“It is so good to have the whole family together again,” Cloudy cheered as she and her husband took their seats in the living room next to Holly and Never who had already done so. “You kids visit us far too rarely!”

“Mom!” Fluffy and Never responded unison.

“Well, what’s wrong with an old mare expecting her kids to visit more frequently?” she insisted while putting on a fake frown. “Really you two could stand to visit your parents more often.”

“Seriously, Mom? At least one of us visits you every two weeks or so,” Never proclaimed.

“And you’re not exactly what we’d call old,” Fluffy added.

“I see my grandchildren far from often enough!”

I smirked at this and looked over at said grandchildren as they played together on the carpet of the living room. Fiery and Soundy, Holly and Never’s foal, were getting along well together, a far cry from how they started out. It had taken some time for Fiery to understand that Soundy was her cousin and thus a part of the family.

That first meeting had not gone well according to Fluffy, as Fiery hissed and threatened the baby pegasus when she had tried to play with one of Fiery’s toys. I didn’t see anything wrong with Fiery showing her dominance and defending what was hers, but Fluffy convinced me otherwise. Now however, Fiery was much more friendly and generous with her cousin. That is, except for her orange fabric stone plushy. That was hers and hers alone.

I watched the little banter Cloudy had started and was preparing for how this was going to evolve. I smiled again, knowing exactly what Cloudy was playing at. Pony behavior was not as much of a mystery to me as it had been in the past. And as long as I saw Fiery’s tail waving happily whenever grandma and grandpa Do came through the door, I fully welcomed their visit. A fact that I explained to them due to our agreement of letting them know of things that could possibly go wrong. So if my daughter’s tail ever stopped being so wavy when they visited, they would not be allowed to visit anymore, or at least not as often. If that happened, then she really wouldn’t get to see her granddaughter that often.

I did have to question her assessment though that we didn’t visit her often enough, it is a two day trip after all. That and the fact they were still against us having sex in their house, something I did not approve of.

“That is not our fault,” Fluffy continued. “If you want to see them more often, you just have to come to our lair.”

“But we have jobs, Danger, we actually have to work for a living,” Cloudy replied. However, given how Cloudy pulled back her ears as soon as she finished saying that, she knew that her choice of words had been poor.

“Mom!” Fluffy’s chestfluff puffed up in indignation.

“Sorry! Sorry.” Cloudy raised her hooves. “Please forget that I said that.”

Surprisingly, that worked. Must be the kids being around or Fluffy wanting to be more relaxed for the baby. Speaking of which, she was getting close to giving birth, only a few weeks left. It was actually the reason why everyone was meeting in our lair. Fluffy was farther along in her pregnancy compared to Holly, so despite Never taking issue with us making his pregnant wife come all the way here, it was the most logical option.

One last meeting before the trouble of raising bornlings started again. Little bornlings need a lot of attention, so we wouldn’t be able to see each other again for some time after my mate and Holly gave birth.

“What your mom is trying to say,” Gold raised his hooves in hopes of placating Fluffy, “is that we enjoy it when both of you visit us.”

“Indeed,” Cloudy nodded hastily.

Fluffy and I both snorted. “If you want to see your grandchildren more often, you have to travel to us, like my mate said. It is not our fault that you failed to achieve a hoard of treasure great enough to allow you to stay home and do as you please.”

Normally being this rude would cause Fluffy to scold me, but she just smiled and rubbed my snout.

“And you could have chosen a rich mate, that way you could laze around at home all day too,” I added with a blink to Cloudy.

“Softy,” Fluffy poked me in the chest.

“What?” I said most innocently. “I’m the one who profits from this deal the most,” I explained and kissed her. “After all, I got the greatest treasure in the world.” I finished my honeyed words with a possessive stroke over her belly. No matter how often I tell her this, that I considered her to be the most valuable of my belongings, it always makes her happy.

“What a sweet talker,” Holly commented as she cuddled deeper into Nevers fluff herself. “Take notes, Never, mares love that.”

He chuckled and pet her head. “Will do.”

It was good to see that Never had managed to get a wife that was also very much into cuddling, and, was also able to provide fluffy offspring. He made a good choice, though, it was of course inferior to my own!

Well, be it as it may, with me having the best of all mates, the time I spent with everyone there was made far more enjoyable when the topics of discussion became more mundane. Though, not long after this change of subject, a knock on the door to the inner lair interrupted us.

“Who could that be?” Fluffy wondered and stood up. “Are you expecting someone?”

I fixed my gaze on the door and growled quietly, whoever it was, they had caused Fluffy to leave me side. Not the best of all outcomes. “No, I don’t.”

“Softy,” Fluffy rubbed my side, “be nice. We’ll see who this is and then I’ll happily return to your side, as fluffy as always.”

I stopped my growling. “You always know how to make me happy.”

Her hoof was replaced by a soft stroke of her feathers against my side before finally using them to poke my nose as she walked ahead of me.

“I’m coming!” she shouted.

As Fluffy made her way to the door, I made sure to stay on her hooves. Some strange visitor could be a threat after all, so my pregnant mate was not going to open the door first.

I made my way past her, earning me the ‘rolled eyes look’ and opened the door.

“Hi there!” an overly excited kirin shouted, waving her tail in excitement before getting on her hind legs to offer me a hug. “It is so good to see you two! You know first I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find your lair, but well, here I am!”

Autumn Blaze. What other kirin would be so bold as to enter a dragon's lair and offer its inhabitant a hug.

Her look became a bit unsure when I didn't show any signs of accepting the hug. It was quite common by now for us to hug whenever Fluffy and I visited their village, but here, in my lair, without her giving me the fun of showing my dominance and proclaim my territory first, getting her to request permission to enter, I was not in the mood to reciprocate the gesture.

I growled.

“Uhm,” she flinched back, “maybe this is a bit too spontaneous and surprising…”

“Softy!” Fluffy pushed herself past me and the doorframe. “Hello Autumn.” She gave the other mare a warm hug. “Welcome to our lair. It’s nice to see you again, though, a bit unexpected for sure.”

“Well, you did tell me last time I could come and visit you guys sometime.”

“Yeah, like some point farther in the future,” Fluffy said slowly. “You know, like in a few months, maybe with a letter telling us you were coming beforehand.”

“Ohh, that is how this is done? I had no idea, honestly, I didn’t even think about writing a letter,” Autumn replied while looking to the side. “Yeah, probably should have done that,” she returned her gaze to Fluffy but rubbed over her head now. “I was just so excited to see your lair and how a dragon lives with my own eyes. I… could barely contain my curiosity.”

“It’s fortunate that we had indeed invited you, otherwise you would have gotten first-hoof experience as to how a dragon reacts to having their lair invaded.” Fluffy made a calming gesture towards me. “You know, Autumn, dragons are very particular about the protocol for entering another’s lair.”

“I thought this was covered when you told me I could come over?” Autumn wondered. “Like you said, you guys invited me,” her tone quieted down before she continued, “even if I messed it up a bit.”

“It kind of is, or Softy here would be far more unfriendly.”

I just snorted a little cloud of smoke when Autumn’s gaze landed on me. It was not like I didn’t like her, she had been very helpful with raising Fiery and gave us some tips and tricks along the way. She’s also a big fan of mine. Still...

“Dragons are very finicky when it comes to their lair,” Fluffy said as she made an inviting gesture with her wing. “Anyhow, now that you are here, you should come in. Actually, my family is here too, you remember Never and Holly?”

“I sure do, they…” Autumn stopped when I made a step forward while growling.

Though, Fluffy handled the situation by just rubbing her head along my snout, purring in the process. “Sneaky dragon.”

I love how my mate is able to see through my actions sometimes. Of course Autumn already had permission to enter, but playing the annoyed dragon can lead to calming down cuddling. Fluffy saw through me though, but went ahead with the cuddling anyways.

“He just wants to be cuddled,” she told Autumn Blaze. “No need to worry, now, come in.”

*

“Mom, Dad, may I introduce you to our friend Autumn Blaze?” Fluffy stepped aside, letting the other mare enter our living room “She’s a friend from the Peaks of Peril.” She looked over to her brother and sister in law. “Holly, Never, I assume you remember her?”

“Of course,” Holly said, and rose from her spot, and quickly the usual pleasantries were shared between her, Never, and Autumn. Though, as soon as Autumn began to speak, some tiny kirin ears perked up. My daughter was very familiar with Autumn’s voice, and in her head, this voice was connected to head scratches, as you would probably assume.

So before Never and Holly were even finished with greeting Autumn, Fiery had already whizzed over and begun purring loudly for attention. She had even tilted her head so the bigger kirin could easily reach the spot between her ears.

“If it isn’t my favorite little kirin!” Autumn proclaimed and picked Fiery up, holding her against her shoulder and starting to scratch her between the ears. “You get taller and taller every time I’m not looking!”

Fiery just purred in agreement.

“Aww,” Cloudy cooed as she got nearer. “Seems there are some kirin secrets you have to share with her grandparents. I really would like to be able to do that too.”

“I’m happy to share,” Autumn replied without hesitation.

