//------------------------------// // Draguncle // Story: Twilight Dragonkle // by TheAmazingMe //------------------------------// The brown-scaled head reared back in shock and roared. Spike darted forward and flared his wings to cover Twilight. A gout of flame consumed the smaller dragon, but Spike withstood the attack. Twilight managed to avoid the flames thanks in part to Spike’s intervention as well as sliding down the boulder she’d thrown herself over. The pair made a break for the ridge. Twilight tried gathering enough magic to teleport, but only succeeded in casting a tube of flame around her. Luckily, it protected her from another spurt of flame launched by the dragon she’d spewed on. The flames became a vortex for a moment before dying out. Twilight and Spike reached the top of the ridge and headed over, ready to slide down the side and run into the forest. A semi-circle of fire blocked their descent and the dragon landed in front of them. It flared its wings and bellowed again. Twilight decided to let her horn go up in flames again. Aiming a shot at the dragon’s chest, she fired a stream of flames. The torrent hit the dragon with enough force to send him back a few steps. Unfortunately, Twilight couldn’t keep the unintentional flames going for more than a few seconds. “How dare you—“ The dragon began, only to be cut off by her attack. “Would you stop—“ Fire. “If you’re finished with this—“ Flames. “Now I’m really starting to get mad—“ Another gout of magic-induced immolation. “For Ember’s sake! I’m a dragon!” The dragon pointed out rationally. “I could belch flames hotter than this.” Spike mantled his wings and launched himself into the air. Speeding straight for the larger dragon’s face, Spike yelled back, “Oh yeah? Why don’t you try picking on someone your own species!” The dragon caught Spike in one claw. “What in Ember’s name is this about?” The larger dragon roared. “Wait, aren’t you Spike?” Wiping the soot off of his wings, Spike sighed in relief as he realized he wasn’t about to be crushed. “Yes!“ “Well you might have mentioned that earlier instead of running off!” The dragon roared. “When were we supposed to explain anything? After the first blast of fire or the second?” Twilight asked, her tone bewildered. The dragon set Spike down next to Twilight and shrugged. “I thought I was under attack by another dragon or maybe even a wyvern! And why is a pony trying to bleach my scales with her puke?” “Uh, Sorry about that, Princess Twilight hasn’t been feeling well,” Spike explained. “Ponies can spew acid?” The dragon asked, confused. “This one can, apparently. She’s part dragon,” Spike said. Twilight examined the dragon she’d inadvertently puked on. It was a large young adult male dragon, about the size of a full-grown elephant. His scales blended in with the muted dark browns of the landscape. The scales of his face were shinier, likely as a result of his acid wash. His eyes were emerald green, although a bit puffy and irritated from the accidental acid exposure. Those green, irritated eyes turned to her. “It’s not everyday that a pony surprises one of the dragonland border dragons. I would report you to the Dragonlord, but I’d have to admit to basking on the job." Impressive, that a dragon of such a size could look so sheepish. "Yeah, kind of hard to explain the acid wash otherwise. Bask here often?" Spike asked. The bigger dragon huffed. "All the border dragons do it, but not when she’s around.” The dragon belched, wafting a wave of brimstone and methane that nearly made Twilight puke again. Noting her displeasure, the dragon shrugged. “Sorry, there’s a group of us who are trying to make that an official greeting.” Twilight coughed trying in vain to clear her sinuses. “Well, this makes us even.” The dragon stood and walked a circle around the smaller dragon and pony princess. “Part dragon? I’ll bet that makes you part acid-spewer. There was a small group of them who went off and explored the pony lands a few decades ago.” Content in his examination, the dragon sat facing Twilight. “None of them ever admitted to falling in love with a pony though. I guess at least one did.” “I guess so. My great-grandfather. So, I’m one-eighth acid-spewer,” Twilight said. “A full strength spewer would’ve done more than minor redness and irritation,” the dragon said, indicating his eyes. He seemed to be unaware of the wash his face scales had