“Oh please, not every creature at once,” Fortuna said facetiously. I think she would have rolled her eyes too, but that’s a little bit difficult with stars I guess. “You two want to stand there all day, or can one of you be so generous as to say something?”

“Uhm, well,” I started, clicking the ground with my talons, “it isn’t like I don’t want to drink from the… your pond, but… uhm...”

“Yes, yeah, totally!” Fluffy agreed and pointed at me. “What he said.”

“I see,” Fortuna said with a raised eyebrow before walking over to the pond. “Such a shame,” she playfully dipped her claw into the pond and lifted it, allowing the water she had collected to slowly drop back into the pond, “considering what some creature could do with a little... extra luck.”

Now it was on me to raise an eyebrow, it's not like I was opposed to having some more luck, the opposite is the case, but, uhm, I… I simply know too many stories where things go wrong when someone gets the chance to see into the future. Especially when some mighty magical being is involved. There is always a catch.

My thoughts must have been quite obvious to Fortuna, since she started to smile again and came closer.

“Oh look at you,” she purred and started to walk in a circle around me, “the mighty Black Death,” she softly stroked over my side with her wing, “hesitating, being afraid,” she gave me a pitying look, “of a simple pond.”

She sighed and removed her wing from me, making her way over to Fluffy, who was even more worried than me, and wasn’t able to stand still when Fortuna moved around her, turning around herself, constantly keeping Fortuna in front of her.

“And you, my little adventurer,” Fortuna moved her head next to Fluffies and threw a meaningful gaze at Daring,”always one step behind your older cousin. Always, getting second place.” She smiled. “I am sure you could use a little help from luck,” now her voice became softer, nearly conspiratorially, “you know, to make the odds at least equal. Daring here already has a great amount of luck. And you want to be the one who will find Shakirin-La eventually, right?”

The mentioning of Shakirin-La seemed to trigger Fluffy a bit, since she did throw a look at the pond again.

“Can you promise me that it will show me the location of Shakirin-La?” Fluffy asked interested, turning her head back to Fortuna. “I do want to find it, but…”

“If it is the thing you desire the most,” Fortuna said mysteriously, but placed a claw below Fluffies chin, lifting it up a bit. “It shows you anything that your heart desires the most, and, yes, Shakirin-La is indeed a possibility.” She let go of Fluffy and made an inviting gesture towards the pond. “Just go ahead, claim the knowledge.”

“I’m still not sure… “ Fluffy said hesitating. “You said it will show me more, depending on my luck, what is that supposed to mean?”

Now Fortuna snorted. “Mortals! Why do you have to make everything so complicated?” She turned away from Fluffy, leaving her question unanswered and instead addressed me again. “What about you, War…”

“Don’t!” I interrupted her. “Don’t use my actual name… “ And after I remembered to whom I was speaking, I added, “please.”

“Hmm,” Fortuna made and threw a look back at Fluffy. “I see, you don’t want her to know who you were, right?”

“Who you were?” Fluffy asked, tilting her head. “What is she talking about?” She switched her gaze between me and the goddess of luck. “Would one of you be so nice as to enlighten me? I’m curious about your real name though,” she added in my direction.

I felt my cheeks warming up a little, knowing they had turned red. “That's not what's important here.”

“Of course not,” Fortuna agreed, sadly with a mischievous smile. “So long as nopony drinks from my pond and finds that out by luck.”

I would like to point out that she said by luck, not by happenstance. I wasn’t sure what this meant, but I was confident it made a huge difference.

“You sound quite eager to have someone drink from your pond, Fortuna, “ Daring spoke up all of the sudden. “Why’s so important to you that someone does it?”

Again, Fortuna just ignored the question and just quickly changed the topic. “What would you think about getting the attention of multiple females?” she asked me. “With a little luck, you could have quite a bit of fun.” She made a gesture with her wing, including both Do’s, “maybe even more than one fluffy pegasus at once. You know, doing the ‘Do’s’.”

“Hey!” both Do’s yelled at once.

“Who do you think you are?” Daring yelled. “You can’t… “

“Goddess of luck!” Fortuna roared back, silencing Daring while making the cave shiver once more. “That is who I think I am, thank you!” She then stomped one of her front feet. “Could you stop acting like I am some salesmare, wandering door to door selling buttons or lemonade, Mortal?!”

