Lovey heaved a heavy sigh. The only thing she had done since coming to the crater was get into fights. She was battered and bruised and felt like a banana.
"Why'd she bring me here again?" she thought to herself. Her belly rumbled in response. "And I'm so hungry..."
Lovey looked around, hoping to see some kind of meal sorted out for everyone, but there was no such thing. The best she could do was see what the others were eating and how to obtain it. Much to her confusion and horror, everyone was eating gems and meat from freshly hunted animals in the plains. By this time, the sun had already set, and the white clarity of the moon covered the land. Most of the dragons who weren't eating were either sleeping or leaving.
"...Maybe if I sleep, the hunger pain will subside for a while..." Lovey felt tears trying to escape her eyes, but a deep breath and some concentration prevented that from happening.
With some effort, she waddled towards a pile of tones and nuzzled herself between them. Having no proper space to stretch, and being forced to walk on all fours, she found it apt to roll around and sleep like a cat. Hunger and pain poked at her again, and she tried desperately not to cry while she attempted to slumber.
"What are you doing, son? Men don't cry!" a stern voice spoke to Oliver. "We just take it and stand strong! Now come on. Let's go. We'll get some ice cream and make you feel much better. Ice cream always made me feel better."
Scarlet clicked her tongue in annoyance and lied down. Zoonzu had already fallen asleep on the grass and ignored the thousands of bugs walking over her immense hide. The red dragoness cringed at the sight.
"I hope she's going to be okay. If this continues, I'm bringing her back. I can tell that she's about to snap,"
The next morning, Lovey was violently awoken by more dragons. They had picked up the large rocks around her and thrown them to the side. One of them picked her up by the throat and tossed her aside like a piece of paper.
"There we go," she said. "More space for us."
Regaining her bearings, Lovey yelled at them. "What's your deal, you stupid idiot? Why can't you let me sleep?!"
The opposing dragoness looked at Lovey with bloodthirsty eyes. "Why, we heard you couldn't fly! We-" She gestured to her group of six. "Thought we could help you out with that!" She walked towards a large boulder and heaved it onto her shoulder. "If you're stressed by things on the ground, then you should ffffffflY!"
The boulder smashed heavily on the ground next to the pink dragoness who started running away as fast as she could while the dragons followed her, laughing.
"This is what happens when lovie dovies leave their volcano!"
"Volcano?" Lovey thought.
Scarlet started stomping the ground angrily. "They're throwing boulders at her!" She 'pulled up' her 'sleeves'. "That's it. I'm going to get her out of there."
The red dragoness hadn't paid attention to her companion grabbing a boulder Scarlet's size and waddling forward with her legs spread apart and the boulder in front of her.
"This will happen to her!" Zoonzu said.
"Wha-ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Scarlet screamed when she saw what Zoonzu was doing.
"Heave HO!"
And, as she announced, the massive stone was heaved several hundred feet forward and into the air. The gigantic stone appeared in front of the early sun as a black spot, a spot which gradually grew larger and larger.
"What is that?!" one of the dragons pointed.
"Run!" the lead dragoness said.
The massive stone hit the ground with a loud thunk and bounced after the lead dragoness. It continued to roll towards her with great speeds across the crater, letting Lovey heave a sigh of relief. It was short lived, however, as her stomach decided to remind her about her lack of sustenance, and the reminder felt like someone was squeezing and twisting her stomach. A slightly older dragon casually walked by, chewing on some meat.
"Hmmm. Starving, huh?"
"...Yes."
"Then hunt for your food. Lovie Dovies don't hunt?"
Lovey looked at him, then looked at the ground.
"Then how do you get food?"
"Some of u...them hunt. The others do other stuff."
"Huh. You lovies sure as a strange bunch."
Lovey blinked and took a step back, suspicion permeating every millimeter of her face. "Why aren't you attacking me like all the others?"
"Because I don't care. I'm just curious." He walked away, his face still showing complete apathy. After taking a bit out of his meat, he pointed a greasy finger to the distance. "There's animals over there. Maybe take your time and look for something. You might find something to eat...if you're lucky."
