//------------------------------// // The Hatchery // Story: For the Ones we Love // by FlimFlamBros. //------------------------------// They know almost nothing about dragons, so what if what little they think they know is wrong? ~awesomespike “Hello?” asked the brown dragon, looking at Spike strangely. Spike stared with disbelief at the group of dragons standing before him. The brown one that was talking to him was about his height, and had features similar to his. But unlike Spike, his teeth were longer, sticking out of his lips. His claws looked a lot sharper and were flat, like shovels. The brown dragon’s skin seemed patchy and covered in dirt, like he had been crawling in mud. “Bitterbite, I think he’s still a bit woozy,” a long bronze dragon said. She looked like a serpent, with a thin snake-like body. Her scales glimmered beautifully in the lava light, matching her long glowing orange spikes.” Spike rubbed his eyes. “What- who are you...” His vision became clearer. “Dragons?” “Oh, I’m sorry!” the brown dragon apologized. “The name is blitzataar bok a grantie.” The female rolled her eyes. “Forgive my boyfriend, he’s an idiot,” she said, giving the dirt covered dragon a playful jostle. “Just call him Bitterbite. I’m Glimmer.” “Hey,” the purple drake said, getting up and extending his claw for a shake, “Spike. So where exactly is this?” he asked, looking around the cave like room they were in. “You’re in the Volcanna Hatchery” Glimmer said. “You know, a place where motherless eggs go.” “Actually, I didn’t know that,” Spike admitted. “Really?” Bitterbite wondered. “Are you sure you’re all right?” “Yeah, I just…don’t remember much about anything,” he lied. Spike had learned that telling dragons that he lived with ponies never turned out well. And who knows, maybe he would learn something about dragons if he kept playing dumb. “Well…” smiled Bitterbite, “Allow me to re-educate you. You…” he said, pointing at Spike with one of his long sharp claws, “are an Inferna, or ‘Fire Dragon’ in layman’s terms.” He gestured towards himself. “I am a Rockmouth, or ‘Earth Dragon’. You still following me?” “Think so. Fire, earth…” He looked to Glimmer. “And water dragon?” he asked. “Hell no!” muttered Glimmer. “I’d kill myself if I was one of those damn bathers. Almost as bad as sea serpents. I’m a Cloudweaver Spike, and don’t ever forget it.” “Sorry…” mumbled the purple drake. “Like I said, this is all new to me.” Bitterbite smiled. “Relax Spike. Glimmer is just mad that her race is a bunch of cloud smoking pacifists.” “Pacifist?” Glimmer sighed. “Cloudweavers usually hate conflict, but I sure as hell don’t.” “She’s my little loose cannon,” laughed Bitterbite, pulling the bronze dragoness closer to him, nuzzling her snout. “So there are only three kinds of dragons?” asked Spike, trying to bring back the subject. “Oh by Gaia, no,” chuckled Bitterbite, “There are hundreds of different types of dragons, but around Volcanna, you’ll mostly find Fire, Earth, Cloud, Sky, and Boulder dragons. In fact, we should introduce you to the rest of the gang.” He released his girlfriend and headed towards the exit. Spike got up from the rocky bed that he was lying on and followed the two dragons. On the other side of the exit was a humongous room, filled with lava waterfalls, splashing into pools of magma. In the center of the room it looked like two dragons were arguing about something. “I told you Dust Devil, I didn’t take your damn gem!” a large, pale blue dragon bellowed. He seemed massive compared to his accuser, spanning well over ten feet, in all directions. The dragon seemed to be completely symmetrical, with the exception of his short bloated tail, massive pudgy arms, tiny wings that were the size of Spike’s hand, and his small head that sat on top of his massive body. “Well, then were the hell did it go?! I saw you eyeing it all the time, you giant puffball!” the other dragon retaliated. He was much shorter than the massive drake he was arguing with, probably shorter than Spike. This dragon scales were night black, with a pale pink underbelly. His most notable features were his snout and his wings. His snout was long, and almost spear-like, with a small pointy bulge at the tip, and his wings…. They were massive. They were pitch black and almost twice the length of his body, they couldn’t even fold into his back, and they stayed half open. “What did you call me?!” the large round drake snarled. “Oh I’m sorry, couldn’t hear me with all that food in your ears, wide load?” the black dragon laughed. The two kept on with their argument as Spike, Bitterbite, and Glimmer all spectated. “So…” Spike pondered, “friends of yours?” “Unfortunately,” muttered Glimmer, as she approached the two arguing drakes. “What in the name of the earth-mother are you two arguing about this time?” They both turned to the dragoness and pointed at