Now Fluffy and her cousin both flinched back, wrinkling their noses.

“I offer you a great favor here!” Fortuna went on. “And you all act like I am some kind of creep, offering you some candy if you follow me home into my spooky mansion! Have you ever considered that we have rules, mortals? I am simply not allowed to tell you everything, even I have to follow some kind of protocol!” She made a frustrated sound before she mumbled, “I can’t remember the kirin ever being so annoying.”

“Well,” I rubbed my snout, “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but from what you are allowed to tell us, it sounds a bit less like a favor, more like spinning the wheels of fortu... , uhm,” I looked in her face and stopped, “you know the rest.”

“I don’t see what is wrong with spinning my wheel,” Fortuna said in a flat tone but with a hint of annoyance in it. You know, like when a female says everything is alright and you know, in truth, you are toast.

I gulped. I had to do something to turn where this was going around, no way I walk out of here, leaving a pissed goddess of luck behind. Really, if you ever have the opportunity to deal with a mighty being like Fortuna, make sure you do your best to make friends with them. Yes, I know what I said about friendship, but back then, I really didn’t care about what I said, seriously, we’re speaking about the self-appointed goddess of luck, come on, use your common sense!

“Actually,” I started, “thinking of it, I could use some extra luck.” My gaze wandered to Fluffy, “and I like what you said what I could achive with it, Fortuna.”

“Oh really? All of a sudden a spark of intelligence from one of you.” Fortuna said, but I could tell from the way she swung her tail-tip that she was more than happy with my words. I know how a predator looks, and Fortuna here, was in full hunting mode.

“You can’t be serious,” Fluffy pushed in between. “You are willing to take the risk, just because you want to lay me?” Now her face became disgusted. “And my cousin too?”

The look I got from Daring due to those words was one I knew was reserved for the promise of death.

“Don’t you worry,” I said, knowing my following words would only increase Daring’s anger, “she is just the bonus, my interest lays with your sexy wings.”

“Really reassuring… “ Fluffy said, holding up a hoof to hinder Daring cursing at me, but now with an angry look too.

“I told you, I love your playful feathers and fluffy chest. No way you only get second place on my list.” And when I saw that this didn’t do the trick, I added, “come on, Fluffy, you know I like you. I wouldn’t add another female to our funtime if it meant I would have to share you with someone else.” I caught her gaze and held it. “Meins,” I formed with my lips, knowing she couldn’t speak old draconic, but she could figure out what I said anyway.

And I was right. Though, her reaction was not what I had in mind.

“I will drink from the pond,” Fluffy declared.

“You?” Daring asked, for a moment her anger at me was forgotten. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Danger?” She placed a hoof on her younger cousins shoulder. “You don’t have to do this just to beat me, you know?”

“Yeah I do, but,” Now Fluffy pointed at me, “I don’t want this opportunity to be wasted on some erotic adventure. You,” she said, addressing me, “have very simple desires and therefore it would be a waste to let you drink this.”

I shrugged. Fluffy was right, couldn’t argue with that, though, some funtime sounded good to me.

“Alright, Fortuna, I’ll do it,” Fluffy said and stepped forward.

The goddess of luck shook her head. “First no one wants my gift, now everyone wants it.” She placed a claw on her head like she had a headache. “Mortals… “

“So you want me to drink from the pond or not?” Fluffy asked.

“Alright, filly, alright,” Fortuna agreed and stepped next to the little pond, extending her wing to invite Danger to drink. “Be my guest.”

Without further hesitation, Fluffy approached the pond, threw another quick look at Fortuna, took a deep breath, and then lowered her head, taking a sip.

I saw Fortuna’s smile while Fluffy drank, and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not.

However, that thought had to be placed on the backburner, because as soon as Fluffy had taken a few sips she stopped her drinking and whipped her head back up. She turned around to face us, her eyes wide open, and I saw that her pupils were suddenly as big as the moon.

It looked kind of weird, till the point she, without warning, started to speak in old draconic, and began looking around addressing people none of us could see. The impression me and Daring had of the situation became even more unsettling as she started to move around as her voice began to echo in an unnatural way, until she spoke with more than one voice at the same time.

