Wednesday, January 13th
Barcelponian Hospital
Daytime
Weather: Cloudy
"Ugh... My head... C-Carboni...?" Creation rasped, his eyes cracking open... Only seeing bright whites and yellows around him as his sight was still blurred.

"Carboni..?" A familiar, mature female voice said. Once Creation's vision regulated, he saw that the voice speaking to him his grandmother, Cherry Drink, who was right in front of his face. This sudden appearance caused Creation to jump, hitting his head on the wall.

"Ow! Hi Grandma.." Creation said begrudgingly, rubbing the tender spot on the back of his head with his hoof. He took a moment to gain his footing in his environment, before removing his hoof from the back of his head and looking down at it.

'Wait, my hooves are back..' Creation thought to himself, looking down at them in amazement. Cherry Drink looked at him strangely, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Are you alright? You're looking at your hooves strangely..." She said with concern, walking closer and putting a hand on his hoof, which made her grandson look her in the eye, giving her a small nod before looking back down at his hooves, seeing no wounds on his body whatsoever.

"How did I get here? I remember passing out in an alleyway..." Creation asked.

"Mr. Cold Hard Justice found you passed out in an alleyway, laying next to an antique stained glass painting, with seemingly no injuries.” She explained, relief washing over Creation’s mind. Perhaps that whole thing was just a sleep-deprived dream he had.

“Funny thing though... There was a gray dragon protecting you, trying to wake you up. Do you know her by any chance?" She inquired, tilting her head with curiosity.

‘A gray dragon..? No, it can’t be...’ Creation thought to himself. Though, he had to check...

“Grandma.. Did that dragon’s name happen to be Carboni?” He asked, which caused Cherry to blink twice before looking upwards with a thoughtful expression.

“I think so.. She is outside the room if you’d like to chat with her.” Cherry said, walking towards the door and opening it, talking to a figure outside of Creation’s view. “Can you come in, sweetie? My grandson would like to see you.”

A gray dragon with brown eyes, black spikes, and a black underbelly walked into the room. Her figure was slender, yet she had a small bit of definition to her muscles. Her snout was skinny and sleek, almost like a serpentine reflection of her diamond dog visage. Her legs were digitigrade, her claves bending back and forced to walk on her toes, which were adorned with pearly white talons. When she saw Creation in bed, a small smile grew on her face.

"I think I’ll let you two speak. I’ll be right out here, so just call for me if you need me, alright?" She said, giving him a patient smile before exiting the room, leaving the dragon and Creation alone in the hospital room.

"Carboni? Is that you?" Creation said as he sat up, glaring at the supposedly disguised diamond dog, which earned him a smirk and an arm cross from the draconic female.

"Took ya’ long enough." She replied bluntly, chuckling a bit afterward, Creation joining her in the small humorous moment. She then took a seat at the side of Creation’s bed.

"Yeah. Your scale pattern kinda tipped it off." Creation replied, watching her saunter her way to the armed chair.

"So, how are you feeling? Any serious injuries?" Carboni asked, with genuine concern.

"No. Just a nasty headache..." Creation said, rubbing the back of his head gently before a question popped up in his head that he hadn’t thought to ask first. "Why did you disguise yourself as a dragon?"

"How do you think everyone in town would react to a diamond dog of all things, just strolling through town?" Carboni questioned rhetorically. “Even with the all the races and creatures having been integrated for years, that doesn’t quell the subconscious suspicions of past mistakes from a race as a whole.”

"True that.." Creation replied a little sourly. "But, how did you transform into a dragon..?"

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out, newbie.." She stated quite bluntly, Creation just nodding to her answer. They sat there for a while in awkward silence, both of them trying to find a way to pick up their conversation once more. Carboni's hissed softly through her teeth to break the silence.

"Um... Sorry that you got injured while getting dragged through this mess. I should have just gotten you out of there quicker than that.." She said as she looked down to her feet.

"No, it's not your fault... You did your best and had to handle most of that on your own... I mean... I probably would have died if you hadn’t come along." Creation said, smiling sheepishly afterward. Creation’s comment made Carboni smile and scratch the back of her neck.

“Aw, you flatter me, Creation...” She said in reply, a bit of pride picking up in her voice.

“No problem!” He softly responded, giving her a smile before the both of them return to much more solemn and sweet silence. After a minute, Carboni would stand up.

“Well, I should probably get out of your hair and back inside the mirror...” She said, walking towards the door and waving to the colt, who would immediately jolt up and held his hoof out to her.

“Wait! You’re going back inside that mirror world? With those monsters?” He cried out in concern for his new friend, who would turn back to him in surprise, Carboni taking a minute to process his words before replying.

“Yeah... I don’t exactly have any money on me to stay anywhere. Nor do I have a home to go back to...” She lamented, crossing her arms once more and looking back at the ground, softly kicking at the floor tiles. “Why do you ask? You don’t have to deal with me anymore or that world ever again... We’re not even friends...”

“But, you saved my life. If that doesn’t make us friends, I don’t know what will!” Creation would hop out of the bed, walking slowly towards the dragon.

“Even if I awakened to the power earlier, I don’t think I would have survived without you by my side... After that, I can’t just let you go back in there.” Creation would then stop in front of Carboni before holding a hoof out towards her, giving her a reassuring grin. “At least, not by yourself.”

Carboni stood there, astonished at this colt’s gusto, her mouth slightly agape before a toothy grin appeared on her face and her scaly hand met the soft hoof of the earth pony before her.

