Dragons like it hot and comfyby AkatajaChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 4Chapter 3Chapter 1It had been a year since Ember and Thorax spent a night in that cave and since she had laid an egg on the toilette of the Friendship Castle. It was her very first egg, never before she had been close enough with a male to make an egg. She had left the castle early with the egg, just telling her friends there was an emergency in the family. The pony princess Twilight gave her a magical flying cart, that brought her back to the dragon lands without her suffering through the cold weather. The egg had to be in a warm and safe spot before the protective mother slime dried off. Now a year had passed by. A year in which the egg had rested well in the cave of the Dragon Lord. Ember had kept it warm with her own fire and the underground lava streams. The life inside was growing steady and healthy. The egg was her little secret, but as the pony celebration, named Hearts Warming Eve, came closer she knew it would soon be time for the egg to hatch. Usually, as a dragon lady, this was all Ember's business. Male dragons - at least most of them - don't care much for the eggs they produce, they are making eggs during mating time and then move back to their treasure. And it was better that way, at least it worked well enough so that the dragon kind kept on existing. Most dragon babies don't even know who is their father, Ember only knew her father because he had been the dragon lord of his time. Ember made sure to always have an eye on her egg, it was precious to her and she had noticed that it had changed! Thanks to the purple spots it still looked like a dragon's egg, but the white slowly had turned to black! She was not sure what was going on, but she had a clear idea of who to ask, the smart purple pony. Spike's magical pony friend/sister/mother was an expert on magical supernatural and odd things and a dragon egg changing its color is a magical odd thing for sure. She had a magical crystal to contact the ponies, a gift from Spike, it looked delicious, and as a dragon, she had a hard time not just eating it. She used it as Spike had told her and around half an hour later a magical portal opened, pinkish magic sparkled everywhere and there was this magical "Whoosh Whoosh" sound, this kind of magic was annoying to Ember, really annoying. Out of the portal stepped the purple pony princess - or was she a queen by now? Ember wasn't sure, but she also didn't care -, Ember had to recognize her name, she was an important pony, on a personal and a political level, Quick Ember! What was her name? "Twilight, I am glad to see you," Ember said and she hoped it was the right name, she knew at least three ponies with a similar name! "Ember, I am happy to be here," Twilight said with a smile. "I apologize for the sudden portal, but I am experimenting with new kinds of magic." Ember was not sure, but it seemed like Twilight had grown a bit. And another pony stepped through the portal! A surprise! It was the yellow pony with feathers, the quiet type, Ember was sure she knew the name, something with being shy? Timidie? Or Mousy? "You remember Fluttershy, right?" Asked Twilight "Of course! Fluttershy!" Ember said with a gasp. "I asked for her help because she is very good with egg-laying animals and eggs. Of course, I know dragons are no ordinary amphibians or reptiles or so... um, no offense" Twilight had a little blush while speaking. "None taken." Answered Ember "Wait, I thought you were afraid of dragons?" Ember now asked to Fluttershy. Shy didn't answer herself, but Twilight did "She feels a little bit uncomfortable around adult dragons, but she loves baby dragons." Ember decided to accept this behavior and lead them to the egg, she didn't tell them about the parents, just what happened to the egg over this year. Twilight used her magic on the egg and Fluttershy touched it, just very gently, with her feathers, or her nose, or that soft inner part of her hoof, she didn't know how hard a dragon egg was and Ember thought it was kinda cute how she acted around it. She even cooed and whispered to the egg! Of course, the egg couldn't answer, but the feather pony acted like it could. Ember waited with patience, this wasn't her strong side, but her egg was too important, and for the sake of her precious egg, she was willing to wait. "Good, I think I can assume that the youngling inside is all healthy, also it's female." Explained Twilight when she was done. Ember was glad, she didn't care for the gender, but she felt happy when Twilight told her it was healthy. She wanted to thank her, but then Twilight would be suspicious about why this egg meant so much to her. "Also it's a charming little thing" When Fluttershy spoke it was like a whisper, like a gentle breeze, one of these breezes that are so rare in dragon lands, Ember felt like she had to hold her breath and close her eyes to hear her, "I think she will grow into a strong-willed leader, just like her mommy." "W-what?" Ember tried to play it cool, but she was nervous all of a sudden "You don't know who is the mother." "Aren't you the mommy?" Asked Shy back. "Y-yes" Ember tried not to panic. "Don't worry, we won't tell your friends," Fluttershy said with a soft voice and a warm smile, "It is not our business who is the dad." "But it is kinda important." Said Twilight "Because that's the thing, it's a hybrid." "You did know that, right?" Asked Fluttershy blushing hard. Wait! Was she assuming that Ember had multiple males, so many that she didn't know who made the egg with her? "Of course!" Ember gasped and blushed so hard that even her scales became red, she was not that kind of egg-hoarding female dragon who needs at least five males! Ember nearly shouted and Shy hid behind her wings, shivering a bit. Ember sighed, she didn't want to scare the feather pony, even if it was easy and her younger me would surely have liked that, she had matured into a responsible dragon lord. "Sorry, I was just surprised. Dragon families are not like your pony families, we mostly grow up in a commune, and the younglings are protected by the adult dragons, mostly females. Some of us don't even know who our parents are and don't even care. In all honesty, I always felt kinda envy of Spike that he had real parents and siblings, pony parents and siblings nonetheless, but people he loved and loved him and took care of him as an individual. Smolder and Spike are good examples of pony influence on dragons, but I am afraid I am a bit stubborn when it comes to such changes." Ember said and meant what she said. "So, it could be important," Twilight said "Who, or at least what, is the father?" "It is Thorax, right?" Asked Fluttershy, still hiding behind her wings. Twilight and Ember looked at her surprised. "She has such a gentle character, speaking to her feels like speaking to him." "But she can't speak yet, she is still in the egg." Said Ember, still trying to figure out how Fluttershy could know who the father was. "Oh deer. She doesn't need the ability to speak to talk with her. "Fluttershy told her with a smile. Twilight and Ember were both speechless at this point. "Anyway!" Twilight spoke a word to break the silence like a plate of glass that pressed down on them "You should visit the changeling hive with the egg, we don't know much about Changeling eggs, especially since there have been no new ones since Chrysalis is gone. To make sure everything is okay with the little one you need a Changeling." Ember gasped, visiting the Hive. Visiting Thorax? "That's impossible, I mean around this time of the year. There is a huge area of snow and ice and storms around the dragon lands around this time, it's very hard for a grown-up dragon to get through this. An egg would never be able to get through!" "That's okay," said Twilight "I can open a portal and come with you." The plan was simple enough and around this time of the year there was not much to do in the dragon lands, most of the dragons were sleeping, or lounging in the lava seas, idle on hot rocks, or just lazing about. "okay, let's do this!" Ember said motivated and very carefully took her egg out of its nest, holding it tight to her chest. Chapter 2The sparkling pink portal opened up at the edge of the Changeling Hive and the two ponies and the dragon lord stepped out of it. "Here we are, the magical stone and ore inside the hive repel any kind of magic that is not changeling magic. That's why I couldn't bring us any closer, but all of us have wings and we can just fly over there." Soon they landed in front of the hive and of course, all of the insect-like changelings surrounded them to greet them properly. As soon as Thorax heard of the surprise visit he ran from his throne to the entrance of the hive. The tall male changeling was excited to see his friends again. "Princess Twilight, Fluttershy, it's nice to see you here," Thorax said with a wide smile. "It's a pleasure to be here Thorax," Twilight said, "We have a very special visitor for you today." And as Thorax heard that a familiar female voice called him, "Hello, Thorax." "Ember?" His heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard her voice. She stood before him, the blue female dragon looked more beautiful than ever before. She had her egg between her claws and was looking down at it, but not with a proud smile, but with a worried expression. Thorax was speechless. "Well, you see... there is something to talk about." She said as she stroke over the black egg. Thorax was not sure if he should say something, he didn't even know what he should say. "Oh, you should go to your private room." Suggested Fluttershy, her face had a deep blush on it, "This is a very private matter." "She is right." Said Twilight. All the Changelings were looking at