A Spark

AS I PRESSED MY snout close to the ground, I couldn't help but stare at the small rock in front of me, having to cross my eyes in order to properly see the round stone. I sniffed at it once, twice, three times, each inhale brought a burst of spice that tickled my nose, but in a good way. I smiled, showing off my shark-like teeth, before opening my jaws and letting my long tongue slide out from its home. I willed my oral organ to wrap around the stone, and it did. I carefully positioned the stone between my teeth and started to press down. Within seconds, my teeth sank into the stone and cracked it wide open. Spitting out the remnants of the rocky shell, my lips curled back in a smile as I viewed my prize. Sitting within the hollow rock was a single topaz, about the size of a golf ball. It was perfectly smooth, a very nice orange pearl indeed. How natural-forming gems always came out so smooth, or perfectly cut for that matter, is beyond me, but it just adds to the beauty of nature. I happily scooped it up in my talons and deposited it into the left pocket of my shorts. While I was reaching back there, I hiked up my pants up a bit, as they were beginning to ride down and show a bit more of my tail than I would have liked.

I stood upright and looked to the sky. Such a beautiful day; not a cloud in the sky. The warm summer breeze flowing through my mane, the wonderful scents of the wildflowers—even though most of them were being blocked out by the rare gems' smells in the quarry, the chitter of local wild critters. Ah, so peaceful. This was a great place to live, and also why I never left with my parents. Still, they visit me, but a dragon never likes to leave their horde too long, if at all. My mom loves me and my father dearly, but her cave is always calling. And she doesn't even have a hoard, it's just instinct to return to the safety of her nesting area. My father, the loyal stallion that he is, never leaves her larger side.

Yeah, a pony father (he's actually a batpony) and a dragon mother. That left me to be quite and interesting sight. Its rare, but sometimes with the help of certain spells, species can intermingle and create offspring. Like me. I'm a dragon pony. Really though, I'm just a mixture of the two; I have an equine body, but I also have dragon claws at the end of each of my legs. I have a dragon's tail, but it poofs out into a flowing patch of hair at the end. I have a mane like a pony, but the teeth and digestive track of a dragon (which means I can eat anything and not get sick). I've even got a fork in my tongue like my mom. But I have my dad's crimson eyes. Slitted pupils too, not sure what difference it makes though except at night. Unlike both of my parents, though, I don't have wings. My mom thinks that they'll grow in like a normal hatchling's, and dad's supportive, but whatever. I'm also a tad taller than the average stallion. I think only one pony has been around my size, the big red stallion that works at the apple farm in town... Big Macintosh. He's much wider than I am, stronger when it comes to pulling, because more muscle mass means more weight to pull with, but we're pretty much the same height. I'm strong, sure, cuz I've got draconian blood in my veins, and I can lift more than he can, but everything else? Big Mac's a whole 'nother thing.

In fact, when I first moved to town a few months ago and was swept away into some sort of welcoming party (Pinkie Pie is the greatest cakesmith around, by the way), I was commonly mistaken for the large working stallion. At least until I turned around and they saw an unfamiliar face. The height and color similarities made me and Big Mac good friends right of the start. My coat is a sharp red, a quite a few shades lighter than Macintosh's (My coat is not pink! Just really light red), and my mane, as well as the tuft of hair at the end of my tail, is a much brighter orange with yellow highlights. I was dumbstruck to think how ponies mistook me for the farmer when I have a dragon's tail swishing around instead of the normal cascade of long hair. Seriously, a large fur-covered tail ending in a plume of hair is so different from a pony's tail. Not to mention I always wear the same pair of light yellow-tan cargo shorts. Kinda have to. Ponies saw them on me and asked who my designer was, because apparently just a normal pair of shorts with a hole big enough for my thick tail was a new fashion statement. All I did was cut open the back of the shorts a tad more and stitch on some extra fabric to make a four inch long sleeve for my tail. But once ponies began to recognize the subtle differences between me and a normal stallion, I got my own identity.

Manic Flare, the local dragon pony, local handicolt and teacher's aid. That really got ponies talking. Fixing up stuff around town was nice; it let me get to know the locals I would be living amongst. I did nearly everything I was able to. Fixing busted windows, roofing, woodwork (a lot of woodwork, Princess Twilight commissioned me to made quite a few miniature bookshelves for the foal's section of the library), the occasional pipe cleaning, chimney sweeping, you name it an I would do it. And for a lower cost than the companies or establishments up in Canterlot. Whenever a pony needed something fixed, they would write a letter to said company, they would send somepony down, and they would fix whatever's broken. I do the same, but I live in town so I'm faster to contact, and I work for less, which is still good pay. And when there was no work to be done... I started job hunting, and that's when I found the local school teacher posting a 'help wanted' add on the news board near the marketplace. When I first applied for a job, Ms. Cheerilee nearly dropped dead right then and there, but quickly recovered and started to endlessly thank me for even applying. I was smart enough to help teach whenever she needed time or couldn't handle everything, and so far everything's perfect. She seemed to also be the beginning of the gossip stating that I was great around the kids. Now I even foalsit whenever I'm not helping Cheerilee in class or fixing somepony's home. Stupidly enough, foalsitting earned me my cutie mark. Yeah, about six weeks ago after my first foalsitting job of taking care of the little bundles of joy at Sugarcube Corner, the Cakes nearly jumped for joy—I really did jump—when they saw the bright light flash on my ass. I ran up to the bathroom and removed my shorts to see my cute mark had appeared on my flanks...

