Chapter Thirty-Four: Downtime
Chapter Thirty-Four: Downtime
Fluttershy smiled widely, stretching her forelegs out to take Chenoa from Smokey. Kissing her forehead, she nuzzled her muzzle into her fluffy cranium.
“Oh, I’m so happy you’re all right.”
She lifted her head, beaming at the dragon.
“I’m glad Daddy was able to keep you safe.”
The griffon cooed, snuggling into the security of her mother’s embrace lovingly. Smokey just watched the pair, a pleasant warmth flooding his chest at the very sight of them. Something like this never failed to do so.
“Well… one of us needed to take her, right?”
“True. Though, had I known something like this was going to happen, I would have held onto her,” she said, holding the baby tighter. “… But… I didn ’t know…”
“It’s all right, my dear,” Smokey reassured. “At least one of us had her. If we had lost her too… we most likely would’ve found ourselves in the same predicament as Miss Pure Heart.”
The pale yellow pony’s feathers bristled at the mention of the other mare’s name, though she forced back any negative emotions as she came to the realization how she would’ve felt similar - and would have been overwhelmed with the same relief upon being reunited with her child if she had been in her place.
“You’re right. I don’t know what I would have done if we lost Chenoa. I don’t know if I would have be able to function at all. I’d be so stressed.”
The scarlet reptile’s smile faded as the thought passed through his mind. He, too, wasn’t sure what he would’ve done if he lost their precious little girl.
“Yes… Same with me… Let’s… just be glad that never happened and move onto another subject, shall we?” He suddenly perked right back up as his brain shifted back to the picnic setup that was waiting for them. “You know… I don’t really feel too bad… I think… we can resume our picnic.”
“Are you certain?” Fluttershy’s eyes went a little round as she took another look at her friend’s wings. “I want to make sure you’re going to be all right. I’d rather get you patched up as soon as possible, but…
“I mean, if you feel fine, then… that’s fine.”
He offered an appreciative smile. Truthfully, the dull throbbing he had been experiencing in his wings was going away.
“Thank you, but I’m all right. Just… bruising. And my scales will heal.”
“Well… alright.”
Fluttershy didn’t seem entirely convinced, but decided not to push the matter. After all, one didn’t know their own body better than oneself. She did take another quick look at him, which verified his claim. He wasn’t bleeding, nor did anything appear broken besides the few cracked scales. Giving him a small smile, and keeping Chenoa firmly held in her forelegs, she fluttered to his side to lead him back towards the park.
As she did, she and the dragon noticed that ponies were still running amok, with chaos still ruling the day. The fire from the marketplace seemed to have spread, though the weather team and firefighting forces were in the process of combating it.
“Oh… my…” she breathed, at a loss to how she could have completely ignored all of this.
Smokey, too, was shocked to the point of being unable to form a complete sentence at first as he surveyed the scene before him. Having been so wrapped up in finding the little colt, he hadn’t noticed anything.
“I… wonder… what happened…”
“I’m not sure…” The mare tore her eyes from the disaster and fixated them on her draconic companion. “Should we go and check it out?”
She wondered if trying to step in and help would calm things down, or make them even worse. Turning back to the pandemonium, she could see Twilight Sparkle streak by trying to get everything into a sensible order, though her disheveled mane and tail and the wild panic engraved in her visage suggested her efforts were less than successful.
Smokey definitely wasn’t sure. He was worried his appearance would only worsen the situation. As he opened his mouth to reply, the words died in his throat when a mare sporting a lily upon her flank - who had been charging down the main road in blind panic - , spotted the dragon and put on her breaks, sliding to a stoppage several dozen feet from his position.
“THERE IT IS!” she shouted, pointing an accusing hoof into his direction.
The tall male flinched and took a couple of steps back before turning to Fluttershy as if she would provide him with an answer on what he should do.
There was a pause before Fluttershy blinked twice in succession and shifted her attention back to Smokey.
“Maybe we should just go back to the cottage…” she said softly, concern creeping into her voice. As the two mares behind Lily - one with a rose for a cutie mark and the other with a daisy - halted, they clutched onto each other in terror.
“AAAH! It’s here! It’s gonna eat us!” Roseluck screamed.
“Definitely. Definitely should go back,” Fluttershy winced.
“Yes, I think that would be best.” He nodded in agreement, spreading his wings and taking to the air with the pegasus en route to the cottage. His doves, who had been searching from a literal bird’s eye view, found each other one at a time and remained together throughout the confusion. Ross had wisely chosen to flee town the instant the uproar escalated into full swing in order to avoid being trampled. Both birds and leporidae spotted their caretaker - the latter later once the dragon was closer to the outskirts of Ponyville.
The group took a quick detour to the meadow only long enough to pick up the basket and blanket. Once they landed outside of the mare’s home, she ushered them all inside, quickly closing the door behind them.
“I think it’s best if we hide out here for a while.”
Smokey nodded, chest heaving as he panted heavily. Spending almost all of his time on the ground, he had almost forgotten how much effort it took to use the muscles in his wings that he rarely used. He ended up burning more energy than he thought he would. Not to mention the dull throbbing in his wings returned after a little while of flying.
The pale yellow equine moved to spread the blanket over a clearing in the room. Setting Chenoa down on one end of the blanket, she beamed up at Smokey.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t have the picnic outside, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t enjoy the meal, right?”