gotten. “So I’m glad you’re not any more closely related to one. Let me take you to the band of spewers. They’ll probably know a few remedies to solve your lack of acid control.” The dragon pointed a claw back over the ridge. Nodding gratefully, Twilight turned and made to go back. As the trio descended back into the dragonlands, she slapped her forehead. “Wait, you know who we are, but I never got your name.” “Crag,” said Crag, simply. The young adult dragon walked on all fours. His steps were surprisingly quiet. He was almost like a big cat. “Nice to meet you, Crag,” Spike replied, taking to wing. He flew around Crag’s head and landed on a shoulder. Spike let out a belch of his own. “Spike!” Twilight said, disapprovingly. “Hey, I’m just following along with the new etiquette,” Spike said, shrugging. “Smells like sugar and gemstones,” Crag noted. Turning his head to Twilight, he shrugged his empty shoulder. “Jump on up if you want. Just don’t belch at me. I don’t need another face full of acid.” Twilight was already at a trot keeping pace with the larger creature. She grinned sheepishly as she flew up to occupy his free shoulder. “Deal.” "You're not going to get into trouble for leaving your post?" Twilight asked, looking back at the stretch of mountain range. As she watched, another large young adult dragon took up Crag's place. "Nah, For the most part, we're there just for show. We mostly take up a post for the sunning spots. Not many creatures are interested in bothering even a sleeping dragon." Spike nodded. "That makes sense." They passed an outcropping of obsidian-speckled boulders and entered an area with several caves around a centrally-located green pool. The smell was similar enough to both Twilight and Spike. Acid. The same kind of acid Twilight vomited up. "Crag, don't look now, but you've got a pony and a scaly growth on your shoulders!" A voice called from inside the nearest cave. Guffawing, a dragon roughly the same size as Crag walked out and looked the trio over. "I could spit something up to get rid of them for you," The dark-emerald dragon offered. "No thanks. The pony is a relative of yours." Crag shrugged, encouraging both pony and smaller dragon to disembark. They landed close to Crag's front claws. The green dragon reared his head back. "Relatives! Ha! As if any self-respecting acid spewer would..." His eyes widened and he looked back down at Twilight. "How many generations back?" "Uh, three. I'm a fourth generation hybrid. My great-grandmother..." "Arrhenius! You doddering old pony-lover!" The green dragon called over his shoulder back into the cave. Shaking his head, the dragon looked back balefully. "My uncle is your great-grandfather. He's asleep. Has been for half the season. I'm Salts, by the way." "If he's your great-grandfather's nephew, what does that make him to you?" Spike asked. "First cousin, twice removed," Twilight answered quickly. At Crag's and Spike's astonished looks, she shrugged. "I might have looked at a few genealogy books before we came over." Looking at her first cousin, twice removed, Twilight extended a hoof. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle of Ponyville and Equestria." Tapping a claw against her hoof, Salts nodded. "I take it you have a few questions." "Foremost would be how to stop her from puking on unsuspecting dragon's faces," Crag offered helpfully. Salts looked up at the border dragon. "Basking again?" Crag turned a touch more reddish brown. "That's beside the point." Salts shrugged and turned to the next cave over. "That's simple enough. We have to use a medicine to keep young acid spewers from burning their own throats raw. Our medicine-dragon should have it stocked.” “Aconite!” Salts called into the cave as he knocked on the front wall. The now-familiar sound of claws on stone preceded another dragon head poking out of a cave opening. This dragon had an eyepatch over the left eye. The right eye seemed to softly glow gold. Rough dark evergreen colored scales glinted dully in the shade. “Salts, you young bastard. This better be goo—“ Aconite cut herself off with a small gasp. “Oh you wicked thing! Who let a pony in here?” Salts rolled his eyes. “It’s Arrhenius’ great-granddaughter.” The single eye widened and looked back at Twilight. “I always assumed his quest for tail in the pony lands was literal. The rumors he’d lain with a pony were always just that.” “Well, the