Chapter Thirty-Three: Pandemonium
They didn’t waste a second. As the small group reached the borders of Ponyville, Pure Heart branched off to inform her husband and brother-in-law. Fluttershy, Smokey, and the animals remained together to gather up the rest of their friends. After that, they all split to cover more of town, the dragon unintentionally sending a gaggle of ponies he flew past into a blind panic.
The mild wreckage done by a few panicking ponies only alarmed even more, leading them into running amok and causing a higher amount of damage. Vendors and carts were tipped over - smashing the wooden material they were made from - lampposts were knocked down, food was spilled into the streets and subsequently trampled on… a fire hydrant spontaneously combusted.
There hadn’t been this level of pandemonium since the parasprite invasion.
Despite the chaos, there was one grey-coated pegasus with a yellow mane and tail and a lazy eye among the ponies who seemed oblivious to it all. She was hovering in Town Square, balancing a muffin on her head… upside-down.
Trying to get things back under control, Twilight Sparkle yelled out commands and attempted to grasp the attention of the equines around her. Unfortunately, that attributed out to absolutely nothing and ponies continued to flee and hide, causing even more problems.
The purple alicorn groaned as she slapped a hoof to her face before tilting her head back to focus her sight on the blonde mare above her.
“Ditzy, would you mind helping me calm everypony down?” she requested, figuring things at least couldn’t get any worse…
“Okay, Princess Twilight!”
Flashing a smile that advertised her willingness to help, she darted off in a random direction, body smashing through the left upper wall on a two story house. The equine’s frame tore a shower curtain from its rod, making it apparent that she broke into a bathroom.
The bathtub the shower curtain belonged to just happened to be occupied. The now pale-faced Berry Punch, with eyes the size of dinner plates, made a sad attempt to cover her exposed belly with her loofa as she watched the careless winged pony crash through the opposite wall.
Without stopping, the curtain-covered mare effortlessly demolished every obstacle in her way until she burst right out the other side of the house and disappeared into the crowd.
Twilight Sparkle groaned as she observed the wall-eyed mare do nothing except contribute further to the destruction. Shaking her head with a deep frustrated sigh, she briefly thought of writing to Princess Celestia that, once again, turmoil and lawlessness took reign in Ponyville.
“No!” she resolved with determination. “No. I can do this. I. Can. Do this. I can do this!”
A building was seen being flung into the air, sailing over the other houses as if it were leaping of its own according, smashing itself into pieces by the thankfully unoccupied Town Square.
“I can’t do this!” she cried out, determination shattering. “SPIIIIIKE! Write Princess Celestia and tell her you unleashed bedlam again!”
“Me?!” the baby dragon complained incredulously. “But I--”
“There’s no time to argue, Spike! Ponyville is out of control!”
In another area of Ponyville, Smokey didn’t have a hard time weaving through the crowd since there were no ponies around him. For once, he was glad no one was around him. No one would be getting in his way.
At a distance was a little pegasus foal prancing about, chasing a butterfly that - for some inexplicable reason - was still fluttering on its path in town despite the sheer insanity that was going on.
The winged reptile searched frantically, his anxiety mounting with each passing minute. As he cast his eyes down the cobblestone road ahead, they focused on a turquoise speck. Anticipation spiking, he unfolded his wings and flapped them to propel himself at a faster pace. He didn’t want to lose that speck, believing that it could be the lost colt.
As he got closer, his suspicions were confirmed. It was a turquoise pegasus colt, who couldn’t be any older than two years, with a green mane and tail - just like Pure Heart had described. Speeding towards the child, Chenoa giggled in his hold, enjoying the fast paced ride.
The foal was gurgling with gleeful giddiness as he tried hopping after the butterfly in an attempt to catch it. His wings fluttered, though he couldn’t remain aloft and dropped back down onto the hard earth. Letting out an “oof!”, he simply got up again and bounded after the bug.
On the peak of a hill several yards away, a stallion was struggling to pull a large wagon filled with firewood, and unaware that the rope keeping the load secure was fraying. Untwisting itself, the rope snapped, causing the wood to tumble off and roll downhill in a cascading avalanche…
… right towards Sweet Tum as he pranced closer to the hill, not even aware of the mortal peril he was now in!
As a faint rumbling filled Smokey’s ear holes, his curiosity pulled his attention into the direction of the noise that was gradually increasing in volume. He was startled at what his eyes beheld - a large amount of logs rolling down a nearby hill. What frightened him was the sight of the colt frolicking into the proximity of that same hill’s foot.
