Daddy Issues

Celestia’s sun had just risen when I rolled out of bed, kicking the covers off while still half asleep and landing on my hooves. I quickly picked up my glasses from the bedside table and sent them on my nose before I cracked open the bedroom door.

Leaning in, my ear lifted high, I listened for the sound of Sludge snoring away on the couch. Thankfully, it was very easy to hear. I found myself letting out a breath as I relaxed. He was still asleep, so I didn’t have to panic or rush into the kitchen.

I flicked my tail across my rump as I slowly pushed the door open and slipping into hallway, trying not to wake the dragon up. It had been a week since he had spanked me, and I was still worried that he might decide that I needed another round. I hated it and tried to tell myself that I never wanted it to happen again.

With light steps, I picked up my saddle bags and worked my way through the house. I slipped out the backdoor and headed off towards the market. If I was quick, I could get my shopping done then get back home before Sludge woke up, then I could have his breakfast ready for him.

Luckily, it was market day, so many of the stalls were already set up. I started going from stall to stall, picking up everything I needed for the next few days. A large bundle of hay, a bag of flower, two bundles of actual flowers, all the basic vegetables and a sack of potatoes. I wanted something a bit heartier than what I’ve been making, and a stew was sounding good right now.

My last stop was at the apple stand, but only because Macintosh was running it this morning. The last thing I wanted to deal with was trying to talk with his sister, she knew when somepony was hiding something, and always asked the right things to ask to get it out of you. I just didn’t want to have to deal with that this morning.

That and he was always worth looking at, it was too bad he had a marefriend, and straight.

Dropping my bits on the counter, I started putting a bundle of apples in my bulging saddle bags when Macintosh spoke up. “Ya feelin’ okay?”

“I’m fine,” I protested as I closed the flap on the bag. When I looked up, I saw him giving me a critical eye, his head slightly cocked to the side as a hint of a frown crossed his large face.

“Don’t look fine,” he said.

“I’ve just had some long nights, that’s all,” I said, the lie coming quickly. A moment later I considered telling him about Sludge and how he was taking over my home, but I didn’t have it in me to do that. This was my problem and I would take care of it myself. I was an adult stallion—no matter what he called me—and I could handle one lazy dragon.

Macintosh slowly nodded his head, pulling the bits back across the counter. “Ya should eat more,” he said, still giving me a critical look.

I nodded and gave him a weak smile. “I’ll try,” I said, then I turned away from him and moved quickly back through the market. I was planning to head back home, but come to a stop at the very last stall.

Thanks to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her new school, there had been a lot of different creatures coming to Ponyville. Much to almost everypony’s surprise, that included a trio from the local Diamond Dog pack. Rarity had helped them get set up so they could sell their gems. They weren’t the fancy or expensive gems, but they were large and well-polished.

I walked up to the stand and started looking over the baskets of gems. Carefully, I picked up a number of green ones in my magic. They were all pretty close to Sludge’s colors, even if they were a bit of a hodgepodge of different types, but even I knew dragons loved all gems.

After paying the canine a hoof full of bits, I swept the gems into my saddle bag and heading back home. The sun was rising up over the crystal castle, the shadow of it cutting across the town as was glittering light from the crystal itself. It looked pretty, but it was quickly getting harder to look at as the sun rose.

Pushing open my door I slipped back into my house, letting it close softly behind me. A moment later I heard Sludge shifting on the couch. “That you, boy?”

“Yes,” I said with a sigh. A moment later I heard him cough, his way of reminding me I had forgotten something. “Yes, daddy.”

“And where did you go?”

“To the market, I had to get food for dinner,” I called out, starting to unload my saddle bags, putting the vegetables away into the ice chest.

He snorted. “Dinner is fine, but where’s my breakfast?”

“I can make haycakes,” I suggested, putting the flour away.

“Ah, forget it. I’m not that hungry anyways,” he replied with a grunt. I doubted that was the case, it seemed like the fat dragon was always hungry. I kept putting the food away as I heard him get up and shuffle off to the bathroom, though he was only in there a moment before he came shuffling back, the water flowing in his wake.

“Boy, get in here!” he called out.

I wasn’t finished putting everything away, but I knew better than to keep him waiting. I dropped my saddle bags on the kitchen table and went out into the living room. Sludge was laying on the couch, hands stretched out over his head and legs kicked out wide with his crotch pointing right towards me. Twin wet spots were front and center on his briefs.

“Yes, daddy?” I asked, not wanting to get too close to him. It wasn’t the obvious piss on his underwear that bothered me, but the fact that he smelled. He hadn’t showered since he had arrived, nor had he changed clothing. It left the whole of the living room smelling like a muddy field, but only more so.

He flexed his foot at me. “I need my claws trimmed,” he declared.

