Even in the dire straits the unicorns found themselves this radical unification scheme was still a hard sell to some, and not all the pairings meshed up right away. A thorny situation that could be exasperated from snarky or abrasive types that enjoyed tweaking the snouts of their new partner. Otherwise known as ‘typical dragon behavior’.

But beyond the idea of two strangers conjoined together and now getting along, there was the challenge of learning how to actually share control of their new body.

Both have mutual control of everything below the waist, or the neck if you’re talking from the pony perspective. They can move any, all, or none of the legs, wings, tail, or other taur regions either simultaneously with or independent of each other. For example, one could control the front legs while the other the hind. Something like an involuntary twitch or alien limb sensation that they have to learn how to sense for and either assert or relinquish control at the right moment. If both push to control the same thing, at the same time, there would be a contest of drive and will until one either wins out, or they collapse into a limb twitching mess until they come back to a compromise.

However, they each have exclusive regions they control as well. The dragons control the arms, their head, and apparently are the only ones that can breathe fire. The ponies can control their faces and are the only ones can wield the magic.

One strange area of mutual control is the torso. Both can move it, but that frequently lead to some early friction between the pairs from such mundane habits such as inadvertent head nodding or arm folding.

The simplest way to get around is for one to learn how to ride along passively in their body, while the other drives everything. Later, as they acclimate to sharing this form, some will see the advantages to controlling different parts simultaneously as a team. Relaxing their control as they feel the other step in, or recognizing the other still needs the part and not to try to fight for it. Each learning to assert or relinquish control when needed. Even gaining enough proficiency that they can switch control mid gait without ending up in a messy tumble. Either can eat or breathe for the pair.

When it comes to just the senses both of them can feel everything physical. Even if they can’t move an arm or facial feature they can feel when the other is doing so. It often translates to some analogous sensation like one’s stomach rippling when the pony talks or ears flapping when the dragon moves their arms. The other senses are more localized to their owner. For example, the pony couldn’t look through the dragon’s eyes, or that they taste things separately. But the pony could tell if the eyes were open, or the tongue was moving against something. While they can share a mood and through that awareness sense some of the temperament or emotions of the other. Even influencing each other a bit this way. They’re unable to read one another’s thoughts and still need to communicate through old fashioned talking. However, some of the clever ones have discovered ways to send messages through subtle tongue nips or pats.

Thus they begin the acclimation phase where each teaches the other so that the dragon can coordinate four legs well enough to run, while the unicorns learn the essentials to flying. And hopefully not getting on each other's nerves while doing so.