that egg, and they were looking like they never had seen an egg before. Ember could hear some whispering, she was confused but understood that she and Thorax would need some time alone. Ember was still blushing when she and Thorax entered his room, and another changeling, his brother Pharynx, changeling closed the door. "Ember, this is unexpected." Thorax said, he was also a little bit nervous. "Is this really what it looks like?" Ember nodded. "Oh, wow, that's incredible." "You don't need to be so nice about it," Ember said. "We both know this is neither what a dragon or changeling egg should look like." "Could we please take a step back? This is- I mean" he had to gulp and concentrate again "we made this egg, right?" "Yes, in a cave last year." Ember was all red again when she remembered that night. "That's... um... oh boy. We are parents!" Ember laughed "That's kinda obvious, but we both know it's a special case. A hybrid." "So, I am the dad? I mean, that's the only option, right?" Ember blushed again and nodded, Thorax was still the only male she had been with. Thorax couldn't resist anymore, he walked over to her and hugged Ember and the egg. "I am so happy!" He whispered. "Really? I thought you would freak out." Ember whispered. "Why? This is great! In more than just one sight. There is a hybrid changeling queen inside this egg, our daughter! And by the amount of love I feel in that egg, I can tell you have been a very good mother. You have to understand that a dragon egg may need heat but a changeling egg needs love and you have given so much to her." Ember blushed again "I indeed treat this egg special, heating it every day with my very own fire, turning it carefully with my claws" The blush got even stronger "and when I couldn't sleep at night, I pulled it close in my nest, stroking it and" She hesitated to tell that detail, but if not Thorax, who else would understand? "and singing." "I didn't know dragons are singing for their eggs?" "Usual we don't but how it turned out music has a real good effect on our eggs and the hatching youngling" She remembered how Garbl played these stupid little drums for the eggs, mainly to make the dragons around laugh and turn on the flames on max heat, but also it turned out the music made the younglings inside grow better. "also Spike showed me some songs from the ponies. It seems like ponies have a tradition called lullaby." "Wait! Dragons don't know lullabies?" "Our Family dynamics are different, okay?" Ember remembered her youth, she was raised by the dragon lord and her childhood was a prime example of how a dragon should be raised, she was mostly on her own, she had to learn how to get stronger to survive and how to feed herself. Her father put some tests on her, but he never really spent time with her. She was taught that the most important thing is to be tough and strong, a dragon has to be superior and the best dragon is supposed to be strongest and of course, the best dragon doesn't need anyone. But Spike proved that there was another way. Maybe the first reason why Ember kept her egg a secret was, because she didn't want her daughter to be raised like a dragon, she wanted her to be raised in a real family, with lulabys and the other things Spike told her about. Ember did not realize that her memories made her space out for a moment and Thorax was worried when she stood there like a cute dragon queen statue. "Ember? Is everything alright?" "Ah!" The lady dragon gasped in surprise "Right, sorry, just a bit tired, this magical sparkly portal thing we used to get here is so annoying. Also, I had a question, about the egg." "No worries, she is doing fine, you did a really good job with her." "By accident, yes, maybe if I had treated this egg like any egg she could..." Ember doesn't even want to end that sentence, she doesn't want to think about what could have happened to the little one inside the egg. "Maybe it would have been better not to keep it a secret and speak to you right ahead." "Don't torture yourself like that, even if I had known about her I would have trusted you with her, besides, I am not sure this place here is good for her either." "Wait, what!?" Did Thorax, the softest and most emotional creature she knew, tell her that his hive was dangerous? "Let me explain, usual we sleep around this time of the year, but right now we use our magic to keep this place warm because we want to celebrate Heart Warming Eve on our own for the first time before we dig into the earth and just freeze before it gets warm again. We have no idea how to take care of an egg, this is all the queen's business and we don't have a queen anymore. In the past, Chrysalis used her magic to spread the love we harvested to feed the eggs, and make them grow and hatch one day. We left that part long ago, and it was good, our mother had become greedy and turned us into greedy little monsters." During Thorax's explanation, Ember had to think, that while Changelings turn into small greedy monsters, some of the dragons turn into big greedy monsters, and given how it turned out for the changeling with Queen Chrysalis, maybe the dragons would have faced a similar destiny? Maybe without Spike Ember would have faced the same doom as Crysalis? "What I want to say is that we have an alternate lifestyle by now, we have found out that it is better to share love instead of taking it, but we have no queen anymore that can take care of the eggs. As it turns out the remaining eggs take up love as we can do it, we just need to share it, but Mother's last eggs have hatched and there will be no new changelings anymore." Thorax's expression changed, he seemed worried all of a sudden "And now you are showing up here, with an egg that contains a changeling queen, my daughter." "But you told me your people don't need a queen anymore," Ember said confused. "True, in the past we needed the Queen, Chrysalis, to spread the love we have gathered, and that is not needed anymore. But only a queen, can produce the fertile eggs we need to hatch new changelings, our children. Chrysalis never laid an egg containing a new queen, she never thought of a successor and only produced drones, and drones can't lay eggs. Also, I don't want to bore you with how our biological reproduction works, but let me put it down to that: Without a Changeling Queen there will be no new changelings and our hive will vanish within the next generations." "That sounds terrible. Wait, what will happen to our daughter if the Changelings find out?" "I guess she will become the new changeling queen, but that would mean she needs to stay here, forever." Ember gasped in shock and held her egg closer to herself, she even made a few steps from Thorax on instinct. "Wait! No! I would never take her from you!" Said Thorax "And I don't think any of us would be so gruesome, at least right now. I can't say what will be in the future. Don't get me wrong, thanks to our friends and the love we share, our life span is way longer than it used to be, Twilight thinks even a simple drone can live around a hundred years, and Queen Chrysalis was several hundred years old. But in the end, regardless of how healthy your life is or how much love you get, time will get all of us. One day the last member of our hive will die, I have to smile when I think that she or he will have lived a life full of love and that there is nothing to regard, but it will be still the last of us and after that day, the hive is gone and I can't and won't blame any changeling who feels fear because of that." Ember sighed, she had to think of this. Dragons can live very long too, far longer than a hundred years, her dad even told her he was there when Princess Celestia raised the sun for the first time, but these creatures, the lovable cute little bugs, only had such a short life span? Even Thorax himself? Wait! What was that strange feeling? Something warm and wet touched her cheek. She was crying! "W-wait! Ember, please don't cry, I don't want to make you sad." "N-no, that's not your fault, I mean, you are telling the truth. I have never been good with such deep conversations, or feelings in general." She was sniffing and tears were running down her cheeks. "Before I knew Spike, I didn't know what friends are and when I learned about it, I thought about it as a treasure that keeps on giving and giving and I never faced the truth, that friendship can be forever, but life still ends and how sad it would make me lose a friend. This sudden realization is a bit much for me." Thorax couldn't just watch, he had to hug her. His magical flames turned him into a big fluffy bear, he knew that Ember liked that form for cuddles. And indeed she cuddled into that hug very tight. Thorax felt Ember's feelings right now and while he was so close to the egg, he could also feel his daughter. Chapter 4It turned out, that preparing a festival like for Hearts Warming Eve was more complex than Ember thought! Just decorating the whole hive was a ton of work, but there was more to do, the music, the cleaning, and the food. Of course, Changelings don't need regular food, their special bodies survive on the energy they get from love, but they can still eat for fun and pure enjoyment. Thorax asked Ember to help them, it was her celebration as well and he told her not to hold back on her wishes and ideas. She had a good idea where she wanted to start with, the music. "We already have an orchestra," Thorax told her. "A what?" "An orchestra, like an organized group of musicians." "That's good, I have a suggestion. There are a few traditional dragon songs and I could sing them." "S-sing?" Thorax nearly freaked out. "Yes. I am a very good singer!" "No doubts, no doubts, it's just. Um... you see." Thorax tried not to freak out completely. "Come on, it can't be that bad. I can