Slowly, I opened one eye and yawned widely. A quiet noise, followed by some movement on my back, had awoken me. It turned out, the noise was a mix of purring and happy squeaking.

My daughter had woken up.

I felt her make her way out from under her mom and began struggling with the blankets. It would only take her a few moments to get out from underneath them, and then, she would do everything to get Fluffy and or my attention. When that happened, only one of us would be allowed to return to sleep.

“Your daughter woke up,” Fluffy whispered sleepily before yawning as well.

“Before the cave starts warming up, it’s your daughter who woke up,” I retorted.

The growling of a sleepy pegasus was my answer.

Well, we both knew that in the end, it wouldn’t matter, our daughter would make that decision for us anyway. That was, as long as no one volunteered to get up with her. But that wasn’t going to happen today.

So, when Fiery finally managed to free herself from the blankets, she instantly began looking for one of us, or more accurately, our faces’. In this case, it was Fluffy who she saw first, which wasn’t surprising seeing as she had been the closest. Still happily squeaking, she rushed over to her and began rubbing her head against her mother and walking down her side, purring all the while.

“Good morning, Fiery,” Fluffy whispered before giving Fiery a little kiss on the head as well as a little purr and some motherly caresses. Fiery’s purring intensified at the affection.

Fortunately though, my daughter began to look for me after not too long so that I could be a part of the purring session. And in her little world, finding me meant finding my head. I felt her little claws and hooves crawl towards my neck along my back before stopping to sniff at it. When she seemed satisfied that I was indeed her father, she half trotted, half slid down the back of my neck, only to fall off halfway and land with a ‘poof’ on one of the pillows.

This caused Fiery to start happily giggling.

Nevertheless, she was still on her mission to reach daddy’s head and say good morning. So she quickly recovered and was back on her claw and coming towards my head in a little over a second.

“Good morning, Fiery,” I purred when she placed one of her tiny claws on my nose.

A series of very happy squeaking followed. She had accomplished her goal and found daddy, a great victory. Now I was the one who was being rubbed against, she even gave my scales a few licks.

Now, with the morning routine covered, it was the moment of truth, would she return to her mother, determined to lurk in her soft chestfluff, or would she climb onto my head, purring and expecting me to lift her up and carry her around instead. It was a fight between her desire to be lazy or cozy. Her mother was undoubtedly softer and more cuddly, though, she would have to walk on her own claws and hooves then, I, on the other claw, was warmer, and would carry her around by holding her by her mane.

The choice was tricky, and Fiery was too moody in the morning for us to guess. It was basically random what she would be more interested in.

In the end, this morning it was…

Soft claws landed on my forehead and tiny hooves on my nose when my daughter placed herself on my head, purring and demanding a lift.

Releasing a sigh of defeat, I prepared to rise to my claws. “Dragon-taxi it is.”

“I’ll guard the bed.” Fluffy words rubbed salt in the wound as she slid down my side. “Don’t want it to get lonely and cold.”

I wanted to snort, but my cute passenger made that difficult, so I simply threw a pillow at my mate, causing her to giggle as it collided with her.

“Have fun you two,” she cheered, quickly collected the pillow I had thrown at her.

I had barely set a claw out of bed before a heap of pillows and blankets was created, with Fluffy underneath this soft mountain of course. The speed with which she was able to do this still impressed me.

Anyway, since I was Fiery’s choice this morning, I figured I might as well make her happy and do something I knew she would enjoy. I tilted my head forward and shook it up and down slightly to cause my daughter to slide down my snout. When she was finally over my nostrils, I then flicked my head up quickly, causing her to fly into the air.

Unsurprisingly, she happily squeaked at this and spread her little wings. She flapped them a few times, but they were still too small for her to fly just yet, so her time in the air quickly came to an end. Well, I was happy to see that my little stunt got her to use her wings a bit, but the real goal was… my head sprung forward and I snapped at her… catching her by her mane, holding her in front of me like cat carrying its kitten.