And to answer the question everypony would think when they heard this story, I'm twenty-six... Yes, I was very late getting my cutie mark. Got myself a cute-ceañera party, thanks to that wonderful cotton candy mare Pinkie. Embarrassing, but fun, for a full grown stallion to have such a kiddy-party. But now I have it; a hollow heart with a small flame sitting within its confines. Means I'm good at keeping others safe. Don't judge.

My tongue escaped from my mouth and flicked at the air, something my mom taught me when we still lived up north. Dragons and other reptiles can taste the air to let us know if there is anything of interest around, such as food, predators, and other things. And right now, my tongue told me that there was a large collection of gems nearby. I could pick up hints of sweetness, sapphires, a tad of spice, more topaz, a heated bittersweet, ooh there's rubies around here!

My nose went straight back to the ground and I once again began sniffing around the dirt like a bloodhound. I took very short and quick breaths in repetition so I could constantly find a hint of the scents I needed. My legs carried me over to the left, straight past a large hole which I had dug a few minutes earlier—you know how hard it was to dig when my claws are dull? I could barely scrape the ground. Thank the Maker I have a sharpening kit at home now, thank you for that Cheerilee—and continues sniffing. More hints of the gems hit my nostrils, causing me to turn towards the path that lead to the rock quarry. I tend to not dig around the path that led back to town because I don't want to mess with the packed earth of the path, but this was a huge score! And as long as it wasn't directly under the path, it'd be fine.

And it wasn't; the gems' scent got particularly strong a few feet from the hardened dirt strip leading to Ponyville. I couldn't help the devilish grin that crawled onto my face. I could've helped my tongue swirling over my teeth, but I didn't want to. This was huge! All the gems I could snack on, plus what I needed to sell!

"Oh baby, come to Manny~" I cooed as I cracked my knuckles. Wiggling my digits, I pressed my claw tips into the earth and leaned forward to get them to sink, which they did. And then my body went into a spasm of collaboration; My shoulders locked, my hind legs braced themselves, and my forelegs curled. The action caused a large section of the hardened top soil to be ripped from the ground, still stuck to my claws. With a swift motion, the large clump was now nothing but very, very small clumps and dust as I smashed it nearby.

I grazed over the dust and gravel to see if I had snagged any gems. I sifted a tad longer, picking out bigger clumps and smashing them in my palm to see if they contained any treasures, but all I ended up with was a few worthless hunks of cloudy amber. I popped those in my mouth and started to dig furiously, sending dirt flying between my back legs and under my upraised tail. The wind whistled over my growing hole, and after what seemed like a little under an hour I decided this was a decent depth to stop and rest. The sweet and salty taste of the amber melting in my mouth as I let them lay on my tongue gave me a bit more energy as I regained my breath. Something was here.

I stood in my hole, my chin hovering just an inch or so before hitting the rim of my new burrow. I'm close to five feet tall (two inches shy), while most other ponies stand an inch or two over four foot even, so I craned my neck up a bit higher as I looked around. My tongue flicked out to taste my surroundings. The wind gently blew my way as I did, which helped me immensely. I could taste the trees, the sweets from the local candy shops—oh, the restaurant near Sweet Apple Acres was just finishing throwing out their old food from the freezer. Spoiling veggies are always good for the coat. Well, my coat anyways. I would always save a few bits by buying the old food that stores were just about to throw out at a discounted price. A little rot never hurt me.

Back to digging. After about another half hour (which I hate that it took that long, but I hit hard clay) I ended up another two feet deeper and the scent just got that much stronger. Not really caring that the dirty blue clay was staining my red coat, I pressed my entire side against the wall and breathed deeply. I let out a primal growl.

"This way." With renewed vigor, I started burrowing into the wall. The smells got stronger as I chipped away at the clay, making me burrow deeper into the earth. My blood surged with excitement as my claws tore through the softening clay, and it pounded in my ears. I always was easy to overexcite myself, but right now I had a real reason, and I found it!

My claws dinged against the hard exterior of a large boulder, causing me to stop in my tracks for only a second before I began to clear away the surrounding dirt and clay to view my prize. After a few minutes of scrapping, I just sat back and shook my head happily at my luck. It must have been the size of a large beach ball, and the scent of precious rocks emanated from its pours. But I was still only for a moment. With my prize literally right in front of me, I began digging underneath the boulder, scooping out large hunks of clay and wet dirt. I would have gone to the surface and dug the boulder out, but I had dug so much and flung it all behind me that I had blocked off my path back. I was technically working in the dark, but my eyes could cut right through the darkness. And while I could have dug back through the loose soil and clay behind me, that would just have put it all back against the boulder. This would be quicker.

I scooped out a pocket underneath the rock large enough to squeeze my head under, and that was all I needed. With a shove and a grunt, I positioned myself with my head under the rock and my ass in the air, which was technically touching the ceiling of my tunnel, so it was under the air, but whatever. My muscles flexed, and my back began to burn as I tried to lift the entire stone—and the few feet of soil on top of it—to the surface. My neck cracked loudly and I doubled my efforts. Smoke began to trickle from my nostrils as I struggled against gravity and physics, but I pushed harder. The rock budged, then gave a few inches upward. I slid my front legs up closer to my chin and began lifting even harder. The rock continued to rise and rise and rise! I was able to stand in my hole with the boulder on my head!

I gave one last push and basically threw the stone upward with a victorious roar, forcing it through the topsoil and into the air. Unfortunately, the action caused the surrounding earth to loosen and come tumbling down on me. I curled into a ball and waited for the shower of dirt and pebbles to stop.

