Welcome To canine Crossroads

by Yosh-E-O

Chapter 1 - Seeking Refuge

The warm Spring day had gradually become a frigid night as Dark Light came upon a small town.
“Hopefully an Inn will still be open,” he thought aloud as the teal-colored baby dragon on his back shivered.

The black-coated Pegasus folded his wings to help protect his newly-hatched charge. The hatchling still had the eggshell he had recently hatched from atop his head. However that was far from appropriate protection against the frosty nights of early Spring.

“What if they question why I have a baby dragon?” worried the yellow-eyed teen. “The last thing I need to do is arouse suspicions.”

SHING

A dull, yellow aura came off a Unicorn horn that Dark Light had concealed. The magic spread to make his wings disappear before creating a magical blanket that swaddled the baby so only it’s head could be seen.

“And about that…,” continued Dark Light to himself as he utilized his Unicorn magic to cast an illusion spell to make the small bundle look like a pony.

The baby dragon simply cooed upon finding himself comfortably swaddled in Dark Light’s ethereal blanket. This blanket had once been what he conjured to create the Pegasus wings he formed to hide his identity as a Unicorn. However, being it was so dark out, he believed passing off as an Earth Pony and returning to being a Pegasus in the morning would go by quite easily.

“Alright,” the cunning Unicorn said softly while heading towards the town. “Let’s go get you settled. You’ve had quite the big first day.”

***

The Cozy Glow Inn was not too difficult to find. It was the only structure that still had its lights on.

RING-A-DING-DING

A Diamond Dog sat up at the front desk and glared towards the newcomers.
“Need a room?” he asked.

Dark Light nodded.

“Not used to your kind being up so late in the evening,” the grey-furred canine continued. “You lost or something?”

The black-coated pony nodded again. He was hopeful to get in without having the bundle on his back be suspected of being anything more than a traveler’s bag.

The diamond dog groaned.
“Not much of a talker,” he remarked. “I’ll make this easy on both of us. One room is 50 bits, or one pound of gemstones.”

Dark Light had the bits and the gemstones. His travels had offered him opportunities to do small tasks to earn bits while adventuring in the outskirts of Equestria had yielded a number of noteworthy deposits of sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.

“Well?” the dog snarled. “Money talks and dirt walks.”

Dark Light scowled as he reached for a bag of bits and tossed it to the counter.

“Hmm,” grinned the inn keeper as he counted each bit. “You’re not like most ponies.”

“My room, please,” Dark Light stated plainly.

There was a pause as the attendant counted each bit.
“thirteen bit tip!” he howled with delight while reaching for a display that had keys hung upon it. “Got your room right here.”

FLICK
SHING
CLACK

The faux Earth Pony had no trouble catching the room key hurled towards him.

“”Room 3A,” the dog stated while pocketing the additional thirteen bits. “Check out is at noon. If you want to keep the room you need only pay the nice fox before check out.”

Dark Light nodded his head and turned towards the flight of stairs leading up to the upper floors. The diamond dog was too distracted by a small top he had placed upon the counter to even care to notice the bundle the faux Earth Pony supported upon his back.

***

Dark Light sacrificed a majority of his blankets and pillows from the bed so that the newborn dragon had a cozy nest to peacefully sleep in.
“Good thing diamond dogs aren’t known to really care much about anything else so long as they get what they want,” he stated as the teal-colored baby dragon blew tiny bubbles out from his snout. “It’s also interesting how that top half of your shell has decided to make itself a permanent part of your noggin.”

The black-coated Unicorn used his magic to remove the eggshell from the young dragon’s head. However it did not budge.
“Hmm,” he contemplated. “Maybe if I used just a bit more magic…?”

PFEW

Ethereal yellow light moved towards the slumbering dragon’s eggshell hat. However it would not budge from the hatchling’s head.
“Fascinating…,” considered Dark Light. “Seems I’ll just have to sleep on this mystery for now.”

The yellow-haired Unicorn climbed onto the mattress, pulled up the remaining bed sheet, and allowed himself to rest peacefully on a real bed for the first time in weeks.

***

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

WAAAHHH!!!

Dark Light shot out of bed upon hearing the combination of pounding on his hotel room’s door and the wailing baby dragon.

“Hey!” called a voice. “Is anyone in there?”

BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM
WAAAA-HAAAA-HAAAA!!!

Dark Light was still half-asleep as he clumsily galloped to the door.

BAM-BAM-BAM!
CLICK-CLANG-CLICK

“I’m coming in!” the voice on the other side cried as Dark Light reached for the door knob.

PWOOM!

“Oh!” the fox gasped upon feeling his forward progress halted.

“Sorry,” Dark Light replied anxiously. “I’m not decent.”

The fox was caught off guard by this statement.
“Uh…,” he struggled. “Is the kid okay?”

Dark Light’s mind started to put the entire situation together.
“Yes!” he answered far more intensely than he had intended. “Ran out of diapers and need to get some quick before he gets a rash.”

The fox tried to move his snout into the door, but Dark Light held firm.
“Would it help if I brought some up?” he asked.

“Please!” the yellow-haired stallion replied with far more bite than he had hoped.

“You got it!” the fox replied.

KA-THUNK!

Dark Light felt himself lurch forward as the door slammed shut.
“Phew,” he gasped as he took a moment to free his mind of the fear of being seen in his true form. “Too close.”

WAA-AAA-AAAH!

“Larimar…,” the young stallion sighed as he turned to where the baby dragon was fussing within the layers of blankets he had been swaddled in. “We’ve really got to work on this crying thing."