//------------------------------//
// High-speed, Heartbreak. 
// Story: A dragon a Dozen 
// by Cobaltin 
//------------------------------//

The day was blistering hot for the two dragons and by about 3pm, they decided that they needed a break. Applejack gave them the go-ahead since the dragons actually managed to get her ahead of schedule, and Big Mac had returned to give her a hand anyway. They decided to go to the lake near the orchard to cool their scales, which felt like they were on fire with the heat. Once they got there they noticed Fluttershy, who was sitting at the water’s edge and enjoying a salad she had in front of her and every so often giving a little bit to Angel, who was sitting next to her. 

“Hey, Fluttershy!” Spike exclaimed cheerfully as he walked around the brush surrounding the lake. Fluttershy jumped at his exclamation but quickly calmed herself when she realized who the voice belonged to. She turned her head towards Spike and gave him her usual smile with a hint of nervousness behind it. Her ears and expression. however, quickly dropped as she saw Cobalt follow up not far behind him.

“H-Hello, boys… Wh-What are you doing here? Weren’t you helping Applejack at the orchard?” She asked timidly, trying not to make eye contact with Cobalt or Spike.

“Well, Applejack let us take a break because we got her ahead of schedule. So I figured that we’d come to the lake to cool off.” Spike said cheerfully, looking over at the lake and seriously wanting to jump right in. Cobalt put his claw on his shoulder and chuckled.

“Heh, you can go in, I can’t. Well… unless you want a couple trillion volts surging through your body” Cobalt stated as he flicked his tail, which made a bolt of lightning fly out and hit a tree. Fluttershy, Angel and Spike all ducked as the bolt flew out, and Cobalt blushed and chuckled nervously. “Hehe, my bad, anyway, it’s cooler here and well, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone since I didn’t get my morning fly in today,” Cobalt stated as he slowly spread out his massive wings. “I can fly fast enough to Cool me down with these wings so I can cool off and get a good stretch and workout in as well.”

Fluttershy looked up at Cobalt as he spread himself out and stretched. She started to shake in nervousness and scrunched up a bit at the sight. As for Spike, he got a first good look at the massiveness of Cobalt’s wings up close. The muscles all moved so smoothly and together; the main joint muscles looked bigger than his arms. His Platinum-Cobalt Blue scales shone magnificently in the hot Midday sun and the deep Sapphire blue membrane cast a dark shadow over them. It was a magnificent sight to see. He looked back at his stubby wings as he flapped them, and sighed in disappointment; they did grow out a little more since Cobalt first visited, but they were nowhere near as massive as Cobalt’s. It made Spike very envious, despite Cobalt telling him otherwise, Cobalt always spoke of his detest about his wings, how they’ve really only caused him trouble ever since he got them. To Spike, the amount of dislike Cobalt had for his wings was strange, he thought his wings were beautiful.

“You done staring?” Cobalt said in a joking manner, “You’re starting to scare me a little, Poofer.” Spike caught himself and looked away, which brought his attention back to the lake. He quickly ran towards it and jumped in, his scales almost sizzling as they touched the water. 

“Aaaaahhhhhhh! ooooh sweet Celestia, relief! I thought I was going to combust with how hot my scales were” Spike stated as he leaned back and let himself float in the water.Cobalt chuckled and shook his head, doing so made him notice that Fluttershy  was in a bit of a tizzy from his size, which made him blush. He got down on all fours before laying on the warm grass. He laid his head on the ground next to her and spoke softly.

“You know, I’m not going to hurt you, Fluttershy. In fact, like I said when we first met, I’m shy too.” He said whilst settling his wings back into his body. Fluttershy looked up at him timidly, which gave Angel enough room to jump over her hooves and stand between Cobalt and her. Angel put his paws up like a boxer and started hopping around, giving Cobalt’s nose a few punches. Cobalt didn’t really feel them, however they did make him sneeze, which sent Angel tumbling back towards Fluttershy. “Ahehe… uhh… sorry lil guy.” Cobalt said with a cautious Smile. Angel gave him an upset pout and horse-kicked his nose before sitting back down next to the salad bowl and picking out a piece of carrot. 

“Oh, sorry… Cobalt. He doesn’t like people making me all nervous.” Fluttershy stated with  soft smile as she looked down at Angel. Cobalt chuckled a bit and lifted his head up.

“Heh, feisty lil guy, huh?” He stated, to which Fluttershy gave him a nod of approval, still a little nervous around Cobalt’s size. His ears drooped a little and he sighed heavily. “Well, we’ll work on this a little later, Fluttershy. Right now I need to get in the air before I catch fire.” He said as his wings shot open again. Fluttershy, a little more at ease, nodded and even managed to build a little smile on her face. Cobalt smiled back and noded, then walked away from them to take off. As he got into position and leaned into the ground, his tail was hit by a splash of water, which made him electrocute himself and spasm. He looked over to the culprit, Spike, who fell back into the lake laughing. He looked straight ahead as a mischievous smile crept over his face.

