After a relaxing honeymoon week in Mihyami, Ember and Spike were leaving inside a carriage pulled by Pegasi. They had just stopped by the Dragon Lands to return their belongings and to also check on the area itself and its people. They also made sure to let Match know he could step down and take a break since they were back.

Seeing things were okay, they then decided to make one more trip with Spike sweating a bit. "I just hope they can tell me what's going on?"

Spike the felt Ember's hand cover his own before looking to see her smile at him. "Hey. Don't worry. I'm sure they can tell you more about it. If anyone knows what it might mean, it's them."

The trip the two were making was to the capital of Equestria, Canterlot, where Luna and Celestia had agreed to meet with them, along with Twilight and the others. The reason they were meeting with them all is because, over their honeymoon, Spike had been having the same strange dream he had during their first night. He still didn't understand who the dragoness was in his dream, who or what the other creature was, and most importantly, why was he having the dream over and over again in the first place?

Spike seemed to calm a bit as Ember rubbed his hand before sighing. "I'm sorry. It's just... I have so many questions about what's going on? I mean I didn't start having these dreams until this new magic started making itself known inside of me. Is it just a random dream I can't forget or is it something more? And if it's the latter, who are the people in my dream and what do I have to do with them?"

Ember could see how worried Spike and leaned over to kiss his cheek to further calm him down. "I know you're worried. I am too. Even in the Dragon Lands, no dragon has ever been able to do what you can or have these weird dreams or visions. And I know it's bothering you because you wanna understand why this is going on." Ember then laid her head on his shoulder. "But I promise. No matter what happens, no matter what we find out, I'm gonna be right beside you. I promise."

Hearing Ember saying that made Spike smile as he wrapped his arm around her and held her close. "Thanks, Ember. I always wondered what I did to deserve you."

"Simple. You just be your goofy, loving self."

The two laughed a bit before sharing a simple kiss. They held one another in a tight embrace and may have taken things a bit "too far" had they not felt a jolt that from the carriage. They soon felt a knock come from the front of the carriage before they heard one of the pegasi guards say, "Lord Ember? Lord Spike? We're here."

The two managed to get over having their moment ruined before straightening themselves up a bit with Spike saying, "Thank you."

Spike took a deep breath before standing and offering his hand to his wife. "Shall we?"

Ember smiled and happily took his hand before she stood as well. Spike was the first to open the door to the carriage and held and helped Ember out soon after. "Well... Let's get-OH!"

Spike was cut off when he felt himself taken in strong arms, his back popping a bit, and the air rushing out of his lungs by the tight grip he was in. It didn't take him long to figure out who was doing this.

"Oh, Spike! It's so good to see you! How was your honeymoon? Did you and Ember have fun? Did you see a lot of stuff? See many sights? Eat a lot of sweets?"

Spike looked to see Pinkie smirk at him and watched as she was soon pulled off by purple magic, which was controlled by Twilight as she and the other girls approached the two from the castle doors. "Now now Pinkie. They just got back from their honeymoon. Don't throw thousands of questions at them before they have a chance to answer one."

Twilight then approached Spike before wrapping her arms around Spike in a sibling-like hug. "Welcome back... Little brother."

Spike smiled and returned the hug as well as he responded with, "Good to see you again Twi. How have things been?"

Applejack was the next one to greet the two with a hug and smile as well. "Nothin' much, partner. Glad to know you two enjoyed your time away. Faust knows you both earned after all we went through back then."

Rainbow then smiled and flew up to them with a smug look on her face. "So how much fun did you two have during your time alone. Hope you didn't have too much... "Fun" if you catch my drift?"

"Rainbow!"

"What? We all were wondering the same thing."

Fluttershy was blushing a bit from Rainbow bringing up something so personal and embarrassing. "Really Rainbow Dash. That's none of our business."

"Oh come on Shy. It's just a bit of fun at them. And kinda a way to see how juicy they've gotten."

"Honestly darling. Can you have any control of yourself?" Rarity said as she approached Ember and shared a hug with dragoness. Though Ember knew about Spike's old crush on the mare, the two managed to become good friends before the wedding. Rarity saw how well Ember could take care of Spike after he moved on from his crush on her. And Rarity will always be grateful to her for that. Plus she does have more sense of decency than most dragons, even though that is being improved since Ember took over. They released the embrace and smiled to one another. "I hope you enjoyed the clothes I prepared for you and Spike while you were both away."

"You bet Rarity. You know how to make clothes that are comfortable but still able to hold up to how hot we dragons can get." Ember then leaned over to whisper into Rarity ear, "Plus... Spike loved the bikini."

Rarity smirked and whispered back, "If you ever need a new one, you know how to reach me."

They all then heard a growling noise come from Spike before he looked down to his stomach and blushed a bit. "Sorry. I kinda skipped my breakfast to get here quickly."

Ember couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "I told you, you should've taken it easier with rushing to get here. But as usual, I married the most stubborn dragon raised by ponies."

"Don't forget the only dragon raised by ponies."

