Finding your Wings

When Aunty Lofty woke Spike up, it was with surprising grace. Given their rocky relationship, Spike was almost expecting to be brought back with a bucket of ice water. Then again, that would be just as harsh on Scootaloo, and Aunty Lofty didn't dislike Scootaloo in the slightest. Then again, Scootaloo wasn't in bed.

"Where's Scootaloo?" Spike asked. "She was here last night."

"She left early. She said she didn't want to wake you, but I have orders from Twilight to do so anyway."

Spike climbed out of bed. "Did she say where she was going?"

"She said she was going to talk to the princess. That's where you were heading, anyway, so you should have no trouble finding her."

Spike nodded. "Right. Thanks." He stood up and trotted over to the door, then turned and looked back. "And, uh... Thanks as well for being so kind this morning. I really appreciate it."

As he made his way down the stairs, he was stopped by Aunt Holiday. "Spike, dear, would you like some breakfast? I made waffles."

"No, but thank you," declined Spike. "I'm supposed to make breakfast for Twilight, and I'll just make some for myself, as well. But it's kind of you to offer."

"Okay, well, just make sure it's something healthy. You're a growing boy, after all."

Spike rushed back to the castle, completely forgetting to stop by Sugarcube Corner. By the time he thought about it, he was already in the middle of making a batch of his own waffles, blueberry and sunflower seed.

Just as he was finishing, Ember walked in. "So this is where you've been hiding."

Spike looked back. "I wasn't hiding. I have chores to do. This is one of them."

Ember shook her head. "Your mate is a real pain in my arse."

Spike looked back over his shoulder. "My mate?"

"The one with your eggs; Scooter-something."

"Scootaloo."

"Yeah, her."

"What'd she do?"

"She pounds on my door this morning, demanding to speak with me. Garble answers the door and tells her that the law is non-negotiable, and she straight-up punches him in the cloaca." She chuckled. "He had it coming, honestly..."

"Where'd she go after she left?"

"She didn't leave," scoffed Ember. "I was impressed enough to grant her an audience. At first, she was trying to negotiate a new exemption, but I'm not granting one. She tried everything, first trying to make me forget that she was having eggs in the first place by citing a twenty percent chance of pregnancy based on four failed tests and the fact that I haven't seen the eggs, so how could I know they exist. Well, that didn't change my mind, so she tried to argue that I could just send a midwife to watch over you."

"Wouldn't that work?"

Ember shook her head. "While it would solve the problem of their education and care, it's still not going to solve the sovereignty problem." She sighed. "Look, if it weren't for the fact that there were other, more important rules to change, I'd try to fix this one, but changing the laws of all dragonkind takes a lot of work. And if we throw them out, the two hundred and forty-eight alliances would all collapse, and we wouldn't be a united nation, but a warring group of petty states. Confederacy has a way of giving minorities inferiorities."

"We use a tetrarchy," chuckled Spike.

"She did suggest a plan that would absolutely work, but there's a problem with it."

Spike's eyes shot open. "I'll make it work! What is it?!"

Ember held up her claw to silence him. "One of the most interesting factors in diplomacy is the ability to establish and maintain embassies. If we, the dragons, were to negotiate for a small enclave right here near Ponyville, say, just outside of the city, we could install an ambassador to Equestria right outside your gate. Not only would it make communications between the two sides easier, but it would make that plot of land the sovereign territory of the dragons, meaning any eggs hatched on that soil would be rightful citizens of the dragon lands. Having a midwife stationed there would then solve all of your problems."

"Great," answered Spike. "Let's do that! Twilight would totally agree to international and interspecies cooperation!"

Ember shook her head. "To say it is easy. To actually do it is much more complicated."

"Well, you just stated the steps. It sounds like it'd be pretty easy."

"Okay, Spike." Ember crossed her mind and leaned back. "Name one dragon who has the social skills to interact with ponies, the selflessness to speak for the whole of dragonkind, and the generosity to spend his own horde to build a structure to house the eggs of another dragon."

"How about Spike?" he smiled, puffing out his chest. "I'll gladly do it!"

"And also, is a legal citizen of the dragon lands?"

Spike's chest sank back in. "Surely, there's someone..."

"Perhaps," sighed Ember, "But I'm not familiar with any. Who knows; your kids may be the first. If they're up for it, they can prevent this problem from ever happening a second time."

The door opened and Scootaloo walked in. She looked scared, but she walked up to Spike and grabbed his claw. "I'm sorry, Spike, but I had to. Even Princess Luna thinks it's for the best."

Spike furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

Ember chimed in. "I haven't finished, yet. You might want to hold off on your apology until I've told him what you decided on."

Spike's jaw dropped. "What'd you do?"

Scootaloo swallowed hard. "I made it so that your eggs won't be abandoned by their parents, and you don't have to leave Twilight." She took a deep breath. "I agreed to the terms this morning. Twilight's gathering the paperwork right now."

"Scooperoo here has found a way to keep you here in Ponyville without separating your eggs from their parent," agreed Ember. "Not by changing the law, ignoring it, or through means that almost no dragon would agree to, but by way of her own tenacity and resolve. She knew what she wanted, and she made it happen. Very brave, for a pony."

Spike was still for a moment. "What did you actually do, though?"