even teach dragon songs." "It's not that," Thorax told her. "What is it, then? Come on, don't tell me Changelings can't sing." "Oh no, we can. It's just..." "What is it!?" "You are a female." "And?" "We, males, are not supposed to listen to a female's singing." "Why?" Thorax blushed hard "It's the way the queen calls for" he tried to sweeten the truth "a male when she needs a very intimate time." "Like a mating call?" Thorax blushed even more. "Oooh, that makes sense. So, it's okay for me to sing?" "Um, yes, f-for me, but maybe not for the whole hive unless you... well..." "Ouh! oh! Ummm... r-right... the whole hive might be not a good idea." Both were blushing. "B-but it's okay, really, for me, the others won't get that mad. I mean, there will be more important things going on." "Okay, what else could I do?" "How about a feast?" "That's easy, I can hunt and cook an animal." "We don't need any meat, we can't eat it anyway, but we can enjoy some spices and flavors, especially nectar and other sweets, mostly plant-based meals." "Okay, I am not a big fan of flowers and such, but I can try my best." "I come with you, to help. The flowers we need are growing in an underground cave, it is a bit dangerous out there, and the wildlife is aggressive around that time of the year." "I am not afraid of some wildlife. But what about the egg?" "Pharnyx will take care of her," said Thoray and nodded. "My brother was born to protect the queen... littery, he is a soldier drone, a fighter. I trust him, ever since we lost our Mother, the queen, he seemed so lost, without any purpose, but since the egg is here I can feel his spirit rising, he is full of hope again." Both oft hem looked over to Pharnyx, who was sitting next to the egg and gently rubbed it with some glowing mushrooms, special mushrooms that gave out a nice warmth to the egg. “I think that okay.” Said Ember with a smile. So Ember and Thorax left and walked outsite to the near by caves. The magic of the hive has changed the nature in this area, or maybe the hive was build here because of that magical plant here? No one could tell. The two of them soon walked toward a cave that was all green, moss and small flowers were growing around the entrance. Ember looked at the flowers, they were dripping! “Is that the stuff we are looking for?” She asked as she got a drop on her claw and sniffled it… very sweet! “Indeed, but the flowers outside of the cave are way to small, we have to go inside.” They entered the cave. Ember had been in a lot of caves, but this one was different. There was no sun light but still a lot of plants, in fact far more plants than around the cave. The only light here came from small glowing gems inside the caves walls, it was a warm pulsating live and gave Ember the impression that they walked inside a giant animals insides and it was breathing through that light! This was like one of these dreams, in which her father ate her in one bite and she had to wander through his insides until she starved to death… not a very pleasant dream for sure. Just thinking about that made her heart beat faster and some sweat rolled over her forehead. Of course Thorax noticed how her behaviour changed. He looked over to her while they walked over the moss covered ground. “Ember? Is something wrong?” “Hm? What? No, no, everything fine… definitely not reminded of a nightmare down here.” She said and gulped, he could see how she was shivering. “it’s a bit easier when we are deeper in the cave, wait, I have an idea!” Said Thorax and used his magic, the magical flames enlighten the surrounding for a second and then he had transformed into a big grizzly bear! He knew Ember liked that form, because it was not just big and strong, but also cozy and fluffy. He moved in and grabbed the Dragon Lord by her hip to put her on his big fluffy back. “Hey what are you doing!?” “You might close your eyes for a while.” “I told you everything is fine! I am not scared or such a thing!” He felt her claws she was holding to his fur like her life was depending on it, he could feel her fear and her pride, very strong emotions and he knew it was not easily to handle. “Come on Ember, its me. I know you are the strongest and bravest person. You don’t have to act like you are strong… and you deserve to feel comfortable.” His voice was rough and deep in this form, it felt like a warm comfy hug for the ears. “I want you to be up there and close your eyes, for me.” Ember hesitate for a moment, but with every new pulse of glowing light she felt more and more like she was swallowed by a giant monster. She hold tight to the fluffy fur and pushed her face into his back. “okay, but just for you and because it I Hearts Warming Eve.” She said while inhaling his scent. With closed eyes there was no pulsating light, but it felt like she still could hear it, a sound without any volume, that sunk deeper and deeper into her mind. Thorax walked slowly, carefully not to drop Ember form his back, but then, after a few minutes, she shouted out “For the sake of all Dragons! Say something!” “Something?” He asked back confused. “Anything, please.” “Okay, okay. Well, we could speak about the egg?” “Hope.” “What?” “I think that’s a nice name for her, you called her that before.” “Indeed” he said with a chuckle “so, lets talk about Hope. She is your first egg?” “Yes, well, Dragons lay eggs from a certain age, but only if the egg get fertiled, or else our body will just reabsorb it. After the egg is out we usual put them together with the others, is easier to protect a huge pile of egg than a hundred scattered over the whole dragon lands. I should have put Hope to the others, but something… a feeling… told me not to do it and to keep it close.” “Wont she have a special position during the dragons? I mean you are the Dragon Lord.” “And your mother was the Queen of Changelings, still you had no special position.” “Well, yes, but all of us are children of Chrysalis.” “The Dragon Lord usual lives and reigns for hundreds and thousand of years, when his time comes to an end he choose a hire for the dragon staff, it don’t has to be one of the Lords children. My father was had beaten all other dragons in a fight about the sceptre and won it with brutal force. I only have it because Spike gave it to me, don’t get me wrong, I would have kicked every dragons butt that day with ease, but it turned out that the Pony Way lead to the win instead of the way of brutal force. I might think of a new way to choose the next Dragon Lord, maybe Spike and his pony Friends will help me with that.” “I think you make a real good Dragon Lord, you are not just strong and brave, you also are smart… and beautiful.” “Hey, don’t think you can get me so easily just because we are alone and in a cave.” Both of them had to chuckle. “Okay, we are here, you can open your eyes again.” Said Thorax after a while. Ember opened her eyes and gasped, Thorax had carried her into a huge cage and there was a giant golden Krystall glowing bright like a small sun right under the roof of the cave. The Cave looked like a forest that had emerged around a lake. Ember saw a lot of small animals living here, some insects flying between all the different colourful flowers. Also she could see they target, a small Island in the middle of the lake and on that island grew some real big flowers, dripping the sweet nectar they were looking for. “Ha, that was easy.” Said Ember and spread her wings, ready to fly over to the Island. “No so fast! You remember what I told you about the wildlife?” Thorax picked up leave form the ground and gave it a gentle blow so it levitated over the water and all of a sudden something came out of the water! Ember could only see it for a second, but it looked like a giant worm covered with horns and claws! It was around the same size as her father was, or even taller, considering the idea that most of his body was still under water. “What the frigg!?” She said and gasped “The Krystall Worm.” Said Thorax “Usual it is digging through the ground, but around this time of the year it lives in lakes like this, laying its eggs, that’s why it is very aggressive and attacks everything that comes close to the lake. It would take a hundred changelings to overpower the worm.” “I could definitely try to overpower it, I am a fire breathing Dragon Lord!” Said Ember with a smirk and hit her fist inside the palm of her hand. But then she had to think of what they just talked about and what happened through the last year “but there might be another way.” Ember and Thorax made a plan and went into position. Ember made her way on a tree to get a higher position and spread her legs. She made a huge jump and start gliding. She flew in circles around the leg to get some speed before she dashed down like an arrow! Straight into the water! She could see the worms under water, at least three of this giant monsters and they spotted her immediately and darted toward her! These worms were surprisingly fast, but Ember was fast too. She waited for them to get closer before she turned just enough to grab one of they horns. The worm shoot out of the water with her and she let go of the horn, she spread her wings and the wind grabbed her and threw her up in the air, but the worms still got after her! She could fly out of they reach, but she dashed down again, between them. As she already had thought, the worms couldn’t move freely as long as they were so many so close to each other. They were blocking each other and Ember had more than enough chances to dodge. Once she landed on one worms head and grabbed one of the big horns again to have hold. It was exhausting to fly around like that, making so many turns and her wings needed a small break. She thought of how easy it would bee to rib that horn out of the worm and use it as a weapon, or just fry