Author's Note

Ember and Thorax aren't my normal shipping, but the idea came to me and reminds me of myself in a way. I am single and without a partner in my life, however, I live through my Nephews and Niece as if they were my children. So I felt compelled to write this story as a way to give the idea of being able to still live on with hardship as they can always be overcome through means of Family, Friends, Social Circles, and even community. Never stop searching for answers and never give up on hope. Now please, enjoy this tale.

Barren Dragonland

Black smoke blotted out the sky like a canvas, lava spewed from geysers spotted around the ground, the heat of the entire land was something to be compared to that of the sun, and the sound of roaring and fire echoed through the empty valleys. The Dragonlands were considered by most to be too hostile for creatures to live except for the dragons themselves due to needing the heat to hatch their young and act as an additional layer of deterrence to those who would consider stealing one. However, with the joining of Equestrian nations everywhere, creatures big and small traversed the lands in peace with each other, following societal norms where possible.

To travel through the Dragonlands without good reason was usually a terrible idea still, especially during mating season or close to it as competitions between the males were many while females became more defensive. For King Thorax though, he had a mission to come to visit his friend Dragon-lord Ember at urgency. The changeling king's dark green carapace did nothing to protect him from the heat, even with his shapeshifting abilities turning into a dragon would only give him the appearance and not the protection. Even still he pressed on, trotting as fast as he could through the cracked earth and molten plains to avoid contact with the other dragons, and made his way to the stone spire where Ember resided for now.

Reaching the spire he found the entrance much bigger than himself, allowing for his giant orange antlers to go through without needing to adjust their size. He felt more at home anytime a place fit his size without needing to mold himself to fit into the building or surroundings. His purple eyes scanned around the massive cave-like entrance treated with gemstones as the glittering light reflected off the surroundings, his green body seemingly changing color as he looked at the precious stones in awe. As he looked over the different gems a roar boomed behind him which gave the king a scare and caused him to fall face forward from the surprise.

As the changeling lay on the ground the roar turned into a fit of laughter from a familiar voice, Ember, the sapphire blue dragon with fiery red eyes, her talons as sharp as razors if she so wished to use them as such. Her arms wrapped around her stomach as she chuckled away, stuttering her words, "I... wow... I... mean... jeez... Thorax..." she wheezed out.

"Uh... Hi Ember," Thorax said as he got himself back on his hooves and turned around. "I wasn't expecting a welcome like that." His face flushed red with embarrassment as he rubbed the back of his head, looking away from the dragon.

Ember started to calm down from her fit of laughter, taking deep breaths as she spoke as best as she could. "Oh man, you should've seen your face. Just pure terror from such a minor roar too." She wiped tears that rolled down her eyes and shook her head a few more times before she finished out her chuckles. "Either way, welcome to my home. Glad you didn't run into any trouble, otherwise I'd have to crack some knuckledraggers' skulls for trying to hurt ya. Not the first time I've caught someone trying to break the peace treaty because they thought they were better than others." She walked over and wrapped her arm around Thorax's neck and pulled him close before she started walking with him. "So as you can see we do things a bit differently around here, most dragons just hoard treasure in piles, however, I like having mine in a bit more decorative manner to add a bit of flair, being the Dragonlord and all, I felt it was a proper thing to do."

Thorax's face changed to a deep purple as the dragoness' arm strangled the life from him as he was dragged down a hallway. Wheezing as best as he could to get what little air into his lungs, he reached out and tapped on Ember's shoulder who looked down and released him quickly. He gasped as much as he could, inhaling air as if it was food after being in a desert. Coughing and hacking as he took in his release, words stumbled out of his mouth, "That's great... oh my... just give... few seconds... please."

"I'm sorry Thorax, I forgot you aren't used to a dragon's strength. Take your time." Ember blushed red as she patted her friend's back gently, her face painted with the slight shame of nearly killing her guest.

"It's alright Ember, the way you sent your message I figured it was urgent but you seem just a tad bit overly happier than you usually are. Is everything okay?" Thorax shook the last bit of fatigue out of his body as he got himself standing again. His eyes looked deep into the dragoness', trying to see if he could place what was going on as he could feel the heavy emotions swirling around her.