I blinked, looking down at his toes. His claws didn’t seem any longer than they had been when he had arrived, they didn’t look like they needed any more. Still, he was a dragon after all, so of course he would know better than me. I was pretty sure my hoof care tools would work for them, so I went to the bathroom, pulling the kit out from under the sink and walked back into the living room.

Sludge saw me with the kit in my blue magic and grinned, wiggling his toes again.

Grunting, I moved forward; trying to breath in through my nose as I neared him, but it wasn’t enough to keep the smell out. I wished I could find a way to get him to bathe, his stench made the whole living room unpleasant to be in and I was sure I was going to have to burn the couch when he finally left.

I dropped down onto my haunches at the end of the couch, pulling out my hoof trimming tools as I took a closer look at his claws. Three toes, each one with a curved claw at the tip, they seemed to be in good shape, though the tips were a bit dull and there were a few chips on them.

Picking up the file in my field, I grasped his food in a second field, which caused him to let out a laugh and yanked it back out of my magic. “That tickles!”

“I can’t do much about that, I can’t hold your foot with my hooves,” I protested, lifting up one hoof and wiggling it at him, not that he could see it over his gut.

Sludge rocked forward, looking at me from over the top of his belly, a narrow frown on his face before he let out a snort and dropped his head back onto the couch. “Fine, boy. Just be careful with it, I’m sensitive,” he said.

I rolled my eyes at that, but at least it was a small victory! That was more than I had managed in the last few weeks. I grasped his foot again, holding it as gently as I could. It still brought a deep chuckle from him, an action that made his belly shake like pudding.

The file ran over his claws, one slow stroke at a time, working off the rough edges that had developed. The more I worked, the more things I noticed about them. One claw really stood out, having grown in an odd way, like the outside of the claw had grown but not the inside. I took my time, working the file across it, or sometimes trimming them a little with the hoof knife until it was even.

At least his other foot was in much better shape, and it only took a little work to clean and sharpen those claws. I didn’t bring them to a completely sharp point, I didn’t want him tearing up my floor or the couch, but they were respectable.

“How does that look?” I asked as I started to put the tools away.

He lifted his head again, stretching out his toes and wiggling them. “You did a good job, boy,” he said.

“Thank you, daddy,” I replied without even thinking about it. As I closed the hoof care kit, I looked up at him, then rubbed my pastern over my nose. I hadn’t been able to breathe through my mouth the whole time, but at least I had gotten somewhat used to the stench.

Sludge was smiling at me, still wiggling his toes. “You did a real good job! You’re going to have to do it every time.”

Yeah, like that was going to happen. Though I hadn’t seen him in such a good mood in a long time. Maybe I could take advantage of it.

Standing up, I walked closer to him. “Can I ask a small favor in return?”

He raised his eyebrow at me, then motioned for me to go on.

“Could you take a bath, or a shower, or even just take a dip in the lake. You kind of stink.”

His smile faded as he gave me an intense look, his eyes slowly narrowing. I found myself taking a few steps back, getting out of his reach in case he was about to grab me again.

Sludge made a show of lifting his arm and lowering his head to sniff at his armpit. It wasn’t the quick sort of sniff ponies had when they were smelling themselves, but a long deep inhale followed by a pleased moan. “My boy, that is the smell of a real dragon,” he said as he leaned forward slightly on the couch. “No dragon would clean themselves if they smell like this, it’s how every dragon is supposed to smell!”

I somehow doubted that, and I was feeling bold at the moment. “Well that maybe how dragons in the badlands smell, but this is Ponyville and—“

Moving far faster than his heavy-set body would suggest, he lunged forward and grabbed me. One hand in my mane and the other on the center of my back. I tried to pull free but his grip was like iron and he pulled me closer to him. He didn’t put me over his knee this time, instead he lifted one of his flabby arms up and shoved my nose right into the armpit before dropping his arm over my head. He squeezed his arm down tight, pushing my muzzle right up against the nasty scales.

I struggled, kicking my hooves at the floor, but wasn’t able to get any traction. He just held me tightly in place, almost like it was nothing to him. I tried to hold my breath, I tried not to breath it in, but I couldn’t do it for more than a few moments. With a gasp I sucked in a breath of air, and breathing through my mouth didn’t do anything to improve it. I could taste it, the heavy sweat that hung all over his body, the musk that had built up in all the folds and in-between his scales. It was hot and nasty, like I was in a fire swamp. Every breath burnt in my throat and lungs, and I could feel it coating my mouth and forcing its way into my nose. It made everything feel sticky.

I gagged on it, and kept struggling to get free, but I couldn’t.

“Don’t fight it boy, just take it all in. This is how your daddy smells, so you had better get used to it,” he cautioned.