each other. “He ate my last gem!” “He thinks I ate his last gem!” Glimmer sighed. “You two are acting like whelps! It’s just one freaking gem!” she yelled. “Hey, I’ve been growing that gem for months!” the smaller dragon said, extending his massive wings. “And then fat ass over here gobbles it up like he does with everything in this joint!” “YOU’RE DEAD, DUST!” roared the dragon behemoth. He opened up his mouth, a long and sticky tongue shot out and wrapped around the dark drake’s neck, and pulled him into his mouth. The pale blue dragon’s mouth seemed to stretch out and engulf the first half of his body. Bitterbite groaned, “Great, he’s trying to eat him again.” “Again?” Glimmer flew through the air, her body slithering like a snake as she wrapped her long body around the big dragon’s neck. “Spit him out, Lurch!” Lurch gagged as he waved his arms in the air, his biceps too thick for him to stretch and pull the dragoness of his head. He eventually gave in to the bronze dragoness and spat out the large winged dragon. The black drake wiped off some of the saliva on his face as he got up from the ground. “What the hell was that?” he coughed up some of the saliva that had gotten in his mouth. “You started it, Dust Devil,” Lurch grumbled. “I DON’T CARE WHO STARTED IT!!” shouted Glimmer, grabbing each of them by the throat and glared at both of them. “Stop acting like a pair of hatchlings and say hi to Spike!” The two dragons looked at each other and then at Spike. Glimmer’s grip around their necks loosened as they shook her off and approached the newcomer. “So the name is Spike huh?” asked the smaller dark dragon. He was about a foot and a half shorter than Spike, but the arch in his wings surpassed the purple drake by three feet at least. “Hi, the name is Dust Devil, and thunder butt over there is Lurch.” The large dragon grumbled something under his breath, but let it go for now. “Nice to see you finally woke up. You were out of it for a while. Thought we would have to throw you down in the pit with Todd.” “Who the hell is Todd?” asked Spike. “What pit?” Bitterbite stepped in. “Spike here is suffering some sort of amnesia, and he’s not from around here,” he said. “We’ve been actually trying to reteach him the basics about dragons.” “Really?” pondered Dust Devil, “Then allow me to educate you. I am the best dragon of them all: a Skyrin! Or a Sky dragon, if you don’t care for technical terms.” He looked over to Lurch. “Lurch over here is a Bulda… Or fat ass dragon.” Lurch’s fist collided with Dust’s face, sending him hurting to the ground. “Boulder dragon.” “Interesting,” said Spike, as he started to sniff around the air. “You said that you lost a gem. Was it a diamond?” “Yeah,” mumbled Dust Devil as he picked himself up from the ground. “How did you know that?” “Cause I can smell it,” the purple drake said, as he followed his nose to the scent of diamonds. “It’s somewhere around here,” he said, pressing his face down to the ground. “Here.” Dust Devil looked over to Lurch. “You buried it?” “I didn’t touch your gem!” “Both of you, shut up!” scowled Glimmer. Spike started to pick at the ground with his claws. “Huh, this is some tough dirt.” “Allow me,” said Bitterbite. Spike stepped aside as the brown drake started to dig his claws into the earth, breaking it apart with ease. Those claws of his were apparently meant for digging. Within seconds, his entire body disappeared into the hole. In another few second, the sound of digging disappeared. “Holy crap!” echoed Bitter’s voice through the hole in the ground. “Did you find my gem?” hollered Dust Devil. “Oh, I found much more than that!” Suddenly, the hole in the ground erupted in a volcano of glittering gems. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds and all sorts of other gleaming stones rained down on the shocked group of dragons. Bitterbite’s popped out of the ground, a few topazes lying on his head. “Can you believe we were sitting on a gem deposit this whole time?!” Glimmer’s eyes lit up as she picked up an amethyst crystal. “This is… Just... Wow.” “There’s got to be about a hundred gems here!” smiled Lurch, grabbing a handful of rubies and tossing them in his massive gullet. “Where did you learn to smell for gems?” asked Dust Devil, munching on a stick of emerald. “I didn’t know that dragons could do that.” “Umm…..” Spike said nervously. All that time he spent with Rarity had honed his nose the very bleak scent of gemstone, but he couldn’t mention that he had any sort of connection with ponies. “….A friend of mine taught me.” “Well, I’d like to meet this friend sometime,” grumbled Lurch as he stuffed another handful of rubies in his mouth. “Do you smell anymore gems?” He shook his head. “Sorry, but I can’t smell anything at the moment.” Bitterbite patted Spike on the back. “Well it doesn’t matter! We have enough gems here to last us