Great

by Broadway

A New Family

". . . So, Coal, how old are you?"

Trixie and Coal had been walking through the woodland for a bit, each doling out a seemingly endless supply of questions to the other.

"I'm nine," he replied. "And you're eight, right?"

"Yep," confirmed Trixie, nodding her head. "Alright, let's see. . . can you fly?"

Coal gave his wings a weak flap. "No, not yet. I'll be able to in a few years or so, though."

Trixie paced alongside the dragon for a few minutes in silence, gazing down at the ground as it disappeared beneath her hooves. ". . . Hey, Coal?"

"Yeah?"

"I. . . I think I'm ready to answer personal questions, if there were any you wanted to ask."

Coal grimaced. "Yeah, I guess there are a few. I think I'm ready to answer some myself."

Trixie took a deep breath. "Alright. Fire away."

"What exactly are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere? I mean, I live out here, but ponies live in towns and stuff, right?"

"I ran away," Trixie explained quietly. "I was living with Bright Rose and Storm Song - my aunt and uncle - out in Tallahayseed. Bright Rose. . . she wasn't exactly too fond of me. She. . . she's the one who gave me the bruises on my back." For some reason, Trixie couldn't bring herself to say that Bright Rose beat her, though she knew it to be true.

"I. . . I'm sorry," said Coal somberly. He wasn't so much upset by this news as angry. "Why would she do that to you?"

"You do realize you just asked a double-question," stated Trixie, not looking at him.

Coal waved his claw in dismissal. "You can have two afterwards."

Trixie grimaced. "Remember how I said that me lifting that rock in the cave was the first time I ever used magic?" He nodded. "Well, that's why."

"I don't understand."

"A unicorn who can't use magic isn't worthy of anypony's time," Trixie murmured.

"You don't honestly believe that, do you?"

She didn't respond.

"Trix?"

"What?"

"You shouldn't listen to that crap. You are important."

Trixie snorted. "Huh. Yeah, now I am, since I can use magic. Well, kind of."

Coal narrowed his eyes at her. "That's not my point. You shouldn't let things like that put you down. You are important, regardless of your magical ability. I mean, I thought you were, as you put it, 'worthy of my time' before I even knew that you couldn't use magic, and I still think that now."

Trixie looked over at him, eyes wide with surprise. "Really?"

"Yes! Really!" he shouted with a slight laugh. "You're my friend, Trixie. I could care less how talented of a unicorn you are."

Trixie smiled and turned back to the path ahead of her. Her eyes suddenly grew wide as she nearly crashed into a tree in her carelessness. Fortunately for her face, she was just able to dodge it, causing Coal to laugh and Trixie to blush. "Shut up," she mumbled, her cheeks rosy.

"You know, that's never gonna get old," snickered Coal.

"What?"

"You blushing."

"Oh shut up, will you?" Trixie swiped a hoof at him. Coal could've easily dodged, but he allowed the playful swing to make contact with his scales.

"Alright. I've asked my two questions."

"And now I get two too," stated Trixie, sending him a look that dared him to challenge her. He didn't.

Trixie pondered for a moment. She had so many questions that she had been afraid to ask before, but which ones should she ask? Finally, she settled on one of the simpler ones. "What was that dragon doing in your cave?"

Coal's grin disappeared. He looked down. "He was looking for a new place of residence. Why he came all the way out to our cave, I don't know. I know we lived pretty far away from any other dragons - how far, I don't know - but no dragon should've found us. He. . ." Coal had stopped walking. Trixie reached out to place a comforting hoof upon his shoulder, but he turned away.

"He came in and ordered my mom and us to get out. My mother said no. So he killed her. He didn't even think twice. He just killed her, right there in front of us. My mom wasn't exactly the strongest dragon in the world; there wasn't anything she could do. And then he killed my siblings - my four sisters and two brothers. We were all screaming and running every which way. No one really thought about where they were going, they were just trying to put any amount of distance between themselves and the brute. Most of them ran the wrong way. They ran deeper into the cave, so that eventually they found themselves at a dead-end. I. . . I remember Amber, my sister. She was the smallest of all of us. He. . . he just grabbed her and snapped her in two. Just like that.

