The Dragons and the Chain Chomp

Neighponese
Ib'xian

As soon as Stag left Red with his dating advice, it was time to visit Pupa.

Pupa. The youngest of Queen Chrysalis' children, the 5 year old was a little tyke compared to her older brother, who had lived some 220 years, or her older sister, who was 225, yet the three had a bond with each other.

I wish Double were here though, Stag thought, thinking about his wife. While Stag was a smart stallion and would some day make a good king, it was Double who was the more aggressive of the two^, and she could easily get through all this tension. Granted, she would have slapped Pincer in the face for making Stag as nervous as he had been^^, but still...

Besides, she and Pupa liked each other too.

Stag met up with Hope in the hallway. He nuzzled his older sister. Since the peace treaty, Hope had become more outgoing and less serious, courtesy of becoming friends with Ponyville's local pink party pony^^^. Stag also knew she really needed a stallion, or a mare, as Hope had told him gender really didn't matter^^^^. Which was why Stag figured Red was a good match for her. Red was strong, confident, and a good protector, all desirable traits as far as any changeling mare was concerned.

The two moved down the hallway towards Pupa's room.

Pupa nestled in Hope's mane, briefly disappearing inside the golden locks and then reappearing. She was having the time of her life. Stag sat nearby, reading the filly a story.

"'...Soon after everything was ready the monkey jumped down from his tree, and creeping to the door began a long hypocritical speech, asking pardon for all he had done. He waited for an answer of some sort, but none came. He listened, but all was still; then he peeped, and saw no one; then he went in. He peered about for the crab, but in vain; however, his eyes fell on the egg, which he snatched up and set on the fire. But in a moment the egg had burst into a thousand pieces, and its sharp shell struck him in the face and scratched him horribly. Smarting with pain he ran to the bucket and stooped down to throw some water over his head. As he stretched out his hand up started the wasp and stung him on the nose. The monkey shrieked and ran to the door, but as he passed through down fell the mortar and struck him dead. 'After that the crab lived happily for many years, and at length died in peace under her own kaki tree.' The end."

Hope looked at the filly in her mane. "Did you like the story, Pupa?"

The little filly was already asleep. Stag heard the barking in another part of the palace, and went to investigate, giving Pupa a small kiss on the forehead as he left.

***

Chīsaki and Spike were looking at each other across the table. Or rather, Chīsaki stared at the table while Spike was more interested in the bowl of jade stones next to him.

Seeing as her first attempt had been a failure, the dragoness had decided to start over, starting with teaching Spike how to play igo^^^^^.

"...And when a chain is surrounded by opposing stones so that it has no liberties, it is captured and removed from the board. Sound easy enough?" Chīsaki looked up at the other dragon, beaming.

"Whut?" Spike asked, his mouth full of the jade playing pieces.

Chīsaki stared for several minutes.

"Okay, this isn't a problem, I know where we can get more! Follow me!"

She ran off. Spike shrugged, briefly wondering how Twilight was doing.

"Look, I don't care if I have to go through 'processing!' I filled out the application, so just give me the card and let me check out the books!"

The xing-xing stood up and bared his teeth+, slipping into Ib'xian near the end of his sentence.

"Listen. I have TRIED to be civil, but you are being more stubborn than a mule! You need a day to be processed, and I will not be yelled at! So shut up and nae laibeuleolieseo kkeojyeo!"

Twilight gaped at the last part, then turned and walked out with a huff. She briefly turned back and looked straight at him.

"Stupid Monkey."++

She then shut the door behind her as the ape began breathing heavily and hooting. Everyone in the library flooded out screaming behind her

"No worry!" Chīsaki said as she led Spike along. "The treasury's this way!"

Spike followed, somewhat curious and hungry at the idea of seeing the Royal Treasury. Mostly hungry.

Chīsaki grinned. "It's through these doors!"

She opened them. there were mountains of gold, silver, and gems. and there, on a shelf, was a bowl of jade stones. Chīsaki clambered up and reached.

"Got 'em!"

She held the bowl up triumphantly... before a massive black form lunged out from where it had been buried under the treasure, mouth open.

Chīsaki had forgotten about Wanwan, the guard-beast of the treasure room.

She ran as fast as she could, grabbing Spike's hand and dragging him as she worked to avoid the angry chain-dragging beast. Wanwan lunged again, missing the baby dragons by a few inches. Chīsaki saw the door, she and Spike now running as fast as their stubby legs could carry them. Wanwan ran after them, intent on eating the small reptiles.

"BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK! BAR-urk!"

Wanwan's paws slipped, and he landed on his back. he had forgotten how long the chain holding him was. One of the Masters, the stallion who had been gone, soon came in.

Stag smiled and patted the armadillo-beast's head.

"One of these days, Wanwan. You'll eventually get this 'chain' concept."

He laughed. Wanwan only grumbled in reply.

Author's Note:

^Changeling mares tend to be more aggressive than their stallions in general, and Double also happened to be the High General of the army, having been promoted to the position when Pincer retired. These factors combined with the fact Stag and Double had married at age 20, and begun dating at age 5, meant Double and Stag had plenty of time to figure out each other.*

^^Stag was good at concealing his inner feelings, so his uncle hadn't noticed, but 215 years with Stag had taught Double all she needed to know about her husband.

^^^Pinkie had also taught Hope things she called "Pinkie Secrets", meaning Hope now occasionally popped out of places that made little sense, and was able to keep myriad items in her mane and tail.

^^^^Changelings have an interesting demographic for sexual preferences. While seemingly divided into typical Straight/Gay/Bi, it's more complex, as changelings can change shape to amuse their lovers. that being said, it is not uncommon for a "Straight" changeling couple to experiment in the bedroom, changing gender roles and even doing same-gender pairings. as an example Double is bi-curious, though she is still straight, and Stag is straight, leading to male-female and female-female pairings, but not male-male.

^^^^^a board game for two players that originated in Manechuria more than 2,500 years ago. The game is rich in strategy despite its relatively simple rules.

The two players alternately place black and white** playing pieces, called "stones", on the vacant intersections (called "points") of a grid of 19×19 lines (beginners often play on smaller 9×9 and 13×13 boards). The object of the game is to use one's stones to surround a larger total area of the board than the opponent. Once placed on the board, stones may not be moved, but stones are removed from the board if captured; this is done by surrounding an opposing stone or group of stones by occupying all orthogonally-adjacent points. Players continue in this fashion until neither player wishes to make another move; the game has no set ending conditions. When a game concludes, the territory is counted along with captured stones and komi to determine the winner. Games may also be won by resignation.

Archaeological evidence shows that the early game was played on a board with a 17×17 grid, but by the time the game had spread to Ib'xian and Neighpon, in about the 5th and 7th centuries AD respectively, boards with a 19×19 grid had become standard

+Quite a terrifying sight, given how most primate teeth are arranged