awhile.” “Glad I could help,” chuckled the purple fire drake. They sat in the large pile of gems. Periodically, Bitterbite went back down the whole to grab more. Each time, the gems erupted up in the air like a fountain. Soon, the five dragons were laughing and joking on top of a massive pile of sparkling rocks. “Gaia, I have never felt so good in my life,” moaned Glimmer as she spread herself on the sea of jewels that they had acquired, Bitterbite lying right next to her. “Yeah this is the life!” sighed Bitterbite, as he slide deeper into the treasure, looking out at the cave entrance. “Hey…” He looked closer at the entrance; he could have sworn he could have seen something moving. “Is someone there?” he called out. Slowly, a small pink head peeked in. It was a baby dragon, probably no older than five. She timidly walked into the room, her eyes glued to the floor, and playing with her claws. “Hey Swirls, how’s it going?” Dust Devil asked, popping out of the pile of gems. “Hello Dust…” She whispered, she reminded Spike of a certain yellow pegasus. “I heard a lot of noise coming from this part of the hatcher and the rest of the hatchlings asked me to investigate…” She looked up at the pile of gems. “That’s a lot of gems. Where did you find them?” “Our new friend Spike smelled them out for us,” Lurch said through a mouthful of rubies. Spike looked down in the little dragoness. He could see the hunger for the delicious gems sparkle in her eyes. The drake grabbed a tasty looking sapphire and slid down the pile. “Would you like some, Swirl?” Spike turned his head in confusion to see Glimmer holding a pile of topazes to the young pink dragon. “Really?” Swirl’s face lit up as she took a piece of the amber stone and stuffed it in her mouth. “Thank you!” “No problem squirt,” the long dragoness chuckled, scrunching up her head scales. “Go get the other whelps, we have plenty to go around.” The little dragoness nodded as she quickly skipped out of the room. “You…you shared with them?” Spike asked, not knowing that normal dragons were capable of such generosity. “Yeah, of course,” said Bitterbite, butting into the conversation. “Is there something wrong with that?” he asked, studying Spike’s facial expression. “No, it’s just that I thought dragons were greedy-“ he immediately covered his mouth. “No, only the Exiled are greedy…” Bitterbite pondered. “Let me see your hands.” “Why?” “Because I need to check something,” he muttered, grabbing Spike’s purple claw and examining the claw. “Hmm, no X. guess you’re not Exiled.” “What’s an Exiled?” Dust Devil snorted. “You don’t remember what an Exiled is? You must have been hit by a mountain or something!” “An Exiled,” Bitter started to explain, “is a dragon who fails to pass the greed, and we kick them out of Volcanna and usually out of the Badlands if it’s really bad.” “The greed?” “Really Spike?” chuckled Bitterbite, “Do I have to tell you where eggs come from as well? The greed is when a dragon starts to grow up, and enters the ‘greed’ stage of adolescent. When we are at this stage, our instincts become more primal, and we try to grab anything that’s not nailed to the ground. Now in the old days, we could do just that. Take and horde everything we could find, but ever since we got sent to live here, we have had to learn to suppress it. We just don’t have that much here, Spike.” “So you exile anyone who becomes too greedy?” “Yeah, we have very limited resources, cause in case you forgot, we live in the Badlands,” he mumbled. “We aren’t allowed in Equestria anymore, ever since those damn ponies.” Spike gulped. “You don’t like ponies?” “Are you kidding me?” Scowled Glimmer, “They took everything from us, Spike. No dragon likes ponies, and if it weren’t for the princesses, we’d have tried taking back the mainland long ago. Why do you ask?” “No reason,” he said nervously. This wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear if he was going to try and convince the dragons to help him. But if you live for thousands of years, it can be easy to hold a grudge, and hard to forget. Glimmer was about to say something, but they were interrupted by the sounds of several hundred footsteps. “Hey guys, we’re back!” said a very excited Swirl. Spike gasped at how many dragons had followed her. There were hundreds of different looking baby dragons. Fire dragons, earth dragons, sky dragons, cloud dragons, boulder dragons, and ones he didn’t recognized like two headed dragons, spiky-looking dragons, dragons with four wings, dragons that looked like birds, icy dragons, dragons with flippers, dragons with no limbs and slithered on their bellies like snakes. “So kids,” smiled Bitterbite, picking up a jade stone, “who wants some gems?” ***** There was a knock on the door of the royal chamber of Princess Celestia. The white mare was quietly reading a book on war tactics, a book she had