The Lion and the Lamb

by CrazyChickenLady

Chapter Thirty-One: Smokey's Past

Chapter Thirty-One: Smokey’s Past

One of the chickens emerged from the coop to get a quick drink from the water trough. With half-closed, sleep-laden eyes, the bird didn’t even notice the large dragon nestled beside the pen. Scooping water into her beak until her thirst was quenched, the hen turned right around to return to her nest. Her vision caught the reptile, but the chicken’s brain had not yet registered his existence. She didn’t realize anything out of the ordinary until she took her first step into the henhouse.

Backpedaling to investigate the foreign lump that appeared outside the pen, the chicken’s eyes snapped open wide in astonishment. Leaping into the air, flapping her wings wildly, she let out a string of hysterical clucks.

Smokey’s sleep having been disturbed, whispered as soothingly as possible in his anxious note in order to calm her - and hoping Fluttershy wouldn’t come out. Unfortunately, that didn’t work.

A gasp leaped from Fluttershy as the frightened clucking reached her ears. Letting the book she was holding drop to the wooden floorboards, she jumped off the couch. Her natural protectiveness of her animals superseding her own reasoning and sense of self-preservation, she opened the door and barreled right out into the yard.

There didn’t seem to be anything at first, but a compulsory scan of her yard and the chicken coop revealed a large lump near the fencing.

The mare stumbled back, her eyes widening. With it being dark out, and the moon hidden behind a stray cloud a member of the weather team had apparently missed, it was almost impossible to distinguish its identity. Acting swiftly, she flapped her wings to swoop over to the chicken to grasp her in her hooves and rescue her from whatever that lump was - not sure if it was dangerous or not; she just assumed it was.

However, as she picked the hen up, the cloud cover broke off as if on its own accord, moonlight filtering down into the pegasus’ yard and illuminating the creature.

The equine’s eyes nearly doubled in size at what they beheld.

“… Smokey…?”

The scaly being was frozen in place on his knees, too nervous to move.

“Erm… h… hello…” he squeaked out, ear frills drooping in shame.

“… Hi,” she weakly replied. Several questions were running through her head, one of which being why he was scaring her chickens, though she was more concerned with what he was doing here in the first place.

“… Is… something wrong?” she asked. “Did you have a nightmare?”

From the looks of it, he had been laying down - but… why would he have been sleeping in her yard?

His stomach twisted as an even greater amount of tension starched his muscles. Mind rendered numb, he couldn’t think of an alternate excuse. There would be no way around this - he would have to tell the truth.

Heaving a great sigh, the dragon plopped down onto his bottom and lowered his eyes to the ground.

“I… well… This… will sound ridiculous… but… I’m… I cannot be alone for no more than a few hours.”

This came as an unexpected surprise. Setting down her chicken, Fluttershy ushered her into the henhouse, gazing at the dragon out of the corner of her eye.

“I… see,” she said, turning to him fully, not sure how to take this. “Um… Would you like to come in? It’s… really cold out here.”

Lifting his head, but not meeting Fluttershy’s eyes, he nodded pulled himself up onto his feet.

“Y… yes… I would… Th-thank you…” By the intonation of his voice and body language, it was easy to discern that he was heavily embarrassed. Yet, he was grateful he had been invited inside the cottage. She really was a very sweet and kind mare, he mused. He could hardly believe that she was readily doing this for him.

Angel, now awake, blinked blearily, genuinely surprised to find Smokey. Though… he didn’t really care at the time; he was too tired to care. With a big yawn, he settled back into the warm comfort of his bed.

Did Smokey really mean what he said that he couldn’t stand being left alone, she wondered. And why her?

Technically, she WAS the only pony he knew well enough. There were the others, though, and she got the feeling that her friends might not be so receptive.

… Well, no, even that was a stretch. Possibly, the only one she could imagine being coarse about the issue was Rainbow Dash. Knowing her, she would probably call him some sort of creep for doing this. … Which, in a way, was kind of creepy.

Then again, maybe he was just really lonely.

“What happened to your animal friends?” she finally questioned. “Weren’t they with you? Did they run away??”

That must’ve been what happened. They ran away and he was out looking for them…

“No, no… They… made some new friends and… they’re… staying with them tonight,” he replied quietly, idly drawing random patterns on the wooden floor with a dull claw. “I’m sorry, Miss Fluttershy… You are the only one who… I really could go to… I didn’t want to disturb you, so I remained in the yard with your animals.”

A soft smile tugged at the corners of Fluttershy’s mouth as she moved closer to touch a hoof to his arm.

“It’s okay. I understand. Though… you didn’t have to do that. You could have knocked - I was awake. I… couldn’t really sleep either. Too much on my mind.”

Thinking about him, incidentally, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. The situation was already awkward enough as it is.

He said nothing, quietly soaking in the little comfort his friend offered. The draconian was also baffled she was taking to this so well. Was this what having a true pony friend was like?

“… I was lonely frequently as a child…” he confessed after a period of silence. Crossing his arms, clawed hands grasping onto his biceps, he finally summoned the courage to meet the yellow-furred pegasus’ blue-green orbs.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she stated, scooting closer to him, her gaze never leaving his. “I know precisely how you feel. I was the same way when I was a filly…”

Did she really know how he felt? The only way to find out was to reveal his background to the mare. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Smokey took a deep breath and began…

From what he had been told, he had been found as an egg in the middle of nowhere and immediately transferred to the nearest orphanage where he was hatched and placed under the care of an elderly unicorn mare named Ragdoll. Smokey imprinted on the mare just as any baby would’ve done. The equine was a light cream color, the image of a pony rag doll emblazoned on her flank, with a silver tail and mane pulled back into a bun and eyes like honey. The tenderhearted pony was named who often made stuffed toys for the colts and fillies when she wasn’t busy.

