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The Dragon Lord's Consort

by Little_Draco

Chapter 16: Epilogue: The Final Trial

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The chapter with a gut punch no one asked for... not even the author.


Epilogue
The Final Trial


Eliyinsa settled down into the giant molten magma pit where all of the yesterday’s effort had slowly begin to melt away. The black scaled dragoness felt relief as the magma burned away any dust or muck had settled into her scales, quickly sizzle and burn away. With half of her charcoal colored body submerged in lava, the dragoness took on a resting pose, letting her tail and her neck sink in with just her head lying on the outer rim of the bathing ridge.

“Did it bother you that much?” asked the voice of her lover. The Advisor turned to see the scarlet dragoness approach her. Zynthia walked up close to her mate and lied down just next to their magma pool.
“You know it did,” she answered uneasily. “You saw the pain, you saw his anger. What we did… what I did to him…”
“You did what you thought was an appropriate challenge. While Torch, Dereain and your’s were mental challenges, mine was the physical one. I think that is where it might have stemmed from.” She shook her head. “I should have stopped when Ember cried for it.”
“I don’t blame you, none of us do. The trial by Survival was the only physical one of us and if not one of us did it, the masses would have believed we had gone easy on the whelp.”

Zynthia snorted in disdain. “To hell with what other dragons would have thought. He already completed three trials. He could have stopped and stayed with what he had. 1 in every 100,00 dragons whom have taken the test succeed all the trials. From those who tried to be consorts or those who wanted to be Elders, Advisors and even Guardians.”

Eliyinsa looked at her lover before lowering her head to the floor.

“He was strong,” she half mumbled with the earth beneath her jaw. “I could see it in his eyes, he was strong. I allowed myself to push him mentally because of it. I believed he could endure it.” She snorted a soft gust of smoke from her nostrils. “And I made him suffer for it.”

The larger dragoness leaned her head to her smaller mate and brushed her head against her. A low growl rippled through her throat, feeling her mate’s comforting embrace. Zynthia continued to brush against her, making sure her mate understood her love and care for her.

Feeling her mood brighten, she pulled away and looked into her eyes.

“What we did, both of us, all of us, was to see if he was worthy of being the New Dragon’s Lord consort. He has passed the trials and now, he faces his final one. One that we must all help in now.”

The black dragoness nodded and leaned in, giving a small flicker of flame to brush over her loving mate. Zynthia hummed before returning to her smaller mate.

“My love for you is eternal.” She whispered lovingly to her.

“As is mine.” Eliyinsa said before once more brushing her head against hers.

The two continued to enjoy their moment, brushing against one another. The loved practically poured from them and it was at a point where Eliyinsa slowly rose from her pool, that she gave her mate another brush.

“I am quite eased now,” she purred, her eyes were half lidded and her growl was low but hungry. “But, I still wish to be… taken care of, properly, if you wouldn’t mind?” She exited the magma pit, shaking off the excess that lingered before turning to her mate gave a small shake of her tail.

The scarlet dragoness growled loudly and her own eyes instantly flashed with lust. “I wouldn’t mind, my beloved.” Just as she was about to follow her to their resting chambers, a low growl was heard outside of their cave.

Both stopped, looked at each other before looking towards their cave entrance. The growling continued with the sound of footsteps entering their cave.

“Who dares enter our cave without permission?” half growled, half roared, Zynthia. There was no response other than more growling, though the growl wasn’t threatening, but more… feral.

The growling grew louder as the intruder approached but then… whimpering was heard next, causing the two to look at one another in confusion. Cautiously, Zynthia made her way to their cave entrance, followed by her smaller mate. Turning around the corner, they saw that the intruder was a dragon, but not one they expected.

Eliyinsa gasped, along with her mate, seeing the young purple dragon, Spike, entering their cave. Though, he was growling, he was whimpering as if in pain or confusion.

“Spike?” she called out.

The young drake, had reverted back to his normal small size, was swirling his head, twisting and turning, his body half limped and dragging. He seemed unfocused, uncoordinated with his body. He kept stumbling around and his whimpering was starting to sound like a hatchling asking for its mother.

“Spike?” she tried again. This time, there was a reaction and his head snapped towards the sound.

Incoherent responses were given and he made his way towards them, lamely and with a difficult direction. Zynthia remained in front of her mate, still playing caution towards the young drake. She knew he was no threat, but she also knew that her mate still felt an emotional attachment to him after the trials. His rapid growth didn’t help ease her fears on him.

