//------------------------------// // Dragons Don't Do Nice // Story: Who's the Toughest Dragon? // by StarkyShy //------------------------------// “I’unno,” Gallus shrugged as he walked with Silverstream down the halls of Twilight’s Friendship school. “Like, if I had to pick one, I guess Applejack, but-” “Shhhhhh!” Silverstream wrapped her hand around Gallus’s beak, clamping it shut. “Do you hear that?” Both of them listened out, picking up the faint sound of two voices, though it was impossible to tell who was talking or what they were saying, but the tones of the voices didn’t sound pleasant. They snuck down the halls, trying to follow the source. As they got closer, the words were easier to make out, “...can’t believe you’re trying to compare the two!” “You have no idea how much stronger I’ve gotten!” Now able to better hone in on the argument, Gallus and Silverstream peeked their heads around the corner to find their friend Smolder literally butting heads with Dragon Lord Ember. “You don’t know what it’s like having to be the leader of all of dragonkind!” “Oh yeah? You never had to go through midterms!” “What do you think they’re arguing about?” Silverstream whispered. “No idea, you wanna find out?” After a second to breathe and gain some quick bravery, Silverstream stepped out into the hallway with Gallus following behind. “Heeey...What are you two doing?” Ember and Smolder shifted their glares over to the sudden walk-ins, their expressions slightly lightening up. “Oh hey you two!” Smolder walked up to her friends, grinning wide. “You wanna tell Ember over here that I’m a tougher dragon than her?” Ember’s jaw dropped in shock and disgust. “What?! The dragons back home are in awe of my strength and leadership! I’m definitely the tougher dragon!” The dragons quickly returned to locking horns. Gallus slid between them, trying to keep the two apart. “Woah woah woah! Before you burn the school down, there’s gotta be some way you two can settle this!” Silverstream gasped in excitement. “Ooh, Gallus! You know what we could do?” She beckoned him closer, whispering in his ear. “...Yeah, that’d work.” A sly grin showed up on his beak as he nodded along. “How would we set something like that up, though?” Silverstream thought for a moment, before inspiration struck. “I know just the thing!” The others followed Silverstream through the school, their destination unknown. They eventually found themselves going through the library and into one of the rooms near the back. The room had loose papers and books scattered on the floor. On one side of the room was a chalkboard covered with indecipherable symbols surrounded by portable chalkboards with complicated formulas and equations. But the most eye-catching feature of the room was the wall on the opposite side of the room. The wooden wall had two golden vertical bars that divided it into thirds, with one bar running horizontally. Bronze plaques were placed on each divider, with one in the middle above. What was most peculiar was the hexagon-shaped holes. Two large ones were on the dividers, each with two smaller ones on both sides. On the border of each hexagon were the same symbols they saw on the chalkboard. After staring in awe and confusion, Smolder looked over at the hippogriff. “Uh, Silverstream? What is all this?” “This is something I was helping Counselor Starlight and Headmare Twilight with! They’re portal thingies that you can put your body through!” Gallus raised a claw. “Wait, why do we even have something like this in the school?” “For cool magic stuff, duh!” “So...what exactly do we need all this for?” Ember asked. “What’s the challenge you’re gonna put us through?” “Oh right! We’re gonna be tickling you two!” “Tickling!?” Both dragons looked at her with shock. “Yep! Toughest dragon is gonna be the one who can withstand the most tickling!” “A-Are you serious?” “What’s the matter? Surely the toughest dragon would be able to take on a little tickling, right?” Gallus smirked, egging them on. Almost instantly, their egos got in the way of their better judgement. Ember puffed out her chest. “If it’s only tickling, bring it on! I bet Smolder’s way more ticklish, too!” “Tch, whatever, I’m sure I can take more tickling than she can!” Silverstream grinned and shared a fistbump with Gallus. “Well, since you’re both in agreement, just give us some time to prepare things!” The birds flew off to set up the competition. As Gallus ran off to the dorms, Silverstream sprinted towards Starlight’s office, bursting through the doors. “STARLIGHT WE NEED TO USE THE PORTAL STUFF!” “...What.” Back in the room, Gallus waited with his backpack full of supplies. Silverstream eventually returned with a still-confused Starlight. After Gallus better explained the situation, Starlight agreed to help out. She took a deep breath as her horn started to glow. “Alright, stand still, you two…” she instructed, enveloping the two dragons with her magic aura. A flash of light forced Ember’s eyes shut. When she opened her eyes, she found her head sticking out of the wooden wall, with her feet now right next to her cheeks. Despite being able to get an up-close view of her own soles, her position didn’t cause any sort of discomfort. Looking to her right, she could see Smolder in the same position. “There, the portal spell is set up. Only your head and feet are