The Rise of Species: Dragons

by Zarmflamekin

Huge Risks, Small Steps

Once everyone had sufficiently blinked and rubbed their eyes, there were two dropped jaws from the smaller members as the Solar Princess stood before the four in a bit of bedraggled state. Her mane and tail flowed in a non-existent wind, pristine as ever, but her tiara seemed a bit off kilter, and her eyes were certainly wider than usual.

“Princess! What are you doing here?” Twilight was able to finally ask after a moment of shock at both her mentor’s sudden and unusual appearance.

“That is exactly what I want to know from you, dear Twilight.” Celestia replied in a calm, yet strained manner.

“W-well, you certainly got my letter.” Twilight stammered with a hesitant chuckle.

“That I did. So may I elaborate. Why, in the name of Equestria, are you here? What could have possibly driven you to delegate with dragons?” Her eyes flicked up to two unfamiliar dragonesses.

“Uh, that one would be on me Princess.” Spike nervously raised his hand, gaining a curious brow from Celestia. “I kind of had a Calling.”

“A calling.” Celestia stated flatly. She looked up at the two stunned dragonesses and gave a polite smile. “Excuse us for one moment.” She addressed as her magic glowed, pulling Twilight and Spike toward her before a golden bubble formed around the three. “Would you care to explain?”

“Well, uh, there’s not much to explain really. I had a dream that got me called out to the Badlands, met with Pyrathy, and just sort of made my way here.” Spike explained haphazardly as he folded his claws and tapped his indexes together, looking anywhere that wasn’t at Celestia. What he decided to focus on was Dazzle and Chromie having approached the bubble, curiously tapping on it, and seeming to not be able to see them.

“This, obviously, being supported by Twilght.” Celestia shifted her gaze to her nervous, former student.

“Y-yeah.” Twilight replied, her gaze also off to the side, her weight being shifted from one side to the other. Celestia closed her eyes and softly sighed.

“When you asked me where I had found Spike’s egg, I honestly didn’t consider that this is where it would lead.” Celestia’s eyes opened, a little less frantic now. “Twilight, you must understand that you are a Princess now, and delegating with a singular clan is a very bad move. Showing favor to one clan over others could undermine the dragon hierarchy and there could be severe consequences for doing so.”

“N-not really.” Spike replied, rubbing his neck, directing his attention to the side of Celestia. “The Dragon King title is more of a figurehead than an actual seat of power.”

“And you know this because…?” Celestia prompted, genuinely interested in how Spike could possibly know about the power structure of a foreign body.

“We’ve been talking to Dazzle.” Spike thumbed over to the curious dragoness, which Spike realized was now only Chromie, as Dazzle was now on top of the bubble. Spike promptly corrected his indication, Celestia following to the odd scene of a dragon standing on a smooth, round surface.

“And I’m sure she knows about the political situations of dragons.” Celestia commented with just a hint of sarcasm and a strong will not to roll her eyes.

“She is the current chief’s daughter.” Twilight offhandedly commented.

“…Right.” Celestia looked back to her charges, thinking that this had been one big talking dragoness.

“Yeah, I mean, she certainly looks like Mourning Star’s daughter.” Spike added on, making Celestia’s white coat blanch just a tinge. She knew Mourning Star was a part of Dragon King Torch’s Council of Chiefs, and as she had never once brought this up with Twilight, the only way they could have known his name and appearance was having have actually talked to him.

“You’re sure of that?” Celestia queried, looking between both Twilight and Spike for an answer.

“Yeah, we just got done talking to him.” Spike confirmed, making Celestia pale even more.

“Sweet Faust.” She murmured. “Okay, we’re leaving, now.”

“What?!” Spike and Twilight exclaimed.

“But I have a job to do!” Spike argued.

“And I need to look after Spike!” Twilight added, a wing absently extending over Spike.