“Where have you been, young one? Your consort has been looking for you? We all have.” Then another question came up. “How did you find us?”

Spike didn’t respond properly, more mumbling or half coherent words formed as he approached. He kept tripping or stumbling over himself, as if difficult to control his own ligaments. Though it was until that he approached that both dragonesses saw that Spike has been causing self inflicted wounds. His body carried damaged scales all around him. Part of his muzzle carried signs of dried blood and some of his claws looked cracked or broken off. Large bruising was seen over his head where he continued to bang his head against his balled fists or the wall. The sight of the broken dragon made Eliyinsa’s heart break.

She made her way passed her mate and quickly towards the drake. Bringing her large claw, she scooped up the dragon into her paws, bringing him up towards eye level.

“S-Spike, w-what happened to you? What can I do to help?”

She was on the brink of tears. Zynthia could see her mate was in turmoil, their passion long gone and her face carried worry. Her eyes already seeing that she was starting to go back to blaming herself for his current condition.

The young drake’s eyes slowly began to focus and he stared and the beautiful, violet eyes that were before him.

M-M-M… th-th…rrrr.” He tried to croak out.

Eliyinsa blinked, unsure if she heard him.

“What?”

Mo-mo… ther? Mo…ther? Are-are… you… mo-mo…ther?

She blinked once, feeling tears run down her face. From her vantage, she looked towards her mate whom seemed just as stunned by his words.

“Is… is he asking if you’re his mother?” she asked.

Eliyinsa wasn’t sure either, for the drake still seemed out of it. He said that to her… during the trial. Why? Without waiting, she turned to her mate. “Go and quickly retrieve Ember. Tell her that we found him. Go! Quickly!”

The scarlet dragonesses hesitated, not sure if she felt right leaving her mate, but she heard the urgency in her words. With a quick nod, she took off in the cave exit where she quickly went to find Ember,

As she left, Eliyinsa cooed to the drake, trying to ease him down.

“Easy, there Spike. You are confused and hurt. Please tell me, where were you? We’ve all been looking for…” She swallowed a bit of saliva before asking. “Why do you keep saying mother? Is that… who you saw in your memories? Your birth mother?

Too much,” he said quickly. “Too much!” His eyes were filled with absent irises and it looked like he might pass out soon. It was then she realized, fearfully and in distraught, that because he had separated from Ember and the Scepter, the backlash caused him to take most of the energy. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but from what Torch had told her and the others, was that he touched the Scepter first then gave it to Ember. He had his own energy within him but with Ember it balanced it out. Without her, he was succumbing to it.

Too much, pain…mother… gone… left… m-m-m...” He groaned, finally falling upon her palm. Her eyes went wide.

“No! Please no! Please Spike, you need to stay awake! Just a bit longer until Ember gets here!”

He still twisted and turned in her claws but didn’t say anything.

That was when she heard the arrival of several dragons at once. First came her beloved, then Lord Ember followed by two dragonesses, both she assumed where her new hoard, and lastly was Torch.

“Spike!” Yelled Ember. Immediately, Eliyinsa lowered him to the floor where Ember flew and practically half crashed towards him. She had the Scepter in claw, ready. Quickly approaching her consort, she dropped to her knees and held him. “Spike! Spike! I’m here! I’m here!”

Spike heard her voice, managing to focus long enough to look at her. “E-Em-Ember?”

She held him close to her against her breast, holding his head. A small river of tears ran down her face holding her mate.

“H-Hold the Scepter!” She begged. “We c-can still save you!”

Spike’s body began shutting down and his eyes began to close on him.

“No! No! NO!” She began screaming, trying to shake him. She brought him close and placed the scepter on his body, hopping the transfer would work. Nothing happened. She shook the scepter, trying to make anything happen. “Please!” She reached for his hand to wrap around it but nothing happened. Spike fell limb and his eyes began to close, his tired remaining breath let loose his final words. A tear ran down his face.

S-She l-left m-m-me… W-W-why d-did s-she leave….” Then he was quiet. A soft exhale left him then an inhale, followed by another exhale. She saw his chest slowly rising and falling, eerily gently before continuing on.

She blinked tears away for more came; she was unsure what was happening before looking up at the dragons that surrounded her. Eliyinsa was also in tears, as her mate tried to comfort her. Amethyst, despite not knowing Spike long enough, still shed tears of her own. Meanwhile the youngest seemed almost guilty not sure how to comfort anyone. It was Torch that seemed to be less affected but still felt for the drake.

