A dragon from another land and a pony professor who has seen more than his fair share of students in his... above average lifetime. Will the two be able to handle the various tendencies of post-secondary magic students? Probably not.
Draco, the adopted brother of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, has been teaching at the Canterlot School of Gifted Unicorns for a long time. A really long time. He's had his fair share of mishaps, unruly students, prank fire drills, and more. Even so, none of those things could have prepared him for his new colleague: a dragon more than twice his size. When you put a seasoned teacher together with a dragon who seems to have appeared out of nowhere, what could possibly go wrong?
Of all of the things he could have received… of all the letters he could have gotten in the mail… out of every single unthinkable and unimaginable circumstance that could have happened…
This was, by far, the one he expected the least.
Professor Draco, the Professor of Elemental Magic at the Canterlot School of Gifted Unicorns, was not expecting this in the slightest. Of course, that’s not to say that he didn’t know he was receiving a Co-professor. He most certainly knew that. The piece of information that his adopted sister Celestia forgot to mention was who he was working with: a dragon.
“Does she not realize that her entire school is basically a five-star dragon buffet?” The gray stallion shook his head in exasperation, his black and white mane waving wildly. “She has to know what danger bringing a dragon in to teach is for her students, right?” Draco continued his frantic pacing across the floor of his soon-to-be shared classroom. Celestia had told him that his co-worker would be arriving around 12 o’clock. It was 11:55.
“His name…” Draco scratched his head softly. “What was his name… It started with a “Q” if I remember correctly. Professor King?” He shook his head. “No, that’s a ‘k,’ not a ‘q.’ Well, I suppose I’ll see soon enough.” As Draco made what was probably his fifth rotation around the length of the classroom, he heard a knock at the door.
“I suppose that’s him…There’s no sense in being a bad host, even if you’re hosting a dragon…” Draco made his way slowly to the dark brown mahogany door, trepidation clear cut on his muzzle. The horn that he’s had ever since he was a colt lit up with its familiar purple aura, allowing him to manipulate the brass doorknob. Slowly, very slowly, he pulled open the door revealing his new co-worker… or so he thought.
“Celestia?” Draco’s eyes widened so much he thought he would have been able to see in a pitch black room. Why was she here of all times? Didn’t he have a fellow professor to greet?
“Good morning, Professor Draco. I see you’ve been… quite preoccupied in getting ready for the arrival of our newest professor.” Celestia looked around the room, particularly at the grooves worn into the floor by Draco’s pacing. “I do like what you’ve done with the place. Nothing says ‘Welcome to Canterlot!’ like an empty room with a worried-to-death professor.” She paused for a moment. Suddenly, she brought gold-clad hoof up to gently smack herself in the muzzle. “Oh, buck. I forgot to give Luna the registration papers.” Celestia sighed softly in defeat.
“Celestia! Language, please! I know that you run the school and all, but what if the teachers heard you talk like that?” Draco knew that his adopted sister had a bit of a foul mouth, but never did he think she would let it show like that. Well, unless cake was involved, but that was a different matter entirely.
“Oh, come off of it, Draco.” She waved a hoof absentmindedly in his direction. “Besides, you’re the only one in the room. What’s the harm in that?”
“I’d rather not run the risk of cursing within a private school, for fear of who heard me.” Draco looked quickly from side to side, as if he were searching for some invisible eavesdropper hidden somewhere in the room. He moved over to Celestia’s side and brought a hoof up to the side of his mouth, whispering, “What if he had heard you?”
Celestia raised a single eyebrow. “And by ‘he’ I suppose you mean your new colleague?”
“Who else would I be referring to?” Draco sighed forlornly. “I… I just hope you know what you’re doing with this. Bringing a dragon to teach at a school of ponies? Many thought you had gone mad, you know.”
Celestia pointed her nose to the ceiling in defiance. “Let them think what they will think. It is no business of theirs to determine who I allow to teach in my school and who I do not. Quite frankly, I think a dragon would be a nice change of pace for the place.You know, increase diversity, and all that jazz.”
“Is that why you invited Changelings to take over the administrative office?”
“In my defense,” she replied stiffly, “I had eaten too much cake that day. There was no way I could have made a logical decision in that situation.”
Draco levelled a deadpan stare at her. “Uh huh.” That incident wasn’t the first time cake had impaired her sense of judgement.
“Honestly!” she cried out. “How was I supposed to know that they would just try to siphon all of the love that they could from the school? A great, generous, compassionate heart like mine could never refuse the needs of some-”
“There was a filly who asked for some of your birthday cake. You said no and ate the whole thing all by yourself.” Draco recalled the scene vividly. A six-foot-tall white Alicorn diving headfirst into a five-tier cake, demolishing it in the process. The image still plagued his nightmares, despite the continual intervention of Luna.
“Well would you look at the time! Sadly, it’s time for me to depart, dear brother of mine.” As Celestia made her way to the exit, Draco focused his attention the clock that resided behind his desk in the front of the classroom.
It read 11:59.
Draco sighed.
“Discord, show yourself. If you’re going to mess with reality, do it to where ponies won’t notice it immediately. Try something other than stopping time, will you?”
Moments after Draco spoke, a large cloud of confetti exploded from the middle of the classroom, revealing within it a tall, lithe creature formed of mismatched animal parts, such as a lion’s paw, an eagle’s talon, a goat’s hoof, and a raptor’s leg. This creature, a draconequus, was the only one of its kind, as Draco remembered from his studies of Equestrian history.
“You rang?” The creature, Discord as Draco had called him, pulled a multicolored and antique telephone out of thin air and proceeded to dial some nonsensical number. After holding the phone up to his ear for a couple of seconds, Discord hung it up and banished it to whatever dimension he retrieved it from. “Oh, come now Draco. You don’t look so happy.” Discord pinched Draco’s cheeks between his fingers like a grandmother would her grandchildren. “Didn’t you miss me?”
Draco glared at the trickster through half-lidded eyes. “I missed the peace and quiet I had when you were gone. Not so much you, though.”
“Ouch.” Discord recoiled as if he had been struck. “Your cold, cruel, callous words wound me far worse than any weapon could, my dear friend.”
Draco sighed in annoyance. Couldn’t he have a break from all the madness? “If I were truly a dear friend to you, you would let me have this final bit of respite before I meet the new professor.”
“Ah, yes. The new dragon in town.” Discord nodded sagely. “Speaking of him, he’s coming down the hallway. Have fun!” With that, he disappeared as quickly as he came.
“Don’t be afraid, Draco.” Draco gasped. With the sudden appearance of Discord, Draco had forgotten all about Celestia. “Have faith in yourself, brother. I certainly do.” She turned back to look at Draco and gave him a reassuring smile. She trotted out the door and down the hallway, out of sight.
“I guess it’s time to meet him… Discord was right. The new professor is definitely on his way to the class. I can hear his footsteps. He sounds… huge.” Draco took a long, deep breath. “I don’t think I can handle this. How am I going to keep order in a classroom alongside a giant dragon who I know nothing about? Come to think of it, does Celestia even know where he’s from?” Just then, Draco heard a knock at the door.
“I don’t think that’s Celestia this time,” Draco sighed. “It’s now or never. Let’s just… get this over with. Maybe he won’t be as bad as I think he will. Who knows? He might be a very nice, very civil dragon.” He paused as the knocking resumed. “I should get the door.”
And with that, Draco strode forward to door, surrounded the doorknob with his violet magic, and pulled.
The thought went through Draco’s mind faster than he could possibly imagine. The creature that stood before him was most certainly a dragon; that was indisputable. Draco’s real problem, however, was trying to identify what kind of dragon it was that stood in front of him. The dragon had long, smooth horns jutting out from either side of his head. His pale yellow scales reminded Draco of the constantly shifting sands of the Saddle Arabian Desert. A scar lay across his freckled snout; Draco concluded that he must have participated in some sort of battle before deciding to teach at the School. The only accessory he wore besides his plain black bow tie was a single, teardrop shaped amber earring in his left ear.
“You know, if you take a picture, it’ll last longer.”
“Huh?” Draco shook his head to break the trance he was in. So busy was he in analyzing the newcomer that he didn’t realize that he was staring at him the entire time. “Oh, sorry! I was just a bit… preoccupied, as it were.” Draco laughed sheepishly. “Oh, where are my manners? My name is Vovinna I. Draco, Professor of Elemental Magic at the Canterlot School of Gifted Unicorns. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister…”
The sand-colored dragon looked around the classroom for a moment, taking in its ordinary brown walls and multiple light fixtures. He studied the blank chalkboard behind Draco’s desk, calmly noting the lack of any sort of writing on its surface. The dragon nodded his head slowly, turning back around to face Draco.
“Nice classroom you’ve got here,” he said as he proceeded to take a seat on the floor. “Do you think I can get a desk like yours?”
Draco blinked. Once, twice, then three times in succession. A desk? Why ask for a teacher’s desk now of all times? I mean, of course he can, but he didn’t answer my question. How am I supposed to properly greet him if I don’t even know his name? “Uh, well, of course we can get you a desk, but… would you mind terribly if I could have your name?”
