The kind strangerView OnlineWelcome Home FatherThe kind strangerFor all my life I had no idea, I just thought that I was abandoned, I never knew the truth and I'm glad that I do. I finally know where i came from, but I wasn't prepared to find out the things I did. It all started a year ago today, when I was exploring the dragon lands with my friends Ember and Smolder. While exploring we found a cave hidden away so well that you'd miss it if you weren't looking, which it was just dumb luck we found it. Expecting to find a few gems we ventured into the cave only to not only find gems, but another dragon. The dragon standing before us was purple in color with a long mouth and had eyes that spoke of despair and loss, as if he had witnessed a thousand wars and seen everyone of his friends perish. when he walked, he kinda dragged his feet on the floor as well as his tail, and when he spoke he talked in self loathing and as if he had lost everything. He sat upon his hoard of gems eyeing each one deep in thought before slowing eating it. When he noticed us his voice was soft and welcoming as if he did't care we were trespassing. "Ah, I wasn't expecting visitors, I'm sorry for the state of my home, but I just don't see the point in cleaning." he said while offering us a handful of gems from his hoard. "Please, help yourselves, this place doesn't get much company, actually hardly ever so I'm just pleased to finally have some." He said in a longing voice. "Uh, thank you Mr. Dragon, but if you don't mind me asking. Who are you" Smolder asked the dragon standing before us with as much politeness that she could muster. The dragon just looked down somewhat smiling and giving a slight chuckle, he then raises his hand in the stop motion, "Please, no formalities. You may call me Gaius." He said in a gingerly tone. Smolder's eyes widened at hearing the name the dragon wished to be addressed as, as if she recognized the name, "Wait, are you the Gaius? The dragon lord who's throne got usurped by Scales in the story "A dream come true?" Smolder asked with the most politeness she could muster, but her curiosity outweighing in some ways. Gaius looked down in sadness, but not contempt and said, "yes, 'tis I, Gaius the great, I was one of the most beloved dragon lords, I helped out dragons in need, gave them food and a place to stay, I even gave them a place in my kingdom even if they were from a rival clan. Dragons lived happily until the day i took Scales in, but even though she usurped my throne, I hold no contempt for her and I pray she'll see the light and embrace it." "But isn't she gone now? Why do you still live here, don't you want to return home?" Smolder asked with idle curiosity. Gaius looked down with a sense of melancholy and spoke sadly, "I do wish to return to the dragons, but I have no right to show my face back there, what kind of dragon lord loses his throne. Scales may be gone, and a new dragon lord has risen, but that doesn't erase the shame I've brought upon the dragons." "We'll gladly welcome you back with open claws, I'll even step down as dragon lord and give the title to you" Ember said with tears in her eyes after hearing his tale of woe, but the former dragon lord raised his hand again and politely declined. "I appreciate the offer, but I must decline." He said in a gentle voice. "I've heard of the new dragon lords that have been named, and I've heard of what a good job you're doing Ember, and I must admit you deserve the throne more than me, I'll admit I was a good dragon lord, but you are a great dragon lord, you Ember are bringing my dream of dragons and ponies living in harmony to fruition, more so than I could, most dragons still didn't want to when I was in power. "Well, that's partly due to me Mr. Gaius." I interjected. "I was actually the one who won the gauntlet of fire, but I gave the sceptre to Ember knowing she'll do well as dragon lord and not invade Ponyville." "Ah another dragon who likes ponies, what's your name." Gaius spoke with pride. "My name is Spike, Mr. Gaius." I answered him. He then rose his hand and said "Please, just call me Gaius." He replied in a gentle tone. "But please, tell me more about you three." He asked kindly. Gaius then started a small campfire with his fire breath and waited patiently for one of us to speak. I started to tell my tale to Gaius first, "Well I was hatched by Twilight Sparkle, one of my best pony friends and my mom in a sense, I've been assisting her ever since she hatched me." I told him to which his eyes beamed with joy hearing that a dragon was living with ponies. "I'm actually the daughter of the previous dragon lord Torch, like Spike said he actually won, but gave the throne to me so his pony friends would be safe." Ember said as she started telling her tale. As the green fire danced on the cable's walls Gaius was watching and listening to us intensively it was at this time Smolder told Gaius more about her. "I actually live in Ponyville to as a student of the School of Friendship, I didn't want to be there at first, but I came to enjoy it and made so many great friends." She said before her and Ember asked Gaius if he'd excuse us for a minute before pulling me aside when he kindly obliged. "Spike, I may be wrong, but I think Gaius may be your biological father." Smolder said to me with Ember nodding in agreement.