“And I need to look after Equeatria!” Celestia snapped, both of her wings flaring, making both purple ones flinch in shock and fear, but Celestia was quick to regain her composure, her wings lowered, but didn’t form back to her sides. “Spike, I can understand wanting to meet more dragons, but what you two have just done is way above your heads. When- not if, when- any of the other clans find out a Princess of Equestria has talked to this clan without them being told beforehoof, there is going to be an outcry of unfair favorable treatment and demands will come to know what you told Mourning Star.”

Spike’s eyes widened and a small grin pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Good.” He said with a breath of relief.

“Yes, ‘oh’- I-I mean, what?” Celestia looked at Spike in utter bafflement, her own monologue suddenly derailed.

“That’d be great Princess! We were already having a hard enough time trying to figure out how to get to all of the dragons. If they already want to see us, the better.” Spike explained.

A rare sight for Twilight happened in that moment as she saw all thinking and logic leave her former teachers brain. Probably from the happy admittance to greeting impending doom. Celestia slowly turned her attention to Twilight. “Mind explaining?”

“Pyrathy tasked Spike in changing dragon society as a whole.”

Celestia could only blink owlishly as her brain tried to reconnect to reality. “And Pyrathy is who again?”

“The father of dragons.” Twilight stated simply.

Celestia was still for a moment before straightening up and closing her eyes once more, breathing deeply in, bringing her foreleg to her chest, before exhaling and extending her leg outward. When her hoof hit the ground, her eyes opened and once more the pair saw the calm, motherly figure of Equestria.

“I’m going back to Canterlot.” She stated. “I am going back to Canterlot and I am going to wait for a torrent of complaint letters to flow through the throne room. When I sort through just who is the most distraught over these proceedings, I am going to call for a summit with the Dragon Clan Council. You can then explain to them why you came here and that you are glad to take all questions. Is that acceptable?” She had posed it as a question, but both of them knew that it wasn’t. Spike, however, relished in the scorn.

“Yes, you can even tell them that Spike of No Clan will be waiting for them.” Spike smiled smugly.

In that moment, all of Celestia’s worries truly were washed away by the confidence that Spike displayed. As long as she had known him, he had always been tailing behind Twilight and had never seemed to be too sure of himself. She reveled in his bravado, even as fool hardy as it was. And even a glance to Twilight showed that she too was proud of the young drake.

“I’ll be sure to add that in.” Celestia replied with a small smile of her own. A quick thought later, with a small adjustment to her tiara, Celestia closed her eyes once again, and with a swell of magic, she disappeared back to Canterlot. And with the caster of the bubble gone, an overly curious dragoness suddenly found herself to far off the ground for gravity’s liking.

A short yelp was all Spike and Twilight had in warning to backpedal as Dazzle fell on the floor in front of the two. A snicker could be heard from both Spike and Chromie, but both were quiet as a glare was shot in their directions. As she properly stood and dusted herself off, she addressed Twilight.

“Who was that? She seemed rather upset with you two.” Dazzle prompted as though she had only walked over.

“That was Princess Celestia. How could you not tell?” Twilight answered a bit baffled, but then again, Dazzle did seem to have spotty knowledge of ponies.

Dazzle’s eyes widened once more, seeming to at least know this much. “I’ve never seen her before.” She said as a claw came over her mouth, a dull horror dawning over her.

“Yeah, and it’s not like we go and meet with ponies like you.” Chromie added. “She sure was a lot taller than you though. Are you a runt?” She asked Twilight, making Twilight’s face flush a bit and wings flare.

“No! I am a completely normal sized pony. Princess Celestia is just older and more powerful than I am.” Twilight paused for a moment, thoughts beginning to run through her head. “But, I guess I’m not that much of a normal pony anymore.” A secondary, mortifying thought came a split second later.

She had called Celestia old. None of the others seemed to catch that though. Dazzle was murmuring to herself, Spike was worried about Dazzle’s pacing, and Chromie seemed puzzled about something else entirely.

“Oh?” Chromie cocked her head to the side. “What makes you different from other ponies?”

“Well, these mostly.” Twilight stretched her wings a bit further out, moving on from her own mortification. “I didn’t have them a few months ago.”