After a few seconds, I felt the last bit of dirt rain onto my pile. I flexed my forelegs a few times in my confined space before I started digging my way out. It was a lot easier to dig already dug soil like this, and I was greeted by sunlight within moments. I poked my head out of the dirt and looked around. Not much to see though, there was still five feet of solid wall around me. Guess I'd be climbing. So I started pulling the rest of my body out of the soft dirt below, using my claws to dig into the walls for support. I just ended up climbing my way out.

I reached up and grabbed onto the ledge, waited a few moments, then heaved my head up and rested my chin near on my claws. I couldn't help the goofy smile that had appeared across my lips when I saw the huge rock a few feet away. It was a lumpy sphere, nearly three feet wide in all places.

"Woah."

My ear twitched towards the sound, and my head followed it. The smile erased itself from my face as I saw I wasn't alone. Two beings stood nearby my hole. The closest one, currently leaning forward to look at me, was a dragon, and a good friend. The only other draconian in town, Spike. I talk to him every once in a while when I need to grab a new book from the library, and we hang out and talk when we have corresponding days off. His purple scales shined in the sun, and the lighter green ones lining his belly, chin, and head actually looked a bit faded. He must have been scrubbing the floors at the library. Still, with him being a little over four feet tall and me in the hole, he towered over my head as he looked at me.

The pony behind him was just standing there, an unreadable expression on her face. She had on a wide yellow sunhat with a blue ribbon around the base of the dome, which looked really well on her. Her alabaster coat sparkled amongst the dry earthy colors of the rock quarry, and her bluish-violet mane spiraled out from under her hat in a fashionable manner. Her tail did the same thing. I knew her from around town, she owned the clothing store or something. I've seen her around with Applejack, Twilight, and the rest of her gang, I don't remember their names. She's a unicorn, if I remember correctly. Yeah, there's her horn.

I shook my head, which flung some loose dirt, before lifting my body out of the whole. Spike gave me ample room as I shook off like a wet dog, while the white unicorn backed up a step and guarded herself with a foreleg. Once I finished my little show, I looked down at myself. My light red coat is smudged with blue and brown from my few hours of digging around the boulder, and my shorts, being made of fabric, were even worse. In all honesty, I looked pretty ragged. I looked back at the pair and offered them a small smile.

"Hey Spike, hello Miss," I said politely. Spike recovered first, smiling back and stepping forward.

"Hey Manfred, how ya doing?"

"Manic," I reminded him. He almost always called me that. When I asked him a few weeks ago, he apologized and said that my fiery mane looks 'poofy,' which also reminded him of some cartoon character. It just became a nickname, but I still tell him off about it.

"Sorry, Manic." Spike gave me a shy shrug as he rubbed his arm. "Anyways, what'cha doing out here?" I pointed at the large rock I have just dug up.

"Just doing a little gem hunting," I said casually. "Seeing if I can bring home a few rubies." Spike's eyes lit up when he heard me say this.

"Hey, that's what we're doing!" he called out in an excited tone.

I looked back at the unicorn, who hasn't moved much while me and my draconic brother exchanged words. Her eyes were currently running up and down the length of my body, watching me, inspecting me. I motion towards her with a clawed appendage.

"Both of you? Gem hunting? Seems like a bit of a dirty job for such a clean-coated mare like this." That snapped her out it.

"I couldn't agree more, sir," she replied, formal as ever. "Spike here is the one who digs, I merely point him in the right direction." She took a few short steps closer, almost until she was nose to nose with me. Well, as close as she could get to that; I still had a few inches on her (my nose was perfect level with her horn), but that didn't stop her from actively circling my body. She noticed my tail swaying above the dirt in a defensive manner as she stepped around the extension. "Come to think of it, sir, I don't believe we have met."

"I'm kinda new," I said as she stopped in front of me beside Spike. "Moved to town a few months ago." I huffed and gave a short bow. "The name's Manic Flare, but most ponies just call me Manic, or Manny if you please."

The mare smiled at me, thought about her next action for a second, then offered me her hoof. "A pleasure to meet you, Manic. I am Rarity, the local seamstress." She waited a moment before looked at me again. I looked at her hoof, then at my own clay smeared claws. Her name clicked in my head, and I instantly recalled all of Spike's stories about the mare and how she, quite honestly, despises filth. So why had she offered me her hoof?

"I apologize, Rarity," I said thinking this would be a better approach, "but I'm afraid that by shaking your hoof I would tarnish your perfect coat." So instead, I gave her a small bow of my head once more. "It's an pleasure to meet you." When I looked up at her again, Rarity had a very strong urge to look at her hoof. I shrugged as she put her hoof down, thinking ill thoughts about what she had just realized she was about to do.

"Er, yes. Quite. I should have known. My apologies for seeming so odd." I nodded at her, and she returned it. My eyes drifted to her right where the shortest of the group stood. Well, he wasn't really the shortest, he was just about Rarity's height. Spike had a bit of a bewildered expression on his face. I cleared my throat to get his attention, and he shook his head, making the green frills on his head wobble.

"Wow, Rarity, you almost willingly touched dirt," He said softly. I raised an eyebrow at his observation. Was she really that put off about grime? "Who are you, and what have you done with the real Rarity?" Spike asked her while giving her leg a quick jab with his elbow, chuckling as he did. Rarity's white cheeks suddenly gained a fair bit of color as she composed herself for a response.

"I-I'm not sure, dear..." Rarity lifted her hoof up to her chin as her eyes locked onto me again. "...I suppose I was a tad awestruck."

