//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: A Mare Among Dragons 
// by Dashzilla93 
//------------------------------//

What started out as a usual hang-out turned into an unusual, bizarre, and near-frightening experience for everyone. For Garble, it should've been just a typical day to play with friends – nothing more, nothing less; roughhouse and be the boss. Was that too much to ask? Apparently, this was gonna be more than too much to ask since his parents forced him to bring Smolder along, to babysit her. It's bad enough when he had to keep an eye on his friends who act just like little hatchlings, but having to actually watch one was just as tedious. But now, something happened that he never expected, nor ever thought could happen.

He and his friends stood there glancing up at a newcomer they had never seen before float just above the boulder Clump threw, holding Smolder protectively in its arms. Many thoughts rang through their heads, but all of them thought the same thing: who or what was this thing?

But, of all the dragons eyeing this new creature, Garble noticed the look this creature had and the tense eyes it gave off. It was angry and annoyed. He thought, for a moment, it was staring at him but he analyzed as best he could and calculated exactly where this newcomer was looking at. One glance to his left and he already figured out what or, in this case, who it was looking at.

Clump stood there flabbergasted and confused. Where did this thing come from? And why was it glaring at him so viciously, it nearly matched Garble's? Beads of sweat dropped from the sides of his face as he never looked away from what he assumed was a wrathful angel sent to punish him for what he did. And he knew exactly what he did to warrant it. He even winced under its glare and slowly backed up a step.

An action that the other teens mimicked, a bit uneasy under this mysterious being's glare. Maar, Fizzle, and Sunder were all just as baffled as Garble and Clump were. 

Fizzle kept a look of awe on his face. This new face looked pony-like, but the wings were far larger and the horn was noticeable. 

Maar, however, noticed Smolder buried in its arms. She was alive, but, from what she could tell, was scared out of her mind. Dumb Clump! Why'd he had to go and throw that boulder? She glanced at the look this pony creature had and she figured out right away that it was just as mad – or worse. She winced though; she felt she was partially to blame as well, knowing she was to blame for pushing Clump too far.

Sunder stood next to Fizzle and kept her eyes on the creature, too. But, unlike the others, Sunder looked at the creature further and raised a scaly brow. The posture, the frame, the mane, the eyelashes? They were definitive hints of the gender of this new arrival.

'Well, its female, that's for sure,' she thought to herself, but what really intrigued her was the fiery look in her eyes. Why was she so angry? And why did she save Smolder? Okay, that last question was obviously stupid. But, now she wondered how Smolder felt about it.

The sound of gravel falling to the ground was all Sakari could hear, but she didn't care about that. She knew she was caught and she could see the dragons, who stared right back at her with widened eyes. But the others were none of her concern – except two. Once the gravel finally silenced, it was replaced with the scared cries of a shaken Smolder. Sakari held the baby dragoness close to her chest as she cried in her fur and gripped it hard in her tiny little claws, never letting go of her savior.

She looked down at the little dragoness in her arms, her glare melting into a devastated look of worry and absolute concern for the child's wellbeing, "Are you alright, Smolder?" Sakari asked with great concern and worry for the baby reptile, quite scared out of her mind once she had registered what had just happened. She had just prevented her new little friend from being crushed to death, just by the skin of her teeth.

Smolder was too scared to talk, but she looked up at Sakari with tearful eyes and nodded shakily before looking back down and snuggling up to her with a whimper, keeping a tight grip on her fur and burying her face in her chest; she felt safer around her, especially in her arms like this. Something Sakari immediately understood as she held her close, never once letting her go.

Sakari had a feeling this might've traumatized the poor little dragoness, but she will no doubt fix that as she lifted her head and glared back at Clump, the one who terrified her by throwing that boulder – and Clump knew he was in for it – she had her eyes on him and solely on him.

After a couple of flinching reactions from that head gesture, Fizzle had to nut up and say something, even though he didn't want to and no one else was saying anything, "Okay, so, who's the new girl?"

Sunder looked to Fizzle, surprised, 'Guess I'm not the only one that figured it out that it's a girl?' Or they all did and she just made a pointless investigation. Either way, he held a good question, "I don't know. But she did pop up out of nowhere." She shrugged, clueless about what to make of this.

Maar was still surprised, but she raised a brow and asked the new face herself, "Hey, who are you? And where did you come from, pony?" A sudden head jerk in her location got her to stop and shudder a little. Something about this 'pony' didn't seem right. Why? She looked like she wouldn't take on any of them, so why was she so deadlock and not approaching this girl?

Sakari looked at Maar in slight annoyance, her eyes narrowed at being called a pony and nothing else – it just rustled her fur up something good. 

'Okay, that was racist.' She thought in annoyance; she got that, obviously, these dragons aren't big on friendship with any creature but themselves. But, for now, she'll let it slide. 'But whatever, I've got bigger fish to fry.'

She gazed back to Clump who winced a bit as she began to descend to the ground with Smolder still in her arms, fluttering her wings with the grace of a moth's wing beat.

Garble watched as she did, but never moved a muscle. Like Maar, he could sense something was up with this pony. Or, what he thought was a pony. Ponies either have wings, horns, or none of the above. But in this case, this newcomer actually had all of the above. If his three friends were not gonna approach her, then he'd have to do it himself. He had to be the leader, after all. Though, he had to take this in a calm approach, and so he did. 

She flew down somewhat gracefully, landing right before the dragons, and folded her wings as she landed on her hoofs. But as she righted herself, Garble approached her; though the look in her eyes petrified him on the spot. Her body was calm and poise, but her eyes demonstrated a fiery nature; one of anger and rage. He shuddered just like Maar, but not quite as much. He could still move, but he had couldn't shake the feeling she was here to finish something. She had just saved Smolder's life and for that he wasn't gonna threaten her, just talk.

"Who are--"

"You're Garble, right?" Sakari asked in a quite frustrated, yet straight-to-the-point tone. A tone that Garble was not gonna argue with, but also couldn't help but give his full attention to.