hoped she would never have to read again. “Come in,” she called out, not looking away from her book as the door slowly swung open. “Hello Princess.” The noble’s eye glanced in the direction of the voice, to see the white unicorn standing by the doorway. “Rarity, to what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked. “Oh, I was wondering if I could talk to you. If you are busy, I can always come back later.” “Not at all Rarity,” smiled Celestia, levitating her book on a table. “I wanted to stop reading that terrible book anyway.” “Oh, okay then. I was wondering if we could talk about your sister, Princess Luna.” The sun mare’s smile quickly began to fade. “There is nothing to talk about. She betrayed me and she betrayed her country. If this wasn’t a time of war, I would have sent her back to the moon.” “Princess, that’s terrible!” gasped Rarity. “She didn’t know what she was doing. She was in love.” “She knew exactly what she was doing!” yelled the princess, using her magic to slam the doors shut behind Rarity. “She let herself succumb to common pony emotions, just like he did!” “What do you mean?” asked the shocked unicorn. “We are beings of a higher power. We have to be an example of what to live by. I have done my best to keep my stature, to forgo petty emotions, to not be corrupted.” She lowered her head to Rarity’s level. “I have lived as a symbol of justice, of law and of virtue. I have only ever loved my subjects, the only love I can afford to express.” The purple maned unicorn thought about what the princess had said. “Are you telling me…that you have never loved another pony?” “Rarity, I love all of my subjects, as any good princess does.” “Not like that,” interjected Rarity. “I mean, love one other pony more than another? You’ve never been truly in love, have you darling?” Celestia bowed her head with a sigh. “I can’t love like that, Rarity.” “But why not?” “Look at what love has done!” she cried, “It turned my loving brother into a monster and corrupted my sister. I can’t love. I don’t want to become like him…” She started to sniffle, shining tears rolling down her face. “I remember the night we lost him, and the first time I had to stop him…” ***** It was the night he killed Symphony, the night that his mind slowly started to become corroded. Curator stood in his room in the castle, staring out the window. The pegesi had planned a great rainstorm for this evening, “Fitting weather” he thought. He kept looking at the storm outside as the door swung open. A younger Celestia walked in happily, noticing her brother standing at the window. “Curator, you’re home. You have to tell me how excited Symphony was at your proposal.” His face was facing the window, so Celestia couldn’t see his sick smile. “She was so excited, she could have died.” “Wonderful! So, what day are you two thinking of for the wedding?” “Can I ask you something, sister?” the corrupted alicorn inquired. “Of course.” “Am I a bad pony?” Celestia couldn’t help but chuckle. “What a silly thing to say. Of course not. You are one of the greatest ponies I know.” “What I mean is, sister,” he began, “I kill. When I was overseas, I killed many dragons. In town, I have been forced to kill bad ponies, criminals and murderers. And in the forest, I have killed many a beast that threatens one’s life. Does that make me a bad pony?” “Of course not, why are you asking me this?” “Look in the chest by the bed,” Curator said, his gaze still fixed on the window. “One more question sister. Do you fear me?” Celestia frowned as she approached the chest. “No…” “Well,” smiled Curator as his sister opened up the chest. “Now would be a good time to start.” “OH MY-“ Celestia gagged, slamming the chest shut. She looked at her brother who was now facing her, staring at her with his mad yellow eyes. “Wa-wa-was t-t-t-that?” “Symphony? Yes, or at least what was left of her,” he chuckled. “The timber wolves have most of her. I was just lucky I was able to retrieve most of her head.” “W-w-w-why did you do this?” “She cheated me, sister!” he laughed, as if it were a joke. “She was sleeping around while I was risking my life for the safety of every pony!” His voice phased back and forth from laughter to anger, “So, sister? Still think that I’m not a bad pony?” The princess had nothing to say, she just looked, terrified, at her brother. “No answer for that one, eh sis?” he mused. “That’s because I learned that there is no difference. When I kill, I take their life, and the only justification is that they were a bad pony. Sweet Symphony may have not killed anyone, but she betrayed me, and that’s enough for me, don’t you think?” “NO!” “Tsk, tsk sis. It is all the same!” he laughed. “Every thing on this planet is a sinner, and deserves to die, and I will gladly play executioner.” “That’s not true!” “It’s funny, really!” he laughed as he twisted to see his