“Certainly. My name is…” The dragon’s eyes suddenly widened as he quickly turned to glance at the clock, which read 12:10. He suddenly shot up from his seat on the hardwood floor, quickly making his way to the door.
“Oh, no. This is most certainly not good. I’m afraid that we’re going to have to put our little name exchange on hold for a while. I forgot that the orientation for new teachers was being held today." The dragon flashed a smile as he hurried his way to the door. "We’ll have a chat later, though. Take care!” Faster than what Draco would have ever thought possible for a creature of his size, the dragon was racing down the hallway.
Draco sighed deeply, quickly realizing the dragon's folly. “Orientation is in the lunchroom. He ran in the complete opposite direction. At this rate, he’ll never make it to the meeting on time.” Draco shook his head sadly. A moment later, the heavy thud of footsteps met his ears. Rushing forward, Draco hurried to open the classroom door to try and find the source of the disturbance.
It was none other than the new professor, running down the hallway as if his life depended on it. As he passed Draco’s (and now, his) classroom, he yelled, “I can’t believe I went the wrong way! I am so going to be late now!” The heavy footsteps faded away as the dragon turned the corner of the hall at a breakneck pace.
Draco blinked, sighed, and turned to walk towards his desk. He sat down in the padded leather cushion, which had gilded golden edges: a gift from Celestia for his first year of teaching at the school. His head slowly made its way down to connect with the cold embrace of the solid hardwood desk. Draco let loose a long, winded groan.
“This is going to be a long day for me, isn’t it?”
After leaving his head on his desk for a good thirty minutes, Draco finally stood up.
“That was certainly unexpected. How could he forget about orientation?” Draco began pacing back and forth. “He could have at least asked me for help before running off into a school he knew nothing about. I wonder if he even thought to bring his belongings in…” Draco took a quick glance around the room. There were no boxes to be spoken of, nor any bags for that matter. The new professor didn’t seem to possess any of the items or knick-knacks or small pieces of furniture that many teachers kept in a classroom.
“This is strange… Surely he brought something with him. Maybe he left it in the hall?” Draco trotted over to the door and pulled it open with his magic. As he checked outside in the hallway, he finally noticed two boxes that were labeled “Professor Q.” The boxes themselves were not very large; they could maybe hold a small filly or two. Draco surrounded them in his violet magic and levitated them into the classroom.
As he set the boxes down beside his desk, Draco noticed a shuffling sound from one of them. It was the kind of sound that only paper made, he noticed. He moved towards the box, his curiosity piqued. He took the lid of box in his magic magic and set it to the side, revealing the contents of the container.
“Are these… his files?” Draco stared at the manila folder in puzzlement. What sort of teacher brought their files to the classroom with them? All of the teachers’ personal information was keep in the administration office. How did this new professor get the idea to keep them with him? They had no use in a classroom, save giving the students something to laugh at once they discovered an embarrassing secret, like a record of overdosing on cake. Then again, nopony had that problem but Celestia.
“Wait a minute… if these are his files, then his name must be in here somewhere!” Draco surrounded the folder in his magic and began rifling through its contents with renewed vigor. “Let’s see here… huh, it doesn’t seem like he has any sort of recorded age in here. Any recorded history, for that matter. Why would Celestia let this completely unknown dragon teach at her school?” Draco shrugged helplessly. “Makes no sense to me at all.”
Draco continued his search through his colleague’s files, finding all sorts of inconsequential information in the process, such as known allergies, height, weight (Draco thought he was a bit on the chubby side, and the files confirmed this), eye color, and more. There was even a sheet dedicated to miscellaneous information, such as his favorite food and drinks.
“Seriously? A page dedicated to some of the most trivial facts about him and no vital information? Where did Celestia even get this? This is absolutely ridiculous.” Draco brought the sheet up to his face for closer inspection. “Hm…” He scratched his chin absentmindedly with a hoof. “It says here that his favorite food is a fresh Caesar Salad. It also says he enjoys sweet tea with a wedge of lemon on the side. I suppose I could make him a pitcher of lemonade as a gift. He may be a dragon, but that doesn’t mean I have to be rude to him.” Draco suddenly stopped and shook his head. “Wait, focus. You’re getting off topic, Draco. Name, I’m looking for his name… Ah! Here we are!" he proclaimed proudly. "It says here that his name is…”
“My name is Qibli, second Professor of Elemental Magic at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns, at your service.” Draco jumped ten feet straight into the air at the sound of the unexpected voice. The dragon, or, Professor Qibli as Draco now knew him to be, raised a single scaly eyebrow at the pony. The dragon’s eyes went from Draco, to the manila folder lying on the ground, and then back to Draco. “Is there any particular reason as to why you were going through my files?”
“Uh, w- well, you see...” Draco stuttered uselessly. Being caught in the act did wonders for his inarticulation. He tried in vain to attempt to talk normally, but the shaky tone in voice refused to die down. “Um, I was just… organizing them! Yes, that is exactly what I was doing.” He glanced from side to side, anywhere but at Professor Qibli. “Yes, organizing them.” He nodded rapidly.
“...right. I see.” Professor Qibli strolled leisurely towards Draco, forcing him to back up in the process. Suddenly, his flank connected with the wall; he had no more room to retreat. Draco was visibly sweating. Who wouldn’t be? When a huge dragon had you cornered in an empty classroom, not many ponies would have the bravery to face it. Draco gulped as Professor Qibli brought his head level with his.
“You didn’t see anything… unbecoming of me in there, right?” The way he spoke, Draco thought, was reminiscent of the way somepony spoke when they had nothing to hide, yet they relished in the discomfort of others. It reminded him a bit of Discord. Regardless, Draco had to answer somehow.
“O- of course not!" Draco said as he shook his head. "School records do not contain any sort of... ‘unbecoming’ information at all. Here at the School, we take all teacher applications very seriously. If an applicant possessed anything of the sort, they wouldn’t be accepted.” Draco smiled nervously, hoping that his answer would be sufficient.To the pony’s dismay, instead of backing away, Professor Qibli brought his face even closer.
“That’s good.” Professor Qibli closed his eyes for a moment, giving Draco a brief respite from his piercing gaze. It was almost as the dragon could see right through him, despite Draco’s evident attempts at a cover-up. No matter how hard he tried, Draco couldn’t help but feel nervous as he waited for Professor Qibli to reopen his eyes.
“Well, as they say, ‘no harm, no foul.’ As long as you didn’t see anything you weren’t supposed to, I’m fine with a bit of snooping around.” The dragon turned around and began to walk away from Draco, giving him a chance to catch the breath he had been holding. “Although… next time, could you just wait until I come back before taking such drastic measures?”
“Of course,” Draco confirmed. “I just didn’t want to have to stand around and wait for you to come back without even knowing your name. It seemed sort of… wrong to me.”
Professor Qibli shot Draco a sly smile. “More wrong than going through my personal records, huh?” Draco's face reddened slightly at the playful accusation, the emerging blush showing clearly against his gray coat. Qibli saw the rose-cheeked pony and smiled even wider. “Aw, am I making you blush? I didn’t know I had that effect on ponies,” he teased.
“I am NOT blushing,” Draco retorted. “It’s just… awfully hot in here. Yes, that’s it. The temperature in the room is causing this, and most certainly not you.” Draco fervently hoped that dragons couldn’t see through lies. It would do him no good to let the dragon see that he was getting the best of him.
“Sure you aren’t.” Qibli rolled his eyes. “It’s okay, Professor Draco. I understand how hard it must be being stuck in a classroom with such a droll, boring dragon such as myself.” Draco watched silently as Professor Qibli waxed melodramatic. He brought a scaly claw up to rest against his against his forehead, leaning backwards in fake pain. “Oh! Woe is me, to be so dreadfully boring! How could I allow myself to be upstaged by a thermostat? To think that it, not me, was the cause of this cute pony’s blushing… Heaven forfend!”
Did… did he just call me ‘cute?’ Draco shook his head in disbelief. Celestia really knows how the pick the weird ones out of the bunch. This is almost as bad as that time when she… no, never mind. Nothing could ever be as bad as that.
“I suppose it can’t be helped,” sighed Qibli as he returned to his normal posture, acting as is his dramatic monologue had never happened. “Not many dragons I know could stand up against the might of a thermostat.” The dragon paused as the sound of his belly grumbling brought his attention to his current predicament: lunch. “Oh, would you look at that. It would seem that my performance has brought on quite the appetite.” Qibli turned to look at Draco, who was still recovering from being called cute by a complete stranger. “Would you care for lunch, Professor Draco?”
Draco’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates.
There’s no way… he didn’t just… did he just ask me out for lunch? Draco didn’t know what to think. First this weird dragon called him cute, then he asked him if he wanted lunch? Draco’s day just seemed to keep getting stranger and stranger by the minute. Well, if you want to get to know someone better, a good start is to have lunch with them, right? That applies to dragons too... I think.
“Uh… Professor Draco? Are you coming?” Draco blinked as the dragon’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. Qibli turned from his task of making sure the room was prepared for their exit to look at Draco. “I’ve already started locking the doors. Cut off the lights on your way out, would you? I’ll be waiting in the hallway.” After checking the doors, Professor Qibli started his trek down the dimly lit hallways of the closing school.