Immediately taking action, the draconian being pumped his wings harder in order to lift himself off of the ground. As fast as he could, fueled by the adrenaline coursing through his veins, he sped towards the foal. His free arm extended, ready to snatch the equine once he reached him. Heart pounding against his ribcage and muscles starch with tension, he hoped beyond hope that he would reach the child on time. The avalanche of firewood was drawing awfully close…
The first log reached the bottom, breezing past Sweet Tum as he unwittingly jumped out of the way to continue his pursuit of the butterfly. The second missed him by an inch. The third rolled up a boulder jutting out of the ground and soared into the air where it connected with Smokey’s cranium. Finding it hilarious, Chenoa burst into a fit of laughter.
Dazed from the impact, the dragon’s flight became sloppy. Feet touching the ground, his body jerked and wobbled half-blindly. With determined effort - as he lost his balance and fell to his knees - he reached out and swept up the foal to draw him to his torso and tipped over onto his side, his back facing the avalanche. He held both children close, bringing a wing to provide as a shield while his body took the barrage of firewood.
The child let out a cry, eyes widening as he was suddenly picked up by a strange and scary-looking individual. He was about to start bawling when he and Chenoa were startled by the loud slams of wood smacking scales. Squeaking, the colt and griffon instinctively clutched onto the dragon and subsequently cried, terrified.
Smokey dared not move until the calamity ceased. His hard scales absorbed most of the blows of what could have done a significant amount of damage, but he didn’t get out of it unscathed. The areas where his scales were thinnest, such as his wings and ear frills - the areas where scales were located - and some spots on his back and neck were subjected to heavy bruising. The fringes on his wings and ear frills were inflicted with scrapes as well as bruises.
By the time the last log reached the bottom of the hill, the winged reptile was buried. He listened carefully for a few moments, but no longer did the sound of tumbling firewood reach his ear holes. Certain that it was over, he carefully pulled himself out of the wood pile, cradling both children protectively.
Noticing nothing scary was no longer happening, Chenoa calmed down and stared at the other baby curiously. Sweet Tum swiveled his head to survey his surroundings. He didn’t understand what was going on and his simple, underdeveloped brain could only think of one thing to do.
“Mama!” he wailed. “Mamaaaaa! Waaaahaaahaaaa!”
Ignoring the pain in his wings and ear frills - and any other part of his body that got pummeled - , Smokey held the youngsters tightly and lowered his head to nuzzle the foal.
“It’s all right, little one. It’s all right,” he crooned soothingly.
Sweet Tum continued to bawl for a minute before he was becalmed. Blinking up at the draconian through several tears, he shivered and pressed himself close, sniffling.
“See? You’re all right… Come on, let’s go search for your mommy.”
With that, Smokey directed himself back into the heart of town.
***
Ponies were still running around or hiding. Pure Heart herself was located around Sugarcube Corner, looking in and under literally every nook and cranny she could find or climb to.
“SWEET TUM?!” she shouted, peering into the broken window of a house next to the sweet shop. Getting no response, she stuck her head down the chimney. “SWEET TUM?!”
Pulling her head out, she slid off the roof and yanked open the lid to the home’s mailbox at the front.
“SWEET TUM?!”
The foal, recognizing his mother’s voice, turned towards it, his legs wiggling as he tried squirming away from Smokey.
“Mama!”
“Sweet Tum?” Pure Heart gasped, thinking she had heard her son call out to her.
The reptilian’s ear frills flared, folding forward to focus on the familiar mare’s voice. Not wanting to keep the child away from his mother much longer, he extended his wings despite their soreness, and glided down the cobblestone road.
“Sweet Tum??” the mare yelled, louder this time.
“Mama!” the baby exclaimed. “Mama!!”
Certain she heard her son, she broke into a gallop, quickly locating Smokey and the colt in his arm.
“My baby!” she cried, rushing to take her little one from the scaly biped. Practically squeezing him in her foreleg, she nuzzled and kissed him, relieved tears pooling in her eyes. Her child also began crying, hugging his mother tightly and shivering. “Oh, my sweet darling little dumpling. Mama’s got you. You’re safe now…”
Smokey gladly allowed the earth pony to pry the young colt from him. He was supremely glad they were back together again. Giving them their space, he took a few steps back and just observed them from his spot with a wide grin.
Pure Heart planted kisses over her boy’s head and ran her muzzle over him again. She had been about to turn around and leave when she suddenly remembered Smokey.