"In all the chaos, I tried to run away, but part of the ceiling fell down on me and pinned me in place. Fortunately, I had been running in the right direction, meaning I didn't end up trapped at the back with everyone else. When he came back through, he didn't seem to notice me and, satisfied with his successful takeover, left.

"That's around the time you showed up. That pile you saw outside of the cave was the reason he left. He had gone back for his hoard. The reason it was abandoned outside was because he probably smelled your scent and went to go investigate. It didn't exactly help that you were wounded at the time either, which, forgive me saying this, more than likely made you seem all the more appetizing."

Trixie just stared at her dragon companion, her eyes teary, her mouth agape.

Coal looked up at her. It was clear he was fighting back tears as well. He swallowed, forcing the liquid back into his eyes. "Hey, don't cry," he told her softly. "There's no need for that. It's okay."

Trixie shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm so sorry, Coal," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I'm so, so sorry."

She reached out and embraced her friend, holding him close. Coal wrapped his arms around her as well and hugged her back, his body trembling. The young dragon had never thought he would be in a situation like this. One day, he was living a pleasant life with his mother and six siblings, playful and carefree. The next, they were gone, and all that was left of them were whatever the monster who had slain them had neglected to either eat or clean up in their former home. Now, however, he had someone else to call a family member, and she was all he had. He wouldn't lose her too. No, he'd give his own life before hers was taken from his, for if he lost Trixie, then Coal would truly be alone in the world.

Sniffle. ". . . Coal?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"If you said that that other dragon could smell me and stuff, how come you couldn't?"

Coal shook his head. "I dunno. . . I mean, I knew you smelled funny, but I guess I kind of dismissed it for the moment, seeing as you were my only shot at escape. And I'd never seen a pony before, so I wouldn't have recognized the scent."

Trixie nodded, eyes still closed. "Okay."

Coal pulled back. "Are you okay?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, I think so."

"Come on, let's keep going."

"Yeah, okay."

Coal glanced over at her. "So. My turn. Why were you living with your aunt and uncle? Didn't you say you had a mom and dad?"

Trixie sighed. She had known this question would come. "My mom died when I was four. There was a fire, and she didn't make it out. And my dad. . . he left when I was three. I don't know why; my mom would never tell me. So, when she died, my sister - Vanity - and I were technically orphans. The only other relatives we could stay with were Bright Rose, because she's my dad's sister, and Storm Song."

"I guess we're not that different after all, huh?" came Coal, a faint smile on his face.

Trixie looked over at him and smiled a bit too. "Yeah, I guess not."

"Okay, your turn."

"Alright, um. . ." Trixie's belly growled. "Can we stop for lunch?" she asked sheepishly, her cheeks faintly pinkish.

Coal laughed. "Sure. I'm hungry too."

Trixie looked around with a frown. "What can I eat?"

"You know, I could count that as two questions." Trixie gave him a look. Coal smirked. "But I won't."

"Seriously, though. I don't know what I can eat out here." Trixie looked around at the greenery surrounding her. "There's just so many different types of plants and stuff." She looked over at him. "What do you think?"

"Um, I don't know." Coal thought for a few moments. "Ponies are herbivores, right?"

Trixie blinked. "Huh?"

Coal rolled his eyes. "You don't eat meat, correct?" She made a face. "That's what I thought."

For a moment, he stood still, sniffing the air. Trixie watched him curiously. "Why are you doing that?"

"I'm trying to figure out what's nearby," he told her. Finally, he seemed satisfied. "I'll be back in a minute, okay?"

Trixie nodded. "Okay."

"Don't go anywhere, alright?"

"I won't, don't worry."

Coal nodded and took off into the trees on all fours.