Draco sighed. “I’m coming, Professor Qibli! Just give me a minute,” he shouted down the hallway. His black overcoat lit up in his violet magic as he lifted it from its position on the coat rack and brought it rest on his back. He double checked the locks on the doors and used his magic to retrieve the pouch of bits he kept in his desk. “I doubt he has any Equestrian currency,” Draco said as he made his way to the door. He walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. “Hopefully, this will work out for the best…” Draco set off at a brisk pace to catch up to his hasty colleague as they both made their way out of the School.
After a few seconds of galloping down the empty halls of the school, Draco caught up to Professor Qibli in short order. The sand-colored dragon was taking his time exiting the school grounds, admiring the cultivated hedges and magnificent statues that adorned the ground. Upon hearing Draco’s hooves clattering on the stone pathway that led out of the school, Professor Qibli turned around to greet Draco with a pearly-white smile.
“Oh, I just love the decorations in this place! Such lovely statues! Such lovely horticultural expertise!” The dragon spun in a wide circle, taking in everything around him. After completing his rotation, Professor Qibli turned again to look at Draco, his face lit up with unrestrained joy. “Isn’t this amazing scenery just lovely?”
“Uh, I suppose it is, yes,” Draco said, a small frown marring his face. “It’s just not as special to me. I mean, I have been teaching here for five years now. You get used to it after that long.”
Professor Qibli gasped in fake horror. “Me? Get tired of these works of art? Perish the thought! I could never tire of the beauty of this school’s courtyard. The audacity of such a thought, really!”
Draco stared blankly at Professor Qibli as he tried to process the dragon’s heart filled defense of the appearance of the school grounds. “...right. Anyways, Professor Qibli, if we want to get lunch, we’ll need to hurry up before the best seats are taken.”
“Oh, please, just call me Qibli. We’re colleagues after all.” The dragon slipped up to Draco’s side and threw an arm around the pony’s shoulder. “We’re friends, right? And the rule of friendship is that true friends don’t use titles. I insist, just call me Qibli, alright?” Qibli winked at Draco as if he was trying to convince him of something else other of just calling each other by first names.
Draco shrugged. “Sure, why not. So, Qibli, we need to hurry up and get into town before we lose any chance of getting a seat.” Draco turned away from the dragon and started walking towards the front gate. “Shall we be going?”
“Walking?” Qibli asked, frowning all the while. “Oh, no no no. Walking would take way too long, my dear Draco. We must-”
Draco shook his head, blinking in confusion. “Wait, what did you just call me? It sounded like you said dear-”
“Like I was saying before I was interrupted by a certain unicorn, we must fly to make it on time!” As he said this, Qibli’s wings snapped open, revealing them to the open sunlight. Draco inspected his wings, noting that there were no tears in the thin membrane, indicating that Qibli took very good care of them. That did not, however, make Draco any more ready to fly on the dragon’s back.
“While I certainly appreciate your kind offer, Qibli, it’s really not necessary to fly to our destination.” Draco used his magic to pull a pocket watch out of his coat, looking at it inquisitively. “Judging by this, we still have plenty of time to make it. What’s the rush?”
“Well, there’s no rush, really. I just thought that you might have wanted to see how the city looks from the sky.” Qibli shrugged, sighing as he turned away from Draco. “After all, you must not get to see very much since you’re so… short.”
“What?!” Draco cried out. “I’m not short! I’m taller than most stallions my age, thank you very much!” Just what does he think he’s getting at by calling me short? Draco thought to himself. It’s not the fact that I’m short. It’s just that he’s… really tall.
“Really?” Qibli asked, disbelief clear in his voice. “You don’t look like it. I’ve seen at least four other ponies taller than you. Are you sure that you’re not just really short?”
Draco huffed in annoyance, scraping his hoof against the ground in irritation. “I. Am. Not. Short! What part of that do you not understand?”
“Well, you’ll always be short in my eyes, at least.” He flashed a cheeky grin at the pony, showing off his rows of white teeth. “That has to count for something right?”
“Whatever,” replied Draco as he walked away from the smiling dragon. “Call me whatever you want. Let’s just hurry up, alright?” Draco paused to look at the time again. “Oh, great. Now we are running late, thanks to your antics.” He fixed the dragon with a piercing glare. “Any ideas on how to get there on time now?”
Somehow, the Qibli’s smile got even wider as the displayed his massive wings again. He crouched low to the ground, stretching a leg out towards Draco. “Hop on! You’re up for some flying from an expert aviator, right?”
“Oh, goodness,” Draco sighed. He had to face the facts. If they still wanted to make it to lunch on time, flying on the Qibli's back was the only way to do so. Draco reluctantly began making his way up the makeshift ramp of Qibli’s foreleg, noting the smooth texture of his scales. He settled himself on the dragon’s back, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible before the dreaded flight. As he got still, Draco felt Qibli push himself up from his crouching position.
“All set back there?” Qibli asked as he swiveled his neck to face the pony. Draco gave a quick nod to signal his confirmation. “All right, here we go!” With a flap of his wings and a might jump, Qibli took off into the evening sky, veering towards the city of Canterlot.
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“I’m not flying with you ever again.”
“Come on. It wasn’t that bad. You’re just over-exaggerating. The flight went perfectly fine. I mean, we made it, didn’t we?”
“You almost crashed into a building.”
“Hey! That building almost crashed into me!
“Not to mention the fact that you didn’t even bother asking for directions.”
“In my defense, it’s really your fault that you didn’t tell me beforehand. So, hah! Score one for Qibli!”
Draco dragged a hoof down his face as he tried to retain his patience. “Ok, fine. It’s my fault. Can we just get going before we lose any chance we have of getting a good seat?”
“Certainly.” Qibli bowed low with dramatic flair and gestured with a claw for Draco to take the lead. “After you, my good pony professor. Lunch awaits us!”
“Of course it does. Just follow me and don’t get lost, alright? Canterlot is a pretty big city, you know.” Draco began walking down the road that they had landed in, making his way towards the restaurant that he had in mind for their lunch. As they saw the huge dragon following behind Draco, ponies both left and right got out of the way of the duo. Draco noticed that they all seemed surprised at the sight of Draco’s draconic companion, but overall showed no fear in the presence of a dragon.
In a short amount of time, the pony and dragon reached Draco’s desired restaurant. It was a medium-sized building with a brick exterior, large enough to hold a plethora of hungry ponies. The savory scent of oven-baked pizza drifted from inside as Draco and Qibli approached the door, making their mouths water in anticipation of freshly-made pizza. Sadly, there was just one problem…
“Uh, I hate to burst your bubble, Draco, but it doesn’t look like this place is dragon-sized.” Qibli tried to stick his head through the door to look inside the establishment, but was stopped by the door suddenly swinging open. A pony with a red delivery outfit and a box of pizza placed on his back stepped out of the restaurant. He jumped in shock as he almost ran straight into Qibli’s snout. He muttered an apology and ran off to take care of his business.
“Huh.” Qibli stared at the delivery-pony as he hurried along down the road. “You ponies aren’t fazed by anything, are you?”
“We’ve had a lot of practice. When you’ve had as many love-stealing and chaos-bringing villains as we’ve had, a dragon is nothing to flinch at.” Draco checked the door to see if anypony was exiting the building before walking forward. “You may not be able to fit inside, but I think an outside table will do just fine, right?”
“Sounds good to me,” Qibli replied. “Ooh, try to get one of the fancy tables with umbrellas, eh? I love those kinds of tables.”
“Uh, yeah. I’ll definitely try. I’ll be back in a moment, so just wait here okay?”
Qibli waved off the pony’s concern. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine. Just go and get one of those umbrella tables for us. I’ll be waiting out here, I promise.” To add to the effect, Qibli put on his best set of baby-doll eyes, even bringing his claws together at his chest. “You do trust me, don’t you, Draco?”
“Fine, yes, I trust you. Just… stop with the weird looks.” The pony opened the door of the pizzeria and walked in. “Honestly, those eyes are sorta unnerving…” he muttered under his breath.
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“Now that is what I call a delicious pizza!” Qibli declared. Ever since he had left the pizzeria with Draco, all he had been doing was going on about how great their meal was. Draco didn’t mind the excessive praise too much, but he was starting to get worn out. Not just from Qibli, but also from the work he had to do at the School from earlier in the day. Needless to say, he was ready to go home and get some much-deserved rest.
“Well, Qibli, this is where we part for today,” Draco stated. “I assume that Celestia- I mean, Princess Celestia has given you some sort of accommodations for tonight?”
“Oh, of course! Here, she gave me this scroll with the address of my living quarters.” He handed the scroll over to Draco for him to read. It had Celestia’s royal seal, confirming its legitimacy. Qibli looked at Draco expectantly. “You wouldn’t happen to know where this is, would you?”
“Of course I would!” Draco proclaimed proudly. “This is where I’ve lived all my life. Let’s see here… it says here that you’ll be staying at…”
Draco dropped the scroll in shock.
“Huh? What’s the matter?” Qibli asked. “Are you alright? You don’t look so good.”