"Yes, but, who are you?" He asked, but remained cautious. He's heard her voice just now and it sounded serious. Almost similarly like him. Just who was this pony?

Her glare craned to him, but he remained still as Smolder looked at Garble with one eye with tears still running down her cheek, "I'm Smolder's 'imaginary friend'. But, you can call me Sakari." The alicorn stated with a tone of annoyance, but also to jog his memory as she used her wings to make air quotes on 'imaginary friend'.

Garble blinked at her for a moment before realization hit him like a troll club. He widened his eyes in shock and put two-and-two together once the puzzle was set in motion. Smolder wasn't far from where he was and she hid behind the rocks where he found her for some unknown reason. Then he felt something against his tail-tip, but assumed he brushed it against a smooth rock. He recalled Smolder mentioning a friend but he assumed it was just in her head. But, in this whole entire situation, he didn't do the one thing he should've done to confirm whether he was right or wrong... 

'I should've looked behind me!' He gripped his head with his right claw and felt absolutely stupid for not realizing sooner, – not to mention he also felt embarrassed when he realized where his tail might've been or rather might've touched, causing his face to start heating up in embarrassment; especially since he just realized that this newcomer is a female, which caused his embarrassment to go sky-high. "Oh jeez, did I--"

But before he could finish that sentence, she cut him off as she held out his tearful baby sister towards him once she got the little one to let go of her fur. "Take Smolder. I need to have a word with your friend," Sakari glanced firmly at a confused yet intimidated Clump before glancing back at Garble with a soft yet serious glare focused on him. "And then I have a few choice words to say to you once I'm done with him."

Garble quickly took his whimpering little sister and held her close to his chest. Not only was Clump in trouble, but him? What did she have to say to him and why were he and his friends trembling at this girl's presence? But, he was not gonna object to this pony and stood aside. He looked over to Clump and warned, "Brace yourself, Clump."

Clump blinked at Garble's words before he turned his head and saw Sakari approach him with a snarl, rolling the fur on her right arm up like a sleeve and causing his heart to race in a bit of fear. He gazed around for a way out but found none. Clump could feel his insides churn from looking at that snarl, but as she approached, she lashed out.

"Are you out of your mind, you big buffoon?!" She shouted, causing the other dragons to reel back from her roar. Clump crouched a little and stepped back two steps in fear, eyes shifting about for a way to get past her as well as trying to avoid eye contact with this angry creature. 

"I-I-I...uh...." Clump twiddled his claws. He tried to come up with an excuse, but even he was having a tough time trying to speak to her. "I didn't mean--"

She glared angrily at Clump, furious for his actions. He had nearly crushed Smolder, her new friend, because of what he did; and in doing so, he may have absolutely traumatized the poor little one. "Why did you do that?!" She barked sternly at the pudgy dragon as she pointed to the big boulder in question. She was not gonna let that slide, at all.

Clump flinched and tried to explain as best he could, but his words were failing him so badly that he explained through gestures like a mime would do. He held his head as he motioned to Smolder, then at Maar, then to the boulder, and so on. He was freaking out by what he had almost done. He would question why a pony was here and scolding him, but right now - even if she's scolding him, she's saving him from a fate worse than a scolding as far as Garble was concerned – maybe even saved him from a colossal beating, too.

Sakari rolled her eyes and got a little impatient with his gestures. She knew the cause, but not the reason. And she wasn't gonna get anything out of gestures, "English, motherbucker, do you speak it?!" She bellowed almost like a drill sergeant. She preferred to hear his words instead of watching him move around like an idiot; though, a part of her found it very amusing for the most part.

Clump recoiled and cringed, almost blanched hard from her firm roar. He responded right away so he wouldn't get yelled at again and said, "Y-Y-Yes, ma'am!" He pointed at Maar who flinched when he did so. "M-Maar just wouldn't stop picking on me!" 

Sakari soaked that bit of information in and zipped her head back to look at the dragoness in question once Clump pointed her out. She immediately spotted Maar, who stood next to Garble, the dragoness in question was looking confused just like the rest.

Maar winced, however, once Sakari gazed her glare over at her and waved her hands nervously, speaking up to Clump. "Hey, man, don't drag me into this!" Only to flinch when Sunder punched her shoulder, silently reminding her that it was her teasing that got Clump to snap in the first place. "Ow!" She glared lightly at Sunder who glared back with her claws on her hips, while rubbing her right sore arm. "What?!"

Clump shakily continued to explain to Sakari, "S-She made me mad, and... and I… I... I wasn't trying to aim for Smolder! I swear!" He was quaking in his claws and couldn't figure out why. And he couldn't understand why this pony was scaring him so much. But he tried to convince her that it wasn't his intention that the boulder was heading for Smolder either.

'Okay, so, the lavender dragoness is Maar, this brown one is Clump, and the red dragon is Garble. I'll know the others later.' she said to herself before putting her attention back onto Clump. It was an excuse, but an excuse that was not good enough to save his hide. She shook her head in disappointment, "Even if she had been teasing you, you decided to retaliate and try to hurt her in return for her bullying instead of ignoring her taunts." She motioned to his friends, knowing they were trying to calm him down when he started losing it in their game. "If you had just calmed down like they told you to, you would've seen you were putting a little one's life in danger with all those bigger boulders you were throwing!" She had a point there. Getting mad over a squabble like that is more childish than the child herself. 

Though she was right about Smolder, Clump tried to find a comeback for that part about Maar. He worked up enough courage to sneer at this pony and he stopped shaking like a leaf and said with some confidence, jabbing his claw into her chest as he pointed, causing her to back up a step with a slight offended scowl on her face. "Well, Maar shouldn't have targeted me so much! She does this to me all the time!" Yes, he knew they were having fun, but the way Maar kept picking on him specifically riled him up, and he wanted her to give it a break. He then said, smugly, "And if Garble would've put Smolder somewhere else then maybe this wouldn't have happened." 

