Cold
It goes on
Previous ChapterNext ChapterStill holding the crying filly in my arms, and still rocking her gently, I look around for Sparkler or her mother. I see ponies looking at me in surprise, or with knowing smiles... but no Sparkler. What's she doing by herself this late...again?
"Hey, where's Sparkler?" I ask gently, seeing that she's calmed down a little. She looks back up at me, wiping her tears.
"She's making your room." She says, cuddling against my chest even more with those big, watery eyes staring at me in relief. Jesus, seeing her so upset makes me feel like a dick... wait a minute, making my room?
"What do you mean?" I ask, furrowing my brow slightly in thought. If she's making me a room, she must expect me to stay with her.
Dinky gives me her best set of puppy dog eyes, "Do you want to stay with us, Mister Frosty?"
Dammit, how can anyone say no to that? "If your mom doesn't have a problem with it, okay." I concede. I'll just check on the cloud thing later, I guess. Slushy gives a squeak, then her stomach rumbles. Huh, hungry baby. What do dragons in this world even eat?
"Hey, do you mind if we stop by the library real quick? I need to ask Twilight something."
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So, dragons eat gemstones. Good to know. Also nice to have princesses paying you enough to make said dragon fat for the next decade or so a month! Maybe this is Celestia's way of apologizing, and I'll admit, it's nice to be a prince... maybe next time I see her I'll forgive her. A guy can only be mad for so long.
Anyway, we were on our way (Me, Dinky in my arms and Slushy on my shoulders still) to Dinky's house, having taken care of that uneventful business. We weren't there yet, so this granted me some time to think. Who the hell would burn down the house of a prince and his best friend just after a coronation? Now, the timing ensured that we didn't catch them in the act, but why?
And how. the hell. DID THEY BURN DOWN A STONE HOUSE?!?! I don't care how many laws of nature, physics, gravity, matter, I don't care how many laws this crazy pony world breaks, you can't burn down stone!! I imagine that it would take a lot of magic to even attempt, so I guess some ponies still distrust me or something.
"We're here!" Dinky exclaims, pointing to a decent looking, grey two story house.
I approach the door, setting Dinky down, and taking a look around. It was starting to get dark, the perfect time to do something others can't see. I notice very few ponies are out and about right now, but those that are seem to be in a rush to get somewhere. Dinky opens the door, calling out,
"I'm home! Frosty came with me too!"
i couldn't help but look around again. I've done plenty of things in the late hours, and it's been made apparent that somepony doesn't want me here, so I'm not taking any more chances. Flossy should be good with the (much respected) apple family, and he's still got that revolver.
I walk into the house quickly, shutting the door behind me and patting Slushy on the head, who had been happily quiet after being fed at the library (her favorite gemstone is emerald) and just observing her surroundings in childish curiosity. The inside was just as modest as the outside, with only a few chairs and a couch in the living room. I'd describe the rest of the house, but I was only in the living room at the moment.
"Nice of you to join us, Frosty!" A familiar voice calls from the stairs. A vaguely familiar voice, I should say. I turn to the stairs to see a familiar grey pegasus smiling at me, her bright yellow eyes going in separate directions. Her mane looks a little damp, as if she was in the shower a few minutes ago.
"Nice to be here, miss Do. Thank you for letting me stay with you." I respond, returning her smile (without showing my teeth, don't want to scare the poor mare)
"You helped my little muffin with a bully, and always did your best to make sure she was safe when me and sparkler weren't with her. It's the least I could do-ah!" she takes another step and slips, tumbling down the stairs comically. I lunge for her, managing to catch her.
"Well, now we can add "caught you mid tumble" to the list, eh?" I chuckle, putting the blushing pegasus down.
"Hehe, thanks..." She smiles sheepishly at me, her eyes still facing different directions. Honestly, it was damn adorable, even if she was about my age.
"Hey, I've been on a roll so far, why stop now?" I joke, walking over to the couch and flopping down on it. Slushy climbs of of my head and into my lap, curling up and closing her eyes. I hear another set of hoofsteps come down the stairs, and already knew who they belonged to.
"Hey, Frosty!" Sparklers voice calls to me with barely contained glee. Now that I think about it, she was always unusually happy to see me, kinda like Rainbow during our first weeks here- wait a fucking minute.
"Heya Spark!" Hey, that's a nice nickname! No wait, can't get sidetracked.
"Is that my new nickname now?" She asks, finally coming into view as she takes a seat next to me on the couch, smiling with a raised eyebrow.
"Better than Sparky." I shrug. She just nods before noticing the baby dragon in my lap.
"Aww, it's cute!" she exclaims, rubbing a hoof down Slushy's back, earning happy burbling noises from the sleepy dragon. She giggles at this, causing me to smirk.
"Her name's Slushy. She's an ice dragon, and is very fond of emeralds and head pats." I explain, patting Slushy on the head and earning me more burbling.
+++++
As I lay in the guest bed, snuggled by Slushy, I can't help but think back to our burned down house. Why would they do this if I was gonna be a prince?
Well, no matter why they did it, I'm gonna find them.
They better have good life insurance,
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