Very, very happy squeaking and giggling was the result of my little stunt, just like all the other times we had done this. It not only entertained Fiery, it also gave her the well-desired lift to the bathroom she wanted. I carried her from our room and into the bathroom, placing her on the little step we build for her so she could reach the sink and the toilet.

I must say, it was a blessing that Fiery took after me more than Fluffy in this regard. I mean, did you know that foals have diapers? And this is something they have to wear for months? Disgusting! My daughter, like most dragons, figured out herself where she could do her ‘business’ by her second week. Though, she would only do it if Fluffy or I were present. We had to accompany her to the bathroom when she wanted to go. Fluffy told me that it’s quite a common behavior for little foals to only feel comfortable if a parent was present, and from what I know about hatchlings following their parents around, dragons weren’t much different. However, unlike foals, we don’t follow our parents around out of a desire for attention, but we do still follow them, so normally ‘it’ happens outside the lair itself.

I let Fiery take care of her business before the two of us went to the sink so that we could clean her teeth. We moved over, washed ourselves a bit, and then I took her toothbrush and started cleaning her teeth. She enjoyed when I would help her, but she also wanted to try doing it herself. Of course, I let her, but the result was just a mess of toothpaste on her snout. I smiled. “Very well done.” I ruffled her mane and she lit up under the praise.

“Still, let daddy try again.”

*

When we came back to the bedroom, we were greeted by the lovely snoring of Fluffy. She was still buried deep under the pillows and blankets and stretching out to cover a good part of the bed.

“Do we want to wake up mommy?” I conspiratorially whispered to Fiery as I rubbed my nose against her belly. She squeaked happily. It was all the approval I needed.

Quietly purring, I approached the bed and snuck my head under one of the blankets near Fluffy’s hind legs. Carefully, I pushed my head forward, under some more blankets, till I reached what I was looking for. Her brown and black tail.

I giggled in anticipation, made sure my daughter, who had scurried between my legs, was not in the way, and… grabbed onto it with my teeth and forcefully pulled, dragging Fluffy from under the blankets and out of the bed in one quick move.

A surprised, short scream echoed through my lair before Fluffy landed on the floor, only to then be pounced on by me a second later. I sealed her lips with a kiss and drew back to make myself comfortable, avoiding placing too much of my weight on her.

As soon as she realized what had happened, she sharply inhaled, likely to begin scolding me, but a little fluffy kirin hindered her from doing so. Our daughter quickly stormed to her mother's throat before placed her tiny claws on her chin and licking her cheek, purring all the while.

It is hard to stay angry when your whole family is purring at you and expressing their love, doubly so for ponies. In the end, Fluffy giggled in defeat and accepted her fate of being cuddled and loved.

“Your daughter is ready for the day, and the bathroom is yours,” I said, sneaking a little more cuddling in before moving to allow her to stand up as well.

“Alright, alright,” she giggled, grabbing Fiery off her belly, where she had crawled to, and placed her on the ground next to her while she stood up. “Could you make breakfast for everypony while I am in the bathroom?”

I scowled at that.

“Please?” She gave me a kiss and added a sweet strum of her eyelids. “For me?”

“Fine-” I looked down at her “-you’ll probably be too busy cleaning the bathtub anyway.”

Now it was her turn to scowl.

“That was the deal,” I reminded her, poking her nose in the process. “Not to forget my massage.” I looked back at my daughter. “Come on, Fiery, you can help daddy make breakfast.”

*

Well, on our way to the kitchen, I threw a short look into the living room as we passed, and to my surprise, Angorik was sitting in the armchair. His paws were placed next to a little fire in the fireplace while his claws absentmindedly plucked at the lyre he was holding, not really playing anything, simply allowing his mind to create its own tune it seemed.

“You’re already up?” I asked, changing my direction so that I was now heading into the living room.

His head spun around and he took a second to answer. He must have been deep in thought indeed. “Oh, morning, Black Death. Yeah,” he placed down his lyre, “kind of.”