Ignoring him, I kept trying to push my way out, but his arm was tight over my face and his other hand was grabbing my dock, keeping my hind hooves from getting any purchase. I kicked my forelegs as his belly, but my hooves just slid off the scales, not doing anything to get myself free.

Another deep breath of the nasty musk washed into my lungs. It was like I was underwater in a swamp, each breath so thick I almost had to chew it. I hated it, it was the worst thing I had ever smelled, ever tasted. I gagged again; my muzzle open as I tried to get even the smallest bit of fresh air.

Sludge pushed me in even tighter, the dirty scales of his armpit shoving right up against my open mouth and my tongue. It tasted even worse than it smelled! I wasn’t just smelling a swamp, but trying drinking it. It was a dirty taste, thick with sweat, dirt and sulfur. I had once eaten a mud pie as a foal, and that was the only thing this compared to, though the pie was still worse, if only because of the worms.

I finally had no choice. Too tired to fight any more, I gave up on my squirming, my hooves falling quiet against the dragon’s scales. I just laid there; my face trapped against his armpit, resigned to this fate. I could feel his sweat starting to roll down over my fur and soak into my mane.

He started stroking his hand down my back, like one would do with a favorite pet, but didn’t let me free. I just stayed there, wrapped in his musk, feeling it soaking into me inside and out.

Finally, he grunted and lifted his arm, letting me free. I yanked my head back with a gasp, the sudden change in temperature chilled my face, as if it was the middle of winter. I gulped the fresh air like a fish, trying to clear the scent from my nose and lungs.

Sludge chuckled as he leaned back on the couch. “There you go boy, isn’t that better?”

“Fresh air,” I gasped, grabbing the hem of his robe in my magic and using it to try and dry off my face.

He allowed me to do that for a few moments before pulling it away. “Fresh air is fine, but it’s nothing compared to a good dragon musk,” he explained.

I coughed and tried to gather my thoughts, rubbing my forelocks over my face. I opened my eyes, blinking as I realized my glasses were gone. My eyes flicked back up to the dragon, spotting them still stuck to the damp scales of his armpit.

Hesitantly I moved forward to get them, only to have Sludge chuckle. “Oh, you want some more?”

“My glasses,” I said weakly, allowing my magic to start to drift out to grab them.

He watched the blue glow of my field as it drifted over to his armpit and grabbed my glasses, pulling them free with a sticky tearing sound. I lifted them to my face, frowning when I saw they were covered in his sweat. With a sigh I started to look around for something to clean them on.

“Lick them,” Sludge ordered.

“What?” I asked.

The dragon smirked and placed one hand on the small of my back. “You heard me boy, show your daddy how much you love his smell and lick them clean.”

I gulped, looking intently at him for a few moments, hoping that this was some kind of joke, but he wasn’t smiling. He was looking at me intently with a stern on his blurry face, his ear frills flat against his scales. After a few moments of indecision, I felt his hand on my back grow tighter as his other hand started to rise.

Closing my eyes, I let out a whimper as I brought my glasses up to my lips and flicked out my tongue, running it over one of the lenses. I could taste him again, the horrible flavor washing back over my mouth and taste buds. It was nasty! I just wanted to spit it out, but I forced myself to go on. I didn’t want to be spanked again. Lick after lick, I cleaned off all his sweat and musk from the lenses, disgusted the whole time.

When they were finally clean, I tried to dry them on my tail then put them back onto my nose. They were still a bit blurry as they were still wet, but they were clean.

Sludge smiled and patted me on the top of the head. “You’re a very good boy.”

I shivered as I looked at him, seeing the hint of displeasure on his face as he waited for my response. “Thank you, daddy,” I finally said.

“Now, go get me some lunch, and if you’re a really good boy I’ll let you have more.”

I nodded and started to slip away, but he didn’t let go of my back.

“Because you love how your daddy smells, don’t you?”

Lowering my head, I tried not to look at him as I muttered out a soft, “Yes, daddy.”

He reached out with his other hand, cupping my chin and lifting up my head. “I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, daddy,” I said again.

Sludge shook his head, a look of disappointment on his face. “Yes, what?”

I wanted to lower my head in shame, but that wasn’t possible with his hand on my chin. My ears still sank down as I tried to look away from him. “I love how my daddy smells,” I finally whispered.

He chuckled and finally let go of me. “Yes, you do boy. Yes, you do,” he said. He then leaned back on the sofa, grunting as he spread his legs, his hand going down to rub at the bulges in the front of his briefs before slipping under the fabric.

Quickly, I turned away and trotted back to the kitchen. My head spinning as I tried to keep my hooves under me. Even as I walked away, I found myself glancing back at the way his hand was moving in his underwear. I couldn’t believe that he was doing that in the middle of my living room, and I wished I could watch him as I made his lunch.