them good with her flames, but this was no option! She jumped off the the worm when the others attacked her and all three crashed together and when they fall back into the water with full weight water splashed everywhere and Ember couldn’t see for a few second. These few seconds were enough for one of the worms to get up again and dart straight to her, she looked around in time to see the beasts giant mouth and all its teeth. It bite and dashed back into the water! Ember had grabbed two teeth with her hand claws and two other teeth with her feed claws and hold that big mouth open with her pure muscles strength while the beast had her under water and grinded her through the ground of the lake! Oxygen was lacking, lungs burning with pain, she had to act quick! It would be too easy to kill it with fire right now, but she couldn’t. She decided to break out one of the teeth! The sudden pain made the monster scream and it sling Ember up in the air and out of the water. The Dragon Lady had just a second time to catch some breath before all three worms gout out of the water again! But then finally, there was the signal, Thorax had turned into an owl and his call was what she had waited for. Ember spit out a huge Fireball right under her into the water, not hot enough to boil the worms, but hot enough to make a big steam explosion, covering her cunning escape while the worms were blinded. She landed next to Thorax who just turned back and looked back at the three worms, looking around confused and slowly retracted. “Wow, this was amazing.” Said Thorax “and it seems like they had your cornered for a while.” “Nah, not really.” Ember said “could have cooked them in the lake any time.” “Okay… than why did you pulled that stunt?” “There were so many eggs, I cant kill these creatures just because they are protecting they eggs, I would do the same to every creatures that is a threat to Hope.” After that she looked behind Thorax, the changeling had used the distraction Ember had caused to get on the island, change into a giant mole to dig out one of the plants, than change into a big carrying fish to bring it over the river and then place it here. “We can take it to the hive for the festival and afterward bring it back and place it here again to it can regrow it roots.” Thorax transformed into a bear again and Ember hold the plant while Thorax walked back through the pulsating tunnel. “Hey, I am impressed by your skills, I knew you are a great warrior, but I had no Idea how strong you really are!” He said while he could feel Ember on his back, she had pushed her face back into his fur. Her warm breath was stroking over his body and he enjoyed that feeling. “You know, my mother was also really strong, she had a lot of actual good attributes, she was not just the monster we had to fight at the end. She was strong, had an iron will, she knew what she wanted and was really intelligent, ummmm, and I think you have these qualities too, Ember.” “And what about the bad things?” She asked a few seconds later “Being selfish for example? I didn’t told you about Holly because I was afraid of sharing her.” “But you came here, you even want to stay here just for her, you fought three giant worms just to help my people with the celebration and you risk your life just to spare the giant worms eggs! I don’t know what Ember you know, but the Ember I know is anything else than selfish.” Thorax mad a small break, standing for a few seconds and thinking before he continued to walk and spoke again “She is one of the best persons I have ever met and I would even reconsider to say, that I love her.” He could feel how Ember got even warmer all of a sudden. “Don’t say such a thing!” “No, no really Ember.” He turned back as they left the cave and put Ember in front of him “I really love you.” He could see Ember turning bright red in an instant. “Thorax, I…” She couldn’t speak right now. “It’s okay, you don’t need to say anything, I know you are a dragon and that things get complicated and we” He couldn’t end his sentence because Ember put her claw on his lips. “I am not good with words.” She said and just stepped closer to put her forehead to thorax, she closed her eyes and for the first time in her life she just let go of her feelings. Thorax, the changeling who feed on love and can sense the feelings around him, could feel it all of a sudden. His wings were busing and his body start glowing from all the emotions he was feeding right now. Thorax smiled and a tears dripping over his cheeks and as he opened his eyes he could see there was a single tear on Embers cheek too. What she felt right now was beyond her verbal skills, but right now she was glad that Thorax was an changeling and no words were needed right now. They looked at each other for a moment, the bright red had became a cute girlish blush on Embers cheeks, almost as cute as the blush on Thorax face. They meet in a warm and embracing hug and kissed deeply. As they came back to the hive they could see a crowd in front of Thorax chamber. Pharnyx was holding against around twenty other changelings who wanted to enter the chamber and see the egg that hold the hope of the hive. There was a lot of shatter and all of the changelings were talking a once. “Calm down friends” said Pharnyx “You have to wait for Thorax and Ember! It’s an egg and no tourist attraction!” “What’s going on here!?” Shouted Ember and dragon voice made every changeling go silent. Pharnyx looked at Ember that moment, so strong, towering all of them, it was hard ot keep his excitement for himself that moment, his wings wanted to buzz. It was the first time in his life he felt really jealous, because Ember, the Queen, was his brothers mate. “Pharnyx!” She shouted is name and his heart wanted to jump out of his chest, he wanted to kneel before her and kiss her feed claws! “Pharnyx, what about the egg!?” “My” he wanted to call her his queen, but that wouldn’t be right, at least not when his brother was there too “Ember, I think its hatching, it started to glow and move a few minutes ago.” Thorax gasped, that was when he and Ember shared that moment of pure intimate love! The egg, they daughter Hope, she had felt it! Thorax and Ember run through the crowd, all the Changelings had made more than enough space for the two of them. They entered the room and saw the egg, it indeed moving like it wanted to hatch! “W-what are we supposed to do?” Asked Ember and looked at Thorax “A dragons egg can be cracked with pure claws at this point.” “Well, I would politely ask you not to do so.” Said Thorax “After all I learned, the best we can do is this.” He took her hand claw with his hoof and walked over to the egg, he put her hand on the egg as well as his hoof “And now just think of our daughter, let the love flow.” And so she did, thinking of the little wonder. Ember was not good with words, but her feelings were still true and again she was very happy, that her made was able to feel her feelings without words, as well as her daughter would do. All changelings could feel the love at that moment and they gathered around the chamber, it was in fact so much love that they start glowing. And then the egg shell cracked and a big piece of shell just fell to the ground. Thorax and Ember looked at the whole and could see something moving inside, a blinking eye! Hope could see them! “Go ahead little one.” Said Ember and used her free hand to hold to Thorax “We are waiting here for you and what ever happens, we will love you.” And while the egg cracked more and more and the little one inside worked its way outside, it might have been a coincidence, that this day, when ponies celebrate how they united and that they love gave them a new home, that at this day Hope was given to the changelings, to the dragons and all of the world. And regardless what happened to this girl, what ever adventures and friends and enemies and Test it has to face, this day Hope was born, It was indeed a merry Hearts Warming Eve. Chapter 3Fluttershy and Twilight have been waiting outside. As it turned out the changelings were preparing their very own Hearts Warming Eve celebration. It seemed like Thorax's description from last year made all of them eager to have such a celebration here in the hive too. It looked different to how the ponies did it, but it was about the same idea, love for everyone. The ponies celebrate the day when earth ponies, pegasus, and unicorns stopped fighting each other and started to live together. The changelings wanted to think of the day when they learned how to share love. Twilight and Fluttershy started to worry about Ember and the egg, they have been in the hive for several hours by now. “I wonder what takes so long.” Twilight asked and looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy had a bit more experience when it came to social connections between male and female and had a very fine idea of what was going on. A very fine idea that made her blush “ouh deer…” was all she said. The doors opened again and Ember and Thorax came back and everyone was looking over at them. Pharnyx walked behind them, he was caring the black egg very carefully. “My friends and family!” Thorax shouted out to make sure to get every ones attention “Ember, our friend from far far away, brought us something very valuable, hope.” He stepped aside an Pharnyx hold up the egg. There were no other words needed, all the changelings knew what this had to mean and they start cheering. Fluttershy flew up to Ember, her worries were brightly written all over her face “Ember, are you sure about that?” Ember sighed and answered “I wont give her away or such a thing and there are still too many things we don’t know, but the two of us will stay here for a while. No worries, the dragons will be fine, there isn’t that much to do for me either… and what I have to do I can do from here.”