Trixie smiled to herself. She had definitely gotten lucky when she stumbled across Coal. Without him, she'd probably be in much less favorable conditions, assuming she'd even still be here. For the first time, it truly seemed as though she had someone to call a friend. Yes, she was glad she had him with her.

After another minute of waiting, Trixie grew restless, so she decided to work on her magic. Finding a small rock nearby, she focused with all her might. After a bit of waiting, her horn finally took on a teal glow, as did the rock. Squinting her eyes in concentration, she slowly raised the stone up off of the grassy ground. With a bit of exertion of will, she could move it back and forth. Grinning, Trixie flung her head to the side, sending the rock flying off in the same direction.

The sound of the rock smashing violently against a nearby tree made her look up. Coal was standing rigid, blue eyes wide, claws full of berries. Directly next to him was the injured tree, a small dent permeating its surface right by his head.

Trixie's hooves flew up to her mouth, her butt smacking the ground, eyes round. "Oh my gosh, Coal, I'm so sorry."

Coal swallowed. "Um, it's okay," he replied shakily. "Good job. On using magic and all."

Trixie's face flushed. "Uh, what do you have there?" she asked quickly, indicating the berries.

"Blueberries," he responded simply.

"Um, cool. That sounds great, thanks." She looked around awkwardly. Coal remained in the same frozen position. "Um, are you, ya' know, gonna come over here?"

"Are you going to try to kill me again?"

Trixie's entire face took on a pink hue. "N-no! Of course not!"

Coal nodded and strolled over to her, grinning. "Alright."

"Thank you," she told him when he handed her a decent sized pile of blueberries, digging in immediately.

"Are you gonna want more? Because I can run back real quick if you do."

Trixie shook her head, her mouth full. "No ank oo," she managed.

Coal smirked and proceeded to eat his share, sitting down across from her.

"I didn't know dragons ate berries," said Trixie after she had swallowed.

He nodded. "Well, we don't really eat berries," he explained. "I mean, we can, but they're not our first choice. Dragons can eat just about anything, really."

"But you prefer gems, right?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Where do you find gems, anyways?" Somehow Trixie couldn't imagine some kind of gem tree growing out here in the woods.

"Caves and mountains, mostly," he replied. "My mom used to fly up to the Applelachians to go and get us some whenever we ran out."

"The Applelachians? Where are they?" Trixie had recalled hearing of them once or twice, but her sense of geography wasn't exactly up to par.

Coal pointed a claw to his right, Trixie's left. "They're not too far from here. Just beyond these trees."

"Have you ever been?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Can't exactly fly. And if I rode on my mom there, I'd be sharing her with six other dragons, which wouldn't have been too nice to her backside."

Trixie nodded in understanding. Suddenly, her face lit up. "Hey, why don't we go there now?"

"What?"

She jumped up. "Yeah, why not?"

"Um, did you not just hear me?" Coal flapped his wings uselessly. "Can't fly, remember?"

Trixie waved a hoof. "We don't need to fly. We can climb. Ponies do that kind of stuff all the time."

"I don't know, Trix," said Coal with a frown. "That doesn't exactly sound all that safe."

"We'll be fine. Besides, wouldn't you much rather be able to eat some gems than some boring old berries?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Wouldn't you like an opal or two right about now?"

Coal's mouth began to water despite himself. "That doesn't sound too bad, actually."

Trixie grinned. "So come on! What else are we gonna do? Keep walking and walking until we end up right where we began because we circled the entire globe?"

Coal sighed. "Alright, I guess we can. We'll just have to be careful. I have no idea what's up there. There could be more dragons, or worse."

Trixie's smile broadened. "Alright! Let's go! Lead the way, Dragonboy."

Casting a sardonic look Trixie's way, Coal began to trek through the trees, Trixie right behind him. Opals really did sound good right now. He frowned to himself. I just hope those opals don't come at the cost of anything else.

Comments

[Tome]

nice chapter