Chapters Smoke. That was the first thing he saw, besides inside his shell, of course. It was simply smoke. The only thing he saw. And it was everywhere. For him, it took a while to get used to.
He was the youngest of his siblings, the smallest, the weakest. The unwanted one.
At first, he didn't notice. He was just happy to be with his mother, and he didn't worry about a thing. Then he got hungry. It couldn't be right. Dragons never got hungry. But each day, he would see a single sapphire in front of him. He knew he shouldn't be hungry, he shouldn't complain, but it wasn't enough. And it seemed as if everyone knew. As if nobody cared. Nobody but him. And the other dragons got more. It didn't take long for him to fall behind.
Words couldn't describe his pain. No grunts, no growls, just whimpers. The whipers of a dragon. The whimpers of a runt.
The whimpers of a nobody.
He was stronger now, or at least he thought he was. After all these years, these- these centuries , he thought he was stronger, but the little Pegasus made him doubt that. Maybe he was the same inside, and no amount of time could change that. But did he want to change? She had made him see things in a new light. Was that good? Not necessarily. But that didn't mean it was bad. It just was... well, it just was . And now, with the little Pegasus, with tears in his eyes, it was time to remember.
Darkness. Darkness everywhere. Subconsciously, he felt his way to the edge. Light! More! More! He needed more! His tooth reached the edge. He was almost there! He was almost- Free! He was free! He felt something droop over his eyes. the little dragon shook his head. And again. And again. And again. The eggshell covered his eyes. He grinned a goofy grin and turned over to lay on his back. The shell fell off. He was free again! Light, it was back!
"Achoo!!! " the little dragon sneezed. Darkness! It was back! It filled his nose, it filled his eyes-
"Achoo!!! " he sneezed again. The room was full of it!
The little dragon crawled over to his sleeping mother. "What is it Mama?" he asked, before letting out another sneeze. His mother just snored, and a burst of the thick gray substance blew out of her nostrils.
"Mama what is it?" he cried, climbing on her head. "Ma-ma !" One of his siblings snickered.
His mother did not move. "It's smoke, little one," she said, and fell back asleep.
"Smoke?" the little dragon asked cautiously. Then he smiled. "Smokesmokesmokesmokesmokesmoke- achoo !"
The green mother dragon laughed, woken up by her son's laughter, and cried, "We shall call you Smokey!"
The red runt giggled. "SMOKEY!" he called, testing out his new name. His father came running in. When he saw his son, he laughed.
"It's a boy!" his father grunted. He looked at the little red dragon again, and he stopped smiling. He ran over to his wife.
"Have you seen your son?" he asked urgently.
"Isn't he wonderful?" Mama asked dreamily, then fell back to lay on her side. Smokey laughed, and copied her.
"We should have called you Giggley!" Daddy teased. Smokey laughed again. His father turned away, and muttered something to Mama.
She sat up straight. "A runt?" she asked loudly. "Who's a runt?"
The kids all looked at each other nervously. All except Smokey, who couldn't care less.
"Smokey," his father hissed. And Smokey just wandered off, not knowing how much impact his size would have on his life, much, much later.
"Daddy? I'm hungry," Skywings complained.
"Here you go," Daddy said, swooping down to put a clawful of rubies in front of her.
"Yay! Thank you!" Skywings said happily, greedily eating her gems. "More please!" Another clawful.
"Mommy? Daddy? I'm hungry, too," Smokey called.
Mommy grabbed a small sapphire and gave it to her son.
"More please?" Smokey asked.
Daddy shook his head. "We need to save our gems."
His daughter looked up at him. "I'm still hungry," she said.
"Diamonds, your favorite," Mommy said to her. Smokey sadly left the room.
"Skywings!" Magenta picked. Skywings walked over and claw-fived her.
"Mudclaw," Fireye called.
Magenta sighed. "I guess that leaves us with Smokey. Since you got to choose teams first, we get the Skyball first!"
"Nuh-uh!" Fireye glared at her. "We won the coin-toss, fair and square!"
Smokey walked away sadly and kicked the Skyball. It flew up into the air.
"It's not fair!" he cried. "Just because I can't fly, breath fire, and- and- and I'm a runt doesn't mean-" he started crying.