"Awestruck?" I repeated as I picked a bit of clay out of my mane. "By me?"

"I should say so," Rarity answered. She shook her head slowly, smiling as she did. "I must say, when I first saw you... I wasn't quite sure what I was suppose to think. You seem so... exotic." I straightened my neck when I heard her say this, but she didn't seem to notice. Rarity merely cocked her head to the left ever so slightly. "I hope it's not too rude to ask this, but... I've never seen any creature quite like you. If I may ask... what are you?"

A toothy smile grew on my face as I began to laugh. It started off as a faint hitching breath, but soon escalated into a full bellow. I tried my best to keep it from getting too loud, but I could only hold my laughter back so far. I pounded my chest for a moment as I forced myself to stop.

"Amm, sorry about that," I said, waving her off. "I've just never heard anypony ask that so... politely before. To answer your question..." I paused as I pointed at Spike, "I'm a little bit of you..." and then I pointed at Rarity, "and I'm a little bit of you." The two exchanged looks before turning back to me. I stifled another laugh as I took in a breath. "...I'm a dragon pony. Momma dragon, papa pony, a little magic, and a whole lotta love.

"So tell me," I inquired as I took a seat on the ground, "what is the local seamstress doing out here looking for gems?" Rarity and Spike shared a chuckle before the little dragon spoke up.

"Rarity goes these little treks every once in a while so she can gather nice looking gems to use in her work." Spike takes a prestigious pose with a closed fist on his chest. "And I tag along to help her. I get to snack on her rejects." I can't help but smile.

"Snacking, huh? Makes sense." I leaned closer to Spike and cupped his chin in the crook of my claws. "Smile." He did just so, knowing what I was doing. As the only other 'pony' in Ponyville with any knowledge of draconian habits and lifestyles, Spike and I became fast friends. Besides our regular meetings around the library and sharing a coffee (he likes decaff) at Sugarcube Corner, we also chat about, that's right, dragons. Spike went on a little pilgrimage, so to speak, and met a lot of his species. They were assholes. So, I took the time to talk to him about our shared blood. Twilight tries her best, but everything she knows about dragons comes from books, and most while most of it is accurate, there are a few things her literature doesn't tell.

"Open... A bit wider... Very good, nice and sharp," I said as I examined my friend's teeth. "...Hmm, looks like your snout is elongating. Going through another growth spurt?" He nodded, his head still in my palm, and I chuckled. "Makes sense, you're almost sixteen now, right?" He nodded again as I let go of his face. "Yeah, you should be teething within the next year or two."

"Teething?" Rarity asked, obviously confused by our conversation. "But Spike already has his teeth." I simply smiled at her.

"Not all of them. As he ages, he'll acquire a second set right behind the first. Possibly a third if he's the right mix of breeds." I looked back to my dragon friend. "A few more years and you should have a toothy grin just like mine." I showed him by example, letting my lips peel back in a shark-like smile. Since I had a few years on him, my teeth were a size or two larger than his own. He would catch up with me, even dwarf me in my elder years, but for now, I'll take advantage of being the bigger stallion.

Predatory teeth in a pony muzzle, not what most expect, and it's always fun to gauge their reactions. I end up having to explain that my teeth only look sharp. They're pointy and triangular, but their edges are dull. Still, they serve their purpose. Thinking back, it reminds of when I first moved in. Princess Twilight took an immediate interest in me, saying that she had never met a dragon pony. For newly-crowned royalty (yes, four years after her crowning is still new), she was really nothing but a big filly. She spent the first half of our first examination with her muzzle shoved down my throat, trying to understand (and catalog) my unique choppers. I have two molars on each side of my upper and lower jaws, but the outer edge that rests against my cheeks has what Twilight called "an endodermic mutation." No, that's what she called it. My molars are flat like any other creature's, but the sides of them jut upward into a triangular shape like the rest of my teeth, kinda like somepony cut out a piece of plaster and stuck it to the sides of my back teeth. Guess that's what happens when you mix the DNA of two creatures with completely different diets. Sorry, got off track.

I rubbed the top of Spike's head, to which he responds by nudging me away.

"You been keeping busy?" I asked him. He gave me a short nod.

"Yeah, pretty busy." He listed a few things off on his claws. "Helped Twilight fixed a busted window a few days ago, started building a new bookshelf for the library, and a few other things like that."

"Twilight still draggin' ya by the tail, eh?" I said as I wrapped a dirty leg around his shoulders. He pushed me away again, chuckling at himself.

"No, not any more. She just kinda leads me in a certain direction."

"Whatever you say, Spike." I looked back at the thinking face of Rarity, who'd been fairly quiet for the rest of our short conversation. "Hey!" I said loudly to get her attention. Her widened eyes assured me that I had it. "Why don't we check out my score?" I said as I motioned towards the large rock I had just dug up. Spike's already on top of the thing before I turned around completely.

"Oh man, this thing is huge!" The excitement in Spike's voice told me he was more than interested in what was residing within the stone. I chuckled and walked over to him, as did Rarity. We both circled the stone a few times, but Rarity stopped and I nearly bumped into her flanks. When I looked up at her, I noticed her horn was enveloped in a beautiful pale blue aura. I watched her for a moment longer before returning my attention to the large stone before us.

"Hmm," Rarity hummed to herself. "...This shell is quite thick, I can barely tell what types of gems are inside."

"You can sense gems?" I asked, genuinely curious about her statement. "I normally smell them out."

