3. Cave Sweet Cave
Twinkle Twinkle, Speaker to Dragons
Cave Sweet Cave
“Second banana is still a banana.”
— Smart Cookie
The huge red dragon kept her claws firmly wrapped around Twinkle Twinkle’s barrel, but carefully, as if she were trying not to break an expensive piece of fragile treasure. It made the flight uncomfortable, but Twinkle had not been eaten yet, so she really did not want to complain. It was not that bad. Despite the stress and excitement of the night, Twinkle Twinkle even found herself nodding off at times during the long flight. She could only see the stars in brief glimpses and estimate their speed in the air, so she did not know exactly where they were when the two dragons slowed their wingbeats and began to descend into a narrow mountain pass. A green valley on the other side spread out in the moonlight, bordered by sharp cliffs, which seemed to be where the dragons called home. They banked into a smooth turn and headed for a solid cliff wall, but at the last minute, gave an additional sweep of their wings to enter a large passage concealed by the shadows.
Since she was only able to see vague moonlit patches of ground, she could not even properly brace herself for the landing, which was remarkably soft on what sounded like sand or loose pebbles. Little glints of light from all around the vast cavern made Twinkle feel as if she were outside, surrounded by stars with a low cool breeze barely stirring her mane. In the center, moonlight shone down from a hole in the cave roof, much like a skylight in a magnificent natural mansion with the sound of running water somewhere making a pleasing burble of background noise.
It was all so beautiful in a subdued fashion that Twinkle did not even notice the dragon setting her down after landing, much as she might place some inanimate object when something more important had caught her attention. In all, it would have been a very pretty place for a tired young unicorn to rest if not for the two dragons arguing over the wagon in the pool of moonlight.
“Open it up and let's see what's inside.” The red dragon reached for the wagon the larger bronze dragon was holding out of reach. “Food said there was gold and some gems in there.”
"My loot," growled the larger bronze dragon, wrapping his forelegs and wings around Twinkle's family wagon. “Get your own!”
“We agreed!” snapped the red dragon. “Now gimmie!”
“We agreed to split what we got from the raid,” he snarled. “I got the wagon, you get the pony.”
“Hey!” The red dragon whirled around and glared, obviously ready to chase Twinkle to wherever she had fled. It took her several long searching glances around the cavern before she looked down at where she had first put Twinkle, and the dragon seemed flummoxed by the sight of the pale unicorn still sitting there on the pebbles and looking back at her. "Stop staring at me, Food!"
“Your home is beautiful in the moonlight,” said Twinkle Twinkle. “So are you and your brother. I like the way the light sparkles off your wings. Is that natural or do you use some sort of crystalline powder on them?”
"You like it?" said the bronze dragon, spreading out his wings until they filled most of the moonlit space. "It's just a dusting of talc from my cave, but there's this little seam of mica that I've considered—"
"Idiot!" snapped the red dragon, smacking the bigger dragon with one wing. "If you like the pony so much, you take him."
“I’m a mare,” said Twinkle.
“Her,” corrected the red dragon. “She’s all yours. I’ll just take this wagon.”
“My wagon!” declared the bronze dragon while picking the wagon up and holding it up to his chest.
“Actually, it’s my family’s wagon,” said Twinkle. “But I’ll give you each a fair share because you didn't eat my family. What’s left of it, that is.”
The two dragons with the wagon between them paused and regarded the little unicorn sitting there, looking back at them as if she were in charge instead of just being a fresh morsel. “See!” declared the red dragon with a sharp tug to the wagon. “Let her divide it up between us. You’re going to give me the biggest piece, aren't you, Food?” The red dragon’s grin had very little amusement in it, and a considerable number of sharp teeth.
“I’ll divide it fairly, Missus Dragon,” declared Twinkle, then paused. “You never did tell me your name.”
“So?” The red dragon frowned, which made her upper fangs stick out over her lower jaw. “Names are Power. Only a fool would give away their Name.”
“How do other dragons call you then?” asked Twinkle.
“They don’t.”
“Oh.” Twinkle blinked. “You’re all red and beautiful like a ruby, so do you mind if I call you Ruby?”
The bronze dragon chuckled and punched his sister in the shoulder. “Ruby. Nice. It’s kind of pretty.”
“Shut up, numbskull,” growled Ruby, although without some of her previous venom.
“And you’re all golden and brown across your chest,” continued Twinkle, turning to the larger dragon. “And you’ve got a beautiful deep voice, like a tuba. Can I call you Brass?”