"Dragons don't cry," he sniffed, wiping his tears. "But then again, I'm no noble, fierce, greedy dragon. I'm just a runt!"
"If only I had some sort of purpose," he continued. "Then I'd show them! I'd show them all! I'd be he most noble, fierce and especially greedy dragon the world has ever seen!"
Smokey ran into his room and packed up all his belongings.
"I'm running away!"
A few minutes later, Smokey was standing in front of his cave.
"Goodbye everyone, and everything, that doesn't like me! I'm running away!"
He looked around. "Uh, where do I begin?"
The big dragon sniffed at the memory. If only he'd stayed home! His famil may not admit it, but they had cared for him! He knew that now. But it was too late. They were gone, he'd never see them again, and how had he not cared before? How had he let this happen? He knew now it was all his fault. The little pony may not know it, but she was telling him more than to sleep somewhere else- she was reminding him of all his mistakes. All the ones he'd never be able to fix. And they were all his fault .
Smokey flinched as the Pegasus continued shouting. He saw the shocked look on her friends' faces, and guessed that his expression matched theirs. He was in the middle of a nap! All he did was sleep! But deep down he knew he deserved this.
..."Uh, where do I begin?"
"Begin what?"
"Aah!" Smokey screamed. He jumped into a tree. A little purple and green dragon stepped out of the bushes. She started laughing.
"That was amazing! You should have seen the look on your face!"
"Hmmph!" Smokey sniffed, embarrassed.
"Seriously though, begin what?"
"Who are you?" Smokey asked.
"Me? Oh, I'm Thorn. How about you? And this is the last time I ask," Thorn said, peering at Smokey, pretending to be stern. "What are you doing? Begin what?"
"I'm Smokey. And I'm running away. But I don't know where to go, I'm new at this," Smokey said.
"You can't have run away before if you're running away now," Thorn said. "I'm running away, too. Hey! You want to run away together?" She grabbed Smokey's hand and pulled him down from the tree. "After all, the more the merrier! And two's better than one!"
"Unless you're choosing between being first or second," Smokey muttered.
Thorn thought about it for a minute. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Why are you running away?"
"I'm a runt," Smokey sighed.
"Oh, that's too bad," Thorn told him, and picked up Smokey's suitcase. She handed it back to him. "Here you go. I'm running away because there are so many of us in my family, they don't even notice me!"
"That's a silly reason to run away," Smokey accused.
"Unless it means your parents aren't caring for you and you don't get enough to eat!" Thorn cried. Her stomach growled. So did Smokey's.
"Guess we both are having the same problem," Smokey said.
"It's a pain, isn't it? Literally," Thorn agreed.
"Yeah," Smokey muttered.
They were silent for a few minutes, and then Thorn looked up. "We'd better get going! Shall we?" She held out her hand. Smokey held it.
"Let's go."
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Smokey asked for the thousandth time.
"Yes ," Thorn hissed, exasperated. "I'm positive ."
Smokey wasn't convinced. "You sure?"
"YES!"
"Sorry." They were silent for a few minutes. "You sure?"
"Be quiet!" Thorn held the map up to her face so he couldn't see her laughing. "Turn left."
"I never thought running away would be so hard!" Smokey complained. "I just thought it was, well, running."
"You sound like Miss Ruby!" Thorn told him.
"Who's that?" Smokey asked.
Thorn rolled her eyes. "She's a friend of my grandmother's. She's a fashion designer, very fussy, everything has to be perfect."
"She sounds like a pony!" Smokey accused.
Thorn blushed. "That's because she is one.
Smokey blinked, surprised. "Your grandmother's friends with a pony?"
"Yeah. Don't tell anyone, though," Thorn warned.
"How could I tell anyone? I thought we were running away!" he cried.
"Oh, right. It takes a while to get used to, doesn't it? Never seeing your family again. Your friends, your-"
"You have me!" Smokey reminded her.
"Yeah." They were silent for a little while. "Turn right."
"Where are we going, exactly?" Smokey asked.
"The train station. We're probably small enough to sneak on. If we need to, we can fly up and ride on top of a train."
"To where?"
"Anywhere," Thorn said. "Okay?" Smokey shook his head. "Why not?"
"I can't fly," Smokey muttered, embarrassed.