“It seems,” he began with a solemn voice. “That the energy was too much for him and he fell into a deep sleep. A coma, if you will.” He paused, licking his giant maw before approaching his daughter and her mate and lowering his giant head to near them. “We should consider… that him sleeping, was the… better alternative to the energy he has in his body.”

Ember blinked away some tears, looking up at her father. Her heart was in turmoil but she wasn’t sure if this was the best outcome.

“I-I-I don’t understand father?” Torch looked upon his daughter, as if she was a hatchling once more, standing in the face of the world and wondering why it was the way it was. Her mind was shattering and her heart was in pain but she was still trying to understand why.

Eliyinsa, was the one to respond, having finally been comforted by her mate, whom remained by her side.

“Young Ember,” Ember turned to her. “What your father is saying is that Spike lives but only if by sleep. All the excess energy from the backlash of the trials and the Scepter has overwhelmed his body. It was too much for him. The fact he is only asleep because of it is… a miracle, unto itself. No dragon, in history has survived something like this.”

“Spike’s not just any dragon,” she said softly, gently stroking his snout with her claw. His breathing was so soft and so quiet, it truly continued to haunt her to still think he was not dead. “He was a dragon, raised by ponies, loved by them, cared by them and he was the greatest friend anyone could ever have.”

Amethyst and Smolder were by her side now, standing next to their hoard mate. Amethyst had gotten on her knees and held Ember in an embrace while Smolder offered a comforting paw on her shoulder.

“How long will he stay like this?” she asked out loud and to no one in particular.

“It could be until tomorrow,” answered Torch. “or it could be a millennium from now. As we said, this has never happened before and we know nothing of it.” She held back a sob and continued to gently stroke his face.

“I-I have to tell Twilight about this.” She looked up at her father and the others. “I have to let the Princesses of Equestria know about this.”

The older dragons looked at one another, not sure if was the best course of action. The blame could be placed on them and it could cause international turmoil and maybe even war. Despite the dragons being numerous and large, the Equestrians have faced strong foes, including ones that have nearly brought apocalyptic events nation or worldwide. In truth, it was something none of them wanted to test.

“If you do tell them, Lord Ember,” began Zynthia. “I suggest you do so with the intent of not causing an international incident. We need the Equestrians to remain absent or without most of the knowledge of dragon ways. Some secrets may need to be withheld.”

“I agree.” Entered Torch. “While we can tell them that the events of trials have left him in this sleep, we cannot fully tell the Princesses of how all of our customs are done. To us dragons, it seems normal and a day to day life, however they may see it as a great opportunity to deal with us in other ways.”

Ember looked up to them, still confused.

“What do we not tell them? How could we not tell them? They need to know what happened to Spike. I… I made a promise to Princess Twilight that I would protect him and care for him.” She then dropped her head. “And I failed.”

“You did not fail, Ember.” Torch said, with much emphasis. “You put him on the trials and this is the result of it. What happened here could be explained that the tasks performed here are something that every dragon whom becomes a Dragon Lord’s consort must take. What kind they are, what the performances are, must be withheld. The threat is not the trials themselves to Equestrians, its how it could expose weaknesses to dragon kind. It will expose where we are more susceptible to harm or mental manipulation. How they could resist our fire breaths or use our bodies for armor and weapons. We cannot and will not allow our secrets be exposed to them.”

Ember saw the logic of her father’s word, nor did she deny what harm would be caused if she told the Princesses the type of trials were done. With a reluctant nod, she answered.

“I won’t speak of the trials. But, I think the sooner they know of his current condition, the better.”

There was no way the Elder dragons were going to talk her out of it, so they all agreed.

She then looked down at him and embraced his head.

“What am I going to do with you?”

Eliyinsa watched the young dragoness hold her mate and something clicked inside of her.’

‘Are you mother?’ he asked. Despite his mind deranged or unfocused, he saw her and asked, if she was ‘mother’? Did he ask if she was his or if she was a mother? She wasn’t sure but she knew that maybe for that moment, he needed one. Her trial made him regress to a memory of his mother and that had caused turmoil. Perhaps, when he was egg, something happened to his mother. Dragons could retain some memories in their eggs. Soft imprints, voices and vague connections can be remembered.

Still, he was without a true mother. His memories were to go by, is that their ‘Goddesses in Flesh Form’, had raised him. But raised him as a pony, not a dragon. He needed to be nurtured and raised… by dragons. She just hoped he would allow it… and her.