“Sounds like Ass,” grumbled the newly named Ruby. “It fits him.”
“Ruby. Brass. My name is Twinkle Twinkle of House Starshine,” said Twinkle very solemnly. “I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Ruby elbowed her brother in the ribs. “Put the wagon down so she can split the treasure up into two piles. Then I’m eating her.”
“Wait just a minute,” said Brass. “What if I pick the pile that has the pony in it? That means I could eat her all by myself, right? Right?” he added, looking at Twinkle.
Twinkle nodded. “Or you could save me for later. It’s your choice.”
- - ☾ - -
The two dragons backed off a little in order to allow Twinkle space to work, and since she was going to get eaten afterward, she really did not want to rush. The coins and gems were easy enough to split into two piles, but the rest of the wagon’s contents and the wagon itself were more difficult. After all, she did not know how much a used wagon was worth to a dragon, or if they could trade it for something they wanted more, so she left it for last.
In the end, she was left with a small collection of wrinkled and bitter turnips that nopony in the family had been able to get up the nerve to eat even when they were near starvation. Her father had attempted to make light of the situation by declaring them to be heirlooms, and that they should be kept until the family was settled in their new home so future generations would know just how terrible they were, but there were an odd number of them, and she did not have a knife to split one in half.
“Do dragons like to eat turnips?” she asked.
Brass grunted and moved up closer to give the proffered vegetable a sniff. “Are you sure that thing’s good to eat?”
“They’re better when they’re fresh,” admitted Twinkle. “Although not by much.”
“Let me try one,” said Ruby, who had moved up to Twinkle’s other side and was suspiciously eyeing her brother, as if she did not trust him to keep his teeth off Twinkle until their loot was divided up. Twinkle took the turnip she was holding in her magic, tossed it gently into Ruby’s mouth, and watched in fascination while the dragon chewed.
Then Ruby made a face and started licking pebbles off the dirt floor of the cave. “Yuch!”
“Let me try one,” begged Brass. “No, two!”
Apparently turnips had much the same appeal to dragons as they did ponies, due to Brass’s similar reaction. What was more puzzling was the way the dragons laughed with each turnip they ate and the sheer quantity of dirt and pebbles they gobbled up in order to wash the taste out of their mouths.
“I didn’t think you liked turnips,” said Twinkle, tossing the last two vegetables into waiting muddy mouths.
“You have to be kidding,” said Ruby through splatters of half-chewed food. “They’re vile.”
“Worse than Toadwart mushrooms,” agreed Brass. “Are you out already? Where did they all go?”
Twinkle held up the empty basket. “You had twenty of them and your sister had nineteen.”
“Yes!” declared Brass with a vigorous fist-pump into the air. “The winner!”
“Hey! You had one more than I did,” complained Ruby. “That means I get the pile with the pony in it.” She turned and looked down at Twinkle before examining the two piles of family goods.
“That’s not how it is supposed to work. I’m not certain how to value some of our possessions,” said Twinkle. “If you can read, the books would be more valuable than the painting, and the wagon…” She shook her head. “There’s too many variables.”
“We can read,” insisted Ruby. “Well, I can read. I don’t know how much dung for brains there was paying attention when my mother taught us.”
“I can read too,” protested Brass. “Here, give me one of those books and I’ll show you.”
“I’ll let you look at the book,” cautioned Twinkle. “But when you’re done, it goes back in the pile.”
“Or I’ll thump you,” added Ruby.
Grumbling, the larger dragon picked up the book with the tips of his claws and displaying far more agility than Twinkle expected, opened it up. Then, after a few minutes of examination, flipped a few more pages over and tried to read some more, with his huge lips moving while he tried to sound out the words, then finally closed the book with a growl. “What is this?”
“It’s a spellbook for unicorns,” explained Twinkle. “That one has the spell my parents use to raise the sun and the moon.”
Both dragons stared at Twinkle, then simultaneously broke out in laughter. “Raise the sun!” Ruby managed to choke out between guffaws. “You’re just making that up so we don’t eat you.”
“I don’t lie,” said Twinkle. “It takes a lot of unicorns to raise the sun, and the strain can make them lose their magic for days, sometimes forever.”
Brass finished laughing and wiped away his tears with one claw. “Silly ponies think they control the sun and moon. Everydragon knows the Dragonlord commands them to rise and set by bellowing at them.”