Oh, what a very big mistake he made when he said that. 

A crack sound emitted in Sakari's mind and something entirely new took over her thoughts; she almost lost control when Clump put Smolder into this. Shaking like a volcano about to erupt, Sakari then verbally lashed out and shattered any form of pride and confidence Clump had into pieces and made him rethink what he said as his eyes nearly bugged out in alarm when she got directly in his face, flapping her wings with as much might as an adult dragon when she flew up to his eye-level. 

"AND YOU THINK THAT JUST MAKES IT OKAY?! YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT COMPLETELY EXCUSES THE FACT THAT YOU HAD ALMOST, VERY NEARLY KILLED A DEFENSELESS LITTLE BABY?!" She roared in outrage, incredulous that this dragon supposedly thought that excused his dangerous act that would've ended Smolder's life.

Clump yelped and quivered yet again as he was brought down on his butt while Sakari gave him a good ol' stern talking to, curling up a bit as he recoiled in fear from her roar.

Garble and the other dragons stood aside and just watched with wide eyes as she let loose on him, but they couldn't help but have a conversation themselves, too.

"So, who's the new chick?" Maar asked, curiously.

"Well, it's a pony, obviously. But one we've never seen before," Sunder said, pointing to Sakari's wings and horn. "Never seen a pony with both wings and a horn before, have you?"

They've recalled encountering other ponies before; different ones with wings, horns, or none at all. But this one was different altogether. They hated ponies as much as the next dragon, but why would one be here? That sparked a real enigma to them.

Garble, however, didn't really care about the how and why of the situation. All he cared about was his little sister's safety. After that huge unnecessary skirmish with Clump, she probably needed some therapy after that whole ordeal. He glanced down at Smolder and saw she was still holding on to him tightly while shivering a little; she was still shaken and scared, but she was alive. He felt so bad for her, but none more so than wanting to pulverize himself for not saving her. Instead, this pony saved her. As much as he hated to admit it, but this pony had earned his gratitude for saving his baby sister, and earned a V.I.P ticket to not get a beating -- even though this pony had an attitude like she could handle herself just fine in a fight.

"Hey, Smolder, are you alright?" Garble asked calmly. He let out his soft side for a moment, but refused to have his friends acknowledge it. He had to keep that tough image, but he attempted to calm her down as best he could. He recalled his parents informing him to watch her, that much he knew. But he had to think further back; something his mother and father always used to do when he got scared. 'Come on, think, ya bozo!' but it was all for not as nothing came to mind. Pressure was getting to him, just a little. But with Smolder safe, he shouldn't have anything to worry about. 

Fortunately, Smolder snapped out of the titanic shock she ever felt and responded to her older brother, slowly looking up at him with teary eyes before giving him an affirmative nod that she was alright. "Y-Yeah…" She managed to hiccup out, although it was a little bit shaky at first. "I think so…" She wiped at her teary eyes with a little sniffle and another hiccup.

He smiled lightly at her response, grateful that his little sister was alright and that she's calming down enough to talk to him. He glanced back at Sakari who was still giving Clump a verbal beatdown. He winced a teeny bit when she motioned over to their direction, most likely pointing at Smolder who looked a bit surprised when her friend pointed to her; she had just now noticed her new friend was chewing out her brother's friend.

"— and all you were concerned about was your own petty tantrum, that no-dragon else's safety mattered? Every-dragon's safety in this area matters! But Smolder, she doesn't even have her wings yet, and she wouldn't have been able to get out of there fast enough if I hadn't been around, you jerk! She's only a baby!" Sakari jabbed, glaring at Clump and baring her teeth like an angry lioness protecting her cubs. She was reminding him that while they were all having good fun in their own way, they still have to set a good example for Smolder since she's still a hatchling.

"I-I'm sorry!" Clump squeaked out as he was backed into a wall. Here he was, knocked on his butt, and backed into a wall – by a pony, of all creatures.

"Yeah, you should be." Sakari scowled at his apology, "Hell, you'll be lucky if I don't have half a mind to tell your parents about this!" She frowned at his quite horrified face once she brought up that she may tell his parents about this little fiasco. She would too; she wouldn't care if it meant exposing herself to adult fire-breathing dragons.

'Man, if my parents find out about this blunder, I'm screwed!' He whimpered at the thought and even begged her, "No! Please, don't!" He frantically shook his claws in front of him at the pony, begging her not to speak of this little incident to his folks.

Just like all dragons, Garble hated ponies because he found them way too soft and easy to pick on. Smaller than him and at the bottom of the species list. Dragons are far superior to them and he wouldn't mind watching them burn at his mercy. He glanced at Sakari intently. But this pony, something about this pony didn't sit right with him.

"You guys can feel it, too, right?" Garble asked, steadily focused on what he felt earlier.

"What are you talking about, Garble?" Fizzle asked.

He looked back to his friends, a bit appalled by Fizzle's question, "Don't tell me you guys can't sense it either? I can't be the only one that feels something off with that pony, right?" 

Maar chimed in and she motioned to Sakari, "Yeah, I've been sensing something, too. But from what I can tell –" she glanced curiously at Sakari while speaking to the leader of their group "– she's actually kinda acting a lot like you, Garble." She looked back at him, his curious face melting into a look of shock yet surprise when she said this.

"What?" He asked her, surprised by such a comparison.

Maar nodded, "I can't put my claw on it, but she kind of reminds me of you." She shrugged nonchalantly, but she noticed something was off with this pony, too. "Fiery temper, very wicked glare, gives off an intense vibe around others once her mind is set?" though, the intimidation could use some work. She chuckled lightly and gave him a little knowing smirk, knowing she meant him. "Now who does that remind you of?"

Garble had to take a moment to think about that. But, he immediately brushed it aside and tried to say something to Maar, but...