“You- you’re… you’re staying…” Draco tried to stop stuttering over his words, but he just couldn’t believe what he had read on the scroll. Even though he tried to deny it, Draco knew that what was written on the scroll was true.
“What is it, Draco?” Qibli shook the pony to try and bring him out of his stupor. “I’m not being sent to live in dungeon, am I? Personally, I think that would be quite mean of her.”
“You’re not being sent to the dungeon.” Draco took in a deep breath as he readied himself mentally to say those words, those four words that would seal his fate with this dragon that he’s only known for one day now. He mustered up his will, looked calmly at Qibli, and said:
Draco took a deep breath and, with a great effort, forced himself to open the door to his home. His living quarters weren’t flashy or extravagant, as he didn’t like to openly flaunt his status as the adopted brother of the Two Sisters, but here and there you could see the signs of his nobility, such as the beautiful handcrafted vases and his personal favorite - the picture of him, Celestia, and Luna somehow fitting into a photo booth in order to get a souvenir from their trip to Haytona Beach. Of course, he could have chosen to live in the castle, but he didn’t exactly enjoy the close proximity in which the castle brought him to the Canterlot nobles; they weren’t his favorite group of ponies to be around.
Following him into the house was Qibli, who had no trouble entering thanks to the enlarged door frame he had added in order to allow his sisters to walk through the doors instead of teleporting in like they used to. The dragon looked around in open curiosity at the charming living arrangements that his host had set up, noting the different entryways and openings to different rooms that he could see from the front door. After a moment, he turned to look at Draco, the cheery light in his eyes not dimming even for a second.
“What a lovely home you have, Draco!” Qibli exclaimed in amazement. “I simply adore what you’ve done with the place. Artisan pottery, a charming and rustic kitchen, real hardwood tables, the somewhat disconcerting arcane glow coming from the basement… You just have it all, don’t you?” Qibli paused for a moment and brought his claw to his chin in consideration. “You wouldn’t happen to have any wine, would you?”
“Wine?” Draco shook his head to make sure he was hearing the dragon correctly. “Yes, I do have some imported wines in the wine cellar, but if you don’t mind me asking, why do you all of a sudden have the taste for wine?” It never occurred to him that Qibli might drink every so often, but the dragon’s sudden request for a drink took Draco by surprise.
Responding to Draco’s question, Qibli displayed his pearly white teeth in a somewhat mischievous, if not charming, smile. “My dear, sweet, Draco, have you ever heard the term ‘alcohol loosens the tongue?’ Qibli asked innocently.
“Well, of course I have,” replied Draco, looking more than a little bit uncomfortable at the dragon’s choice for his nickname. He tried to look past it and answer his question. “It’s hard to pick and choose what you want to say when you’re inebriated,” he said as he shot a mock glare at the still-grinning dragon. “And that goes doubly for smooth-tongued dragons.”
“I think I’ll keep that in mind.” Qibli glanced at the wooden clock that was mounted on the wall in the living room. The beautifully crafted hands of the clock showed that it was about ten minutes until seven o’clock. Just outside, the radiant glow of the impending sunset lit up the streets of Canterlot’s residential district. Qibli strode over to one of the windows by the doorway to get a better look.
“Oh, wow…” Qibli breathed in amazement as he turned to look at Draco, curiosity showing clearly on his expression. “Does the sunset always look this lovely in Canterlot?”
Draco took a moment to ponder the question, thinking back on all of the sunsets that he’s seen Celestia bring forth. “Unless she isn’t feeling well, Celestia tries her best to make every sunset just as magnificent as the last one. Luna does the same for the moon. If you feel like waiting for a bit, she should be raising it in about an hour or so.”
“Speaking of your sister…” Qibli began. “How come I didn’t see her at all today? I know that it’s Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but don’t you think that Princess Luna would have made an appearance as well?”
Draco laughed at the innocent question. The dragon’s confused stare made it even more enjoyable. “Well, you see, Qibli, Princess Luna wasn’t awake back when we were at the school. In fact, she wasn’t awake at all for most of today.”
Draco thought that Qibli’s jaw was going to hit the floor at that. The dragon’s eyes were as wide as saucers, and he kept opening and closing his mouth, trying and failing to comprehend how a leader of the country could get away with staying in bed all day.
“So, you mean to say… She’s allowed to sleep all day?” Qibli asked in shock. “B-but! She’s the princess! Surely she does something, right?”
Draco dismissed his concern with a wave of his hoof. “Of course she does, Qibli. She just doesn’t do it during the day. Princess Luna is the Princess of the Night. Dreams, nightmares, and most things that happen under the moonlight are what she has domain over.” Draco walked over to one of the windows and pointed a hoof towards Luna’s tower. “The reason why she’s been sleeping all day is because she’s nocturnal” he explained.
“Oh, I see!” Qibli nodded, a triumphant smile displaying his blade-like teeth. “Of course, I knew that. I was only checking to make sure you knew your princesses’ habits as well as you should.” Qibli was too busy attempting to cover up his lack of knowledge of Equestrian culture to notice the deadpan glare that Draco was sending his way.
Draco sighed, giving up any attempt to stop the celebrating dragon. “Well, I’ve told you a bit about Equestria-”
“You mean you were enlightened on the sleeping habits of Equestrian royalty by your devilishly handsome assistant teacher?”
Draco glared at the smug dragon as he tried to recall what he was about to say before he was interrupted. “Like I was saying, since I've given you a little bit of insight into the workings of Equestria, why don’t you tell me how things work from where you come from?”
In an instant, the cheery smile disappeared from Qibli’s face, replaced by a nervous grin and shifty eyes. “Uh, why would you want to know anything about where I’m from?” he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “There’s nothing special about Pyrrh- I mean, uh…”
“What was that?” Draco brought himself closer to Qibli to try and make out what the reluctant dragon had said just a second ago. “It sounded like you said Pyre… Celestia didn’t find you burning at the stake, did she?”
“Uh, yes! She did, actually!” Qibli kept fidgeting in his spot, refusing to meet Draco’s eyes for anything in the world. “You know us dragons, heh. We love to just… light ourselves on fire. It’s very good for the scales if done regularly.” Qibli finally met Draco’s intense gaze, trying to cover up his discomfort with a fake smile.
Yeah, I don’t believe this for a second. No dragon that I’ve ever known has said anything about burning their own scales for comfort. Draco observed the uneasy dragon, watching as kept fidgeting in his spot. He’s definitely trying to hide something, but what? What reason does he have for covering up his past?
Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Draco backed away from the nervous dragon. “Well, if you say so, I guess.” He shrugged, letting the issue drop for the moment. Qibli seemed to visibly relax at that, sighing in genuine relief.
“In any occasion,” Draco began, “I should show you to where you’ll be sleeping. Luckily, I always have two Alicorn-sized guestrooms available in case Celestia or Luna decide to spend the night, or day as it is with Luna.” Draco walked down one of the hallways that led further into the house, Qibli following in his footsteps. They quickly reached two matching doors, one on either side of the hallway. Draco opened the one on the left and ushered Qibli inside.
“This is the room that Celestia typically uses, but I don’t think that she would mind if you borrow it until I can get you a more permanent accommodation” Draco explained. The room was rather lavishly furnished, complete with a queen-sized bed made of polished wood a variety of shelves, dressers, and wardrobes for storing clothes and other accessories. A portion of the ceiling was made of glass, allowing the pale moonlight to trickle into the room.
As Qibli took in all there was to see, he noticed an entryway at the eastern end of the guestroom. “Hey, Draco,” he said, pointing at the doorway to get the pony’s attention. “Where does that lead?”
“Oh, that’s just the bathroom,” Draco replied. “There’s also a large-sized bath in there, so feel free to take a moment to relax if you ever get the chance. We might not get that opportunity now that we have to get a lesson plan worked out. Hmm…” Draco stuck his tongue out in concentration. “Today is Saturday, so I think if we take a bit of time out of Sunday we can get most of it figured out. Sounds good to you?”
“I guess it’s a date then!” Qibli replied. Draco stood completely still as he stared at the smiling dragon, eyes wide open as he processed what Qibli had said.
“Did… did you just say… ‘a date?’” Draco asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, a teacher planning date,” Qibli said nonchalantly. “You know, those kinds of dates where you and your cute teacher friend go and plot all of the different ways you can confuse your students with strange and difficult lessons… that sort of thing. Sounds fun, right?”
“Uh, yeah… why not.” Draco turned around and headed for the door. “Anyways, I’ll see you in the morning Qibli. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow, so make sure to get plenty rest.”
“Yes, mother,” Qibli sighed. “I’ll be good tonight…”
Although he shook his head at the dragon’s antics, Draco had to admit that they did make him laugh. He bade Qibli good night once more and headed to his own room for some well-deserved rest.
Qibli awoke bright and early the next day, stretching himself out like a cat in the bright rays of the golden morning sun. He yawned loudly as he remembered the events of the previous day, particularly the agreement between him and his teaching colleague about the teacher planning date that they were meant to schedule. A cheery grin crept onto his face as fleeting daydreams danced around in his head, each one a possible scenario of how today could go for him and the pony professor.