“Cloud Planter,” Cloudy said and stretched out a hoof. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Autumn happily bubbled as she shook the offered hoof. However, she had to stop scratching Fiery’s scales to do this, and my little girl made it clear with a hiss that she very much did not approve of Autumn doing this.

“Fiery!” Fluffy insistently scolded, “behave yourself.”

Autumn quickly shook Cloudy’s hoofs before returning to caring for Fiery. “She really is amazing, though a little bit greedy. Like a real dragon,” Autumn said, but it was clear it was a compliment, not an accusation. “You’re really taking after your dad, aren’t you? Anyway,” she looked back up, “today’s getting better and better. First I had an awesome trip here, and now I’m actually staying in a dragon's lair and holding a first generation pegasus-kirin, isn’t that amazing?”

“Uhm, first generation kirin?” Gold wondered.

“The direct offspring of a pony and a dragon,” Fluffy quickly explained.

“Mhh, well then, I assume it is,” Gold agreed. “We just got used to it I suppose, especially seeing as we’ve had our granddaughter around as often as we have.” He rubbed over his nose. “Say, miss Blaze…”

She waved him off. “Just call me Autumn.”

“Alright, Autumn, our daughter already told us you are, I mean you as a kirin, very much into dragons. But I have to say, you seem to be alot happier than I would have expected at having Fiery around and being here.”

Autumn giggled. “Of course I am! What kirin has the chance to see a dragon's lair first hoof? Just getting to see the entrance tunnel was amazing, and the little garden! Oh is it beautiful, I even delayed knocking for a moment to just walk through it! A garden! Several dozen meters below the surface! I mean, who would think to build one down here except for a dragon!” She focused back on Fiery. “And such a demanding little kirin foal, all due to her azure blood, I mean how cool is that!”

“I think everypony got it,” Holly threw in, amused at how Autumn was behaving, “dragons are awesome in kirin culture.”

“They sure are,” Autumn confirmed.

Fluffy was about to step in to stop this from devolving into a kirin-dragon discussion like the first time we’d met Autumn, when some little bird named Grünchen decided it was time for me to feed him, interrupting the conversation.

From where he was perched, he began to quietly release this long, very high pitched cry that went in and out sporadically before ending in this strange, almost choked, chirp. When I first started hearing him call out like this, I'd thought that one of the holes that allow light into my lair had suddenly started to whistle. But I had learned over time that that was just how he demanded food.

I was making my way over to him, when suddenly something strange happened. No, not that Fiery squirmed in Autumn’s forelegs and began making her way over as soon as she touched the ground, that was quite common when she wanted to watch me feed her friend and maybe snatch a gem or two in the process. No, this time, Holly’s bird, Blue Ember, who normally sat near her, decided to fly over as well.

He landed next to the bowl of gem splinters, started to pick some up, flew over to Grünchen, and began to feed him.

“Awww, you made a friend,” Holly commented proudly as she watched her pet feeding ours.

I stopped. “Kind of clever of him to figure that out, that Grünchen needs gems.”

“He is a clever little one,” Holly explained. “He must have been watching you.”

“Must be, I’m just curious why he started to do this now. He didn’t show any interest in feeding Grünchen when you four arrived.”

And that was true, Blue Ember had simply noticed Grünchen as a baby bird, flew over to his nest, and gave him a closer look before returning to Holly’s back without doing anything when they first met. That is except for screeching at me when I went near Grünchen of course. Protecting the young was something he did apparently. I mostly ignored him besides a little growl when he got too pushy. That was also mostly how we acted around each other at first; ignoring one another.

That changed drastically the moment he screeched at Fluffy when she came close to the nest herself though. You can very well imagine that I did not take that well, roaring, chasing, a little flamelance here and there… you know, the usual. He quickly understood who was the boss in the lair, to his benefit. He never showed any aggressive behaviour towards Fluffy again.

Okay, Holly was a bit mad at me at first, but since I had done no real harm to her bird, she calmed down. And Blue Ember was happily pecking Never every now and then when Holly wasn’t watching, so he had something to distract himself.

I did wonder though if this bird simply had something against other winged creatures, since Holly was the only earth pony here and he had gotten into trouble with every other adult in the lair so far. When Cloudy and Gold arrived though, it was proven that that was not the case, he was friendly to them too.

Anyway, back to our conversation.

“Who knows,” Holly said. “Maybe he simply didn’t know how to do that and therefore did not try, now, however, he does know.”

I snorted at that.

“Well, one less annoying task for me then.” You may remember that I don’t like caring for a parasitic bird that much, and I wasn’t yet at the point where I would accept Grünchen completely as part of the family either. So someone else caring for him was music to my ears.

I was already turning around when suddenly another strange thing happened. Fiery, who always watched me feeding her little friend, decided to do the same thing with Blue Ember. She placed her little claws on the edge of the nest and commented on what she saw of course.

“Blue,” she said and flapped her wings while pointing at the night phoenix, turning her head to me for a moment to make sure I saw it too.

“Indeed,” I confirmed which made her very happy for some reason. Fiery giggled and then tried to pet Holly’s bird while making calming ‘coo’ sounds. His confusion was kind of amusing when she started to stroke over his belly. Here was this little winged creature, crouching next to the nest, making strange noises, and trying to get his attention.

Blue Ember was surely confused about what to do, so he did his best as an adult bird. He pranced closer to Fiery and dropped a piece of gem into her mouth, feeding her too.

Of course, the little sweet got chewed and swallowed quite quickly, along with happy giggles.

With this proof that he had made the right decision, Blue Ember flew back to the bowl, fetched new splinters, returned, and proceeded to feed both of the little creatures sitting there.

I took a seat, watching with curiosity at what was going on. “I don’t know what I should think about this,” I said.

“Me neither,” Holly agreed when she moved to sit next to me.

The fact that she was taken by surprise that her bird had chosen to feed Grünchen when he cried out for food would have been understandable, but that he was also feeding Fiery? That was definitely something different.

“I can only assume he figured out that she is a small foal too after observing how you act around her.” She shrugged. “I think he’s got a good clue about what foals are after seeing me caring for Soundy in the first place, though, he never tried to feed her.”

“I assume he would have had a lot of trouble carrying milk around if he tried to.”

Holly giggled. “He very well could.”

“I think it…” the rest of my sentence got buried under a loud roar from outside the inner lair.

I turned around, seeing Fluffy already standing up again. “Who could that be now?” It made sense to me that she wouldn’t have known since she’d never heard that roar in this way before.

Though I obviously did, there are only a few dragons that could roar loud enough to be heard from here in the lair when they were at the entrance.

“That’s my mom,” I quickly explained, already making my way towards the exit. “You better stay here,” I added and pushed Fluffy backwards when she tried to come with me. “I’ll see what she wants first.”

“Your mom?” Autumn spoke up, half in excitement, half in doubt. “Isn’t she the azure dragon in your family? The one who Fiery got her azure blood from?”

“Exactly her,” I confirmed while leaving the living room. I could hear Autumn's happy bubbling behind me and had to smile a little. She did not know my mom at all.

*

“My mate is fine, mom, there’s no need to worry.”

“And why would I be here if there was nothing to worry about?” my mom replied. “I know something is going to happen, I feel it.”

“And you expect me to worry as well since you had the feeling there is something to worry about?”

“Indeed.”

I threw a look over to my dad. He just shrugged and gave me an innocent smile. If my mom wasn’t an azure dragon, we could simply ignore her and go on with our lives. As it stood, however, we had to listen to her anyway, no matter the nonsense she said.

“Well, maybe you can take a look for yourself then. When you see my mate is fine, you can stop worrying. Though, her whole family is actually here for a visit too.”

I couldn’t tell my mom to be nice of course, so this was meant to inform her in a roundabout way that I expect her to behave like a guest.

“You mean your lair is currently filled with fluffy ponies?” my dad asked, full of anticipation.

“Plus two kirins and two birds, one of which is a ventalas actually.”

“A ventalas,” my dad asked disgusted. “Why in the world would you want a ventalas in your lair?”

“Wasn’t my decision, Fiery brought back the egg from a walk. I didn’t know what it was till it hatched. After that, Fiery and Fluffy weren’t convinced to get rid of it. Instead, Fiery got very protective of him.”

Now it was my mother who surprised me. She not only did not criticize my decision to let the bird stay, but also gave me a look that I would count as one of approval, if it wasn’t so unlikely.

“You really have become a softy as your mate calls you,” my dad sprung in to replace my mother's disapproval this time. “You should have dragoned up and gotten rid of that pest.”

“I know, dad,” I said grumbling, “I... know.”

After that little bit of banter, the three of us made our way down into the lair rather quietly until we reached the garden. From there, I announced us with a little roar. “Fluffy, Fiery, oma and opa are here!”

Just to let you know, we used old draconic for my parents. So it’s grandma and grandpa Do, but oma and opa for mine. It’s also shorter, which is a nice benefit.

We’d just made it past the little waterfall when Fluffy came out to greet us with Fiery in her foreleg.

“Opa!,” Fiery yelled and stretched her little claws out for him, but Fluffy reminded her she had to wait a moment.