“Ooo, yeah, somebody just suddenly sprouting wings wouldn’t be very normal, would it?” Chromie sympathized.

“Yeah, not to mention the coronation afterwards.” Twilight sighed as she folded her wings back.

“What!” Dazzle exclaimed, shocking the other three. “You’re crowned?” Her horror was growing by the second.

“Hehehe, I sometimes forget that too.” Twilight rubbed the back of her head, a heat of embarrassment coming to her cheeks. “About a day or two after getting my wings, I was dubbed Her Royal Majesty Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship.”

“Still too much of a mouthful if you ask me.” Spike commented, cautiously eyeing Dazzle.

“Oh no.” Dazzle murmured as both claws came over her mouth. “Oh no oh no oh no.”

“I agree, Twilight is much easier.” Chromie assented to Spike’s assessment.

“Chromie!” Dazzle snapped. “Do you have any idea what this means for us?”

Chromie looked between the hectic Dazzle and slightly confused Twilight before shrugging. “Not really. I mean, she did follow you here.”

“Ooh.” Dazzle groaned in mourning as her face fully fell into her claws. “That makes it even worse! And everybody saw me do it!”

“Yeah, she came without telling anypony, but we’ll just deal with that later.” Spike tried to consul, but that just seemed to make Dazzle angry at him.

“You knew?”

“We were just told.” Twilight asserted, a defensive step taken between Dazzle and Spike. “Princess Celestia came here for that exact purpose. But we stayed to deal with it.”

Dazzle’s anger seemed to burn for a second longer before a sad smile crept in. “I… I honestly could not thank you enough Princess.”

“Please, just call me Twilight.” Twilight smiled softly.

“Yeah, princess just sounds so gaudy.” Chromie scoffed.

“Chromie.” Dazzle turned a weary gaze to the bronze dragoness. “If the Fang and Blackrock chiefs met and we only knew because Petrichor told Mourning Star, what would happen?”

Chromie snorted and a dark grin crept onto her face. “Those two would be razed for conspiracy.”

“And what do you think I just did by allowing our chief and a leader of pony kind to meet without informing anybody?”

Chromie’s grin vanished and her scales paled. “Oh no.”

“Now you’re getting it.” Dazzle nodded solemnly. “At least we can possibly count on nobody else knowing you’re a ruler, seeing as even we didn’t know.”

“Yeah, but Princess Celestia thinks somepony is going to put it together eventually.” Spike mentioned.

“And hopefully by that point we can have you two out of here and I can… do something about this for the clan.” Dazzle said, losing hope in herself by the end of her sentence. Chromie seemed to have gained some composure back as she walked over and placed a claw on Dazzle’s arm.

“Hey, you’ve talked your way out before. You can definitely do it again.” Chromie smiled warmly up to the distressed dragoness. Dazzle gave a half smile back before she moved away toward the door.

“Well if this is done, we should head for my place. The more we keep you two out of sight, the better off we’ll-“ Dazzle was cut off as a huge gurgle of an empty stomach resonated from Spike. All people present looked at the offending stomach before Spike’s cheeks gained a darker shade.

“Hehe, guess I haven’t eaten all that much recently.” He offered nervously.

“You also didn’t help yourself after seeing the scale.” Twilight ribbed. Her smarm didn’t last long, however, as her own stomach made its own protest. “O-or much myself actually.”

“Ugh, great.” Dazzle sighed. “If it was just Spike, it wouldn’t be a problem, but I definitely don’t have anything for a pony.”

“Hold on, let me check something.” Chromie said as she turned and headed toward the back of the store, opening the hidden door, once more allowing hot air to blast out. Dazzle let herself slump beside the entrance as her shoulders seemed to droop. All of her fight and drive had seemingly evaporated since she had met her two charges. Twilight and Spike walked over to her, not knowing what to do until Chromie came back beside wait. After a moment of taking a seat, Twilight made an observation.

“She seems like a good friend.” Dazzle gave Twilight a dubious look while Spike chuckled.

“I suppose I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Princess of Friendship.” Dazzle smirked before turning her gaze back to the near invisible door. “But that’s not to say you’re wrong.”

