“But I’m putting my claw down, after we’re done here, we hole up in my den until tomorrow.” Dazzle laid out.
“Agreed.” Nodded Twilight.
“Which reminds me, what’s tomorrow?” Chromie asked.
“Mourning Star’s coming up to address the clan on what we talked about today.” Spike answered, making Chromie start back.
“Really? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him come up from the alter since… uh…” Chromie glanced towards Dazzle, who simply nodded.
“They know Chromie.”
“Oh.” Chromie breathed a sigh of relief. “Since Early Light succumbed to her greed.”
“Which concerns me a bit.” Twilight spoke up while quietly squirreling Dazzle’s mother’s name away in her head. “How is he coming up? The way we went down was a bit spacious for us, but I don’t think Mourning Star could fit up those stairs.”
“Through the lava vents.” Dazzle explained. “The way we went is the general entrance, but for larger and older members, the lava vents are an easy way in for dragons.”
“And not so much for other races, clever.” Twilight smiled at the unconventional method while beginning to shift uncomfortably. Clearing her throat, she began to cast her magic and Spike suddenly felt a lot cooler on his right, making him grimace a little at his oversight.
“Oo, sorry Twilight. Do you need anything else?”
“What? What’s going on?” Chromie asked a bit concerned as she glanced around as to what Twilight was casting her magic on. Dazzle felt the wave of cool air over her claw and began to have the same dawning of understanding Spike was.
“Ooo, right, dragon temperatures.” Dazzle acknowledged as she pulled her claw away. “Chromie, this might be comfortable for us, but it’s a bit much for a pony like Twilight.” Dazzle explained. “Would you mind seeing if we could get a round of waters?”
“Not a problem, I’m on it.” Chromie chirped as she jumped out of her seat, making her way back to the bar where a different drake was tending.
“Thanks, you two.” Twilight smiled. “Honestly I didn’t even notice.”
“Well, just don’t overdo yourself.” Spike warned. “You don’t want to pass out in here.”
“Please Spike, a coolant spell of this caliber isn’t going to drain me that much. I’ll be fine.” Twilight reassured just as her stomach grumbled in protest once more.
“Properly fed maybe.” Spike’s concern didn’t waver. “But we both know magic’s one of the first nonessentials to go in starvation cases.”
“Spike, I’m not starving, I’m just hungry.” Twilight chuckled. “Starvation doesn’t set in until more than a month of malnutrition. It’s barely been a day, I’ll be fine. Honestly, you’re starting to sound like me.”
“Well, I can see why.” Dazzle observed as she leaned back against the bench. “You’re basically in his world right now Twilight. And as new to this as both of you may be, he does have less disadvantages than you. And as he stated earlier, he has had to be your guardian before.”
“Oh he was just being melodramatic.” Twilight waved her hoof dismissively.
“Not all that much, but then again I haven’t had to do much beyond a bit of prodding. Though I did learn to do a bit more after the Lesson Zero incident-“ Spike began.
“To which we agreed we would never extrapolate on.” Twilight said through grit teeth, peaking Dazzle’s interest. Unfortunately for her, one of her fears about coming to the Broiled Pit came true.
“Well look who we have here.” A familiar arrogant tone rang through the establishment. The trio’s attention was drawn to a table not too far behind them where Starset was leaning on a table with two other dragons giving them a sidelong look. “And here I thought you would never place a claw in here Dazzle.” He said as he began to stride over to their booth, making Dazzle hunch over the table and splay her claws onto the table. “What was it that you said about meateries? ‘All fat and no food’ was it?” He leaned against the booth seat with a slimy grin. “So what are you doing here, sis?”
Dazzle’s claws noticeably clenched and unclenched against the table as she resolutely stared at the booth back above Spike and Twilight. “It was the only place with plants for our guest. That’s all.” Dazzle glowered.
“Right, our guest.” Starset directed his gaze to Twilight, who felt an immediate repulsion. Before, he had felt like a brick wall that was barring an outsider, now he felt like one of the lower slime ball nobles that acted in every conceivable way to look polite while trying to wring you dry of your bits. “Tell me, how was meeting our chief today?”
Knowing what she did about what they had done about going over everybody’s heads and how a power monger like Starset might take it, Twilight set as neutral a face and tone as she could. “It was informative. We never seem to know much about dragons.”
“I would assume not.” Starset remarked as he began to pompously examine a claw. “A proper dragon wouldn’t need to take the time to talk to such an insignificant pony.” Starset grinned as he not to subtly glanced at Dazzle. Spike, however, caught the quip in a different light.