"How are you going to open this up?" Rarity asked me, which got me to laugh again. She exchanged a glance with Spike, but I just huddled my body closer to the stone, almost hugging it.

"You may want to get off of there, Spike," I warned him.

He slid off he side of the round stone and I just continued to embrace it. I rubbed my claws along the surface while I had my ear pressed against it, scratching the stone to test the vibrations. Scratching didn't seem to warrant much response, so I began firmly drumming the tip of my claws against the stone in various locations, all the while dragging my head to different spots to listen. It must have seemed very odd to my two companions, but it's how I find the best place to strike and risk the least amount of injury.

A louder, clearer tap echoed my claws near the top of the stone. I did it again with my face pressed in a different spot to see if I had heard it correctly. And I had. Keeping my forelegs where they were, I stood up on my hind legs, then crouched over the stone in a protective fashion. Seconds ticked by as I waited for the right time to strike, and for some reason that bothered my audience.

"Darling," Rarity spoke softly, "is everything alrigh—"

I let out a dramatic roar, cutting Rarity off, and slammed the fist of my left limb against the boulder. Pain flared up my arm as I did, but it quickly faded. We waited for a second, and that second turned into five, then I made my next move. I carefully let out a breath against the spot where I had stricken, and the round stone split right in two, revealing its hidden treasure to the three of us. Gems of all sizes and shapes, but only three types; sapphires, rubies, and amethyst. I hadn't picked up the scent of amethyst, and it was so distinct too. The violet gems always carried a stingingly bitter scent, but these barely had any smell.

I reached forward with the same leg I had struck the boulder to sift through the gems and inspect my haul, but a sharp pain surged up my limb when I did. I sighed, gaining the attention of my friends, as I looked back at my shoulder. Another dislocation. My shoulder just dropped an inch before my foreleg jutted from my body.

"Oh my," Rarity voiced.

"Dude, you okay?" Spike asked.

I just sat on my haunches and reached up with my other leg. With a firm grip just before my elbow, I yanked outward, then pulled my other leg across my chest, which caused a sickening grinding noise to emanate from my joint until the ball of my leg popped back into place. The action caused Spike to wince, and the fur around Rarity's face gained a green hue. Rolling my leg around to see if anything had broken—which nothing had, but it would be sore for a few days—I looked over at them and shrugged with my other shoulder.

"It's happened before, no biggie."

"Yes biggie!" Rarity nearly shrieked. My ears clamped down against my skull to protect themselves from her voice, I could still hear her. "That was absolutely grotesque! Such an injury, you must be in pain!" I opened my mouth to object, but she pressed close to me and took my foreleg in her own, not caring about the clay and dirt that rubbed off on her coat. "This is not good. Spike! I need you to run down to the hospital and let everypony know what happened while I help Manic." I huffed and pulled my leg from her grasp.

"Rarity, I'm fine. See?" I rolled my foreleg again, then gave her a simple wave with it. "It'll be sore for a while, yes, but I fixed it. No biggie." She was about to protest again, but I cut her off by pointing at the violet and green dragon beside us. "After all, from all the stories Spike has told me, you two seem to spend a lot of time together. Haven't you noticed that whenever he got hurt he was back on his claws the next day?"

"I actually haven't gotten hurt around Rarity," Spike said, completely putting out my fire. "At least, not too badly." He rubbed his arm and looked at the ground, knowing that he took my point away, but I waved him off.

"Anyways," I said while rolling my claw in a circular motion, "even though I'm a half-breed, dragons have a very high pain tolerance. So that means that I do too, to some extent."

"But being able to bare pain is no excuse to let yourself wallow in it!" Rarity argued. This mare has a real heart of gold, being worried over somepony who she just officially met. Seeing as how she already had a nice blue streak of clay on her chest from when she took hold of my foreleg, I threw caution to the wind and placed a firm claw on her shoulder. The effect was immediate; she shut up and looked me dead in the eyes.

"Rarity, I'm fine. I appreciate your concern, and it would be... what's the word?" I pursed my lips as I tried to speak phosisicated. "...I don't remember it. Whatever. The point is, yes, this injury would have been a very big deal for a normal pony. But I'm not normal. I'm part dragon, and the genes of the resilient race of the draconians that flows within me allows me to do many a thing that most other stallions could not. My bones are stronger than a normal pony's, and my pain tolerance is much higher than average. My shoulder will be sore, but that's it. Please, take my word for it. I will be fine, Rarity."

We stood there, staring into each other's eyes for a long while as we both absorbed my words. Her pause was probably caused by either me standing my ground and pointing things out that she possibly overlooked, or the fact that I have a grimy clay-covered claw on her shoulder, or most likely a little bit of both. I was just waiting for her to react. And after about a minute or so, her gaze broke with a tad of color rushing to her cheeks, this time pink instead of green. However, her eyes locked onto my shoulder once more.

"...Well... At least come with us to have it checked out."

I looked over to Spike to see if her could help me. But the look in his eyes said it all. I wasn't getting out of a trip to the local hospital and still be the nice guy. In all actuality, I was a bit curious to how the staff would react to me. After all, I was the one who helped Big Macintosh replace a wheel on his cart when his sister Applejack overloaded the thing in the middle of the marketplace. While she had run off to grab a jack, I simply walked over and hefted the thing up on its other wheel... with one leg. It was a bit strenuous, but I figured I could showboat a bit, seeing as how I was the new guy and needed the rep in town.

"...If it will make you feel better, okay," I said after a while. Rarity happily nodded, then turned to Spike.