“Perle des hohen Berges.” Fluffy bowed down a little when we reached her. “Welcome to our lair once more.”

“Thank you, Danger Do,” my mother replied.

“And you too, Fast Slasher,” Fluffy addressed my father.

He nodded and then stepped forward to purr at his granddaughter. She returned the favor and then demanded, “Opa! Throw up!”

No, she doesn’t mean it that way of course, it is simply her way of talking.

Of course, he fulfilled her request, he couldn’t deny his granddaughter her wish. This also made it so my mom could talk with Fluffy for a moment while my daughter screamed in joy each time my father threw her into the air, just to catch her a moment later.

“I had the feeling our presence here would be needed,” Perle told Fluffy, “that you would need our assistance.”

“Need your assistance? Well, probably next month we will.” She smiled and brushed over the side of her belly with a wing. “We would need you here to see your second grandchild then. Right now, however, you could keep us company over a cup of tea if you like.” She made an inviting gesture towards the inner lair. “My family is staying over, and you could meet my brother and his wife.”

“That is not what I came for,” Perle said, “though, I assume we could do that while we wait for the events to come.” She looked over to me. “Son, go and announce us properly.”

“Yes, mom.”

And that is what I did. Despite my mother’s foreshadowing that something would happen, the only thing that happened was her and my dad getting to know the rest of Fluffy’s direct family. That and an overly excited kirin of course. Autumn Blaze was practically glued to my parents sides. Only the fact that everything my mom said was received with amazement by Autumn prevented her from getting on my mother’s nerves.

*

“That brings up the question as to why you chose an earth pony, Never,” my dad said. “There is nothing wrong with you, Holly, but you aren’t fluffy like a pegasus. Also, Never, by making her your mate, you risked your bornlings coming out unfluffy.”

“It is not always about fluff, Slasher. Holly has other qualities I find more important,” Never replied.

“I do?” Holly asked with an innocent smile.

“Yes, you do.” Never gave her a kiss. “And quite a lot of them.”

“And she made a fluffy bornling nonetheless,” I added. “I was in doubt too, but she did.”

“Hmm, but it was still risky,” my dad retorted. “You could at least have had a sidewife, like Autumn here.” He lifted her up a bit, before returning to stroking over her head as if she were a pet. Well, she more or less was at the moment, with how she was laying in my dad's arms and getting pet.

“You may not be able to make as good of a claim on a mate as your sister, but with my son’s help, you could convince one you are worth something. I heard kirins value the opinion of a dragon very highly.”

“You have no idea,” Fluffy nodded. “When we visited their village the first time, they literally threw themself at him.”

“We simply love dragons,” Autumn said. “And I can’t see anything wrong with that.”

“There is nothing wrong with that, we are awesome,” my dad said.

“There were a lot of problems with that in the past,” my mother threw in, quietly, but in a tone that didn’t allow for us to contradict her.

“And why is that?” Autumn wondered. “I don’t see why…”

My dad gave her a little slap on the snout.

“Shhh,” little kirin.

“Ouch!” Autumn rubbed her nose. “What was that for?”

“Don’t question my wife.”

“And you don’t hurt my guests!” Fluffy jumped off the couch and flew over to my dad. “I will not tolerate you hurting somebody! Is that clear?” She even poked him in the chest. “Is it?”

Living with me for so long must have made her desire to bolt towards dragons.

“She questioned my wife!” Slasher said scandalized.

“That is no reason to slap her!”

“It very well is!”

“No it isn’t!”

“The words of my wife are not to be questioned!”

“My guests can do so here, in my lair!” Fluffy started to growl.

My dad growled back.

It was at this point that I felt the need to jump up and roar at my dad. A loud challenging roar which caused all the ponies except for Fluffy to quickly make room between my dad and me. I would not allow him to growl at Fluffy!

Before the situation could get out of claw though, my mom silenced me and my dad with a taste of her azure magic. A wave of pure horror and fear flowed over me and forced me to the ground. My dad didn’t have it much better as I saw him dropped Autumn and crouch on the ground as well.

“You will not threaten our son’s mate in her own lair!” My mom hissed. “Neither will you annoy her while she is carrying our grandbornling!”

My dad hastily nodded.

“Don’t forget about th…” my mom started when Fiery suddenly stepped up to her. Her scales on her forehead glowing brightly and her tail was raised up.

“Oma!” she yelled and then added a polite hiss.

My heart skipped a beat, hissing at my mom was not the best idea Fiery ever had. Fluffy also instantly understood this was a bad idea and rushed over to protect her, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

Instead of roaring back, my mom simply stepped a bit closer and took a seat again, lowering her head to look at Fiery more closely. And if I wasn’t mistaken, I saw her smile with delight!

“Oma, no!” Fiery insisted and looked up to her with furrowed eyebrows and a pulled snout. “Don’t hurt opa!”

And what about daddy? Of course daddy is a strong dragon who can protect himself, still…

“Your opa misbehaved and oma just reminded him to be a good opa,” my mom explained, but Fiery did not approve.

“Oma!” She added a growl to her reply this time.

I was so proud, there stood my little daughter, growling at the huge dangerous azure dragon that was her oma, starting to negotiate like a true dragon. That was till my mother joined the negotiation by adding her own silent growl. Oh, I had no problem with the fact that my mom growled. Like you know, dragons can negotiate between equals, or in this case family, but her doing this caused Fluffy’s protective instincts to kick in, and thus throw a cup at my mom, kind of killing the mood. I have to say though, it was a good hit. The cup exploded into thousands of splinters against my moms head.

Just like my sanity.

It felt like time itself had gone into slow motion for a second just to race thrice as fast afterwards. I shook off my mom’s azure tricks and jumped between her and Fluffy, who had just started to growl and scratch the ground with a hoof.

While I absolutely support my mate’s intention to protect our daughter, I really would prefer it if she would have run away, or hid, or something less suicidal.

Anyway, my mom used the time to swipe over her snout to get rid of a few remaining pieces of china and spilled tea that were covering her muzzle. Afterwards, she gave me a raised eyebrow and came closer.

There were a thousand things I would prefer over fighting my mom, but I had to protect my mate. So I growled.

My mom was unimpressed.

“Stay away from her!” I hissed.

It had no effect. I pushed my family backwards with my tail, but there was not much room, and Fluffy was not really willing to retreat at all.

Finally there was the moment I could not push further back. And my mom still proceeded to get closer.

I did what I had to, I roared and bounced at my mom. I knew my chances, don’t tell me, but I had to protect my mate.

Though, truth be told, I did as well as you could’ve expected. I might as well have tried to bounce at a mountain for all the effect my assault had on her. I wonder if it even slowed my mom down. She didn’t seem to care at all, only when I tried to hit her with my claw, which she caught midair and twisted downward so the rest of my body had to follow, that she acknowledged me.

“Be a good hatchling and lay down,” my mom said, not even aggressive or anything, but with force behind it.

I hissed and turned in her grip, scratching over her side to try and bite her. I was good in claw to claw combat, but not good enough for an azure obviously. Like a doll, my mom shook me, ignoring that I hit her with my tail or that I scratched over her belly. She just grabbed my neck with her free claw and pressed me down on the ground.

But this was not over yet, I still had my wings free and so I thrust them at her, trying to sting into her side with my talons. Mom was ready though and deflected my attempts with her own wings, making it so they simply glanced off of her scales.

The only thing I had accomplished was making her angry. She hissed and rushed her head forward. Her fangs blinking. She aimed for my throat. Only stopping when my scales and her fangs barely touched. Then, she purred. Her very special purr for her hatchling that I remembered from my hatch.

She continued to do this until I calmed down. Then she bit the top of my muzzle softly. A rebuke, not a punishment.

“I am kind of proud of you,” she purred, “there is more of me in you than creatures would expect.”

“Get away from Fluffy,” I retorted. I wasn’t really able to hiss or growl anymore and this had nothing to do with my mom being an azure, and everything to do with her being my mom. Remember what I told you about the special purr of a dragon parent? Looks like I am not old enough for it to lose its effect yet.

“I will not hurt your mate, nor my grandbornling. Though, her azure blood demands territory negotiations.” She looked up to Fluffy. “And you can place that saucer back on the table, no use in smashing all the china.”

“I will not allow you to growl at my daughter!” The saucer remained in her hoof, ready to go.

“As Lady of the Lair, and my son’s mate, you should know by now that that is part of dragon communication.” She pointed at Fiery. “Look yourself, she is waiting for my response.”

And indeed, Fiery had not moved since she and my mom had growled at each other. Her forehead was still glowing and her tail was raised.

I struggled to get up, my mom was not so fond of the idea, but let me go anyways.

“It would have been a lot easier if you just told Fluffy so instead of just growling, mom.”

“I am not used to explaining basic concepts, son.”

She had a point. Fluffy should have known better, but her pregnancy makes her a bit unpredictable. I was going to address that when my gaze landed on my dad, who was still cowering on the ground, unable to move.

I gave Fluffy a quick nuzzle before I addressed him. “What is up with you?”

“I never stopped using my azure aura,” my mom said.