“Yeah,” added Ruby. “Now finish splitting up the loot.”
“So the books have no value to you,” said Twinkle, placing the short stack back into the wagon’s safe compartment. “What do you think about the wagon?”
“It’s worthless,” said Ruby.
“I think it’s fun,” said Brass, lifting up the wagon with a huge claw and spinning one of the wheels.
“It's a Henweigh and Strighold Model 107 Spring-Loaded Traveler,” said Twinkle. “It seats four ponies while still being light enough to be pulled by two, has an active suspension system to take the jolt out of most bumps, and can still carry several hundredweight of cargo.”
“Maybe it is worth something after all,” mused Ruby.
Twinkle nodded. “Put it in this pile with the gold, please, Mister Brass. That and other items should make up the value of the gems and the painting in the second pile. They should match in value, if not in volume.”
“Painting?” The red dragon nudged the wooden-framed oilcloth with one claw. “Doesn't seem to be worth much.”
“Father paid over two hundred bits for our portraits,” said Twinkle. “It has the only images my parents have left of my brothers. And me too, once I’m eaten. When the ponies get to the warm lands that Princess Platinum promised and have some time to rebuild, my parents will be willing to buy it back from you for a good sum. That is if they escaped your attack without being injured.”
“Buy?” Ruby blinked and took a step backwards with her long neck oscillating back and forth in what Twinkle was beginning to recognize as a sign of bemusement. “What’s mine is mine. No pony is going to take it away from me without a fight. That’s the dragon way.”
“Then they’ll kill you and take it,” said Twinkle flatly. “You’re an obvious threat to ponies. If dragons do not leave ponies alone, you’ll be hunted down and killed until there are no dragons left.”
Ruby stopped moving and gave Twinkle a very intense look, locking eyes with the little unicorn for a long time before turning back to her brother.
“She’s serious.”
“She’s a pony,” scoffed Brass while licking his lips. “Now get into a pile. I’m hungry.”
Twinkle obediently went and stood between the two piles, picked up a bit, and spun it in her magic. “Since we’re in Ruby’s cave, Brass gets to call the coin flip. Heads or tails?”
“Heads,” they both called at the same time, then glared at each other.
“I always get the tail end,” grumbled Brass. “It tastes like shit! I want the head end for a change.”
“No!” Ruby laid back her ear frills and glared. “I want the head end.” She turned and looked at Twinkle for a moment, then turned back to her brother. “Never mind,” she added. “Those blasted eyes are in the front. Still, there’s not even enough meat on her to make a good mouthful. If we split her in half, we won’t get to taste anything.”
“I wouldn’t be able to split myself evenly,” said Twinkle.
“Just get into one of the piles.” Ruby thrashed her tail in the rough gravel of the open area of the cave while Twinkle trudged over to a pile and tossed the spinning bit up into the air with her magic. Both dragons started forward to grab the glittering golden coin, but by the time they shifted positions, Twinkle was holding it on the frog of her hoof.
“Heads,” she declared. “Brass gets first pick.”
“Hey!” Ruby lifted her long tail as if she were going slam it down on her brother’s nose, then after a short grumble, dropped it back down onto the gravel. Her bright rose-colored eyes darted back and forth between the pile of belongings Twinkle was in and the wagon with its own pile before the dragon settled down and glared at her brother. “Go ahead. You wanted the pony.”
“But if I take the pony, you get the wagon,” he whined in a plaintive voice that belied his huge size.
“The pony has an extra coin,” urged Ruby.
“Actually, I took that into consideration when I was balancing the coins and—”
“Hush, Food!” hissed Ruby. “Well? Come on. You want to eat her while she’s fresh.”
“I want the wagon!” declared Brass. “You can have the pony and her pile.”
“What!” Ruby huffed with the smell of fire filling the cave, although with little actual smoke.
“Would you like me to help you pack the wagon up?” asked Twinkle.
“No, I got a cramp in my claws carrying it here,” said Brass, lowering himself to the ground and moving his nose up close to the pile. He breathed in, very slowly and carefully, then breathed out with his eyes closed, and a glowing green fire covered the entire pile of household goods, including the wagon. It all seemed to vanish into smoke, which he then breathed in with his eyes still closed and a look of intense concentration until it was all gone, and the only thing remaining was the pebbled floor of the cave.
“Wow,” said Twinkle. “I didn’t know dragons could do that. It wasn’t in any of the books.”
