I, Dragon

by Psychomaniac

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I wake up the next morning, bright and early. I glance up to the surface. I could just stay here. I weigh my options. I consider just leaving altogether. I wanted this to succeed. I really did. I just don’t know if it can. Can I make this work? Is there any chance at all that I can still fit in here? I make my decision.

I poke my head above water. Nopony here yet. I submerge and rest a little while longer. A few minutes later, I hear the sound of distant splashing. I poke my head up again. I see Twilight and Rarity by the shore. Time to face the music.

I fly out of the water and glide over to them. Too late, I see a third pony behind Twilight. A dark pink earth pony mare. I don’t recognise her. She has already seen me, judging from her trying to hide behind Twilight. I land in front of them.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you would be bringing another pony for me to meet. I didn’t see her until I was well above the water.”

“It’s okay, Sparky, I wanted her to see you as you really are anyway. Miss Cheerilee, this is Sparky. Sparky, this is Miss Cheerilee. She is the local school teacher for our town. We want you to spend some time there. I think it might help you to learn a bit about us, and maybe learn how to interact with ponies as well.”

“Um, Twilight? I don’t know. What about the children? Will they be okay with this?” asks Cheerilee.

“They should be fine. Go ahead and show her, Sparky,” commands Twilight.

I take up my colt pegasus form. I just stand there as Cheerilee gawks at me. She comes out from behind Twilight, a bit distressed. I take a seat and smile at her. She starts to smile back, then shakes her head and looks at Twilight.

“I still don’t know. Can he be trusted?” she asks.

“He’s spent time with the Crusaders as both a pony and as a dragon. They love to be around him, to the point they are able to sit still and listen to a very long winded lecture from both he and I,” Twilight states.

She turns back to me. “When can you start? The sooner the better.”

We all let off a good laugh. “Any chance I can attend with the Crusaders? I might be tempted to join their ranks, given my own lack of a cutie mark.”

“Their class starts in an hour. Think you can make it?” she asks.

“I’ll be there, Miss Cheerilee. See you soon.”

She leaves to prepare for class. I turn to Twilight and Rarity. “How are you doing, Rarity?

“Better since yesterday. Thank you for sending somepony over. I was still a bit distressed from my ordeal, Darling, but after talking with Twilight about the incident, I know it was never your intention to make me feel like I did.”

Twilight then adds, “Sparky, I want you to know that, while what you did was very wrong, we are not going to hold it against you. We also figured you could do with some lessons on local pony culture and history, and maybe meet a few foals. The Cutie Mark Crusaders took to you so well, we are willing to leave it to your discretion on who to tell. It’s time to start exposing you to the public. The children might be as good a way as any.”

“Okay, Twilight, Rarity. I’ve already decided to do this anyway, so don’t start worrying about me now. Were you able to get any sleep last night?”

Rarity walks over to me. She throws her hooves around my neck, nuzzling me. “I know you were worried about me. You should know, I was also worried about you. You simply cannot continue to beat yourself up over this.”

“I just didn’t mean for things to turn out that way, Rarity. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I already have. Now, it’s time for you to forgive yourself, Dear.”

I smile at her. It’s a good feeling knowing I didn’t permanently scar her. “So, new rule. No more using the fear of death in a prank.”

Twilight smiles. “Seconded.”

Rarity grins at me. “All in favor?”

“Aye!” we all chime in unison.

I finish us off, “Motion carries unanimously. New rule to be instituted immediately. I hereby move we move past this silly nonsense and get on with our lives. All opposed?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I arrive in front of the schoolhouse about 10 minutes before class. I see various fillies and colts playing in the playground. I move among them, wishing I could make myself smaller. Alas, I am as small as I am comfortable being. I have little doubt I could fit in better if I go for broke and make a foal out of myself, but I need some level of independence, and if I walk around unescorted as a young colt, somepony will take notice. I could just claim a familial relationship with one of the ponies I have met so far, but that would just be awkward for everypony involved. No, It’s better to just stick with what I have going already. An older colt can move around pretty easily in this town.

I see my favorite fillies in one of the corners of the playground. They are without their capes today. I walk over to them.

“Sparky?!” Heh, point to Apple Bloom for her her perception. “Now what in tarnation are ya doin’ here?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both turn their heads and give me a questioning look.

“Why, I’m going to school, of course. What else would I be doing? I gotta learn somewhere.”