“Danger, are… are you okay?” Daring asked. She moved over to her cousin and lifted a hoof to touch her, but was held back by Fortuna who blocked her hoof with a wing.

“Don’t disturb her vision,” Fortuna said while keeping her gaze on Fluffy.

“I… “ Daring started but Fortuna silenced her with a sharp ‘Shh! Look, she is speaking with the Kirins from the past.”

Indeed, after this hint from Fortuna, I was able to understand a bit of what Fluffy was saying. Not much since her voices, yes, voices, plural, got faster and faster, but it seemed like she was talking with somekirins from the past about their… mhh, empire? Not quite, more like their territory.

I was still wondering what this could mean as Fluffy’s face became one of contemplation, only for that to be quickly replaced by one of abject terror, her eyes, already wide open, started to spun around, like she was facing the pure horror, her fiery tail fearfully pulled back between her legs, her ears flinched back to the side of her head, and the bushy ring of fire around her head was all but a stiff fuzz right now.

It was at this point that she started to scream.

Her screams became louder and louder, her wings striking at invisible enemies, her hooves randomly swinging through the air, her rear-legs kicking wildly; whatever she was thinking to fight, it became so intense that she eventually spat flames! It was only Fortuna’s quick reaction, grabbing Daring and pulling her behind her, that prevented things from getting worse when one of the lances of flame engulfed them.

This all took me by surprise, so much so that I needed a moment to realize I should do something about this. I pushed forward, ready to grab Fluffy, snatching her out of the vision, but Fortuna screamed out for me, telling me to stop.

“She is seeing the end of the Kirin-Empire! It will be over in a second!”

I was torn between rescuing Fluffy from this situation, while at the same time knowing she had the worst part nearly behind her and would see what she needed, or better, wanted, to know.

But with every passing second, it got harder for me to not do anything. Fortuna was holding Daring back, who had started to fight with her to get to Danger, both too occupied to care about what I was doing. I knew it was on me to decide now. I looked at the horror on Fluffies face and made a decision, I reached out for her and… stopped when she calmed down by herself.

Whatever she had seen, it was over. I watched as the horror vanished from her face as well as her heartbeat beginning to slow down. I could only hope that this had all been worth it.

I expected her to wake up from her vision very soon, but that was not the case. Instead, it seemed like a new part of the vision was beginning to take place, as Fluffy now looked surprised, but not in a fearful way.

It was more like she was seeing something she never expected to see. For a moment she even lifted a hoof, stretching it out to something, or someone, before she pulled it back and placed it on her belly, leaving it there for a moment. Then I could see from her body-language that the scene had changed again, though the wondering, soft gaze stayed on her face for a moment.

Whatever the new part of the vision was, I wasn’t able to guess from her expression at first, but not too long after it started she screamed out in shock. “Daring!” It was just this name that she screamed, but it was clear that something horrible must have happened in her vision, since it was not a simple scream for attention or a warning, it was like the scream of the minotaur in the tavern, full of loos and disbelieving.

Anyhow, it only took a few seconds and then it was over. Fluffy’s pupils shrunk back and it was clear to see that she had come back to her senses. Though, she was weak on her hooves and drifted to the side, only prevented from falling when I caught her.

Without caring for Daring’s disapproval, which I was sure would follow, I picked Fluffy up and turned her around so she was resting on my arms with her belly up, while I used my wings to make a warm, protective ring around her.

“Is she alright?” Daring yelled, struggled free from Fortuna and heading over to us. Only to be held back by my wing. I was aware that she had the right to investigate here, since she and Fluffy were related, but I was going to check on her first.

You do remember what I told you about valuable things, right? Fluffy counted as one of those, therefore, she was my fluffy pegasus at the moment. That meant her cousin took second place in terms of importance here.

Uninterested in Daring’s loud protest and attempts to push my wing aside, I looked down at Fluffy and poked her with my snout.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

For a second, it seemed like she wasn’t understanding my question, but then her eyes focused on me and she nodded.

“I… I’m fine.” She shook her head and a shiver ran down her spine. “Or I will be in a moment.”

“Just take you… Ouch!” I yelled when I felt a bite on my lower wing, followed by an angry growl by the little pegasus who had bitten me.