"Spikey, dear, please gather Manic's findings and we'll take our leave. We'll come out for our own little scavenge later in the week." She looked around a bit as Spike did the same, before turning back to me. "Um, do you have any saddlebags?" I shook my head.

"No, I normally just pocket the gems and heft half the stone home with me. Normally I turn them into bowls for home."

"Very ingenious, yes. Anyways, we'll just take them in my own." A mere second later, Rarity's hat was enveloped in that sparkling aura of hers and lifted off her head just long enough for a small sack to fly out. The sack began to unfold and when it reached it final size, looked like it could have fit the whole boulder in it even if I hadn't smashed it in two.

"You keep a sack in your hat?" I asked.

"Well, saddlebags do work," Rarity started, "but some gems are so pointy and rough. Doesn't feel too good when they poke through the fabric." My sparkling treasure was then swallowed by her transparent magic and funneled into her bag. One every single gem was inside, she magically handed Spike the bag, who spun in closed and threw it over his shoulder. Rarity gave him a smile, then returned to me. "Well, let's go get you checked out."

.

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

.

"PLEASE, HAVE A SEAT, I'll be right back." The nurse had on a small smile as she left, a constant and pleasant reminder of how friendly this little town was. I already knew this nurse, Redheart was her name, and she was just darling. Always keeping her white coat spotless, her pale pink man always in a neat little bun, and her attitude almost always cheery and calm. I say almost because I have seen her snap at a certain rainbow-maned pegasus quite a few times.

I shimmied myself up onto the examination table, watching the wax paper below me crumple under my flank and discolor as the clay and dirt from my pants painted streaks on its surface. A bounce later, I let my head turn back to my friends, who were sitting patiently on a nice little bench that rested against the wall near the door. Rarity still had on her skeptical look, thinking to herself that I really was terribly injured, but Spike had on a very different look as he had his head buried in a magazine. I couldn't help but smirk as Rarity magically pulled it from his grasp once she saw the fiery-maned yellow pegasus on the front of the cover clad in a one-piece bathing suit and wearing a very suggestive look on her muzzle. I don't know who the mare was, but damn did she have a great body.

It didn't take too long for us to get to the hospital, but it did take longer than normal due to my new limp. It was nothing to me, but it was just another piece of ammo Rarity used for her argument that I should have a professional take a look at my shoulder. We entered the establishment, and while I chatted with the one other pony in the lobby who was there to get her cast redone after spilling lemonade over her legs, Rarity made a bit of a stink up at the front counter. I was whisked away to the examination room immediately.

We didn't have to wait long before Redheart returned with another stallion, the doctor that would be giving me my checkup. A caramel-colored unicorn with a head and tail of bouncy dark brown hair. He was clothed in an unbuttoned white shirt, and a pair of oval lensed glasses sat at the end of his muzzle. He looked over at my companions, then at me. A whistle flew from between his lips as he looked my up and over.

"Well, aren't you a tall one. Looks like you've sent some time in the pigpen." I gave him a smug expression, complete with a toothy grin, which caused him to mentally backpedal. "W-well then..." he stammered. One deep breath later and he was the perfect stallion I saw before. "Anyways, I assume you aren't here for those," he said as he openly pointed to my mouth. I mentally mused at his actions as my lips fell to hide my choppers. "Moving along. I'm Doctor Horse," he said with a smile, and a small, polite bow, "what seems to be the problem?"

"Dislocated his left shoulder," Redheart and Rarity said simultaneously. "He reset it himself in a barbaric manner, but we wanted to make sure he's okay," Rarity finished.

"I see," Doctor Horse mused. He hopped up on his rear legs so he could look me in the eye from my seat, but instead of doing so, he concentrated on my chest. "Nearly a third of all dislocations also bring fractures." Doctor Horse's horn lit up as he brought it to the middle of my chest. "Why didn't you immediately come to the hospital after you dislocated your shoulder?" he asked as he magically scanned my body.

"I didn't see the need," I told him. I really didn't. "I've done it before, and it's no big deal."

"Strained joints and bone fractures are indeed a very big deal Mr..."

"Manic Flare."

"Right. How did you injure yourself?" Rarity took it upon herself to answer this one.

"He split a boulder right in two with his fist."

This got the eyebrows of the doc to rise quite highly, but he soon recover from his case of 'awe' and resumed his work. Doctor Horse drug his horn from the middle of my chest to my shoulder. After a moment of silence, he leaned back and looked me in the eye.

"No fracture. But you've put your muscles through unneeded stress. You've going to be very sore for a few weeks." I rolled my eyes at the doc.

"I was able to walk over here, wasn't I?" With my injured leg, I lifted myself off the table and back to the ground just to show him that there was nothing wrong, but it still hurt a bit. I didn't let it show. "I'm fine, Doc."

"Regardless of what you think," Doctor Horse replied, "we know for sure that you should not strain yourself any further than you already have." He walked over to Redheart. "We'll need a sling."

"Woah, woah, woah there Doc," I said quickly. "Tomorrow's Monday, I gotta work. No sling."

"Why is that?" Redheart asked me as she came closer with a large rectangular cloth.

"Because," I answered as I backed up a tad, "my job needs me to be walking around for a few hours, not to mention snapping a ruler on the edge of students' desks to get their attention. I can't do that too well on three legs."

"Then take a few days off," Rarity suggested. "Even a strapping young hybrid like yourself shouldn't push past your limits." My head snapped back at her.

