The red dragoness slowly flew through the sky, taking her time as she carefully examined the map the Elders had provided her with. This was a rather important mission, and the last thing she wanted to do was get lost flying over pony territory and cause an international incident. She supposed she could have taken the Elders' advice and fly straight to the pony capitol, make contact with the Princesses, and make this an official visit and delegation...but all things considered, that didn't feel right. The actions that had been taken were personal, so she felt the recompense needed a personal touch. That's why, rather than any sort of official robes or attire, she was only garbed in her leather jacket and pants, and the enchanted bindings across her chest - looking like ordinary bandages - to make her more aerodynamic for flight. That was a matter of embarrassment for her, as most dragonesses didn't require them until they were much older.
Eventually, she saw the town come into view. Rising to a higher altitude, she examined the surrounding countryside. The forest was rather distinctive, and the castle in the center - old and dilapidated - said it was the right forest, and her destination was the only settlement that close to the forest in question. Satisfied that she had indeed found the right location, she stuffed the map into the breast pocket of her jacket before executing a dive into the settlement, landing near the edge. Seeing a yellow pegasus mare nearby, she slowly approached. "Excuse me," she called out.
The mare turned towards her, her pink mane concealing most of her face the way her baggy green sweater and flowing brown skirt concealed most of her body. "Yes? Wh-" The mare froze as she stared at the dragoness.
She did her best to smile disarmingly, unwittingly baring a mouth full of sharp teeth. "Yes, I was looking for-" Her statement was interrupted by her growling stomach. She blushed, realizing it had been a while since she'd eaten. "Sorry abo-"
The mare screamed in abject terror before running away at a rather respectable velocity towards the town.
The dragoness blinked in confusion. "...how rude," she mumbled as she began to walk towards the town. Perhaps somepony else could give her directions. However, as she entered the town proper, she noticed that there were few ponies anywhere to be seen, and those few she saw were as doors were being slammed behind them or windows slammed shut. She could only sigh as she shook her head. What got these ponies so panicky? A dragon lived in town. Why was her presence reason for such fear and panic?
A rainbow maned, cyan pegasus mare flew towards her, a flight suit her only garb. "Now where's that dragon that scared-buck! It's Garble!" With that, the mare turned around and sped off towards a large tree in the center of town.
The dragoness blinked, then facepalmed. "Stupid!" she muttered to herself. "Bound like this, you look just like him! No wonder they're afraid." Sighing, she made her way towards the tree, ready for a chilly reception. She could only hope she was able to convince them to hear her out.
Waiting for her at the tree was a small gathering of ponies. Most noticeably was a large red earth pony stallion in farm clothes, slamming his clenched fist into his palm as he prepped himself for battle. Near him was an orange mare in overalls and a white shirt, standing just as ready to fight. The cyan Pegasus from earlier hovered over them, clenching her fists. A white unicorn in a rather fancy dress also stood there, her rather beautiful face twisted into a mask of barely contained fury. She could just barely make out purple scales hidden behind the mare's dress.
On the other side, a very pink earth pony mare dressed in blue bounced back and forth on her hooves, making playful jabs with her fists. Between that and the huge grin on her face, it was hard to tell if she was taking the situation seriously...if not for the massive cannon in front of her. The yellow pegasus was hiding behind her.
One last pony stepped out amongst them all, one the dragoness recognized immediately even without the tiara that adorned her forehead. The dragon elders had been sure she would know all the princesses on sight...including the newest, Princess Twilight.
Twilight stood there calmly, looking the dragoness up and down. She waited calmly for the Princess to take action.
"Come on, Twilight!" the brash pegasus spoke from above. "What are you waiting for? That's-"
"Not Garble, Rainbow Dash," Twilight interrupted.
"Huh?" Rainbow responded as the others looked confused. "Twilight, look at him! How can you sit there and tell me-"
"She's a dragoness," Twilight said calmly.
The visitor rubbed the back of her head. She knew she wasn't the most feminine of dragonesses, but only the princess could even tell she was a female up close? Even bound as she was, that was rather deflating. However, she was going to do her best to conduct herself properly. She bowed to the Princess. "My name is Garbledina," she said quietly as she raised herself back up. "I bring apologies from myself and the Dragon Elders regarding the behavior of my twin brother and his cronies during your time in our lands, and beg your forgiveness."
