th-that’s impossible!”

“That’s what I thought,” you reply, “until I saw Celestia raise it myself.” Her jaw drops at the very idea, and you titter. “Guess it’s a good thing Garble didn’t get the scepter, right?”

“What do you mean?” She asks.

Spike gives a surprised look at that, and asks what you were about to. “Wait, you mean you don’t know what he was planning?”

She shakes her head. “My only extended interaction with him was our fight in the cave.” That was true, which meant she had never heard him when the announcement was made that the winner would be crowned the new Dragon Lord.

“He wanted to attack Equestria.”

“He… did?” She looks downtrodden at that, her head drooping slightly. “I had no idea, and my selfishness almost let him do just that…”

“Hey, it’s fine,” you smile. “The important thing is that he wasn’t able to do it.”

“If he had, and what you’re saying about Princesses Celestia and Luna is true, then he would have led us all to ruin.”

“Yeah, they would have put the smackdown on you guys for sure,” Spike giggles for a moment. You shoot him a glare and he stops abruptly. “Eh, hehe, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Ember admits. “I see now why you care about your friends, Spike. They would never try to do something so… cowardly.”

Thinking back, there weren’t many times you could recall that even required Celestia and Luna to help out. Twilight and her friends had always managed to stop whatever threats came their way through the power of friendship, which was something you’d come to appreciate. But still, the fact that Celestia and Luna had been able to hold their own against Discord, and even defeat him, spoke bounds about the power they possessed. Of course, whether they had defeated him after a long battle, or simply caught him off-guard with the Elements of Harmony was a mystery that they’d likely never reveal.

“You cared enough about the safety of your home to risk your own life to save it. I can’t think of a single dragon that would do the same thing if they had the chance,” Ember goes on. “I’m glad to call you my friend.”

“I’m glad you’re mine, too,” Spike smiles happily. “But I can think of one. You.”

Ember tries to stammer out some excuse about how that isn’t true, but you aren’t having any of that. “Oh, come on, Ember, you fought off a dragon three times your size just to help save Spike. The other dragons might not think so, but that makes you a better candidate for leader than any of them could ever hope to be.”

She blushes a bit at your compliment, which you find adorable. “T-thank you…”

“Any time,” you smirk. After a moment, you get up from your seat and stretch your arms out with a yawn. “Well, I’m beat, long trip today. You mind if I just sleep in here?”

“In the study? But there’s not even a bed.”

“That’s true, but there is a rug, which is a lot more comfortable than stone.”

Ember thinks for a moment, then nods. “Alright, I guess you can if you want. C’mon, Spike, I’d like to hear more about your friends before I follow his lead and go to bed,” she says, getting up from her seat. You watch as the two walk towards the door, chatting the whole time, then fall back into your chair. If you were going to be spending two weeks here, then you’d at least spend the majority of that time in the study so you could read to pass the time.

Once you hear the door slam shut, you think back to a thought that had entered your mind just a few moments earlier. Had you really thought that Ember looked adorable? You try pass it off as an in-the-moment thing, and close your eyes as you attempt to fall asleep. She's a dragon, for christ’s sake. The thought eats away at you for a bit, but you manage to drift off after a while.

Author's Note

I have some more story requests on the horizon, so I'll be taking a brief pause between chapters to work on those. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this one, especially those of you that wanted Spike to take this opportunity to try and learn a bit about dragons. Hopefully my lore didn't bug any of you, heh.

As always, leave a comment with your thoughts if you want!