Later on the guys and girls met up to go to the Gala together.. The 'royals' went in one carriage that was being pulled by Flicker, allowing Thorax to get to know Ember. They hadn't met before despite sharing Spike as a friend due to both being busy with royal duties.

"I'm really glad you two got a chance to meet." Spike grinned.

"Same here, any friend of Spike's is a friend of mine." Thorax smiled, offering his hoof. "If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have been able to make other friends or learn how to solve our problem of constant hunger."

"He helped me too, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have become the next Dragon Lord." Ember smiled, accepting Thorax's hoof and shaking it. "And it turns out he was royalty all along, who knew? Though I did believe he'd be a good Dragon Lord when he first got the scepter, but he made the right decision in giving it to me after all. For one thing I understand not wanting to be separated from your family, dragons weren't big on friendship and love but even I'll admit that I love my dad. I love my mom too, but she died a long time ago."

"At least you have parents to love." Thorax sighed. "Chrysalis was definitely not the parental type..."

"From what I heard about her, I'm not surprised. Glad I'll never have to meet her." Ember winced.

"Be really glad." Thorax then changed the subject. "So what do you think of Spike's new height? As I already told him I think it looks good on him."

"Definitely, plus I want to see Garble's face the next time he sees Spike." Ember grinned.

"I do too, so we'll try to work out something." Spike grinned as well before wincing. "Don't really want him to find out that I really do have a pony for a mom though, I mean mom can handle him but I wouldn't be able to handle any mean words he says about her."

"I have to admit I am curious about that...dragons normally avoid ponies, so how was Princess Celestia able to adopt you?" Ember asked.

"Um...actually I don't know. I asked Twilight once but she only knows about her hatching me." Spike frowned. "As for mom, when Twilight wrote to her back when I first visited the Dragon Lands all she said was that she didn't want me to go there. I think that was just because she was afraid of the other dragons hurting me though."

"To be honest Spike, I think it's time you asked her how she got your egg." Twilight said.

"I think so too."

They soon arrived, and entered the palace together.

"Hello everyone." Celestia went down to greet them, followed by Luna.

"Hello mom...Aunt Luna? Aren't you normally on duty?" Spike asked.

"I am, I'm just taking a break." Luna smiled. "Things are quiet tonight so..."

"Ah... Um...mom...how did you get my egg?" Spike asked awkwardly.

Celestia's smile faded.

"I knew you were going to ask me that someday." She sighed sadly. "Follow me. The rest of you are welcome to come as well."

"Truthfully Princess Celestia, this feels like a family thing so I think it's best that the rest of us just enjoy the Gala." Applejack said.

Celestia nodded.

"I do want Rarity and Sweetie Belle to come though." Spike said. "Same with Ember and Thorax."

They agreed, and they - including Luna, Twilight, and Flicker - followed Celestia into her bedroom. Celestia opened a drawer and took out a photo of herself with two dragons, one male without wings and one female with wings. Spike's eyes widened as he saw the photo.

"Are...are these...?" He said almost breathlessly.

"Yes Spike, these are your parents. Argider and Horatia." Celestia nodded sadly. "They were dear friends of mine, being among the few dragons who didn't mind ponies. Unfortunately two other dragons found out about our friendship and didn't accept it. They got into an argument with your parents, and at one point accidentally caused part of the cave ceiling to land on your parents' eggs. Only one survived, and rolled away and out of the cave. I was flying by for another visit at the time, and managed to catch the egg as it fell. That egg was yours Spike."

Spike teared up a bit.

"So...so my siblings...?" He nearly sobbed.

"Not just them I'm afraid." Celestia teared up too. "After that accident your parents lost their tempers and attacked the other two dragons and they got into a huge battle. I yelled at them to stop but they didn't listen, and the entire cave ended up collapsing on them. Not knowing what else to do, and not wanting to give up my last link to them, I flew back to Equestria deciding to raise you myself. I couldn't get you to hatch though, so I decided to turn your egg into a test to find a unicorn who could. I knew that only a powerful unicorn would be able to free you from your egg...and, in turn, maybe have the ability to free my sister from her prison."

Spike continued shedding tears, even sobbing a little. Not only was he sad over the loss of his parents and siblings but he had also realized that he was really lucky in escaping death. Most everyone there comfortingly hugged Spike. Ember however just sympathetically put a hand on his shoulder.

"As I already mentioned to you I lost my mom when I was young. I also lost my aunt, uncle, & cousins when I was younger...too young to remember them. I don't even remember what happened to them, all I know was that we were related through my mom and aunt. I still miss all of them though." She said before turning to Celestia. "I have to admit, I'm impressed that you were willing to take care of a species you didn't know much about just because of your friendship with his parents. You really are a strong pony."

"Not strong enough to save Argider and Horatia though." Celestia hung her head.

"Hey come on, you were just protecting me. It wasn't your fault." Spike smiled comfortingly.

"Yeah, it was the fault of those two dragons who started the fight. They should've just left Argider and Horatia alone." Ember nodded.

Celestia slightly smiled at that. After recovering from the story, they headed back downstairs to join their friends at the Gala.