//------------------------------//
// Roaring Fire 
// Story: Hot Dragon Inaction 
// by SilverNotes 
//------------------------------//

"It took weeks to get rid of all of the confetti."

Ember had gotten better at little, polite, fake laughs. It'd been a survival skill, figuratively and at least once a little bit literally. There was, however, nothing little, polite, or fake about the laughter bubbling up from her at the mental image of the chaos the two had been describing. She would have to give Smolder a much-belated pat on the back for a prank well done... after she was done ribbing her about having once having her scales been dyed blue.

It had been her first time feeling relaxed since the picnic, and it made her almost forget the deadline of dinner weighing down on her and her mission to carefully pry information from the two mammals in front of her. As her laughter died down to chuckles, however, she saw her chance. 

"Sooooooo..." Both of them looked at her inquiringly, and she took a sip of her scalding tea to try to seem more nonchalant. "Uh, Smolder told me about you guys, but she never went into a ton of detail. How did you two get together?"

Yak and pony glanced at one another, and it was the former who spoke first. "Long story."

Ember shrugged good naturedly. "I've got time. Still a while until Rarity gets here, right?"

The two shared another glance, and it was Sandbar who spoke up "Well, it all started when the school had its first Amity Ball..." He seemed to notice Ember's look of confusion. "Oh! Did Spike tell you about the Fetlock Fest?"

"A bit," seemed like the safe answer.

"It's basically that, only hosted at the school. The dancing, the dinner, the works. With all the students invited. Including the Pony Pals Competition. Well, Annual Amity Ball Award For Friendship, these days, but the first year it was still called Pony Pals."

Yona nodded. "Sandbar ask Yona to be Sandbar's pony pal. And Yona want to be best pony pal. So Yona ask Rarity for help."

Now that was a name Ember wanted to hear, and she perked up, leaning forward a bit. "So she's somepony you went to a lot for advice on that kind of thing?"

"No," Yona responded with a cheery nonchalance. "Rarity just run Yona over with clothes rack in hallway and make Yona realize need dress."

Ember's eyelid twitched. "I... see..."

"And then Rarity promise to help Yona learn pony traditions and shove brussel sprouts in Yona's mouth."

"Brussel... sprouts...?" Ember was pretty sure nictitating membranes weren't supposed to be able to also twitch, but here she was.

"Rarity say brussel sprouts help Yona talk more elegant, like pony. And then we sing song about fitting in."

Ember, half-expecting a rendition of said song to start, felt instant regret for every life choice that brought her to the boutique and opened her mouth to speak. Sandbar held up a hoof to stop her, shook his head, and mouthed what she was pretty sure was 'wait for it.'

"And then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy teach Yona pony dances and Yona break school gym."

Ember possibly knew who those were. Rainbow Dash was one of the ones with wings, right?

"Then Pinkie Pie and Applejack help Yona make applesauce."

She was slightly more sure she knew who Pinkie Pie was, and it didn't inspire much confidence in how that applesauce must have turned out. "And all that..." Ember's voice was cautious. "Helped...?"

That's when Yona started to laugh, the booming sound nearly causing the tea to spill. "Was disaster. Sandbar hate new Yona."

"I didn't hate it." He leaned over to give her a nuzzle. "I just didn't like it as much as the old Yona." A small chuckle escaped him. "Though the fact that you started talking with Rarity's accent was a liiiittle unsettling, not gonna lie."

Yona nodded, the amused grin still on her face. "Yak do sound silly trying to talk like pony."

Sandbar smiled at Ember. "We had a talk afterward--"

"Sandbar need talk Yona out of living in treehouse."

"--About how Yona didn't need to be a pony, because I asked her to the dance, not some... imaginary pony version of her I thought she could be."

"Then Yona teach everyone traditional yak dance."

Ember held back the question of what a traditional yak dance would look like. Given what she'd heard about a destroyed school gym, she felt her imagination had filled in the blanks pretty well. Instead, she went over the story in her mind. "So... You guys just kind of... keep doing what you're doing, as a pony and a yak, and it all works out?"

Sandbar leaned on Yona a bit more. "Exactly."

Ember mentally chewed on that thought. Sure, one of the defining parts of her reign had been to encourage the virtue of be yourself, but it still seemed far too simple. Yet, she was staring at living proof, and if attempting to be more pony-like had really been so disastrous, she should take a lesson from that.

Besides, she and Spike were friends. Close enough friends for even the chaotic nature of their occupations and little time to see each other hadn't broken that friendship. He clearly considered her to be a worthwhile companion already, and the cultural barrier hadn't caused too much trouble.

Ember felt some tension in her shoulders relax, tension that she hadn't even realized she was carrying. Maybe things would be okay.

Then Yona spoke up, her voice unusually sombre. "Yona do want warn Ember." She froze at the words. "Yona and Sandbar work because Sandbar like yak, and Yona like pony. Not every pony like that. Pony might not want dragon."

Ember's eyes widened, and for just the briefest moment, she felt the urge to spread her wings and bolt from the building. She squashed the impulse, instead going to for her tea, trying to look nonchalant and buy time to mount her verbal defensive to carefully insist that she'd just been curious, and certainly wasn't looking to date a pony--

Yona didn't give her a chance. "And Ember bit young for Rarity."

Ember choked, and Sandbar was forced to duck as the resulting coughing fit sent hot, spiced tea spraying across the table.

"You kind of went for the throat there, honey," he commented from beneath the table.

"But Ember being obvious."

"It's Spike!" Ember half-shouted, half-croaked as her lungs found precious air again. "It's Spike, not Rarity! I'm not into ponies!"

She clapped her hands over her mouth as Sandbar rose back into view, and both mammals were wearing the kind of grins that she felt should have a row of sharp teeth in them. She uncovered her snout to point a claw at them, mustering her full Royal Dragon Voice of Authority. "Not a word to Smolder. I'm using all of my authority as the Dragon Lord--"

"I thought you were on vacation?" Sandbar asked, his voice the picture of innocence.

"And Yona and Sandbar not dragons," came the voice of simple, practical yak nonchalance.

Ember's pointing claw drooped, and she gritted her teeth. Right, these weren't her subjects. All the chest-puffing and smoke-snorting in the world wouldn't save her. She had to use her nice words, and so she ground out, "Please... don't tell Smolder."

Almost instantly, the grins faded to gentler smiles. "Your secret's safe with us," Sandbar assured.

"Yona clean up," The huge body who had taken the tea spray unflinchingly got up. "Then Yona and Sandbar tell Ember more stories."

Ember found herself breathing a relieved sigh. That could have gone better, but it also could have gone worse. Now she just needed to wait for Rarity to arrive, and see what insight she had.

She couldn't believe they'd thought she'd been interested in Rarity. Sure, taking interest in Spike was a bit like an interspecies relationship, but she couldn't fathom a dragon taking interest in an actual small, fuzzy, butt-stamped mammal.

That'd be ridiculous.