//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Prickly Situation // Story: The Lion and the Lamb // by CrazyChickenLady //------------------------------// Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Prickly Situation Chenoa thoroughly enjoyed the flight home - her large amber eyes alight with bliss and the corners of her beak stretched out in a grin as she let out mirthful squeals every now and again. Smokey was waiting eagerly - yet patiently - for the return of Fluttershy and the griffon. Seated cross-legged at a “safe” distance from the fireplace, he nervously watched Angel throw a fresh log onto the bed of half-charred wood when the mare and baby entered the cottage. Clamoring to his feet, he gazed at her with, expectant eyes as he awaited for her to fill him in on what the locals thought about a dragon accompanying them. Yet… he was half-dreading it. “W… well?” The winged pony sighed as she lowered her eyes to the floor. “You were right. It… went about as well as I expected.” She then lifted her head and steeled her gaze. “But that’s okay. I still want you to help. We’ll still wake up the cute little animals. We’ll just go a different route from everypony else.” The dragon’s ear frills immediately dropped the same time his heart sank into his stomach. They didn’t want him… But it was to be expected, he mentally told himself. “A… alright… Which route should we take?” “I was thinking we begin around here and work our way towards the outer part of the route,” she replied, stroking the baby in her foreleg and resting her chin atop her fluffy head. “We’ll head near the Everfree Forest and head to the lake. Pinkie should be alone out there, so we shouldn’t have to worry about frightening anypony. “From there, we’ll circle around to Sweet Apple Acres. After that, we’ll take the path north in the direction of Canterlot and double back across the edge of town this way.” The large reptilian nodded as Fluttershy laid out their reserved route, feeling a little better that no equines had to subject themselves to fear at the sight of him. “Okay then. Lead the way, Miss Fluttershy.” Smiling lightly and snagging her bell in her mouth, Fluttershy flitted out the door. As the small bell jingled from the mare’s movements, Chenoa tilted her head back with an investigative stare at the new item. It made a light, pleasant sound, the baby noticed. The pegasus exhibited how the silvery bell emitted its chime as they stopped at a group of trees and maneuvered her head in a series of short, controlled bobs. As it chimed louder, the child was bewildered to see small, furry creatures emerge from the frost-coated trunks of the trees. In her perception, it was like magic! The sight of the critters forced a tug at the corners of Smokey’s mouth. They certainly were cute, the thought. With an askew glance at the baby griffon, wanting to catch her reaction, he couldn’t help but chuckle softly at the look of awe in its purest form. “Chenoa, see those animals up there? Those are squirrels.” Sticking the bell in her free foreleg while keeping the chick in the other, Fluttershy smiled warmly down at her. “Aren’t they cute, Chenoa? Just like you!” The mare giggled, nuzzling the baby. “But Mommy thinks you’re the cutest of all. Yes, she does!” Nuzzling the happy, burbling baby once more, she lifted her vision to the drowsy rodents in one of the trees. “Good morning. I hope you all slept well during the winter!” The bundle of white fur and down followed Fluttershy’s example, glancing up at the squirrels and chipmunks in the trees, subsequently resulting in a delighted cry. The tiny mammals chattered their reply, some yawning and rubbing the fatigue that weighed down their eyelids. Due to the lethargy, it took them a little longer than normal for them to fully acknowledge Smokey’s presence. When they did, they skittered right back into their dens… except for one chipmunk. He nodded off on his feet. “Oh!” Fluttering up to one of the trees, she peered inside with a warm, reassuring smile. “It’s all right. You don’t have to worry. Smokey’s a friend. He won’t harm you, I promise.” Turning around to the outstretched bough, she leaned in to very gently nudge the sleeping chipmunk with her nose. “Time to wake up, Mr. Chipmunk. Spring is nearly here! Aren’t you hungry at all?” The dragon had been expecting such a reaction from any animals they would be waking up, so this was no surprise to him. Though, the sight of the chipmunk dozing away on his feet was amusing. Parting his eyelids, the chipmunk slowly lifted his head his head to gaze up at the pegasus. The thought of food did almost sound more appealing than