I rubbed my fork around my plate as Rover, Twilight, and I sat in awkward silence. Twilight and I were having salad, while our ’guest’ was eating leftover pizza.
"So…Twilight, how's school doing?" I asked, breaking the silence.
Looking up from her plate, she looked over to Rover, who held a spiteful look as he was eating. Waiting for her to say something, I begin to speak, only to get cut off.
"The school is doing wonderful, Spike. The grades have been a bit stagnant, but considering we're in the top percentage of schools, that's not a bad thing."
’Okay, she seems to be handling this well. Maybe this won't blow up in my face…’
"However, it seems that the school should be the least of my concerns at the moment." She said, looking me directly in the eyes.
’Nevermind. Full blow explosion to the face in about…’
"What were you thinking!?" Slamming her hooves against the table, causing all of our dishes to momentarily jump. "I know dragons have this sleeping thing, but did you have to fall asleep then and there!?"
’Now.’
"Okay, Twi, I can explain-."
"Explain what!? That you got captured by the diamond dogs? Or how about how you ended up bringing one here!?" She interrupted.
"Hey!" shouted Rover, standing up. "It's not like I wanted to be here either, pony!" He spat, most likely more upset that his drink spilled.
My eyes widened with relief and terror as her focus shifted from me to him. Her horn begwn to glow brightly as her wings start to unfold, somehow making her look bigger than she actually was, being the smallest one currently in the castle.
’Oh shit this is bad. This is bad. Rover,shut the fuck up-!’ I thought as hard as possible, praying that diamond dogs were secretly telepathic.
Almost immediately after, Rover ducked, barely avoiding the beam of magic that flew past where his head was, leaving the wall where the beam hit blackened and smoking.
Taking a moment to calm herself, she sat back down into her seat, closed her eyes, and started doing the calming exercises that she learned from Fluttershy.
I sighed, releasing air I didn't know I was holding in. ’Well...that could've been worse. At least she didn't bring up the collars…’ I thought, tugging at the black thing on Rover and I's necks.
Earlier
"Do I even have a choice here?” I replied to Yoden, wishing there was a third option that involved me leaving with a cart full of delicious gems.
"Not unless you want to work here indefinitely." Replied the king.
"Well how do you know Rover won't try to, I don't know, escape?"
"Oh, he won't if he knows what's good for him." He said, sparing a glance at Rover who was picking something out of his teeth. "But since he doesn't, I have these." Reaching behind his throne, he pull out two nearly identical collars. Both appeared to be made of black leather, with one having a yellow gemstone and the other a blue one embedded into them.
"Now, these collars are enchanted to always be at least within ten feet of each other." Yoden informed us, giving me the blue one and rover the other.
’Not my kind of style, but it's better than a leash…’
"So, what's gonna keep Rover from taking his off, if you don't mind me asking?" I pointed out.
"Well, should Rover try to remove it himself, it will emit a high frequency sound, similar to a dog whistle, that only Rover can hear. Now let me tell you, having this made was not an easy thing. Two, if not three of my soldiers went deaf. Don't worry though, it was temporary." Walking over to Rover who fought back but was ultimately overpowered. Yoden forcefully put it on him, and almost immediately after Rover tried to pull off the collar, only for it to glow. Suddenly he balled over, letting go of the collar, screaming about it hurting and clutching his ears. Yoden, however, seemed okay with watching Rover in pain. I on the other hand, felt sick to my stomach watching Rover beg for mercy.
After a while, Rover stopped holding his ears and the gems stopped glowing. Staggering, he manage to get back on his feet, glaring at Yoden. I could only imagine the hateful things he was thinking. Looking back to the massive canine, I asked, "So, what happens to me if I try to take mine off?"
"Oh, nothing. You watching over Rover is punishment enough." He stated. "Though you are going to be responsible for him while you two are up there, so I do expect you report back to me every three months." Laughing at Rover, who was shouting threats about kicking his ass, which I found to be as empty as my stomach. Speaking of which...
"Hey." I uttered, grabbing his attention. "Can we go now? I don't mean to sound rude but..."
"Oh right, my fault. I'd forgotten that one of the princesses expects you soon." Putting a few of his fingers into his mouth, he briefly whistled, causing Rover to flinch as he thought the collar was going off again. Hearing the sounds of metal clanging against each other, I saw the guards from earlier. "They will be escorting you to the surface, so remember. Rover is in your hands."
’I still can't believe that I'm in charge of the guy who kidnapped one of my friends. Damn, karma’s a bitch.’
Quietly chuckling at my unintentional pun, I went back to washing dishes. After Twilight had her time to cool down, she went to bed, leaving me to do the dishes. We soon finished up, and Rover and I went upstairs to my room, after grabbing a mattress for Rover to lay on until we can move a bed in here for him.
Climbing onto my bed, I immediately face planted into my pillow. Turning my head, I looked below me to see Rover was turned over, facing away from me. I didn't care all too much, wanting nothing more than to let my tired body rest on something soft.
’Finally…’ I thought, relishing this moment of absolute peace. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep.
"Hey. Spike."
’Or not.’. "What, Rover?” I muttered, not bothering opening my eyes.
"What did she mean? About dragons having a sleeping thing."
Getting up from the comfort of my pillow, I looked forward only to see nothing but Rover's shamrock green eyes. Jumping back from the sudden sight of the diamond dog, my head slams into the wall of solid crystal.
’Fuck! Damn it that hurts…’ I clutched the back of my head in pain, silently cursing the wall for being the hardest thing in history.
"Hey, are you alright?" asked Rover, his voice filled with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine." After a while the pain went down a throbbing sensation. "Didn't think you cared so much."
"I don't, but I’d rather be attached to a live dragon than the corpse of one. Not that there's much of a difference. Now back to the question. What was that pony talking about?" questioned Rover.
"Her name’s Twilight, and you see...you know how dragons are huge, and have really long life spans? Well, to compensate, dragons after becoming official adults start to sleep more often to conserve energy, so they don't destroy Equestria trying to find gems to feed themselves. So yeah, that’s why." I explained. "So, do you have any more questions that you'd like to ask before I go to sleep?"
"Just one. How old are you anyways?" He asked laying back down on his mattress.
"I'm 52. Just barely qualifying as an adult dragon. What about you?"
"36." Rover replied. "So, do you have a girlfriend, or do you just live with the pony?"
"Her name is Twilight, and this conversation is over!" I said, a little pissed that he pointed out my lack of a love life. Turning over, I covered myself and went to sleep.
Tommorow going to be a long day...