They all looked to see Celestia and Luna fly down and land beside them all. Spike was the first to approach and greet Celestia with a hug. "Hey, mom. Glad to see you."

He then shared a hug with Luna who returned the embrace. "You too Aunt Luna."

"Good to see you are doing well also my young son." Celestia then looked to Ember who approached with a smile as well.

Ember bowed to Celestia out of respect. "Good to see you again Princess Celestia."

Ember then found herself pulled to Celestia by the alicorn's magic where Celestia wrapped her in a hug. "Now now Ember. There's no need for formalities. We're family now."

Ember took in her words before returning the embrace Celestia gave her. "Right. Guess I'm still getting a little used to stuff like this."

Luna then gained everyone's attention with, "Now that you've arrived from your trip and so many of our friends are here, why don't we all get some food to fill our bellies?"

Before anyone could respond, Spike was the first to say, "Yep. Let's do it. I'm starving."

The two princesses couldn't help but giggle before Celestia said, "Then let us proceed to the dining hall. And I'm sure you and Ember would like some gems added to your food Spike?"

"I think I'm gonna enjoy having you two as family Prin- Celestia," Ember said before holding her husband's hand before they all followed the two into the castle.

A few hours later and after a good meal, Ember was sharing some photos of what she and Spike did over their honeymoon with the girls while Luna and Celestia approached Spike. "Now tell us, dear nephew. What brought you here after returning from your time with your new wife?"

Spike rubbed the back of his head a bit before speaking, "Well... Over our time in Mihyami, I kept having this weird dream over and over again. I was hoping maybe Aunt Luna could take a look into my mind and see it for herself. Maybe then you could tell me if it means anything."

Princess Luna took a minute to think before nodding to her adopted nephew and flowing magic into her horn. "Very well Spike. Just hold still while I take a look."

Spike nodded and held still while Luna gently placed the tip of her horn against Spike's forehead. The two closed their eyes while Luna concentrated as the others approached. Twilight was about to speak but was stopped when Celestia held her hand up. Soon after, Luna pulled away and opened her eyes only to have a somewhat shocked look on her face. Spike opened his eyes as well with Ember stepping to his side. "You okay Spike?"

"Yeah. I'm okay," Spike said before he looked to Princess Luna. "Anything you can tell me?"

Princess Luna remained silent with the look of someone who was processing something they had just seen. As she remained silent, Celestia began to grown concerned with her sister's silence before placing her hand on Luna's shoulder. "Luna? What is it?"

Luna shook her head a bit before looking to her sister with concern. "It may be best you see for yourself sister."

Luna then used her magic to project the dream she saw in Spike's mind through her horn while the others and Celestia watched. Pinkie, being her usual self, pulled a bag of popcorn out of her mane and began munching on it as they all watched. The dream showed the sight Spike saw every time before Luna stopped it on the male creature who was known as Malkior. While almost everyone remained confused, Twilight notice Celestia had gained the look of shock that Luna held earlier on her face as well. "Celestia? Luna? Do you know who that guy is?"

Celestia soon shook off her shock before looking to them all. "Well Twilight, we don't know who he is. But we do know his race."

"What is he? Some kind rare breed of dragon or something?" Rainbow asked.

"He's a gargoyle."

Everyone turned to see the cloaked silhouette figure had appeared out of nowhere. Celestia and Luna charged their horns with magic as a means of defense if necessary with the former asking, "Who are you? And how did you get in here?"

"Calm yourselves, you were the one who gave me access to your castle should I ever need it," said the figure as he pulled the hood that revealed a face that seemed to surprise Luna and Celestia and Luna. "After all, I was the one who helped you stop Tirek the first time."

"Scorpan?" Luna asked. "Is it really you?"

Scorpan smiled as he said, "Indeed Luna. And as I said, the one you see in that dream is a gargoyle. My species."

Twilight was the first one to say, "First I'd like to say it's an honor to meet you. Princess Celestia and Luna told me about you when we faced Tirek. And second, why is Spike dreaming of this member of your gargoyle kind, Malkior?"

"Thousands of years ago, before Discord's reign, the gargoyles were a powerful race. They were rivals with the only other fierce race at the time, dragons. The two races had been at war for a long time, clashing endlessly over and over again, determined to prove which one was the stronger of the two. However, after many years of nothing but fighting, Malkior, the leader of the gargoyle lands, decided that enough had taken place and had planned to end it by starting a peace treaty with the dragon lord of that time."

Scorpan looked to Ember as he continued, "That dragon lord was your father, Torch."

This caught Ember by surprise. She had remembered Torch had told her of some ancient war between the dragons and another race, but he never told her the race they were at war with. But this brought up another question by the dragoness. "Wait. That still doesn't answer the question of why Spike is dreaming about this Malkior."

"Yeah. What does he have to do with me?" Spike asked as he looked right to Scorpan with a questioning look.

"It's because," Scorpan started before pausing for a moment. "Spike. Malkior... Was your father."

Author's Note

I know it has been long overdue. And I hope everyone now understands this story has not left my mind. And that my ADHD attention disorder is making hard to focus on this over my new ones. But I'll try to do better on this one from time to time.