“Hmm…” Qibli mused to himself. “No, I think it’s a bit too early for us to go gallivanting happily off into the sunset, but that would make an interesting story to tell Moon and the others whenever I find my way back to Pyrrhia.” The grin slowly faded from his face as he considered this. “Well, hopefully I’ll be able to get back. If not, I’m sure they’ll find a way to get me out of this… Equestria, or whatever it is.”
After taking a quick bath and fixing the sheets on the bed, Qibli stepped out into the hallway where he was met with the pleasant scent of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. Curiosity and appetite aroused, the dragon quickly made his way towards the source of the wonderful smell, being extra careful not to knock over any of Draco’s probably-expensive pottery in his haste. When he finally made it to the kitchen, after making one or two wrong turns in the process, he was met with an interesting sight.
There, with his mane done up in a neat bun, stood Draco, who was managing two different sizzling pans with a skilled show of magic. The pony began whistling a merry tune as he added a pinch of salt to the pan on his right. A fork surrounded in purple magic stirred the pan’s contents around, ensuring that the newly added salt didn’t simply amass in one place. Qibli smiled as he watched Draco go about the task of making breakfast, finally deciding to make his presence known to the unsuspecting pony.
“Oh, Draco!” At the mention of his name, Draco jumped slightly in surprise as he realized who it was who had called him. Qibli raised a claw to his muzzle, opting to try and hide some of his laughter instead of just openly giggling at the pony’s startled reaction. “You wouldn’t happen to be making breakfast for just the two us, would you?” Qibli asked.
“Oh! Well…” Draco rubbed a hoof against the back of his neck, looking towards the floor rather than the dragon in front of him. “I just thought... maybe a nice meal would be a good way to welcome you to Canterlot.” Draco finally looked up at Qibli, grinning sheepishly all the while. “I may not be the best cook in the city, but I can definitely whip up a mean plate of haybacon and eggs!”
Qibli’s face clouded with confusion. “Haybacon?” he asked. “Sounds kinda weird… what is it?”
“Oh,” Draco began, “haybacon is just strips of hay that have been fried in order to get the texture and flavor that it has.” He surrounded one of the strips with his magic and floated it over to Qibli for inspection. “It’s often times paired up with eggs for a traditional breakfast here in Equestria. Why don’t you try a piece?”
As Qibli reached for the strip of haybacon, he didn’t see the mischievous grin that had formed on Draco’s face. Right before the dragon had the piece of food in his grasp, Draco flung it into the air, out of the reach of Qibli’s claws. “Oops! Looks like my magic, uh… slipped…” Draco said, trying his best to feign shock in his voice.
Qibli gasped in horror as he watched the piece of fried hay sailed through the air. He thought about trying to run and catch the flying food before it hit the floor, but he knew that he was too big to try and maneuver around all of the furniture in Draco’s house. With that option gone, he only had one choice left.
“I really hope this works, Turtle…” he murmured to himself. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the falling piece of haybacon. Draco looked on in quiet surprise as the piece of food was surrounded a field of light red magic.
“So you can use magic,” Draco began. He slowly walked towards the stock-still dragon, observing the stability in which he employed the telekinesis spell. “I was beginning to wonder if you had any magic to speak of at all,” he said as he paced around the dragon. “Of course, it would stand that Celestia wouldn’t employ you as a teacher of her school had you not possessed any magical capabilities, but as you probably don’t know, the dragons of Equestria very rarely have magic.”
Draco came to a halt in front of Qibli, noting the dragon’s stubborn refusal to look directly at him. The piece of haybacon still floated idly in the air beside Qibli, hovering gently in the red glow of his magic. Draco glanced briefly at it, then cast a spell to dissipate it into thin air. With nothing to focus his magic on, Qibli finally brought his eyes forward to meet Draco’s.
“So, you say that Equestrian dragons don’t normally have magic, eh?” Qibli tried to keep his voice calm, but every moment or so it wavered unsteadily. “I guess I’m just, uh… really lucky?” he laughed sheepishly.
Draco wasn’t buying it. He strode right up to the dragon, leveling a cool glare at him. “You were either extremely lucky, or, as I’m sure it is, your glowing earring had something to do with it.” Qibli froze, the color of his face seeming to drain away.
Oh, this is not good. Qibli’s eyes darted left and right as he searched for a way out of his current predicament. I didn’t think that the dragons of this land were so magically inept. This is definitely not going well in my favor.
Draco’s unwavering gaze intensified further. He knew he had Qibli in the corner with no way to escape. “So, it was your earring that allowed you use magic… Interesting.” He grew quiet as he took a moment to wonder about the properties of Qibli’s jewelry that allowed to so easily control magic. “Would you care to explain to me how your earring works?”
Qibli sighed, recognizing that there was no room for him to try and avoid the pony’s questioning. “A friend of mine enchanted my earring for me. He said it would allow me to use a portion of his power, although I didn’t think I’d be able to use it so easily” Qibli managed to cover up Turtle’s existence as an Animus Dragon, but he didn’t think the title would mean much to Draco anyway.
“Enchanted…” Draco muttered to himself as he drew a hoof idly across his chin. “That would explain why you can use magic, but do you have any knowledge of spells outside of simple telekinesis?”
“Well,” Qibli began. “That may have been the first time I’ve tried levitation, but it’s definitely not the first time I’ve used magic.” He looked off to the right as he remembered the different feats of magic that he’s tried with his earring. “There was this one time where I managed to turn an apple into a pear, but I don’t think that might be important.
Draco gasped at the dragon’s complete dismissal of the magic that he used. “Y-you’ve already performed transmutation?” Draco stuttered. Transmutation was, at the very least, one of the most difficult forms of magic that a unicorn (or dragon in this case) could perform. The fact that Qibli had done it without even realizing it attested to the strength of his enchanted jewelry.
“Uh, I guess?” Qibli scratched the back of his neck with a claw. “I wasn’t really thinking much of it at the time. Is transmutation supposed to be difficult?”
“Transmutation is very difficult,” Draco acknowledged. He resumed his thoughtful pacing. “It normally takes a unicorn years of studying and practice to even transmute iron into steel, and yet, here you are, able to transmute living objects without the slightest difficulty. So I must ask, how much magic did your friend store into the earring?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Qibli shrugged. He was maintaining his composure on the outside, but on the inside, he was struggling to keep it together. How much magic did Turtle put into it? If he put in too much of his Animus powers, he’ll lose his soul… I hope he doesn’t end up like that Seawing, Albatross… He shook himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention back on the pony standing in front of him.
“Without any doubt, I think it’s safe to say that it must have been quite a bit of magic.” He took one more curious glance at the earring, then at the dragon it belonged to. “As long as you don’t try anything too taxing, that earring should serve you well. You’ll need it if you’re going to help me teach, at any rate.” Qibli sighed in relief as he was finally released from the grip of the pony’s searching gaze.
Draco casually trotted back into the kitchen, picking up the forgotten eggs and haybacon strips in his violet magic and retrieving two plates from the cabinet above the stove. He placed a hearty amount of food on both dishes and set them both on the kitchen table, one plate in front of him and the other beside him. He looked towards the dragon, who was still standing in the living room, seemingly lost in his thoughts.
“Hey, are you coming?” He asked Qibli, who turned and faced him, confusion written plainly on his face. Draco gestured with a hoof at the Alicorn-sized chair beside him. “You might want to hurry up and eat, or the food might get cold.”
“Ah, now that hit the spot!” Qibli hummed in pleasant enjoyment of the warm sensation that being full brought him. Draco’s home-cooked breakfast didn’t last long against the onslaught of a famished dragon. “Hey, Draco!” Qibli called out to the pony, who was busy putting the used dishes in the sink. “How did you ever learn to cook like that?”
Draco went silent for a moment, the sound of his magic fading away as he gently lowered the plate he was holding in his magic onto the kitchen counter. “Well, most of what I know about cooking comes from my mother and father. The rest I know from experience.” He chuckled as he remembered all of the failed attempts he had made just from trying to make a simple casserole. Images of the burnt remains that lay in his first attempt at cooking resurfaced, reminding him of how far he had come in his culinary endeavors.
“Anyway,” Draco began, “now that breakfast is out of the way, we can start on the real task at hoof.” His horn radiated with the violet glow of his magic as he summoned a small notebook from somewhere. Qibli could clearly see the words “Lesson Plans” written on the white sticker on the front of the notebook.
“Ah, yes!” Qibli rubbed his claws together in anticipation. “ Our teacher’s planning date! We should hurry up and get started so that we’ll have the lesson plan ready for tomorrow, don’t you think?”
Draco didn’t hear any of that last bit. His mind was still stuck on the word “date.” That one, single word that Qibli insisted upon calling their time to plan lessons for class. Why was that dragon so determined to turn this simple get-together into a seemingly romantic event? It’s not as if he liked Draco, right?
Right?
Draco shook himself out of the mess that was his thoughts, only to realize that Qibli was no longer seated at the dining room table. A quick glance towards the living room revealed the dragon in question, who was lounging about on the plush couch. Noticing that Draco was staring at him, Qibli patted the space beside him on the couch, motioning for Draco to come over.
“C’mon, Draco!” Qibli said as he continued gesturing for the pony to join him on the couch. “I don’t bite… most of the time, at least.”
