Chapter One Memories of Faithful Days

Part 1

*clang* *clang* *clang*

Celestia's golden shoes were busy echoing inside her throne every time it made contact with the floor; a clear sign Celestia was impatient. The room was empty except for her; no royal guards, no papers to sign, no snobbish, arrogant, pesky nobles whining, almost demanding, for this and that and to fix their problems. She was having none of it today, and was only concerned to wait. For every second that passed, however, the more exasperated she grew, and with very valid reasons.

Daring was arriving today, any minute, with the mythic Book of the Dovah. She had waited for almost four hundred years for this moment; she could wait a few more hours to claim her prize.

*clang**clang**clang*

“... I should have sent a platoon for her.” Celestia sighed in defeat. She knew that would have the book brought to her faster, but it wasn't proper. No, she needed to wait like she had for so long. That, and all the fuss that would be created, seeing a living, 'fictional' character arrive in a royal chariot, escorted by several guards, wouldn't be worth it.

*clang**clang**clang**clang*

“Look at me. Here I am, waiting little a little foal over a new toy. I must look really pathetic.”

“Now, now, Tia, that's not true. You look rather amusing and funny, if I must admit,” the voice of a certain Draconequus
echoed into the room, just before its owner popped into existence beside Celestia. The figure stopped her in her pacing.

“Although seeing you so impatient over a silly book reminds me more of how Twilight would act!”

“Discord, this is not the time for your foolishness. I'm waiting for a very important friend of mine,” she countered, too bothered with Discord to deal with his games.

“HA! You're terrible, Celestia.” A snap of a finger later, Discord was sitting right in front of her. “You say that, but you only care for the book she is bringing with her. What a terrible friend you are, nothing like my dear friend, Fluttershy; such a sweetheart.” Another snap, and an X-ray picture appeared on his lion paw. “You have such a cold heart inside.”

“Discord, please, I'm not in the mood for this right now. This is very important to me,” she argued a bit roughly. If she was hurt by his words, she didn't show it.

“Now, this is really unique to see. Celestia, the eternal pain in the flank, not angered at me for speaking the truth? This must be really important to you, then, and I should congratulate you, also. You have my curiosity.” His tail formed two fingers, clicked together, and a little robot appeared between them. The robot's unmoving 'eye' looked at Discord for some seconds.

“Oops, not that curiosity.” It was gone with another snap. “So, Tia, are you going to tell your dear, old friend, Discord, why this book is so important to you or not?”

“What makes you think I'm going to tell you something like that?”

“OH, you wound me, Celestia! And here, I thought we were finally friends!” Discord started to laugh while floating over the immobile Princess. Seeing her not even glower at him, though, made him stop. “Whoa, not even a glare?” He disappeared, then reappeared at Celestia's right.

“C'mon, Tia, tell me what's going on.”

“...”

“Please?”

“.....”

“PWEEAAASEEEEE??” he shouted, making the saddest puppy eyes he could muster.

“... You... wouldn't understand.”

“And why in the world would you say that?”

“It's not about me. At least, not entirely, but to some... pony very dear to me—and no, it's not my faithful student, my niece, or my sister.” Celestia looked to her right in time to see Discord's mouth open, only to shut. “I will tell you, but only if you tell me everything you know about dragons.”

“Dragons? Ha! Now I get it; this is about the purple pet liza—”

“His name is Spike, Discord!”

The angriest glare Discord had ever seen fell upon him, and Discord actually felt the heart of the sun trying to burn him down. Just for a moment, he honestly feared Celestia.

“Alright, alright, I was only kidding! Jeez,” Discord stepped a little away from Celestia, just in case, “why did that anger you so much? It's not the first time I called him that in front of you, and you never got mad before.”

“I DID get angry. I just didn't let it out.”

“I'm even more curious now! I just have to know!” A brief silence followed his excited outburst before continuing, “I don't really know much, actually. Even though I'm a Draconequus, I don't know much about dragons aside from what you already know: their society and some of their their cycles, but nothing really.”

Celestia just hummed in acknowledgment, and another moment of silence passed.

“But now that I think about it... around twenty-five thousand years ago, there was a war between the dragons. I was but a mere child back then, and the Draconequus were more... abundant. My powers back then were weak and limited, so I was always hiding.