“Something seems weird though.” Spike said as he too looked at the door.

“Oh? And what would that be?” Dazzle asked, though Spike seemed to clamp up quickly.

“I-It’s just that… I don’t know… it might be wrong…”

“Oh spit it out already.” Dazzle sighed.

“Where’s Chromie’s mother?” Spike layed out, making Twilight’s eyes grow in shock at how insensitive the question was, which in turn made Dazzle chuckle.

“She moved on.”

“Oh.” Spike and Twilight looked away, making Dazzle snort in agitation.

“Not like that. She literally moved. I don’t know what it’s like for you ponies, but dragons need at most one parent until mid-adolescence. Chromie bonded more with her father Blank Bit than her mother Tide Trance, and when it happened, that was that.”

“That just seems so… hollow.” Twilight murmured.

“We live as we do.” Dazzle shrugged. “Not to say she doesn’t come by and act and care as a mother, but when it came to raising her, Blank Bit took up the responsibility and let Tide Trance do as she pleased. Like when it came to me, Mourning Star obviously has the duty of leading the clan without bias, leaving my mother to raise me, which she knew would happen.” Dazzle’s explanation slowed as her tone dropped. “Even when she succumbed to greed, I was already old and large enough to start on my own.”

“Dazzle, you don’t need to bring her up.” Spike assured. “We don’t need to know any more.”

“It was thirty odd years ago Spike, speaking of her is cathartic now more than anything.” Dazzle shrugged.

“What?” Spike and Twilight leaned away from Dazzle in shock.

“What?” Dazzle asked, more than a bit confused.

“Um, Dazzle, I don’t know how to ask this, but… how old are you exactly?” Twilight asked.

“Ho, well, coming on fifty-three this mid-summer I suppose.” Dazzle crossed her arms in thought. Twilight and Spike could only look at each other in equal disbelief. After her own consideration, Dazzle looked to Spike. “Which honestly makes me wonder how old you are Spike. You are smarter, wiser, and far more articulate than any three year old should be.”

That made Spike jump to his feet. “I’m not three! I’m twelve!”

Now it was Dazzle’s turn to be in shock. “Nonsense, you should at least come up to my waist by ten!”

“Interesting.” Twilight pondered as she looked between Spike and Dazzle. “There are many factors that can go into a dragon’s growth, as we know greed causes an exponential rise in height, but a similar decrease I coherence.” She began rattling off. “Environment is also a possible contributing factor, as you, Dazzle, have had to survive here, while Spike has been able to lead a, for lack of a better term, lackadaisical lifestyle.”

“Hmph.” Dazzle huffed as she looked down at Spike. “I suppose so. If you have been as lazy as to not need to grow, so be it I guess.”

“Hey now, I’ve had to work my butt off!”

“Oh really?” Dazzle smirked. “Have you had to fend your own meals away from others? Have you had to stop factions from clashing? Have you had to race back to society as to not have an ‘accident’?” Dazzle gradually accused.

“No.” Spike admitted meekly, but redoubled with “But I have had to keep her-“ Spike pointed offhandedly towards Twilight. “-healthy and rested after her binge studying. I’ve had to jump out of a castle, without wings, hoping that I would live after I hit the ground. And I’ve had to protect others who couldn’t do it themselves.”

Dazzle quirked a brow at that last claim. “Oh really now? And what, pray tell, did you have to go against?”

“Well, remember how I said I’ve met other dragons before?”

“Yes.” Dazzle nodded.

“Them, against a phoenix egg.”

Dazzle's eyes widened, fairly impressed. “Can’t say there are many who would protect an egg that isn’t their own, much less the wrong species. But that does lead me to ask, which clan did you encounter?”

“We couldn’t really tell you.” Twilight interjected. “We were watching them as they migrated near Ponyville and took up residence in a volcano a few days northeast.”

“Mmm, migratory clans aren’t uncommon, but that is little to go off of.”

“The main mass of the clan seemed to be of the lethargic type though.” Spike added.