“I wouldn’t say that to loud. A proper dragon like Mourning Star might hear it.” Spike said, innocently twiddling his thumbs and looking at the wall. Starset’s gaze hardened as it fell on Spike.
“And what would a welp know about being a proper dragon?” He snarled lightly.
“I didn’t say anything about knowing how to be a proper dragon.” Spike replied with a small, knowing smile. “Just that Mourning Star took the time to talk to both Twilight and I. So what are you saying about your clan leader who would talk to a pony and a welp?”
Dazzle’s right eye began twitching so hard she was sure something was going to burst when Spike began talking, her claws wedging into the table. But as the words rolled out, her claws unclenched as she thought about Spike’s words. In truth, she had never been a well-rounded speaker, but out thinking needed no spoken word. Spike seemed a bit more versed in verbal bouts as he made no claims, just a simple fact. It was Starset’s claim that a proper dragon wouldn’t speak to an insignificant pony, and she knew Starset had meant for everybody to hear that. And so had Spike.
Twilight was too busy looking between the two drake’s, preparing to leap in any given direction to truly appreciate Spike’s word play. What she did notice were Dazzle’s unclenched claws and Starset’s growing displeasure. Calming her panic a notch as to have complicated coherent thought once more, she cleared her throat for Starset’s attention.
“As it stands, I would like to have a meal in peace before retiring tonight. It has been a long day and fewer distractions would be appreciated. We may very well speak at length tomorrow.” Twilight rolled out with a calm demeanor that quietly shocked everyone at the table, visibly or not.
Starset snorted. “Fine. Enjoy your ‘meal’, pony. I’ll make sure to have a proper talk with you when your ‘properly rested’.” He made in mock air quotes before rolling his eyes and heading back to the dragons who had pointed them out. But no sooner did he have his back turned that Twilight was turning on one dead baby dragon.
“Spike!” Twilight hissed thorough her teeth, loud enough to alarm the drake without disrupting the other customers. “What in Equestria do you think you were doing?!”
“I wasn’t really.” Spike shrunk away a little. “He was just being a bit of a creep and it just came out.”
“Really?” Dazzle chuckled. “That little ‘innocent child’ look you took seemed a bit more than accidental.”
“Well, it started just coming out on its own.” Spike defended. “The twiddling was on the spot, honest.”
“Just… just don’t. Okay?” Twilight asked, exasperated. In all honesty she was glad that ended as soon as it began, and this was just piling up to be more than she wanted today to be.
“Everyone okay over here?” Chromie asked as she came back to the table, a stone tray with four smooth stone cups on it, presumably with water. “I saw Starset walking away, anything wrong?” Chromie laid the tray on the table and hopping into her seat next to Dazzle, taking a scouring look around the table and Dazzle’s face.
“It’s fine Chromie.” Dazzle placated as she gabbed a glass for herself, taking a grateful sip as she could. Twilight and Spike on the other hand, simply looked at the cups. One cup was easily as large as Twilight’s head, and while it wasn’t so hard for Twilight to levitate one to tip over for access, Spike had another story.
“This might be a slight problem.” Spike noted, getting Chromie’s attention and a small snort.
“In my defense, I did ask for small cups. But don’t worry, I get some of the same problems. Just use your claws, see?” Chromie demonstrated as she extended her claws and sunk them into the cup, not fully encircling the cup, but still having enough grip to lift it.
“But… what about…?” Twilight couldn’t quite articulate her question about the cup’s finish, just being able to blabber as she lifted a cup past her to in front of Spike with a confused look.
“Bottom of the cup.” Dazzle said as she lifted her own cup higher to show an almost complete circle but with a part of the line removed and above the circle.
“See?” Chromie put her cup down and let go, leaving the gouges behind. But after a second, the gaps closed, leaving the cup sheerless once more.
“That’s incredible!” Twilight brightened as she took the last cup for herself and lifted it up to see the symbol up close. “But how can it possibly do that? Where does the new rock come from to fill in for the old? And what even is this rune? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It helps keep the costs of cups down.” Dazzle said as she drank from her cup. “Short of shattering the things, coming into contact with other stone siphons material to fix it. Try it.”
Spike looked at his cup dubiously, but he reached out for it, having to put both hands around it, and sunk his claws in. He hadn’t really felt like he lived up to the baby part of baby dragon in a long time, but handling this cup sure made him feel immature. With a little bit of effort, he was able to tip the cup towards himself, and managed to splash some water in his eyes.