My first instinct was to give Daring a slap with my wing, teaching her how to behave. But again, I didn’t think that line of action would be met with Fluffy’s approval. So I just opened my wing and let her cousin have a look for herself.

Daring quickly moved to her cousin and placed her hooves on my arm to have a better look.

“You alright, Tricky? You had me worried for a moment!”

“Daring!” Fluffy yelled and embraced her cousin instantly, who let out a loud “Ouch!” as the flames of Fluffy burned her coat. “You can’t seek Shakirin-La, you simply can’t do that!”

“Whoa, Danger, don’t be getting ahead of yourself,” Daring said while she struggled free, “just because you might know were Shakirin-La…”

“It is not about that!” Fluffy interrupted her, “I saw you die, Daring! You will die if you go there!”

“Die?” Daring asked confused. “Come on cousin, you…”

“No!” Fluffy yelled and tried to grab Daring’s face, who quickly evaded the burning hooves “I saw it Daring, I saw how you are gonna die if you go to Shakirin-La! Promise me you will never set a hoof even near it!”

“You’re exaggerating, I… “

“Promise me!” Fluffies unsuccessfully tried again to grab Daring’s head. “Promise me, right now!”

Daring hesitated, but when she looked into Danger’s eyes, she saw that her little cousin was serious about it.

“You really saw my death, Danger? Not just a possibly deadly situation? It was definitely my death?” She tilted her head. “And this is not just an attempt to stop me from claiming the fame from finding the mysterious lost city first?”

“I saw your dead body, Daring,” now some hot tears showed up on Fluffies face when the memory of her vision came back to the surface. “I saw your dead body… “ The rest of the sentence was swallowed when Fluffy started to sob.

“Shh, shh,” Daring made an attempt to calm her down and tried to wipe a tear off Fluffies face, only to quickly pull her hoof back when she touched the little flames on it. “I am fine, don’t worry about me.”

“You have to promise, Daring!”

With another look at her cousin’s face, Daring sighed and lifted her hoof. “I promise.”

The relief on Fluffies face was clear to see.

“Finding Shakirin-La wasn’t so tempting anyway.” Daring waved off. “Just some old ruins with nothing in them.”

It was clear to me that she only said that to find an excuse that would calm down her pride, but since it made Fluffy happy I didn’t say anything about it.

For a moment none of us said anything, but of course, that couldn’t last forever. Eventually, Daring spoke up. “Besides… well besides some unpleasant events concerning me, what else did you see?”

“I…” now Fluffy unintentional shot a very quick gaze at me, before she returned her gaze to Daring. “I saw the old Kirin-kingdom, the one before it felt, during its heydays. Before they started the wars to expand their territory and build an empire,” now she looked away, “and also their fall.”

I felt her shivering in my claws and pressed her tighter against my chest. I didn’t get bothered by slaughter or war, but I did know that these ponies would, and I was able to guess that that was what she must have seen in her visions.

“You don’t need to tell us about that part,” I said and cradled her softly in my claws. “We were able to get a glimpse of your visions were when we saw your reaction to it. Why don’t you just skip that part and tell us what kind of important news you got?”

She simply nodded a bit and took a second to gather herself. “I was able to speak with them, I don’t know how, since it was in a language I don’t know, but somehow it was possible.”

“Who were they?” Daring asked.

“The people, random kirins from various points in time. Peasants, knights, scholars, all social classes. It was weird, they all spoke to me at once, but, while at the same time, each talk was its own thing.” She looked up to me. “It was very confusing.”

I stroked over her burning head. “I can imagine that, don’t worry about it too much.”

“Well, “she returned to her story, “it wasn’t really like conversations, I had no control about what I said. It was like someone else was controlling me to ask the right questions, to push the conversation in the right direction. This way, I got a lot of information about how the kingdom and the later empire looked like, mostly about the landscape and spots that wouldn’t have changed over time, and of course, how they would be placed in relation to their capital and the last vestiges of their empire before it vanished completely.”

“That means you’re able to locate Shakirin-La, right?” Daring said enthusiastically. “Being able to tell where it is because you know what the surroundings must look like.” It was clear how excited the adventuress in her was.

“You promised me to not go even near to it!” Danger reminded her.