“Wanna play like that, do ya?” He said to himself as his wings bent back and he jumped in the air, flapping them hard. The blast of air was strong enough to push Angel into Flutteshy as she covered her face with her wing, and it also pushed Spike deeper into the lake. Spike’s eyes opened wide as he watched Cobalt climb up into the air faster than anything else he’s ever seen. He watched as he climbed higher and higher… and then stopped. Cobalt backflipped over and folded his wings in a circle as he dove down to the other side of the lake. Spike could hear a screeching noise coming from the wind passing through his wing circles. The pitch got super high and it was followed by a loud BOOM  that shook the ground as a blast of white air passed over Cobalt, who had just broken the sound barrier.

Cobalt adjusted his body so that he could arch over the lake. Dropping in on an angle, he felt the air pass over him as his supersonic descent made him fall towards the edge of the lake. He extended his wings only when he was just about to hit the ground and he angled them so that the updraft cause a stir in the water. Spike watched as Cobalt got closer to him at incredible speed. Cobalt passed like a blur a few meters above Spike before flapping hard and climbing back up to a comfortable height. Spike watched as he climbed up; Cobalt looked like he didn’t even lose a bit of speed as he continued on. Spike’s attention quickly shifted, however, to the sound of rushing water that sounded like it was getting closer and closer. He turned his Head and jumped back in fear as a wall of water from Cobalt’s air rush crashed on to him, pushing him to the shore and a good 15 feet away from the water’s edge. 

Spike coughed and laid on the grass, breathing heavily from the rush he just got. His eyes gazed at Cobalt, who was cruising at supersonic speeds around Ponyville, the Sweet apple Acres and the lake.

“Spike, are you okay?” A voice called out in a familiar tone. He looked up to see Fluttershy and Angel looking over him, Fluttershy’s face looking like she just witnessed a murder.

“That. Was. Awesome.” Spike said as he shot up from the grass and watched Cobalt as he came in for a landing about 50 feet away from them. Cobalt stomped his right foot on the ground first for balance, kneeling with his left to solidify and putting his hands to the grass to hold himself up. He shot up quickly, knocking of balance a little and using his tail to correct it before running over to Spike and Fluttershy.

“Heh, you alright, Poofer?” Cobalt asked through heavy breathing, his body Sweating profusely. Spike nodded and coughed up a small fish. Cobalt looked down at it, back up at Spike and fell back in laughter, quickly followed by Spike and even Fluttershy giggled a little. They all composed themselves after a minute or so and Spike bounced on his tail in excitement.

“How did you do that!? The only person to go that fast is Dash, and she even needs to WORK to get to that speed, you looked like you didn’t even bother to reach it!” Spike said enthusiastically. Cobalt looked at his wings and flapped them slightly.

“Well,” he began, “I’m probably 3 times her weight to start. On top of that, my wing-to-body ratio is a lot larger than hers and I have a more flexible body to angle myself better. Dragons have had wings long before pegasus’ even existed, so we’ve got a couple millennia of evolution ahead of them.” Cobalt stated factually, almost seeming proud to explain it. Spike kept his big smile as he looked back at his small wings.

“Will I ever be able to fly that fast?” He asked with hope littering his tone. Cobalt gave him a neutral smirk and kneeled down to his level, putting his claw on Spike’s shoulder.

“With the right amount of practise, anything’s possible. I didn’t learn to fly like that overnight, buddy.” Cobalt said back to Spike, which made him grin ear to ear with joy. 

“You should totally race Dash someday, Cobii, that would be an awesome race!” Spike added as he used his hands to gesture his excitement, which made Cobalt smile wider.

Cobalt looked up to the sun and noticed it had started to go down. He figured it was about 4-5 pm and they should get back to be on time for Rarity’s get-together. “Well, buddy, it’s getting late now and we have a get-together to go to. Are you coming as well, Fluttershy?” Cobalt asked as he peered over Spike’s shoulder. Fluttershy nodded timidly and started to pack up her stuff.
“Oh, yes I am. I should get going though, I still haven’t gotten ready.” she said as he put her empty bowl in the satchel that she had with her, leaning is as Angel got in the pouch on the other side. “I’ll see you two at the get-together.”

“Bye, Fluttershy!” Spike and Cobalt said in unison before they headed back to the orchard themselves.

~~

Spike and Cobalt made it back to the Library by 5:30, which gave them just enough time to clean up a bit. Cobalt couldn’t really shower, but he had this neat little trick where he slapped his tailpiece against his scales soft enough that it wouldn’t make burn marks but powerful enough that the electricity burned out all the dirt under his scales. 