Fatherly suspectView OnlineWelcome Home FatherFatherly suspectI looked at both Ember and Smolder inquisitively and asked, "What makes you think that." I asked to sure if they were serious or not. "It's only a hunch based on appearance, but Gaius has the same color of fire breath as you, almost identical skin color, and you have the same color eyes." Ember said to me. "I'll admit, he does share identical characteristics, but I don't think so, if anyone can find out for sure it'll be Twilight." I told them before we returned to the fire. Gaius was curious to what we were talking about and inquired to what we were talking about. "If you three don't mind me asking, what were you talking about." Gaius asked with much politeness and respect for our privacy. We told them of what we thought and a grin spread across his face, he gave a slight chuckle and spoke. "'Tis a nice thought, but a father I am not, I never even had a wife nor egg, but I did always think I'd make a good father." Gaius spoke with a hint a remorse. Ember and Smolder still being skeptical and really believing Gaius to be my father asked if he'd be willing to take a DNA test with me to at least examine all the evidence. Gaius reluctant at first pondered the proposal as if he was weighing his options, but after awhile agreed to take the test and come to Ponyville to take it. Before heading off we put out the fire and went outside the cave to see that hours have passed as we saw the sun setting over the mountains painting the sky in red, orange, and blue as dawn slowly became twilight. We spread our wings and took to the sky, our wings sliced though the air as we soared though the the heading towards Ponyville as the twilight soon became night and the only source of light was the full moon in the night sky. When we got into Ponyville almost everypony had settled down for the night, save one pony who's been up worrying about her number one assistant and who she'd come to regard as a son, and one of her students. She was pacing the castle halls when she heard the door creak open and saw me walk in, before I knew it I was locked in an embrace. "Oh, Spike. Do you have any idea what time it is? I was worried sick about you I figured you'd be home by then, and Smolder your friends were really worried sick about you when the night started to fall." Twilight said almost hyperventilating when she spoke. All I could say was "sorry Twilight, time just got away from us when we found an easy to miss cave." Twilight just sighed softly and took a deep breath, she then put a hoof on my shoulder and spoke gently. "It's ok, Spike, I was just worried about you, at least you were with Ember and Smolder." It was around this time Gaius came into the castle and introduced himself. "Hello, Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, I'm Gaius." Gaius said as he bowed and introduced himself Twilight being the pony that she is let out a small giggle and said "it's a pleasure to meet you Gaius, but please you may call me Twilight, if I may ask, how do you and Spike know each other. Gaius took a few seconds before answering and finally said "The cave Spike speaks about is my home, he and his friends came in looking for gems and I happed to start up a conversation. I did not consider it trespassing, I enjoyed the company." Twilight listened with intrigue and eagerness until she finally said "that's good, Spike does have a healthy sense of adventure, I'm just glad it all turned out all right this time. So what brings you to Ponyville Gaius?" Twilight asked the dragon looming above her. Gaius rubbed his head second guessing himself on if it'll show any results and then spoke. "Well, Spike and his friends based on circumstantial evidence thinks that I may be Spike's father, but I'm not sure so I agreed to get a DNA test just to be sure." Gaius said. Twilight looked on with a spark in her eyes, but a understanding of Gaius' privacy and said "I'll be more than happy to run the test, but only if you want to Gaius." Gaius looked into space deep in thought before answering "I'll be more than willing to take the test." Gaius said as he took his claws and cut of a lock of his hair and gave to Twilight. Twilight then looked at me and told me she'd need a DNA sample from me to compare the results to, I gladly took a cotton swab and swabbed the inside of my mouth and gave it to Twilight. She then took the samples into her lab and got to work on the DNA test. Gaius and I watched as Twilight put the samples through a microscope and other scientific devices to determine whether or not Gaius was my father. While we waited Gaius wanted to know more about me and my life with the ponies, which I kindly told him. I told him how Twilight hatched me and how she raised me, I told him about how I've come to think of her as a mother because of how she came looking for me when I ran away and how she was there for me when I found out the dragon who claimed he was my father was just using me to live a pampered life. Gaius looked at me with anticipation to hear more, but interjected to tell me something about family, he told me "Family is not always limited to blood, but also bond, the bond you have with Twilight is the same as any mother and child, I'm glad that you have a parent that cares for you so much. Upon telling me this Twilight comes to us with the test results with a look of excitement and sadness.