“But, you’re so old!” exclaims Scootaloo. Leave it to her to be bluntly honest.

“Oh come now, I’m not even into my second century yet.”

The school bell rings, and we all make our way inside. Cheerilee spots me and waves me over. I make my way over and we stand together in front of the class.

“Alright, children, find your seats. As you can see, we have a new student in our class today. I want you to welcome our newest colt, Sparky! Please say hello, class.”

“Hello, Sparky.” they chant in unison. I hear a few whispers and chuckles. I ignore them.

“Eyes forward, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Please take a seat, Sparky.”

I find a seat towards the back. I am 2 rows behind the Crusaders, and one row behind a pair of chattering fillies, one wearing a small crown, the other with glasses on her face. I am the same age as a few of the other foals there, but older than most of them. Well, in fact, I am older then all of them combined including Miss Cheerilee. This morning’s class is on arithmetic, so a bit on the dull side. I can calculate the exact amount of the worth of my hoard in any denomination you choose at any given point. I can plot glide points between thermals while riding them. I have been charting ocean currents for decades. I suppose I can just pay attention and hope the day passes swiftly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, recess. I could really kiss the pony who came up with the brilliant idea to give the children a break. I wander around, taking in the activities around me. A couple of colts on the swings, a few foals on the jungle gym, the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the corner, Sweetie Belle crying, the…

Hmmm…

The two bullies that are about to meet a very angry dragon. Yeah, lets do that one.

I make my way over to the corner. Five fillies are there, my favorite three among them. The other two I recognise from inside. They were sitting directly in front of me. Scootaloo looks like she is about to do something she might regret. Or might not regret. Apple Bloom is just trying to comfort Sweetie Belle. I come up behind the other two.

“Hello, girls!” I state.

The pink pony with the crown turns around. She gives me a quick once over, and grins when she spots my bare flank.

“Aren’t you pretty old to be a blank flank?” she inquires.

“Nope. I just don’t have a special talent. Too many to choose from, really, so I just go with all of them.” I answer.

“Whatever.” she turns back to the Crusaders. Clearly she isn’t interested in a pony who doesn’t respond to her taunts.

“Actually, there is this one thing I can do, would you like to see it?” I ask her.

She turns to me. I think she was about to say something smart. It might help if her mouth could close. She looks a bit scared. It could be my eyes. Having slits instead of pupils is probably considered abnormal. It could my my muzzle. It’s much longer than when she last looked at it. Or it could be my teeth. I am grinning with this too large mouth of mine. The white daggers therein are on full display. It could also be the sound I am making. A low growl. Kinda sounds like an empty stomach, but maybe just a bit more menacing.

I move over to stand among the Crusaders. I have reverted my features back to a smiling pegasus colt. Yup, completely normal here folks. Nothing to worry about, please move along. The pink filly’s eyes roll up into her head, and she collapses on the ground. In the confusion that followed, I may or may not have ‘accidently’ stepped on her little crown. It may or may not be a flattened piece of metal, looking very much like an angry dragon stepped on it.

Miss Cheerilee is called out, and helps to revive the filly. She glances my way, smiling at me. The filly has started babbling about a colt with the face of a monster. Oh, come on. I think I have an awesome face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful for me. My place behind the two bullies let me torment them a bit more. The Crusaders place in front of them let them hear me, their covered giggles disrupting class several times. A splendid first day of school, if you ask me.

I walk with the three fillies towards their club house. We are going to some kind of initiation. I am just having fun being here. Then a blue pegasus drops in.

“Heya, Squirt. Who’s the new kid?” She asks.

“Rainbow Dash! Wow!” exclaims Scootaloo.

“Um, no, Rainbow Dash is my name.” She grins at me. “Nice to meetcha. I’ll catch ya later, Squirt. Gotta fly!” She takes off straight up. It never ceases to amaze me that she can do that. Something in my mind clicks.

She has never seen me in my pegasus form before.

Hmmm. Well, I’ll have to file that information away for later. For right now, I am going going to enjoy my walk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. I see nopony around aside from the Apple family, so I relax and let my form revert. The three fillies just giggle to themselves. One of them says something about needing a bigger cape. No matter, I just happily follow them. We arrive at an old treehouse nearby, and the fillies walk inside. I just put my head inside their door.