"Oh, don't say anything like that, Maar," Sunder said, refusing that statement for Garble as she waved a claw at her words. She motioned to the irate alicorn, "She's just a moody prissy pony; there's no way she's like Garble. It's just… impossible!" She was not gonna believe for a second that a pony would act so much like Garble; it was preposterous. She even voiced that to her friends, knowing they're thinking the same thing as she looked to them, motioning to the scene before them and voicing Maar's theory. "I mean, c'mon! 'A pony behaving like a dragon'… I never heard of such a thing! It's absurd!"

Something that the teens slowly found themselves agreeing on. It seemed very unlikely that a pony would behave so similarly like a dragon. It sounded absolutely ridiculous.

As much as he'd love to talk for himself, Sunder had a point. A pony and a dragon had nothing in common and Sakari was no different. Ponies were just soft, glittery, sing-song creatures while dragons were born tough, fierce, and prideful. Though, it still baffled him that Sakari was giving Clump such a scolding like a grownup dragon punishing their children for borderline naughty behavior. Why wasn't Clump fighting back? 

Maar just rolled her eyes at Sunder. That dragoness really should stop being such a butt-kisser. She never was fond of her tagging along because all she wanted to do was try and canoodle up to Garble. It really annoyed her. 'For crying out loud, girl, he's not interested in you! Back off already!' She thought to herself.

Though he kept a close eye on Smolder, Garble never took his attention away from Sakari and Clump. Seeing Sakari scold Clump instead of him really took the momentum of wanting to beat the snot of him away and he almost felt jealous that a girl was doing his job. But, at the same time, he also felt bad for Clump. He had been the punching bag for quite a long while and it no doubt took its toll on him; something he understood very well. Maybe they should ease up on him; he was part of their group, after all. 

With Sakari doing what he wanted to do, it's not really worth the effort anymore. But, Garble did acknowledge one thing, "I'll give her this though; she's saying what's on my mind." He nodded, knowing he would've given Clump an earful for nearly squashing his little sister – although he'd warn him not to do it again or he'd pound him; this mare was doing way more than what he would do.

Sakari sighed lightly as the fumes finally cooled down and she ceased her scolding roars at him; any more yelling and her voice might've given out. She frowned softly at the dragon before her and crossed her arms as she stated, "Look, I'm sorry that this 'Maar' girl picks on you a lot, but honestly? You're much bigger than she is and you should know better." She motioned to him, using his size as an example of being bigger than Maar before crossing her arms, again, as he sadly nodded in confirmation about that. Her tone settled from anger to gently reprimanding, similar to how a mother gently scolds her child. "Being the only grown dragons around here in this area – you and your friends need to act like grown dragons and be responsible for one another, even give a little kindness. You don't always have to be mean to each other; everyone has limits. It would set a better example for little ones like Smolder, just like Garble's doing. It's the only way she can learn, after all."

Garble widened his eyes and flinched a bit, his cheeks burning bright pink as he gazed shifty eyes around when the pony mentioned him being soft around his little sister. "I… I dunno what she's talkin' about." He muttered while trying to avoid eye contact.

Sunder giggled lightly, finding it a bit adorable to see he's such a softy towards little Smolder, little dots of pink appearing on her cheeks as she smiled at him while giggling softly. Fizzle and Maar only smirked lightly yet knowingly at him as they sneak little amused chuckles, knowing he's trying his best to be a tough guy around them yet be a responsible older brother for Smolder at the same time. Smolder herself gave her big brother a grateful smile as she looked up to him.

Clump only nodded in agreement with Sakari and her every word; she made some very good points – he should've been the bigger dragon and just cooled down, at least enough to acknowledge Smolder's presence around and see that he was about to put her in danger. And he should've kept a cooler head and been a bit more reasonable yet responsible, so to set an example of influence for Smolder – but here they were now. 

Once more he tried to speak to the pony, gazing up at her guiltily like he was a young child being reprimanded by his mommy for bad behavior, his voice filled with regret, "B-But… I…s-she…" He couldn't form the words he wanted to say and could only glance away in shame as Sakari adopted a firm posture while she hovered over him in the air, her hooves on her hips – almost in a way a disappointed mother would… almost in a way that even his own mother would take when he was being naughty.

"Don't you 'But I…she…' me, buster." She pouted at the pudgy teenager and snorted lightly, raising a brow at him. "What do you have to say for yourself?" The only response she got was a blank stare and a few blinks from him while the only sound they could hear was the flapping beats of her own wings. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?!" She firmly repeated as he then shrunk a little and whimpered like a puppy under her repeated stern words, his blank face changing into a face of regret.

That did it – he could no longer hold it in. The hurt he felt from Maar's teasing, the horror and shame of what his anger nearly made him do to Smolder, the regret he felt about how he acted, and the fear he had felt from this angry pony – it was all too overwhelming for poor Clump. 

And to the surprise of all his friends, with one last whimper, he collapsed down on all fours before the pony; he covered his eyes with his claws and he immediately broke down into tears, just like Smolder had been doing earlier. His sobbing even caught Smolder's attention as she looked over to him to see this surprising sight. Her tears had long stopped as she blinked in amazement upon seeing her brother's friend gushing out fountains of tears from his eyes as he let out crying roars while he sobbed. 

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" He didn't hold back as the dams burst and his tears spouted out with no intention of stopping; he sniffled and whimpered a few times but that only really increased his sobbing. His tears even sprinkled down on Sakari like raindrops as he continued to cry. "Waaaaaah-ah-hahahaha!" 

Sunder blinked in shock and uttered under her breath in surprise by what she was looking at, "I can't believe it…" She could hardly believe what just occurred. A pony had just managed to make one of their own cry like a hatchling. She winced a bit as his crying increased, and gave a slightly sad, pitying look towards Clump; maybe they have been too hard on him.

Fizzle was flabbergasted. For as long as he's known Clump, he was the muscle dragon of the group – but here his pal was, crying in the presence of a pony. He winced as he gazed away while rubbing the back of his neck, even though he can still hear his bud break down; despite their slight fights with one another, they knew they were just screwing around with each other. They knew one another ever since they were hatched; they weren't related, but Clump was his best friend and he felt a somewhat slight brother-like bond with him. He cared about the big lug and he wanted to go over there and give him some form of comfort, but right now, he didn't know what to say or what to do.