She tilted her head a small degree, noting he was breathing hard. Reaching into the basket, she pulled out a bottle of lemonade with her mouth and trotted over to offer it to him with a concerned, inquisitive glint in her blue-green pools.
“It’s… it’s all… right…” he panted, slowly regaining his breath. “I don’t… use my… wing muscles… that much…”
Smiling softly, she fluttered back to the basket to put the lemonade back.
“You poor thing,” she crooned, patting the empty space on the blanket. “Come on, lay down on your tummy. Let Mama Fluttershy work her magic on those wings of yours. I’ll get all the tension out in no time at all.”
“’Mama Fluttershy’? Should I start calling you my mama now?” Smokey teased in a playful tone, complimented with an amused smirk. He complied, laying down on his stomach and unfolding his wings. Personally, he didn’t think he needed any medical treatment, but he decided to allow his friend to indulge herself anyway.
“Uh… Well… No. I mean, that is, if you don’t want… I just… Um…” She climbed on top of him, her hooves beginning to work down one of his wings. Unsure of how to actually treat dragon wings, she just imagined them belonging to a large bat. “Sometimes, when I’m treating the animals, I think of myself as a sort of… den mother, looking after her babies.”
“Well, you--” Tensing up, his wing jerked as the mare’s hooves palpitated over the area where the heaviest bruising resided. “Uh… got a baby…”
Taking in a deep breath, he gestured his muzzle over to the baby griffon. The tiny chick felt drained after all of the excitement. Though she was due for a nap. With a yawn, she toddled over to her father, crawling over one of his arms and curling up underneath his neck.
“We both do…”
“Sorry,” she whispered, attempting to go softly over his bruises, but at the same time with enough pressure to increase blood flow and reduce swelling. She smiled at the child resting against the dragon’s chest and closed her eyes with a calm expression. “Hmmm. I suppose you’re right. I guess that really does make me Mama Fluttershy.
“And I guess that makes you Papa Smokey.”
An involuntary purr rumbled in Smokey’s throat from the little one’s physical contact. The warm, living and breathing bundle of plush down and fur balled up against his scales was enough to melt his heart into a helpless sugary puddle, otherwise distracting him from any pain he had been experiencing. Furling the arm closest to her, he held her and relaxed completely.
“I suppose so… But, she has yet to call me Daddy or Dada.”
“Give her time. She’s still learning how to talk. I’m sure she’ll be calling you Dada before you know it.” She chuckled, moving to his back. “She recognizes you as such.”
Smokey nodded with another purr. Chenoa would get it eventually. It was just she called Fluttershy Mama so soon, and now two weeks later, he never heard any syllables from her that signified an attempt at referring him to his parental name.
Gazing over his shoulder at the sleeping child, the pegasus couldn’t help but break off what she was doing for just a second, reaching to plant a kiss on her head before going back to work.
“How’s this? Am I going too hard?”
“No, you’re doing fine,” he replied, impressed with her skilled hooves. She knew just how to handle them. The pressure she utilized with them was hard enough to relieve tension, yet gentle enough not to greatly disturb the broken blood vessels.
It took Fluttershy around twenty minutes, meticulously working from top to bottom of each of his wings and his back in between to make sure they had been properly massaged. The relaxing effects released years of tension and soothed the muscles. Some time during that time period, Smokey actually fell asleep.
“There. All done!” Fluttershy chirped as she finished. “How was that, Sm--”
Her words caught in her throat upon realizing he was asleep. Her gaze softening with a maternal expression, she silently glided upstairs to grab a blanket. Coming back down, she draped it over his body.
After she administered another kiss to Chenoa’s cranium, she ran a hoof over the draconian’s head. She watched him sleep for a few moments before, with a blush, she leaned down to touch her lips near the base of his ear frill and next to his top spine. Pulling back, the equine turned away to grab a book and sit on the couch.
Apparently, Smokey had felt the kiss in his sleep. The corners of his mouth were stretched back into a wide, serene smile.
As the winged pony sank into the couch, she entertained herself with both reading her book and simply watching her friend and baby sleep. It was indeed an endearing sight, and one that she almost felt jealous of Chenoa for. She had been sorely tempted to slip underneath the blanket and join the two of them, but didn’t want to be involved in another awkward situation.
Instead, she contented herself with reading and watching them until she nodded off herself.
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Ahh i am going to die from cuteness, and poor smokey always getting blamed for stuff x3
man ponyville can be racist.
even with the elements approval and a princess.
4260352 Not racist. Xenophobic. ;D
Thank you all for the comments! <3
Oh my Faust
4261137 That's all you have to say, huh? :P
Well, it sounds as though you may be building to a rather rude awakening for them. I wouldn't be surprised if they woke up to find an angry mob at their doorstep.
Nope, but this is just to bucking adorible
4262874 Hehe! Thank you! ^_^
Please tell me it will end with her saying mother in perfect English
Making a big deal about that doesn't make sense, almost all babies' first words are "Mama" since it's easier to say and the D in Dada takes more muscle control in the tongue, which takes longer for them to figure out. (My official first word was "Book", though, so don't think I'm talking from experience.)
4717961 My official first word was Dada, though I might be an oddity. It is, however, normal for a baby to address the alternate parent by their parental label, the average being a little under a week.
4712791 ioved that movie
5049612 How can ANYONE love Son of the Mask? It's a HORRIBLE movie. One of the WORST I've ever seen. XD