“No, Sparky, we need to set up!” cries out Sweetie Belle. I nod and leave them to it.

I decide to wander around the Acres for a while. I know my lake is nearby, but I have a feeling I am expected to remain in the area for this ‘ritual.’ No matter, I just grab up a few apples and continue my walk. It’s not long before I come across Big Mac.

“Good Afternoon, Big Mac!” I call out to him.

“Eeyup.”

I walk up to him and see what’s going on. He is ploughing a field for future planting. I see another plough nearby, and walk over to it. I could ask if he wants help, but he might say no. I set the plough onto the next line and pull it through the soil. I set a light pace. I could go much faster, but I’m in no rush, and I’m not here to make my friend look bad. We just continue on in silence for a little while.

I notice the Crusaders beside the field waving to me. I finish another couple of lines, then put away my equipment. I walk over to Big Mac first. “Good talk, Big Mac. I’ll see you later.”

“Eeyup.”

I leave the field, and the Crusaders walk over to me. They glance at my side, and seeing nothing of course, get a disappointed look on their faces. I wouldn't have a cutie mark in my pony form, let alone in my dragon form. I just shake my head and smile at them. We make our way back to the clubhouse. I wait outside for them to call for me.

“Sparky, git in here!” calls Apple Bloom. I poke my head into the door. I see the three fillies across the room. Scootaloo is beating a pair of drums, and sweating from the restraint. Sweetie Belle is behind a podium in the center, and Apple Bloom is on the other side of the podium from Scootaloo.

It seems Scoots can’t take it anymore. She is now doing something funky. The drums are sounding from everywhere. A few more join it. I just grin and enjoy it. I refuse to question this awesomeness. I bob my head in time to the beat. At one point, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom break out a violin and a cello. I doubt they could ever play like that before or after this moment. The orchard has been shaking since Scootaloo decided to ramp things up to 11. The string section fades away, but that doesn’t stop Ponyville itself from doing its earthquake impression. The drums sound for a bit more, then Scoots raises her hooves. A pity. I would have loved to hear more.

Apple Bloom begins, “As chairman of the welcoming committee, it is my privilege to extend a laurel, and a hearty hoofshake, to our newest… dragon!”

“What’s a laurel?” asks Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom just grins. “Ah have no idea!”

I just chuckle to myself.

Sweetie Belle picks up a scroll. She frowns at it, then at Scootaloo. She throws it behind her. “We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, in the spirit of friendship, do hereby officially welcome Sparky the dragon into our ranks. Please step forward.” She looks at me, then shakes her head. “Er, just move your head forward, if you can.”

Outside, I take a small step towards the clubhouse. I manage to get my head inside another foot.

“That’s good enough, Sparky,” states Scootaloo.

The three fillies walk over to me with what appears to be a dark bedsheet. On the side is embroidered their emblem. I grin at them and roar my approval.

The three fillies walk outside to check their work. The cape is currently tied around my neck right at the base of my head. It covers the spines on my neck, but nothing else. I just keep smiling and lower my head for them. To make things easier, I take up my colt form again. The cape is now draped over my entire body. It’s about as close to swimming on dry land as I have ever gotten.

“Ah don’t think this is gonna work, ya’ll. What with Sparky’s changin’ all the time, and how big n’ little he gits, I just don’t see us being able to keep a cape on him,” states Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nod in agreement. The cape is removed from my body, and folded up. I leave the girls alone for a bit while I take the cape into the farm house.

“Well howdy, Sparky. Been up playin’ with the girls, have ya?” asks Applejack.

“Yea, can you believe it? I am now a member of their club! Oh, and you might want to check your bedsheets. You might be short one.”

“Hmm, ain’t the color we use in this here house. Usually the girls get their fabric from Rarity. Ah’m bettin’ that’s where this came from. If’n Ah know Rarity, she would want you to have it anyways. She might even want to make improvements on it, if’n ya catch my meanin,’ Sugarcube.”

“Well, I kinda like it the way it is, so no worries there. Mind if I leave this here? It kinda gets in the way of my ability to change.”

Applejack takes it from me and heads back inside. I turn to leave back to the clubhouse myself. As I near it, I hear what sounds like an argument taking place. I slow my pace and confirm what I see. Five fillies standing at the base of the clubhouse. I sit back and watch for now.

“Ya’ll need to leave, Diamond Tiara. Ya’ll ain’t welcome here,” orders Apple Bloom.