mark; a blue and green sphere, the world. “My cutie mark, I always thought I was meant to protect the world! But know I know it is my destiny to destroy it!” he cackled. “Curator…” “No sister,” the alicorn snickered. “Curator is dead. He died with Symphony.” His red mane seemed to shift, going from crimson to misty grey. “You can call me by my true name, the name that will be the bringer of doom and despair to all creatures!” His brilliant white coat slowly started to fade, peeling off his body like dead skin, revealing the dark black hide beneath it. “The name that every stallion, mare and foal will scream as there world is destroyed!” His yellow eyes turned an evil red, and glowed with insane pleasure. “You can call me CONQUEST!” ***** “Conquest, Dark Conquest,” sighed the princess. “The moment I looked into those terrible red eyes, all I saw was hate. The hate for everything that lived, that breathed, that loved.” “That’s terrible Princess,” sniffed Rarity, putting a hoof on the large alicorn’s side to comfort her. “He jumped through the window, and slaughtered almost everypony in town. I was barely able to stop him,” the princess cried, resting her head on the unicorn’s shoulder. “He killed so many ponies!” “There, there princess, everything is all right.” “No, it’s not!” she sobbed. “I failed my citizens, we are all going to die because…” “Because what?” “Because I wasn’t strong enough!” Celestia cried. “I shouldn’t have blamed my sister. She is braver than I will ever be.” “Why’s that?” “She was brave enough to love…” sighed the alicorn. “She was brave enough to truly love another being.” “Celestia,” the unicorn said, lifting her ruler’s head. “You can’t be afraid to love someone. I was for the longest time and I was just miserable. I almost lost the one I love.” “But…” the princess said, biting the bottom of her lip. “I’m…I’m scared.” “Love’s a scary thing, and yes, rejection is devastating. But is it not better to love and fail, then to not love at all?” “I guess.” “Then don’t be afraid to love, Princess,” smiled Rarity, “So, is there someone you’ve had your eye on?” Celestia looked around the room, making sure that nopony was around to hear her. “Actually, there is a pony I have had my eye on. She’s just so adorable, and I can’t resist her.” A big goofy grin formed on Rarity’s face. “Ooo, do tell Princess.” ***** The last few dragons had left the cave. The once mountain of gems was now reduced to a few handfuls of emeralds and a couple of diamonds. “Aww, they took all the rubies,” complained Lurch, holding one of the emeralds in his claw. “Don’t complain, you ate half of them, lardo!” hissed Dust Devil. “I had like three rubies total. You had to of eaten about a hundred.” “I like rubies.” “No, really?” Dust said sarcastically. “Will you both shut it for two seconds?!” Glimmer growled. “We have to go into the market and get more food for Baba D.” “Who’s Baba D?” asked Spike, scratching his head as he grabbed the last few gems form off the ground. “She’s the elder that runs the hatchery,” said Bitterbite, “We don’t actually run this place Spike, we just run errands and take care of the hundreds of whelps that live here.” “Wow.” “Want to come with us, Spike?” asked Lurch. “Yeah, I kind of want to look around myself.” Dust Devil took to the air. “Then let’s go!” he said, taking off through the cave’s exit and further into the tunnel system, the rest of the dragons following him. They flew through the air, Spike following the dragons through the confusing paths of tunnels and caves. Bitterbite, not having any wings, said that he would meet them there before burrowing deep into the ground. They soon approached a large cave room. It seemed dimly lit, with only the soft glow of the lava providing any light. In the center of the room was a large, snow white fire dragon. She was about fifty feet from head to tail, and her small wings were folded up on her back. “Baba D, we’re about to hea-“ “Quiet, young ones,” she whispered as she hovered over one of the pools of lava. “A little one is hatching.” Spike had to see this. He ran up to the pool of lava, looking down into the burning liquid. “Do you mind if I watch? I’ve never seen this before.” Not even questioning who this new dragon was, she nodded as she reached into the lava, pulling out a red and purple striped egg. “Come, little ones,” she said softly, the other dragons gathering around the pool, staring at the boiling hot egg. Baba D took a soft breath, her yellow flames casing the egg in fire. “It’s hatching.” The egg started to chip as a tiny piece of the shell fell off. A tiny red eye looked through the whole that it had created. Soon, it’s legs pierced through the bottom. It managed roll on to its feet, walking clumsily in little circles and falling off Baba D’s claws and into the lava. Spike gasped and reached in to save it, but Bitterbite, who