Brass puffed up until he looked twice his already considerable size. “Of course. How do you think dragons move our hoards?” His silver eyes shifted sideways to look in a seemingly cross-eyed fashion at his sister again. “Are you sure I can’t eat her?”
“You don’t talk with food,” grumbled Ruby. “Particularly, my food. Now get out of here before I whump you. I’ve got treasure to put in my hoard and a pony to eat.”
The threat must have been serious because Brass was in the air before Ruby had finished speaking, and flicked out of the narrow cave entrance with a practiced sweep and tuck of his immense wings. Left alone in the cavern with the other hungry dragon, Twinkle turned to Ruby and awaited her inevitable fate.
“That’s a good pony,” purred Ruby, leaning forward and opening her mouth. “I’ll make this quick.”
With the yawning chasm of sharp teeth and dripping drool over her, Twinkle looked up into the dragon’s throat and tried to make the best of her last moments. Well, her most current last moments, since the last last moments had turned out to be not quite as last as she expected. She stood quietly and looked up into the curved arc of teeth, taking in all the details she had missed the last time, including one extra that had not been there last time.
“Hey!” Ruby yanked back with a loud snap of closing jaws and glared at Twinkle. “What did you do?”
“You had some turnip stuck between your sixty-third and sixty-fourth teeth,” explained Twinkle, holding the remnants of the mangled vegetable floating in front of her. “There’s a gap there which you probably should brush more often to keep—”
“Enough!” bellowed Ruby before darting forward with her mouth open.
Then, after a few minutes, she took a step backwards and regarded the little unicorn, who was slightly drippy with drool.
“You got a lot further that time,” said Twinkle. “I could see your epiglottis start on the swallowing reflex, and—”
With a subdued huff of frustration, Ruby stomped away, headed for the dark opening deeper into the cave. “I should have taken the wagon away from him,” she grumbled. “You’re useless. Useless!”
“Are you going to eat me later?” asked Twinkle, trotting along behind the dragon with the painting and other items in the pile floating behind her.
“Yes!” Ruby turned the corner, then looked behind her at the little unicorn, who waited patiently for her next words. “This is the first treasure I’ve put into my hoard that moved itself,” she admitted. “Put the painting over there, and bring the gems over to… hmm…”
There was indeed a lot to ‘hmm’ about. Ruby’s hoard was in a cavernous room with a sparkling stream fairly spraying high out of one side, running down to the floor by way of a number of craftily carved ledges, where it formed into a pool about Ruby-sized. The pool’s overflow made a thin trail of water travel down a pale white streambed that meandered into the other room The burbling noise of the water was relaxing, and felt cool against her throat when Twinkle took a long drink. The minerals in the water had left a bright white sheen of calcite wherever it touched as well as brilliant sparkles of siliceous deposits against the ceiling and other walls that glittered in Twinkle’s hornlight like familiar stars. Even darker sparks of light formed underwater from knobs of blackened minerals spread across the bottom of the pool.
If Twinkle were forced to restrain herself to a single word to describe the dragon’s lair, it would have been ‘beautiful.’ Thankfully, she was not limited in words, and spent quite some time praising Ruby’s home.
It seemed to make the dragon happy, so Twinkle detailed out how the aesthetics of the chambers brought the eye’s focus to the wet gemstones scattered out on the waterfall ledges with the gold coins being used to hold them in place, and the rest of the magnificent cave. Even a unicorn sculptor could not have designed around the natural features better, and Twinkle had seen all of the artistic rooms of the Unicornia castle complex, which she compared and contrasted with this glittering cavern.
That triggered a number of questions from Ruby, a long string of them about her beautiful home and their exodus due to the howling Windigo. They talked and talked, far more than Twinkle had ever spoken in one day to any pony before, until something became clear.
“You want to fly to Unicornia and collect the unguarded treasure, don’t you?” Twinkle cocked her head to one side and regarded the glossy red dragon. “You’ll die. The Windigos will kill you.”
“So you say,” countered Ruby. “For all I know, you could be lying.”
“I don’t lie. Ever. If I wanted you dead, all I would have needed to do is not warn you about the Windigos, but that would be a lie by omission.”
Twinkle regarded the dragon and decided that something more was needed. “I could make an oath that I’m telling the truth, if you wish. My father claims that swearing upon the Sun and Moon makes an oath unbreakable, but I’ve never seen any real proof.”
The dragon puffed up in her pond, looking a little like a swelled-up duck. “We dragons swear by the First Egg. Anydragon who breaks an oath based on it will forever be unable to clutch.”