exposed bv sticking out of the portals in the wall.” Starlight explained, pointing at the hexagon holes, the runes written on the borders now glowed yellow. “Don’t worry, the rest of your body is safe, it’ll just be in a magical pocket dimension until I undo the spell.” Smolder wiggled around. She could still freely move her body, but only being able to see her feet right next to her made it a little disorientating. The rest of her body felt like it was washed in a soothing aura. “Huh, weird, but it feels kinda nice too…” “Now, one more thing...” Starlight’s horn lit up again. The plaques on the wall started to transform, growing draconic heads, wings, and tails on the border. The eyes of the dragons began to glow yellow, and words started to inscribe themselves on the plaques. First were the names of Smolder and Ember underneath the respective dragons, then “Who is the toughest dragon?” on the plaque above. “Ooooh! That’s so cool!” To finish it off, steel chains appeared above the heads of the two dragons. A cuff wrapped around their middle toes and pulled them back, forcing their soles to be more exposed. “Alright, you guys should be ready for the competition!” “Perfect…” Gallus grinned, walking over to Smolder’s feet. Silverstream took her place in front of Ember. “Okay, if you wanna give up at any time, just say that the other dragon is tougher! Got it?” Both dragons nodded in agreement. “Bring it on!” “Do your worst!” Gallus reached into his backpack. After a bit of searching, he pulled out two hairbrushes and two scrubbing brushes, giving one of each to Silverstream. Seeing the brushes get pulled out made Smolder start sweating. “W-Wait, where’d you get those?” “Don’t worry about it.” The two didn’t waste any more time. With one brush scrubbing down one foot and a claw raking down the other, they were determined to hold nothing back to break their dragon as fast as possible. The initial results seemed promising, as Smolder and Ember instantly exploded with laughter. “Wow, dragons are waaaay more ticklish than I thought they’d be!” Gallus looked at Smolder with an evil grin. “Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun…” Silverstream used the hairbrush first, she pushed back Ember’s toes, allowing the bristles complete freedom to scrub her arch. Ember’s eyes widened in shock, quickly trying to push back against Silverstream’s grip. The harsh scrubbing left her instantly squealing as her toes twitched against her hand. For his first weapon of choice, Gallus picked the scrubbing brush. The wide brush made it easy to cover Smolder’s entire sole at once with each stroke. Smolder threw her head back as much as she could, her horns clanking against the chains as she howled with laughter. The wiggling of her toes was much more lively than Ember’s. “Ooh, this is gonna be easy!” Silverstream kept holding her toes back, having the hairbrush go all over her taut foot. She moved the brush in all directions, scribbling against her sole with reckless abandon. “IS THAHAHAT THE BEST YOU’VE GOHOHOT?” Ember cackled, trying to glare at the hippogryph. “No, not yet, but if you really want me to tickle you even mooore…” Silverstream said with an almost sinister chuckle. “I can always start tickling your toes!” She dropped the brush in order to have all  her talons scratch against her huge toes.  A distinct blush started to show on Ember’s cheeks as her toes splayed out. “AAAIIIEEEHAHAHAHA! G-GET AWAY FROM MY TOHOHOES!” Instead of restraining Smolder’s feet like Silverstream, Gallus used the brush on one foot, and scribbled his claws down the other, following her feet as they wiggled around. “BWAHAHAHA NOHOHOHO! IT TIHIHIHICKLES SOHOHO MUHUHUCH!” Smolder tried to get away from either the brush of Gallus’s fingers, but the chains around her toes made that task impossible. Gallus smirked. “Gonna give up, then?” “NEHEHEHEVER!” “Suit yourself, more fun for us.” Silverstream briefly glanced over to look at how Gallus was doing with Smolder, seeing how much Gallus was making her thrash made her more determined to go harder. After equipping herself with both hairbrush and scrubbing brush, she resumed her attack on Ember’s feet. “GAHAHAAAAA! Q-QUIT IHIHIHIT!” Ember’s feet froze up when the bristles from both brushes made contact, but soon they were back to wriggling about. Silverstream leaned in closer to the dragon’s face. “Hey Ember, why don’t you tell me which brush tickles more? I’ll go easier on you if ya say it!” Each brush stroke was done in sync, giving her a fair chance of assessment. “Better yet, I’ll stop completely if you give up now!” “AHAHAHAHAAAA! Y-YOU WON’T BREAK MEHEEHEE!” The blush on Ember’s face intensified, brightly shining on her blue cheeks, though her willpower still held strong through the intense brushing. As lively as Smolder’s feet were, they were still held back by the chains, giving Gallus the perfect opportunity to run the brush underneath her toes. “You know it’s only gonna get worse, Smolder...” “NAAAAHAAAAAHA!” Smolder’s squeal was loud enough to get her voice to crack. “B-BRING IHIHIHIT! EEHAHAHAHA!” she roared in defiance. “Hmm…Any progress yet?” Gallus asked, turning to Silverstream. “Nope, but I think I have an idea.” Silverstream reached over from Ember’s right foot and over to Smolder, dragging the hairbrush down her left foot. “Ohhh, I