Slice of Velvet and Pear

by David Silver

79 - Dragon Quest, Part Three

One of the older teen dragons stopped mid-grab at Spike's voice, fixing his gaze on the approaching kid. "Hey there." His tone was wary, though he didn't resume his wrestling match with his friend.

Most of them were pretty happy ignoring Spike, instead cheering on the roughhousing with rowdy cries and jeers.

Spike glanced back at Moon for a prompt, but she looked a bit helpless on how to start a social encounter properly. She made a walking motion in place and offered a hoof outwards.

With a nod, he tried that, walking closer. "Hey, um, hi?"

"What?" Just at the wrong time to get pinned by his opponent. The teen dragon roared in annoyance. "I would have won if it wasn't for that little twerp! Get out of here, we're busy!" He wrestled free from his playmate, and without a moment's hesitation, he smacked Spike with his tail, sending him sprawling into the dust.

"Gargar, don't be like that." Another teen dragon, this one female, landed next to Spike and offered a hand. "You okay?"

Spike rubbed at the side of his head, taking her hand and getting back to his feet. "Um, ow?" He shrugged and smiled, despite the fact it hurt. "It's fine."

"Your mouth says that, but the rest of you says it isn't." She ruffled the top of Spike and his spines. "You're new around here, huh? Name's Smolder."

"Spike." He hiked a thumb at himself. "Uh, nice to meet you?"

"Why is that pony watching us?" She didn't turn to look at the dragon, but was clearly doing so from the corner of her eyes. "And why is there a pony here?"

Spike winced, leaning back at her words. "Well, um, she's my sister. The one who hatched me and raised me, and all that stuff." He cleared his throat, standing as tall as he could.

Smolder folded her arms over her chest with a little laugh. "Seriously?" But Spike didn't take it back. "Wow, crazy. Most dragons don't hatch without some nice hot lava to cozy up next to. She must be some good wizard if she managed it." Smolder leaned in closer. "And all the way in the pony lands? No lava around there. I'm even more impressed." She prodded Spike in the chest. "By all rights, you shouldn't exist."

"And yet, here I am." Spike rolled his eyes with a grin. "She's smart." He pointed back at Moon. "She got her unicorn magic to hold the egg at just the right temperature so I could hatch properly." He left out the part where it was, at least partially, a mistake, in his favor. "Wanna meet her?"

Smolder flashed a bright fanged smile. "Sure! She looks nicer than these guys." She rolled her eyes at the teen boys busy tumbling about in their eternal attempt to prove they were the best. "Dads don't exactly teach kids manners. It's always eat or be eaten, fight or fail, destroy or despair." She paused a moment. "You get the idea."

Spike brushed some dirt from his scales. "Is it really like that?"

"More or less." Smolder shrugged as she walked over to Moon. "Parents are kinda weird. So, let's meet yours."

Spike colored as he walked along with Smolder. "She's my sister, not my mom."

Smolder snorted at that, a half-laugh escaping. "She hatched you, that has to be worth some points. Brothers and sisters don't usually do that."

Moon backed a step as a new dragon approached, but she smiled and didn't retreat further. "Spike, I see you've made a friend, I think?"

"Sorta." Smolder flicked her tail gently. "Smolder. I guess I can show you around if you want. Maybe teach Spike how dragons are supposed to act."

Spike pursed his lips as he eyed the orange dragoness. "Oh! Yeah! Actually, I'd love that." His eyes twinkled at the hope she had presented.

Moon relaxed a little. "My name's Moondancer, but Moon works too. Nice to meet you."

Smolder grabbed Moon's offered hoof and shook it once before turning to Spike. "I was telling your hatchling here which way is up. Raised by a pony? No wonder he's confused." She threw an arm around Spike's neck. "Time to learn! Today's lesson: how to stay out of trouble." She released him to whip her tail in the air. "But not out of mine." She wiggled her eyebrows at Spike with a knowing smirk.

Spike colored, but chased after her with a silly grin and a boyish giggle.

Moon smiled at the two gently as they raced off. "Step one, establish a peer connection, completed." She jotted a note with a floating quill and paper. "You're doing quite well."

A mottled gray dragon on a small hill turned at the sound of the nearby voices. Her ears pricked up, and she walked over, smirking at Spike and Smolder. "Well, this is a surprise. You didn't tell me you got a new sib."

Smolder snickered as she shook her head. "Yeah, no. Still just me and Gargar." She swatted Spike on the back towards the new dragon. "Her name is Cinder. She's one of my besties."

Cinder smirked as she joined the conversation. "Uh huh, one of the better ones."

"And just where have you been hiding?" Smolder asked with a smile. "I thought you had been chomped up or something. Wanted to get away from all of us? Is that it?"

Cinder snorted, letting out a few wisps of smoke from her nose. "A girl needs a break once in a while. How you put up with those boys, I don't know." Her eyes fell to Spike. "You still have one, but this one's young enough to not be gross yet, I think." She reached to poke Spike as if to test. "You gonna start shouting?"

Spike huffed in response. "That was one time!"

Smolder leaned on Spike with a laugh. "We're just playing. You'll get used to it. The tricks are easier when you grow a few inches. Seriously, Cinder, this is Spike, and he has no clue how to dragon. I said I'd at least give him a few hints. He was raised by ponies. They seem nice, but just as lacking in clues."

"Not all of them are bad." Spike added.

Smolder laughed. "Yeah, there's good ones too, just like any species." She elbowed Spike. "You have one pony for a sister, we have some dragons for friends. It's just different."

