Draconomicon

[Windwright]

Just wanting to start a topic to discuss [Dragons], their life cycles, their abilities, and their physiologies.

Input, especially from mods and admins, is greatly appreciated.

PHYSIQUE:

So far, we've only seen three dragons in-canon (not counting Stephen Magnet) Spike, Red, and Green. The two adult dragons seem to have been the same, physiologically, and Spike when aged seemed to have the same basic shape, just a lot more pudge. Both Red and Green had long necks, broad heads, claws, spikes, and wings. Spike's 'adult' body had the long neck and a large head, and his feet and hands all had claws, but we weren't able to see the rest of him.

AGE:

Physically, Spike is about the equivalent of a toddler, which seems about right if we assume that about 3~5 years has passed since Twilight hatched him. Dragons are known to be able to sleep for 200 years, but it's possible that this is only an exaggeration for dramatic effect. Given his size, the size of his hoarde, and the general attitude he displayed he's probably an Adult or Mature Adult. It is also unknown if dragons age slowly across the full spectrum of their lives, or if they grow up quickly, and then stay mature for a long time.

BREATH:

So far, Red has shown an ability to breathe concussive smoke, Green breathed fire, and Spike breathes green fire capable of either burning things or faxing letters.

My proposition is this: Just like every pony has some talent they are good at, and every unicorn has at least one trick that relates to that talent, every dragon has a breath trick. Some dragons can learn other tricks, but not every dragon has the knack. In time, any dragon could learn any breath trick, but some are better at it than others. Regardless of individual aptitudes, every dragon has a trick that seem to them like an integral part of their breath rather than a trick.

Additionally, some dragons seem to produce more smoke than fire, though this only makes fire-based tricks difficult, but not impossible to learn, and likewise smoke-based tricks for fire-breathers.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

The type of breath a dragon has may also have to do with the region they come from. The red Dragon came from somewhere else other than Ponyville, but as we saw, the green Dragon lived in the Everfree Forest. Spike, who grew up in Canterlot, has his special 'magic breath'. The red Dragon breathed a lot of smoke because they were sleeping. Smoke may or may not be a 'talent', as it were, but rather something that just happens when some Dragons sleep, like how some people snore and others don't.

Also, the spell that Twilight used to turn Spike into an adult may not be what he'll look like at all.

[Windwright]

I'm actually pretty sure it isn't. It's almost impossible to be as well fed as you are in the egg, and I think all that spell does is age your body to what it would look like if your build never changed.

[BaconofChaos]

BREATH:

So far, Red has shown an ability to breathe concussive smoke, Green breathed fire, and Spike breathes green fire capable of either burning things or faxing letters.

My proposition is this: Just like every pony has some talent they are good at, and every unicorn has at least one trick that relates to that talent, every dragon has a breath trick. Some dragons can learn other tricks, but not every dragon has the knack. In time, any dragon could learn any breath trick, but some are better at it than others. Regardless of individual aptitudes, every dragon has a trick that seem to them like an integral part of their breath rather than a trick.

Additionally, some dragons seem to produce more smoke than fire, though this only makes fire-based tricks difficult, but not impossible to learn, and likewise smoke-based tricks for fire-breathers.

I'm glad someone brought this up, as I had been thinking about this a while back but forgot to post it here. DERP. Let the rambling commence.

Anyway, I pretty much thought of two possibilities: 1) Each dragon has their own special breath. This may or may not be shared amongst dragons of the same type (i.e. All red dragons have smoke breath), but smoke breath or teleportation breath would special breath types themselves. 2) Spike gets magic breath because of the way he was raised. Either being raised among unicorns allowed him to pick up some sort of ambient magic OR the magic breath was actually given to him (perhaps by Celestia herself) to help him be more useful to his "Boss". This would suggest that only dragons raised in Canterlot get magic. Given that raising a dragon seems to be part of getting into magic university (or whatever they called it in the show) that would be a fair amount of dragons.

To be honest I like the idea of every dragon having a different breath, just like all ponies have their own special talent.

Also, just for fun I decided to come up with some random magical breath abilities. The idea for these was to come up with abilities that are useful without being overpowering. Feel free to add your own.

"Bag of holding" breath. Breath on a small object to make it vanish in flames, breath again to make it reappear.

Smoke breath that cleans and polishes anything it touches.

Breath that doesn't burn, it merely warms and dries.

Freezing breath that encases stuff in ice.

Breath that the dragon can control pyrokinetically (i.e. making the breath stay in midair or circle around to follow someone).

Smoke breath that turns into small lightning clouds.

Breath that is actually a cloud of dust or sand (something for desert-based dragons I guess).

All of these are up for grabs if anyone is applying for a dragon.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

"Bag of holding" breath. Breath on a small object to make it vanish in flames, breath again to make it reappear.

YES!

[Windwright]

Tourmaline (my first dragon) has his trick as multicoloured clouds of smoke that can optionally be noxious.

Any thoughts on aging or the growth cycle?

[Dubstep]

Ignus, my dragon, breathes black flames that are icy cold =3, I suppose it could freeze too, dunno really xD

[WillowWisp]

I find the age thing odd. They call Spike a baby dragon. However he acts much like a teenage boy. And when we saw him hatched, he looked much more baby like. Perhaps "baby dragon" is just a term for an young dragon at least through their adolescent teen years.