sleeping in. Almost. With a big yawn, the tiny creature drifted off again. The sunshine yellow pony smiled lightly, nuzzling the rodent’s side. “Alright. I’ll let you sleep in just a little longer.” Gliding down to her scaly friend, she extended the bell to him. “Here you go, Smokey. Would you like to try?” “Of course!” He happily accepted the bell and directed his body to a cluster of burrows. Approaching one and kneeling, he rang the bell and waited in excited anticipation for what creature would emerge. A couple of minutes passed… Nothing came out, so he tried again. “Hello?” he called to the animals inside one of the holes as he set the bell down beside him and lowered himself onto his elbows and gloved hands. “Time to get up! Spring is almost here!” Still, nothing came out. Fluttershy flapped her wings, keeping her and Chenoa aloft as she waited. “Hello, little animal friends,” she sang. “Please wake up.” More time passed. “That’s funny…” she commented. “I wonder what’s going on?” With intent on finding out what was taking so long, Smokey crawled forward until he was poking his snout inside. “Hello?” he called, his voice bouncing off the walls of the burrow. When he received no response, he stuck his entire head in. The entrance exceeded the height of his head - not including his spines, which folded back with his ear frills - by a few millimeters, and since he didn’t have any trouble getting it in, he figured he wouldn’t have any pulling it out. “Hello?” he tried again, resounding with an irritated chatter deep within the darkness. His still adjusting eyes squinted in the inky abyss, the only source of light assisting him pouring in through the spaces between his spines and ear frills. “Oh! Uh, Smokey? I… I’m… not sure that’s such a good idea,” the equine warned, concern heavy in her voice. “Some of those burrows are filled with snakes. Or skunks. Or porcupines. You should probably get your head out of there before anything bad happens!” Smokey mentally chided himself for his blunder. He shouldn’t have stuck his head in the hole when he didn’t even know what was lurking inside. As he pulled back, his ear frills were pushed inward and his top spine up, locking him in. The draconian tucked back again and again with no avail, inspiring unease to mount with each tug. “M-Miss Fluttershy, I can’t! I’m stuck!” Gasping at the muffled expression, Fluttershy swooped down and landed near him. While she didn’t understand what he was saying, from the fact he was pulling back and unable to remove his head it didn’t take a genius to figure out he was stuck. “Now, Chenoa,” the mare began as she set the baby down. “Stay. Here. Mama needs to help Daddy really fast!” Spinning around, she gulped nervously. “Hang on, Smokey! I’m right here! I’ll get you out!” Without any further hesitation, she rose up on her hind legs, she dug away. Underneath the soft powder was snow surrounding the mouth of the burrow that had compacted until it was almost as hard as solid ice. This would definitely be more difficult than she originally thought. While Smokey continued pulling, he could make out the silhouettes of mammals that appeared rodent-like at first. As they waddled closer, he squinted in the blackness and tried to distinguish what they were. It was until they stood right in front of his nose where the tendrils of light shown on them when the reptile finally recognized the species. The burrow was housing porcupines. The dragon swallowed the lump that formed in his throat tautly. While his kind’s scales were tough, there were areas around his head that were quite sensitive and vulnerable. “Erm… So sorry for the rude awakening. Just… please wait until I pull my head out and you may come out.” The porcupines didn’t seem pleased in the least, and Smokey’s nervousness spiked to a panic when the largest one shuffled closer and whirled around and bristled his quills. “W… wait a minute…! P-please don’t do what I think you’re about to do! W-wait! Stop! Please!” Fluttershy grunted, thrusting with her forehooves alternatively to try to punch through the hard frozen soil. With it being as tough as ice and her so used to being gentle, it was proving to be a tough task. Panting, she picked up Smokey mumbling as if he was talking to somebody - though shortly, she heard an exclamation… then another… and another. Seeing his body jolt and twitch with each one, the pegasus gasped as she came to the conclusion that something in there was hurting him. “Smokey!” With that, she redoubled her efforts - swinging herself around and beginning to kick at the side lip of the burrow with her hind hooves instead. Chenoa watched as her