*Hic Hic Hic*
June walked into Claire's small shop, carrying a basket of fresh cherries. Not seeing the half-dragon anywhere, she set the basket down and began to call her name. "Claire? Claaaaire? I'm here and brought your cherries." She looked around Claire's shop again. "Where is she?" She asked herself.
She suddenly heard a voice. It was faint, but she still heard it. "June? That you? We're upstairs in Claire's room." That sounds like Crème she thought, as she headed upstairs.
June rounded the corner to Claire's room, eyes closed and humming a bit to herself. "Crème? Hey guys. What's going-" She opened her eyes and immediately panicked. "OH CELESTIA! Crème are you okay?"
Crème looked at her in an odd way. "What do you mean?" She asked.
June stammered a bit, realizing she over reacted a tad. "Claire... She's... she's tugging on your ear! Doesn't that hurt?"
Crème cocked her head a bit,confused with what she meant. Then she turned her head as best as she could and saw Claire tugging on her ear. Has she been doing that the whole time? I hardly noticed! "Oh, no! Not at all. She's really quite gentle." Crème answered after a moments pause.
June still looked at her with concern. "A-are you sure?" She asked. Crème nodded.
June looked to the floor, a bit embarrassed. "Oh...well..." She was raising her head when she noticed an empty, discarded wine glass on the floor. She carefully pointed a hoof towards the glass. "Has.... has she been drinking?" She asked cautiously.
Crème nodded again. "Yep. She actually finished a glass this time." She finished with a snicker. June sat down next to her friend and the drunk hybrid.
A mix of concern and confusion dashed across June's face. "This time? I thought Claire didn't drink."
Claire stopped tugging on Crème's ear and looked at June with as much shock as a drunk one could muster. "Yeah I do! You dun know me!" Her speech slurred almost eery other word.
June looked warily at her. "O-oh hi Claire." She said testily.
She seemed to forget she was slightly mad at June. "Hi Lulu~ You look rlly different tonight..." She said, swaying slightly.
June looked at Claire with more concern than before. " ........ Only a glass?" She asked Crème, her eyes till on Claire.
A laugh erupted from Crème. "Yeah. Well... the glass was only three quarters full. Think it set her a little over the top. She's acting really silly." She said, looking at the purple pony-dragon.
"No I'm noooot!" She whined as she started to nip and growl at the purple-haired unicorn.
"Aren't you a bit worried? She's acting a bit dragon-ish is what she's acting like." June continued to worry over her.
"Worried? Why would I be worried?" Crème asked. June honestly thought she was oblivious to the situation.
"I mean.... Claire's really smart and all and she's able to control herself most of the time but..... she's drunk....... she could really hurt you if you're not careful. She is still half dragon after all."
There was a long pause. "She's half dragon?" Crème asked after a while. June stared at her with shock. Creme laughed. "I'm kidding. I'm not that dumb.
June let out a small breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "You Had me there for a second." She said.
"Really though, Claire would never hurt us. Even when drunk. She's just like a cute little kitty. Right Claire?" Claire snuggled under Crème's chin and started licking the bottle by her arm.June smirked at the sight. There was another long pause, Crème seeming to have a small argument inside of herself. "Why's everypony so scared of Claire?" Crème finally asked.
It was so quiet, June barley heard it. "Huh?" June asked, leaning in so she could hear better.
Crème sighed, lowered her head, and asked again. "Why is everypony scared of Claire? She hasn't done anything to make us scared has she?"
"Well, I guess she was just born into the situation. Dragons are inherently dangerous. They're predators and are usually driven by instinct. Claire and her dad have shown that side of themselves a few times." June explained. To be honest, she kind of made it up on the spot. She was hoping it would make sense and pass as an explanation.
"Really?" Crème asked, raising her head.
"Well..... yeah. Look at her" June pointed at Claire, who was busy gnawing on the bottle. After a second or two, she spits a small ball of fire at it
Crème shrugged. "She looks harmless to me."
"Well.... she..... " June stammered.
"I see where you're coming from." Crème cut her off. "But... it's just really hard for me to see Claire like that at all. All she's ever done is protect me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Back at our old grade school and even more so now." She lowered her head again. "I know I'm not all that smart and a lot of the time." There was a slight pause, Crème letting out a small sigh. "I can't tell when I'm being taken advantage of. Claire's always been there to help me out when I get myself into situations like those.
"That's really sweet." June commented.Crème smiled and patted Claire's head. "I owe her a lot." She continued, sounding slightly distracted. "And I feel like the least I could do is not make her feel like a monster. Whether she's aware of it or not."
"You're a really good friend Crème. I wish I could be that genuine."
"Oh you are June! And Claire loves you! She talks about you all the time." June beamed. "It's really good to know she has good friends like you here in Ponyville. And I don't think being scared of her sometimes makes you any less of a friend or any less genuine. I'm pretty sure I'm a rare case." She finished with a laugh.
June laughed with her. "Guess so." She said. Suddenly, Claire got up and started whimpering. "Claire? What's wrong?" June asked, noticing the odd behavior. Claire continued whimpering, backing up against a wall. Her tail thrashing wildly.
"I think her tongue's stuck in the bottle." Crème suggested. Claire started scratching on the bottle that hung from her mouth, signifying that Crème was correct.
"Well, we should probably help her." The dark pink earth pony said, starting towards Claire. Crème Held her back a bit, causing June to shoot her a curious look.
"Good friends would help her. Best friends would laugh at her for a while and then help her" She said, winking at June. June paused a moment, before realizing Crème was right.
"Good point."