Chapter Forty-Six: Kidnapped!
“Findin’ gems is actually pretty easy, even if you don’t have a gem finding unicorn with you. Basically, you gotta learn how to detect them by smell, and each one has its own scent! Here, I’ll find a few and dig ‘em up so you can smell for yourself!” Spike paused, lifting his nose to the air and taking a few whiffs. Wandering around, he found a spot, and using his tail as a shovel, unearthed a small number of gems. Gathering a pile of four, he brought them over to Smokey and handed him a fine looking ruby. “Here ya go! Try it!”
“Alright.” Bending over and lowering his snout to the gemstone, Smokey took a couple of sniffs. At first, he didn’t get much, but after a few more smells, he was able to detect the ruby’s scent. Suddenly, something in him clicked on. He may have been pony raised and lack the many mannerisms dragons possessed, but he still had one thing: the inherited taste for precious stones. The red-scaled draconian could feel his chops begin to salivate a little bit, and pulled back before giving into his newly discovered urge. “I think I got it!”
“Awesome! They might all smell the same, especially being so close together -- they kinda do after a while, but you’ll learn to tell which one is which.” Spike tossed the taller dragon the ruby he used to test his sense of smell with. “Go ahead, have a taste! They’re delicious!”
Catching the stone in his free hand, Smokey stared down at it with uncertainty and lifted his eyes back to Spike.
“Are you sure you do not mind me eating the gem you dug up?”
“Not at all!” the lavender dragon assured with a wide grin. “These gems aren’t exactly rare. Ponies sometimes give me some. I even gave Rarity the fire ruby I was planning to eat as my birthday dinner.”
“Really? I thought rubies were too precious to just be given away… But, if you insist. Thank you, Spike!”
Parting his jaws, Smokey lifted the gemstone to his mouth and bit down. He was surprised how strong his teeth really were. Never, would he have thought they were powerful enough to break and grind up precious stones! Crunching on the bite he had taken, he put his taste buds to work. Just as astonishingly, it was absolutely…
Delectable!
Taking one of the other gems he had dug up, Spike tossed it up into the air with practiced skill, where it flipped a couple of times before it landed right in his mouth. Gulping it down without even chewing it, he sighed happily.
“Ahhh… Exquisite! Yeah, rubies and other gems are precious… but, they’re plentiful! And, they help us breathe fire better!”
Smokey ceased chewing, his eyes widening and his pupils narrowing into thin slits. Gulping, he opened his mouth to speak.
“Did… did you say… breathe fire better?”
Spike blinked with an expression of confusion.
“Yeah. Gems act as a natural fuel source for us, powering up our flame breath and giving us the ability to shoot hotter and larger flames for longer periods of time.”
The larger draconic being felt an unpleasant shiver crawl up his spine as the haunting memories of the flaming curtains in the orphanage flashed through his mind.
“… I… see…”
This time, it was Spike’s turn to look concerned.
“Is something wrong?” he asked his companion. “You’re looking a little pale.”
The scarlet dragon really didn’t want to talk about his bad childhood and ruin the mood, but he didn’t want to lie to his friend and state that he was fine. So, he compromised.
“Just… bad memories.”
“Ah. Yeah, I understand,” Spike said with a nod. “Hey, if anything, flame breath can be hard to control at times. I remember I accidentally set fire to a lot of things when I was younger. Thankfully, Twilight is a good teacher.”
“Miss Twilight… knows how to help control a dragon’s fire breathing ability?”
Now there was an idea! Maybe he could ask the alicorn if she wouldn’t mind giving him a few pointers… if he wasn’t so terrified of setting something on fire, that is.
“Yeah! I had to learn the hard way by myself, but Twilight was there to help me learn. And so was Princess Celestia. Mainly more the princess than Twilight, but Twilight certainly learned and we went over things together when I practiced my flame control. It was more of a discovery through the two of us I could use my own body as a way of sending and receiving letters!”
“I still find it difficult to fathom that you know the princesses,” Smokey stated with a smile.
“Heh, yeah, it IS amazing when you think about it. Twilight was Princess Celestia’s personal student and protégé, and the one who hatched my egg during her entrance exam. And it was Princess Celestia who raised me while teaching Twilight, so…
“I guess,” Spike continued after a couple of seconds. “In a way, you could say Princess Celestia’s like my mom. I… never knew my actual parents, and Twilight’s more of a sister to me than anything.”
Smokey’s ear frills drooped as a blanket of sorrow descended upon him.
“Oh. That is unfortunate…” He paused, debating on whether or not to inform Spike that, he too, was parentless. After another silent moment, he decided to go for it. “I never knew my parents either.”
The baby dragon’s eyes went wide in response.
“Wha -- really? Whoa, I… didn’t know.” There was another lapse before he perked up again. “You know, that… actually doesn’t surprise me much. When I temporarily joined the dragon migration, I didn’t see any baby dragons at all. The youngest I saw were teenagers, and they looked like they were already on their own. Maybe dragons are just… naturally abandoned at birth?”