“Yeah… of course you don’t.” Nevertheless, Draco acquiesced to Qibli’s insistent pleading, trotting over to the couch, the notebook in tow, and sitting down beside the dragon. Draco would have sworn that he felt Qibli shuffle over a few inches to be closer to him, but he decided to play it off as a trick of the mind.
What he couldn’t deny, however, was the fact that Qibli decided to wrap a wing around his shoulders, pulling him in even closer. Close enough to where Draco could feel the dragon’s internal fire raging through his scales. Draco felt heat beginning to rise into his cheeks, and it wasn’t because of Qibli’s inner fire.
Well, this a little closer than I would have liked, but I have to admit. The heat from his scales does feel lovely… I don’t think he’d mind if I stayed here for a while… Draco smiled as the gentle heat from the dragon’s body suffused him with a pleasant warmth. His eyes slowly began to close as he began drifting off, all previous hesitation about being so close to Qibli forgotten as he started falling asleep.
. . .
“Getting comfortable, are we?”
Draco’s eyes shot open as he realized where he was, snuggled up against the pleasant heat of Qibli’s scales. His body was completely propped against Qibli’s side, making whatever space that separated them nonexistent. He tried to scramble away from the dragon, but the wing that was still wrapped around his shoulders prevented him from moving very far. A furious blush erupted onto his cheeks as he dared to look up at the dragon who had recently just served his living pillow.
Said dragon was smiling down at Draco, his smitten expression making the pony flush even worse than before. Qibli began idly running a claw through Draco’s black and white mane, occasionally pausing to play with the messy bun that he had forgotten to take down after fixing breakfast for the both of them.
“You know, I really like that hairstyle,” Qibli said as he teased a strand of hair loose from its arrangement. He twirled it around a claw, letting the newly curled strand of hair bounce gently against Draco’s neck. The dragon brought his head closer to the pony’s, his warm breath tickling the back Draco’s neck. “You wouldn’t mind wearing it more often for me, would you?”
Draco hated that Qibli’s voice made him shiver ever so slightly. He also despised the fact that despite the fact that the dragon had loosened his grip enough to allow Draco to escape, he found himself staying beside him regardless. After a bit, however, Draco thought about how he must have looked, nestled so firmly against Qibli’s side, that he jolted upright and slid a few inches away from the still-grinning dragon.
Qibli seemed to be enjoying the pony’s flustered reaction all too much. The red glow of his magic surrounded the notebook that Draco brought with him to the couch. Qibli began flipping through its pages, taking note of how Draco tended to organize his previous lesson plans.
“So, this is going to be a beginner’s class, right?” Qibli asked. He carried on as if the little moment he had with Draco had never even happened. “I think we should start with the basics, don’t you think?”
“Y-yeah, the basics will work just fine for the f-first lesson.” Draco cursed silently to himself for his inability to keep his voice from wavering. “I t-think we should stick to something relatively simple for them, like t-teleportation.” The dragon’s flirting was really starting to make him melt.
Qibli clapped his claws together in delight. “Wonderful! That didn’t take long at all, did it?” He nudged Draco in the side with his shoulder. “I told you we’d make a great team!” He stood up, stretching himself in a very cat-like manner, even wiggling his rump in the air for extra effect, which did nothing to help Draco from becoming even more flustered. After his brief bit of exercise, Qibli made his way to the door, focusing his magic on the handle and pulling it open.
“I’ve got to head into town for a bit to find something,” Qibli said as he started to step outside. Before he left, he noticed the worried frown that was making its way onto Draco’s face. He grinned cheerfully, hoping to assuage some of the pony’s fears. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine… I can just ask for directions if I get lost.” With that, Qibli turned and made his way out the door, closing it firmly behind him.
Draco sat there, his mind still racing of the morning’s previous events. His face grew warm as he remembered how soothing it felt to be wrapped up in Qibli’s wings. He was suddenly wrenched out of his thoughts when the front door flew open, revealing the dragon that Draco had just been thinking about.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Qibli exclaimed. Draco was wondering what he could have left in his haste to get out the door when he saw Qibli bringing a claw up to his mouth. Draco watched in blank shock as the dragon slowly and deliberately blew a kiss towards him, making his face burn even hotter than before.
Qibli’s smug smile seemed to signify that he had gotten just the response that he had hoped to elicit from him. “Just making sure that you won’t miss me while I’m gone,” he said with a wink, his smile somehow growing even wider. He waved to the dumbstruck pony before making his final exit out the door.
Draco remained motionless, willing his heart to stop its rapid cadence. After he finally got himself under control, he took up his notebook from its spot on the sofa and sent it back to his bedside nightstand where he got it from. He sat down where the notebook once was, immersing himself in his thoughts, particularly the ones that involved a certain dragon.
It’s… it’s not like I have a crush on him or something, right? He just caught me off guard, is all. Draco tried to justify himself but found that he couldn’t without outright lying to himself.
It’s just… It’s just a… Oh, goodness… He sighed inwardly in defeat. I- I have a crush on Qibli… fantastic. Draco flopped onto the sofa’s cushions with a long-winded sigh, hoping that the softness of the pillows could finally silence his thoughts about that dumb, stupid, warm, cute…
The cool wind streamed past Qibli’s face as he winged his way towards the busy Canterlot marketplace. At least, he thought it was the marketplace. From his view in the clear afternoon sky, he could see various groups of ponies milling about in the streets. Every so often one of them stopped to peruse the wares of a nearby vendor. Even from so high up Qibli could make out the different market stalls. A majority of them carried only produce, but he spotted a few that seemed to have what he was searching for.
After singling out a particular stand, one that stood a bit away from the main body of the market, Qibli began a lazy descent towards the ground. To the ponies’ credit, none of them seemed fazed in the slightest by the sight of a dragon almost twice their size coming in for a landing on the busy street.
“I guess nothing really spooks these folks, huh,” Qibli muttered to himself as he finally touched down on the ground. The stall he had been eyeing from the sky lay just a scant few feet away. Upon realizing that he was approaching, the mare running the stall, a purple unicorn with a light-blue mane, replaced the bored frown on her face with a cheery smile.
“Hi! How are you today?” The mare took a moment to gesture to her wares, which included a variety of chocolates, each set contained in an intricately adorned box. A few of said boxes were heart-shaped, while most of the others had the basic rectangular structure.“See anything you like?” the mare asked.
Qibli hummed quietly to himself for a moment. He looked over the different types of chocolate that the mare had to offer, searching for one that fit his needs. After a moment, however, he gave up and brought his searching gaze to rest on the mare instead.
“Do you have anything for, uh… special friends?” Granted the fact that the chocolates were indeed for Draco, a pony whom he had just met only yesterday, Qibli felt as though the pony definitely fell into both the “special” and “friend” categories.
He’s special to me, at least, Qibli thought to himself. He reminds me of the first time I met Moonwatcher and Winter, albeit without all the mind-reading and cranky IceWings. His expression grew somber as he remembered his friends back home in Pyrrhia. I hope that they’re doing alright without me… I don’t care how long it takes, but I’ll find my way back home. For now, though, I think I’ll just keep on getting to know Draco better…
“So, are you going to buy these, or what?” The mare tapped her hoof impatiently on the ground.
“What? Oh, right.” While he was busy mulling over the different thoughts going on in his mind, Qibli had completely forgotten about the chocolates he had asked for. Using his newly discovered levitation magic, he floated the sack of coins from where it hung around his neck. Luckily for him, when he was first hired to teach at Celestia’s school, she made sure to give him his first month’s pay ahead of time just in case he needed it. He remembered vaguely that she had referred to the shiny golden coins as “bits.”
“So, how many… bits do I owe you, ma’am?” Qibli asked.
“For this box, it’s only five bits!” the mare replied.
Qibli nodded and got to work on retrieving the necessary bits from the pouch. He may have been able to use levitation, but it wasn’t yet accurate enough to pick out the individual coins. He reached in carefully with his claws, extracting five bits and laying them on the stall’s counter.
After counting the coins, the mare nodded in satisfaction and gestured for Qibli to take the box of chocolates that she had wrapped up while he was sorting out her payment. He took the box, thanked the mare, and leaped into the sky, making his way out of the marketplace.
~~~~~
Following his brief foray into the marketplace, Qibli decided to make a few more stops around Canterlot in order to better acquaint himself with the city. The main shopping district was filled to the brim with ponies going about their everyday lives in the huge city. There were a variety of boutiques and storefronts on the busy street, each one specializing in a different aspect of Canterlot fashion. One such boutique he saw was the Canterlot Carousel. Because the sun had already begun to set, the store had already put out its “closed” sign, but Qibli could still see a white unicorn mare through the window. She seemed to be taking note of various dresses that stood on display, writing frequently on the clipboard that floated beside her in her light-blue magic.Qibli continued quietly observing her for a moment longer, then went about on his way.
“Hmm… I wonder how Draco would look if he had a mane like hers…” Qibli considered the idea for a moment, then discarded it as quickly as he had come up with it. “Nah, purple is definitely not his color.” He paused for a moment. “Well, not for his coat, at least. Besides, the classic black and white looks good on him, though an accessory or two might help accent it. Maybe I should get him an earring...”