“That helps a little bit, but there are still about seven clans that fit that narrower description.”

“I’d like to know so I’d never have to see Garble again.” Spike muttered.

“Who?” Twilight asked.

“The red and yellow one that was bossing the others around.” Spike elaborated.

“Garble?” Dazzle growled. “Slab Scale.”

“What was that?” Spike asked.

“The Slab Scale clan. The members are a slow going bunch, but that has also made all of their whelps restless and arrogant. Starset and Garble like to play ‘games’ with each other that could constitute conflict if not for both of their insistence that they’re only playing.” Dazzle explained, poison and disdain dripping from her words as she continued. “Egg smashing in particular is a favorite of Garble’s. The harder the egg is, the more points the player receives, even up to discarded dragon eggs. Some have argued on the discarded status on those few eggs, however.” Spike and Twilight’s horror only grew as she spoke. A pause lightened Dazzle tone however. “For you to have held your ground is commendable.”

“Mmm.” Spike groaned. “Not so much stand as take the only egg left and run. And even then Twilight got us out of there with her magic.”

“Still, commendable on both your parts then.” Dazzle acknowledged Twilight. “Garble is a stubborn one, and to have gotten away from him is of note.” Dazzle gave a bit more of a genuine smile towards Spike. “Perhaps you haven’t lead my type of life, but I’m sure you’ve had your moments, I suppose.”

A rush of hot wind redirected all of their attention back to the back-room door as Chromie exited with a nervous half smile. She seemed to rub her claws together as she prepared to tell the trio something more than a bit unpleasant.

“So, I thought dad might have something for his cows, but turns out he sold them off since they were losing their taste, along with everything he had for them. So the only place either of us could think of that would have something for Twilight is… The Broiled Pit.” Chromie chuckled halfheartedly and Dazzle groaned in frustration. Twilight was in a slight shock at the casual nature Chromie brought up owning cows, but quickly reminded herself that she wasn’t in Ponyville right now.

“Yeah, doesn’t sound like my kind of place.” Twilight commented with a grimace, but her stomach protested. “But I guess anything is better than nothing. Maybe.”

“That’s not even half the problem.” Dazzle sighed as she stood up. “It’s a meater’s heavy place and a popular spot for Starset and his more vocal backers.”

“Meater?” Spike asked.

“Dragons who mainly eat meat.” Chromie explained. “And they’re usually super elitist about it too. Usually, if you’re not in the in-crowd or proving a point, it’s not a place anybody should visit.”

Spike was conflicted for all of a second before pronouncing “Well, I can’t just let Twilight starve. If that’s the only place we’ve got, it’s the place we gotta go.”

“The thought’s appreciated Spike.” Twilight smiled as she placed a hoof on his shoulder. “But if going one night without a meal is all I need, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Despite my reservations, I would say otherwise Twilight.” Dazzle said. “Tomorrow isn’t going to be pretty, and I’d rather be uncomfortable while you got your fill than have you running on empty if anything happens.”

“Which brings up the other problem we ran into.” Chromie meekly mentioned. “Keeping up livestock isn’t very cheap, and I don’t think you have any way of paying for what you would take, do you Twilight?”

“I-I mean, I guess not.” Twilight rubbed the back of her neck as she looked away. “I wasn’t really prepared for this.”

“What if we work it off?” Spike suggested, garnering the attention of the other three. “I mean, Twilight was able to impress the two of you with some basic magic. What if we just do some work for the Broiled Pit and work off the tab?”

“I don’t like it.” Dazzle shook her head. “I don’t think we would get a fair shake for anything there.”

Twilight looked nervously between Dazzle and Chromie as an uncomfortable idea came to mind. “I could pull rank.” She offered, gaining a sharp glance from Dazzle.

“Didn’t we just decide to keep that under wraps? If you pull that kind of rank in a public space, there’s no telling how far that could spiral out of control by tomorrow!”

Spike looked between the three around him for a moment before taking a deep sigh. “It’s the best plan we’ve got. We’ll go, make the best impression we can, and then see what goes from there, because honestly, this is starting to hurt.” With Spike’s final words, his stomach erupted in protest once more.