Twilight shook her head. "Garbledina, you and the Elders have done nothing to warrant an apology. And if I believed that Garble himself was apologizing, I could accept it. However, the sentiment is much appreciated."
"Agreed," the white unicorn spoke up. "You surely can't be held responsible for a sibling's actions. I know how much of a headache a rambunctious sibling can be." She extended her hand, no sign of the purple scales that had been hidden behind her. "My name is Rarity, darling."
Garbledina happily accepted the handshake. "A pleasure to meet you." She turned towards the others, only to get a facefull of confetti as the cannon went off.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!" the pink mare proclaimed, glomping onto Garbledina. "Now that I know you aren't here to hurt anyone, I can throw you a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party instead of a 'We're Going to Kick Your Flank' party, so I was able to replace the buckshot in the cannon with confetti before firing it! I'm glad I didn't have to turn my party cannon into a weapon, but that's just how strongly I feel about keeping my friends safe! I'm glad you get to be a friend instead of an enemy, and I really really look forward to getting to know you, GD! Can I call you GD?"
Garbledina could only blink as she stared down at the hyperactive pony practically crushing her lungs. "...sure," she finally said, wincing at how much more Pinkie smiled before rushing off. She turned to the others. "Uh..."
"It's Pinkie Pie," the orange mare said, stepping forward. "Don't question it." She extended her hand. "Name's Applejack." She gestured to the red stallion. "This is my big brother, Big Macintosh. Sorry about the chilly reception earlier."
The dragoness happily shook both offered hands, wincing a bit at the stallion's grip. "Quite alright. After the impression my brother left on your friends, I suppose I should have taken greater pains to distinguish myself from him...or at least let everyone know I was coming."
"I-I'm Fluttershy," the yellow Pegasus spoke up, shyly stepping forward. "S-sorry for screaming before, but when you said you were looking for something and your stomach growled, I thought you might be looking for...breakfast." The last came out in a squeak. "I'm scared of dragons."
Garbledina chuckled. "Well, on the list of races to be instinctively terrified of, I suppose my own is high on the list for good reason," she replied depreciatingly.
Twilight smiled. "Won't you come inside?" she asked. "I'll ask Spike to rustle up a ruby salad for you, and we can talk for a bit." She turned to open the door. "Spike!" she shouted as she stepped into the tree, which was apparently a building. Garbledina promised herself not to breathe any fire while inside.
She carefully followed the ponies inside, Big Macintosh turning to go elsewhere. "Go ahead and make yourself comfortable," Twilight said as she reentered the main room, apparently a library of some sort.
Garbledina smiled. "Thank you," she said. Reaching behind her back, she undid her bindings, letting them unravel. Her rather ungainly chest reshaped as the magic was temporarily dispelled, and she exhaled a breath of relief as she flopped into a nearby chair, her breasts barely covered by her open jacket. "While good for flying, those bindings are really uncomfortable at ground level." She rocked her head around as she stretched her neck.
As she faced forward again, she saw the one whose scales she'd spotted earlier stepping out of a kitchen like area. He was rather short, shorter than the ponies, but well built for his height. She could easily tell that the purple and green dragon she was looking at was deceptively strong, likely able to easily lift three times his weight without strain. His scales were polished to a shine, showing he took good care of himself. The simple clothes he wore spoke of a humility uncommon in dragon males of any age. The bright blush on his cheeks as he carefully held the food tray - a salad made with chunks of ruby mixed amongst the greens - showed he lacked any association with females of his own kind. Obviously, he hadn't expected that dragonesses wore clothing only for cleanliness purposes, and had no compunctions against lounging around nude in front of males, which the mares he apparently lived with obviously did have.
Garbledina had only one reaction as she gazed at the young dragon as he placed the tray down. "Who's the cutie?" she asked casually, fluttering her eyelashes at him.
As the young drake blushed and got extremely flustered, Garbledina noticed several of the mares giggling...although she wasn't sure why Rarity looked angry again.