"...Okay, first; I know my limits, and this is about halfway. Second; thank you for your concern, but I got this. And thirdly; did you just call me 'strapping'?" Rarity tensed at my question and danced on her hooves while trying to avoid my gaze. Doctor Horse, however, found the space next to my face rather comfortable.

"I think she also called you a hybrid," he stated. "Is this your first visit to any type of medical office?" I nodded at him, to which he just shook his head. "Oh, this will never do. Nurse Redheart, let's start a new file for the special cases drawer."

"Right away, Doctor." Redheart left the room, leaving only one medically trained professional in my midst.

"Special cases drawer?" I asked the doctor as he began to root around in a small compartment at the end of the examination table.

"Yes," he answered curtly. "You are a hybrid pony, correct?" I nodded at him again, but he couldn't see it with his face in the compartment, so I voiced my answer.

"Yeah, I am. Half dragon, half batpony."

"Well now, there's a combo I can honestly say I've never heard of." Doctor Horse lifted his muzzle from the drawer with a small metal tube in his front hooves. "No, that's not it." He returned the tube to the table's compartment, along with his attention, but he still spoke. "Anyway, whenever a new pony moves to town, the hospital get's their credentials and health records. But this is your first visit, so we don't even have your basic info. Normally we would abstain them via transfer from your last residential area, but..."

"Yeah, I guess I know, first visit, no info," I continued for him. "Tell you what, my parents are coming later in the month for a visit, so I can get the info from them." After all, they know me, and my mixed blood, better than anypony.

"Splendid!" I swear to Mother Faust, he said that. I've never heard anypony say that outside of corny novels. But, the doc just carried on with his snooping in the drawer. After a moment more, he withdrew himself with a large item in his hoof. It looked like somepony had snapped off a scooter's handle and stuck it to a pad that looked oddly like one of those blindfolds ponies sleep with. I noticed a little dial attached to the side of it, kinda like a gauge. The doctor reared up and before I could protest, he stuck the weird object flat against my forehead. It was soft, kinda like rubber, and it molded to the shape of my head.

"Now hold still," he warned me. "We'll be needing your immediate vitals just in case something happens and you end up here again."

"Makes sense," I replied while trying to hold my neck still. Nurse Redheart also made her reappearance with a yellow file folder between her teeth.

"Nurse Redheart, good to see you back so soon," Doctor Horse said merrily. "I take it that the offices have been restocked?" Redheart took her seat and grabbed a pencil from a nearby cup on the counter next to the table.

"Yes, they have," she answered.

"Wonderful," Doctor Horse replied. "Be ready to take some notes, Nurse. Why don't you give him a standard examination while we wait for this thing."

That was all she needed to hop up on the table with me. I was a bit surprised to see the table actually support us both, mainly because I weigh a tad more than the average pony. Redheart sat down behind me and placed a hoof on my shoulder to comfort me.

"Just say the word and I'll stop." She started probing my back with the tip of her hooves, occasionally parting my fur to look at my skin. "...Dense muscle structure. You must be very strong." Redheart gingerly made her way down to the waistband of my cargo shorts. "...Any particular reason you're decked out in such attire? You look ready to go hiking."

"Actually," I said while keeping completely still, "these are my normal everyday pants. I kinda need 'em cuz of my tail."

"What do you mean?" Redheart and Rarity both asked me. Redheart went back to her duties of poking me.

"I mean, it's sort of like a need. I don't have a tail made of hair, mine's muscle that sticks straight out to help me balance. So... I need something to keep me decent in public." Nurse Redheart snorted at my statement.

"Honey, we're all ponies here. We almost always go nude, save for special occasions. No matter where you go, you are bound to see something. There's no need to be embarrassed."

"I just don't like myself to be on public display," I grumbled. Nurse Redheart continued her work, stopping ever few seconds to write something down. I heard her mumble a few things as she did.

"...Blood flow seems to be normal, no obstructions..." I felt her place the side of her face against my back, right between my shoulder blades. "...Heart sounds strong. You sure feel warm, are you feeling okay? Any nausea? Dizziness?"

"I'm fine, you gotta remember that I'm half dragon."

"Right." Nurse Redheart resumed poking my back, trying to see if anything was wrong. And she hit a patch of nerves that made me arch forward a few seconds later. "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I replied. "Just... a bit sensitive right there." Redheart poked me one more time where she did before, right between my shoulder blades. Again, my back arched itself to try and get away.

"Hm, looks like you have some sort of abnormal bone growth here," Redheart stated as she began to scribble. "...Might be a sharp bone spire. You may be getting quills."

"Gee, that makes me feel better," I mumbled. "Another thing to poke holes in my mattress." Claws were one thing, but spines lining my back? No thanks.

"I should just about have his temperature," Doctor Horse finally said, bringing our attention from my predicament. Right at that moment, the thing stuck to my forehead let out a soft hiss, then it dinged like an egg timer. The smile was quickly wiped from the doctor's muzzle, and he continued to stare at the pad.

"...Something wrong, doc?" I voiced.

"...Internal temperature... One hundred-thirty-seven Marenheit..." The other two mares in the room took in a gasp of air, but the dragon seemed more preoccupied at trying to sneak peeks at the magazine Rarity confiscated earlier.

"Sounds about right," I said. My answer immediately calmed the rest of my party, and I rolled my eyes at their reaction. "Hey, remember, I'm half dragon. I got a fire roaring in my chest, of course my temperature is gonna be high." This little bit of info caused the doc's ears to perk up.

"You don't say?" His horn flared up and a popsicle stick flew from the drawer he was rummaging in before, still encased in its plastic coat. It peeled itself and zipped towards my lips. "Open please."