"Oh. We could pay to get on a train. Do you have any money?" Thorn asked.
"I have some gems," Smokey offered. "I can't believe ponies use them as money . Don't they know how tasty they are?"
"I know!" Thorn cried, shaking her head.
"All aboard!" they heard the conductor say as they approached the train station. They started running.
"The cheapest train today, please," Thorn said.
"That's- that's right now! 10 bits, please."
"Is this half a ruby okay?"
"Uh, yeah," the ticket pony said, staring at the ruby.
"Tickets?" Thorn asked impatiently.
"Oh, right. Here you go," the ticket pony said, still staring at the ruby as Smokey handed it to him.
"Thank you, sir!"
"Yeah, thanks!" Smokey called.
They got onto the train.
Thorn looked at Smokey excitedly. "This is going to be such an adventure!"
Smokey nodded. "It sure is."
Smokey smiled at the memory. It had been one of the best moments of his life. If only it had lasted. If only he hadn't made so many mistakes, oh, even if he would miss this part, he would go through his life again, to undo all his mistakes. The yellow and pink Pegasus was showing him so much, showing him things about himself, showing him his mistakes... and showing him pain. Smokey wasn't sure whether to thank her, or, or, or run away. Running away would be good right now, to end on a happy memory, not to have to got through alll that pain again! But he found that he couldn't move. His eyes stared into the pony's, and he started to accept the pain that was coming.
Author's Note
This is actually an idea I just got today. And Miss Ruby is Rarity's ancestor.
The Pegasus continued her rant, and Smokey couldn't do anything. He thought he had grown strong, but he had just grown weaker. He watched as the Pegasus stared into his eyes, not blinking. He couldn't look away. It was a nightmare! And nothing could stop it. He stopped struggling and stared into the pony's eyes, accepting that the memories would continue.
..."It sure is."
Thorn sat up, after being silent for a few minutes. "I'm hungry," she complained.
"Then eat some of the gems," Smokey said.
Thorn shook her head. "We need to save them and use them for money. We can eat pony food, it fills us up, it's just not as tasty as a diamond."
"Really?" Smokey asked. He'd never really thought about eating pony food, and he certainly hadn't tried it.
"Yep. I'm particularly fond of cake. You want to try some?" Thorn asked.
"Sure," Smokey said. Thorn walked away.
"Hello."
"AAH!" Smokey screamed again. Why did everyone keep doing that?
"I'm Dro- Dronedo. Nice to meet you," A male yellow and pink dragon said.
"Will you dragons stop scaring me!" Smokey hissed angrily. Dronedo looked taken aback.
"Sorry," Smokey apologized. "Where are my manners? I'm Smokey."
"Nice to meet you Smokey. What are you doing?"
"Running away. You?" Smokey asked.
"Me too! That's so funny!" Dronedo laughed.
"Yeah, funny," Smokey agreed, surprised to run into two dragons who were doing the same thing as as him. "And weird."
"Smokey! I'm back! Would you- Who's that?" Thorn asked.
"This is Dronedo," Smokey introduced. "Dronedo, this is Thorn."
"Nice to meet you, Thorn," Dronedo said politely.
"Nice to meet you , Dronedo," Thorn replied. "Would anydragon like some cake?"
The train slowed to a stop. Smokey opened his eyes and yawned. He shook his companions.
"Guys," he whispered. "Wake up!"
"Mo-mmy !" Thorn said. "I'm not ready yet!"
"Thorn!" Smokey hissed. "The train stopped!"
Thorn looked at him. "You're not Mommy."
"Wake up Dronedo. I'll pack up and meet you outside."
Thorn nodded and started shaking Dronedo. "Dronedo..."
Smokey gathered up their belongings, including Dronedo's suitcase. He turned to Thorn. "Do you know where we are?"
She just shrugged. "All I know it's not home. But it's going to be home!" She looked out the window at the mostly empty landscape. "I hope."
Dronedo opened his eyes. "But it's not 3 A.M. yet!"
Smokey looked at him. "Our train must have gotten here early."
"I guess. I was hoping to get some more sleep," he grumbled.
The three dragons stepped out and the train drove away. Dronedo looked around wildly. "This isn't Las Pegasus!"