“Fine, let’s get going then. It shouldn’t take too long to walk there.” Dazzle got to her feet and began walking outside once more, Spike and Twilight following her this time. “Thanks for your help Chromie.”

“Oh no.” The bronze dragoness called out as she jogged past the purple duo and up alongside Dazzle. “You’re not going in there without me. This was my idea and I’m going to see it through.”

“Chromie, I-“

“Let her come.” Twilight cut Dazzle off. “The more of us together, the better.”

Dazzle grumbled a little before a dejected “Fine.”

As the four left the shop, Chromie held them up for one moment as she touched the side of the store entrance, making runes dimly glow around the edges. She explained that it was both a sign that there was no one to help and that the cave was under spell protection. This lead Twilight and Chromie into a discussion on basic draconic rune magic as Dazzle and Spike kept an eye on where they were walking, and who was watching. The pace they kept was brisk, and due to their grouping, nobody was in their way, so in short order, the four were standing outside the entrance to the Broiled Pit.

The entrance wasn’t dissimilar to the one to Chromie’s shop, but along the wall next to the entrance were high, narrow rectangular openings that emanated heat and smell, a smell that enticed Spike and made Twilight want to be sick. The smell of roasting meat wafted out of the openings and doorway to the extent where Twilight was considering her appetite well and truly dead, but it seemed to egg Spike on even more. There was a concerned look from Dazzle and Chromie, but Twilight gave them an unsure smile and just nodded determinately. The two dragonesses gave each other one last look before heading into the rather rowdy establishment.

All of which seemed to die in three seconds of Twilight setting hoof in the establishment. Twilight’s attention was distracted, trying to find the closest thing she could find to an employee to get this over with, while the three dragons of the group looked to the patrons. All eyes were on their group, some in curiosity at Twilight, some seemed to be snerking at Spike, and a majority in disdain at Dazzle. Just as Twilight noticed the stillness of the establishment, conversations started back up and people were once again on their own business, but the group could tell that they still had at least 30% of all attention.

Chromie directed the group to the back of the main cavern area where a long stone bar-table had one pale green dragon behind it. The bar was taller than Spike, and Twilight had to get on her hind legs to see over it, while it was chest high on Chromie and mid waist to Dazzle. The dragon behind the bar seemed to have an even air about him, but the way he seemed to focus on Chromie and Twilight made Spike feel there going to be some bias.

“Going home or sitting in Chromie?” The drake asked.

“Not quite sure today Snide. We’ve got a bit of a situation today.” Chromie replied in a decidedly neutral tone.

“Evidently.” Snide looked to Twilight, and even leaned forward to make sure Spike was still there. “What do you think I can do for you?”

“Well, seeing as you boast to being the freshest meaterie around, I was wondering if you couldn’t spare something for our guest.” Chromie casually gestured to Twilight.

Snide raised a brow. “I don’t see anything resembling a bag for materials. We may have tabs here Chromie, but I’m not opening one for a stranger.”

“I’ll do my part of service.” Twilight answered. Snide gained a small grin.

“And what could a… pony… do for us? I doubt you could even clean our dishes, let alone even lift one.”

Twilight looked to her left and her right, and gave her own smile back. Aside from the two stools being used by other dragons, Twilight proceeded to take the remaining ten stone/steel stools and stack them in a pyramid behind her without even looking. The Broiled Pit went silent again as everyone stared at the effortless display of power.

“I could probably even sort your material collection if you wanted.” Twilight continued to smugly smile as she replaced the stools, chatter once again starting up, a lot more heated this time. Snide gave a respectful chuckle.

“Done. It has just been piling up.” Snide rubbed his chin. “Might be nice not having to panic for a few months. What do you need?”

“Grasses, vegetables, flowers, just a small assortment of things should do.” Twilight answered before blinking and looking down at Spike before again addressing Snide. “And, uhh, a few gems wouldn’t hurt.”