Chapter 1It had been a year since Ember and Thorax spent a night in that cave and since she had laid an egg on the toilette of the Friendship Castle. It was her very first egg, never before she had been close enough with a male to make an egg. She had left the castle early with the egg, just telling her friends there was an emergency in the family. The pony princess Twilight gave her a magical flying cart, that brought her back to the dragon lands without her suffering through the cold weather. The egg had to be in a warm and safe spot before the protective mother slime dried off. Now a year had passed by. A year in which the egg had rested well in the cave of the Dragon Lord. Ember had kept it warm with her own fire and the underground lava streams. The life inside was growing steady and healthy. The egg was her little secret, but as the pony celebration, named Hearts Warming Eve, came closer she knew it would soon be time for the egg to hatch. Usually, as a dragon lady, this was all Ember's business. Male dragons - at least most of them - don't care much for the eggs they produce, they are making eggs during mating time and then move back to their treasure. And it was better that way, at least it worked well enough so that the dragon kind kept on existing. Most dragon babies don't even know who is their father, Ember only knew her father because he had been the dragon lord of his time. Ember made sure to always have an eye on her egg, it was precious to her and she had noticed that it had changed! Thanks to the purple spots it still looked like a dragon's egg, but the white slowly had turned to black! She was not sure what was going on, but she had a clear idea of who to ask, the smart purple pony. Spike's magical pony friend/sister/mother was an expert on magical supernatural and odd things and a dragon egg changing its color is a magical odd thing for sure. She had a magical crystal to contact the ponies, a gift from Spike, it looked delicious, and as a dragon, she had a hard time not just eating it. She used it as Spike had told her and around half an hour later a magical portal opened, pinkish magic sparkled everywhere and there was this magical "Whoosh Whoosh" sound, this kind of magic was annoying to Ember, really annoying. Out of the portal stepped the purple pony princess - or was she a queen by now? Ember wasn't sure, but she also didn't care -, Ember had to recognize her name, she was an important pony, on a personal and a political level, Quick Ember! What was her name? "Twilight, I am glad to see you," Ember said and she hoped it was the right name, she knew at least three ponies with a similar name! "Ember, I am happy to be here," Twilight said with a smile. "I apologize for the sudden portal, but I am experimenting with new kinds of magic." Ember was not sure, but it seemed like Twilight had grown a bit. And another pony stepped through the portal! A surprise! It was the yellow pony with feathers, the quiet type, Ember was sure she knew the name, something with being shy? Timidie? Or Mousy? "You remember Fluttershy, right?" Asked Twilight "Of course! Fluttershy!" Ember said with a gasp. "I asked for her help because she is very good with egg-laying animals and eggs. Of course, I know dragons are no ordinary amphibians or reptiles or so... um, no offense" Twilight had a little blush while speaking. "None taken." Answered Ember "Wait, I thought you were afraid of dragons?" Ember now asked to Fluttershy. Shy didn't answer herself, but Twilight did "She feels a little bit uncomfortable around adult dragons, but she loves baby dragons." Ember decided to accept this behavior and lead them to the egg, she didn't tell them about the parents, just what happened to the egg over this year. Twilight used her magic on the egg and Fluttershy touched it, just very gently, with her feathers, or her nose, or that soft inner part of her hoof, she didn't know how hard a dragon egg was and Ember thought it was kinda cute how she acted around it. She even cooed and whispered to the egg! Of course, the egg couldn't answer, but the feather pony acted like it could. Ember waited with patience, this wasn't her strong side, but her egg was too important, and for the sake of her precious egg, she was willing to wait. "Good, I think I can assume that the youngling inside is all healthy, also it's female." Explained Twilight when she was done. Ember was glad, she didn't care for the gender, but she felt happy when Twilight told her it was healthy. She wanted to thank her, but then Twilight would be suspicious about why this egg meant so much to her. "Also it's a charming little thing" When Fluttershy spoke it was like a whisper, like a gentle breeze, one of these breezes that are so rare in dragon lands, Ember felt like she had to hold her breath and close her eyes to hear her, "I think she will grow into a strong-willed leader, just like her mommy." "W-what?" Ember tried to play it cool, but she was nervous all of a sudden "You don't know who is the mother." "Aren't you the mommy?" Asked Shy back. "Y-yes" Ember tried not to panic. "Don't worry, we won't tell your friends," Fluttershy said with a soft voice and a warm smile, "It is not our business who is the dad." "But it is kinda important." Said Twilight "Because that's the thing, it's a hybrid." "You did know that, right?" Asked Fluttershy blushing hard. Wait! Was she assuming that Ember had multiple males, so many that she didn't know who made the egg with her? "Of course!" Ember gasped and blushed so hard that even her scales became red, she was not that kind of egg-hoarding female dragon who needs at least five males! Ember nearly shouted and Shy hid behind her wings, shivering a bit. Ember sighed, she didn't want to scare the feather pony, even if it was easy and her younger me would surely have liked that, she had matured into a responsible dragon lord. "Sorry, I was just surprised. Dragon families are not like your pony families, we mostly grow up in a commune, and the younglings are protected by the adult dragons, mostly females. Some of us don't even know who our parents are and don't even care. In all honesty, I always felt kinda envy of Spike that he had real parents and siblings, pony parents and siblings nonetheless, but people he loved and loved him and took care of him as an individual. Smolder and Spike are good examples of pony influence on dragons, but I am afraid I am a bit stubborn when it comes to such changes." Ember said and meant what she said. "So, it could be important," Twilight said "Who, or at least what, is the father?" "It is Thorax, right?" Asked Fluttershy, still hiding behind her wings. Twilight and Ember looked at her surprised. "She has such a gentle character, speaking to her feels like speaking to him." "But she can't speak yet, she is still in the egg." Said Ember, still trying to figure out how Fluttershy could know who the father was. "Oh deer. She doesn't need the ability to speak to talk with her. "Fluttershy told her with a smile. Twilight and Ember were both speechless at this point. "Anyway!" Twilight spoke a word to break the silence like a plate of glass that pressed down on them "You should visit the changeling hive with the egg, we don't know much about Changeling eggs, especially since there have been no new ones since Chrysalis is gone. To make sure everything is okay with the little one you need a Changeling." Ember gasped, visiting the Hive. Visiting Thorax? "That's impossible, I mean around this time of the year. There is a huge area of snow and ice and storms around the dragon lands around this time, it's very hard for a grown-up dragon to get through this. An egg would never be able to get through!" "That's okay," said Twilight "I can open a portal and come with you." The plan was simple enough and around this time of the year there was not much to do in the dragon lands, most of the dragons were sleeping, or lounging in the lava seas, idle on hot rocks, or just lazing about. "okay, let's do this!" Ember said motivated and very carefully took her egg out of its nest, holding it tight to her chest.
Chapter 2The sparkling pink portal opened up at the edge of the Changeling Hive and the two ponies and the dragon lord stepped out of it. "Here we are, the magical stone and ore inside the hive repel any kind of magic that is not changeling magic. That's why I couldn't bring us any closer, but all of us have wings and we can just fly over there." Soon they landed in front of the hive and of course, all of the insect-like changelings surrounded them to greet them properly. As soon as Thorax heard of the surprise visit he ran from his throne to the entrance of the hive. The tall male changeling was excited to see his friends again. "Princess Twilight, Fluttershy, it's nice to see you here," Thorax said with a wide smile. "It's a pleasure to be here Thorax," Twilight said, "We have a very special visitor for you today." And as Thorax heard that a familiar female voice called him, "Hello, Thorax." "Ember?" His heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard her voice. She stood before him, the blue female dragon looked more beautiful than ever before. She had her egg between her claws and was looking down at it, but not with a proud smile, but with a worried expression. Thorax was speechless. "Well, you see... there is something to talk about." She said as she stroke over the black egg. Thorax was not sure if he should say something, he didn't even know what he should say. "Oh, you should go to your private room." Suggested Fluttershy, her face had a deep blush on it, "This is a very private matter." "She is right." Said Twilight. All the Changelings were looking at that egg, and they were looking like they never had