I gave him a raised eyebrow.

“Uhm… “ he was obviously unsure of what I wanted.

I stroked softly over Fiery’s back while she scurried around my legs livelily.

“Oh, yes, my apology,” Angorik bowed his head in respect, “good morning, Fiery.”

I nodded, while Fiery just turned to him at the mentioning of her name, squeaking questioningly.

“Yes,” I nuzzled her, “he’s talking to you.”

Even though she didn’t understand what was going on, she was receiving attention and some nuzzling from her daddy, and that was something she was most happy with. I enjoyed her display of happiness and exchanged a head rub with her before I lifted my head again and addressed Angorik.

“I take it you couldn’t sleep last night?”

“Eh, not exactly, Never Ending is not the best to share a room with to be honest.” Angorik lowered his voice a bit before he continued. “He snores far too loud.”

That made me chuckle. “All ponies do that, you should hear Fluffy, she can shake the walls with her snoring on good days.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I sometimes wonder how Fiery can sleep under her, tail, I even wonder how I do. I’ve gotten used to it it seems. Her fluffiness makes up for it though.”

“Hmm…” Angorik shrugged.

A moment of silence followed, well, besides the little noises Fiery made every now and then. Watching her gave me an idea though.

“Say, does your lyre still have its magic?” I nodded at the instrument. “I would like to hear it again, and, I’m curious how Fiery will react to it.”

“This old thing?” Angorik asked and softly stroked over the wood. “I am sure I could play a few nice sounds from it if you wish.” He picked it up and stroked over the strings once before turning back to me. “Which song should it be?”

As always, it didn't take much to convince him to play his lyre.

“Surprise us, something beautiful that my daughter can enjoy would be nice.”

He smiled. “As you wish.”

Pensively leaning back in the armchair, Angorik played a few unconnected notes, thinking about a good song. After a moment, he nodded to himself and started playing a slow and quiet melody, which soon became a lively song.

I watched my daughter while the music filled the room. At first, daddy was still more interesting, but soon, her left ear perked up and she paused. She turned her head back and forth to look for the source of the melody, sniffing the air in confusion. It took her a moment or two to understand that these strange sounds were not coming from my or Angorik’s mouth, but instead, from this wooden thing in his claws.

When she finally figured this out, she pointed at the instrument and squeaked.

“That is a lyre,” I explained, “a musical instrument.”

Fiery looked at the lyre, back at me, and then back at the lyre, jumping a little bit closer to it. Soon, her hooves and claws started to move to the music, like she did when her mother sang her a song.

I yawned, as I said, this little lyre always made me a bit sleepy, but in a good way. The next moment I was wide awake again as Fiery had rushed below my belly and was running back towards the bedroom.

“Hey, what are you doing, Fiery?” I asked, confused by her actions. I lowered my head to look under my belly and after her, but she simply kept running. “Hey,” I repeated before following her.

When she arrived, she stopped for a second to look into the bedroom, only to move on to the bathroom, or more specifically, to the front of the door. I could hear the water from the shower along with Fluffies humming coming from behind it, and based on Fiery’s actions, so did she.

“Fiery?” I asked, but my daughter just ignored me. Her tiny claws found their way to the door and she scratched at it. “Mommy is having a shower, Fiery, you just have to wait a while.” I made an attempt to pick her up, but she kept scratching the door, showing her disapproval with me when I lowered my head to pick her up.

Before I really knew what to do however, she rose to her hind legs, flapped her wings a bit, and neighed loudly for her mother, something she’d never done before. This was especially surprising because of just what it was that she had done. She had roared or hissed before, yes, but never something as complex as a neigh, and never this loud.

I was taken aback at this, but not enough to not notice the sound of the shower and Fluffy’s humming had stopped.

“Fiery?” Fluffies voice unsurely asked through the door.

My daughter repeated her neigh, loud and clear.

