//------------------------------// // The Ties That Dye // Story: Twilight Dragonkle // by TheAmazingMe //------------------------------// Dragonlord Ember took Aconite aside and the two spoke in hushed tones. Twilight gave them the courtesy of turning away and sniffing at her fetlock. The smell was, in a word, bad. Her mane and fur felt wrong and her skin itched. Honestly, she expected her fur to fall out any minute now. Crag and the earth movers returned. “We collapsed the entrances. Wyverns won’t dig them out and there might still be some things from when the acid spitters lived here.” Aconite sighed as she returned. “Perhaps some cave drawings, yes. I can’t imagine more than broken tools and pottery would survive an infestation. Speaking of which, it seems we have more than the Dragonlord to entertain when we return.” Ember laughed. “Yeah, we have another unicorn and a little alicorn.” Twilight’s ears perked up. “Shining and Flurry?” “Yep, your brother and the walking, flying natural disaster. Luckily, she’s been mostly behaved. Can’t guarantee your village will still be there when you get back, though, Aconite.” Aconite stiffened. “We should return quickly. Our Dragonlord has a sense of humor, but there was enough in her tone to suggest truth.” Spike shrugged. “Well, I mean, she did almost destroy the Crystal Empire.” Twilight slapped her forehead. “Not helping, Spike.” The group broke up and headed at various speeds. Crag returned to his own cave; they bid him goodnight and thanked him for all his help. The flight back was, in a word, awkward. Twilight and Spike were at the rear. Spike only near enough to be sociable but not close enough to catch a whiff. The silence in the cave was broken only by the occasional popping and snapping of the small fire in the middle of the circular space. Twilight sat on one side with Spike; she still smelled of the acid pond. Arrhenius and Aconite took up the other half of the cave. Their reptilian expressions were as neutral as she’d seen on any dragon in any of her trips to the Dragonlands. The air wasn’t tense but neither was it clear. Arrhenius lifted his head and looked over at his great-great granddaughter. His lips finally cracked into a smile. Glancing to Aconite at his side, he coughed into a claw and nudged her with a wingtip. She glared at him in return. She’d been uncharacteristically quiet on the trip back. “I don’t believe you mentioned a brother. Or a niece of alicorn descent.” Seated to Twilight’s other side was her brother, Prince Shining Armor. Between his hooves sat a still-exuberant yet subdued Flurry Heart. Shining coughed. “Uh, it’s nice to meet our great grandfather and his, uh, I mean. It’s nice to meet you both.” Finally, Aconite sniffed the air, shook her head, and stood. Turning to a wall of herbs and jugs, she started mixing something together. “So when do we throw her in the acid pond?” Shining’s hooves wrapped around Flurry protectively. “Uh, maybe we wait until she starts throwing up acid first? If she ever does? I mean, I never have.” Aconite eyed him with a twinkle in her otherwise expressionless eye before turning her attention back to her work. “Acid spitting is strongest in the female line. That Arrhenius passed the trait on is impressive. That he passed the trait on to a pony is miraculous. It should’ve gotten weaker as each generation passed, yet Twilight’s alicorn magic seems to have strengthened her acid abilities.” “So there might still be a worry with Flurry developing it?” Shining asked. Aconite shrugged without turning around. The aroma emanating from whatever she was doing had sweet and nutty notes. “There is the potential. And if you ever sprout wings as well, I wouldn’t rule you out either.” Shining laughed. “I’ll rule me out. My wife and daughter wear the wings in my family.” Twilight batted him playfully with a wing. “Oh, and my sister,” he added. He sniffed the air and coughed. “Uh, Twily, not to sound rude or anything, but you might want to take care of that, uh, smell.” Aconite and Arrhenius both glanced at him and then each other. Arrhenius placed a claw over his mouth but didn’t quite cover the laughter bubbling out. Turning her head away, Aconite muttered something about tender pony sensibilities. Twilight sighed. “Not sure they have baths like we do in Equestria, Shiny.” “Oh, right,” Shining said. Arrhenius controlled himself enough to speak. “There is a hot spring not too far from here. I don’t know what the acid pond would do to your fur, but it does have a tendency to give scales a green tint. It’s a mark of pride, but then again we’re mostly green hued anyway.” Twilight eyed him sidelong. “You might have mentioned that earlier. Green and purple is Spike’s