“Oh, thank you so much for finding my little dumpling! He means the world to me. I don’t… I don’t know what I would have done if I lost him!" Without hesitation, she rose up onto her hind legs and used her free foreleg to draw Smokey into a quick embrace. Drawing back and lowering herself back on three legs, she noticed the dust from the logs on Sweet Tum, Smokey, and the baby griffon. “What happened?”
The dragon’s eyes went wide as she unexpectedly hugged him. Tensing up at first, then relaxing a semi-second later, he offered a smile.
“Oh… Yes, he almost ended up underneath a pile of logs… but, he’s all right.”
“He did?!” she inhaled on a sharp, terrified breath. “I didn’t… I…”
Her eyes watered up again upon realizing he didn’t just find her baby, but had also potentially saved his life… at least from serious bodily harm. Rising up a second time to hug him again, she jumped up to plant a kiss on his cheek.
At that particular moment, Fluttershy swooped in from above, braking in midair as she saw the other mare kiss her friend.
“Oh, thank you for saving my boy! Thank you!” Letting him go, she allowed herself to drop back down to the ground again and gave the colt another nuzzle. “Oh, my Sweet Tum. Mommy’s so sorry she’s such a horrible mommy. I’m never letting you out of my sight again!”
Fluttershy blinked twice in succession, a strange sensation of a growling beast in her upper chest struggling to get out. A flash of anger pulsed through her - a deep sense of wretchedness she hadn’t felt in a long time.
The emotion passed just as quickly as it came, however, and she swallowed the lump in her throat she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding.
A bright pink dusted the dragon’s cheeks at the gesture, a goofy smile spreading across his maw and his ear frills drooping bashfully.
“Er… You’re… welcome, miss.
“And, really - just because you turned your back for one second, it doesn’t mean you’re a bad mother. We all make mistakes,” he said, dropping his eyes to the griffon chick.
“You really… think so?” Pure Heart questioned.
“Did you find the baby?” Fluttershy asked, coming closer and interrupting, suddenly feeling she could no longer stand to be outside of the conversation.
“Oh, yes!” Pure Heart smiled. “And Smokey saved him, too!”
“He did?” The yellow equine then finally took notice of how dirty the dragon and children were for the first time. “Oh my.”
“I’ll admit… it was not a very stylish rescue.” Smokey turned his back to the mares and extended his wings to show that some of his scales were cracked and the leathery fringes on his wings and ear frills were scuffed and beginning to bruise. If he had been properly cared for in his childhood, his scales would’ve been as sturdy as any dragon’s - but, he didn’t know that. Due to the prolonged lack of direct sunshine that would have stimulated his metabolism and calcium and other superficial minerals to his body, his bones and scales were far more frail - but, he didn’t know this either.
“Oh, you poor dear!” Fluttershy dropped lower to the ground, smoothing her hooves over his wings tenderly. Biting her lip, she couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle, fluttering up to his eye level. “Oh, Smokey. You’re just a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”
He let out a laugh and nodded to the small pony.
“I certainly am. Though, it wasn’t so bad this time.”
“True. At least I won’t have to pull out any porcupine quills again.”
“Porcupine quills?” Pure Heart tilted her head in confusion.
“It’s a… long story,” said the rosy-maned mare, before turning back to Smokey. “Come on, let’s get you back to the cottage and I’ll patch you up again. Some of those look pretty bad.”
Almost on an impulse, and actually taking the time to cast a glance at Pure Heart, Fluttershy flapped around the dragon to lay a few quick kisses on a few of the nastier looking injuries.
“… But that should hopefully help with some of the pain until then.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle as the worst of his inflictions were kissed.
“I… Shouldn’t we… go back to our picnic and pack it up first?” he asked, folding up his wings.
“Well… I suppose,” she relented, giving her own baby a kiss on the head. Turning around, she began to flutter away.
“Wait,” said the pink mare, slipping a foreleg around Smokey’s arm, nuzzling it. “I just wanted to thank you again for saving my baby boy.”
Letting him go, she whirled around and trotted off.
“I won’t forget it!”
Fluttershy watched her leave, a frown gracing her features and her brows sinking and knitting together.
The blush returned to Smokey’s face. With his free arm, he waved the mare off with a friendly grin.
“You’re welcome, Miss Pure Heart! I hope we see each other again soon!” Once she was out of sight, the dragon dropped his arm and shifted to face Fluttershy. “She’s a nice mare.”
Fluttershy had waved Pure Heart off as well, but as she waved her hoof, she twitched slightly as her red-scaled friend mentioned seeing her again.
“Yeah… nice.”