“What do you mean? I can move around quite fine.”

“I noticed,” she purred.

This took me by surprise. I focused on my feelings, searching for any kind of fear and terror. There was nothing.

“I can’t feel it, your… azurness.”

“You are just looking in the wrong place, son. My presence should no longer intimidate you, but you should be able to feel that I am around, my presence.”

And I could! I really could feel that she was present!

“This is... strange,” I said confused. I could feel her aura, her very essence of being an azure, just without the overwhelming, dominating force. “Is this how it feels for azure’s?”

Even without me being specific, my mom knew what I meant.

“Yes, we can feel each other’s presence if we use our abilities,” she confirmed. “I don’t know if you can use it on non relatives too,” she added while she moved back over to Fiery.

Of course, Fluffy was still on high alert, and raised the saucer again, but I calmed her down.

“Let my mom figure this out with her,” I told Fluffy. “I don’t want a second round in close combat with my mom today.”

My mate fluffed up and it was looking like that was something she would not be willing to do, but after my mom gave her the generosity to wait a moment and look to her, not for permission, but to check if she would tolerate it, which she agreed to, did my mother procead.

“You really think it is necessary?” Fluffy wondered, her voice suspicious as well as guarded.

“It looks like Fiery is the one who wants this,” I pointed out. “She is making her presence quite known. That actually brings up the question… “

I focused on my daughter. There was nothing.

“Brings up which question?”

“Nevermind, I was curious if I could feel her now too, like my mom, but I can’t.”

“That would have come in hoofy.”

“Yes, but sadly, it is not meant to be.”

While I was still lost in thought, Fiery and mom approached each other closely and exchanged a series of purring and growling. And as I expected, it was not in a way of a threat or anything like this, it was negotiations.

“Stop hurting opa!” Fiery finally demanded.

“Opa misbehaved,” mom simply said.

“Oma bad! Don’t hurt opa!” she even stomped a claw and waved her tail.

“Opa belongs to oma, oma will decide about him.”

“Our lair!”

“My mate.”

This little banter lasted for a while, in the end, they came to an agreement. When my mom threatened Fiery to not bring opa along anymore, she was far more willing to let my mom handle him. Though, she insisted that she punish opa outside the lair. Both rubbed snouts to seal the deal and my mom let her aura vanish.

It felt kind of weird that I suddenly couldn’t feel her, but well...

Slowly, my dad roze off the ground again, shaking himself like a wet pony. “Been a while since I got hit by it on that level.”

“Been a while since you were that stupid,” my mom said.

“Of course,” my dad hastily nodded, not willing to get another dose. “My fault.”

I was not sure if he really was agreeing here or just wise enough to not speak up.

“Then you can apologise to Autumn Blaze now,” Fluffy demanded.

My dad threw a quick look at my mom and then did as Fluffy told him. Whatever he saw in my mother's gaze was enough to know that he better obey.

“Apology accepted,” Autumn nodded. “Now can you pick me up again?” She got closer and rubbed her side against him.

“Irresistible dragon charm,” I laughed at how bold and full of forgiveness that kirin was.

“She has the liking for dragons that you have for my fluff” my mate commented, though I was not sure about her tone. I couldn’t tell if she approved or not.

It took a bit more effort to calm the other Do’s though. While Holly had grabbed Soundy and retreated to the next room, Never got a pike from my inventory of adventurer weapons while I was distracted. Can you believe that? He was really going to try to defend his family as I protected mine. Truth be told, his chances were even smaller than mine, but still, it was an audacious action that I approved of.

It took me a moment to convince him to place it back where it belongs. In the end, I explained to him that the guy who had carried it in the first place had not been so lucky when he tried using it on me, and look how I fared against my mother.

Grumbling, he placed it back. And in the meantime, Fluffy had convinced her parents that this was all just dragon culture to a degree that she understands and can handle, even if it looked otherwise. The fact that she was staying calm and even ordering my dad around now more or less proved her point.

So, after a while, things settled down, and like ponies often do, they began to chat like nothing had ever happened.

Could have turned out worse if you ask me.

*

“You should be a bit more careful when it comes to my parents,” I said while softly stroking over my mate’s belly. “Everycreature knows you are brave, but you’re carrying a very valuable treasure around with you.”

“Your parents would never hurt me,” Fluffy replied and snuggled against my chest, dragging the blanket tighter around her in the process. “Not least because of this treasure. Your mom even said so herself.”

“My mom is also used to her orders being followed and no one dareing to speak up to her.”

“That is because there’s no one else who has the right to forbid her from seeing her grandchild if she misbehaves.” She gave me a raised eyebrow along with a rub along my throat. “And I am very sure hurting mom would annoy said grandchild, as well as her son.”

“It surely would.” I rubbed my head above hers in return. “Still, I would like it if you were a bit more careful.”

“I can very well hold my ground,” and now her voice became far more seductive along with her hooves wandering above my chest, “I managed to tame a dragon already. Not much of a problem to handle a few more.”

I so very much like it when she gets naughty, and this was where she was trying to drive this conversation. I really needed to talk some sense into her first. So, I stopped her hooves and held her gaze.

“You cute fluffy tricks may work on my dad, I am really sure they do, but my mom is a different story.”

Fluffy snorted.

“If she gets the feeling you are seriously challenging her at some point, she will react. She is a dragoness in addition to everything else. You know how we are when it comes to our pride and territory.”

“Oh yes, I do,” Fluffy replied with a smirk and tried to push me onto my back with her head, purring all the while. “I know exactly how you are in that regard.”

“Fluffy…” I said strict.

“Mh-mhh?” she purred.

“You need to be more careful.”

“Urg!” She flickered her tail and growled, most unhappy that we weren’t doing to do something more naughty yet.

“This is important.”

She kept growling slightly.

“The sooner you agree, the sooner we can do other things,” I suggested and licked along her neck.

“I’m no longer in the mood.”

“Come on, we both know that’s not the case.” A light bite into her neck, followed by a lust filled hiss from her was proof enough. “See?”

“Naughty dragon!”

“Naughty pony.”

“Maybe,” Fluffy hesitantly admitted.

“So?”

“So what?”

“Are you going to be more careful with my parents?”

She stayed silent, so I started to nibble and play with her ear while stroking over her haunches with my tail.

“Arg, fine,” she finally agreed, more than eager to start, “but it is still our lair, and I am the Lady of the Lair!”

“No one doubts that.”

“They better not!” Fluffy insisted before she kissed her most naughty dragon.

*

With a now happily purring Fluffy resting on my belly, the night felt much more comfortable. I let out a satisfied sigh and sunk deeper into the pillows. Nothing better to help one sleep than some good fun time with your mate.

“Feeling quite proud of yourself, huh?” Fluffy lurkingly said with only one eye partially opened.

“Sure do,” I replied with a purr. “And for the last hour you didn’t sound like I shouldn’t be.”

As expected, I got a soft punch in the belly for this.

“It’s true,” I confirmed once again.

“You’re unbelievable,” Fluffy judged.

I just grinned, until Fluffy slowly slid off me and rolled to the side. Of course I growled unhappy.

“With your outstanding ability to satisfy your mate,” Fluffy started, “you should be more than able to fetch us both something to drink from the kitchen.”

My growling became even more unhappy, as well as gaining a hint of defeat. There is no arguing with your pregnant mate when it comes to her comfort or needs.

“Such a good dragon,” my mate cheeky mentioned when I raised.

I, in return, gave her a naughty slap on the flank with my tail tip.

*

While I was on the way to the fridge, I peeked into the living room. Autumn was still curled up on my chair, sleeping peacefully. As a chair sized for a dragon, it was more than big enough for her.

My gaze wandered over to the couch where Cloudy and Gold had settled in. Well, with my own parents now staying here, we simply didn’t have enough guest rooms for everyone. So the obvious solution was for Holly to get one, since she was pregnant, and my mom to occupy the other, for reasons that should be self-evident.

To my surprise, Cloudy was still awake and watching over a little kirin who had snuck onto her belly with her favorite cuddle-blanket in claw and her stone-plushy wrapped in her tail.

“Your daughter will be furious if she saw you keeping our daughter from bed,” I whispered.

Moving her wing slightly so it was still covering Fiery’s back, she got into a position that was more suited to talk to me. “I am innocent,” she whispered too. “She just snuck out of bed and was on the way over to you two when she spotted me and Gold laying on the couch. It was her choice to climb up onto grandma’s belly.”

The tone of her voice made it clear that she was most happy that Fiery had deemed her worthy to nap on instead of walking all the way to me and Fluffy. Little did she know that Fluffy told Fiery again and again to not sneak into our room at night. She even carried her back if she showed up.

It was an uphill battle for Fluffy to teach Fiery that though, since she had two unhappy family members trying to convince her otherwise. For dragons, it is natural that the little hatchlings stay in the nest for quite a while longer than pony foals do. So while Fiery made her best little kirin eyes and purred, and I poked Fluffy with my snout in my best attempt to convince her to allow our daughter to stay in our bed most of the time, it did not work.