Thorn and Smokey looked at him, surprised. "Las Pegasus?"
"That's where I was going," Dronedo explained. He started running across the train tracks. He waved his arm wildly. "Wait! Wait for me!" But the train was out of sight.
"I guess you're stuck here," Thorn said.
"Where exactly is 'here?'" Smokey asked.
Dronedo dug into his suitcase and grabbed out his ticket. "'The Ponyville Colony?' Where in the wide wide world of Equestria is the Ponyville Colony?"
"Here," Thorn said simply.
Dronedo yawned. "Let's just go so I can get some sleep!"
Smokey opened his eyes. Ponyville. PONY-ville. Would they even accept dragons? He sat up. It was time to find something to do. He may just be a kid, but that didn't mean he and his fellow dragons couldn't help!
"We need help apple-bucking," a light yellow pony with a red mane said. "We'll take you- if you promise not to burn down all the apple trees."
Smokey blushed. But Thorn nodded. "We promise, ma'am."
"Oh," said the pony. "You can call me Mrs. Apple."
"Yes ma'am!" Smokey and Thorn called together.
Smokey shook the tree. Apples fell into all the baskets around the tree.
"Hic!" Thorn hiccupped, then held her breath.
"You okay?" Smokey asked.
Thorn nodded, not opening her mouth. She swallowed and sighed. "Sorry, it seems I always hiccup when I hold in fire."
"What?" Smokey replied.
"For most dragons, sometimes you just need to let fire out. Whenever I keep it in, I get the hiccups," Thorn explained.
"Oh, I understand," Smokey said, although he didn't.
Dronedo walked over. "What's going on?"
"I got the hiccups," Thorn told him.
"Why?"
"Uh! Not you, too!" she said, shaking her head. "Whenever I keep my fire from coming out, I get the hiccups!"
"Oh." Dronedo and Smokey exchanged glances, each not understanding.
Why doesn't Dronedo understand, after all, he's no runt, Smokey thought. Maybe he just doesn't get the hiccups when it happens. He shot a glance at Thorn, who didn't seem to notice.
"I need more baskets!" she called, waving her arms frantically.
Smokey rolled his eyes at her performance. "Nice performance, Thorn." He picked up his baskets. "Here, I'll get them."
"Thanks, Smokey," Thorn said.
"You're welcome, and look, some apple pies coming out," Smokey told them. "You want some?"
"You bet!"
Smokey put the baskets down and walked up to the counter. "Three apple pies, please."
Smokey remembered meeting Dronedo. The little yellow Pegasus had the same coloring!
"Dronedo," he hissed, but the Pegasus didn't notice. Dronedo looked past her, down the mountain. He didn't want to be reminded of his old friend. Too much pain. But as he looked down the mountain, he saw a purple-and-green dragon. It couldn't be... But it had to!
Thorn.
Smokey watched with tears in his eyes as Thorn struggled with a bunch of animals.
"Hey!" he heard a male voice say. He then realized this dragon was not Thorn. Thorn was a female. This dragon could only be...
Spike. Her son.
Suddenly all the memories were worth it.
..."Three apple pies, please."
"6 bits," the desk pony said.
"But I'm working here! Mrs. Apple said they were free for her workers!"
The desk pony carefully peered at Smokey. "I don't think she'd hire a dragon. And surely not a runt! After all, only strong ponies can do this job!" Smokey sadly grabbed some empty baskets and walked away.
"Here are the baskets, they wouldn't give us pies," Smokey explained.
"Why not?" Thorn asked.
"Because I'm a dragon."
Dronedo sighed. "Let me try."
"What's that? Something smells good," Thorn said. Dronedo came back, carrying 6 pies smugly.
"Do you really think we'll be able to eat six pies?" Smokey asked.
"He gave me extras," Dronedo explained.
"Well, I am hungry. Thanks, Dronedo," Thorn replied.
"And guess what! I found a train that goes to Las Pegasus!" Dronedo said excitedly. "Since we have to work until the end of the week to get paid, I bought us tickets for Saturday!"
"That's great!" Thorn cried.
"Yeah, great," Smokey agreed. "I'll miss this place, though. Maybe I'll come back in a few centuries!" He and Thorn claw-fived.