proof is in the princess,” Salts said drily. “That would also be literal. She vomits acid strong enough to take the patina off of a big rock dragon like Crag.” Embarrassed, Crag turned his shiny face to the side and coughed. Aconite stepped out of her cave. In spite of her apparent age, she was smaller than Crag and Salts. She walked on all fours, but was closer in size to a hippo than an elephant. Her snout was crocodilian and her wings neatly folded along her back. With her singular eye, Aconite looked Twilight over closely. “Open your mouth, young one,” Aconite instructed. When Twilight complied, Aconite held her face with surprisingly gentle claws. “Your throat is a mess indeed. There is a plant that soothes the throat. But we spewers have a special strain that we don’t sell to outsiders.” Salts shrugged. “She’s Arrhenius’ blood. That makes her one of us.” Aconite shook her head. “Only partly ours, maybe. She’s still very much a pony.” Salts sat on his haunches and crossed his forelimbs. “What would you do? Turn her away?” Aconite didn’t back down. ”Just because a pony has some acid problems doesn’t make her one of ours. Wake Arrhenius. The old fool sleeps often enough. We’ll see if he will admit to fathering a pony.” Aconite and Salts went back down the first cave. After a few minutes and quite a few disgruntled roars, they returned. Behind them, another dark-green dragon emerged. Mantling his wings, Arrhenius let out a long yawn. His scales were iridescent, much closer to crystal pony quality than dragon scales. Rubbing the sleep from his bright green eyes, he took one look down at Twilight and blanched. “Oh no,” Arrhenius said softly. “That’s your reaction?” Aconite asked bitingly. Salts smothered his snout with both claws, turning away as he had a fit of ‘coughing’ that sounded suspicious. Ignoring his fellow dragons, Arrhenius looked down at Twilight. “Pony, what was your grandmother or possibly great-grandmother’s name?” Twilight sighed. “My great-grandmother was Twilight Compass. Her daughter was Twilight Arch.” Arrhenius sat on his haunches and put his face in his claws. “She-she never told me.” Salts patted his uncle’s shoulder. “It would’ve been harder back then to get word into the dragon lands safely. Dragonlord Blaze almost didn’t let you and the other traveling dragons back in after you visited ponies.” “I know. Still.” Arrhenius looked down at Twilight again. “My name is Arrhenius. I am your great-grandfather. You look very much like your great-grandmother. She styled her name differently, though. Twilight Compass was an adventurous mare.” “Yeah, no kidding,” Spike muttered. Arrhenius glanced at the small dragon. “Tell me you did not give birth to a dragon of your own?” Twilight and Spike glanced at each other and laughed. Twilight answered, “I did hatch him magically, but nopony quite knows where his egg came from.” Arrhenius nodded his head. “If it took magic to hatch his egg he was likely abandoned by a young, traveling dragoness. Possibly a first time mother or one who never brooded a stubborn egg. Any dragon in the dragonlands would know to bring such an egg to the Dragonlord to hatch. The scepter can command even an unborn dragon.” “That’s fascinating,” Twilight said honestly. “It’s also beside the point. Aconite,” Salts turned back to the medicine dragon, “you heard him. He claimed her as his own.” Aconite huffed and turned her head away. “That’s all well and good but I’m out of stock. We haven’t had a young spewer in a few seasons.” Salts groaned. Arrhenius shrugged. “I suppose we’ll just have to gather some more ingredients.” Aconite shook her head. “If she wants them, she should gather them herself. Maybe she’ll learn something about her heritage.” Arrhenius waved a claw. “I’m going to go rest my eyes then. Salts, take care of your, uh, cousin?” “First cousin, twice removed,” Salts replied dully. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.” Arrhenius turned to Twilight again. “I will talk with you later when I’m a bit more rested.” With that, Arrhenius turned tail and headed back into the cave. “That was sudden,” Spike noted. Salts shook his head as Arrhenius’ tail disappeared. “He just doesn’t want to get drawn into going to the old village.” “What’s so bad about the old village?” Twilight asked. Aconite and Salts glanced away. Crag shrugged and answered, “The old village is overrun by wyverns.”