“Mm.” Spike grunted as he set the cup back down, letting go and allowing the cup to reform.
“Are you okay Spike?” Twilight asked, a wing hesitating to wipe away any excess water.
“I’m fine Twilight, just focus on yourself.” Spike said as he wiped his eyes.
“Not used to things being too much bigger than you, are ya?” Chromie smiled from across the table as she gripped her own cup and took a sip from it. “Ahh, you’ll find your own way around it I’m sure.”
“Around or at.” Dazzle muttered as she looked up, innocently sipping her drink.
“Oh-ho now?” Chromie slyly grinned at her friend. “What’s this? You, Dazzle, complementing another dragon, and a drake no less.” Twilight and Spike could only quirk a brow at Chromie’s antics.
“Just a statement of fact.” Dazzle said as she set her cup to meet Chromie’s knowing gaze. “He does have a tendency to throw himself into bodily harm.”
“What? No I don’t.” Spike lightly protested, though Twilight began to rack her brains as she took her own water.
“Well, not to mention the time that you jumped out of the crystal palace, there was the time you charged that Timberwolf amalgam, then there was you pinning down Dazzle for me, and-“
“He what!?” Chromie stood on the bench as her attention snapped between Twilight and Dazzle, her face darkening a bit. Twilight backpeddled on her thoughts and heated up a bit at her wording, Dazzle seeming to catch the same meaning as she too gained a slightly darker hue. Spike seemed to be the only one where the implications flew over his head.
“Not like that!” Dazzle snapped at Chromie. “There was a bit of a scuffle near Father’s cave and things were a bit hectic, nothing else.”
Chromie looked between Dazzle’s glare and Spike’s confusion before coughing into her claw. “Right. My mistake.” She said as she sat herself back down, grabbing her cup and taking her time drinking.
“Am I missing something here?” Spike asked.
“No.” Twilight and Dazzle responded in different degrees of embarrassment. Thankfully for the both of them, a drake came to their booth with two plates in hand. One he placed in front of Twilight, as it had some dry hay, a bundle of green grass, and a cucumber. The other he placed in the middle of the table, a ring of various meats circling the plate. There were strips, links, and slabs of meat, cooked or uncooked to various degrees.
“Just ask for Snide when you’re all done.” The drake told Chromie before heading off.
Both Chromie and Dazzle reached for the plate, Chromie with a smile similar to Pinkie Pie sneaking a cupcake out of a batch for herself, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth in hungry expectation. Dazzle had a much more dismissive and disgusted look as she was looking up as she tried to push the plate toward Spike. Chromie was able to snatch two strips of meat before the plate got too far away, and Spike didn’t have enough of an attachment to the meal to really complain.
Spike did have to hold his drool back, however, as the smoke of the meat wafted at him, apparently helped by Twilight’s spell to keep the smell away from herself. There was only slight hesitation as he reached out for the approaching plate. When he could, he grabbed a brown link of meat, and forgetting his own manners, chomped the thing down in one bite.
It was different to say the least. It certainly didn’t have the crunch he was used to with gems, but definitely better than some fruits he’d had, the meat’s juice being so much more satisfying. After swallowing, he noticed an interested stare from Twilight and Dazzle, while Chromie was savoring her own stolen treat.
“Well?” Twilight asked as she nervously nibbled on her cucumber.
Spike looked between her and the meat platter, and shrugged. “Eh, it’s decent. Definitely better than any hayburger you try to tempt me with.” He said as he took a strip of meat and began tearing pieces off one at a time as he had just seen Chromie do. Twilight decided to look away as she focused on her own meal.
At Spike’s comment, however, Chromie chuckled. “Heheheh, hayburger. Think someone stole that from us?” She smiled as she nudged Dazzle with her elbow, who merely rolled her eyes as she placed her chin in her palm.
“If it’s not going to concern any of my time, I can’t really say I care.”
“Someone stole what?” Twilight asked.
“Hayburger, hamburger, I think someone might have been around dragons for a bit.” Chromie explained. From there, Chromie and Twilight talked over stolen intellectual properties and differing cuisine around both of their abodes. Spike was too busy trying to savor each taste that he could, and asking Dazzle what each piece probably was. For while he did think gems were better after all, he definitely wouldn’t say no to anything from a pig again.
When Chromie noticed Spike had finished off the plate and was carefully taking sips of his water from his frankly comically sized cup and that Twilight had long since finished what she had, she hopped out of her seat and told the group she’d go grab Snide to see what was next. And there the three sat, each quietly contemplating their own thoughts.