Not even Fluffy’s argument that she would be in the mood for fun more often with the bed only belonging to us helped her to convince me. Still, with the weeks passing and Fluffy staying persistent about Fiery staying in her own bed, we got used to it. That didn’t mean though that I wouldn’t sneak out of bed on occasion to check on our daughter. Fluffy of course noticed, but she was generous enough to pretend she didn’t.

Actually, this made me wonder if Fiery did this on purpose. She knew mommy would carry her back to bed, but grandma wouldn’t for sure.

Suspicious.

“I am quite sure my mate will not listen to any explanations or excuses.” I moved a bit nearer and cuddled softly over the back of my daughter with my snout. “She will be mad anyway.”

“Then you better not tell her,” Cloudy said and blinked.

“Not making my mate mad is one of my most important duties,” I agreed. “But if she finds you here like this, with our daughter on your belly, let’s just say I wouldn’t envy being you.”

Cloudy’s gaze wandered back to the adorable heap of cuteness on her belly. “I think that is a risk I am willing to take.”

I smiled and nodded before I turned around to continue my mission to fetch some drinks.

“Black Death?”

I turned my head around once more.

“Could you add a bit of firewood to the fireplace,” Cloudy nodded in the direction of Fiery, “I am quite incapable of moving at the moment.”

“Yes, I can do that.”

And that’s what I did. It had been getting a bit colder the last few hours, likely because of the small storm that had formed outside. I could hear the rain dripping through the holes in the ceiling of the garden when I had been walking to the kitchen.

After I filled the fireplace with some more wood and sped up the ignition with a bit of my flame breath, I closed the grill and watched it for a moment peacefully. A burning fire always makes me calmer.

With that done, I finally made my way over to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of my good apple juice… as well as an emerald while I was at it. The fruity taste of it was really pleasing to me.

Well, back to snuggling and cuddling in bed with my fluffy, feathered mate.

Or at least that was my plan.

When I opened the door to our bedroom though, I saw Fluffy resting on top of a large pile of pillows and blankets in the form of a nest. And even though she is a pegasus, she doesn’t do that randomly in the middle of the night, so I instantly knew something was off.

“Fluffy?” I placed the bottles on the nightstand and rubbed my mate with my snout.

“Mhhh,” she grumbled, her voice contorted with pain.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked, hecticly rubbing my head against her back, neck, and whatever part of her body I could reach.

“I think…” she grumbled once more, “the baby is kind of impatient.”

“The baby? I thought a pregnancy takes most of the year? You still have a month to go!”

“Tell that to the baby!”

“Hey, you still have to wait a month!” I told her belly.

“That wasn’t meant.... literally,” Fluffy half giggled half sighed.

“But you can’t give birth yet! The midwife isn’t here now, and neither is Daring! You said it’s important to have the best friend around!”

“I know.” She slowly turned around while growling. “I know!”

“Then stop this and wait till they’re here!”

Fluffy grabbed my snout. “If I could… I would!” The look she threw at me convinced me to not push that topic.

“Alright, alright,” I agreed

She let go of my snout.

“Then you have to get up now and walk around,” I decided.

“Are you kidding me?” Fluffy asked annoyed.

“Oh no, I am not. But I remember how it worked last time.”

“Last time was different.”

“Last time you were just as reluctant to get up,” I countered.

“We don’t need to walk around this time,” Fluffy suggested with hope in her voice. But I knew it would be better for her and the child, so I insisted.

“Cruel dragon!” Fluffy commented while I helped her to get out of the nest she had built. “Cruel merciless dragon!”

“Sounds like me,” I agreed and pushed her towards the door. I then roared, waking up everyone in the lair. “We need some help over here! Fluffy decided today would be the day!”

By me mentioning that it was her decision, Fluffy’s gaze wandered to me and I really wished I hadn’t worded it the way I did. I quickly rubbed my head against her back and then supported her with my wing under her belly, making walking easier for her.

*

“Where is that cloud?” I asked with very little patience left. Fluffy was done with her walking around, the amoniac sack had burst and everything was ready, except the cloud was missing!

“They’ll be here any second, it’s just not that easy to get a dry cloud with this storm outside,” Cloudy explained to me. “Gold and Never are doing their best I’m sure.”

I growled and began pacing. The little whimpers of pain from my mate were really causing me to get aggressive. It had gotten to the point Cloudy, who was normally more bold and cheeky around me, was starting to give me some more personal space. The only ones who could approach me now were Fluffy, my mom, and Fiery. I even hissed loudly at my dad when he tried to get near Fluffy to help.

I knew on a logical level that no one here was a threat to Fluffy, but with her little cries of pain, I was more than willing to bite and tear everycreature to pieces who got too close to her. It was even worse than the first time actually. Maybe because Fluffy and I had gotten even closer to each other over the years.

“Big Softy,” Fluffy said, pain warping her voice, “come here,” she raised up a hoof, “before you hurt someone.”

I growled very unhappily, but did as she asked. Rubbing my head against the soft inside of her hoof did well at soothing my temper, but not enough to cause me to calm down.

I looked down at my mate. It had taken us some time to find a good spot that was still dry in the garden where she could not only walk around a bit, but finally lay down until the cloud was ready.

“You’ve seen this… urg... already,” Fluffy reminded me. “You know how it... works, no need to... show the big scary dragon side of… of you here.” As she said those last words, she curled up a bit and bit on her lip.

“Doesn’t make it any easier!” I replied as I waved my tail angrily.

“You are not the… only one thinking that,” Fluffy pressed out. “I share the… opinion. Second time is as hard as the first one!”

“She’ll manage,” the calm voice of my mother found its way into our conversation. “She has proven she can give birth to your offspring already.”

Luckily, my newfound ability to shake off my mother's aura did not extend to the point that I could roar at her whenever I wanted, so I had to be polite to her still.

“You are not helping mom.”

“I am,” she said.

The only thing she had accomplished was that my anger with her now eclipsed my need to hiss at every creature else. Well, maybe that was of some help, but I was not aware of it at the time.

The cry of ‘We found one!’ suddenly reached us from near the entrance of my lair. Gold and Never had returned, dragging a medium-sized white cloud along. When they were nearer, it was clear that they were both utterly soaked, but the cloud was dry.

I approved, and the cloud was quickly placed beneath Fluffy. She proceeded to roll onto her back after getting onto the cloud, causing her to release a relieved sigh.

“Much better,” she decided. “Thanks, Dad, brother.”

“Your welcome,” they said.

“Now could you… get back into the lair. There are things… a mare…” she stopped and exhaled deeply.

“Already on it,” Gold said before both he and Never vanished into the inner lair, probably to help Holly and my dad watch the kids and birds, leaving my mom, Fluffy’s mom, as well as Autumn to help Fluffy. I wasn’t so sure about Autumn at first, but a pair of fireproof hooves may be of use, so Fluffy and I agreed she should stay.

“Now don’t you worry, mom will help you through everything this time,” Cloudy said while she grabbed my mates hoof in an attempt to calm Fluffy down.

“And I will grab my grandchild when it peeks out and will cut the umbilical cord for you,” my mom added.

“No need to,” Cloudy waved off, “ I’ll do that.”

“I insist.”

“And I insist you do not.”

“I will help my grandchild into this world,” my mom made clear. “I will not allow a lesser being to hold it before me unless it is my son or his mate.”

“Lesser being?” nowCloudy raised her voice. “Who do you think you are! It is my daughter who’s giving birth here! I will help of course!”

“Mom! Perle!” Fluffy yelled but both females ignored her and faced each other.

“You are just a pony, while I am an azure dragon. The honor of helping my grandchild will be mine.”

“And where was this honor last time then?” Cloudy pointed out. “Last time the midwife did a very decent job without you even lending a claw!”

Now my mom growled. “The midwife was of no importance.”

“And you think just because you are a dragon you can decide on this now?”

“I do.”

“Than let me tell you you are wrong,” Cloudy snorted and poked my mom in the chest.

She should not have done that.

With a quick slap of her wing, my mom sent Cloudy a good deal through the air and into one of the nearby bushes.

“Perle!” Fluffy shouted enraged. “You can’t treat my mom like this!” She even made an attempt to get up, but my mom and I both quickly laid a claw on her, softly pushing her back.

Now I was able to growl at my mom. Protecting Fluffy did the trick.

“I am an-” my mom started but Fluffy interrupted her harshly.

“Azure dragon, we got it!” she paused just to catch some breath. “That doesn’t give you the right to hit my mom!”

“Your mother poked me first, something I will not tolerate.”

“That is no reason… to slap her! You must... apologize to her!”

Now my mom snorted. “I will not. Your mother misbehaved, it is she who should apologize.”

My mom was obviously right, but that didn’t stop Fluffy from getting angrier about it, and caused me to growl even louder. Shifting Fluffy attention to me for a second.

With a mumbled curse, she quickly grabbed my snout and pulled me in for a quick kiss. “I will handle this,” she said while patting my cheek. “No need to growl or be angry.”

There were more than enough reasons to be angry and growl! But my mate’s strong grip and softness demanded a response. Yes, I could easily break free, but instead, I licked over her muzzle. My mate still had a right to claim my attention.