Remembrance and GuiltView OnlineWelcome Home FatherRemembrance and GuiltTwilight told us with a bit of sadness in her voice told us the test was positive, Gaius was my father. I knew why Twilight was sad in helping us find this out, but I think the one that was in the most shock was me, the dragon lord who lost his throne is my father, I'm of royal blood. Gaius on the other hand didn't take the news so well, as soon as he found out he bolted out of the castle almost as if he'd seen a ghost, Twilight and I ran after him only to find him on the outskirts of Ponyville looking over the town as the moon illuminated the small town. He was looking down on the small town from where he sat in the distance as he watched the inhabitants go about their nightlife activities, he watched some children play, some adults go to dinner, even some adults playing with their kids or tucking them into bed and reading them bedtime stories as tears rolled down his eyes. I could tell he was saddened and scared, but I didn't know how to help him, so Twilight and I just sat beside him to keep him company. We sat there for what seemed like hours, I tried getting some answers to the questions I had, Gaius changed the subject every time I asked, if I asked him about my birth mother, he would instead ask me what my favorite gemstone is, he was also in denial about the test. "Wait, in the cave I gave Spike some of my gems to eat, since I lay on top of them my skin flakes must of gotten on them or it might have happened when I handed Spike the gems, the test could be wrong. If you don't mind could we take another to make sure that the first ain't flawed?" Gaius looked at Twilight awaiting her answer until she finally let out a sigh and agreed to take another test, she asked Gaius for another lock of his hair and asked Spike for one of his scales. With the samples in her possession she started to head back to the castle with Gaius and Spike in tow. As we waited for the lab results I asked Gaius if he really believes he's not my father to which he just looks away and doesn't answer, the silence in the castle is deafening as we await the lab results. The door to Twilight's lab opens up creaking with each inch of motion, she comes out gentle grasping the results with her magic as if she was holding a newborn. She has the same look of excitement and sadness as she had when the first results came back, Gaius, without a shadow of doubt is my father. Gaius and I looked at the results for what seemed like eternity when Gaius excused himself and went to leave. I tried to get him to stay, but he said that he can't stay, that he has no right to call me his son and that he has no right to be my father his eyes swelling with tears and his expression showing emotions of sorrow, pain, and regret. And with those words he went outside, spread his wings and took off into the night sky as it started to rain. Twilight and I didn't get that much sleep that night, we were kept up by the memory of the look Gaius had on him before leaving, we were hoping to sit down and at least talk, but it seemed like it would be too much for Gaius to handle, we both laid in our beds as sleep soon began to overtake us and we drifted off into unconsciousness. When we awoke the next day we still couldn't wrap our heads around what Gaius meant by his words, what he said echoing in our minds like sounds reverberating off the walls of a cave. "What could he have meant that he has no right to call me his son and no right to be called my father?" I asked Twilight, but it was a mystery even for her. She asked me what all he told me in the cave and I told he that he admitted to be the dragon lord who lost his throne. Upon hearing this Twilight got an idea of why he's acting the way he is, she asked me to take her to the cave that Ember, Smolder, and I found him in, she sounded calm, but I could tell there was sadness in her heart. Before we left I asked her if she was ok only to have her say she was, I told her "She shouldn't hide stuff from me." and she opened up. "Oh Spike, I was actually worried about a day like this, over the years of you being my assistant, I've come to think of you as my son, and now that you found your real father I fear you'll leave me and no longer love me." Upon hearing this I was moved to tears and brought Twilight into a hug. "Why would you think that." I asked her with watered eyes. "Gaius may be my father, but doesn't mean you're not my family anymore, I've always thought of you as a mother to me and I always will, because I love you." I told her with her eyes watering more as she embraced the hug. After a while she wiped her eyes and looked at me and said "Ok Spike, let's go find your father." And with that I did something I hadn't done in awhile and rode on her back as we ventured off into the dragon lands. I took her to the cave Smolder, Ember, and I found yesterday in hopes Gaius would be there and sure enough he was, but he was deeper in the cave he was last night, he appeared to be in front of a shallow grave and had tears rolling down his eyes. Twilight and I went up to him and sat by his side near the crudely marked grave with a marker that read "Aurora". Gaius looked