Maar watched the two with her eyes wide in surprise yet shock; Clump was actually crying! She had never expected Clump to actually break down like this. But at the same time, she felt deep pity as she watched him cry at the hooves of this pony before him – she felt really guilty that she pushed him over the edge; and she felt like she was the one who was making him cry instead of the mare before all of them. She winced and bit her lip, holding her arm in regret as she gazed down to the ground while listening to his meltdown, her free claw touching her chest, right on her heart. Her eyes started looking a bit shiny as well; Clump's crying was really starting to have an effect on her.

Garble was quite stumped, jaw dropped and eyes wide; he was speechless – the way this pony had just handled this situation, almost reminded him of how parents would act when scolding their hatchlings. He should know; his parents sure gave him an earful whenever he misbehaved until Smolder was born. But this pony, this pony was something else.

Cooling down her firm demeanor and cooling her emotions down at last - upon seeing this clearly overwhelmed and guilt-ridden teen dragon break down crying right in front of her, Sakari sighed lightly to herself with a hint of remorse – knowing she may have been too rough on him during her scolding; He looked like he was having a rough day, so the least she could do was give him a bit of comfort after putting him through the wringer like that. 

She fluttered her wings and landed right before him, tenderly caressing his head with her feathered wing as it carefully lowered down to his shaking form, while gingerly rubbing his back with one hoof; her other hoof was gently touching his claws to carefully lower them from his face which worked as he looked up at her tearfully, his tears still running down his cheeks and his lips quivering through his whimpers. 

"There, there… I'm sorry I yelled at you. You just made a rash decision, that's all." She wiped his tears away as his whimpering slowly ceased. "Please, don't cry…" Her voice had turned so soft and so warm, that it almost felt like a blanket wrapping around his body in comfort. The last thing she wanted right now was to see hurt, sad, crying faces. Her voice now became as gentle as a mother dragon lulling her hatchling into a sense of security. She cooed as she comforted him, "I'm not mad at you anymore… I just don't want anything like this to happen again, okay?" 

"O-Okay…" Clump sniffed, pulling himself together as the pony helped him at least sit up enough for him to get up on his own. His claws came in contact with her hoof as she gently pulled him up to sit up. The result was… actually very interesting. Surprisingly, she had a gentle, caring touch to her; sure, she was a pony, but he's never actually touched one before.

Sakari was having similar thoughts, she's never really touched another dragon other than holding Smolder minutes ago, and instead of feeling rough scaly patches – Clump had more of a smoothness to his hide, almost as smooth as her own skin. Using her wing, she caught an escaping tear dripping down his cheek and gingerly flicked it away.

When she did that, Clump winced lightly and he tried to scrub his tears away, becoming fully aware that he showed weakness in front of his friends by bawling like a baby. 

But his friends were too surprised by what was occurring in front of them to even think of giving him even more of a hard time. They knew he needed a break, a very big break. They were dragons, but there were limits on how much bullcrap they could take and from the looks of it, Clump's been through enough already.

Sakari reached into her bag once she got it open and she pulled out a handkerchief. Rearing up on her hind hooves like how his friends are standing on their feet, she gently grabbed onto his right arm for support before using her free hoof to gently wipe the tears out of his eyes with the hanky. She gently pressed it to his muzzle when she heard how stuffy it sounded as he sniffled while she wiped his tears away. "Here, blow." 

Obliging her just this once since the gentle comfort of her voice soothed him a little; he blew hard into the soft cloth, but had also unintentionally blown smoke in her face in the process.

Sakari winced only lightly when her now slightly messy yet smoky hanky nearly got stuck to her hoof while gaining a bit of soot on her cheeks. She shook her head to shake the soot off and put the handkerchief in a separate pocket in her bag. No use getting dragon snot and soot all over her stuff. She'll get rid of that later; no use polluting the area.

But even if she gave him comfort, Clump was still a little upset and slightly afraid of her as he hiccupped a bit. He backed up a bit from her after she had rid him of his tears. He curled up a bit against the wall, hugging his knees and wrapping his tail around his hip, and only letting out a strangled, scared whimper. He couldn't speak, he was scared to talk any further – he was worried that if he did something else, he would set her off again somehow.

Seeing such a sight was heartbreaking for her to witness, to say the least. It should be the other way around, but nonetheless – she had to calm him down somehow, because comfort alone was only doing so much for the two of them at the current moment. "You don't have to be scared… I won't yell at you anymore. You've been through enough as it is." And she understood that perfectly – this poor dragon had been through quite enough a lot. But how was she going to prove that she wasn't going to hurt him? She immediately turned to her bag to look for some sort of incentive to offer.

Smolder tilted her head as she watched her new friend start to dig into her bag for something. "Si?" She wondered what her friend was doing. Especially when her look of determination slightly melted into a look of sadness a few moments later once she had found something in her bag. The little dragoness became confused - what was her new friend sad about?

A little idea came to Sakari – if he didn't want to believe her words, then perhaps a peace offering will do. She glanced into her bag a bit sadly as she ran her hoof over the cool, smooth surface of the big egg-shaped emerald gemstone she had kept hidden from Smolder; it was her very last good-luck charm that she had found with her mother. She knew sacrifices had to be made if one had to build a bridge of trust between two parties – plus, it may cheer him up. Sighing lightly but accepting what she must do, she made her decision as she nodded.

Clump wiped his eyes from the saltiness his tears had left behind and breathed steadily to get his hiccups to stop until a sweet scent came to his now clear nose. He sniffed about for the pleasant aroma, a small smile starting to grow on his snout as he took in the sweet, delicious scent before looking towards the source and to his surprise…

It was a big, shiny, ripe-looking egg-shaped emerald being offered right before him!