“You arrogant dragoness!” Cloudy suddenly shouted, and the moment of softness was ruined. “In what gilded carriage did you ride in on!” She had managed to untangle herself from the branches and gallop back to us.

I exchanged a glance with Fluffy. Her kind nature, along with the soft little moment we had, allowed me to come up with a plan which would not include harming her mother but making it clear how things were. It only took a split of a second for Fluffy to understand, and she approved.

So when Cloudy had nearly reached us and was going to release a burst of accusations and insults towards my mom, which would have caused more than just a little trouble, I turned around and bounced at her with a roar.

Of course, it took her completely by surprise. She managed to rise to her hind-legs and raise her hooves in preparation for the impact, but I just pushed her over, pinning her to the ground. And when she tried to say something, I roared straight into her face.

That was actually the first time I’d ever done something like this, so it kind of had an impact on her. More so with me spitting some fire above her head, scorching the grass and slightly singing her mane.

“You will not cause trouble at the birth of my child!” I growled deeply pressing my fangs against her nose. “And you will treat my mother like one of those princesses of yours!”

Cloudy slightly nodded with her eyes wide and full of shock. Good, maybe she will remember that there is still a difference between dragons and ponies, no matter how easy I am going on her because she is my mate’s mother.

“Fluffy is the only pony who can get away with behaving like an equal when it comes to royalty by dragon standarts. Is that clear?”

“Sure is,” Cloudy nodded quickly.

“And you, Perle,” Fluffy added. “You stop your…” she panted a few times, “grandmother rivalry! This is not about… social standing, it… is about who is the… best grandmother!”

This took me by surprise. I mean, my mother stood over such common things like a familial rivalry. I was going to say this when my gaze arrived at my mother.

It was not annoyance that I could see on her face from a senseless accusation, but guilt!

“Mooooomm…”.

The guilt only increased.

“Tell me that this isn’t true, Mom.” I stood up and let go of Cloudy. “You didn’t play the azure card on Cloudy just to get rid of her as a rival, did you?”

“Would you believe me if I were to say no?” my mom asked.

“No, I wouldn’t,” I replied. For perhaps the first time in my life, it was me who looked at my mother with displeasure while it was her who felt uncomfortable. She held my gaze though, as she was still a high ranking dragon, but I saw the touch of guilt in her face.

Luckily for her, at that moment, a very heavy blow struck Fluffy, making everything else unimportant.

“I guess… it is… time now!” Fluffy managed to squeak out as she curled up as much as she could for a moment.

“It’s alright, Danger,” Cloudy said before rushing to her side to hold her hoof. “Just keep pushing.”

“What do you think I am doing!” Fluffy screamed. Her other hoof looked like it needed something to grab onto, so I offered my tail like last time. This left my mom in the position she wanted, so that she could help her second grandchild into the world. Sure, Autumn could have done it too, but she was not going to challenge my mom.

“Just keep breathing and pushing, Danger,” Cloudy said once more and placed her second hoof under Fluffy’s head to support her.

And Fluffy did, oh how she did! The wonder of ponies giving birth astonished me as much as it had the first time I had seen it. With anticipation, I stood there, watching, waiting for our child to be born.

And then it happened.

Tiny black claws could suddenly be seen after one of the blows.

So we would be having another kirin, I thought. But, soon the head followed, and it was…

...a dragons head!

My second child was a dragon! A little black dragon hatch, uhm, bornling! I was so proud and amazed!

Though… he, it was a boy this time, had ears like his mother! And he would have this belly button since he was born and not hatched. But it didn’t matter! I had a dragon son!

“A healthy little dragon,” my mom said and softly grabbed him when he was nearly entirely out, cutting the umbilical cord in addition. “You have given birth to a little black dragon with some pony traits, Lady of the Lair. My congratulations.” She then clawed the little one over to me.

I purred like a crazy dragon, loud and long. My joy was indescribable. When my son finally opened his eyes and looked for the source of the purring… I think I got a little bit dizzy.

“Steady there, Big Softy,” Fluffy weakly said. “I would prefer it if I won’t have to stand up right now to rip off every scale on your body because you dropped our son.”

I shook my head slightly and focused back on the moment. Like it happened with Fiery, I exchanged a very special purr with my son. A real dad and son moment.

Though my mate made it very clear that she wanted to hold him too eventually. So with this happy smile still on my muzzle, I was going to claw him over so he could bury himself in her fluff, when another heavy blow hit Fluffy all of a sudden.

“What’s going on?” I asked, worried following another blow. “This didn’t happen the last time!”

“Seems there is another bun in the oven,” Cloudy proclaimed cherefully. “So same procedure as before, Danger.” She did her best to support her daughter and steady her grip on her neck and hoof.

“Again?” Fluffy’s voice was near panic now. “I don’t know if… urg!”

“Stop talking and keep pushing,” her mom ordered. “There is no turning back now!”

“What do you mean? Another bun?” I was confused as well as shocked.

“Your mate is about to give birth to another child that was growing in her belly,” my mom explained.

“You mean, like she had two eggs in the nest at once?”

“Yes, that is a fitting comparison.”

Now I was really close to fainting for real, but my mom held me with her wing.

“You will be needed,” she simply said, adding a bit of her azure presence to it. It sure helped to steady me again.

“What shall I do?” I asked.

“Just hold your son for the time being, and hold his twin as soon as they come out.”

Easier said than done, since this time Fluffy had far more trouble at giving birth. Her already sweaty fluff and mane became really wet as she screamed louder and louder with every passing minute.

If I wouldn’t have had my son in my claw, I probably would have growled and shredded a lot of trees and stones. This way however, I had to keep calm and hold my son. In hindsight, maybe this was the best way to calm down an unsettled dragon dad when his mate gives birth.

So while Fluffy struggled, we simply watched and kept her company as best as we could, hoping for the second child to finally be born. It wasn’t much, but we did our best.

This time however, it took Fluffy nearly half an hour until things finally progressed. And when it finally happened, she was at the limit of her strength.

“You have to keep pushing, Danger!” Cloudy told her daughter. “Keep pushing, don’t stop now!”

“I… “ Fluffy was utterly exhausted, “I… am… trying…”

“You’ve nearly done it, just a little bit more.” Cloudy tried to sound as optimistic as she could.

And then it was time, again today.

“There are the hooves,” my mom said encouragely. “You are doing good so far, now push out the rest.”

Easier said than done.

Fluffy pressed harder and harder, till, with a loud, painful neigh, it was done.

A little orange pegasus colt fell into my mother's claws while Fluffy sunk back into her cloud.

“You have to give him a little tap on the flank, Perle,” Cloudy advised.

“What good would that do?” My mother asked, doubtfully.

“To support the breathing, it is part of the procedure.”

My mom looked over to me, then back to my pony son. “Better you do that, son,” she decided and held him up for me.

But it turned out it wasn’t necessary. Not soon after my mom raised him up, he started screaming as loud as he could, causing my dragon son to cry as well.

To say I was a bit overwhelmed by the situation was an understatement.

“Here, take him,” my mom said and clawed him over.

I did as she said, and, for a moment, he stopped crying, and his eyes slightly opened, revealing two sparkling blue irises, the same colour as Fiery and his brother’s eyes.

He looked at me, and I looked at him. I wasn’t sure if I would have one… but there it was, my special purr for my second son. Even though he was a pony, I still had a special purr for him.

A second passed, then another.

Then, he purred back. And a weight was lifted off my heart. I was really worried for a moment there.

I rocked them in my arms for a little bit, till, satisfied, I decided it was now time for my mate to hold them too. I walked over and presented the two little beings to her.

“Your son’s,” I said proudly, before giving her a kiss. “Well done my little pegasi.”

Fluffy stretched out a hoof, softly petting her son’s heads, and allowing them to smell her. Then, with a little motherly purr, she lured them into her fluff.

I was worried they would fight over it, but instead, they snuggled up with each other. They seemed to know that they were related, or at least that's what I thought I saw.

“You have to name them,” Cloudy said with this happy smile that everyone here was probably wearing.

“I think…” Fluffy started, but then suddenly broke off. Her face became pale and she sank back, powerless.

“Fluffy,” I shouted and grabbed her head. “Fluffy what is wrong?”

She didn’t answer, instead, she began shaking.

Cloudy quickly grabbed the kids and I sat Fluffy straight up.

“Fluffy!” I shouted once more, grabbing her tighter. “Fluffy!”

But my mate didn’t answer me.

“What is this, what is happening?” I shouted at Cloudy.

“I don’t know!”

The kids started to cry again.

“Mom,” I turned my head around, “Mom, what do I do?”

“I do not know either, I have no first claw experience with the procedure of giving birth,” she almost sounded worried herself.

Fluffy shook more heavily.

“We have to do something!” I yelled.

My mom roared out for the rest of the family to come to our aid. She then turned to Autumn. “Go get her some cold water, and a bottle of something strong, like wake the dead kind of strong!”

“Will do,” Autumn nodded and ran towards the inner lair. She vanished inside a moment before everyone else rushed out.