[Thunder Boomer]

Maybe this is just childhood speculation, but I never disputed that Spike was a baby dragon because he was so small, but he always seemed pretty level headed considering he was a "baby." I've always believed this was because MLP dragons mature very slowly. Whilr he's a baby by dragon standards, but he's also been alive X amount of years. Which means he's gained the knowledge and maturity appropriate for his age. He may also be smart by pony and human standards, but for a species that might live to be hundreds or thousands of years old and become very wise, he's still incredibly stupid and naive.

Spike was small when Twilight hatched him, but he was a new hatchling and he's grown up since. It makes sense that he would be bigger now. I think the difference would be between a newborn baby, and a baby just over a year old. Both still considered a baby, but one has definitely grown bigger then the other. I've always imagined that a "teen" dragon would probably have a size somewhere between an adult dragon and a baby dragon.

I'm also not so sure how many dragons there actually are in Canterlot. We only saw Twilight's test. Maybe it's too much Harry Potter, but it's not very farfetched for me to believe that each student may have a different test catered specifically for them. That would make Spike a little more rare and special (as I think intended). If not, then I would assume Canterlot would be overrun with dragons. It would also beg the question: "Where are they getting all those eggs?"

[Tempest Rime]

It doesn't sound too far-fetched to me that the students of the most prestigious school of magic around would have dragon assistants as a mark of honor. When the dragons get too big to reside in pony cities, they depart for the untamed wilds. There are probably very few unicorns powerful enough to actually hatch the dragons. Besides, without an initial test, how would they find an appropriate, fair entrance test for each unicorn.

As for the eggs, it's possible that as reptilian creatures, dragon mothers don't actually care for their eggs, and abandon them, laying them in the mountains around Canterlot due to the relative safety from the predation they would encounter in the mountains closer to the Everfree or Griffin territories. The Unicorns take in these eggs and magically hatch them and care for them as a sort of symbiotic relationship.

As for growth, it seems likely to me that they grow much faster in their first few years. In terms of relative size, Spike is still waaaaaaay smaller than the adult dragons, but it may also take a hundred years for them to get even half that big.

[Dio]

I want to say that the fully-grown dragons shown in FiM could be centuries old, if not older. I'd think it reasonable to assume that a dragon would reach full size within perhaps a century or two of birth, with their growth rate slowing down significantly after their second century. Dragons grow slowly compared to other species in Equestria, only reaching breeding age after they've reached their full size, leading to long life cycles and low birth rates.

I can post additional information I typed up for Heart of Equestria if anypony thinks it would be relevant.

[Thunder Boomer]

It doesn't sound too far-fetched to me that the students of the most prestigious school of magic around would have dragon assistants as a mark of honor. When the dragons get too big to reside in pony cities, they depart for the untamed wilds. There are probably very few unicorns powerful enough to actually hatch the dragons. Besides, without an initial test, how would they find an appropriate, fair entrance test for each unicorn.

As for the eggs, it's possible that as reptilian creatures, dragon mothers don't actually care for their eggs, and abandon them, laying them in the mountains around Canterlot due to the relative safety from the predation they would encounter in the mountains closer to the Everfree or Griffin territories. The Unicorns take in these eggs and magically hatch them and care for them as a sort of symbiotic relationship.

As for growth, it seems likely to me that they grow much faster in their first few years. In terms of relative size, Spike is still waaaaaaay smaller than the adult dragons, but it may also take a hundred years for them to get even half that big.

I dunno. . . even if dragons lay a whole clutch of eggs, that still seems like a boatload of eggs. An egg for each student? And then assuming 10-20 students in a class/age group? That's a lot of eggs just for one school and A LOT of young dragons running around considering Twilight is now an adult, and Spike is still so small. I also got the impression that had Twilight failed to hatch the egg, she would not have been admitted to the school.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Perhaps they hatch the eggs, and then give them back to the mothers, or set them 'free'. Spike and Twilight seem like a special case, because Twilight was taught by Celestia herself, and so far, we haven't seen anypony with another Dragon. I mean, all we've seen of Equestria is mainly Ponyville and Canterlot, and a bit of Manehatten. We don't know how big it is, or how many Dragons actually reside in other parts of the world.

And, it IS Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Perhaps not that many Unicorns actually make it in, due to the test being so tough for somepony so young. Could be like Xavier's School. Compared to the rest of society, there aren't that many mutants. "Gifted" Unicorns would probably be a minority, and possible maybe only for ponies who's parents were well off (like a private school).

[BaconofChaos]

Perhaps they hatch the eggs, and then give them back to the mothers, or set them 'free'.

Thinking about it, this could make sense. We know that ponies control most of nature in Equestria. Without pony intervention the seasons don't change, plants don't grow and animals are incapable of taking care of themselves (according to Bridal Gossip anyway). Maybe eggs in this world simply don't hatch unless a unicorn helps.

[Windwright]

I want to say that the fully-grown dragons shown in FiM could be centuries old, if not older. I'd think it reasonable to assume that a dragon would reach full size within perhaps a century or two of birth, with their growth rate slowing down significantly after their second century. Dragons grow slowly compared to other species in Equestria, only reaching breeding age after they've reached their full size, leading to long life cycles and low birth rates.

So something like quarter to 1/5th the growth of ponies over the same time until maturity, then damn near nothing?

I can post additional information I typed up for Heart of Equestria if anypony thinks it would be relevant.

That might help.