“I don’t see what is so bad about not being able to have foals,” said Twinkle. “I’ll never have foals. Since I’m being eaten, that is. Even when we were living in Unicornia, I knew I’d never be allowed to breed.”
“What, are you defective?” Ruby brought her head around and sniffed the small unicorn, nearly sucking her up into a nostril and giving a brief, flaming sneeze afterwards due to a tickle from Twinkle’s unkempt mane.
“My brain doesn’t work right. No House would allow their precious breeding stock to touch a defective breeder. The risk of producing a defective heir is too great.”
Ruby shook her head. “Yeah, there’s been a few real winners in Dragonkind like that. Defective dragons can’t build a hoard, so they never get the really choice mates. Not like me, of course.” She swept one massive clawed hand across the wall of glittering water and wet gemstones, looking shadowed and far too small in the light of Twinkle’s dim horn. “I’ve got a pretty good hoard, even though I’m still young. Just don’t want to put up with a male yet. They get all possessive, like you’re part of their hoard, and when you lay eggs, you have to keep a sharp eye on them or they’ll sneak back into the nest and break them all.”
After a long time contemplating, Twinkle gave a short nod. “So only the fiercest and alert dragons breed to pass those characteristics on to their offspring. Very productive for future generations.”
“We dragons are the best,” insisted Ruby, holding out one clawed fist next to Twinkle. “Anything we take, we keep.”
Twinkle nodded again. “And when all of the dragons who try to eat ponies are slaughtered, the remainder will make peace with the ponies, and pass that characteristic on to their offspring.”
* * *
Ruby was beginning… no, not just beginning. She was far along the path of tolerance for Food, and she lunged forward with her jaws open to snap up the annoying little morsel.
She still could not close her mouth, and Ruby curled back up in her grotto with a final acidic glare aimed at the damp unicorn. Then again, Food had been entertaining this evening, and it would be impossible for her to be entertaining while being digested, so there was an important task remaining before taking a nap for a few days. She moved her gaze over to the mismatched collection of miscellaneous treasure — that her brother called ‘junk’ — occupying the back corner of her cave. There should be something useful for the situation hidden in there, and she occupied herself during the search by chewing on one of the pony-gemstones, a granular ruby with hints of a tantalizing flavor she had not tasted before.
“There ought to be something here I can use to keep you out of the way and quiet,” she grumbled, holding up a birdcage and comparing the size before tossing it back into the pile.
“So you’re not going to eat me?”
“Maybe later,” grumbled Ruby, keeping her back turned so she would not have to see those big, dark eyes.
“I don’t think I’d fit into your hoard anywhere.” The annoying little unicorn lit her horn up and touched Ruby’s collection of amethysts, moving them to the sides and making a pony-sized spot on the shelf. “I suppose I could sit on your shelf there, but the water is from a spring. I’d catch cold.”
“Don’t touch my hoard,” growled Ruby. She moved over to the shelf and rearranged the gemstones back into proper order, popping one of them into her mouth for a snack. “They’re not arranged by color, anyway. And why do I have a painting, anyway! It’ll just get wet and ruined.”
“I can put a waterproofing spell on it,” said Twinkle. “It doesn’t work on ponies, though.”
“Just… sit over there or something,” snapped Ruby with a waved claw. “Stay out of my stuff.”
She curled back up in the pool while the little unicorn took her place a short distance away. The unicorn spell she cast on the painting was intriguing, and Ruby watched the interplay of magic until Food gave out a yawn and sat the finished painting to one side.
Of course, she had to turn and watch Ruby afterward.
Ruby closed her eyes and got comfortable, then after a period of time, opened one eye a crack.
The little unicorn was in exactly the same position.
“Stop looking at me,” grumbled Ruby.
“Then you will eat me, because it’s later,” responded the unicorn without even a pause.
“By the First Egg!” Ruby lifted her head and glared down at her unwelcome guest. “Look, what if I promise not to eat you for a few days. Will you stop looking at me then and let me get some sleep?”
Food kept up her impassive stare in return. “How can I be sure you’ll keep your promise?”
Ruby gave an explosive snort that sent a short blast of fire in front of her. “I swear by the First Egg, by the Dragonlord’s Name, and by my Fire that I shall not eat you until… a couple of days have gone by. Satisfied?”
