//------------------------------// // Topaz's First Crush: Part 2 // Story: The Sparity Family // by Zexoguy //------------------------------// Second period was gym class. Topaz emerged from the locker room wearing a plain grey t-shirt and baggy black and white shorts. Needless to say, gym was not his favorite class. It's not that he hated it. It's just that he would rather read a book than run around in giant circles, which was always the first thing they had to do. As soon as the kids stepped out of the locker rooms, they had to either walk or jog around the width of the court. Topaz usually chose to walk unless he was feeling especially energetic. Today was not one of those days. He began his tedious routine walk around the gym, joining the rest of the class. The more athletic kids jogged while the ones who were more like Topaz just walked. "Hey, Topaz," came a voice from behind. The bullies from earlier jogged up to Topaz from behind him and then slowed down to his speed. Topaz cursed internally. "You know, I finally saw something I like about you today. Your smoking hot mom." The two colts laughed, reminding Topaz of his earlier embarrassment. Of course, just when he had put it out of his mind, somepony had to come along and put it right back in. "Yeah. Now I can see where you came from," The other one added. "If I was a dragon, I'd want a piece of her, too." "Better make sure you forget your lunch everyday, huh?" Topaz was about three seconds away from punching both of them right in the faces, until suddenly, he heard another voice. A feminine one. "Knock it off, you guys," Minty Gold scorned. Topaz's heart jumped and sank into his stomach as he didn't even realize she had been walking right next to him. "Fine. See ya, Mama's boy." The bullies kept on jogging, leaving Minty and Topaz behind. "Don't listen to them," Minty said softly. The blue colt turned and looked up at her. She had a couple of inches on him and if he was really honest with himself, she looked a lot like Jade, except without the scales and punk rock attire. "I think it's sweet that your mom brings you your lunch," she continued. "Huh? Oh yeah," he stammered, snapping himself out of his trance. "Well, you know, she doesn't do it everyday. Just... on days when I forget." He started to blush a little bit. Minty giggled. "Okay. Well it's still sweet." "Hehe. Thanks. And thanks for sticking up for me." "No problem. Somepony had to shut those guys up." Just then, the coach blew the whistle, signaling that the required jogging time was up. The young ponies all split up to do their own things like play basketball or jump rope. "Do you wanna go sit with me?" That question made Topaz's heart skip a beat. He hadn't expected this to happen. "Uhhh... Yeah, sure," he stuttered. As the two of them walked over to the bleachers, tons of questions ran through his mind. What would he say? What did she want to talk about? Could he even maintain eye contact with her? Did his breath stink? Did he have B.O.? Finally, they found a spot up on the bleachers and sat down side by side. Topaz took a deep breath to calm himself down. "So," Minty began, snapping Topaz back to reality. "Can I ask you something?" "Um, yeah. What is it?" he replied. "Is your dad really a dragon?" she inquired. Topaz was a bit confused. To him, the answer was obvious because of his eyes and teeth. Still, he responded with a polite "Yep." "Oh my gosh!" Minty suddenly beamed with excitement, her wings spreading out in response. "That's so cool! I've read all about dragons. Can he breathe fire? Can you breathe fire?" "No," he said with an awkward chuckle, "but all my brothers and sisters can. I wish I could, but I'm really only five percent dragon." "That's still pretty cool. You're the first kirin I've ever met. That's the technical term for a pony-dragon crossbreed, right?" "Yeah." "Sweet. How many siblings do you have?" "I have three sisters and two brothers." "Really? Wow!" "Yeah. My brothers are actually two heads on the same body!" "Whoa! Seriously? That is nuts!" "Well, when a unicorn and a dragon have kids together, it's like a box of chocolates. You never really know what you're gonna get." "I guess so, but five siblings?" "My parents reeeeally love each other." Minty burst out laughing at that. Topaz was pleasantly surprised with how well things were going already. She was a really smart pony who was a lot of fun to talk to. It was as if his anxieties had all but disappeared. He couldn't believe he was ever so nervous about talking to her. He decided to bring up the thing he'd been thinking about since he saw her earlier that morning. "So, hey. I noticed that book you were reading this morning," he said. "'Advanced Spells and Magical Properties' by Heart Arrow?" "Oh yeah," Minty exclaimed. "It's a great book." "I know. I have the same one." Minty grew excited again. "Really?!" "Yeah." "Magic is so cool. I love reading all about it. Sometimes I wish I was a unicorn so I could actually use it." Suddenly, the whistle blew again and all the kids stopped what they were doing and headed towards the locker rooms. Topaz and Minty both stood up and did the same. After hesitating for a moment, Topaz decided to ask one last question. "Hey, Minty?" "Yeah?" "Um... do you wanna... maybe get together again sometime and... talk a little more about... magic and stuff?" "Yeah, totally," Minty responded. "You can come over to my house this Saturday if you want." "Really?" Topaz perked up. "Here. Let me give you my address." Minty took out a slip of paper and wrote down her home address and handed it to Topaz. "Thanks." "See you later," she said. Then she disappeared into