Leaving the boutique behind, he rose into the air once again, this time heading back to Draco’s house. The dragon checked to make sure that the chocolates he bought were still in his possession. Qibli sighed in relief as he determined that they were still held firmly in his claws.Soon after, he spotted his destination, the fading light of the sunset bathing the home in a yellow-orange glow.
Qibli angled his wings downwards and dived for the ground, pulling up right before smashing into the pavement and making a dragon-sized crater. As he walked up to the door, he pulled out the house key that Draco had magically replicated for him the day that he moved in. Qibli unlocked the door and headed inside and made his way towards the living room. When he made it there, he was met with an interesting sight.
There was Draco, lying on the sofa with his snout buried in a mound of pillows, snoring softly as his sides rose with every breath. The gray pony was knocked out cold, if the bit of drool covering one of the pillows was anything to judge by. Qibli stared at him for a few minutes before realizing that neither one of them would be getting any chocolate if he just let Draco continue sleeping, no matter how cute he may have looked while doing it.
A mischievous smile made its way onto his snout as Qibli was suddenly struck with an idea. He slowly and carefully made his way over to the coffee table, where he set the chocolates down. Turning around towards his unsuspecting target, the dragon then craned his neck downwards over Draco’s sleeping form and brought his mouth near the pony’s ear. “Oh, Draco~,” Qibli whispered. “I have something for you...”
That got an immediate response out of him. The pony shot up, a furious blush erupting across his muzzle. He whipped around to stare at Qibli, then just as quickly turned the other way, trying in vain to hide his rosy cheeks from the dragon’s view. Qibli couldn’t help but smile in delight as he watched Draco adamantly refuse to turn in his direction.
“Draco, you wouldn’t happen to care for some chocolate candies, would you?” Qibli asked as he waved the box around enticingly. “I’ve got a whole box of them…”
Draco hesitated for a moment, then finally turned to face Qibli. The pinkish glow to his cheeks had yet to completely disappear, but he looked more composed than he had when he was first woken up. He glanced warily at the red box that Qibli held in his talons, then at the grinning dragon himself, who was still admiring how the pink of Draco’s cheeks complemented his gray coat.
“Well… I suppose a couple couldn’t hurt before heading off to bed,” Draco conceded. Ignoring the surprised look from Qibli as he grasped the box in this magic and took it from Qibli’s claws, Draco levitated chocolates over to him on the sofa. He motioned for Qibli to sit beside him, eliciting a strange feeling of déjà vu from the dragon as he hopped onto the sofa and sat down beside Draco. Qibli’s surprise only grew when he felt Draco lean against his side, despite the pony’s obvious embarrassment earlier that day. Qibli shrugged, ultimately giving up on figuring out Draco’s sudden change of heart.
Draco magicked the lid of the container off and took out two chocolate truffles. He passed one of them to Qibli, who proceeded to look the chocolate confectionary over once, then popped the entire thing into his mouth. “Oh! It’s, um, sweet. Very sweet,” Qibli said, trying not to imagine what would happen if this single piece of chocolate managed to give him a cavity. “Are all Equestrian candies this sugary?” he asked. “Because if so, I think I’ll need to see what kind of dental plans you ponies have to offer.”
Draco had just finished chewing his own truffle before replying. “Well, they’re sweet to you, but it’s really just the norm for us. I’ll warn you, though,” Draco began, the seriousness in his voice managing to surprise the dragon, considering the fact the conversation was primarily centered around candy. “If you think this is sweet, you should probably never visit Ponyville. The bakery, Sugarcube Corner, would likely give you a heart attack if this is too much for you.”
“In any case,” Draco said as he looked out the window at the setting sun, “we should probably get some rest.” He closed the box of truffles and teleported them into the fridge for later. “Tomorrow is the first day back for students, and it’ll be your first day of teaching, so you’ll need all the preparation you can get.” He moved away from the dragon and hopped off the couch, taking a moment to stretch his legs to get them back working again.
“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience,” Qibli noted. “I take it that you weren’t adequately prepared for your first day as a professor?”
Draco grimaced. “Let’s just say those weren’t my greatest moments as a teacher.” His unhappy expression persisted for a moment later, then was replaced by a pleasant smile. “But once you get the hang of it, teaching is actually quite fun! Trust me, you’ll love it as much as I do.” A dreamy sort of gaze fixed itself onto his face as his smile widened even further. “And just imagine all of the different research topics there are! Within the field of elemental magic, there’s pyrokinesis, aquakinesis, geokinesis, aerokinesis, and fulgurkinesis as base studies, but with enough practice and dedication, there are many different fields to master!” At that point, Draco had begun pacing in circles as his miniature speech grew even more passionate. “Isn’t this all so exciting?” he asked.
Does he realize just how adorable he is when he’s being a huge nerd? Qibli couldn’t suppress his amusement at seeing the eager pony staring up at him, the passion for learning burning brightly in his eyes. “Well, you definitely make it sound exciting, Draco,” he admitted. “I suppose we’ll truly find out tomorrow in class.” Qibli finally got off the couch and started towards his room. Before he made it to the hallway, he paused and turned back towards Draco, who was still in his own little world, fantasizing about the different branches of elemental magic. “Good night, Draco!” he called out to the entranced pony.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Draco turned to the dragon, who was quietly retreating behind his bedroom door. “Um, goodnight to you, too!” Still smiling, he made his way back to his own room and got ready for bed, preparing himself for the inevitably busy first day of class tomorrow.
Draco awoke bright and early the next morning, basking in the comfortable warmth that the sun brought him as sunlight streamed through his bedroom windows. Remembering that today marked the resumption of classes back at the school, he jumped out of bed with a wide smile on his face, hurrying to wake up his still-sleeping co-professor.
Needless to say, Draco was quite surprised to find Qibli already up and sitting at the dining room table. Said dragon had a cup of coffee in one claw and a copy of the Canterlot Courier in the other. He stopped reading as he heard hoofsteps from the other side of the room, looking up from the paper to see Draco standing in the doorway. The dragon took another sip of his coffee before acknowledging the pony in the room.
“Mornin’, Draco,” he said cheerfully. He set his cup of coffee down to point over at the kitchen counter where a similar mug stood. “I made you a cup of… whatever this stuff is,” he said, gesturing at the cup he held in his claws. “It's pretty good. What do you call this stuff anyways?”
Draco tilted his head in confusion. “What, you mean coffee?”
“Aha! So that’s what it’s called!” Qibli exclaimed. He threw his head back and dumped the rest of the contents of the mug into his maw. “Ah, delicious. I found a glass pot full of coffee in that little device over there on the counter,” he said, pointing at the machine he was referring to. “I don’t suppose you wouldn’t just call it, say, a coffee maker, would you?”
“That’s exactly right,” Draco replied. “Mine runs on automated magical input, so it can already have a cup ready for whenever I wake up.” Draco picked up the cup that Qibli made for him in his magical grasp and took a sip of the coffee, making sure not to burn his muzzle in the process. The Prench vanilla coffee creamer that was added into the coffee was doing its job wonderfully, adding a burst of milky flavor to coffee’s strong taste.
Draco sighed contentedly as he brought the now half-drained cup to rest on the table. “Nothing quite beats a fresh cup of joe in the morning, eh, Qibli?”
“Huh?” the dragon asked, confusion written clearly on his face. “I thought you said this was coffee...” He narrowed his eyes at Draco. “We’re not drinking someone called Joe, are we?”
Draco stared at Qibli for a good minute or so before starting to break down. Little by little, tiny bits of laughter escaped from his muzzle until he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He laughed with abandon as he fell to the floor in a heap, his chest heaving with mirth.
“Hey, what's so funny?” Qibli asked. The dragon had no clue as to why his question would send Draco into a laughing fit. Coffee was very serious business. At least, it was when it was made of something — or someone — called “Joe.”
Oh well, Qibli thought to himself. He was delicious while he lasted. May he rest in peace…
In the meanwhile, Draco finally managed to recover from the source of his humor. He chuckled a bit as he got back in his four hooves, still struggling to keep a bit of giggling under his breath.
“Okay, we should probably get going,” Draco managed to say, albeit with a poorly hidden snort of laughter breaking up his words. “Are you ready, Qibli?”
“Well, I’m a more than a bit concerned as to how I’m going to help you teach when I barely know the magic myself, but other than that, I’m good, I suppose.”
“Eh, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Draco replied.
Qibli snorted doubtfully. “That, or we’ll fall straight into the water.”
“Well, I hope you can swim,” Draco said as he began moving for the front door. His magical field surrounded the door as he pulled it open. He then made a show of dropping into a deep bow, waving a hoof forward to gesture out the door. “After you, my good dragon,” he said, adding a faux-cultured accent for extra effect.
“My! What a… gentlepony? Gentlestallion?” Qibli wondered. He waved a claw dismissively. “Uh, you get the point.”
Draco chuckled lightly. “I think I’ll take that as a compliment. Quickly shutting the door behind him, he broke into a brisk trot to catch up with the dragon and his larger-than-average gait as they made their way to the school.