He wasn't the only one who was surprised; the rest of the gang gasped lightly when Sakari was offering something that dragons can't resist: a gem-snack. 

"Clever pony…" Fizzle quietly commented. He didn't know if it was luck this pony knew about their love for gems, or if it was completely coincidental.

Sunder raised a brow, wondering how a pony like this one managed to get her hooves on a nice delicious-looking egg-shaped emerald such as that one. "Where did she get that?" She uttered softly.

"And how did we miss smelling that little scrumptious piece of heaven on her?" Maar couldn't agree more as she pouted lightly at seeing this little gift offering. How did they not smell that succulent-looking emerald earlier?

Smolder looked amazed; her friend had another gem on her? But she's offering it to one of her big brother's friends? As strange and weird as Sakari was, she sure was unique.

"Here." The pony's voice spoke gently, causing Clump to look up at her in surprise; however, she was avoiding eye contact with him while holding the gem to offer the emerald to him, keeping her eyes from facing him by pretending to see something interesting in the sky. She avoided eye contact with him mostly to be somewhat submissive yet willing to form some sort of truce as she offered him this sweet delicacy – hoping to build a form of trust between herself and the teenager. 

From studies before she departed on her journey, she read a book about doing this – avoiding direct eye contact with certain dangerous creatures – it was a way to show them respect because that meant she was acknowledging their power as well as the danger he could pose to her very life and well-being. 

But she didn't want to fight anymore; all she wanted to do was settle this situation peacefully.

Such an action from such a creature, this pony – the very angelic-like creature that struck him down with her wrath – was now showing him kindness, in the form of trying to form some sort of peace between them after such an emotional drop-bomb. It was surprising, yet it started making Clump see her in different lights.

Yes, she was very scary, but she had only been that way because she was justifiably angry since she revealed that she was friends with little Smolder… and now, she's showing that she knew limits and was giving him kindness and comfort, instead of further emotionally and mentally torturing him with her words. This sudden change… it felt… really nice. Normally, dragons aren't that big into getting involved with emotional subjects and mushiness, but in this case, this was an exception. 

'Plus, that emerald she's offering sure looks good.' He couldn't deny, this pony had good taste. To dragons, especially teenagers like him and his friends, out of all the gems that dragons knew of by their knowledge, emeralds were considered a bit rich in taste, yet quite filling depending on their shape – and this emerald sure looked very filling and very ripe, judging from the look of how it's shaped, causing him to briefly lick his lips. She was offering it, but she was also giving him a choice if he should accept it or not. It sure looked tempting, though - all that anger burnout really perked up his appetite.

Despite that, this pony actually showed something else, too; she showed that she was different from other ponies, not just by appearance… but by the fact that she was brave enough to stand up to a dragon like him, and yet at the same time, was kind and gentle enough to offer him a form of peace between them in the form of a gem, as well as give him a respectful acknowledgment of his power and skills as a dragon. 

'This pony's alright.' He concluded in his thoughts.

Smiling softly and blushing lightly from her genuine kindness towards him, he took the ripe green gem carefully from her hoof, being careful not to claw her by accident. In return for such a gift, he thought to himself – if she can show she means that she won't give him any more grief, perhaps he can show that she won't be harmed by even the likes of him – for she was the very first pony to ever be kind to him.  "Thanks…" His voice almost came out in a bit of a bashful but grateful whisper.

He slowly reached his claws towards her, much to her notice when she looked to see he had taken the gem. Sakari gave a little warning sneer when she saw those claws getting close to her face, narrowing her eyes only slightly. He immediately stopped but kept his arm extended and turning his head away, he avoided eye contact just as she did before; it was up to her, after all. She gave him her form of peace; it was only fair that he did his own form of peace as well – by giving her a gentle rubbing on the head with his claws, without injuring her in the slightest. However, just like she showed towards him, it was all about choice.

Widening her eyes at his actions, Sakari was a bit surprised by his own submissiveness – allowing her to make her decision on trusting him or not. Granted, this action was a bit sudden and it was a little bit invasive to her personal space, but at the moment when she saw him give her the chance to decide for herself – she didn't care. He was willing to cooperate with her and in return for showing him she meant no harm, she realized he was showing her the same thing. This was a rare occurrence for her, for the first time in her life, she was allying herself – with the very creatures nopony was brave enough to try befriending. At this very moment, she was making new friends.

With a deciding nod and a soft little smile, she slowly shut her eyes and placed her head under his palm, much to his own surprise as he looked right back at her once he felt her touch; she allowed him to feel her hair, touch her fur, and even rub her cheek as she could feel his claws explore while rubbing her head. She gave his claws and his palm a little nuzzle as she felt safe for a moment with his surprisingly comforting yet warm touch. By doing this, Clump found out that just like him – she is warm, alive, and full of blood and life – just like he was. Opening her eyes and making eye contact with him, she gave him a bright yet sweet little smile, a sparkle in her eyes. And in the moment of discovery and compassion, Clump found himself giving her a toothy smile back as the sparkle was returned in his eyes.

It was at that moment while getting a bit of a better understanding of one another, the both of them made a discovery that the both of them now knew – while they are both very different species, under the fur and beneath the scales, they were the same: creatures who were both living and breathing, and were more alike with each other than one had ever thought.

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seriously seeing?" Maar spoke for the gang, baffled by what she was looking at.

"I see it, but I can't believe it…" Fizzle added, his eyes wide in surprise.

Garble slowly nodded, he was speechless at what he saw before him – just before, Sakari was scolding Clump in his place, but now she was being kind. Just what was happening here?

Although, his train of thought halted when Sakari turned her head and made eye contact with him… and judging by that slightly firm face slowly returning and replacing the calm, kind expression she had before, she gave a snort and spread her wings. But before she can go and confront Garble like she planned to, she gazed at Clump who had started to nibble on the emerald, speaking gently towards him as he starts sampling the egg-shaped gemstone. "By the way… I'm Sakari."