When Spike gave out a rather large yawn, Dazzle looked over her shoulder to see that it had gotten near dark since they entered The Pit.
“Do you think you can do what you need to quickly Twilight?” Dazzle asked. “Cause I don’t think Spike’s going to be able to go much longer. And I don’t want to carry him.”
“What? No, I’m fiiiiiiiine.” Spike yawned mid-sentence. “Or… or maybe not so much.”
“It shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Some metal and ores should be sorted easily enough.”
“Oh, I think it might take a bit of time.” A familiar bartender replied as he and Chromie came to the table. “Come along pony, I’ll show you to your job.” Snide waved toward the bar with a slight dip, a bit ambiguous if it was mocking or sincere. Never the less, Twilight made her way down and began to trot along. Spike attempted to start following, but a hand easily blocked his way. “You and the others can leave.”
“Like hay I’m letting Twilight go off alone around here.” Spike tried to muster a righteous tone, but his swaying footing only made Snide raise a questioning brow.
“Nothing will come of your friend whelp. Go on to bed with you.” Snide said as he quickly turned his hand to push Spike towards Chromie.
“Hey, don’t worry fella, Snide’s on the up and up. No one would be here if he didn’t treat his customers right.” Chromie tried to consul.
“Yeah, this may not be my kind of place, but’s a good place.” Dazzle said as she got out of the booth. “Come on, we’ll just wait outside.”
“But-“
“Go on Spike, I’ll be fine.” Twilight smiled.
“Fine.” Spike sighed as he, Dazzle, and Chromie made their way to the door. There were fewer patrons than when they had walked in, but they could still feel quite a number of eyes on them as they made their way out of the meaterie. They made their way out of the establishment and took a right with Dazzle sitting down next to the door, Spike quickly following suit.
“Are you two going to be all right by yourselves, or do you want me to wait with you?” Chromie asked as she glanced around, but nobody outside seemed to pay them any attention.
“You can go on home Chromie, we’ll be fine.” Dazzle said as she did something that shocked Chromie quite a bit. She extended her wing and brought it around Spike, who quickly moved closer to Dazzle.
Chromie gave a warm smile. “All right then. I’ll see you around tomorrow then. It was nice meeting you Spike.”
“You too Chromie.” Spike smiled back.
Chromie couldn’t help but give a small mischievous air to her smile as she made eye contact with Dazzle, making Dazzle scowl slightly as she shooed Chromie away. She giggled as she did so.
“She reminds me of Pinkie Pie.” Spike commented as he leaned against Dazzle’s side.
“I feared the day that there was more than one of her.” Dazzle chuckled. “Though I thought she would need whelps of her own for that to happen.”
They were silent for a bit as they sat outside of the Broiled Pit watching as dragons walked by, only ever so often getting a side glance. After a few minutes, Dazzle finally spoke.
“You seem very determined to stick to Twilight’s side.”
Spike looked up to see Dazzle was still gazing out into the crater. He lay his head back against her side as he sighed. “It’s my fault she’s out here, it’s my responsibility to keep her safe.”
Dazzle chuckled. “What kind of life have you lived to be so young and yet so overbearing?”
“Hey, I’m not overbearing! If anypony is, then-“
“You tried to follower her so she would be safe, despite her more than likely being a grown pony.” Dazzle interrupted, making Spike fall silent. “But even then, if she wasn’t here, if she hadn’t followed me, you still would have, wouldn’t you?”
Spike bit his lower lip. “Maybe. Twilight was the quick thinker after you… left.”
“Heh, left you say. More like ‘lept’.” That got the both chuckling. Half a minute later, Dazzle continued. “Besides that, both you and Twilight keep making reference to many things that I dare to say not many, if any, your age would accomplish. Tell me, what was that amalgam thing Twilight referred too?”
“Oh, that? Hehe.” Spike looked away to only see Dazzle’s wing. “A Timberwolf King is what we found out it was called. It’s when three or more of the things pool their energy together for one body to hunt things down easier. But to be honest, I was just lucky to hit communication junction between the three and get out of there before it could reform again.”
Dazzle looked down at Spike with a quizitive look before looking up to ponder what something called a Timberwolf could be and how three could ‘pool energy together’.
“Surely a timber wolf would be easy to burn, wouldn’t it?”
“Nah, thing makes itself out of fresh, wet, and rotting wood to keep stability while also keeping some give for impact and preventive measures against fire. Plus it’s a spirit, so even breaking its body just means it needs to get a new one. Plus my fire is kind of small. Plus… I kind of panicked at the time.”