Ember turned her face away from the changeling, her body starting to tremble subtly as her emotions took hold of the reigns. Holding back the tears wanting to release them into a flood but held by the dam she held. "I... well... there is something important I did want to speak with you with." She took hold of her arm with the other one, her demeanor having switched from cheery to somber. "I'll tell you more, just not here. I don't need any of the other dragons hearing about it. Let's go to my chambers since no one dares goes near it." Ember started walking again at an increased pace, leaving the changeling to stare at her back for a few seconds before taking into a gallop to keep up.

Following through the big hollowed cave, the sound of lava flowing through the walls filled the near-dead silence as the pair hurried along the hallways. Thorax kept his eyes glued closely on the dragoness, still trying to figure out what was the matter from her body language and emotions. A large metal door decorated with the finest of gems and gold sat at the end of the hallway and with it being about thirty times the size of both of them, however, it opened with ease to Ember with a single touch of her hand. "Oh wow, that's a big door."

"Had to be to get dad to fit in it when he ruled. Hurry up bug butt, don't need others to see you coming in here and getting ideas." Ember gestured to the open doorway and watched as the green changeling made his way through with haste before she closed the door behind them.

The room was just as massive as the door but was wide open except for a few piles of gold lying around along with a giant purple silk cushion sitting in the center of the room that would equal the size of a house. The bloodstone scepter sat in a holster near the cushion, the crimson glow of its magic emanating and coating the white stone floor in the red light. The smell of sulfur and ash filled the air along with the sight of molten magma flowing down through part of the wall towards the outside.

"It seems pretty homely of a place Ember. I could fit nearly all my hive in here without issue." Thorax looked in awe at all the space that could be used and only stayed for a single dragon. "So what do you need to talk to me about?" He took his stance in front of the dragoness, his back towards the giant cushion.

Ember's cheeks turned red with embarrassment as she took steps toward the changeling. "It's not a simple thing and I needed someone to speak with to hear what they think." She opened her wings and took a launch upward, closing them again to fall onto the cushion with a soft landing. "I... well... I guess... ya, I should start from the beginning. So years ago is when I met Spike before you, and he sorta grew on me from there. Then after some talking with him as ambassador things started to get a bit more intimate from there. We dated and eventually mating season arrived, I claimed Spike as my mate to bring a clutch of eggs for my own, however, nothing came of it. We mated and I didn't lay a clutch." Ember trembled as she spoke, her eyes starting to water.

Thorax felt his gut being punched as the sadness swept through his body like a raging river, pulling anything with it in the mighty rapids. He knew something wasn't right but now it felt even worse as he tried to keep the negative emotions at bay from overwhelming him. "So something happened that you didn't expect then. Are you sure it wasn't maybe just a fluke type of thing?"

"It wasn't, we tried for a second time as well. When it happened again, I went to see some of the top medical experts. I found answers I didn't want to hear but had to be told." Tears now rolled down Ember's cheeks as she tried to cover her face with her claws. Her voice turned to sobs as she forced out the words, "I'm infertile, I'm unable to lay a brood of my own. I don't think Spike will want to try another time with me if he finds out but I don't know what I should do."

Carefully, Thorax climbed up the cushion and placed himself beside his crying friend, taking care to not get his leg or hoof caught in her thick blue spines or curved horns as he wrapped it around her back and locked her between the two front hooves. Once he had her secured he rocked slowly back and forth letting her drain the sorrow that had seemed to be pooled inside, along with all the stress, shame, and frustration. "It's okay Ember, let it all out. I don't know personally how it feels but I can taste all those negative emotions and how bitter they are. I can say without a doubt that Spike wouldn't abandon you because he's the one that stood by my side when I joined the Pony society, even going as far as getting me citizenship in the Crystal Empire as a traitor to my kind."