“What’s happening?” Gold asked at once when he arrived.

“Something is wrong with Danger,” his wife fearfully said and clung to his side.

“What can we do?” he asked, far more calm than I could ever be in this situation.

Only problem was that no one knew. The midwife was not here, and no pony present or dragon or even kirin had any experience in the field of medicine for a mother who gave birth.

Helpless, I watched Fluffy shaking in my claws.

“Don’t scare me like that!” I pleaded her. “You can’t scare me like that!”

Obviously, she could.

“Mommy?” Now Fiery had poked her nose above the cloud Fluffy was resting on and noticed my worry.

I really didn’t have the ability to answer.

Fiery jumped on the cloud and sniffed at her mom. She was well aware something was wrong.

“Mommy?” she asked again, fear was now mixed into her voice.

Someone tried to grab her and put her off the cloud, I didn’t realize who it was, but she fended them off.

“Mommy!” she now half yelled and rubbed her nose against her.

“Mommy… mommy is sick, Fiery,” I said. “Mommy needs help!”

“Daddy help!”

A tear formed in my eye. “I don’t know how!” My gaze turned to my mom. “Mom do something!”

“I can’t.” She came closer and laid a wing around me. “I don’t know what to do either.”

Fluffy suddenly stopped shaking and relaxed in my grip. At first I thought it was a good sign, but then I realised she wasn’t breathing anymore.

“Fluffy!” My voice echoed through all the lair. “Fluffy!”

Now Never appeared at my side. He laid his claws, I mean his hooves, on his sisters throat. “No pulse,” he said and Cloudy began to sobb. “Don’t you dare Danger!” he yelled at her and jumped on the cloud standing above her now.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making sure she breathes,” he said quickly, grabbed Fluffy’s head and pressed his lips on hers, blowing air into her lungs. “Resuscitation…” he said, his voice clipped as he began pushing Fluffy’s chest rhythmically, “learnt… in first...aid course, for… Holly’s childbirth.”

Whatever he was doing, it didn’t work!

“Come on, sis!”

Still no reaction.

Suddenly, a light glow appeared. It was Fiery’s cutie mark, the golden four leaf clover. It glowed stronger and stronger till…

Fortuna, the goddess of luck, suddenly stood next to the cloud.

“Seems my godchild needs me,” she said, looking down at Fiery.

“Mommy sick!” Fiery explained.

“You must help her!” I demanded. I didn’t care that my daughter had summoned the goddess of luck, or how this was possible, but I was going to take every straw that was offered to me.

Fortuna took a long look at Fluffy. It was clear to me that she understood what was going on, though, the conclusion to which she came did not seem to be good.

And I was right on this assumption.

“There is nothing I can do for her,” Fortuna said.

“You have to!” I screamed. “You are a goddess, of course you can do something!”

Fortuna sighed. “I am not allowed to.”

“What do you mean you are not allowed to?” I asked desperately. “You are a goddess, who could forbid you from helping!”

“I told you we are bound to rules,” she simply said. “I am sorry.”

“Auntie help!” Now Fiery placed her little claws on Fortuna’s leg. “Help mommy!”

“What rule is preventing you from helping my son’s mate,” my mom asked, politely, but something darker lingered in her voice. It was clear that she spoke not only as my mother, but as an azure dragon. I really had no clue how the hierarchy was between azure and self declared god’s, but whatever my mom thought about it gave her confidence to approach Fortuna this way.

“I can’t just bring some mortal back from the verge of death, it is not allowed.” Fortuna looked at my mom. “You know it would bring the balance of the world to an end if we randomly do that.”

“It is not random, she is your godchild's mother,” my mom mentioned.

“That does not change a thing.”

“And you said they both have to play a role in the great game.”

Now Fortuna hesitated.

“You brought them together for the greater plan, you are responsible for their well being,” my mom added.

“It was this one,” Fortuna pointed at Fluffy, “who asked for more than what the plan had provided for her. It is on her to pay the price.”

“You were the one who made this possible,” I yelled at her, “you are responsible, I know it!”

And it was true, it was Fortuna’s doing which allowed us to have kids at all. That means if… something were to happen to Fluffy, it would be her fault!

“I know,” the goddess answered, regret in her voice, “but your mate knew the natural risk of giving birth.”

“That can’t be your last word about this,” I yelled, as well as pleaded. “You must do something for her!”

“It doesn’t lay within the purview of my powers, nor would I be allowed to even if it was.” Fortuna denied. “If I help some random mortal I like, other god’s would do the same, the world would be driven into anarchy.”

“But you are part of the family! You are our daughter’s godmother!” I countered.

“Neither dragons nor ponies culture consider Godmothers as family members. I am sorry.” Fortuna answered.

Now it was on me to burst into tears and despair. I couldn’t stand to lose Fluffy! I didn’t even care that every creature saw me crying and sobbing, my dragon’s pride was of no importance anymore.

An azure blue wing wrapped tightly around me in an effort to provide some comfort. My mom didn’t say that this was exactly what she had warned me about, it wasn’t necessary. I knew all too well.

“But Kirins do!” Suddenly Autumn’s voice broke into my mourning.

I looked up, a spark of hope in my eyes. I hadn’t even realized she had come back yet.

“Kirins consider the godmother as part of the family!” Autumn said once more. “And as I was told, you are Fiery’s godmother, so you are part of her family, including Flu.. Danger Do as well.”

The little kirin shrinked under everyone's spontaneous attention.

“Is that the truth?” my mother asked intensely. “Do you tell the truth, Autumn Blaze, do kirin do that?”

“Uhm, yes…” Autumn said a bit shy now.

“Dann ist sie eine der Deinen!” my mother spoke in old draconic for whatever reason now. It was clear she addressed Fortuna though. And she continued to do so, but I translate it for you.

“Ein Mitglied deiner Sippe,

“Letting a member of your kinship group,

deiner Familie sterben zu lassen,

your family die,

ohne zu helfen,

without helping,

ist ein verbrechen selbst für die Götter!

that is a felony, even for the gods!

Lässt du sie sterben,

If you let her die,

klage ich dich höchstpersönlich im Rat der Götter an.

then I accuse you myself on the court of gods.

Stellvertretend für meines Sohnes Gefährtin!”

Representative for my son’s mate!”

Fortunas answer was cutting like glass.

“I lasse mir nicht gerne drohen!”

“I don’t like to be threatened!”

“It is not a threat,” my mom said, “it is a promise.” She raised her wing from me and stepped closer to Fortuna. “This one,” she nodded at Fluffy, “is one of my family. Mother of my grandchildren. She has the right to claim my protection.”

Fortuna took a long moment to think about this. “It still lays out of my power, but I know who can help.”

My gaze hung on her lips, there was hope for Fluffy!

“But a price will have to be paid,” she ended.

“Whatever it is, I will pay it if you save Fluffy.” I busted out.

“We will see about that,” Fortuna said mysteriously before then stepping back. Her gaze trailed off for a moment, then she asked into the air. “Charon, are you there, could you come here for a moment?”

For a moment, nothing happened.

“For you my dear, everytime,” a new, cold and dusty voice arose from the garden. When I looked over, there stood a skeletal dragon. Not one of these from the horror books or old stories, but a clean, pale skeleton, lacking any remaining flesh. It even had all its teeth, so other than it being nothing but bone, it looked perfectly fine.

Still, most of the ponies jumped back in fear, and even Fiery hissed at this new guest before hiding behind Fortuna.

“Oh, no need for this marvelous welcome,” the skeleton, Charon, said. “It is my pleasure, really.” He looked back at Fortuna. “What is it that the old Charon can do for you?”

“This one,” she looked at Fluffy, “is on the verge of death.”

“Oh really?” Charon came closer. “you may be right on that,” he added with a nod.

“You shall heal her for me, push her back into the realm of the living.”

Charon laughed. “That must be a joke! Aww old Tuny, always good for a joke indeed.” He wiped away an imaginary tear from his skull.

“I am serious, she… belongs to.. den meinen,” she explained, the last words in draconic since there was no fitting word in the modern languages for it.

Now Charon’s gaze turned serious. That is, as serious as a skull could get.

“You are telling me, this mortal… you… “ he trailed off.

“Indeed.”

“Aww Tuny, what have you gotten yourself into this time?” He managed to smirk. “I can see Aphrodite running into something like this, but you?”

“I am her child’s godmother,” Fortuna made clear.

“Ahh, yes, mhhh, I heard rumours about this. Oh well. A little romance with a mortal would have been more interesting, but well.” He rubbed his claws together, making a sound like sandpaper. “To business then. You know there is a price to pay.”

“I do, what do you want?”

Charon stroked over his chin a few times, giving the scene a closer look.

“Yes, mhh, yes, I think I know something,” he finally decided. “I shall push a beloved one back into the realm of the living, so I demand something beloved as well in return.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, impatient and full of sorrow for my mate. “What do you want from me?”

“Very simple, mortal,” he opened his claws in a humble gesture before interlocking them behind his back. “Give me something you value as much as your mate in return for her life. Maybe one of your children, perhaps?”

I stared at him with an open jaw. What he demanded was unthinkable.