“You got yourself a deal... Friend...”

Thou art I, and I am thou...
Thou hast gained an Associate, a newborn bond...
With this bond, the Associate of the Dragon shall teach you how to be useful and resourceful to the bonds you are bound to...
This bond shall open the doorway to courage, bravery, and glory...

"Good. Now, about getting you a place to stay, I think I have a good idea." Creation said as he began to think of a charitable and kindhearted soul that would house a homeless dragon.

Cherry Drink's Home
Evening
"I'm real glad that you decided to stay with us, Carboni! It’ll be nice having another traveller in this house!" Cherry rejoiced as he spoke to the dull-colored dragoness sitting at her rustic table with her 3 grandchildren as she cooked their meal, Mint, and Cinnamon looking at her very bewildered and out of sorts...

“Oh, no problem, Ms. Drink. I’m just glad Creation was kind enough to offer up such a wonderful home! I do hope I’m not intruding.” Carboni said as a sort of reply to the stares she was getting from Creation’s cousins. She would then, lean closer to Creation. “Do they always stare at people like that..?”

“No, they’re just being extremely rude.” Creation stated, giving the two of them glares that would cause them both to go back to doing their own things: Mint reading a book and Cinnamon whistling while looking up at the ceiling.

“It’s alright. I can understand having a new person of the streets in the house... Not really that reliable, is it?” Carboni ruefully remarked.

“Heavens no, we in this house are trusting and kind to all those who deserve it. You had all the chances to steal things off of Creation and you didn’t. So, let us at least thank you with some room and board, alright?” Cherry said as she began to serve the dishes of some seafood stew, placing a few gems in Carboni’s bowl.

“Alright! I’ll make sure I earn this privilege and keep this house tidy until I can get onto my feet!” Carboni said with a pep in her voice before everyone began to indulge in their meals and talk about Creation’s injuries and Carboni in general. Towards the end of the meal as Carboni and Mint began to wash the dishes and Cinnamon went upstairs to get some early sleep, Cherry Drink would walk up to Creation as he would be sitting in the living room in front of the warm fire.

“Grandson, could we talk for a moment? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you outside.” Cherry said with a less chipper attitude than usual, Creation knowing that this usually meant that either something was wrong or she wanted to talk about something serious. He would obey her orders and followed the cream-colored mare outside, closing the door after he exited.

“Creation, I’m glad that you wanted to help that poor girl, I’m proud. I really am! But, I must ask? Did you think on that decision?” Cherry said, raising an eyebrow. Creation would tilt his head and scrunched his nose in confusion.

“Think it over? She saved my life, why would I have to think over helping her?” He questioned back, wondering about the perspective of the suspicion his grandmother was throwing out.

“Honey... In this city, people will be nice for as long as they need until they get what they want. And when they get it, sometimes they’ll leave you for dead.” Cherry Drink sated bluntly, that usual radiant smile of her disappearing in an instant, replaced by a small frown, not out of anger or sadness, but from some form of experience with this situation.

“Wow, Grandma...” That’s all Creation could find as a reply. He never thought such comparatively grim words could come out of his sweet grandmother’s mouth. What had she gone through to warrant this talk?

“Now, don’t get it twisted. That Carboni girl, she’s genuine. She’s got nothing malicious going on, I talked to her in the hospital a little while before you woke up. I didn’t badger her, but I made sure that she didn’t have anything bad in mind for you. But, thank the cosmos she didn’t.” She said, a small smile returning to her face before walking closer to her grandson and placing a hand on his shoulder. “I only say this to protect you as best as I can. There are some bad people with good masks in this world. I only ask that you look out for them. ‘Kay?”

Creation would slowly nod, allowing Cherry Drink to give him a big smile once more.

Thou art I, and I am thou...
Thou hast gained an Associate, a newborn bond...
With this bond, the Associate of the Farmer shall teach you reason and the pathways through the conventions of life...
This bond shall open the doorway to courage, bravery, and glory...

“Good. Now, get your keester to bed, you got school in the morning and some work to make up!” She teased, opening the door in her carnelian aura, allowing the mustard-colored colt to trot inside and up the stairs to his bedroom.

Creation's Room
Nighttime
Creation, nearly asleep, heard a knock at his door later on in the night, prompting him to open it, finding Carboni at the door.

"Yeah, Carboni?" He asked with a bit of nighttime rasp in his voice, looking at her with a slightly tired expression.

"Um... Thanks." She replied softly, giving Creation a smile. “You really helped me when I needed it.”

"No problem... A life for a life." Creation said, grinning back at her, both of them chuckling for a quick moment. “Alright.. You should get some rest for the morning.”

"Alright, dad... Night..!" She snarked, walking down the hallway to the other guest room that would be occupied by her until she found a home and decent source of income.

"Goodnight, Carboni..." He answered back, closing his door and hopping onto his bed, letting his mind finally rest for the night.

Author's Note

Social Links:
Igor/Compound Eyes (The Glimmer [The Fool]): Rank 1
Carboni the “Diamond Dog”? (The Glimmer [The Magician]): Rank 1 LEVEL UP!
Cherry Drink (The Glimmer [The Hierophant]): Rank 1 LEVEL UP!

Abilities Gained:
Baton Pass: You may now pass a turn, and give a slight attack boost to Carboni, after striking an enemy down.

Status Update:

• Carboni has joined your party!
• You felt a little kinder as you allowed Carboni into your home.