The spark of excitement vanished from Daring’s eyes. “Well, yeah… but if it is too dangerous for me, you shouldn’t go there either, Danger.”

“It wouldn’t be of much use anyway.”

“Why not?”

“They sealed the entrance. Shakirin-La, or more accurately the majority of it, is built into a mountain, that is the reason no one was able to discover it. What was built on top of the mountain or around it had crumbled to dust in the last thousand years. Only the underground part has survived to a degree, and that’s why nopony’s been able to find it so far.”

“And you assume that you wouldn’t be able to break the seal?” Daring wondered. “If I was able to make it that far in your vision, especially since you said I would die there, I’m guessing you would be able to do so too… even it would take you far longer.”

Ignoring the last provocation, Danger just shook her head. “I don’t know how you got in there, or if you died outside of it in my vision, but the vision was in one point clear as glass, you will die if you go there!”

“Alright, alright, I got it, and I made my promise, I won’t go there. There are enough other things for me to discover anyway.” Daring reassured her cousin.

“Did the vision show you anything about us if we go there?” I asked.

As you may remember, Fluffy told me that our time together was over as soon as she had no reason to hunt for Shakirin-La anymore, for example, if Daring here made it there ahead of us. I was not interested in letting her vanish out of my life so quickly after all.

Obviously, Fluffy’s thoughts hadn’t gotten that far yet, since she just looked at me and said, “No, but I don’t think we should go there either for the time being, whatever is able to kill Daring, despite her luck, would more than likely be able to kill us. Yes, even you.” She pointed at my chest. “I don’t want you to get hurt either.”

I raised an eyebrow. Oh, it wasn’t because of her suddenly worrying about my health that I was surprised, it did catch me off guard, sure, but what surprised me the most was the fact that she wasn’t so eager to find Shakirin-La anymore. Even if I didn’t know it at first, everything she had done so far was for the purpose of finding that forsaken city, and now, she simply stopped her attempt to find it because it could be a little bit dangerous? I didn’t buy it.

“There must be something more you saw in your vision, right?” I asked suspiciously.

Her sudden ‘caught’ face expression told me I was right.

“Something about Shakirin-La you haven’t told us yet. Something that would explain why your desire to get there has cooled down for the moment.”

Surprisingly, her ‘caught’ face vanished, and was replaced by one of relief, even a little smile.

“Oh, yeah, about that… I simply think we can take our time with it for now. The city is sealed, there is no risk that somecreature’s going to be faster than us.”

“And you are sure that is all you want to tell me?” I inquired.

“Of course.”

“I’m not convinced. There must be something else that Fortuna’s pond showed you, something you don’t want to tell me.” I looked over to Fortuna. “What did your po… Fortuna?” I turned around, looking in every direction, but the goddess of luck had vanished like the ground had opened up and swallowed her.

***

“I simply don’t believe that you want to give up on Shakirin-La so easily,” I said and turned towards the jungle that lay in the dale before us. After we had noticed that Fortuna had vanished, we had decided to spare the discussion for later and leave her temple, returning to the surface the same way Fluffy had entered the ruin. So now we stood on top of a nearby hill, or cliff, depending on your viewpoint, and had a great view of the jungle below.

“I didn’t give up on it, I just think we can take our time with it,” Fluffy protested. For the moment it was only me and her, Daring had, according to Fluffies request, taken the lead and had walked ahead, waiting for us at the nearby river, more accurately in the boat that she had brought with her.

“And what about our little adventure? You and me finding Shakirin-La?” Of course, that was not was I was worried about, but I couldn’t tell her that I was simply upset that I wouldn’t have the chance to cuddle and lay her as often as I wanted in the near future.

“That can wait, it won’t be running away. Shakirin-La will still be there in a few years.”

“Years?” I turned back to her and growled. “You mean you simply pay me and then you leave, never coming back, or if you do, you just secretly go there and grab the artifact?”

“Who said I would leave?” Fluffy asked surprised.

“Isn’t that what is going to happen? You and your cousin heading back to this, Equestria, you told me about?”

Now she rubbed over her head, ruffling up her mane. She had taken off the amulet and was now a fluffy pegasus again. “Well… “

“I knew it!” I accused her and snorted unhappily.

“It’s not what you think,” she said and avoided my gaze.