The pink filly, Diamond Tiara, responds, “So, what? I don’t have to listen to a bunch of blank flanks like you. Right Silver Spoon?”

The grey filly nods in agreement, then glares back at the Crusaders. She is definitely a follower in this situation. Diamond Tiara seems to be the primary instigator. I am finding it harder and harder to restrain myself. No using the fear of death. No using the fear of death.

“Just leave, go away. We don’t want you here,” informs Scootaloo.

“Oh? And what are you gonna do about it, ‘flightless wonder’?” asks Tiara.

A look of pain crosses Scootaloo’s face. She looks visibly stung. She swallows her tears, clenches her eyes, and screams at them, “GET OUT OF HERE!”

No using the fear of death. No using the fear of… No… Well, I tried. I made it through most of one day. Rarity, Twilight, I’m so, so sorry for what I’m about to do. I truly hope you can forgive me for what I’m about to do. I advance.

I shed my form. I flare my wings. I ROAR! I DISAPPROVE! I charge at the two hapless fillies in my sights. I grab them in my talons and fly into the air. I take pleasure in their screams. That last part makes me feel a little guilty. Just a little.

I fly out to the Everfree forest. I land in a clearing. I set the cowering fillies down and eye them. They are clutching at each other. The look of fear makes me feel humiliated. I crush it down for now. There will be time for that later.

“YOU DARE?!” I demand of them. “YOU DARE TRESPASS WHERE YOU’RE NOT WELCOME?!”

The two fillies just cling to each other tighter, shaking their heads. Their eyes are clenched. Their tears are flowing freely. I feel sick to my stomach. I just want this to be over.

I bring my form back to my pegasus self. I manage to keep a look of anger on my face. The look of disgust is very real, but directed at myself.

“Never return to the farm without an invitation again. You are to each write an apology to each of the fillies you hurt today. You have until tomorrow. You are not to speak to them unless spoken to. Am I understood?”

Silver Spoon dares to open her eyes. She sees me, and nudges Diamond Tiara. They are now both looking at me fearfully. They nod in unison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I guide them out of the forest and back into town. Their looks and tears quickly attract the attention of a few passers by. I leave them and fly back to the farm. My own tears have started flowing. I land in front of the farmhouse and let myself in. If I try to knock right now, I might smash the door off its hinges.

“Applejack!” I call out.

“What in tarnation?! Sparky? What happened? Where’s Apple Bloom?” She has an alarmed look in her face. Before she can bolt off, I stop her.

“Apple Bloom and the girls are fine. They will probably be making their way here shortly. I just have something I need to tell you.” I relay the events to Applejack. I leave nothing out. My anger, my disgust, their terrified looks, I tell her everything. The Crusaders arrive as I finish. They all settle in beside me. It helps a bit. When I finish, I look at Applejack. She has a grim look on her face.

“Ah dunno what to tell ya, Sugercube. Those two fillies have always given my sister and her friends a hard time, but what ya did, I just dunno.” She looks down and shakes her head.

“Ah do, Sugercube.” Granny Smith descends slowly from upstairs. She has a small smile on her face. She reaches the bottom and makes her way over to me. She sits in front of me, and begins, “Whatcha did was powerful wrong, Sugercube, and powerful right all at once. You were actin’ like you were protectin’ your own. There ain’t no shame in that. Ya just gotta learn to do it different. You ain’t protectin’ your hoard here, young colt. I think I might’ave tried to tan your hide, if’n your hide could be tanned anymore than it already is, ya bronze galoot. As it is, you got some apologizin’ to do yourself. Git to it.

I nod my head and go to the mare. She wraps her forelegs around me in a very effective embrace. Applejack and the girls soon follow.

“Thank you, all of you.”

Author's Note:

I threw in that link to the video because it's epic. Just picture a dragon's head jamming out at the door in place of Babes. I really wanted to give Scootaloo a time to shine. The following sentence from Apple Bloom is shamelessly ripped off from Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles. The scene can be found here. If the ironic use of a racial slur in an awesome classic comedy offends your sensibilities, don't click the link. For everyone else, click the link. Hilarity will ensue. The line itself is at the 1:30 mark, but watch the whole video. It's worth it.

Comments

[Kenshinryuu]

What did Sparky do wrong??? I say the little brats got what hey deserved.

[redspark]

4670362 Eeyep