The dragoness pushed herself deeper into Thorax's comforting hug as the tears still fell from her eyes. Blubbering and sniffling, Ember choked on her emotions as she tried to regain the oxygen she emptied in her wails of grief. Her claw grasped onto the carapace and scrapped against it as she sobbed. "I... do... he... how... could..." she stuttered out not able to fully get out the rush of thoughts that crushed her mind under the weight of the mountain they had formed.

Kissing the dragoness on the forehead, Thorax shushed her gently as if he was coddling a child. "Ember, just listen to your heart and you'll know that what I say is true. Spike is different from other dragons as he wasn't raised by them, he understands being different. Now go ahead and calm yourself, I think I can solve your problem but I need you to be all here and not just a part of you, okay?" He gave a gentle fatherly look down into the water-logged red eyes of Ember who was still sulking away her pain.

A few more minutes passed as the dragoness dried her tears, her stomach turning to the point of minor hiccups, and the weight of her mind being lifted off her shoulders. Ember gave a sniff before wiping the last tear clear of her eye with a single claw. "Alright Thorax, I think I'm good now. Do you truly have something that can help or are you just saying that to try and make me feel better?" She pushed the changeling's hoof off her shoulder with care as she looked him in the purple orbs for his so-called eyes.

Nodding to the question with a smile on his face, Thorax said, "I do have a possible solution, however, it is not something that we do much anymore as changelings, it was something that we used to do back when we weren't well," he gestured to his colorful body.

"I'll try anything Thorax, anything to help me feel more normal," she begged as she grabbed onto his shoulders. "Please just tell me what it is that I need to do to help and I'll do it."

Thorax grimaced just a bit at the dragoness' desperation but felt how much she really wanted this to happen, just as he had when he joined pony society. "Okay, okay, just slow down a little bit while I explain. Back when we tried to conquer Equestria and other places, we used a technique of slowly taking over while growing our army. We'd mate with what we were after, studying every inch of bodies so we could replicate sensations for intimacy without causing problems. While we mated with others we'd lay our eggs into the wombs of females, or sometimes into the anuses of males."

Ember's face turned to a one of slight horror hearing what the changelings did, her stomach doing a flip in terror but her heart yearning for that chance. "Sounds like it would have been noticeable for something like you to come out of another species. Doesn't sound like it will help me at all." Her face and mouth dropped into a frown, disappointment starting the cycle again.

"Hold on, that's only the first part. We laid our eggs, but when it came to the actual birth they would come out as if they were that species. If it was something that only gave birth to a single child then we'd only plant an egg, maybe two for twins. However, if it was an egg-laying species, the eggs would take on the shape, size, and coloration of that species as well. Everything birthed would look just like the normal species only later converting back into a changeling shape as they grew off the love of the host."

"So you're saying that if you plant changeling eggs in me, I'd still give birth to dragons, but they'd later turn into changelings down the road." Ember looked with some hope again.

Thorax nodded and responded, "However there is one thing we never experimented with, that being having another species male to impregnate the eggs that have adapted to a host's body. So there is a possibility that if you mate with Spike after I've added the eggs to your body, then you could potentially have fully-fledged whelps. That's assuming that is how it could work but again we've never done that before other than to conquer, so it really is a risky choice either way."

Ember sat there silent, the idea racing through her head of having her own brood to call her own, but at the same time, the risk of them being changeling instead of dragons was a big risk as well. Potential heartache knowing her children could not be her own in terms of species. "I just want to ask one more thing Thorax. Does planting the eggs hurt?"

"That I can say with confidence is not a problem. The eggs are soft and flexible to allow for things to pass by if planted into a male and are small in size until your body goes into birthing mode where they'll change into what they are supposed to be." Thorax set his hoof on Ember's lap, he could feel the hesitation she leaked but could feel the heavy negative emotions alleviating and being replaced with some happier ones. "I'd say give it some thought before choosing or it might be something you can discuss with Spike. How's that sound?"

Still lost in her thoughts, Ember nodded in agreement to the changeling, her body unmoving as her mind was wracked with so much to take in. As she sat there Thorax got up off the cushion and down onto the floor below. Unable to comprehend what was going on, all she made out was his last words, "Contact me in a few days with your answer and I'll be back to talk it over more if need be."