“Fiery!” Fluffy’s voice was now concerned and I heard her jump out of the shower and head for the door, unlocking it. Not a second later, a wet and worried pegasus mare stood in the door, looking down at her daughter. “What is it, sweety?” She picked her up. “Are you okay? Does something hurt? Tell mommy what's wrong!”

Fiery squeaked and pointed towards the living room.

“What, sweety? What is it?” Fluffy examined her closer, looking for any injuries.

“Is everypony okay?” A loud shout from the door of one of the guestrooms echoed through our lair, just before Gold Digger rushed over to us, followed by his wife. “Is something wrong with Fiery?” They both seemed as worried as Fluffy had been a moment prior.

“I don’t know, she just neighed.”

For some reason, this seemed to worry all the ponies. I mean, I was kind of surprised, and a little bit impressed that Fiery could do that, but there hadn’t been any real hint of pain or fear in it. Must be some strange pony thing, I mean, whenever I had made Fluffy neigh, it was quite the pleasant event. This was confusing, even more so with how concerned everypony was.

“I don’t know why she’s doing that, but I’m sure it’s nothing serious.”

“You can never be too careful,” Gold Digger said. “A neigh is a serious thing!”

“Yes it is!” Cloudy supported his statement and stretched out her hooves to hold Fiery herself, but Fluffy refused to hoof her over. Instead, she pulled her closer to her chest, rubbing over Fiery’s head.

“Don’t make mommy worry so much, you are ok, right?”

Our daughter only repeated her squeaking and turned her head to the living room, squirming in her mother's hooves, trying to get free.

Fluffy only grabbed her every time she was close to slipping out of her hooves, unwilling to let go, too worried about what she had heard.

“Put her on the ground, Fluffy, I have the impression she wants to show you something.”

With a doubtful look, she eventually did as I said and placed Fiery on the ground slowly. As soon as she touched the ground, Fiery began rushing back to the living room, stopping after a few jumps to look back, making sure her mom was following.

“See, I told you she wanted to show you something.”

Fluffy left a wet trail behind her as we followed Fiery the short distance back to the living room, with Fiery stopping every few steps to make sure we were still following. She eventually stopped next to Angorik, who looked at us with an unsure stare.

Fiery pointed at him before jumping next to his paws and poked his leg.

“Uhm…?” Angorik threw and questioning look at me and Fluffy, raising his claws slightly in defense. “I have no clue what I should do, just saying, I don’t want to annoy you, Black Death, really.”

Fiery poked him again, more forceful this time. Her squeaking had become demanding.

“Hey, I know how protective you are about your daughter,” Angorik continued, “I don’t want any trouble, I just have no clue what I did wrong.”

While Fluffy and her parents were still worried and unsure about the situation, I finally put two and two together and laughed.

At least for Angorik, this had a calming effect, Fluffy, however, was still too worried about the neighing of her daughter. “Why are you laughing? This could be serious!” she scolded me.

“Oh yes, it is,” I agreed, still smiling, “very serious.”

“If you know what's wrong, tell us!” Fluffy demanded.

“Angorik, would you please play your lyre again? I think your new number one fan wants to hear more from it.”

“My new number one fan?” He looked down at Fiery who had started to growl unhappy. “Oh, oh! Yes, yes of course.” He grabbed his instrument and returned to playing it. Instantly, Fiery stopped her growling and rushed over to her mom, placing her claws on her chest, waving her tail with joy and dancing with her hooves to the music.

“Awww, looks like our grandfilly wants to dance with you,” Cloudy said, and leaned against her husband, calmed.

“You wanna dance with mommy?” Fluffy asked, and grabbed Fiery's claws. “That’s why you neighed?”

Apparently that wasn’t it, since Fiery shook off Fluffy’s hooves and placed her claws on her mother’s chest again, starting to babble.

“What do you want sweety?” Fluffy tried to lift her up, but Fiery start to whine as soon as she wasn’t touching the ground anymore, so Fluffy placed her back.