“You… do seem to take action in a panic, that is true.” Dazzle nodded. “But you also seem rather resolute once you start. And following through is admirable, just as long as you know when to stop.”
Spike looked up to Dazzle at her last statement, seeing some pain in her eyes at some memory, but it was gone with a blink and quick shake of her head. She looked down and met Spike’s eyes of concern, and gave a smile.
“You’ll be a fine dragon, Spike.”
And then there was something lit in Spike’s chest. Something he never really felt he could keep.
Pride.
He felt pride with those six words. He knew he was different from the dragons of the Slab Scale clan, he knew he was different from ponies, he knew that he could be himself. But here was someone who acknowledged, that even as himself, he could still be the dragon he wanted to be. Spike now felt he could be himself. He returned Dazzle’s smile.
“Thanks. You don’t know what that means to me.”
“Oh. I think I do.” Dazzle replied as her attention was drawn back to the meateries entrance. Spike looked around her to see Twilight standing just outside the door, a smile of satisfaction on her face.
“Twilight!” Spike exclaimed as he jumped up and ran over to the mare, leaving Dazzle with an oddly empty wing. It took her a second to properly close it and stand up to approach the princess.
“Spike.” Twilight sighed as he hugged her foreleg, and she in turn returning the hug. “See? I didn’t take that long.”
“What did they have you do?” Spike asked as he decoupled himself.
“Oh, just what he said he wanted. Honestly, they just had room just stacked with random stuff. Gold, silver, iron, you name it. Large and small chunks of everything. I really don’t know how any of you keep a stable economy if any little thing can be used as money.”
“Equal weight.” Dazzle shrugged. “We give what we take.”
“I… I’ll have to look into that.” Twilight’s comment was cut as she couldn’t really argue with the methodology. “Anyways, I just separated it all and put them from heaviest to lightest. I think I even got some credit from them for shaping separators from the rocks between each material and weight class.”
“Yeah, that might get you something.” Dazzle said as she once again marveled at how nonchalantly Twilight wielded magic. “Now come on, let’s get to my place and settle down before Spike decides the walkway is a decent enough bed.” Dazzle nodded downward.
Twilight looked and saw Spike fading as he leaned against her leg, desperately trying to look awake. Twilight chuckled as she picked Spike up and placed him on her back. Spike’s only response was to curl up next to her mane.
“Lead the way Dazzle.”
Dazzle took in the sight of the resting Spike and smiled. “As you wish.” She walked to the edge of the walkway and splayed her wings, simply gliding off the edge, heading for the bottom of the crater. Twilight was quick to follow, making sure Spike didn’t fall as she took off, hesitantly looking forward to the political turmoil to come.
…
Rarely, if ever, had Mourning Star had so much to ponder. What the whelp had put before him did and did not have a solution. The simple question was to get rid of the scale or not. The harder question was what was to come after. They had made this lair around what had been assumed to be a treasured artifact that to this day made their wasteland community thrive. Normally for a lava flow as generous as theirs, they would need to carefully craft into a volcano to not only utilize it, but to keep it in a prime condition. The endless cycle the scale provided had forever been a great boon.
Yet now they seemed to be poisoned by what they worshiped, for far too long it seemed. It took a whelp from the Purge to tell there was something wrong with the scale, and he was sure that if Spike had not been it, there would have been no other to do the same. As Mourning Star paced next to the stairway entrance, the furthest he could be from the scale without leaving the cavern, he wondered on how he and his clan could have perpetuated such hate. Did the scale radiate its power through the lava, snaking into the everyday lives of his clan? Or did it only pertain to itself? There were many uncertainties, but to be certain, tomorrow would begin a cascade of events. For good or ill, he did not know.
As one last measure before heading to sleep, Mourning Star strode over and into the alter, looking about the empty space as he always did to make sure no young dragon had come in through the lava vents for their own look at the scale. When he saw nothing but the scale once more, he did something he had never heard of any other chief doing before. He walked up to the scale and brushed the side of it with his claw.
He felt nothing.
Nothing like he would have felt with any other scale. It was but a discarded body part, like a loose claw or fang, lifeless. Yet he knew better, as evidence by the four flows of lava coming from the thing.
It was both nothing and everything to him and the clan. But knowing what he knew now, and knowing what he had almost done to his daughter, there was but one choice to make.
And he knew it would be hard on them all.
Farther south of the clan grounds, further than any of the clan had ever traveled, something stirred beneath the soil. It hadn’t had need to move in decades, but something had irritated it.
Someone had touched her scale.