thing, not mine.” Turning back around, Aconite presented Twilight with a gourd filled with a viscous liquid. Taking it in her magic, Twilight subtly ran a diagnostic spell. “Shampoo?” “I suspected, given your scent when you arrived, that ponies preferred scents more akin to flowers and fruit. Our band of dragons bathe in special scented sands, the acid pool really is more of a one time thing. Too much moisture cools us to an uncomfortable degree.” “Thank you,” Twilight said. Aconite shook her head. “Not necessary. The Poison Chief of the Acid Spitters doesn’t much hold with gratitude. It is expected of me to serve my family.” “Well, you deserve it anyway. I know accepting me wasn’t easy,” Twilight said. Aconite laughed, a short harsh barking sound. “Well, you deserve it anyway.” She turned to Shining and Flurry. “And if either of you desire that courtesy, you know where to earn it.” Shining gave a strained smile. “I think visiting is enough.” “Oh, I don’t think a visit is enough!” Shining said as he sank into the smallest hot spring. The springs ranged in size up to one so big it could fit several elephant-sized dragons. Arrhenius, Aconite and Salts opted for the nearby hot sand baths. Flurry looked at the pools dubiously. Twilight glanced at Shining, lifting an eyebrow and subtly shooting a look at her niece. Shining glanced and laughed. “She’s at the phase where she isn’t quite sure about water bigger than her bathtub.” “Should we help her?” Twilight asked. “I find the easiest way for her is to let her figure out for herself unless she’s not responding at all.” Shining Armor dunked his head under. His sudden disappearance startled Flurry. The little alicorn toddled up to the edge of the pool. Her horn was shining brightly and her eyes scanned the water. When Shining resurfaced, he shook his mane, inadvertently splashing Flurry. Stamping her hoof and letting out a shriek, Flurry charged at Shining and leapt into the pool to splash him. Shining made sure she got her buoyancy right and let her doggy paddle around in the warm water before turning back to keep Flurry and Twilight in his sight. “So are you washing up or what?” Spike asked as he floated by on a Celestia-inspired ring floatie. “You didn’t tell me the water was ready! No sense in getting shampoo in the hot springs. I’ll be right back.” Twilight lifted the gourd and walked over to wash herself in the buckets Spike provided. She rinsed, lathered, rinsed and lathered one more time for good measure. When she was clear of suds, she sighed at the tingly clean feeling and lack of sharp acidic smells. Trotting back out to the hot spring, Flurry spotted her first and gurgled something that sounded like her name. Spike laughed. “Did she say tie-dye?” Shining chuckled. “I think she meant Twiligh...” his voice trailed off as his gaze fell on his returning sister. Spike stuffed a claw in his mouth to stifle his first reaction. The floatie spun him away and he quickly course corrected to continue his staring. “What? Did I miss a spot?” Twilight asked as she leaned over to look at her reflection in the spring. “AHH!” “This looks like one of Discord’s practical jokes,” Spike said, his shoulders shaking and his voice cracking with what sounded suspiciously like laughter. Flurry pointed a hoof and repeated her earlier assertion. “Tie-dye!” Twilight’s coat, mane, and wings were all colored in purples, greens, whites, yellows and many shades in between. The overall effect was much like a tie-dyed shirt. Still staring at herself, Twilight recovered slowly and decided to hell with diplomacy. “ACONITE!” The dragon in question emerged from the sand cave. She was half-covered in sand and had a crankier expression than normal. This expression changed dramatically and rapidly. Her furrowed brow and narrowed eyes shot up and opened wide, respectively. Then her cheeks ballooned out almost cartoonishly large before she made a half-choking sound that she covered with one large hand. Finally her eyes dropped to the ground and she kicked at the rock beneath her. “I-uh, well, in my defense, I’ve never had to make shampoo for a creature with skin, fur and feathers. That particular blend does wonders for scales,” Spike and Shining turned away so as not to incur Twilight’s wrath. They made similarly muffled sounds. Flurry Heart was admiring the colors and even ran a hoof through Twilight’s multi-hued fetlock. Taking a deep breath, Twilight reined in her emotions and picked up Flurry Heart. As she hugged her niece, Twilight glared daggers at the still-bashful Aconite. Arrhenius finally poked a sand covered head out lazily. “What’s going oh-hahahah! Nice dye job, Aconite!” The potioneer turned around and decked the older dragon in the snout.