"And maybe I'll be right beside you," she breathed. Smokey realized Thorn didn't want to leave any more than he did.
Dronedo just shrugged. "You guys can stay, if you want. But I'm tired of this boring old place. Las Pegasus, here I come!"
"No, we'll be there," Smokey said hurriedly.
Thorn shot him a worried glance and whispered, "But you can't fly!"
Smokey's eyes widened. He realized he needed to do something, and fast.
Thorn muttered something to him. "Don't worry, I've got a plan!"
"What is it?" Smokey asked.
"You'll see..."
"...so you see, it's the only way he can go," Thorn finished.
"Hmm," Mrs. Apple looked thoughtful. "I'll pay him for the work he's done today, and then he can go."
"Thank you!" Smokey cried, about to give the pony a hug. Mrs. Apple blushed. "Oops, sorry."
Smokey looked out the window. He'd never been on a train alone before. Sure, there was the one to Ponyville, but that was different. Then he had friends with him. This time was different. He was literally alone .
He watched as the train slowed to a stop. Too late to turn back now. Sure, he could always go send a letter to his friends and go back home, or go back to Ponyville and buck apples for the rest of his life. No, he needed to move on. This was his life now. And Thorn and Dronedo were his friends. He couldn't turn his back on them.
He got out of the train and walked towards the Canterlot Castle. He'd start there.
Once he arrived, he walked towards the Canterlot Library. Once there, he saw...
"Princess Celestia!" he breathed. He knew he shouldn't be too surprised, after all, it was her castle.
"Yes?" asked the princess, not looking up from her book.
"I- I'm just surprised, that's all," Smokey replied. He grabbed a book off the shelf.
Celestia looked up. "Flight Spells for the Flightless Pony?" she mused. She looked at his wings.
"I can't fly, Your Majesty," Smokey muttered embarrassedly.
"Mm hm," she said. She looked at him. "I know of a unicorn who's a professional at this sort of thing. Her name is Dawn Shine..."
"Dawn Shine?" Smokey breathed, walking into a tent.
A pony looked up. "Do you have an appointment?" she asked, pursing her lips.
"N-no, ma'am," Smokey replied. "I do have a note from the princess though."
"Let me see." The desk pony grabbed the note and looked it over. She looked at Smokey, blushing. "O-of course. Right this way, please."
She lead him into another room. "Dawn Shine? This is Smokey. Princess Celestia requested you see him."
"She did, did she?" A pony in a cloak said. "Let me see that note." The desk pony hoofed it over. "Wow, it's real!" she cried, shocked. "Come right this way, Smokey." Smokey walked over carefully. "What do you need?"
Smokey took a breath. This was the moment he'd been waiting for. "I'm a runt. I can't fly or breathe fire. And my friends and I are going to Las Pegasus, so I need to be able to fly."
Dawn Shine sighed. "That's not because you're a runt, Smokey. Your parents never bothered to teach you. They probably believed the runt would be a weak flyer, and not to waste their time." Smokey realized it was true. After all he'd been through, his father letting him ride on his back, his mother letting him jump on her stomach; he'd run away from it all. He realized he ran away from the dragons that loved him. Just because he wanted more. It was in a dragon's nature to be greedy, but he didn't realize how much hurt it would cause. He looked at Dawn, fear in his eyes.
"But- but-" Smokey realized his mistake. Two days ago it seemed like the right choice. But now-
His parents would be gone by now. They would have left for a new cave. He would never find them! And it was all his fault.
"Smokey, I can give you a spell that will let you fly for a week. But you need to learn how to fly. After that week, you're on your own." Dawn pursed her lips. "Well, not entirely. I'm tired of boring old Canterlot, so I'm coming with you. That is, if you're okay with it."
Smokey nodded. She would help him discover things about himself he hadn't known before. She would help him find out who Smokey really was.
"Go ahead."
Smokey and Dawn were standing at the train station, waiting for the train. He could see in her eyes they were both thinking the same thing.
"Las Pegasus, here we come!"
Smokey sighed at the memory. It was both good and bad, but he'd rather focus on the good parts. Even as he listened to the Pegasus, he couldn't help but think-
If I didn't know, I would be wondering what would come next.
Author's Note
RECAP
There's:
Smokey (from Dragonshy)