So it begins.
K I am really interested in where this is going, I love seeing Rarity getting jealous lol. It will be interesting seeing Spike handle the affection of a female dragon coming on to him (which he wont be use to being the subject of affection lol), Got to ask tho, now is Spike just a shorter dragon or is he still a baby. I got to admit I am liking the Idea he is just shorter or just a few (1 or 2) years younger then her.
haven't read yet, but "Garbledina"? You couldn't come up with another name like Mardeth or Sentha or something? but I won't count it against the story for that... I'm here for the Spike romance
4181013
Garbledina is the official name of R63 Garble. Used for that very reason.
4180821
He's shorter because dragon growth is determined by their environment. He wants to be accepted by the ponies who he lives with, so he has remained shorter - and thus less threatening - than them.
4180777
Like so far? Any chance of the coverart we talked about?
Well, this is an interesting story. Garble's twin crushing on Spike, Spike finally meeting a female of his species, and a jealous Rarity. Something tells me that his is going to be a fun read.
4181156
I certainly hope so. I have no idea where I'm going with this.
4181129 R63 is the exact character in swapped gender, not a twin, id est the new name has to be the most similar version of that name.
But, the only reason I'm really bringing this up is because I have three pairs of twin cousins and the closest to that is Michael & Matthew (the other two are David & Selena, and Timothy & Briana)
4181185
Hmm...ah!
I have explanation!
Twin dragons are two dragons who hatch from the same egg. There is no way to predict that by dragon medicine standards. Garble's parents expected one son, and had only picked out one boy's name. However, dragons must be named at the moment of their birth, so they tacked an extra two syllables onto Garble's name for his twin sister.
Which is another reason Garbledina is rather apologetic about her twin brother, since for the first half of their lives, she lived entirely in his shadow.
4181213 You're lucky there's no cannon on dragon breeding and hatching... but again, I'm not taking it against the story and I would've given her another name
4181236
Actually, I just made that up as you brought it up, but it lets me develop Garbledina's character a great deal more than I had. So thanks!
4181240 you're welcome
4181182 You think I know where I'm going with my stories? Most of them I make up as I go and its worked for me so far.
4181320
Generally, I at least have some idea of where I want to go with a story, even if I don't know how I'll get there, and sometimes the destination changes on occasion.
This is my first story where I set down the first chapter of a multi chapter, and then had to ask myself, "What next?"
Nice start, I look forward to where this is going.
Since one question already sparked some depth for Garbledina, here's a few of my own.
1. Why is Garbledina doing this and not her parents or guardians? Why isn't Garble being forced to apologize? Did he refuse the Elders and thus is in trouble back in Dragon-Land?
2. How does courtship work with Dragons? Are females usually the aggressors, or are males? It would be interesting if Garbledina attempts to date Spike, but since he grew up with ponies, he doesn't have the same cultural background. Given the greed of dragons in MLP, I would imagine that dragons expect to compete for mates, so Rarity getting jealous could set off a nasty feedback loop. Rarity gets possessive of Spike, making him seem more desirable to Garbledina, she flirts with him, Rarity gets more possessive... and Garbledina sees nothing wrong with this, as she expects it.
3. How will Garbledina react to Spike's "noble dragon code?" That seems to be something he's come up with because he rejects the behavior of Garble. Or is Spike's code closer to how dragons really are, once they get past the "awkward adolescence" phase? The only other dragon to get significan screen time was the one in "Dragonshy" and he apparently was just grumpy over his nap being interrupted, so it's not much to go on.
(Actually, I seem to recall the older dragons in Dragonquest sat around the edge of the volcano, while Garble and the younger dragons were mostly inside it. Perhaps the older dragons were making sure their young didn't get into TOO much trouble with non-dragons while they worked off their aggression? And, of course, Garble and his friends snuck out to steal phoenix eggs, like teenagers sneaking out of the house to go to a party.)