“Oh, I get it,” I purred. “My daughter has a very good taste in music,” I proudly looked at her, “just like her dad.”

“What does she wants?” Fluffy turned her head to me and gave me a confused look.

“Well,” I rubbed my head against her wet coat, “a melodic and soft pegasus voice would fit perfectly with the sound of the lyre, at least if you ask me and our daughter.”

Said daughter was now starting to rub her claws up and down her mother's chest.

Fluffy turned her attention back to Fiery. “You want mommy to sing?” She rubbed her nose against her daughters. “Hmm?”

More babbling followed.

Fluffy looked at the little puddle that had already formed under her and sighed. “Alright, but don’t scare mommy again, you hear me, Fiery?” she sighed before patting her daughter’s head.

Knowing what would follow, I laid down and snatched a pillow for under my head. I was going to enjoy that as much as Fiery would, though, I probably would start sleeping during the show.

And indeed, after a few deep breaths, and an exchanged look with Angorik, Fluffy joined in the music with her sweet voice, singing a slow but happy little foals song. I can’t repeat often enough how sweet this pony race is, I mean, not only are they fluffy, soft, and also smell good, no, they also seem to have a collective ability to sing. And I don’t just mean making noise or hitting a few tones, no, they really can sing beautifully. More so when they’re in groups. I have no clue how they do it, but the more ponies gather, the more likely a song is to be sung, and everypony somehow instinctively knows their role in the song too. It’s Magical!

Fiery approved of the song too. She let go of her mother as soon as the song started and danced around. This was after a little celebratory high-speed run around the living room though, filled with babbling and squeaking about her success at not only summoning mommy, but getting her to sing too.

Not long after this, Cloudy and Gold Digger joined in, making the song more wholesome and family like. I enjoyed the sound of the song and the sight of them dancing, though, I could barely suppress a yawn as everything continued. As I said, those little lyres really had an effect on me, more so when cute pegasus magic was added to the mix.

It was only natural for my thoughts to trail off. I wondered if Fiery would be able to sing as good as her mother when she grew up, or if she would share this pony ability to sing together that perfectly. Also… also… al... *Zzz Zzz Zzz*

***

I was woken up by something soft and small, rubbing itself against the side of my snout, purring all the while. Lazily, I opened an eye and yawned, only to have a fluffy tail slip into my mouth. “Bah!” I coughed.

“Fiery,” I whispered as I spat out a few hairs from her tail, “how often have I told you to watch your tail when waking daddy, hm?”

When I looked at her, she just gave me this ‘I was a good Kirin and woke daddy. I deserve some petting and cuddling’ look. I smiled. “How could I resist that little face?” I ruffled through her mane and played with her ears for a moment before I raised my head and looked around.

Obviously, everycreature was gone. The fire in the fireplace had reduced itself to embers, and the puddle that Fluffy had brought with her from the shower had been cleaned up.

“Well, daddy must have slept for some time it seems, huh?” My daughter simply got into her meerkat position and watched me as her tail swung happily behind her, sparing me an answer.

“Alright, time to find mommy. Where’s mommy?”

Fiery simply squeaked questioningly and cocked her head to the side.

“Mommy,” I said, slow and clear. “Fiery, find mommy.” Obviously she couldn’t be too far, otherwise Fiery wouldn’t have been allowed, nor willing, to leave her mother’s side to run to me and wake me up.

After she got what she wanted, she happily babbled and trotted towards the exit of the lair, stopping every few steps to make sure daddy was following.

Only, when she actually passed the entrance, she sped up and rushed over to a group of chairs around a table, approaching a specific one and jumping up, right into her mother's hooves.

“Well done, Fiery.” Fluffy praised her and gave her a kiss. “You woke up daddy.”

“She used some fluffy pony-kirin tricks on me, she must have learned from her mom,” I added, walking over and cuddling with Fluffy and my daughter for a moment. “I take it everycreature’s had some breakfast already?”

“Yes, thank you,” Cloudy said as her husband nodded. “Good morning by the way.”