“That war eventually got out of control.” Discord shifted his position and took one of his eyes out. It expanded, and many images of lands burning, dragon corpses laying in debris, and devastation of many other races and creatures was shown. “It expanded to the entire Equis, and it lasted two thousand years.”

Celestia was listening to every word Discord said, paying careful attention and not wanting to miss anything.

“At the end of the war, the dragons lost their civilization, their culture, and almost all of their wisdom. Their homeland transformed, from a beautiful land that horded great wonders, to what we now call “The Lost World,” a barren wasteland where nothing can grow or live anymore.” Discord took his eyes again and placed it back where it belonged.

“What caused the war?” Celestia asked in a neutral voice.

“I don't know. When I was born, the war had already started, and we were at the borders of the conflict.”

A minute of absolute quiet took place. Celestia thought about this new information, something not even her old friend, Sabarius, had told her about in the past.

Discord, on the other, was getting bored. “... Soooooooo.”

A heavy sigh escaped her mouth before speaking. “Spike... is very dear to me. Only I and Spike himself know this. If I tell you this, you must promise me, as a friend, that you will NOT talk to anypony about this. Promise?”

“Ugh, gag! Must I really? … Oh, fine, then! But if it's such secrecy, why tell me?”

“Because you told me something I did not know about dragons. It was a deal, and I also need to tell somepony about this.”

“You know, it's kind of scary, seeing you so serious and direct about something, Tia. I think I like the Princess Celestia version better.” Another snap of his talons, and some popcorn before him. “I'm ready whenever you are, Tia.”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a big breath, sighing loudly. “After Spike was hatched, and Twilight left the school, I took him with me to the palace and... branded him as my son.”

“.... What?”

“Spike is my son, Discord?”

“... Really?”

“Yes. That's why he can send me letters, and I to where he is. Spike spent his first hours with me, and saw me as his mother, creating a special bond between us.” Celestia looked at Discord, who was, to her utter surprise, looking serious.

“Okay, don't tell me more.”

“What? But I thought you wanted to know?” Her face changed to one of shock.

“And I do, but I will wait. Something tells me you're going to tell Twilight and her friends about this, anyways.” He stood up and stretched a bit. “Well, until that time comes, I'll leave you alone, waiting again. See you later, Tia.” He was gone with another crack of his fingers.

Alone again, in the peace and silence of her throne room, time seemed to stop. Nothing moved, and there was no sound, except for a slight *clang*.

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Year 588 A.N.M.B (After Nightmare Moon’s Banishment)

Celestia was walking through the ruins of an old castle, in the heart of the Everfree Forest. In the castle of the Royal Pony sisters, the Elements of Harmony were intact and safe, as always. It was dark out and late. The Winter Moon Celebration had just finished ten minutes before she came here, as she always did every year. This this, though, Celestia's sorrow was too great, and her pain too deep, to stop her tears this time.

Oh, how foolish she had been, ignoring her sister like that! Only focusing on herself, while Luna was consumed by the demonic Nightmare Moon, night by night, until it was too late for her to do anything about it, she had made a horrid mistake. She could only send her beloved, corrupted sister to the moon, chaining her there for a thousand years for a mistake she made.

Celestia couldn't stand it. She simply couldn't hold it in anymore; not this time, at least. Hot tears came rolling down her magenta eyes like a never-ending river in desperate need to be subdued. She fell to the cold, stone floor and cried for hours. Nothing bothered her, and nopony came to comfort her.

When she had finally cried herself out of tears, she decided it was time to leave and return to Canterlot. She was about to take flight, but instead began walking; there was no hurry, after all, since dawn was a few hours away. Celestia started to walk away from the ruins, crossing the bridge, when all of a sudden, it snapped and fell.

She fell for about twenty meters until her wings halted her descent. She scolded herself, as she rose back onto the road, for being so careless. Then her eyes caught something.

The entrance of a cave, almost halfway down the cliff, caught her attention. That was strange; after all, she knew that wasn't there before, never in the years she came as a child or the previous years she came back. She flew closer to it, noticing something really peculiar.