The walk was rather uneventful, it was a quiet evening compared to last week, restaurants had their regular volume of customers, stores and offices were just starting to turn on their lights as they shone bright against the windows of neighbouring shops. It was all sort of calming to Cobalt; the bustle and sounds of the city reminded him of his home in Dragonto, even though it wasn’t nearly as big. Spike still couldn’t get over how much Ponyville had changed over the years, the small town quickly grew into a massive city of over 5 million Ponies, and of course, one dragon. 

“Hey, Cobalt?” Spike started quietly, still sort of mesmerized by the lights.

“Yeah?”

“What’s it like in Dragonto? Is is like this?” He asked with quiet wonder.

“Yeah, it is. Picture all of this, but 3 times bigger. Dragonto has a population of 15 million, all ponies, dragons and griffins. There are skyscrapers over 70 stories tall, and The West-Wyvern Tower is the tallest structure on the planet, almost a mile and a half tall.” Cobalt said in a nostalgic tone, mentally watching images of his home dance in his head. Spike couldn’t believe it, he could barely understand the size of Ponyville, a city as big as Cobalt was explaining… it was godly in comparison.

“Twilight, can you imagine that? A city THAT big?” Spike said to his older sister as he turned to her. Twilight simply smiled and shook her head.

“I can’t say I could, Spike. It’s definitely something to behold.” She added to her gesture.

“Hey, I should bring you two sometime! You’d both have so much fun! I know the city like the back of my hand too!” Cobalt said enthusiastically. Spike looked up at him and shared in his enthusiasm with his frantic nodding. Twilight, however, didn’t seem so up to the idea, and Cobalt caught onto her dismay pretty quickly. “You think so, Twilight?” He asked her with a concerned face creeping over his face. She looked up at him and gave him a Puzzled look.

“I… I don’t know if I could, Cobalt. I have a lot to do during the day because of my princess duties, and without Celestia and Luna to help me now, I’m busier than ever. I barely managed to scrape time for this get-together. Maybe you and Spike could go sometime, Maybe.” She re-uttered for emphasis. Cobalt’s ears drooped with disappointment as he looked away.

“I...I understand, Twilight,” is all he muttered as the three went silent. Thankfully, it wasn’t for very long because they reached the Carousel Boutique shortly after the conversation ended. At the door was Rarity who was smiling and waving them over.

“Good evening, dearies. I do hope you’ve all made it here alright?” Rarity asked with her usual optimism. 

“Yes, we got here alright, Rarity, how have you been?” Twilight said happily, her tone sounding a little tired.

“I’ve been wonderful, dear. I just finished an entire line of Spring clothing for the runway show in Canterlot next month and I believe it’s my best work yet!” She said with a gentle stop of her hoof. “And how about you, Cobalt, have you been enjoying yourself in Ponyville so far?” She said as her attention shifted. Cobalt gave her a quick nod in approval.

“Yeah, everyone for the most part has been nice to me.” He said cheerfully, pushing away the earlier conversation quickly to get rid of his icky feelings.

“That’s wonderful, dearie, I hope it stays that way. And you, Spike? How have you two gotten allong? Err… Spike?” She said as she looked at Spike who was giving her a blank stare. Cobalt looked down at the love-struck dragon and bared a toothy grin as he tapped Spike’s butt with his tail, giving him a shock and making him jump.

“AIE! OH… I’m uhh… It’s been good… uhh, Rarity.” He said whilst giving an annoyed glare at Cobalt, whose face was flushed red with laughter as he tried hard to contain it. Rarity blinked and shook her head.

“Well, I’m glad you two are getting along, now come on in, everyone, you’re just in time for tea!” Rarity stated happily as she moved from the doorway to let them in. As they walked in, Cobalt started to get his feeling of nervousness again as he saw Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Big Mack, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell sitting in the main room, talking and laughing idly. Spike took notice at how Cobalt’s body started to freeze up and immediately shifted his attention to him.

“Hey, Cobii, you okay? You and I can stay here until you’re ready to go in?” Spike said as he gave Cobalt a reassuring smile. Cobalt looked down at him and sighed deeply. He grunted, shook his head and replaced his scared expression with one of cautious determination.

“No, let’s do this… slowly though, okay?” He said quietly and dryly. Spike nodded in understanding and grabbed his hand.

“One step at a time.” Spike said reassuringly, letting Cobalt start walking in at his own pace. Cobalt gulped and took the first step, then the next, and he eventually got a slow pace going as he finally entered the room.

“Ah! There they are! Are you alright, boys?” Rarity asked as her attention, as well as everyone else’s, shifted to the two as they walked through the doorway. Cobalt’s pupils tightened and his breath got short as everyone’s attention shifted to him. Spike felt Cobalt’s grip tighten on his claw as his nervousness increased. Spike decided to take things into his own hands.