The teenager looked a bit surprised at her giving him her name and he slowly pronounced it once he could form it on his tongue. "Hmm… Sa-ka-ree…huh." Eh, close enough. Closer than Smolder got it, he allowed the name to form on his tongue and insert itself in his memory banks. While he licked at the emerald like a popsicle, he gave her a little smile and gave her an introduction back. "That's kinda pretty. Name's Clump."

Giving him a smile in return, she then took flight and flew right towards Garble with a soft frown on her face, the look in her eye about as serious as she had been earlier.

Taking notice, Smolder looked up at her older brother and saw he looked concerned, but she had to point out the obvious for him. "I think she's a bit mad at you too, big brother."

'Yes, but why?' Garble thought – he understood most of her rage was at Clump, but what did he do to deserve some lashing? He carefully put his sister down when it was apparent she stopped crying and had calmed down, but he held her little claw – refusing to let go of her so soon.

"Garble…" Sakari's voice broke him from his thoughts along with a jerking sensation on his right free arm, causing him to yelp and snap himself back to reality. She was right in front of him and now had him by the arm.

Garble flinched in worry, he didn't know what exactly he did to get a lashing, but the pony had him in her grip now. And it may have just been from witnessing her anger earlier, but he was a bit nervous about what was in store for him. "Yeah...?" 

"You're the one who's responsible for Smolder, correct?..." She received a nod from him. "Then, you should know, you must be punished for putting Smolder into such a high area where she had been vulnerable to such a horrific incident." Her voice purred out, leaking a mix of anger yet serene calmness at the same time, all while sounding as smooth as silk – which sent shivers down the dragons in the area's spines.

That made Garble freeze; that's what she was angry at him for? Okay, he'll admit – maybe it wasn't the safest place to put Smolder up there, but he didn't want her wandering away from his sight, again. 'Okay, gonna have to call 'my bad' on that one.' He winced lightly as he had conflicting thoughts about what was going to happen – she wasn't wrong. He was responsible for Smolder, so he deserved part of the blame too for almost losing her today. "R-Really?" He gulped in response to the pony before him.

"Yes…" Sakari's voice hissed out, narrowing her eyes at him, the slight venom in her voice spooking the teenagers around them, also causing Garble to whimper a bit as she gripped his arm. 

His friends winced sharply and braced themselves for what was to come to Garble, wondering what the angry pony was going to do.

He shut his eyes tight and braced himself for what was coming, expecting to hear scolding or feel pain…

*Slap!*

…But what he didn't expect was just a simple slap on the wrist.

"There." Sakari let his arm go and she backed away from him, giving him his personal space back.

"Huh?!" He blinked his eyes open, blinking them in confusion yet in a bit of surprise by what had just happened. Smolder giggled and broke out laughing a little at seeing the sight of her brother getting worked up over just a little slap on the wrist.  Clump was kind of the same as he tried to fight his snickers down and keep his mouthful of emerald bits from spraying out, putting a claw to his muzzle while doing so; he couldn't help it, the look on Garble's face was hilarious.

Sunder raised a brow, incredulous about what she just saw. "Wait, that's it?"

"Just a slap on the wrist?" Maar blinked in surprise by Garble's so-called punishment. "No yelling? No fighting?" She was stunned that was all Garble was getting.

"Hmm… well, that was a bit anticlimactic." Fizzle shrugged as he talked to himself after witnessing Garble's 'punishment'.

"E-Excuse me, what?" Garble looked to Sakari who flew a distance away from him and landed onto the ground, folding her wings to give them a break from use. 

"You heard me." Sakari jabbed back at Garble calmly as she glanced back at the red teenage dragon. She motioned up to where the boulder had crashed, frowning lightly at the sight from where she was standing. "While I am pissed that you placed Smolder up there where your pal here nearly crushed her," She gazed at Clump calmly as she dusted herself off from the dust of the ordeal, causing Clump to blush in embarrassment as he slowly chews on the emerald he holds. "…I'm no fool when I know you were trying to be a good big brother, keeping her where you could see her." She nodded, knowing he was only trying to be a responsible sibling. So she decided to cut him some slack for that one instead.

"You didn't know that this would happen, but it did. But… I'm not going to give you too much of a hard time." She chuckled lightly as she gazed down to the little dragon at his feet, holding his claw while looking up at her "I don't want little Smolder to get upset with her…" She smiled trying not to giggle, but she teased him momentarily and sent a wink towards Smolder's direction "…'imaginary friend', for picking on her big brother."

Garble's cheeks lit up from embarrassment at her bringing up that 'imaginary friend' bit; but when she told her the reason why he was only getting a slap on the wrist, his eyes widened in disbelief. That… was actually generous and believable on his part; yes, he did mess up by placing Smolder in a spot where she was vulnerable, but he had no clue that Clump would go on a rampage. He pouted lightly as he heard his little sister giggle at his reaction and for Sakari mentioning his words about her being her imaginary friend. "Aww, be quiet, ya little troublemaker."

Smolder giggled but hurried over to Sakari and hugged her leg, nuzzling into her fur gratefully, "I told you that I was with a friend and that your tail touched her." She gave him an adorable 'I-told-you-so' smirk as she looked at him.

Sakari, as she held her little friend close in a hug, gazed up in time to see Garble's face turn a mix of mortified, embarrassed, and ashamed as well as a bright shade of pink to compliment his scales when that part was brought up – which caused her to nearly burst out laughing. She did let out a few little laughs because the look on his face was too priceless to resist.

He winced deeply as he looked to the pony, still embarrassed as he rubbed his neck, gazing awkwardly at his tail which slouched in shame on the ground, slightly curling up near his leg when it was being brought into this. "I, uh… didn't touch anything personal, did I?"

"Simmer down there, buster…" Sakari smirked widely, teasing him further because she was having fun with this. "You only touched my hind leg with that tail of yours."

"Oh! Oh…" Garble heaved a sigh in relief that he had been holding in, feeling his forehead and wiping sweat off. That brought him some relief as he actually smiled a little to show said relief, "Oh jeez, thank goodness…" He had only touched her surprisingly smooth leg with his tail, not what he worried he may have touched instead.