“Lord Ember?” she spoke softly.

Ember looked up at her.

“Yes?”

She hesitated with her words but spoke carefully and with tread. It was after all that she gave Spike the final push that may have caused him to go over the edge.

“I wished that your con… that Spike be placed under my care.” She paused. “Until he awakens.”

Every dragon in the room, including her mate looked upon in her in a range of emotions from confusion, to apprehensive and bewilderment. Ember was the apprehensive one as she held Spike closer to her.

“Why do wish to take care of Spike?” she asked, a bit of harshness in her tone. Eliyinsa wilted slightly at her tone but pushed on.

“Your role as a Dragon Lord will have you in and about the lands, possibly including the relationships with the Equestrians. Your… hoard must travel with you so that you may remain constant with your flow of energy. That would leave him… unintended. I… wish to take care of him until he awakes.”

Ember looked up to the advisor’s eyes and saw that she had a need in her eyes, that warranted Ember’s caution. It was then that she realized her words were true and just. With her being Dragon Lord, she would have to be around the lands trying to keep an eye out on her kind. And if she was to tell the Princesses about the condition of Spike, she had to be on guard with their intentions. Whether they would act hostile or even warrant the return of Spike, it was something that she couldn’t afford to do. Somehow, she had to keep Spike safe and she couldn’t do this if she would be away all the time. But if she were to do this, she would be putting his life in the safety of a dragon whom may have caused this… incident in the first place. Ember wasn’t sure what to say.

“What do you gain out of this? Why do this with Spike?”

Eliyinsa looked towards her mate and a small, wordless conversation had played between them before she looked down at her.

“Me and Zynthia have been looking for a way to have hatchlings together.” This caused Ember to blink and cocked her head as if confused with the news. She hadn’t heard of them seeking aid with this, nor have they mentioned before of wanting to raise young. “I think that, if we could care for Spike, it would be a sort of practice run for us both. We know he won’t be active but, we can be there for him when he wakes. We can keep him clean and alert you in any changes in his progress. You could visit him when need be, and our duties remain unchanged.”

Compared to a Dragon Lord, an Advisor was sought only by the young or the intellectuals with minds wanting to seek knowledge. Advisors gave guidance or directions to those whom want it. However, most dragons stick to the traditional senses that were given to them when born and only gained knowledge through their parents. Ember had visited Eliyinsa before to gain more knowledge than your average dragon, right before her father declared he was stepping down from Dragon Lord.

Her mate, Zynthia was a former Successor and shares knowledge with her beloved so they have a much to spare. Few dragons come to them both, so their time is mostly to themselves. And that is why they wanted to have hatchlings. Very few dragons go to them for advise or history so what more to do then to try and start a family? These were two females seeking to start something but they first wanted to try by taking care of a drake whom was asleep for Wistala knows how long. More so, Eliyinsa felt guilty over the final trial, so perhaps she felt this might be a personal redemption for herself. Ember felt that it could be.

Thinking it over, she looked to her two hoard members, both giving her encouraging smiles and even hope that this would help settle Ember’s loss.

A small sigh and a nod, she looked towards the Advisor.

“Alright, you can take care of him.” Eliyinsa felt relief wash over her and her mate gave her an excited grin, giving her a loving rub against her. Ember witness the love between them and somehow knew that they would take care of him. “I just ask that if anything changes, even if a scale of him falls off, you let me know. I feel as though the Princesses would also be like to be up to date.”

Both dragonesses nodded.

“As I said, we will keep him safe. If we are required in any way, one can stay and watch him. He will never be without a pair of eyes, nor will any harm come to him, this I swear.”

Zynthia nodded. “As do I.”

It was enough, more than enough. It was difficult to find trusting dragons now a days. As far as she knew, it was her, her hoard, her father, the two elders. Spike’s fate was in their claws now. Feeling a bit of sickness and dread come to her heart, she swallowed and looked at them.

“Please, take care of him. I need him when he gets back.” Both larger females nodded. She then leaned down, gave Spike a gentle kindle across his face. “Please, please come back to me.” She whispered. She then gently laid his sleeping head across from the Elders. She then stood up and turned away. “I must go now, I have a letter to write.” A pit of fear and anxiety hit her like never before.


Nightfall had come as did the fall onto Ember’s knees. She felt powerless and almost weak as she had received a bombardment of rants from Twilight and the other princesses of Equestria from Spike’s ‘instant messaging’ book. Pages upon pages filled with anger, grief, rage and so on, Ember had yet to reply.