“Yeah, we’re alright, he’s just a little nervous around crowds is all.” Spike said as he looked up at Cobalt and patted his arm. “It’s alright buddy, they’re friends. No need to be afraid.” He said quietly, trying to ease Cobalt into the group. Cobalt looked down at him and gave him a gentle smile.

“Oh, pardon me, dearest, I hadn’t the slightest clue.” Rarity said in sincere apology.

“I-It’s nothing t-to be sorry about, Rarity… I, uh, I should have s-said something earlier” Cobalt said with a nervous chuckle.

“Nonsense, you should feel welcomed by the host, dear. Do not fret, though, we are all elated to have you in our company.” Rarity stated with powerful confidence. “Now, you two find a spot and I’ll fetch you a spot of tea. Back in a minute.” She said before quickly disappearing into the kitchen. Cobalt watched everyone return to their conversations before he gave Spike a tender nuzzle on the head.

“Thank you, Spike. I don’t think I would’ve lasted much longer with everyone watching me like that.” He said quietly whilst a pink blush flushed over his face. Spike smiled brightly and blushed too, flattered from Cobalt’s gesture.

“Aw, it’s nothing big, Cobalt. I mean, what are friends for, right?” he said whilst giving Cobalt a playful punch on the shoulder. Cobalt chuckled and nodded before finding a place with Spike to settle in.

The night went on really well after that. Cobalt could feel Dash’s glare at him every so often, but he didn’t really pay much mind to it as the night went on. Everypony had many questions for him, Pinkie skillfully asked about things that she would include in her welcoming party that revolved around Cobalt’s favourite things, Fluttershy asked a couple questions about his diet and was surprised to find out he was a vegetarian. Even the crusaders, who by now were more over just a band of friends now that they all had their cutie marks, asked a lot of questions. In fact, Scootaloo asked the most questions out of all of the ponies there, most of them being about his wings and how fast he could fly. Which brought up the topic of what happened today.

“Hey, Cobalt, since those wings are so huge, I bet you can fly super fast!” Scootaloo said with serious enthusiasm. Before Cobalt could answer, Spike shot in.

“Yeah, he can! Actually, today he broke the sound barrier!” Spike said with a strange amount of pride. Everyone shared their oohs and aahs, even Dash had to take notice of the conversation now.

“YOU broke the sound barrier? I thought only Dash could do that!” Scootaloo said with awe as she looked up at Cobalt, whose face was a bright pink with embarrassment.

“W-Well… I-” He started, but he was quickly cut off by Spike as he continued.

“Yeah! It was so cool! I said that him and Dash should race sometime too, that’d be so cool!” Spike said with a bounce.

“Me? Race him? Ha! I could reach the finish line before he’d even flap those giant bat wings.” Dash said with an overpowering confidence.

“I dunno, Dash. Cobalt is really, really fast!” Spike said in response. “I think he’d win!” 

“Guys!” Cobalt said loudly to get their attention. He quickly reverted back to a quieter tone when he realized it caught everyone’s attention “I… I don’t really feel like racing…” He said with a nervous undertone. Dash scoffed and laughed.

“Why, afraid you’re gonna be too embarrassed by a PONY you scaley chicken?” She said whilst standing up. Cobalt’s expression changed quickly from one of fear, to one of anger.

“Know what? Let’s do this. Time, day, place.” He said with a smirk. Dash was brought back slightly from his sudden change in mood, but she quickly shot back with the details.

“Cloudsdale, next week, 2 pm sharp. If you’re not there, you forfeit. Deal?” She said with a mischievous smile.

“Deal.” Cobalt said powerfully. Just as Dash settled back into her spot, someone knocked on the door.
“I’ll get it, dearies. One moment.” Rarity said as she got up and went to the door. Everyone started to talk idly about other things as things settled back into calm discussion. Cobalt took the time to talk to Spike.

“Hey, rockhead, what was that for!? You know I don’t like the attention!” Cobalt said with a hint of fear in his voice. Spike looked up at him and smiled. 

“Hey, I told you I was going to get you out of your shell and we’ll work on some things slowly, but you need a big breakthrough first so that you start getting some confidence. Besides, it’s about time Dash’s ego was deflated a little, I can barely breathe in here.” Spike said with a snort and chuckle. Cobalt couldn’t help but giggle at his remark and nudge him with his shoulder. Just then, Rarity returned into the den with a strange pony that nobody’s seen before.

“Everyone, I want you to meet Silk Stallion. He’s the reason I’ve brought you all here tonight. See, him and I met at last year’s Runway show and, well, we’ve started going out as of a few weeks ago.” Rarity said affectionately as she nuzzled under Silk’s chin. Cobalt looked down at Spike with a surprised and pained expression as he could almost feel Spike’s heart implode. This was going to be a long night.