Although, his embarrassment skyrocketed when Sakari added, "If you touched me where your tail was hoping to touch – I'd make sure to make your 'rubies' extra red, because you'd better take me to dinner first if you're trying to get fresh with me, pal."

The sudden innuendo actually got all the teen dragons to bust out laughing hysterically while Garble looked incredibly flustered and pink in the face.

**

"So… you're travelling out here?" Sunder asked, raising a brow at Sakari.

It had been an hour or two since they finally calmed things down enough for everyone to get comfortable with each other; especially with their latest guest who had explained why she was here in the first place. They were sitting near their pile of gemstones, taking a break from their games to finally let curiosity take control. It also gave them time to get introductions out of the way so they wouldn't have to keep calling each other 'pony' or 'dragon' the whole time.

"That's right." Sakari smiled softly while holding Smolder in her lap who was playing with her tail. "Left the nest, recently and was out to see the world…"

Something the dragons quickly understood, smiling lightly at one another. From the first moment they could fly, they too have wanted to get out of their nests to see the world themselves.

"Heh, just was trying to figure out where to start," She sweat-dropped a bit sheepishly. She brightened up and looked at them. "Then I saw you guys flying off somewhere."

"So, you followed us?" Garble crossed his arms, raising a brow at her as he started piecing together why she was here.

"Well, I wasn't stalking you, if that's what you're thinking," She snarked at the red teenager, making him lean back a bit – as if surprised by her snarking skills but he smugly smirked, secretly impressed by her tongue. From the sound of it, it sounded like this pony was actually about their age. "You see, there's not much information on dragons in literature." She rolled her eyes lightly at the mere lack of info on dragons. "Probably because nobody's ballsy enough to get near a dragon without pissing themselves." While it was understandable that the fear of dragons loomed over ponies that not a single one would traverse Equestria and study them, it would've been nice for somepony to at least be brave enough to document something; the current information felt like it was made out of fear.

Her unfiltered comment got Clump and Fizzle laughing hysterically, nearly rolling on the ground laughing or nearly spitting their gems out.

"Oh, jeez… it's funny, because it's true!" Fizzle facepalmed as he laughed. It really was a fact. Ponies were outright scared of dragons for such a long time that it became common knowledge to the dragon kingdom. Heck, some dragons didn't have to do anything to scare them off; their presence alone was enough to make them go running back to their mamas. But Sakari? 

"Ok, now I know you're totally different from the other ponies, Sakari." Clump laughed as he wiped a tear away. "You're talking our lingo here." He was impressed that she would actually admit to something true and she wasn't looking the least bit offended. "Hoo, dragon lords above… you crack me up." He laughed a bit more but tried to steady his breathing so not to choke on the gems in his mouth.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Maar crossed her arms. "I know we dragons are everything they probably heard of, but really? Not even a short chapter?" She was appalled that there was that little information on dragons where Sakari apparently came from. She was a little invested in the idea of a pony writing down information about them. Not all dragons are mean; must've been at the wrong place and time, apparently.

Saraki threw an arm up in agreement with Maar, "I know, right?" Sakari said, confirming to Maar that there was little to no information on Dragons back at home, as far as she could tell. "So, I wanted to take a chance to gather any information I can get by observing you." 

This caused all of them to actually blush lightly, realizing that this pony had been watching them the entire time, and they had no idea she was around… all except Smolder.

"Then, I was found by this little stinker," She playfully shook little Smolder who squealed and laughed as she tickled her some with a little smirk. "Who was soon discovered 'missing' by snaggletooth over here." She gazed at Garble with a smirk, mentally laughing at his pout as he flipped her off for that nickname. "And I'm pretty sure you know the rest."

"Sooooo… you were basically spying on us." Sunder blinked slowly.

"No, dummy," Maar pointed at their guest, frowning at her fellow dragoness. "She was trying to be smart and actually get some information about dragons – rather than be like the rest of those namby pamby ponies."

"I dunno if I should be offended by that or not." Sakari honestly stated, raising a brow at Maar's last three words. "But I'm getting a teeny bit of a feeling that you were trying to enter into racist territory there." She grabbed a Fire Ruby from the gem pile. "Not all ponies are 'namby pamby' or as bad as ya think." She pointed at them as she stated this before biting into the ruby with an audible crunch, chewing up the tip of the gem that shaped like a heart, savoring the sweet taste. "Mmm," She smiled softly as she enjoyed it. "So good."

But when she looked up, she blinked in confusion because all of a sudden, the group of teenagers and little Smolder were looking at her wide-eyed and some slack-jawed.

"What?" She looked around and shrugged, wondering why they were looking at her like that. "Something on my face? Did someone let one rip? If so, it wasn't me this time."

"Oh, it's not that." Fizzle droned in shock.

"Definitely not that." Sunder nodded in agreement, spooked.

"We're just wondering something else," Maar widened her eyes in complete awe.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Sakari wondered what in Equestria was wrong with them. Why were they looking at her as if she ate a live bug in front of them?

"Sakari?" Clump spoke in what sounded like concern. While Smolder looked confused yet surprised. "Sisi?"

Okay, now she was really confused. Why are they acting so funny? "Why are you guys acting like I just ate some sort of bug in front of you?" Sakari raised a brow at them.

"If no-dragon is going to say it, then I will!" Garble was tired of his friends beating around the bush, so he decided to be the one to point out the ursa major in the room. He looked at her, confused yet in wonder. "We're wondering; How, what and why in Torch's name is a pony taking a bite out of a gem without breaking her teeth?!"

Once Garble finally threw it out, Sakari's eyes widened slightly. Now she understood why they were looking at her like that. Looking at the gem in her hoof, they easily saw that she had bitten through it without any trouble… and without causing any dental damage to her teeth. She then started to sweat as she gazed down, uttering under her breath once she realized what she had done.

"Aw, schist."