at us with sad eyes and sighed heavily, he then said "I should've known you two would follow me, I'm sorry for leaving in such a way, but I don't feel worthy to be called your father or to have a son." "Why's that Gaius?" I asked "I don't care if you lost the dragon lord title." I tried to tell him, but he looked back at me with sad eyes as if it was much more than that, which it was. As he did when Smolder, Ember, and I were here, he started a fire, but this time he told me to sit down as well as Twilight. He then started his story. "It was five decades ago today, I as dragon lord found a homeless and starving dragon with pink skin and green eyes her name was Scales, it was a rainy night and I took pity on her and offered her asylum from the rain and gems to ward of hunger, but as I was listening to stories told by my subjects she betrayed my kindness and attacked me taking the bloodstone sceptre and usurping my throne. She banished my wife and myself to this cave I now inhabit. After ten years Aurora, my wife and your mother tried to take the throne back from Scales, but failed and was executed for her mutiny. After some time of pleading with Scales she at least let me take the corpse of my wife so I could bury her." Gaius told his tale on how he lost his throne fifty years ago and how he lost his wife ten years after. "After losing Aurora I realized I had lost it all, and you were about to hatch in forty years, but I didn't know how to raise a child and I wasn't sure how to provide for the both of us, so I called for a favor from a friend, before Scales was dragon lord I was pushing for peace between ponies and dragons so I came to know Princess Celestia quite well. I gave her you as an egg asking her to make sure you were taken care of, and it looks like you were. I was just scared that you would be mad at me for giving you up and be ashamed that I lost the throne." Gaius told us the rest of the story and Twilight was deep in thought she then got a look of recognition on her face "pardon me Gaius, but did you say Scales was a pink dragon with green eyes?" Gaius nodded his head in confirmation. I asked Twilight why she asked and she told me a story her parents and grandparents told her. "It was before I was born, my grandparents and my parents were wandering around the dragon lands when a few of the dragons got a bit territorial and started to attack, but then a pink dragon with green eyes a a sceptre with a stone as red as blood swopped down and fought the dragons off, she sustained fatal wounds and collapsed right in front of us, when my parents and grandparents asked why she would risk her life to save us the dragon just put a claw gingerly on my mother's impregnated belly with tears in her eyes while she mouthed the words sorry, her claw the dropped to the ground and the life drained from her eyes." Upon hearing Twilight's story Gaius knew immediately that that dragon who saved them was Scales, but as to why she saved them puzzled him, all he could offer as an explanation was that upon seeing Twilight's mother pregnant with her, it brought upon feelings of empathy in Scales and that on that day after saving them she was going to change, but never got the chance to. Gaius asked Twilight what happened to Scales' body and Twilight told him that her parents asked Celestia to give her a proper burial. Upon hearing this Gaius got a look of relief and sadness on his face. "I do wish she got the chance to do more good, but I'm relieved that she got a proper burial and hope she's in eternal bliss now." Gaius spoke with sincerity as he took a deep breath. He then asked me if I was mad at him for giving me up which I answered him. "All my life I wanted to know where I came from and who I was, I never felt malice towards my biological parents I just wanted answers, and now that I got them I'm happy to have received them, because now I know who I am, I'm also happy that I have two families now." Gaius looked at me and thanked me with tears in his eyes, he then picked me up in his claws and hugged me. Twilight watched as we reconciled and reunited, with tears in her eyes she was about to leave without me before Gaius and I stopped her. She said it's ok, it's time for me to leave the nest, but Gaius set me down and I hugged her. "Twilight, I was never gonna leave you, you're my family to and I wouldn't trade that for the world. I love you, mom." I said as I hugged her. With tears in her eyes she said "I love you too, Spike." as she hugged me close. With a look of an idea on her face she turned to Gaius and invited him to live in the castle with us telling him she'd love to have him. Gaius looked off in the distance before answering, when he answered it was one of acceptance and with that we left the cave and returned to the castle. And that's how I was reunited with my father, the information I found out was shocking, but he gave me up because he wasn't sure if he could provide for me with all that happened and wasn't sure he could raise me right on his own. And he did make sure I got the best care, so I could never be mad at him for that, over the whole year we were reunited we grew a strong bond and my pony family loves him, I'm truly blessed to have two families who love me and that I can enjoy being in both. Family truly is more than blood.