“Oh yes, morning,” I replied. Due to the panic over Fiery’s neigh, we had forgotten to actually greet each other back in the lair. My gaze wandered over the others, Angorik seemed to have a glass of tea and some vegetables, something that made me smile mischievously, while Never had some standard pony food.

“Morning,” he simply said when my gaze met his and I nodded in reply.

“Well, I think somegriffon earned himself a good bottle of wine or cider this morning. You made my little girl quite happy with your lyre.”

Angorik’s eyes shone with excitement over this statement.

“You know where I keep them, just get yourself a bottle before my marefriend forbids it.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, before I had even finished my sentence, he was already on his paws and walking towards where I kept the adult beverages.

I, on the other claw, had to deal with a certain look from said marefriend, accusing, but with a smile. “As if I would begrudge him for having this little reward.”

“You have some strange pony views on things sometimes,” I whispered in my loving way.

She shifted Fiery a bit on her foreleg so that she would have a hoof free to stroke over my cheek. “Like finding an impossible black dragon most attractive for no reasonable reason?” She fluttered her eyes after saying that.

“Exactly,” I purred and kissed her again. “As I said, very strange views on some things.”

Well, my purring didn’t stop, and of course, Fluffy joined in with a purr of her own, which again, caused Fiery to purr too.

“D’awww.” Cloudy tilted her head as she brought her hooves together while Gold Digger looked away.

Never wisely spared us his thoughts on the matter.

*

“So, have you looked for a kindergarten yet?” Cloudy asked.

We were still sitting outside the lair at the breakfast table, it was a bit crisp, but with some blankets and the morning sun already above the horizon, it was okay.

“Isn’t that a bit early?” Fluffy asked back. “She’s not even a year old yet.”

“It's never too early to start looking for those places, Danger. At some places, you have to reserve a spot years in advance, especially if it’s a more prestigious kindergarten.”

“What is a kindergarten?” I asked. “If you think she should have a garden, I can always convert one of the beds for her.”

“Garten, not garden,” Fluffy made it more understandable for me. “It is a place for young foals to go during the day so they can meet other foals and have some fun while the parents can do their daily chores.”

“It also gives them a basic education and prepares them for school,” Cloudy added.

I raised an eyebrow. “Why would we want her to go there? She’s our daughter, we love having her around.”

“Of course we do,” Fluffy agreed, “but she needs to interact with other foals and make friends.”

“I assume you also had other foals, or in your case hatchling, to play with when you were young, Big Softy?” Cloudy asked. “I doubt your parents raised you in their cave till you were fully grown, without any social interaction.”

“Well, there were other hatchlings, but we didn’t do so much together. Most of the time a young dragon simply sleeps, eats, and learns lessons from their parents,” I explained. “Mom and Dad were basically the only dragons I interacted with to a significant degree.” I shrugged. “If you think about what would happen if two hatchlings would start fighting with each other, you would agree that that’s the best way for a dragon to be raised.”

“That explains why you only have one friend so far,” Fluffy commented. “I am sure you would have more, maybe even some dragons, if you would have had more contact with other hatchlings when you were younger.”

“No, I don’t think so. Other dragons only cause problems; fighting you for treasure or territory.” I raised my claw and shook my talons in the air. “We are not the most friendly species after all. And just imagine what would have happened if I would have gotten into a fight with, let’s say, a green or red dragon. Mom would have torn them to shreds, along with their parents.”

“Your mom didn’t seemed to be that aggressive,” Fluffy said with an unsure look.

“When it comes to our hatchlings, we dragons are very protective,” I explained.

“No one doubt that,” Angorik agreed. “Protecting the young is a behavior that nearly all species share. Still, there are stories to tell about dragons who had friends, even in their younger days, ones that achieved great things together.”

“See, and anyway,” Gold Digger added, “it’s best for our granddaughter to make some friends since she is half-pony after all.”