Lovey didn't want to listen to him, and so she sat, pouting, but her stomach wouldn't let her be stubborn. It took some effort to climb the ashy mound, but Lovey managed to reach the top and look in the distance. Strangely enough, she was capable of seeing from quite a ways away. There were several rabbits and birds around, and the other dragons were already catching and killing them.
Drool seeped from the pink dragoness' mouth, but not from the sight of 'game'. Rather, the image of cooked rabbit complete with prunes and honeyed barbecue sauce, complete with potatoes on the side.
"Mmmm...No. NO! Focus, Oliver. You need to..." Her energy suddenly drained in seconds. "to kill..."
"Come on, Oliver. Take the gun and shoot it."
"But I don't want to...I don't want to kill it!"
"Boy, men have hunted since the day our ancestors climbed out of the ocean. Think of it this way: If not us, then someone else might. And then what? You'll have wasted a perfect opportunity."
"..."
"They might not even make a clean kill and let it get away to slowly die, but I know you can do it cleanly and quickly."
The silence was broken by the sound of a loud bang waking Lovey from her daydreaming. In the distance, Scarlet continued watching her while Zoonzu looked for more giant boulders to throw. The red dragoness rubbed her chin pensively.
"She's been sitting there for hours. What's wrong with her? It's just hunting." Several more minutes passed before Scarlet came to a sudden realization. "She can't kill."
"Huh?" Zoonzu blurted out her flower-filled mouth.
"She can't kill, which means she can't hunt. And if she can't hunt."
"She can't nom."
Scarlet bit her claw. "Now I really can't leave her there. Tch. Was she an herbivore before she was taken here?" Scarlet pondered. "No. She was scarfing down the meat we were giving her. Didn't she hunt? Where did she even get the meat if she never hunted and wasn't a herbivore?"
"Come on, Zoonzu. Let's go. It'll take some time to get to the crater."
"Okay!" the giantess answered cheerfully.
In her daze, Lovey turned and walked back into the crater, unaware that, after nearly tripping and falling, she was walking upright. Sure, she was still clumsy, but she didn't need her cane, and her tail was doing its best to help her keep her balance.
"Hey look, she can walk normally now."
"That means we can throw her out normally now."
The pink dragoness didn't even react to the dragons that landed near her and strode past them, confusing the group.
"Is she okay?"
"Who cares. Just throw her out."
As the 'teenagers' approached Lovey, two loud thumps were produced behind hem, followed by an earth shattering stomp that threw everyone off-balance and onto the floor.
"What was that?!" one of the teenage dragons shouted.
Zoonzu's smiling face approached them and showed her huge teeth. "Play time?" she asked.
"Yes. Teach them how to be real dragons," Scarlet said.
"Woo!"
Zoonzu jumped in the air joyfully and chased after the 'ants' that were running screaming from the gargantuan dragon chasing them.
"I THOUGHT LOVIE DOVIES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SMALL!" one of them even shouted.
Scarlet shook her head and looked at Lovey with pity. She grabbed the pink dragoness and cradled her in her arms.
"You couldn't even last two days out here, and you can't even resist your hunger pains for half that." She chuckled. "For someone touting themselves to be 'Manly' and 'Strong', you sure do come from a weak place."
Scarlet took off to the sky, letting her 'friend' 'play' with the tiny little dragons, but Lovey wasn't saying anything. She was just staring blankly into the distance, her stomach rumbling loudly.
"Looks like she just realized how weak and useless she was, and her whole world shattered. I know that feeling. You know," she started. "You shouldn't bottle up your feelings like that. It's not good for y..."
Looking down, Scarlet saw that the pink dragoness was crying silently. Her face was as 'blank' as before and still staring into the distance, but her eyes were flooded with tears. Even with her world and entire perceptions shattered, Lovey refused to give in, at least, not entirely. The giant red dragoness shook her head in a display of bemusement and pity and aimed for the home of the Pueric Mother.