“No!” I yelled. “You can’t demand one of our children!” Quickly I ordered Fiery to my side, away from Fortuna and this other god.

“I can give you something else, my gold, my artifacts, I can even sacrifice some creature else! I can fly out there and grab you a dozen griffons, or manticors if you wish! But none of my family!”

“I don’t want your gold, you simply like to have it, but do not love it. Same goes with your artifacts. They don't really matter for you.”

“What about some real treasures from the Roof of the World?” my mom threw in.

“This is not your bargain, Perle des hohen Berges,” Charon denied. “It has to be something that he values. It is he who is pleading for her life.”

My mind spun hecticly, my lair, my treasures, all my wealth, there was simply nothing nearly as beloved as my mate, except my children, and I would not give them to him at any cost.

I tried to bargain with him, I begged him to accept something else, but he refused. And a look at Fortuna told me she already had done what she could.

In the end, when all hopes were nearly gone, it was Fiery who saved the day. While I was not paying attention, she had snuck into the inner lair and retrieved an item that she beloved. No it was not Grünchen, it was her orange fabric stone. She approached Charon and offered it to him.

“This? In exchange for the life of your mother?” He took the dragon version of a plushy and began turning it around, inspecting it. “The beloved toy of a child, yes. Yes, this will do,” he decided finally. “We have a deal.”

Before I could even believe what I had just witnessed, he stepped over to Fluffy and whispered something into her ear.

A second later, she started coughing and rolled on her side.

“Fluffy!” I did not know how often I had screamed her name today, but it was a lot. Though, I was not the only one who approached her now. Nearly all of us stormed at her and checked on her well being.

I had to use my wings and claws to make some room for her and ensure I and Fiery were the first ones to purr and rub against her.

“Never! Never do that again!” I scolded her, unable to find the right words to express my joy that she was alive. I picked her up and cuddled her tightly.

“Shh shh,” she patted my back and tried to calm me down, before she wiped away some of my tears. “You don’t think I would leave you behind, do you?”

But her cheekines couldn’t fool me this time. I knew she was as emotional as myself at the moment.

I used my wings to hold everyone else back for a moment longer. “You scared me,” I whispered into her ear. “I was so worried I’d lose you!”

She nestled into my embrace.

“I love you,” I half whispered, half muffled in my sobbing.

“I love you too,” she whispered back and wrapped her wings around me and Fiery as best as she could.

*

From there, everyone seemed to break down into tears and hugs. We had nearly lost a mate, a mother, a daughter, a sister, or even a daughter in law. We were all very happy to have Fluffy back.

Still, there were things to do.

*

“Thank you, Fortuna,” I said and hugged her. I do not know if she liked it or not, but she allowed it. “You helped to save my mate, I will not forget this.”

“There might come the time I will need your help in return,” she said.

I nodded. “I will see what I can do in due time.” Normally I would have said she could count on me, but my mother taught me better than that when it comes to mighty beings.

“Yes, you will.” She waited till I let go of her and then moved over to Fiery. “And you my little one, we are family now.” She patted Fiery’s head. “That means I will have an even closer eye on you from now on.” She gave Fiery one of her fortune cookies, the special ones that really worked!

Fiery purred in return. She had summoned her godmother, and she had not only come, but really helped. She had every right to be proud of herself.

But there was another kirin who played a big role today, one whose presence here made it so that Fortuna could even help in the first place. And I would never forget this either.

“Autumn Blaze,” I asked loudly, and when she came closer, I exchanged a last ensuring look with Fluffy. “Autumn Blaze, you helped to save my mate today!”

“Oh it was nothing, really, I…”

“Silence!” I shouted at her, and she went really quiet. “Today, you have earned not only my gratitude and that of my mate, but… also, we decided to honour you with another task.”

Autumn tilted her head. “Honour me with a task? I don’t quite understand… “

I lifted up my dragon son with my mouth and carried him over to her, placing him careful in her forelegs. “This is my son, Nightflame.” I had decided on this name with Fluffy of course. I was to name him, while she was to name our other son. “He is one of our most valuable treasures! And it will be yourduty, as his godmother, to help us raise him properly!”

“I…” Autumn stottered, “I… I am… godmother… of a dragon…” she began hyperventilating as she began to sway unsteadily on her hooves. “I will be... the godmother, the godmother! Of a black dragon! Me… !”

“Hmm-hm,” I nodded with a smile, amused by how overwhelmed she was. “You will be his godmother, and this you can make known to all the kirins you know.”

She fainted. Not without wrapping her hooves protectively around my son, so he landed on her soft belly.

I heard Fluffy giggle at this. “Seems that was a bit too much, even for her.”

“Indeed,” I picked up my son, “dad, could you…?`”

“Of course,” my dad said and picked Autumn up, carrying her into the inner lair.

“And what will be the name of my third grandchild’?” Cloudy asked, cradling the little one back and forth in her arms.

“Kindling Glow Do,” Fluffy said. After she had gifted me with three kids, it was only fair if this one official carried her family name. It also very much pleased my fluffy parents-in-law.

I placed Nightflame back into the little basket we had for him, and as soon as I did, his sister climbed into it and started to nest on him, purring sisterly.

It kind of surprised me a bit how quickly and deeply these three were connected, but given who their mom was, it shouldn’t have. In fact, the twins were nearly inseparable, and cried if they were too far away from each other, and Fiery, well Fiery was very protective about them.

That was after they had growled and hissed a bit at each other to make clear who was the dominant out of the three. For now it was Fiery, but when Nightflame grows up, this might change.

Speaking of her protective instinct, actually it was Daring, Fluffy’s cousin, who got a good taste of that later. When she approached the little ones without me or Fluffy directly next to the nest, Fiery made her first death threat hiss and even spit fire at her.

I was so proud!

But that is another story, for now, everything was as it should be. My mom and Cloudy had buried their rivalry, Never and Holly would be leaving soon to prepare for their own childbirth, and Autumn would also be returning home eventually.

That was, after I told her about a little idea I had for her first.

So life was good for the time being.

Except, now I would have to learn what it is like to raise a pony foal. Not an easy task if you ask me.

***

And now, you know all my family members. Oh, no, there is still one worth telling you about!

After all the troubles were over and everything was calmer, my mom told my dad: “Time to go home now.”

“But,” my dad was actually bold enough to question my mom’s will on this matter, “our grandchildren, they were just born.”

“Indeed, and I have decided that it is time for me to lay another egg myself, so they can grow up with their cousins,” my mom said.

“Another egg?” my dad wondered, then smiled. He knew what this meant, and his will to stay vanished like a cookie thrown between my three kids when they were older. “Then we really should hurry!”

“I thought so,” my mom said, smirking no less than my dad.

“Dragons!” Fluffy laughed, “just do what you have to outside the lair!”

And after a quick goodby and collecting their stuff, off my parents went. Resulting in me gaining a little sister, an azure dragon, who thinks she is the centre of the world, but that’s quite normal for azure’s, don’t you think?

Anyhow, back to the story.

You’ve now heard a lot of the troubles and events that accompanied my and Fluffies first few years as a couple and as parents. It was not always easy, nor was it always fun, but, it was always worth it.

My old life as a greedy dragon, the fright from Tailtip mountain, The Black Death, had come to an end more or less. But my life as dad, as husband, had only started. Yes, soon after these events, Fluffy and I married. It was a nice ceremony, half dragonlike, half ponylike. Even my mom approved, and that was something hard to archive. Me having a fluffy mate eventually grew on her.

So, what else? Well, Holly gave birth to a little colt, and a few years later, one more. They come over every now and then, as well as us occasionally visiting them. Cloudy and Gold also finally found more time to see their grandchildren, so Cloudy didn’t complain that much anymore.

And when it came to schools and kindergartens, well, I found a solution to that too! Fluffy was more than happy about this. It ensured our kids would have a proper education, even though interacting with other kids was not always easy for them. My mom even lent a claw in this and taught them old draconic form time to time.

And last but not least, the god’s. While Fortuna dropped by more often now, and on Fluffy’s birthday, on her request, she brought along Charon. He was not the kind of guy for friendship and stuff, but Fluffy really insisted he should come, and he liked her cookies enough to do so. Pony nature really was a strange thing sometimes.

Anyhow, that should be enough of my family for now, maybe I’ll tell you about Shakirin-La the next time. You didn’t think it was off the table, right? Remember what Fortuna, as well as my mom had said, we play a role in the grand scheme of things.

Shakirin-La would trouble us at some point in the future for sure...

Author's Note

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading about TBD's family and had a good time

I must say it was a bit hard to write Slice of Life for me, but in the end I think it was worth it. And I am looking forward to read your comment about it if you like.

On a side note, I started to add inchapter artwork in The Dragon And The Pony 1&2 and plan on expanding this. You actually can support me at this via Patreon, since I use the money from there to do so.

Also I have a Discord for my stories now!
https://discord.gg/w2g8bzx
****

Also a big Thank You! To my editor

Schattendrache! Without him, there would be no TDATP & he also wrote a side story you may find interesting in the TDATP universe!