the girl's locker room. Topaz couldn't believe it. As he looked down at the piece of paper in his hands, a huge smile crept across his face. He had a date with Minty Gold! Then his excitement suddenly turned into terror. He had a DATE with MINTY GOLD! ----- When Topaz came home that day, He was still a nervous wreck. He had a date with the girl of his dreams and he had no idea what to do about it. Well, technically, they didn't actually use the word 'date', but still, he was both excited and horrified at the same time. He had to calm himself down. He took a deep breath in and then a deep breath out. Suddenly, he was relaxed enough to think straight. Topaz needed advice, so he asked himself who he should go to for advice about talking to girls. The answer? His dad. Spike was in the living room, watching TV when Topaz walked in. "Hey! Topaz! How was school today?" The purple dragon greeted his son. "Hey, Dad. It was okay," Topaz responded nonchalantly. Looking down nervously, he decided to just go ahead and ask. "Hey Dad?" "Yeah?" "I need to talk to you about something." "Sure. What is it?" Topaz sat down on the couch next to his father, still not really looking him in the eye. "Well, you see, I talked to this girl today. She's really nice and smart and cool and I really like her. It seemed like we really hit it off talking about magic and stuff and..." Topaz pulled out the piece of paper in his pocket. "She gave me her home address." "Hey! That's awesome!" Spike shook his son playfully, feeling very proud of him. The young colt smiled awkwardly. "Look at you, buddy. You got a date?" "Y-Yeah. Well, sort of. I just asked if she wanted to hang out with me so we could discuss magic some more. It's more like a study date, really." "But you like her, don't you?" "Yeah, but I don't know what to do. I'm supposed to meet her at her house this Saturday, but I don't wanna screw anything up." "Just relax, dude. You're over-thinking it. It sounds to me like she already likes you. She gave you her address, for crying out loud. You just have to relax and be yourself, okay?" Topaz smiled, starting to feel a little better. "Okay. Thanks." "I'll tell you what you don't wanna do," the grown dragon continued. "Don't put her on such a high pedestal. If you do that, you're gonna be too scared to do anything. Just think of her as a normal pony. She eats and sleeps just like you do. Remember that and you'll do just fine. That's how it was with your mom. Okay?" "Alright. Thanks a lot, Dad." Topaz got up and headed to his room. "Anytime, buddy. Anytime." With that, Spike went back to his show, proud that his son was growing up so much. As Topaz made his way upstairs to his room, he saw Onyx and Obi about to pass him on the way down. "Hey, Paz. There's a bug on your face. I'll get it," Obi said just before slapping Topaz right in the face, causing him to stumble against the wall. Both of the black dragon heads laughed as they passed him. When Topaz reached the top of the stairs, he noticed that Citrine's door was open. Given what the twins had just done, he figured maybe he could use some advice on one other thing. He peaked into Citrine's room and noticed that she seemed to be doing some homework. He hesitated a little since he didn't want to interrupt her, but he knocked on her door anyway to get her attention. "Oh. Hey, Topaz. What's up?" Citrine said as she put her notebook and pencil down, giving him her full attention. "I need your advice on something," he confessed. "Sure. What do you need?" "Have you ever gotten bullied or picked on for being... you know, part dragon?" Citrine seemed to be caught a little off guard by the question. She sighed, as if revisiting old memories she had thought about in a long time. "Sure I have," she began. "Years ago. Kids used to pick on me and make fun of me all the time. I was the only kid in my class with slit pupils and fangs and sharp claws. A lot of ponies were afraid of me, too, because every time I sneezed, fire came out. One time, I accidentally set my desk on fire. Even the teacher was afraid. It was pretty hard just going to school everyday." She started to trail off a little bit. "So what did you do?" The blue colt asked. Citrine managed to perk up a bit and gave him a smile. "Well, having my family to go home to everyday was a pretty big help in getting me through it. Mom and Dad were always there for emotional support and you guys always reminded me that I wasn't alone. You were just a baby at the time, but that's how we came up with our secret handshake." Topaz thought back to the twins and chuckled at the thought of them offering any kind of support. "Well I think Onyx and Obi may have forgotten about that." Citrine laughed. "Come on. They can be nice... on occasion." "What about them, anyway?" he asked. "Did they ever get picked on? And what about Jade?" Citrine thought about the twins and Jade in school. She imagined them walking down the hall with all the kids staring at them and muttering, then she imagined them glaring back at everyone and growling angrily, freaking all the kids out so much that they run away. She laughed at the thought. "I think most ponies are too afraid to make fun of them," she joked. Topaz laughed with her. "Yeah, you're probably right." "Just remember, if you ever need to talk about anything, we're always here for you," Citrine reassured him. Then she held her fist out for him to pound. "Thanks, Citrine." Topaz pounded her fist with his own and they spread out their fingers and growled. After that, he left and his sister returned to her homework. Topaz was already feeling much better now that he knew he had somepony to talk to.