getcha.” Gallus started scratching against the ball of Ember’s right foot. The two looked at each other and chuckled as they got a chance to torture both ticklish dragons. Whatever one of them did to Smolder, the same treatment was given to Ember, and vice-versa. The scratching from Gallus’s claws made Ember throw her head back and cackle, yet instead of crying for mercy, she defiantly challenged them. “BAHAHAHAHA! IHIHIS THAT ALL YOU GOHOHOT?!” “GWAHAHAHA! I WOHOHON’T LOSE!” Smolder started to tear up, still trying to wiggle her feet away from the claws and brushes. All the tickling was exhausting, but her stubborn pride kept her from giving in. Despite all of their efforts, neither dragon seemed even remotely close to admitting defeat, Eventually, Gallus and Silverstream needed to stop for a break, both of them actually fatigued from tickling so much. “Sheesh, this is harder than I thought…” Silverstream thought aloud, rubbing her arms. “No kidding…” Gallus muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “We’ve been going at it for a while, and neither of them are even close to breaking.” Silverstream turned to Gallus as she idly scribbled her talons across Ember’s soles. “You know, it’s kinda cute how their toes wiggle like that…” Ember suddenly let out a loud, high-pitched squeal. “NOHOHO! S-stahahahahap!” Both birds flinched at the severe reaction from the dragon lord. “Wait, what’d you do?” Gallus asked. “N-Nothing! I was just going light like this…” Silverstream demonstrated by skittering her fingers against Ember’s feet again. “Gyaaaahahahaha! D-Dohohohon’t do thahahat!” “If that’s the case, then I wonder…” Gallus went back to Smolder’s feet, gently dancing his clawtips over her toes. “HAHAHAAAA! No more no more no mohohohore!” Smolder squealed, shaking her head harder than ever before. Gallus and Silverstream looked at each other in stunned silence. The looks of surprise on their faces gradually grew into a grin of revelation. They put the brushes away, now playfully wiggling their fingers closer to the pairs of dragon feet. The confident and defiant looks on Smolder and Ember quickly became panicked in the brief seconds before the tickling resumed. “NAAAHAHAHA! G-Gallus staaahahahahaaaa!” Smolder pleaded, his gentle touch now driving her crazy. “Heh, not so tough now, huh?” Gallus taunted, skittering his fingers across her feet. “No getting away from the tickles...” Silverstream started giggling as she played with Ember’s toes, scribbling her fingers against them to watch them wiggle back and forth. “Aww...you’re so cute!” The teasing made Ember’s cheeks get redder almost instantly. “GWAAAAHAHA! I-I’M NOHOHOT CUUUUTE!” “Hey Silverstream, I got an idea.” Gallus fluffed up his wing and popped it out, having the feathers brush up and down Smolder’s foot. “EEEEHEEHEE! NOOOOOHOHO!” The soft feathers of Gallus’s wing made Smolder’s feet curl as much as they were allowed to. “Oooh, great idea!” Silverstream mimicked Gallus’s movements, flapping her wing against Ember’s feet. Ember started sweating in a panic, her feet tried to retract back into the portals to escape. “Wait! No! Don’t you DAAAHAHAHA! EEHEEHEEHEE!” Once the feathers hit her feet, she let out a girly squeal. "D'naww! So cute!” Silverstream cooed as she slid her fingers down her arch. Her wing brushed against the sole of her other foot, adding more feathers over time. “Who's a lovely dwagon? I think it's youuu!" “KYAHAHAHA! NOT SO GENTLE! I-I CAN’T TAKE IT!” Ember leaned her head back as she roared with laughter, each little mention of how cute she was made her more and more flustered. “Geez, Smolder, your feet are softer than silk! It’s like you WANT to be tickle tortured…” Gallus teased, wiggling his fingers and feathers over her feet. “EEEHEEHEEK! G-GALLUS NOHOHO! P-PLEHEHEASE!” Tears started streaming down Smolder’s face as she tried to curl her toes. Gallus’s talons lightly scribbled against Smolder’s feet. “Such cute soles, too...Hey, now that we know how ticklish your feet are, I wonder what Ocellus, Sandbar, and Yona are gonna say when I tell them…” “SHUHUHUHUT UP!” “I’m serious. What do you think they’re gonna say when I tell them that they only need to gently tickle your cute feet to make you a blushing mess?” Silverstream popped open her other wing, having both sets of feathers eagerly flapping against her feet. “How badly do my wings tickle, Ember?” ‘SOHOHO MUHUHUHUCH! THEY TIHIHIHICKLE SOHOHOHOHO MUUUUCH AAHAHAHAHAHA!” All of the wiggling from Smolder’s feet enticed Gallus. As he slid his wing up and down one foot, he leaned in closer to the other foot, pressing his beak against her sole and giving it a kiss. “OKAYOKAYOKAAAY! EEHEEHAHAHA! E-EMBER’S TOUGHER! EMBER’S TOUGHER JUST STAHAHAHAP!” Smolder squealed. The combination of gentle feathers and the sudden kiss made her break. Gallus and Silverstream looked over to Smolder, folding their wings back in as the tickling finally came to a stop. “Aww, I was gonna get her toes next...” Silverstream muttered to herself as she went off to get Starlight. Even after the dragons were released, they laid there on the floor, still catching their breath. “Gaaah...That...was torture...but at least I won...Toughest Dragon...” Ember said between panting, smiling in satisfaction. “Yeah yeah, whatever...lousy cheatin’...” Smolder grumbled, rubbing her feet.