“Oh of course not, you just suddenly remembered you let the stove on back at home or you have another obligation all of the sudden that requires your attention for the next few years.”

“Actually… that’s pretty accurate,” she said quietly, turning away from me.

“And I thought we would go on an adventure together, that you would be honest with me, after all I did for you, saving your life and everything.” I crossed my arms and looked away too. “I thought that we would have some fun together in the future.” I wasn’t able to cover my annoyance about this fact completely.

She stayed silent.

“You know what?” I continued, “I was beginning to like you, Danger, I really thought us two could become friends, like friends with benefits or so. You just turning your back on me now feels like a betrayal.”

This honest statement may seem a little out of character for me, but I was really unhappy with the possibility of losing my fluffy pegasus so soon after I had gotten her back. And what I said was true, even I try not to show it too much, I liked her by now, as I told you, and maybe even a bit more than just like her, even I wasn’t fully aware of that at the moment.

She still stayed silent.

“Would you like to say something about this?” I returned my gaze to her. “Anything on your mind, huh?”

“I… “ she started, “I…”

“Yes?”

“I think there is some adventure waiting for us.” She finally said and turned around to me, moving closer. “An adventure made especially for the two of us.”

I raised an eyebrow. Was it really that easy? I just complained about her leaving me and she changes her mind? What was the catch?

“Wait a second,” I said suspiciously, “you just change your mind all of the sudden? A second ago you said you had some kind of obligation, and now you tell me we can go on an adventure as planned?”

“Oh, not as planned,” she said in her quiet voice, “definitely not as planned, but yes.”

My suspicion wasn’t fully gone, so I asked further. “And what kind of adventure would that be?”

“Say, do you like foals?” She changed the subject suddenly.

“Huh? What is a foal?”

“Pony babies.”

“Uhm, where did that question come from?” I was confused and shrugged with my wings. “I didn’t know about your species up until a few weeks ago, so I have no clue about what to think about one of your hatchlings.”

“Do you like bab… hatchlings?”

“Why are you asking me this? Do you want to hatchnap some? Is this the kind of adventure you are looking for?” My confusion raised. “I can’t imagine ponies eating them.”

“No, we don’t! Urg!” She facehoofed. “Would you like to raise some?”

“Why should I steal some hatchlings just to raise them? How would that be any fun?”

“No you stupid lizard! I’m asking if you like to have some of your own!”

“Don’t tell me you want to pair me off with some dragoness!”

“No, I want to pair you up with me!”

That hit me by surprise. I mean, I know I like her and I assumed she likes me, but this… that was quite a push forward.

“Uhm, ahh,” I took a step back, “you do know that we are from different species, right? We can’t make hatchlings together?”

I thought that was a clever way to buy me some time here.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” she replied catching up, “that part’s already covered.”

“What do you mean?” I cold shiver ran down my spine for some reason.

“I mean… “ she inhaled deeply, “that I am already pregnant.” Now she locked onto my gaze and hold it. “From you!”

I exhaled calmly. Well at least she wasn’t going to lay an egg. She really had me worried for a moment! I don’t know what pregnant meant, but at first it had given me the impression that she was going to tell me that she was going to lay an egg. Must be my lucky day!

“Whatever that is, I’m sure it will vanish and you will be alright again.”

She gave me a look like I had told her the moon was made out of cheese. “You want to tell me you don’t know what ‘pregnant’ means?”

“I don’t know, but for a second you really had me worried there! Fluffy, you made it sound like you were going to lay an egg, you should be a bit more careful with the words you use.”

“Pegasi don’t lay eggs, they give birth to their babies,” she explained to me slowly.

“Well, good to know, but…”

“and that means, they get pregnant by a male, the baby grows in their belly, and then, it comes out as a newborn foal after nearly a year.”

“Okay, nice to know about your sp.... wait!” I looked into her eyes, and while the knowledge of what this meant slowly seeped into my mind, she slowly started to nod.

“Mhh-mhh.”

“But we… you… I… Dragon… you know…?” I stuttered.

“Mhh-mhh.”

“I mean… we… different species and the like… “

“Mhh-mhh.”

“How… ?”

The look she gave me now was priceless while accusing at the same time.