As of now, they knew what befell Spike during the trials. His over flow of magic and his eventual perpetual sleep for who knows how long. How and what caused it, was left only as ‘dragon customs’. However the one thing that kept popping up on the letters was the clearance to arrive unto Dragon territory. It was clear that they wanted to see him, check on him to figure out the situation or if they could help.

Yet Ember knew that there was no help. Equestrian magic was almost useless against dragon scales. It’s why they didn’t fight Garble when they had been revealed during the Gauntlet of Fire. She was not afraid of them harming her in anyway, she was afraid their magic might affect the already overwhelmed and overfilled with dragon magic, Spike. Even if their magic was dissimilar, it could cause fatal implications.

Allowing the pages to finally settle until they allowed her to respond, she used a charcoal tip of her claw from a small hollow rock bowl and began to write.

‘His body is full of unstable Scepter magic from the backlash. Any magic he comes in contact with him could prove to be… fatal. Taking him outside or moving him around could prove to be the same. Remeber most magic does not work on us. I’m sorry.’

She paused, waiting for a response. After a minute she continued on.

‘His condition is stable for now. He breathes, he is alive, but he is asleep.’

She paused. Once the charcoal faded from the pages, a response was almost immediate.

‘How long will he sleep?’

A breath left her and she was left slumped in the middle of her home. Tears ran down her face and it landed upon the paper, instantly dissolving. A second later, more words appeared.

‘Ember? How long will he be asleep for?’

Shakily, she dipped her claw in charcoal once more and wrote,

‘I don’t know…’

The last words went way off of line as they disappeared.

She slumped, landing on her hind legs with her tail laid out before her. Her mind was a mess, her heart beat against her with a throbbing pain and her emotions were in disarray. She began to silently weep.

Her father had to sub-rule for her, her hoard was out eating and as of right now, she has never felt more alone.

“Mother, I wish you were here! I wish you were here! I need you! I need you more than ever! I am so lost. Everything hurts, my heart hurts and… I just don’t know what to do...” She whimpered out lamely out into the cave. “I miss you.”










In a distant, hollowed out mountain, far at the edge of dragon territory, a single eyelid opened, revealing a Sapphire eye.
“Ember…”

Author's Notes:

And that my friends... is the end of The Dragon Lord's Consort. Almost 3 years in the making with turns and twists that I didn't expect to tackle. Half of the stories here are written with the use of pulling things left and right from different sources while the others is just... going absent minded and letting your fingers fly.

The reason this story ended as is was to cover the time jump that I needed to do for the sequel. If you didn't know, you will know that I do plan a sequel. It already has a base going and will start some time later. This will hopefully be released in Mid January of 2019.
The time jump in question will cover the distance between S6, where the episode started(since I began this a week after the Gauntlet of Fire episode) and shortly before the MLP Movie with it slowly connecting to s8. Give or take, in the episodes, i'd say the time jump between them is roughly 8 months to a solid year. Not sure.


What made this story intresting is that my plan was to finish it off as a 5 chapter mini series and then be done when Spike left but came back years later as a larger dragon. However, I wanted to add elements I knew that the show would never add. One thing that kept popping up is if there were other dragons like Torch or not. I added that in. The trials themselves were more difficult than the story. I had no real way of putting them on there withou finding something dragons would do if the show expanded upon it.

Lastly, the intro of Smolder was last second. If the show never had her, I probably would have included another dragon from the show or an OC. But having in the show... believe it or not was why the sequel is being made. She will play a huge part in the next series where her light will shine as bright as Spike and EMber. She is adorable and I can tweek her to a point where it will stay with the shows version but add some more back ground to it.

I thank everyone who has taken and followed this story for the last 3 years. This is the first series I can mark complete. I was going do something after this, however, I wanted to close this once and for all. After this, I would want to create notes between Ember and Twilight on the status of SPike but decided that the first chapters of the sequel will deal with it.
To my wonderful editors... Badwolf231 and RomeoDkatfor all their wonderful help. They helped keep my story clean and were the few that stuck around to finish it. Thanks to you both and will love to work with you some more.

Final... Final thoughts. Dragon's tail will have two chapters added the next couple weeks for those who follow. So beaware of that. ALSO.... Im looking for a commisoner to help create the next front picture for the story. I would hire anyone who wants to tackle the next great work with their art right in the front so if you wish to be comissioned... let me know! Thank you all! :heart:

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