Snide’s mirth drained at the request. “Pony, we’re a meaterie, I can accommodate you ‘cause you use what we have. If you wanna feed your rock bitter whelp, you’re going to need to find somewhere else.” A small growl emanated from both Twilight and surprisingly Dazzle, but Spike spoke up before either of them could snap.

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could I just try something?” Twilight’s head immediately snapped to Spike, but even in her shocked stare, Spike didn’t back down. “I’ve never had the chance to try any. Just, uh, don’t let it touch what she’s having.” Spike nodded towards Twilight.

Snide snorted and smiled. “And what, cross contaminate food? I think not. Have a seat over there, I’ll get things prepped.” Snide indicated to a booth that was currently unoccupied at the end of the bar as he walked away. The four made their way over Spike and Twilight taking one side, Dazzle and Chromie on the other. The seating arrangement left Spike against the wall, with nowhere to run from a ranting.

“Spike! Are you crazy?” Twilight hissed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying something different, geeze.” Spike shrank away. “It’s not like I’ll be able to do anything like this in Ponyville.”

“But…” Twilight’s attention darted away. “But what if you like it.”

Spike paused, having nothing to say. He hadn’t really thought about that, he was just curious about how meat tasted. But… if he liked it, it’s not like there was any real way for him to get any in Ponyville. He’d have to move somewhere where he could get it. But…

“Hey, if I like it, I like it. If I don’t, I don’t.” Spike put a reassuring claw on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s just something to know Twilight.”

“Yeah, it’s not like we need it to exclusively survive.” Dazzle said in a somewhat calming tone as she leaned on the table. She didn’t know why this was important, but she didn’t want to enflame anything.

“If anything, I’m just more concerned for your food.” Chromie added, glancing back toward the bar. “They might have some things for you, but it’s probably not going to be near anything you’re used to.”

“Ooo, yeah.” Dazzle sucked in her breath. “This probably isn’t going to be anywhere near what your personal staff makes.“

“Pfht.” Twilight waved dismissively. “I don’t have a personal staff.”

“Ehem.” Spike coughed.

“Oh you know you just make it for yourself.” Twilight smiled, holding a hoof mockingly to her chest. “I just happen to eat what you can’t.” Spike and Twilight couldn’t help but snort and chuckle at the exchange. Dazzle could only lean on her fist as she stared at the two.

“If you two are always this lax, no wonder we’ve ended up in this mess.”

Chromie didn’t say anything, but she did notice the smile that began to creep into her friend’s stoic face, and she to began to smile as her solitary friend seemed to finally breaking out of her shell for once. Chromie had always feared that her friend would have too much of a defensive wall if she ever became clan leader, but maybe this ‘mess’ they were in wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Comments

[silent-judge]

well written, clever, while having some conflict with official cannon if flexible can be easily over looked for it's well thought out story.
pleas note that the show canon is also flexible. Pleas keep writing

[RadicalDishonesty]

Hm. Spike's extreme shortness does seem like an interesting thing.

It kind of surprises me that Dazzle and Chromie would let him do what he did while thinking he's a three year old.

[Hillbe]

Well you're on your own...
Why doesn't this surprise me
Well duh...

[beirirangu]

"When I sort through just who is the most distraught over these proceedings, I am going to call for a summit with the Dragon Clan Council. You can then explain to them why you came here and that you are glad to take all questions. Is that acceptable?”

"Indeed, it is acceptable, for I know for a fact that they will not place any misgivings, nor blame, on either you, Twilight, or myself, for it was Pyrathy who placed the task onto me, and gave me the escort of Dazzle to learn about the dragon's current state of living, through their closest living space to his dwelling, so that I may greet all others with some knowledge and enlightenment to aid them. You might not know about Pyrathy, Celestia, but let me assure you, he is to the dragons what can be only scarcely compared to the wildest imaginations of both you and your sisters most loyal subjects combined, and for good reason."

or something like that... I kinda lost my train of thought a few times while writing it down

[Eonflare]

Spike's first taste of meat huh? I wonder how much he'll like it.