Pawprints and hourglasses

by RustyKat

The first tale......

It was a warm day in the crystal empire. It was peaceful and with bliss. The shining city blossomed with love and kindness from those who lived within. The light refracted off the crystal structures radiated even the love from the city, as well as a welcoming atmosphere. A single royal guard stood guard at the crystal castle. He was a light purple crystal Pegasus, with ice-blue eyes, and a determined expression. He stood there, his name Rhinestone.
A grey-hooded figure approached Rhinestone slowly, turning her head around to see she wasn't being watched, the sharp green and blue eyes looking around. Instead of the soft clip-clop hooves made, hers made a soft, almost soundless noise as she walked. If one looked closely, they would realize she did not have hooves at all, but paws. She stopped right in front of Rhinestone.

"Hun... I told you ya didn't have to hide...." began Rhinestone.
The figure took off the hood, revealing a squarish muzzle, dark purple fur, a unicorn's horn. Her bi-colored eyes, one ice blue, the other green, looked at him worriedly, as she softly brushed her fusha pink hair out of her face.

"A..are you sure? The others may think I'm a monster." She replied in a unique thick wolfish accent.

"A monster? They do not understand you." Replied Rhinestone, ears flattened. "I only hide because others would kill me on sight. No one would understand a crystal dragon trying to be like the rest of ponykind.... but they would of a crystal Pegasus."

"....True." She flattened her ears.

"Hey..... relax. The stress isn't good for the little one."

She gave a chuckle. "Maybe she'll grow up to be like you someday."

"I'm glad you visited me Crystal. It's kinda boring here." He admitted sheepishly. "Not much happens around here."
Crystal paused in what she was going to say.
"Very well then. If thee thinks i'm not a monster..... why do I hide?" With her magic, she took off her cloak, and put it away. The sunlight revealed her strong furry build, the fluffy long tail that trailed behind her, and her long fusha mane. Her belly was ever so slightly descended, heavy with the pup she carried within.

A pony nearby gasped. "What in celestia's glorious sunlight is that!?

"It's my damn marefriend. Now shutup." Replied Rhinestone angrily.
The pony went silent, before he rolled his eyes, and after muttering something under his breath, walked off.

"Thank you Rhinestone." She purred softly.

"How have you been lately? I mean... with the little one and all, I was just concerned."

"I could be better..." Crystal replied. "She's been a bit active lately."
Rhinestone put a hoof gently on Crystal's belly.
"I bet so. A mischievous thing she is.... Maybe she'll be a unicorn, just like you."

Crystal chuckled lightly. "Or maybe a dragon like you. Who knows what she'll turn out to be."
Rhinestone checked the time on his watch.

"Hey, my shift is about over. How about I take you home and make you feel better?"

"Sounds wonderful."

"But I'll carry you this time. Last time, you were out of breath when we traveled back home to Ponyville. I don't want any harm to our little one."

"I just thought of a name for her...... Rusty."

"How Unique." Said Rhinestone in a confused tone. She just gets stranger and stranger every day..... I love it. "Rusty it is."

He looked around, before he shifted into his dragon form, quickly but gently put Crystal on his back, and took off with a powerful wing stroke. Soon they were cruising among the clouds.

"I always liked this form better..." Purred Crystal. "Such sexy scales... hiding under that other disguise."
Crystal didn't know what to think of his Pegasus disguise. It was a bit smaller than his dragon form, but it was clever. No one but her and him knew of this secret.

Rhinestone gave a small chuckle. "And such long gloriously silky fur you have....".......!
He quickly swiveled to the right, narrowly missing a fireball.
What in Equestria was that!?

A shadow darted again at him, talons out and ready, and he dodged, but just barely.
"Dear.... what's going on?" She asked in a panicked tone. He could feel her claws as her grip tightened.

The stress isn't good for little Rusty.... He struck the shadowed figure in the chest with a fireball of his own, which was dark purple. The dragon gave a snarl of anger. He was a dark red with pure white spines. His eyes were a glowing dangerous green, and there was a sharp spike at the end of his tail.
"Rhinestone...... I told you never to fly in this area again." The voice was deep, full of anger. "This is my territory!"