Cinder smirked. "Oh yeah, definitely different." She studied Spike up and down. "Huh. For a boy dragon, you're actually kinda cute." She sat up and waved Spike closer. "Spike, huh? At least the ponies didn't give you an awful name." She tapped her chin. "If you get bigger, we could get along."

"If I get bigger?" He frowned at that, wondering why he'd be any different in size from other dragons. "How come?"

Smolder winked at Cinder. "He's just so tiny! Cute as a button." She grabbed Spike and sat next to Cinder, placing Spike in her lap. "Now, lesson one." She pointed to the teen boys. "When a boy dragon gets that age, they want to prove to the world they're worth paying attention to. They have to be the loudest, the strongest, the cleverest. The everything'est." She patted Spike on the head. "What you see is a bunch of peacocks strutting around in hopes of attracting a girl."

Cinder laughed at that. "Smolder's going to make a great mother one day, if she can put up with baby dragons." She reached over to plink one of Spike's spines. "He is cute enough though. And she isn't lying. We lady dragons don't have that phase, usually. We're pretty confident we already got it. The boys are struggling to convince us that they have some too, poor things."

Spike watched the boys begin to wrestle in the lava. "Huh. But what if I already have 'it'?" He smiled cockily, spreading his arms out wide. "I'm cool and hot, dragon and pony, awesome and sweet!"

Cinder chuckled at that. "Good luck with that, but you do you." She spread her wings. "Good luck with that one." With a wink towards Smolder, Cinder took off across the gathering area.

Smolder exhaled gently as she watched her go. "You are such a dork, Spike. Girls don't really like it when you start acting too full of yourself."

"You think so?" He fluttered his eyelashes at her with a smirk. "Does that mean you're not interested in a cute dragon like me?"

Smolder pushed Spike out of her lap with a laugh. "Cut that out. You're way too small to be trying."

"Hey!" Spike scrambled back to his feet, facing her. "I'll have you know that I already have a special somepony."

Smolder blinked at that. "Seriously? That's adorable, and a little concerning. Did you hear anything I said about what dragons are like?" She groaned, placing her hands on her cheeks. "Poor Spike."

"It's not that bad!" Spike laughed nervously. "Besides, she's pretty, and she likes me, and she's awesome!"

Smolder leaned in, eyes half-lidded. "Alright, tell me about this lovely lady of yours. She have a name?"

"Diamond Tiara." Spike grinned. "She's an earth pony. You ever seen one of them?"

Smolder curled a lip at the sound of that. "Huh, that figures." She poked Spike gently in the belly. "Raised by ponies, fell in love with one of them. That's cute." She chuckled softly. "And a diamond? Wow, on the nose there. I love it." She threw her arm around Spike's shoulders and dragged him close to her side. "You are adorable, even if you do love one of those hooved weirdos."

Spike managed a blush and a silly grin at that. "If you met her, you'd know why I think she's pretty great."

"Don't change." Smolder pinched at one of his cheeks. "But I think you're right. You're happy where you are. Maybe you won't get so loud and annoying when you get around their age. I'd like that. Maybe you'll be one of the few boys I can tolerate for longer than a minute or three at a time." She rolled her eyes at the thought. "Let me guess, she likes sparkly things?"

Spike flicked an eyebrow up. "Yep. And jewels." He chuckled. "I got good at finding them."

"Oh yeah?"

Spike bobbed his head. "I'm great at digging." He flashed his sharp claws.

Smolder flashed her own. "We dragons have to be good at digging. We like dens in rocks. Keep good at that. You'll have to make bigger dens as you get bigger. Some get big enough to have a nice cave." She leaned back with a smirk. "You know what you're going to call yourself?"

"Myself?" Spike blinked. "I thought my name was Spike?"

"Nah, not your name, your title." Smolder let out a contented sigh. "Gargar likes to call himself the Despoiler." She rolled her eyes anew. "Boys. You may be a bit young yet to be thinking about that."

"Huh..." Spike stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, now I am. Thanks." He hugged her suddenly and bounced off towards Moon with a huge smile on his face. "She's cool!"

Moon met him halfway. "So, you two had a nice chat?" She joined him as they went back towards the wagon. "Is she your friend?"

"I think so!" Spike clapped his hands together. "I hope we meet again. She seemed nice, um, for a dragon." He pushed his chest out. "I'm a nice dragon too. We nice dragons should stick together!"

Moon ran a hoof over Spike's back, glad that he'd enjoyed himself, even if she wasn't entirely sure of the exact content of their conversation. "Yes, you are very nice, Spike. Feel better?" She almost needn't have asked as he scaled up the wagon with such a content smile. "It sounds like you had fun. What did you two talk about?"

"Huh? Oh, not much." Spike leaned back against Moon as they traveled back home, looking forward to sleeping on a nice soft bed again. "How dragons are, what I want to be called when I'm older, and stuff." He yawned loudly, rubbing at his eyes. "Nothing really."

Moon smiled at that. "Her conversation greatly tired you." She used her magic to pet Spike gently as she hiked on the slow journey from the dragon lands. "I understand that feeling. So many new faces, you were very brave." Only the soft snoring of her little brother was the reply. "Sleep well."

Author's Note:

And... end arc! I think I did that one reasonable, and we got Smolder in there. Spike didn't meet any phoenixes this time though.

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Comments

[redmar]

"I'm great at diffing."

THat should be digging. Typo's should be burned in the lava pool if you ask the dragons.

[David Silver]

11906437
I'd tell you what I did but you already know.

[GrimmWolfDragon]

Man, this was a nice chapter

[Hobbestc]

But we need a baby pheonix!!