“Morning, Celestia!” Draco called out cheerfully as he and Qibli approached her on their way to their classroom. The alicorn seemed to be running her normal rounds, making sure everything was ready for the students’ first day back. She had been talking with another one of the professors when she heard Draco’s voice from down the hallway.
“Ah, Good morning Draco!” Her smile was as radiant as the sun itself, lending her a pleasant air of warmth and kindness. Her smile only widened further as she noticed Draco’s draconic companion. “And good morning to you, too, Professor Qibli! I trust everything has been well with you these past few days?”
Qibli bowed his head respectfully. “Everything has been absolutely wonderful, princess.” He smirked as he nudged the unaware pony next to him, almost knocking him off his hooves. “Of course, someone has been doing his best to show me a good time, eh, Draco?”
Draco was abruptly reminded of his initial (and very much unfounded) distrust of a dragon teaching at a school for ponies as he was subjected to the intensity of Celestia’s smug grin. “Uh, yeah.” He cleared his throat awkwardly, looking anywhere but at the alicorn. “What he said.”
Of course, Draco left out the part where he managed to develop a crush on his mysterious, yet lovabl- err, likable co-professor.
Yeah, Draco thought to himself. I might want to leave that little detail out.
“In any case,” Celestia began, “I’ll let you two be on your way. Wouldn’t want you to arrive after your students, now would we?” She turned towards the way that Draco and Qibli came from and began her trek down the hall. Nearing the end of the hallway, she turned around and, while waving a hoof in farewell, called out, “Have a good day you two!” The clacking sound of her golden horseshoes meeting the tile floor faded away as she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
“Hmm. She’s right, you know,” Draco said while looking at his watch. “If we don’t hurry up, we’re going to be the ones late, and not the students.”
“Good point,” said Qibli. He stretched a leg out invitingly, motioning for Draco to take the lead. “Shall we?”
Draco nodded his assent and strode forward. With Qibli in tow, the two of them made their way down the hall to their classroom, where they waited for school to begin.
Qibli watched as Draco took up the piece of chalk in his magic, looking on with fascination as the pony began drawing various symbols on the blackboard. The students were much the same, a few even jotting down a few notes in their notebooks. After a minute or two, Draco stopped drawing and turned to face the class.
“Now, class,” he began. “I assume that we can identify the four elements that I’ve drawn on the board, correct?” He pointed back towards the drawings he had made a minute earlier: a flame, what appeared to be a large rock, a tidal wave, and a gust of wind. A collective “Yes, Professor Draco” was heard from the congregation of unicorns sitting in the desks before him.
“Excellent. These four elements of fire, water, earth, and air make up the entire core of elemental magic,” Draco explained to the class. “Without them, any spells that rely on the power of the elements couldn’t exist.” He paused to let a few students finish writing their notes.
“What I have planned for today is only a demonstration,” Draco began. “We’ll start delving into the intricacies and behaviors of the four elements tomorrow, but for now, we get to have a little bit of fun playing with fire, as it were.” Draco suppressed the urge to smile as he saw faces of his students light up at the prospect of a laid-back first day of school. Even Qibli seemed happy that the real lessons would begin tomorrow.
“Now, class, it is extremely important to remember to never utilize fire magic without a very clear understanding of how it works.” A couple of the students gasped as Draco’s horn began glowing fiercely. “Luckily for me, I’ve had more than enough time to understand how a flame works.”
As the light from Draco’s horn grew even brighter, he steadied his stance in preparation to cast the spell he had been charging. In a flash of reddish and purple light, he released all of the pent-up energy that was being stored in his horn and condensed it into a tiny speck of purple light. The orb of energy, no bigger than a marble, constantly shifted its color between purple and red.
Checking to make sure he had the class’s — and Qibli’s — attention, Draco tossed the orb of light into the air, where it expanded until it exploded into a shower of lavender and crimson sparks. The group of unicorns (and one draconic professor) stared in awe at the magnificent light show, marveling at the beautiful hues of the falling sparks.
“And that,” started Draco, “was just the power of fire alone. Tomorrow, when we begin in earnest, you’ll get to see what happens when you combine the elements. That’s where the true power of elemental magic is.” Draco looked around at the class, taking in the awestruck expressions of many of his students (and one particular dragon). It was the look on Qibli’s face that gave him the most enjoyment; the dragon’s maw was wide open, and his eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Well, I think that pretty much covers it for today,” Draco began. “Since it’s just the first day back, I’ll let you have the rest of the class period off.” Draco’s ears splayed back as he winced from the sudden eruption of cheering from the students at being given a free day in class.
“Heh,” Draco laughed softly to himself. “I guess I didn’t earn those Teacher of the Year awards for nothing…”
After school ended, Draco and Qibli stayed behind to gather their belongings and to make sure nothing was scorched after Draco’s fireworks spell. As Draco made sure everything was good to go, Qibli took the time to explore their shared workspace. Seeing something on Draco’s desk that caught his eye, Qibli’s curiosity got the better of him as he moved closer to take a better look.
“Hey, what’s this thing?” Qibli asked. Draco turned around to see the dragon trying desperately to hold onto the slender wooden pointer that he had grabbed off of Draco’s desk. The stick stubbornly refused to stay in Qibli’s grasp, opting instead to slip out of his claws and land back on the desk. He pouted for a moment, then attempted to clutch onto the tool again with renewed vigor.
Draco trotted over to Qibli’s side, looking on with amusement at the dragon’s antics. “Having fun, are we?”
Qibli fumbled for a moment but managed to retain his grip. “Argh! This stupid-” His eyes went wide as he accidentally tossed the pointer stick upwards. Before it could get far, however, a violet cloud of magic surrounded it, bringing it down to rest idly on the desk. “Ah, thank you, Draco. As I was saying before that thing decided to grow wings, I just can't seem to get a grip! ...on the stick, that is.”
Draco hummed quietly to himself before coming up with an idea for Qibli’s conundrum. “Have you tried using magic yet?”
The dragon shook his head. “Don’t think that’s gonna work, I’m afraid. It’s the same problem I had when I was out and about in Canterlot yesterday,” Qibli said, thinking back to how he had to use his claws instead of magic to pull out the bits for the chocolate. His face fell slightly, a small frown appearing in the curves of his mouth. “I just don’t think my magic is accurate enough to pick it up…” Qibli’s ears and tail began to droop as well, adding to the dragon’s already crestfallen expression.
“Aw, don’t say that!” Draco nudged Qibli in his shoulder, trying to elicit some sort of reaction from the downtrodden dragon. “Hey, you caught that piece of haybacon yesterday, right?”
“Flying food is much easier to handle than a stick as small as that one, I would think,” Qibli replied.
“C’mon! How are you going to find out if you can do it if you never try?” Draco moved from where he was by Qibli’s side to stand directly in front of the dragon. He reached out with a hoof and placed it on top of Qibli’s claw. “Do it for me, please?”
Qibli’s ears perked up a bit at the unexpected contact. He brought his attention forward to see Draco beaming up at him, attempting to encourage him through his smile and touch. “Goodness,” Qibli sighed. “It’s always the cute ones that get me, every time. I just can’t win, can I?”
Draco tilted his head in confusion. “Uh, what was that?”
Qibli chuckled softly. “Oh, nothing, my dear Draco. Let’s see about getting this thing airborne, shall we?” The dragon closed his eyes and concentrated on the stick that lay before him.The ruby glow of Qibli’s magic surrounded the thin rod of wood, lifting it, albeit with a good bit of shakiness, into the air.
Draco laughed triumphantly as he watched the stick rise higher and higher into the air. “Look, Qibli! You’re doing it!”
Qibli dared to open one eye to see his progress. “I’m… I’m doing it?” he asked in amazement. “Hey! I’m actually doing it! Not too shabby, Qibli!” At that moment, as he completely took his attention off of the process of channeling his magic into the wooden pointer, it began to shake violently, then fell altogether, hitting the floor with a small clatter. “Oops. I guess I should have stayed focused, huh?”
“That would have helped you maintain the spell longer, yes,” replied Draco. “But other than that, you did pretty well!”
Qibli couldn’t help but smile as he lavished in the pride he felt from Draco’s words. “I did, didn’t I?” Qibli asked. The pony nodded in confirmation. “Well, I’d better get that pointer back. I think it rolled under your desk…”
And then, it happened. And Draco couldn’t help but stare.
Qibli suddenly bent over to search underneath the desk, giving Draco a full view of the dragon’s posterior. Draco’s mouth was wide open as he stared openly at Qibli’s rump. The smooth scales of the dragon’s hindquarters wiggled slightly as Qibli adjusted his position to better see under the desk. As much as he wanted to stop looking, Draco found that he couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried, so he opted for ogling the dragon while he had a chance.
“Uh, Draco?” Qibli called out from underneath the desk. “I don’t see the pointer anywhere. Do you think it might have rolled somewhere else?”
After a quick inspection of the area surrounding the desk, Draco found the wooden pointer. Making sure Qibli wasn’t looking, he picked it up with this magic and stuffed it inside of the pocket of the coat that was hanging from the coat rack. “Nope. Keep looking. You’ll find it eventually.” He paused for a moment, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face.