I looked at said kirin, who was laying on her mother's chest, cuddling and quietly purring. “I must admit, it may do her good, well, depending on if the other young… creatures, are more like ponies.” I scratched my chin and thought about it a bit more. “Though, I am not so fond of the idea of leaving her somewhere else, with individuals I don’t trust.” Now I looked into Fluffies eyes. “You know I would be very upset if something were to happen to her, even if it was just a scratch.” I once more raised my talons. “I mean very upset, like dragon rage upset. Like I said, very protective of our treasure.”

Fluffy bit on her lower lip and inhaled sharply. “That, could be a problem. Foals do play and sometimes get hurt while doing so.”

“No one would willingly harm Fiery of course,” Cloudy threw in. “And surely she’s not that fragile, especially with all her beautiful blue scales.”

“It’s more likely that she’ll hurt somecreature else,” Never dared to point out. “Sharp claws, possible firebreathing at some point, that kirin temper from what I heard. My bits are on her being a nightmare for the Kindergarten staff to handle.”

“Yes,” I said, for once quite pleased with what Never had said. “Fiery is quite well equipped for a non-dragon.” I leaned over to Fluffy and rubbed my cheek against my daughter’s back and neck, ruffling up her fur. “She’ll be even more so once I teach her how to use them.”

“No need to rush that,” Fluffy quickly protested. “I know you want her to learn about her dragon side, and I don’t object to that, but we shouldn’t be pushing it.” My mate placed a wing on my head and began stroking me with it softly. “I think teaching her how to sing, dance, and paint should come first, as long as we care for her, there won’t be a need to teach her hunting and fighting, right?”

“I don’t mind her learning about those, but self defense is a big part of…”

“I am sure you are strong enough to protect her and that you would tear everycreature who tries to harm her on purpose to shreds, right?”

“Sure would,” I growled. “Painting the surroundings with their blood and collecting the heads to be an example for every creature.”

While Cloudy, her husband, and Fluffy’s brother made faces of disgusted, Fluffy just nodded and rubbed my head once more.

“You can’t seriously be agreeing with him,” Never protested indignantly. “That’s horrible!”

“I not only agree with him,” Fluffy replied, “I would also help him.” Her gaze moved to her brother. “Never underestimate the protective instinct of a mother, brother. In this matter I am one hundred percent dragon-like.”

“That’s my mate,” I purred.

“Though,” she poked my nose when I moved to her muzzle, “we don’t want that to happen, nor encourage her to get into such a situation. Therefore, we’ll need to do our best to be nice and help our daughter with making friends, right?”

I growled in displeasure at that, I still was not convinced about this Kindergarten thing.

“Pony-stuff,” Fluffy declared, “pacta sunt servanda, Big Softy.”

Again I growled a bit, “Urg… fine.” Before Fluffy’s smile became too bright though, I added, “but I will have a say too on where she goes, and, Fiery has to be happy about it as well. If she doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t have to.”

“It’s not so easy.” It was Cloudy who replied this time “There’s a period of acclimation until a foal accepts such a drastic change in circumstances.”

“Yeah, Danger needed a week to get used to it, while Never was crotchety for over a month after he started Kindergarten.”

“Dad,” his son complained.

“It’s true, you didn’t want to go at all when you first started,” his mother said.

This statement made me concerned, what if Fiery was just as unhappy as her uncle? What if it was worse? What if she wasn’t willing to go and us forcing her would cause her to think we hated her or were punishing her? I wasn’t sure if I could handle that.

Of course, Fluffy knew me well enough to see how distressed I was becoming. “Don’t worry, she will like it, and there’s still quite a bit of time between now and then. We can practice by visiting my parents, getting her used to the idea of mom and dad not always being around.”

“But if she doesn’t?” I asked.

“Well,” Angorik spoke up, “why don’t you two make a plan in advance? Setting a fixed time for acclimation, so there is no arguing later? If it works out, Fiery stays in the Kindergarten, if not… you’ll need an alternative plan.”