mother’s hooves smashed the hard snow into small chunks and the body of her father jump every few seconds with a muffled yell in a note that suggested something bad was happening. Smokey’s hands dug into the snow below and clenched into tight balls, the knuckles underneath the gloves paling as the porcupine continued to assault him. Of course, he didn’t stop attempting to yank his head out while all of this was happening. “Smokey!!” Fluttershy cried out again, smashing her hooves against the burrow again and again. It was too hard - the ground surrounding it was just too tough and frozen to be able to kick through. While part of her wanted to fly off and get help, she simply couldn’t leave him… She gritted her teeth, a glint of determination in her eyes. No. No, she could do this. Lifting her haunches and folding up her hind legs, she took careful aim, and launched back with all her might… Hearing a powerful crack, the pegasus investigated, seeing that the inflicted area of the frozen mass encircling the hole had broken clean off and revealed the much softer layer of earth beneath it. Without wasting any time, she went right to it - prying off the rest and digging away at the soil. It gave away rather easily, crumbling around Smokey’s neck to give him more space to wiggle free. The combination of harsh scrapes resulting from Fluttershy’s hooves as she frantically dug away and the dirt falling wherever gravity pulled it, Smokey was encouraged to pull harder and harder - and not to mention the relentless flogging he was receiving from the quill-wielding tail of the porcupine. Once enough earth was removed from the mouth of the burrow, Smokey wrenched his head free. The effort he utilized sent him flying aback, landing painfully on his tailbone. But the hurt in his rear was diminutive compared to that in various spots on his head. Several quills jutted out from areas holding thin scales - or no scales at all. His nostrils, lips, the circumference of his eyes, and the worst place - that had no scales - was the leathery skin and fringes of his ear frills. With a yelp and a gasp at the sight of him, the winged pony’s eyes widened. Flaring her wings out and flapping up to his face, she examined him. “Oh! Oh, Smokey - Oh, you poor thing!” Fur and down ruffling, Chenoa jumped nearly a foot in the air as she was startled by the appearance of the draconic being. At first, she didn’t know what to think, then she burst with laughter, finding it hilarious. Quickly checking on Chenoa, she hovered closer and placed her hooves on Smokey’s shoulders. Leaning in, she grasped onto one of the quills with her teeth to remove it. “Aa-aa-ah… aa-AAH!” he cried out in agony. A single porcupine quill consisted of layers of multiple tiny barbs at the end in order to embed itself into the victim’s flesh. So taking one out was far from a pleasant experience, and removing a bunch of them was even worse. With each wail, Fluttershy winced, her heart aching for him. “Sorry,” she apologized each time she pulled one out. She knew it hurt badly, and she didn’t want to hurt him. Some of them managed to get in between his scales and dig really deep and a few went right through the fringes of his ear frills and protruded through the other side. After what felt like a few minutes - though it felt like hours, she finally yanked out the last one and spat it out. “There…” she sighed. “Come on. We should get you back to the cottage. Nodding and biting his lower lip and whimpering softly once from the burning pain originating from where the quills had previously been inhabiting, the dragon pulled himself to his feet. “Don’t worry, Smokey,” Fluttershy crooned in a maternal intonation as she scooped up Chenoa and nudged him into the direction of her home. She had to get those wounds cleaned and disinfected before any further damage could be done. She didn’t want him to get sick. “I’ll take care of you.” “Thank you…” Despite the pain he was experiencing, he couldn’t help but smile at the display of kindness. “I really do appreciate you helping me, Miss Fluttershy.” “It’s no trouble, Smokey,” she said, pumping her wings as she escorted him back home, adrenaline still coursing through her system. “I know what it’s like. Being pricked with porcupine quills isn’t fun at all.” Angel was surprised to see his caretaker, the dragon, and their adopted daughter back so soon. He was even more stunned to see the reptile’s head covered with bloody rivulets. Smokey chose a spot in the middle of the living room and sat down, hoping that patching up these wounds wouldn’t be another horribly painful experience like the one he had earlier encountered.