It was the moments Smokey cherished most being curled up in Ragdoll’s lap while she sat in her rocking chair, listening to her talk to him. However, those days didn’t last long.

At five years old, the orphanage had received brand new curtains for the playroom. It turned out, Smokey had been allergic to the type of fabric the curtains were crafted from, resulting in a rather large sneeze. Before he knew it, the curtains were up in flames, and next, half of the playroom. The young dragon could only watch in horror as children screamed and everyone panicked to evacuate.

After the incident had passed, a flame retardant room had been arranged for him and he was locked inside. For days, he spent his time pounding on the door apologizing over and over again - crying and screaming that it will never happen again and pleading to be let out, which lead to losing his voice for a short while. But once it returned, he was at it again.

For weeks, this went on… and he was ignored. The only time the door was opened was so he could be given food or a toy. The loneliness was unbearable, consuming him… Almost every night, he cried himself to sleep…

One day, Smokey discovered a couple of mice emerge from a hole in the corner. He had noticed it, but never questioned how it got there. The dragon eventually befriended them by luring them closer with some of his meals. They became his only companions besides the stuffed animals sitting on his bed.

Three years went by and Smokey was heartbroken to find that his only friends had passed away from old age… He cried for days, his only comfort being the toy ponies he held close.

He did find new animal companions though, after baiting squirrels and birds to his window with food.

A surprise came to him on the day of his thirteenth birthday. The door opened and revealed the wrinkly face of Ragdoll. Smokey was confused as to why she was here - she couldn’t possibly be allowing him to leave his room. What she did next overjoyed him - she beckoned him over for an embrace, which he gladly gave in to. The draconian practically flung himself at the mare, tears falling freely down his face. Maybe she still cared about him, after all…

Though, after he had thought that, the unicorn’s next words broke his heart all over again:

“You don’t belong here…”

Smokey stared up at the mare’s face in bewilderment… heartbreak… betrayal… and once she levitated a large duffel bag into the room, hovering it in front of him to take, it only accentuated his emotions.

The young dragon was escorted out of the room and out of the building and into the rain. He couldn’t believe it was really happening… The one pony who had raised him was casting him out into the world for him to fend for himself. Did she even care what happened to him? Did she care at all??

He got his answer - or at least he think he did - when she closed the door and locked it. Heart tearing once again, he broke down, not even caring if he was getting soaked. He remained that way for a while, forcing himself to leave. She wasn’t going to accept him back inside, so he figured he might as well go…

Smokey rubbed the tears from his eyes as memories from his past dissolved and he awoke back in the present, turning to see Fluttershy’s reaction.

Throwing her hooves to her mouth, Fluttershy gasped, her eyes tearing up as her heart was repeatedly tugged as the dragon told his story.

“How… how could they?” she whimpered. “That… must’ve been absolutely horrible…”

Hanging her head, she leaned in to slip her forelegs underneath his arms in a hug.

“I thought my experience would compare, but… that… that’s just terrible… Being locked away like some monster… I can’t even imagine how you could have coped with that.”

The very sight of the mare’s eyes made the draconian’s stomach clench into a tighter knot. That, combined with the all-too familiar heartache returning to him was enough to evoke more tears from the depths of his sea green pools.

Throwing his arms around the pony, a choked sob escaped his throat as he resumed speaking. “Th-they… w-were… a-afraid… of m-me… Th… the sw-weet old m-mare… wh-who c-cared for m-me… f-from b-birth… I… I-I th-thought… sh-she… l-loved m-me…”

Fluttershy held him, turning her head to lean her cheek against his torso, rocking him back and forth in her forelegs.

“I wasn’t… locked up, but… I was an only foal. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters, and… I was always very shy. I didn’t like being around other foals since I was often picked on… Especially during flight camp. I was a very weak flyer, and… I was continuously teased. I only had Rainbow Dash as my friend, but… for a while I thought that even she didn’t want to be around me and was only sticking up for me because nopony else would.”

Smokey briefly removed one of his hands from the pegasus to wipe away his tears, using almost all of his self-control to prevent himself from breaking down.

“I-I… w-would have s-stuck u-up f-for you…”

“I know you would have,” she whispered. “Had we met long ago.”

She tilted her head back to softly smile at the dragon.

“But that happened a long time ago, and it’s in the past.

“I made lots of friends since then, and my life has never been the same since. In fact, it’s only gotten better. The same can happen to you, too, Smokey. I’m certain that you’ll be accepted in town one day, and you’ll be just as welcome as anypony else.”

“I… I hope so… I… I w-wish most p-ponies w-were… l-like you,” he quavered, another wave of heartache spurring more tears to pool at his eyes. It was a long shot, he thought… but, if this pony - as well as six of her friends - could accept him… Maybe… just maybe… more will come to accept him in time.

“It will,” Fluttershy assured. “Just give it time.”

Much like the wind and rain, over time, even the most miniscule of things would erode the mightiest of foundations. It would be a slow process, one Fluttershy knew wouldn’t happen overnight. But, it would happen, some day.

“We just need to appeal to the townsponies and gain their trust.”

The question on how to do that, though, was a mystery.

Comments

[Twilight Best Pony]

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[Multiversity]

Oh, wow.

No apology, no... no look of regret, nothing?

I can't--just--but...

[thewaffler]

Smokey can't just say he's a traveling magician, not when one was partially responsible for destroying and enslaving the town.

[CrazyChickenLady]

Multiversity: Ragdoll MIGHT have felt regret. Remember, this is Smokey's point of view from when he was thirteen. ;D

thewaffler: Okay then! He's a rare species of panda then! :P

[Samurai_Shippo]

man what orphanage did he grow up in.

[CrazyChickenLady]

4059527 There are surprisingly horrible orphanages in the world.