4. Another thing you might want to consider is how Spike's egg got to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and how that affects his status among dragons. A lot of fimfics suggest that he was a "dud" egg that Twilight managed to hatch anyway, or that dragon eggs need a lot of magic as they mature, so sending an egg to CSGU might make sense. Was he a tribute to Celestia, or a diplomatic exchange, or did she just find the egg in the wilderness or take it from a dragon that invaded Equestria? Was this Celestia the chess-player, setting up the egg so she can find the bearer of the Element of Magic, or was it all just a big coincidence? The answers to this would say something about Spike's standing among other dragons. Since he has access to the highest levels of Equestrian Government, I would think that the Elder Dragons are paying close attention to him. (Personally, I like the idea of a diplomatic exchange, and that there is a pony or two growing up among the dragons :)
5. This last is purely for my own amusement: Any chance that Garbledina's "Aunt" Crackle could show up? I'd love for Rarity to meet the dragon that matched her costume. Maybe Crackle is a dragon fashionista who shares a lot of Rarity's tastes. :)
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140126191223/mlp/images/8/84/Crackle_S2E21.png
4181879
Lots of questions. Let's see...
1. Dragons raise their young - once they reach a certain age - communally. All adults are responsible for all children once they're old enough to step out of the nest and interact with others. Garble is in serious trouble for his actions towards Twilight and the others - specifically Twilight, at the time Celestia's personal student. He refused to apologize, and Garbledina volunteered to deliver an apology on behalf of the Elders.
2. Now that I've come up with a plan for this story, that's the entire story, actually. So keep reading to find out. However, I will say that clothing plays a surprisingly large part in it for a culture with no nudity taboo.
3. Again, that's part of the story plan.
4. I have no in story explanation as of yet, though my personal headcanon is that Spike is a dragon/pony hybrid, and his egg was left with his mother, who - despite her great power - lacked the raw magic necessary to hatch the egg of a dragon with such high magic potential.
5. Nope.
Good story, but that name...
...Ugh...
You might wanna try again.
4182489
I have given full explanation for the name - both plot wise and writing wise - as to why I used the name. And the name will actually now be a plot point.
Not a bad start. Keep going.
I like it. hopeful you can make clop on the side
No really pleach
4182804
Unlikely. I lack confidence in my clop writing skills. I might ask a friend to write it, though.
4182819 if you do i'll fav that shit out of it and hit the like button until it broke
4182819 btw did you make that cover???
4182913
See the description.
same as a lot of guys great story but the name shoot it an kill it with fire
I will definitely keep an eye on this. I love the premise on several fronts:
-- the arrival of another dragon, specifically a FEMALE dragon. Seriously, as much as we fan can come up with the concept, I would be surprised if the people at DHX have actually wondered about how a female dragon would work
-- Spike actually having feelings for another girl, but this time the girl is a fellow dragon, and we see that said dragoness actually likes what she sees in Spike initially.
-- seeing that the ponies, OK, Princess Twilight and her friends, are willing to see that she isn't hostile, as opposed to when ponies first saw Zecora and made Ponyville into a ghost town.
-- Finally we get to have a glimpse into Rarity's psyche. Sure she has some affection for Spike, probably as a little brother or a dear friend. So it's very interesting to see how she reacts when she now has a romantic rival for Spike. She has to let herself know once and for all who Spike is to Rarity. (Not to mention I believe all the others know that between Spike and Rarity, the feelings are mutual, even if Rarity doesn't show it in public)
Rairty you had your chance. Now it is Garbledina's turn!
Wow, been awhile since you last released a story. This one looks promising too. Gonna have to keep a close eye on this.
Out of all the names you coulda went with... Garbledina?
I like the story and I would like to think Spike is full dragon, just still young, but the point it...Garbledina? I'm sorry but...thou could have chosen a better name in my opinion, still and interesting story
4193944 SHE IS OUR LADY GARBLEDINA AND YOU SHALL WORSHIP HER
Heheh..
Okay, Okay, sorry.
4182974
How old is Spike in this fic ?
A dragoness story?
So it begins.
Ooohhh! I will keep reading this.
Nice! Let us see how Rarity reacts when the very Dragon that loves her begins to notice another female!
cant wait for next chapter
Garbledina Milk and cookies shot out of my nose. You are a genius for using that name!
4968780
I don't get it.