At the borders of the entrance were some strange runes. There shined blueish-gray light “Moon Powder,” a powerful magic powder that hid gates and doors under an illusion that could only be revealed during... the Winter full moon. That very night.
Wasting no time, and letting curiosity take the best of her, she entered the cave. It was big enough for her to fit nicely, at least. She lit up her horn, creating light to advance deeper into the cave. After trekking five minutes, she found it.

An egg. A dragon egg resting on a nest made of something she did not recognize. It was not her first time seeing a dragon egg. After all, hatching dragon eggs was a test for the most gifted unicorn foals, and a great way to keep peace with the Dragon lands. They received hatchlings that would otherwise die, and Equestria was off limits for dragon hunting, hoarding grounds.

The shape and colors, however, she had never seen before. It had almost the same shape as a chicken egg, and it was lavender colored with deep purple dots all over it. Looking around to make sure the egg was alone, Celestia took it with her magic, knowing it would be an empty, dead egg.

To her surprise, she felt a spark inside the egg. “It's still alive!”

Wasting no more time, a bright flash of light illuminated the dark, wet, colt cave, and a second later, darkness was again welcomed in it.

Inside the chambers of the palace, Celestia lay on her bed with the strange dragon egg by her side, giving it the warmth from her body. “Do not worry, little dragon. Until you hatch, or your father comes to retrieve you, I will protect you from harm.” She then gave the egg a little kiss, and then fell asleep.

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Year 985 A.N.M.B; 3 days after the Summer Sun Celebration.

Celestia was NOT happy—scratch that, she was furious—but how she felt right now was betrayed by her calm walking and serious expression. She was walking to her private school, in order to stop the entry test herself, if needed.

“I'm going to reopen the dungeons, just so I can throw that arrogant, self-centered Magic Flare in there. How DARE he take MY egg, without permission! Not even I could hatch it. Why did I even name him head Mage of MY school, anyway?”

Celestia stopped just in time to hear a tremendous explosion in the skies. Looking up, she saw a humongous rainbow in the sky.

“A Sonic Rainboom?!”

It was followed by the biggest and most inpony amount of raw, magical power she had ever felt, even more than what Starswift had. To top it all off, a giant dragon appeared out of nowhere INSIDE her school! But there was something familiar about the dragon... dragon... HER EGG!

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Same day, Four hours later

A little, baby dragon was sleeping peacefully over Celestia's bed, all the while sucking a bit of her mane at the same time.

“He is just so cute.” Celestia made a small *squee* when she smiled, looking at the dragon. Her baby dragon—her baby.
Of course, it was a double prize for her. She had, at last, found the Element of Magic, and so her plans for Luna's return took march again. She was rather impressed, however, at the raw power the filly, Twilight Sparkle, had displayed. Only the Elements of Harmony, more precisely, the Element of Magic, and probably Discord, had enough power to match this egg if she couldn't have done it in the past.

A soft yawn caught her attention, and she saw the big, green, beautiful and playful eyes of her baby dragon looking at her curiously. Celestia leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on his forehead, earning some light laughter on his part.

“Now, little one, what should be your name?”

Her baby paid no attention, and instead laughed a little more, while grabbing and touching Celestia's muzzle with his soft and tender claws.

“I think I should call you Nimrod.” The dragon looked at her but did nothing else. “You don't like it? Oh, well. What about Erebus?” The baby only blinked. “Timon? Nestor? Radian?” No response, aside from blinking and blank stares into Celestia's eyes. “Maybe you will like... Spike?”

The baby dragon seemed to approve it by laughing a little. “Oh, so you like Spike, huh?”

Spike just made some gurgles and sucked Celestia's mane.

“As you wish, then. Your name shall be Spike Solaris, my son... my little, perfect baby.”

Celestia nuzzled her new child, kissed him again, and then sang a lullaby for him to sleep again. It was a good day.

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“Excuse me, your Majesty?” a royal guard called to her, waking her from her trance of memories.

“Yes, Phalanx?” she said, looking softly at her guard.

“Your guest has arrived.”

Chapter 1 Part 1 End

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the delay, Part 2 will come soon.

Special thanks to Bennet001 for proofreading!

Special Thanks to Miss Dark Angel for her amazing editing!