"Okay, but I gotta warn you abou—" The doc cut me off by fishing the stick against my tongue and forcing my jaws open.

"I know, I'll be careful," he said. "Tap the table if anything gets too uncomfortable." He leaned in with his horn glowing in order to illuminate my mouth better. "...Hm, tonsils seem fine. Very unique teeth, I dare say I've never seen anything like them... Too much buildup around the gums. You need to see the dentist." I rolled my eyes at him, though nopony could see it. "Patient appears to possess a reptilian-like tongue in nature with two distinct ends, albeit the organ is thicker much like a pony's... There appears to be scar tissue lining the back of the throat, perhaps if we..." Doctor Horse trailed off as her leaned even closer and stuck the stick even further down my throat. Unfortunately, he touched too far back, and triggered what I was trying to warn him about.

My gag reflex.

My throat shortened, my neck scrunched up, and I hacked a large plume of black smoke right in the doctor's face. Doctor Horse backpedaled into Redheart, and they both fell onto the floor in a pile of limbs and fur. I sat on the edge of the examination table pounding on my chest, trying to get my coughing under control, all the while spewing black smoke. After one large inhale, I hacked one final time and let loose a small torrent of yellow flames. Thankfully, I didn't have any power behind the fire, and it barely reached out a hoof's length from my muzzle before it dissipated into hot air.

"Sorry, I *cough* ...tried to warn you..." I managed to squeak as I got my breathing under control.

.

~ ~ ~ ~ ———— ~ ~ ~ ~

.

WITH MY HEALTH NO longer in question, Rarity, Spike, and I escorted ourselves from the facility and made our way back to town. I had managed to escape the hospital without a sling, but they had warned me numerous times that it would be wise to stay home and recuperate for a few days. I probably wouldn't listen. We talked amongst ourselves a bit, Spike mainly about asking about my fire-breathing ability (I don't think I ever told him), and Rarity about my shorts. Since she learned I altered them myself, she was insisting that I should come to her if I ever need a patch up, or a new pair of pants, or two, or five in better colors, or a shirt to go with them, or a full suit, or a nice ascot, and so on and so forth. We continued to dawdle amongst ourselves for a good portion of our walk, which led us to Rarity's place of business and home.

The Carousal Boutique. Quite a fancy place, one I've seen many a times while strolling through town, but never understood what type of building it was. Now I know. I looked up at the yellow and orange striped drapes and-or curtains that hung in the windows for a second before turning back to Rarity.

"Well, I suppose this is where we part for today," I said with a chipper tone.

"Yes," Rarity replied rather slowly. "...I suppose it is. Spike, do you need to be at the library? If not, you're more than welcome to stay for a while. Sweetie Belle was asking all about you before we left." The little guy's eyes lit up so brightly I almost had to look away.

"That would be awesome, Rarity. Thank you." Wow, even trying to sound like a kid again, he just... doesn't. But that name caught my attention.

"Sweetie Belle?" I asked. Spike looked up at me and gave me a nod.

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle. Rarity's little sister. We've kinda been hanging out a lot lately."

"Oh, so little Belle's you sister?" I asked Rarity. "That would fill in a lot of the wholes in her stories."

"You know her?" Spike asked me. I nodded back at him.

"Of course I know her. I'm Cheerilee's assistant at the school. Very smart, great singer, even though she won't admit it, but not the best with magic." A twinkle went off in her eyes as I talked.

"So..." Rarity droned on, "...Are you the 'Firebird' she always talks about?" I rolled my eyes.

"Firebird, she let loose a spell that made my chair fly. Scared me so bad I set it on fire." I looked up from the ground to see Rarity covering her mouth with a hoof, trying not to laugh. "Yeah, yeah, I'm the Firebird. You know, for a unicorn who claims not to be so skilled with magic, that was a pretty impressive levitation spell."

"Well," Rarity began, "let me thank you personally. Since her little one-on-one study sessions during recess with you, her grades have improved to the highest I've seen since, well, ever. Thank you ever so much for assisting my little sister, Manic." I couldn't help but smile.

"It's no problem. Sweetie Belle just has a different learning style than the other foals. Oh, I probably shouldn't call them foals anymore."

"Yes," Rarity agreed as she looked up at Spike. "...They grow up so fast."

"Whelp, I should made myself scarce," I said as I pivoted on my claws. "If you ever need somepony around for some heavy lifting, or digging, or really any kind of handiwork, let me know. I get off of work the same time the children get out of school. Spike, you remember where I live, right?"

"Yep, outskirts of town, near Fluttershy's place."

Fluttershy, that was her name! How could I forget something like that? After all, we're practically neighbors... kinda. Well, about a hundred yards away is still neighborly, right? Yeah, I live right on the borderline of the trees that lead into the Everfree forest. Kinda cool there, too. Lots of wildlife to see scampering around nearby.

"See ya Manic," Spike hollered as he barreled through the now open door to the Boutique.

"Yes, Goodbye Manic," Rarity called out after my retreating form. "And do make sure not to strain yourself!" With that, she entered her home and closed the door.

Cool, looks like I made a new friend today. A smart mare to have interesting conversations with, especially since I've seemed to peaked her interest. And she's peaked mine as well. I never knew little Belle had a sister. She always mentioned someone as a role model in her life, but I really thought she was talking about her mom. Let's see if we can exchange some info, I'd really like that. I just hope she isn't as invasive as Twilight when it comes to 'picking my brain.'