“Mhh, sounds reasonable to me,” Fluffy agreed, “What about you, Big Softy?”

I turned my head and watched my daughter for a moment. “Mhh, I think that may work.”

“Good!” Cloudy clopped her hooves together, “and just so you to know, Applejack and Fluttershy,” she paused and explained to me, “two of the elements of harmony, discovered a kirin village not too far away from our home! That means there is a whole town full of kirins at the Peaks of Peril! It’s only a half hour flight from where we live, an hour at most!”

“Well” - I exchanged a look with Fluffy, who seemed just as confused as I was - “that’s good news. Maybe we should visit them when Fiery’s a bit older, but that’s still a two-day trip from here.”

“Oh -” Cloudy waved away my concern, “- you can go there the next time you come visit us, it’s really not that far away, and Fiery will surely love to meet other kirins.”

“You hear that, Fiery?” Fluffy asked, lifting her daughter so that their eyes met. “Grandma and Grandpa told us about a place full of kirins. That means we can visit them and you can make kirin friends.”

Fiery smiled at her mother and released a series of babbles while pawing at her

Fluffy placed Fiery’s head on her shoulder and stroked her back. “Yes, exactly what I thought. Big Softy?”

“Yes?”

“I think that visiting this town would be a good idea, surely they could tell us a lot about how to raise a kirin.”

“And-” Cloudy started, but Gold Digger laid a hoof on her shoulder and shook his head slightly, whispering something I couldn’t make out.

Cloudy thought for a second and decided to stay silent.

“What were you going to say, mom?” Fluffy asked.

“Oh nothing, Danger, nothing.”

“Hmm, well, I admit that that could be of benefit to our daughter,” I replied with some delay.

“Then it is settled,” Fluffy nodded. “We’re going to visit this kirin town once we go back to Equestria.”

“Good,” Gold Digger stated, “with that out of the way, I would like to address something else.” He waited until he had my attention. “Black Death, when you visited us, I showed you the gem mines I found and I remember you said our gems taste quite different from the ones you have here. If you don’t mind, I would like to visit one of your gem mines too?”

“I don’t see a problem with that.” I turned to Fluffy. “You wanna visit the mines today?”

“Uhm, actually,” Gold Digger said, “I was thinking that just the two of us go while the ladies and Never stay here.”

I was kind of surprised by this request, but Fluffy seemed to see something I couldn’t. “What are you up to dad?” she asked.

“Nothing, Danger -” he replied with raised hooves “- just spending some time with your dragonfriend, you know, between stallions.”

Fluffy narrowed her eyebrows.

“Don’t worry, Fluffy -” I rubbed my nose against her “- I can handle your dad, as long as you can handle your mother.” I blinked. “But I think we should take Angorik with us,” I looked at said griffon. “I don’t think you’d mind getting a few gems yourself?”

“Oh, not at all.” His head feathers rose and his excitement was clear to see. Gold and gems are always good treasures, besides being tasty food. No wonder he was so willing to join.

“Oh, I was hoping you could’ve played your lyre for us a bit more today,” Cloudy complained, “Fiery likes it so much, and I would like to hear a story or two, particularly one of the ones you mentioned yesterday.”

“He can do that this evening, mom,” Fluffy declared. “Go with Big Softy and get yourself some gems, Angorik.” He smiled happily. “But be aware that Fiery expects you to play some good songs this evening, so don’t get too exhausted.” She shifted her gaze from Fiery to him. ”It would be a shame if you were to make her unhappy. Because if she were to be unhappy, that would make me and Big Softy unhappy as well.” She let that threat linger in the air, when it comes to Fiery’s happiness, Fluffy was as serious as I was.

“I promise,” Angorik said, while I purred at Fluffy.

Author's Note

Well, I hope everyone is looking forward to that promised visit at Peaks of Peril, I will write about it later on, while the next chapter should be the mines. Though, Fluffy and Big Softy at the kirin village will be something funny.

Any suggestion, questions or simply feedback? Well, there is the comment section