seen an egg before. Ember could hear some whispering, she was confused but understood that she and Thorax would need some time alone. Ember was still blushing when she and Thorax entered his room, and another changeling, his brother Pharynx, changeling closed the door. "Ember, this is unexpected." Thorax said, he was also a little bit nervous. "Is this really what it looks like?" Ember nodded. "Oh, wow, that's incredible." "You don't need to be so nice about it," Ember said. "We both know this is neither what a dragon or changeling egg should look like." "Could we please take a step back? This is- I mean" he had to gulp and concentrate again "we made this egg, right?" "Yes, in a cave last year." Ember was all red again when she remembered that night. "That's... um... oh boy. We are parents!" Ember laughed "That's kinda obvious, but we both know it's a special case. A hybrid." "So, I am the dad? I mean, that's the only option, right?" Ember blushed again and nodded, Thorax was still the only male she had been with. Thorax couldn't resist anymore, he walked over to her and hugged Ember and the egg. "I am so happy!" He whispered. "Really? I thought you would freak out." Ember whispered. "Why? This is great! In more than just one sight. There is a hybrid changeling queen inside this egg, our daughter! And by the amount of love I feel in that egg, I can tell you have been a very good mother. You have to understand that a dragon egg may need heat but a changeling egg needs love and you have given so much to her." Ember blushed again "I indeed treat this egg special, heating it every day with my very own fire, turning it carefully with my claws" The blush got even stronger "and when I couldn't sleep at night, I pulled it close in my nest, stroking it and" She hesitated to tell that detail, but if not Thorax, who else would understand? "and singing." "I didn't know dragons are singing for their eggs?" "Usual we don't but how it turned out music has a real good effect on our eggs and the hatching youngling" She remembered how Garbl played these stupid little drums for the eggs, mainly to make the dragons around laugh and turn on the flames on max heat, but also it turned out the music made the younglings inside grow better. "also Spike showed me some songs from the ponies. It seems like ponies have a tradition called lullaby." "Wait! Dragons don't know lullabies?" "Our Family dynamics are different, okay?" Ember remembered her youth, she was raised by the dragon lord and her childhood was a prime example of how a dragon should be raised, she was mostly on her own, she had to learn how to get stronger to survive and how to feed herself. Her father put some tests on her, but he never really spent time with her. She was taught that the most important thing is to be tough and strong, a dragon has to be superior and the best dragon is supposed to be strongest and of course, the best dragon doesn't need anyone. But Spike proved that there was another way. Maybe the first reason why Ember kept her egg a secret was, because she didn't want her daughter to be raised like a dragon, she wanted her to be raised in a real family, with lulabys and the other things Spike told her about. Ember did not realize that her memories made her space out for a moment and Thorax was worried when she stood there like a cute dragon queen statue. "Ember? Is everything alright?" "Ah!" The lady dragon gasped in surprise "Right, sorry, just a bit tired, this magical sparkly portal thing we used to get here is so annoying. Also, I had a question, about the egg." "No worries, she is doing fine, you did a really good job with her." "By accident, yes, maybe if I had treated this egg like any egg she could..." Ember doesn't even want to end that sentence, she doesn't want to think about what could have happened to the little one inside the egg. "Maybe it would have been better not to keep it a secret and speak to you right ahead." "Don't torture yourself like that, even if I had known about her I would have trusted you with her, besides, I am not sure this place here is good for her either." "Wait, what!?" Did Thorax, the softest and most emotional creature she knew, tell her that his hive was dangerous? "Let me explain, usual we sleep around this time of the year, but right now we use our magic to keep this place warm because we want to celebrate Heart Warming Eve on our own for the first time before we dig into the earth and just freeze before it gets warm again. We have no idea how to take care of an egg, this is all the queen's business and we don't have a queen anymore. In the past, Chrysalis used her magic to spread the love we harvested to feed the eggs, and make them grow and hatch one day. We left that part long ago, and it was good, our mother had become greedy and turned us into greedy little monsters." During Thorax's explanation, Ember had to think, that while Changelings turn into small greedy monsters, some of the dragons turn into big greedy monsters, and given how it turned out for the changeling with Queen Chrysalis, maybe the dragons would have faced a similar destiny? Maybe without Spike Ember would have faced the same doom as Crysalis? "What I want to say is that we have an alternate lifestyle by now, we have found out that it is better to share love instead of taking it, but we have no queen anymore that can take care of the eggs. As it turns out the remaining eggs take up love as we can do it, we just need to share it, but Mother's last eggs have hatched and there will be no new changelings anymore." Thorax's expression changed, he seemed worried all of a sudden "And now you are showing up here, with an egg that contains a changeling queen, my daughter." "But you told me your people don't need a queen anymore," Ember said confused. "True, in the past we needed the Queen, Chrysalis, to spread the love we have gathered, and that is not needed anymore. But only a queen, can produce the fertile eggs we need to hatch new changelings, our children. Chrysalis never laid an egg containing a new queen, she never thought of a successor and only produced drones, and drones can't lay eggs. Also, I don't want to bore you with how our biological reproduction works, but let me put it down to that: Without a Changeling Queen there will be no new changelings and our hive will vanish within the next generations." "That sounds terrible. Wait, what will happen to our daughter if the Changelings find out?" "I guess she will become the new changeling queen, but that would mean she needs to stay here, forever." Ember gasped in shock and held her egg closer to herself, she even made a few steps from Thorax on instinct. "Wait! No! I would never take her from you!" Said Thorax "And I don't think any of us would be so gruesome, at least right now. I can't say what will be in the future. Don't get me wrong, thanks to our friends and the love we share, our life span is way longer than it used to be, Twilight thinks even a simple drone can live around a hundred years, and Queen Chrysalis was several hundred years old. But in the end, regardless of how healthy your life is or how much love you get, time will get all of us. One day the last member of our hive will die, I have to smile when I think that she or he will have lived a life full of love and that there is nothing to regard, but it will be still the last of us and after that day, the hive is gone and I can't and won't blame any changeling who feels fear because of that." Ember sighed, she had to think of this. Dragons can live very long too, far longer than a hundred years, her dad even told her he was there when Princess Celestia raised the sun for the first time, but these creatures, the lovable cute little bugs, only had such a short life span? Even Thorax himself? Wait! What was that strange feeling? Something warm and wet touched her cheek. She was crying! "W-wait! Ember, please don't cry, I don't want to make you sad." "N-no, that's not your fault, I mean, you are telling the truth. I have never been good with such deep conversations, or feelings in general." She was sniffing and tears were running down her cheeks. "Before I knew Spike, I didn't know what friends are and when I learned about it, I thought about it as a treasure that keeps on giving and giving and I never faced the truth, that friendship can be forever, but life still ends and how sad it would make me lose a friend. This sudden realization is a bit much for me." Thorax couldn't just watch, he had to hug her. His magical flames turned him into a big fluffy bear, he knew that Ember liked that form for cuddles. And indeed she cuddled into that hug very tight. Thorax felt Ember's feelings right now and while he was so close to the egg, he could also feel his daughter.