had just emerged from the ground, grabbed his claw, shaking his head. The purple drake looked in horror as the baby dragon didn’t emerge from the lava. “Boo!” The newborn dragon popped out of the lava, nearly giving Spike a heart attack. Baba D picked up the newborn dragon and started to cradle it in her arms. “Her name is Peka ay bloo,” the elder dragon smiled, rocking the child to sleep. Glimmered smiled. “So Peek-a-boo, huh. Not the worst name for an Inferna.” “Shh, little ones, she is sleeping,” Baba D said, as the little dragon yawned, before curling up in the white arms of her elder. “Now, little ones, tell me of this new little one,” she said, gesturing to Spike. “This is Spike, Baba D, he’s not from around here… Where are you from again?” asked Dust Devil. “Burntwood,” he quickly said, blurting out the only dragon settlement that he knew of. The old dragon smiled. “Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Spike. Word around the Hatchery is that you have a nose for gems.” “Yeah, and no there isn’t any gems in this room,” smiled Spike. “Oh, I don’t need Blitzataar digging holes all over my hatchery,” she chuckled. “Which reminds me, you need to fill that hole up before some dragon falls down and hurts themselves.” “Yes Baba D,” mumbled Bitterbite, “I’ll do it as soon as I get back from the market. Did you need anything?” “If it wouldn’t be so much trouble, could you get some more coals?” “Of course.” “Good, now run along, little ones,” she said, “I need to put this one to sleep.” Spike turned around with the others as they walked out of the cave. Spike still couldn’t believe that he had just witnessed the birth of one of his species! Something he thought he would never witness and there she was, little Peek-a-boo. “From ashes to fire, from fire brings life In smouldering embers, to great lava’s light.” Spike turned around, was Baba D singing? “A gift from the flame, that hangs high above I’m not your mother, but I give you her love.” She was singing. The old dragon was singing the newborn a lullaby, just like his mother did for him. “So calm down little one, don’t stay awake For tomorrow brings on a new day of fate.” The white dragon walked out of the room, carrying the small dragon out with her. “Did she just sing that drag0n a lullaby?” “Of course, every dragon gets a song sung to them at birth,” said Glimmer. “It helps newborns go to sleep, and it forms a bond between the mother and her child. But since all the dragon here have no actual mothers, Baba D sings it for us instead. It kind of makes her all of our mother.” “I didn’t know that.” “Well, that seems to be a running thing with you Spike,” laughed Lurch, his incredibly tiny wings somehow able to support his massive body. “Come on, let’s get going.” It only took a few minutes to find the way out, and when they did, Spike wasn’t prepared for what he saw. Dragons, lots and lots of dragons. He thought the horde of whelps at the hatchery was a lot. They were nothing compared to the mass of dragons he saw in the rest of Volcanna. There were dragons literally everywhere. In the sky, the ground, perched on rocks, everywhere! “By the Goddess…” “Yep, pretty amazing isn’t it?” chuckled Bitterbite, “Now let’s get to the coals.” Dust Devil grabbed under Bitterbite’s arms and carried him up in the air, the rest of the dragons following. They approached a small stand that looked like it was dug into the side of the volcano the city resided in. A lime green Rockmouth looked at the group of dragons before him. “What can I get you?” “We need about four bags of coal,” said Bitterbite. “That’ll be eight gems,” he said, turning around and started to shovel coals into a bag. “Lurch, we need some rubies,” said Bitterbite. “Didn’t bring any with me,” he said nervously. “Lurch, let’s not do this the hard way. Just spit them out and be done with.” “I really don’t know what you are talking about Bitter, really!” The brown dirty Rockmouth sighed. “Glimmer.” The long bronze dragoness rammed her fist into the gut of the large round drake, who crumbled under the pain and coughing up eight slightly slimy rubies. “Sometimes I think you like me beating you up,” giggled Glimmer, picking up the gems and handing them to the merchant in exchange for the coal. Spike grabbed one of the bags. “So this is it? Or do we have to do any-“ “PONYLOVER?” a strangely familiar voice called out. The purple dragon froze up immediately. “Oh no, anything but her.” “SPIKE!” Slowly, the drake in question turned slowly around. “Oh crap,” he muttered. Flying down from the sky, a large bronze dragon landed in front of Spike, her short red scales falling down from over one of her blue eyes. “Never thought I’d see you again, ponylover.” The rest of the dragons looked at Spike. “Umm, Spike, who is this chick?” asked Dust Devil. He sighed. “This is Slitilda, my ex-girlfriend.”