“Maybe… but…” Smokey smiled, his sadness reducing into belying currents as images of his animals, Chenoa, and Fluttershy popped into his head as if to reassure him. “I do have a family, even if it’s not made up of dragons. I… Really, it’s hard not to see you as a little brother.”
“You mean that?” The young dragon couldn’t help but feel a warmth within him from hearing Smokey admit that. “Because I feel like my friends are my family, too! Twilight and Princes Celestia mostly, but even my other friends I can see as sisters!”
“Yes. They have rubbed off on me as well. They are all such wonderful ponies. I couldn’t have asked for a better family,” Smokey said, setting the wriggling griffon onto the ground so he could begin gem hunting -- while keeping an eye on her, of course.
Spike nodded, going back to search as well. Utilizing his nose, he was able to detect several small pockets of gemstones in which he dug up without a problem.
As he and Smokey worked, a dark and foreboding presence nearby observed them digging. Three sets of beady yellow eyes gazed out from the cover of thick bushes.
Spike, Smokey, and Chenoa were all oblivious to the newcomers, dragons digging into the earth for gems, tossing what ever they found into a pile -- the larger pausing in intervals to turn an eye to the baby. The child was enraptured by the shiny stones, her tiny eagle paws batting at them curiously.
While the two of them toiled throughout the morning and close to noon, the creatures in hiding growled and murmured among each other.
“Wasn’t that the little dragon that was with that pony?” one of them spoke.
“Durr, yeah. Yeah!” a second voiced.
“Shhh! Quiet, they’ll hear you!” the first hissed.
“Grah! Those little ponies ruined everything!” the third growled.
“We’re not gonna worry about them! We’re gonna wait until those dragons get more gems! And then we steal them for ourselves!”
“But… they already got a lot. Why not just steal them now?”
“Because we want them to get MORE!”
“Yes, more is good! Eeeheeheee!”
“Shhh! Quiet!”
“Hmm?” Spike ceased his digging and stood up straight, thinking he heard voices. “… Something there?”
Smokey turned his head to his friend with pricked ear frills.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
The smaller draconian shrugged and went back to his work.
A pause later, the first voice hissed at the second, “You idiot! You nearly gave us away!”, following with an audible smack.
Again, Spike stood up, turning on his heel into the direction of the voices.
“I definitely heard something. I’m gonna check it out real fast, alright?”
As he headed towards the bushes, the first voice growled again.
“Oh, now you done it! He’s coming this way!”
“Grah! Fine! We just get ‘em now! ATTACK!”
Spike was only a few paces away when the three creatures -- mangy, filthy bipedal canines burst out from the bushes. Screaming, the baby dragon fell backwards as one of the dogs, bag in hand, leaped over him to begin scooping gems. The largest of the dogs immediately rushed at Smokey with the intent on distracting him and prevent him from getting to Spike as the third dog -- the smallest one -- took him on.
Spike didn’t take long to recover. Rolling aback, he jumped up onto his feet and stomp on his opponent’s foot, before head butting him in the stomach as the canine retaliated with a swipe from his paw.
Smokey’s first instinct was to get to Chenoa and protect her, but he found himself face-to-face with the large, muscular canine. Furrowing his brows, he threw all of his weight at his foe in a shove.
The baby didn’t seem worried. In fact, she hardly even noticed they were under attack. Possibly due to the fact she had buried herself in the pile of gemstones.
The leader of the trio soon swept up the remaining gems into the back with a couple more scoops. Hoisting it up and slinging it over his shoulder, he called out to his companions.
“I got da gems! Let’s scram!”
The largest dog broke away from Smokey and retreated with his leader. The smallest, had smacked Spike to the side and moved in to punch him -- only for the dragon to roll out of the way and attempt to release a small stream of flame at him. The mutt had just barely avoided getting burned when the call to retreat was sounded. He needed no further incentive and turned to flee.
“Whew…” Spike breathed, wiping off his brow as he watched the diamond dogs run. “That was close… Hey! Those were the same diamond dogs that attacked me and Rarity!”
Whirling around to Smokey, he ran up to the larger dragon.
“You okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Waiting for a response, he glanced over to where their pile of gems used to be, crestfallen. “Awww, man! They stole the gems!”
Smokey was about to reply that he was fine, but his words died in his throat and his blood turned to ice at the news. Spinning around, he found that the stones Chenoa were hiding in were gone! His heart stopped then picked up speed as the panic of a parent who lost their child rushed through him.
“Ch… Chenoa…! NO, THEY HAVE CHENOA!!”
Almost instantly, Smokey turned back around to give chase, extending his wings and using them to speed up.
Spike sighed, at first relieved Smokey wasn’t hurt -- though that relief was short-lived at the realization that the diamond dogs had the baby.
“Say what?!” he exclaimed, before running after his friend. A lack of wings and far shorter legs meant the other dragon was able to very quickly outpace him, and he struggled to keep up with his larger companion.