Chapter 4It turned out, that preparing a festival like for Hearts Warming Eve was more complex than Ember thought! Just decorating the whole hive was a ton of work, but there was more to do, the music, the cleaning, and the food. Of course, Changelings don't need regular food, their special bodies survive on the energy they get from love, but they can still eat for fun and pure enjoyment. Thorax asked Ember to help them, it was her celebration as well and he told her not to hold back on her wishes and ideas. She had a good idea where she wanted to start with, the music. "We already have an orchestra," Thorax told her. "A what?" "An orchestra, like an organized group of musicians." "That's good, I have a suggestion. There are a few traditional dragon songs and I could sing them." "S-sing?" Thorax nearly freaked out. "Yes. I am a very good singer!" "No doubts, no doubts, it's just. Um... you see." Thorax tried not to freak out completely. "Come on, it can't be that bad. I can even teach dragon songs." "It's not that," Thorax told her. "What is it, then? Come on, don't tell me Changelings can't sing." "Oh no, we can. It's just..." "What is it!?" "You are a female." "And?" "We, males, are not supposed to listen to a female's singing." "Why?" Thorax blushed hard "It's the way the queen calls for" he tried to sweeten the truth "a male when she needs a very intimate time." "Like a mating call?" Thorax blushed even more. "Oooh, that makes sense. So, it's okay for me to sing?" "Um, yes, f-for me, but maybe not for the whole hive unless you... well..." "Ouh! oh! Ummm... r-right... the whole hive might be not a good idea." Both were blushing. "B-but it's okay, really, for me, the others won't get that mad. I mean, there will be more important things going on." "Okay, what else could I do?" "How about a feast?" "That's easy, I can hunt and cook an animal." "We don't need any meat, we can't eat it anyway, but we can enjoy some spices and flavors, especially nectar and other sweets, mostly plant-based meals." "Okay, I am not a big fan of flowers and such, but I can try my best." "I come with you, to help. The flowers we need are growing in an underground cave, it is a bit dangerous out there, and the wildlife is aggressive around that time of the year." "I am not afraid of some wildlife. But what about the egg?" "Pharnyx will take care of her," said Thoray and nodded. "My brother was born to protect the queen... littery, he is a soldier drone, a fighter. I trust him, ever since we lost our Mother, the queen, he seemed so lost, without any purpose, but since the egg is here I can feel his spirit rising, he is full of hope again." Both oft hem looked over to Pharnyx, who was sitting next to the egg and gently rubbed it with some glowing mushrooms, special mushrooms that gave out a nice warmth to the egg. “I think that okay.” Said Ember with a smile. So Ember and Thorax left and walked outsite to the near by caves. The magic of the hive has changed the nature in this area, or maybe the hive was build here because of that magical plant here? No one could tell. The two of them soon walked toward a cave that was all green, moss and small flowers were growing around the entrance. Ember looked at the flowers, they were dripping! “Is that the stuff we are looking for?” She asked as she got a drop on her claw and sniffled it… very sweet! “Indeed, but the flowers outside of the cave are way to small, we have to go inside.” They entered the cave. Ember had been in a lot of caves, but this one was different. There was no sun light but still a lot of plants, in fact far more plants than around the cave. The only light here came from small glowing gems inside the caves walls, it was a warm pulsating live and gave Ember the impression that they walked inside a giant animals insides and it was breathing through that light! This was like one of these dreams, in which her father ate her in one bite and she had to wander through his insides until she starved to death… not a very pleasant dream for sure. Just thinking about that made her heart beat faster and some sweat rolled over her forehead. Of course Thorax noticed how her behaviour changed. He looked over to her while they walked over the moss covered ground. “Ember? Is something wrong?” “Hm? What? No, no, everything fine… definitely not reminded of a nightmare down here.” She said and gulped, he could see how she was shivering. “it’s a bit easier when we are deeper in the cave, wait, I have an idea!” Said Thorax and used his magic, the magical flames enlighten the surrounding for a second and then he had transformed into a big grizzly bear! He knew Ember liked that form, because it was not just big and strong, but also cozy and fluffy. He moved in and grabbed the Dragon Lord by her hip to put her on his big fluffy back. “Hey what are you doing!?” “You might close your eyes for a while.” “I told you everything is fine! I am not scared or such a thing!” He felt her claws she was holding to his fur like her life was depending on it, he could feel her fear and her pride, very strong emotions and he knew it was not easily to handle. “Come on Ember, its me. I know you are the strongest and bravest person. You don’t have to act like you are strong… and you deserve to feel comfortable.” His voice was rough and deep in this form, it felt like a warm comfy hug for the ears. “I want you to be up there and close your eyes, for me.” Ember hesitate for a moment, but with every new pulse of glowing light she felt more and more like she was swallowed by a giant monster. She hold tight to the fluffy fur and pushed her face into his back. “okay, but just for you and because it I Hearts Warming Eve.” She said while inhaling his scent. With closed eyes there was no pulsating light, but it felt like she still could hear it, a sound without any volume, that sunk deeper and deeper into her mind. Thorax walked slowly, carefully not to drop Ember form his back, but then, after a few minutes, she shouted out “For the sake of all Dragons! Say something!” “Something?” He asked back confused. “Anything, please.” “Okay, okay. Well, we could speak about the egg?” “Hope.” “What?” “I think that’s a nice name for her, you called her that before.” “Indeed” he said with a chuckle “so, lets talk about Hope. She is your first egg?” “Yes, well, Dragons lay eggs from a certain age, but only if the egg get fertiled, or else our body will just reabsorb it. After the egg is out we usual put them together with the others, is easier to protect a huge pile of egg than a hundred scattered over the whole dragon lands. I should have put Hope to the others, but something… a feeling… told me not to do it and to keep it close.” “Wont she have a special position during the dragons? I mean you are the Dragon Lord.” “And your mother was the Queen of Changelings, still you had no special position.” “Well, yes, but all of us are children of Chrysalis.” “The Dragon Lord usual lives and reigns for hundreds and thousand of years, when his time comes to an end he choose a hire for the dragon staff, it don’t has to be one of the Lords children. My father was had beaten all other dragons in a fight about the sceptre and won it with brutal force. I only have it because Spike gave it to me, don’t get me wrong, I would have kicked every dragons butt that day with ease, but it turned out that the Pony Way lead to the win instead of the way of brutal force. I might think of a new way to choose the next Dragon Lord, maybe Spike and his pony Friends will help me with that.” “I think you make a real good Dragon Lord, you are not just strong and brave, you also are smart… and beautiful.” “Hey, don’t think you can get me so easily just because we are alone and in a cave.” Both of them had to chuckle. “Okay, we are here, you can open your eyes again.” Said Thorax after a while. Ember opened her eyes and gasped, Thorax had carried her into a huge cage and there was a giant golden Krystall glowing bright like a small sun right under the roof of the cave. The Cave looked like a forest that had emerged around a lake. Ember saw a lot of small animals living here, some insects flying between all the different colourful flowers. Also she could see they target, a small Island in the middle of the lake and on that island grew some real big flowers, dripping the sweet nectar they were looking for. “Ha, that was easy.” Said Ember and spread her wings, ready to fly over to the Island. “No so fast! You remember what I told you about the wildlife?” Thorax picked up leave form the ground and gave it a gentle blow so it levitated over the water and all of a sudden something came out of the water! Ember could only see it for a second, but it looked like a giant worm covered with horns and claws! It was around the same size as her father was, or even taller, considering the idea that most of his body was still under water. “What the frigg!?” She said and gasped “The Krystall Worm.” Said Thorax “Usual it is digging through the ground, but around this time of the year it lives in lakes like this, laying its eggs, that’s why it is very aggressive and attacks everything that comes close to the lake. It would take a hundred changelings to overpower the worm.” “I could definitely try to overpower it, I am a fire breathing Dragon Lord!” Said Ember with a smirk and hit her fist inside the palm of her hand. But then she had to think of what they just talked about and what happened through the last year “but there might be another way.” Ember and Thorax made a plan and went into position. Ember made her way on a tree to get a higher position and spread her legs. She made a huge jump and start gliding. She flew in circles around the leg to get some speed before she dashed down like an arrow! Straight into the water! She could see the worms under water, at least three of this giant monsters and they spotted her immediately and darted toward her! These worms were surprisingly fast, but Ember was fast too. She waited for them to get closer before she turned just enough to grab one of they horns. The worm shoot out of the water with her and she let go of the horn, she spread her wings and the wind grabbed her and threw her up in the air, but the worms still got after her! She could fly out of they reach, but she dashed down again, between them. As she already had thought, the worms couldn’t move freely as long as they were so many so close to each other. They were blocking each other and Ember had more than enough chances to dodge. Once she landed on one worms head and grabbed one of the big horns again to have hold. It was exhausting to fly around like that, making so many turns and her wings needed a small break. She thought of how easy it would bee to rib that horn out of the worm and use it as a weapon, or just fry them good with her flames, but this was no option! She