“No, I know how that works normally, but… are you sure about it?”

“I saw it in my vision from the pond.”

That was a little bit too much for me, so I took a seat. “That… but we are different species!”

“I know,” she said and took a seat next to me, “but that is what I saw.”

I confess, at this moment I was overwhelmed by the news, I hadn’t spent a single thought on this, since everycreature knows that species who are that different couldn’t mate successfully. But here we are!

For a while, both of us stayed in silence. She gave me time to deal with the situation, I was just too befuddled to do anything.

Finally, it was her who decided to break the silence. “So… do you want to go on this adventure with me? Raising a foal?” She looked at me, then away again, scraping the ground with her hoof. “You don’t have too, I could return to Equestria of course.”

“I… I am not sure. I hadn’t expected to be a father so soon, I am not nearly as old I thought I would be.”

“Neither am I.”

Another moment of silence followed.

“So, your answer?” Fluffy asked.

I hesitated. “I… “

“Oh come on!” a new voice yelled at us from behind. “Just kiss her already!”

Fluffy and I turned around. Out of a bush, maybe a dozen steps behind us, peaked a red dragon head, looking at us with clearly visible impatience. “What are you waiting for? An extra invitation? Do it!”

“Aphrodite!” Now a second, golden, head peaked out of the bush. It was Fortuna! “Aphrodite! I told you to let them figure it out by their own!”

“Urg, Fortuna, you do see what they do! Wasting the whole day with bubbling nonsense! And not even sweet nonsense! It’s a shame what the young races do today!”

Fluffy and I rose from our places.

“Back in the good old days, these two would already be mating!” Aphrodite continued. “But no, they just keep bubbling!”

“That is not how courtship rituals work these days,” Fortuna explained. “They just need a little bit more time.”

“What do need more time for, heh? He loves her, for quite a while already to be exact, even though he plays the rude but cool guy.” She made an imitation of a big bad dragon as she said this. “And her,” now she pointed at Danger, “she’s thought about his warm touch almost every day for the last two weeks. Not to mention that she hasn’t forgotten that he’s saved her life a few times already. That always works on a female's mind, I should know! There’s a reason I am the goddess of Love and physical pleasures!”

Both Danger and I blushed at this blunt description of our relationship, mumbling some kind of excuse while also complaining about the rude behavior of the two goddesses.

“Aphrodite, don’t push it so hard,” Fortuna suggested. “They would have figured that out eventually.”

“Or they would have split up and he would return to his lonely lair, while she would return to Equestria and raise a… “ Fortuna quickly covered Aphrodites snout.

“Enough, let them figure it out for themselves. And they don’t have to mate by the way, this one,” she pointed at Danger, “is already pregnant as you know.”

Now Fluffy’s mind worked a little bit faster than mine since she spoke up first. “That is your work, right? You used your luck tricks on me! You’re the reason I was able to get pregnant from a dragon!”

Fortuna shrugged with a smile. “Seems luck was on your side.”

“You call that luck?” Fluffy half screamed, half asked.

“Having a family was your secret desire, my pond told the truth. You saw it yourself. I only helped things get moving in the right direction, that’s all.”

“And you two do love each other anyway,” Aphrodite added. “You cover it below your rude behavior, lust and prudish pony ways of life, but it is true after all. From the moment your gazes met in the tavern, you two were attracted to each other, don’t deny it. And it only got stronger from there.”

“That’s a lie!” Fluffy yelled. “I thought he was going to rape me back then! And he was only looking for some fun!”

“Yeah,” I supported her weakly, knowing there was something right at what they, the goddesses, said, “it wasn’t romantic!”

“Mhh-mhh,” Aphrodite made sarcastically. “So you always let females steal from your lair and get away with it unpunished? Follow them for weeks, only to risk your own life to rescue them from some natives, cuddle them and allow yourself to become butter in their claws when they give you a massage?”

“Well… “ I rubbed over my head.

“I am not done yet,” Aphrodite said. “Do you also get angry at creatures who hurt them for no reason, get worried about them when they’re in danger, and, also do everything possible to keep them at your side, even if that means going to Shakirin-La, despite the fact you know that is no place for a pony like her.”

“Hey, that… “ Fluffy started but Aphrodite cut her off.