"But Boneknapper.... my house is in that area. Besides, you're scaring my marefriend, and the stress isn't good for the baby." Replied Rhinestone angrily. "I don't give a rat's butt if this is your territory or not."
There was complete silence, except for the sound of their wingbeats through the air, and the soft whimpering of Crystal. Finally, after what seemed ages, Boneknapper broke the silence, as he caught sight of Crystal clinging tightly to Rhinestone's scales.

"I had forgotten about Crystal.... and your house is indeed in this area. My apologies, Miss Crystal.... I over-reacted."

Crystal whimpered, "P...please don't do that again."

"Shh.... i'll get you home. Calm down for me, okay?" He turned his attention to Boneknapper. "Goodbye Mr. Boneknapper."

"Goodbye." He replied, as he took off again.

There was silence on the rest of the journey back home. But finally, he landed, and quickly shifted back to his Pegasus form. He gave a slight wince as he felt the ends of her claws still in his fur.
"Sweetie, we're home."

"Thank the stars." She replied with a sigh, ears flattened.

Rhinestone went inside the house, and gently put Crystal on the soft dark green couch.
"Now, you stay here. Is there anything I could get you?"

"Yeah... a glass of Gingerale. With the ride you gave me, it was like a roller coaster." She replied sarcastically.

"I..i'm sorry. I'll get your drink."
He knew that every time Crystal went on a roller coaster, she ended up tossing her cookies. He vowed since last time, never to take her on another. Still, he couldn't help but feel awful for putting her through that.

He walked back into the living room, handing her the glass.
"Here you are hun."

"Thank you." She replied, as she sipped from it sparingly. "Can't that scaly jerk ever leave you alone?"

"He has a poor memory Crystal.... he never remembers things he should." He flattened his ears. "I should of never taken you through that......."

"That's okay hun." She replied with a light laugh. "If I was a Pegasus instead of a unicorn, I'd kick his ass right back to the place he came from."

Author's Note:

Comments

[SolarEclipse912]

I like it.

[Fossil-Dragon-Messiah]

Interesting. Let's see where this goes shall we

[Michael Hudson]

Before I read this, three things. One, if you want to tell me you have a new story, PM me. Two, 'But if we' instead of 'But we' for your description. Three: most people will tell you not to use emoticons in story or description except in the case of a troll fic.

[RustyKat]

5594041 well...... I had to tell other people about the difference between Rusty and her crazy persona Miss Rusty.

[Michael Hudson]

So, um, this is a thing. A thing I don't like. Sigh. Where do I begin?

Well, I suppose I need to start with the most notorious comment on this site; get an editor! Good god is the grammar and writing atrocious. Words are missing, whole lines don't make sense, and some even repeat what has already been said before. It is very distracting and I kept sighing through out the story as I had to piece together what you meant. Final note for this part is that your descriptions aren't a part of the narrative, they're just there. They feel unnatural and throw off the immersion more then just about any other writing flaw you have here.

Next, and I know this is to establish your own interesting OCs, but this is fairly try hard. Te strange looks, the attempts at making them mysterious and possibly hated. It all just feels forced and awkward for me. Then comes the dragon that attacks them. Again, this feels try hard, especially with the bit of comedy. If he is so worried about this kid, why is he engaging in combat? Why can't he just walk through the forest that I'm guessing has to surround their house, otherwise people might see them? It feels like padding and just kind of stupid without setting up a true relationship between our main character's parents. They're still just kind of these things we got a glimpse of, but not much more.

My last note is pure nitpick. Why does he transform in town? Even if no one was in that street, I'm pretty sure someone would have seen the dragon flying into the sky.

[RustyKat]

5594129 You got several points there. One...... this ended up on paper before I thought about it. Never was too good at grammar. ....if you can't understand my storyline....... I'll re-write the entire thing. This has never happened before. Yes... I know the storyline is total poop.
Second, that is his territory, and he did not see Crystal until Rhinestone said something.
Third......... you have a point. Never thought about that. These changes won't happen right away because I'm currently writing the next chapter..... But i'll notify you when the changes are made. Thank you for your.... interesting Critism.

[Michael Hudson]

5594150 I would definitely get an editor Black.

[RustyKat]

5594157 yes... I have three on paw that can help me.

[rikusorasephiroth]

I finally got around to this one and... you mis-spelled fuchsia.