jumped off the the worm when the others attacked her and all three crashed together and when they fall back into the water with full weight water splashed everywhere and Ember couldn’t see for a few second. These few seconds were enough for one of the worms to get up again and dart straight to her, she looked around in time to see the beasts giant mouth and all its teeth. It bite and dashed back into the water! Ember had grabbed two teeth with her hand claws and two other teeth with her feed claws and hold that big mouth open with her pure muscles strength while the beast had her under water and grinded her through the ground of the lake! Oxygen was lacking, lungs burning with pain, she had to act quick! It would be too easy to kill it with fire right now, but she couldn’t. She decided to break out one of the teeth! The sudden pain made the monster scream and it sling Ember up in the air and out of the water. The Dragon Lady had just a second time to catch some breath before all three worms gout out of the water again! But then finally, there was the signal, Thorax had turned into an owl and his call was what she had waited for. Ember spit out a huge Fireball right under her into the water, not hot enough to boil the worms, but hot enough to make a big steam explosion, covering her cunning escape while the worms were blinded. She landed next to Thorax who just turned back and looked back at the three worms, looking around confused and slowly retracted. “Wow, this was amazing.” Said Thorax “and it seems like they had your cornered for a while.” “Nah, not really.” Ember said “could have cooked them in the lake any time.” “Okay… than why did you pulled that stunt?” “There were so many eggs, I cant kill these creatures just because they are protecting they eggs, I would do the same to every creatures that is a threat to Hope.” After that she looked behind Thorax, the changeling had used the distraction Ember had caused to get on the island, change into a giant mole to dig out one of the plants, than change into a big carrying fish to bring it over the river and then place it here. “We can take it to the hive for the festival and afterward bring it back and place it here again to it can regrow it roots.” Thorax transformed into a bear again and Ember hold the plant while Thorax walked back through the pulsating tunnel. “Hey, I am impressed by your skills, I knew you are a great warrior, but I had no Idea how strong you really are!” He said while he could feel Ember on his back, she had pushed her face back into his fur. Her warm breath was stroking over his body and he enjoyed that feeling. “You know, my mother was also really strong, she had a lot of actual good attributes, she was not just the monster we had to fight at the end. She was strong, had an iron will, she knew what she wanted and was really intelligent, ummmm, and I think you have these qualities too, Ember.” “And what about the bad things?” She asked a few seconds later “Being selfish for example? I didn’t told you about Holly because I was afraid of sharing her.” “But you came here, you even want to stay here just for her, you fought three giant worms just to help my people with the celebration and you risk your life just to spare the giant worms eggs! I don’t know what Ember you know, but the Ember I know is anything else than selfish.” Thorax mad a small break, standing for a few seconds and thinking before he continued to walk and spoke again “She is one of the best persons I have ever met and I would even reconsider to say, that I love her.” He could feel how Ember got even warmer all of a sudden. “Don’t say such a thing!” “No, no really Ember.” He turned back as they left the cave and put Ember in front of him “I really love you.” He could see Ember turning bright red in an instant. “Thorax, I…” She couldn’t speak right now. “It’s okay, you don’t need to say anything, I know you are a dragon and that things get complicated and we” He couldn’t end his sentence because Ember put her claw on his lips. “I am not good with words.” She said and just stepped closer to put her forehead to thorax, she closed her eyes and for the first time in her life she just let go of her feelings. Thorax, the changeling who feed on love and can sense the feelings around him, could feel it all of a sudden. His wings were busing and his body start glowing from all the emotions he was feeding right now. Thorax smiled and a tears dripping over his cheeks and as he opened his eyes he could see there was a single tear on Embers cheek too. What she felt right now was beyond her verbal skills, but right now she was glad that Thorax was an changeling and no words were needed right now. They looked at each other for a moment, the bright red had became a cute girlish blush on Embers cheeks, almost as cute as the blush on Thorax face. They meet in a warm and embracing hug and kissed deeply. As they came back to the hive they could see a crowd in front of Thorax chamber. Pharnyx was holding against around twenty other changelings who wanted to enter the chamber and see the egg that hold the hope of the hive. There was a lot of shatter and all of the changelings were talking a once. “Calm down friends” said Pharnyx “You have to wait for Thorax and Ember! It’s an egg and no tourist attraction!” “What’s going on here!?” Shouted Ember and dragon voice made every changeling go silent. Pharnyx looked at Ember that moment, so strong, towering all of them, it was hard ot keep his excitement for himself that moment, his wings wanted to buzz. It was the first time in his life he felt really jealous, because Ember, the Queen, was his brothers mate. “Pharnyx!” She shouted is name and his heart wanted to jump out of his chest, he wanted to kneel before her and kiss her feed claws! “Pharnyx, what about the egg!?” “My” he wanted to call her his queen, but that wouldn’t be right, at least not when his brother was there too “Ember, I think its hatching, it started to glow and move a few minutes ago.” Thorax gasped, that was when he and Ember shared that moment of pure intimate love! The egg, they daughter Hope, she had felt it! Thorax and Ember run through the crowd, all the Changelings had made more than enough space for the two of them. They entered the room and saw the egg, it indeed moving like it wanted to hatch! “W-what are we supposed to do?” Asked Ember and looked at Thorax “A dragons egg can be cracked with pure claws at this point.” “Well, I would politely ask you not to do so.” Said Thorax “After all I learned, the best we can do is this.” He took her hand claw with his hoof and walked over to the egg, he put her hand on the egg as well as his hoof “And now just think of our daughter, let the love flow.” And so she did, thinking of the little wonder. Ember was not good with words, but her feelings were still true and again she was very happy, that her made was able to feel her feelings without words, as well as her daughter would do. All changelings could feel the love at that moment and they gathered around the chamber, it was in fact so much love that they start glowing. And then the egg shell cracked and a big piece of shell just fell to the ground. Thorax and Ember looked at the whole and could see something moving inside, a blinking eye! Hope could see them! “Go ahead little one.” Said Ember and used her free hand to hold to Thorax “We are waiting here for you and what ever happens, we will love you.” And while the egg cracked more and more and the little one inside worked its way outside, it might have been a coincidence, that this day, when ponies celebrate how they united and that they love gave them a new home, that at this day Hope was given to the changelings, to the dragons and all of the world. And regardless what happened to this girl, what ever adventures and friends and enemies and Test it has to face, this day Hope was born, It was indeed a merry Hearts Warming Eve.
Chapter 3Fluttershy and Twilight have been waiting outside. As it turned out the changelings were preparing their very own Hearts Warming Eve celebration. It seemed like Thorax's description from last year made all of them eager to have such a celebration here in the hive too. It looked different to how the ponies did it, but it was about the same idea, love for everyone. The ponies celebrate the day when earth ponies, pegasus, and unicorns stopped fighting each other and started to live together. The changelings wanted to think of the day when they learned how to share love. Twilight and Fluttershy started to worry about Ember and the egg, they have been in the hive for several hours by now. “I wonder what takes so long.” Twilight asked and looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy had a bit more experience when it came to social connections between male and female and had a very fine idea of what was going on. A very fine idea that made her blush “ouh deer…” was all she said. The doors opened again and Ember and Thorax came back and everyone was looking over at them. Pharnyx walked behind them, he was caring the black egg very carefully. “My friends and family!” Thorax shouted out to make sure to get every ones attention “Ember, our friend from far far away, brought us something very valuable, hope.” He stepped aside an Pharnyx hold up the egg. There were no other words needed, all the changelings knew what this had to mean and they start cheering. Fluttershy flew up to Ember, her worries were brightly written all over her face “Ember, are you sure about that?” Ember sighed and answered “I wont give her away or such a thing and there are still too many things we don’t know, but the two of us will stay here for a while. No worries, the dragons will be fine, there isn’t that much to do for me either… and what I have to do I can do from here.”