“And you, little miss Do!” Aphrodite pointed at her. “You fell in love with him after you two had your ‘funtime’! Spare me your complaints about this cliche,” she waved off with her tail, “fact is, you not only drew him a map that would allow him to find you, no, you also added a little heart to it.”

“That was meant as a teaser,” Fluffy mumbled.

“Sure, sweety,” Aphrodite agreed generously, “like the whole ‘thank you for helping me to be a kirin’ thing and his reward for it. Also, you had him on your mind for nearly every hour of the last two weeks, also, your very naughty thoughts that you try to deny, even to yourself… Oh, and don’t forget that he gave you the feeling of being something special, following you around half the continent, fighting various creatures, leaving his lair and treasure behind, also that he doesn’t even really care for the artifact you have stolen… surely nothing for a lady like you to love.”

Now both of us, Fluffy as well as myself, were more than a little bit embarrassed.

“What my colleague here is trying to say,” Fortuna helped us out, “is that you two know that you love each other, and have just been holding back to much to properly show it. So we would be highly pleased if you two could skip all the drama and not ruin everything with your weird social norms and standards of these days and simply kiss each other and live happily ever after.”

I looked at Fluffy and she looked at me.

“You really thought that way about me, all those weeks?”

She blushed even more.

“And you really see more in me than a few one night stands? You care for me?” She asked.

I looked to the ground ashamed to confess my feeling to her. “Mhh-mhh.”

“Wonder…” Aphrodite started but Fortuna covered her snout with a claw.

“We’ll let you two figure out the rest for yourselves,” Fortuna said, “we should take our leave now.”

“Not so fast!” Fluffy quickly yelled.

“Huh?” Fortuna made.

“If you are to blame for this,” Fluffy pointed at her belly, “then you should take your share of the responsibility!”

“Technically, you and…”

“Don’t you dare!” Fluffy shouted and raised a hoof. “You arranged this, and therefore. you’re going to help us with it!”

“What do you mean?” Now it was the goddess of luck who was showing signs of having a bad feeling about the very near future.

“You are going to be the godmother, literally!”

“I… I am the godmother of a mortal?” The surprise and disbelieve on Fortuna's face was a nice new view. “But I am the… “

“No more talking! This is your doing, and you’re going to take responsibility for it!”

“She gladly accepts,” Aphrodite purred and shot a very mischievous smile at the other goddess who looked at her with wide eyes.

“I…” Fortuna started but Aphrodite just made an ‘Eh-eh’ while shaking her head before she snapped with her claw and both her and Fortuna vanished.

*

“Well, that was something, right?” I nodded towards the now empty bush.

“Mhh yeah,” Fluffy agreed, now with a little smile.

“So…” I waved my tail to overplay my nervousness, “do you know if it will be a male or a female hatch… uhh… foal?”

“Yes.”

“And…?”

“Let yourself be surprised.”

While I gave her a look, she simply kissed me.

“Wait till I tell Daring about the good news! I am sure she will love to congratulate you!” Fluffy said after she disengaged from my lips.

***

The end?

No!

Your question on how I could let this all happen should be answered by now. You saw it wasn’t really my fault, two goddesses, a lot of fluffiness, and cute charm played a role in this! How could I have not fallen in love with Fluffy?

Anyway, while our story has just begun, the part about how this all started is over, and the very adventurous part of us becoming parents began. I can tell you, this, was an adventure no dragon could be prepared for… but it was worth it.

Though, of course, the story as a whole doesn’t end here, we will see Shakirin-La, we will see some old and new friends, we will… well, let yourself be surprised like I was. But this is enough story for one day, let me continue on tomorrow. Or maybe my wife will be the one to tell you the tail, or our child, if you ask them nicely, after all, they played a big role in it of course.

I told you, there is always, ALWAYS a catch when you deal with self-declared goddesses!

• The Black Death

Also known as my big softy <3

Danger Do

Author's Note

Thank you for reading! I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I did writing it.

Again many thanks to Drache Schatten, without him, this story wouldn't be as good or as quickly finished at it is. So a big thank you for him too!

So the sequel lay in your hands/hoofes/claws! Who shall tell the next part of the story? And when should it take place?

You decide in my Blog! I add the link here as soon I have written it!

And there is the link!