The gullible unicorn seemed to consider the idea, nodded, and put her head down on the gravel, followed by Ruby curling up in the pool.
She still could not sleep, and opened one eye just a crack to look at the silent unicorn, her skinny sides rising and falling to the sound of her rhythmic breathing.
She’s not a dragon, so the oath isn’t binding. I could just eat her up while she’s sleeping and her eyes are closed. Blasted eyes.
Ruby dipped her head underwater and slurped up one of her new Emergency Bedtime Don’t Want To Get Up gems, munching as silently as she could afterward while watching Food.
Not bad. Not as good as a pony would probably taste, but… Still, she might know where more of these gems are without having to face Windigos. And they are pretty good. Meh, can’t un-eat a pony.
Ruby closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
1,044 users online
1,677,735 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Turnips are like dwarven waybread. They sustain ponies on long journeys with the thought “there has to be something better ahead than these blasted turnips”.
Turnips. Trying to peel round the wrinkles is a real pain, thats why theres pigs. Remove the low quality worn rind of teh veg, feed to pigs, they generate manure which when blended with other rinds gives high quality fertiliser that you cant get from just rinds. In a shorter time.
The dragon hasnt realised yet that its building a village as its horde?
9594347
Or if you want the shorter-term option, give the turnips to the pig, sustain the pig until it is big and fat, then you get a nice load of bacon.
9594311 Something better... like PINECONES!!
9594063 lol vore?
9592752 It simply means you can have pleasant dinner conversation... with no worries about long-term commitments!
Unless you eat too many ponies. Then you have to worry about your waistline.
9592360 Heyyyyyyyy.... did you swipe that idea from the fact that I mentioned I'd destroyed all my fear by using an engineered neurotoxin targeting the fear-inducing centers of the cortical-amygdalar feedback system?
I'm also currently working on modifying my electron transport chain. I believe I can squeeze an additional 12% efficiency out of it by shoring up the hydrogen ion leak across the cristae, as well as soaking up ROS intermediates between the quinolones via better shuttling of antioxidants alpha-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine to where they'll be most effective and preventing the formation of cytotoxic side species.
AFTER THIS I CAN HAZ BECOME TEH BORGS!!
This is the beginning of... well, not necessarily a beautiful relationship, but one that will likely save many lives down the road. Also, nicely chilling bit of casual eugenics there. Really says a lot about old Unicornia.
9594365
Yeah, but you can only eat a pig once. Turnips you can take out and look at and take out and look at...
Yeah, that sounds like a very dragon thing to do. I can just picture it, big important dragon sitting atop a hill and shouting at the horizon: "HEY, YOU! SUN! GET YOUR GLOWING FAT BUTT UP HERE ALREADY!"
Hmm. With a couple tweaks, I'd bet that ability would make for a good way to send messages to one another at some point, maybe in the future. I don't know when and where any dragon would need such an ability, though...
"Good night, good work, sleep well, I'll most likely kill you in the morning."
9594311
"A traveler can go for miles, just knowing there's dwarf bread in their pack. A traveler can think of just about anything to eat rather than dwarf bread including their own foot."
Also I don't think turnips have ever been weaponized.
9594311
I had this feeling that you were channelling discworld in one of your other stories in a particular scene. Now, I'm sure of it.
I think I like these dragons.
9594670 9594535 To be honest, I think Pratchett made a homage to the classic National Lampoon's Bored of the Rings story in which Elvish Waybread (exact spelling unknown) holds that same description. :)
9594413 Says a lot about Unicornia *and* dragons in general.
9594347 Only after you've peeled off the low-quality rind of a turnip, there's nothing left.
If Ruby doesn't feed her almost pet pony the pony is going to die and then who's going to tell her where to find those new tasty gems?
9594399
Nooooooo!
9594788
Imma do it!
Classic tsundere dragons, history repeats itself in the oddest of ways.
And then Twinkle decided being eaten would be interesting, and Ruby woke up to find the pony's tail dangling from her jaws.
Too late, Ruby realized that 'Food' contained a brain parasite! She could feel it taking over her mind! "Hello, my new host," it said. "I'm Alondro."
And then Rudy knew true fear, but only for a moment as the horrid creature rearranged her mind into a form more suited for its diabolical purposes.
thumbs.gfycat.com/AchingLividArmedcrab-size_restricted.gif
#1 Featured!
Probably accurate.
9594311
But can they be used as weapons?
You can. The process is decidedly unpleasant though.
9596268
this gave me a chill