The Dragon And The Pony Side Stories: Parents Of Fluff.

The walk through the forest surrounding Fuffy’s parents’ house was rather pleasant. Besides the occasional chirp of a bird, the air was filled with the rustling of the surrounding leaves and the sound of a small creek just a few meters to the right of the path Fluffy’s father and I were walking. It was all rather peaceful. I was starting to understand why Fluffy’s parents decided to live here.

As I was walking, I couldn't help but notice how quiet Fluffy’s father was. Besides the sounds of the forest and my own heavy claws hitting the ground, the only other noise was that of Gold Diggers hooves. While he wasn’t exactly talkative to begin with, I had at least figured he would be trying to interrogate me some more, especially since he had been the one to suggest we leave the house and explore one of his caves.

The pseudo-silence lasted for another few minutes until, strangely enough, Fluffy’s father decided to break it. “You know, I never get tired of walking through this forest. It always reminds me just how lonely a cave can be.” His voice was slightly far away, like he had something on his mind and was talking almost as a reaction.

“Hmm?”

“Don't get me wrong, a cave is nice, but when it's just you down there, when the only sound is a burning lamp or your pick-axe hitting the stone, you start to miss the little things. And when the only light you have goes out, and everything goes black, almost nothing compares to that kind of fear.”

I snorted slightly, releasing a small puff of smoke. “That may be the case for you ponies, but as a black dragon, I love the dark. And even if I didn’t, I can always breathe fire.”

“Yeah, that’s probably true. I’m just running my mouth. Haven’t met many ponies that take too well to what I do. Always get antsy when you get real deep and you're left with only your thoughts.” Fluffy’s father turned his head to the side and slightly up, in the direction of the sun. “Even I have my times when my mind starts messing with me, craving the sun and the sound of my wife beside me.”

I could definitely tell that something was up, Gold talking about caves like this was a bit strange considering we were heading to one, but before I could really respond, he continued. “I don't think Danger told you, but I used to take her and her brother to the caves every once in a while. She obviously warmed up to it faster than he did, but I’ll never forget her first time. Was shaking like a leaf when I took her to one of the deeper sections.”

I couldn't help but chuckle a little at the idea of Fluffy being so scared. She was always so confident that the thought almost seemed too outlandish for her. The last time I had seen her that scared was back on our first ‘date’ and when I saved her at the temple. “Did she ever help you look for treasure?”

“Oh yes, several times when she was younger.” Fluffy’s father turned his head back so he was looking ahead again, except, he still looked to be somewhere else. “Well, helped might be a little strong of a word. She wanted to help and be able to find treasures for herself, but she sort of just did her own thing. I remember digging out a tunnel to make it deeper, only to turn around and find her sticking halfway out of a little tunnel she had started to carve out.”

That image brought a smile to my muzzle, a younger Fluffy sticking out of a hole and trying to dig even deeper, it made her seem like a dragon. The two of us kept walking in silence for a few more minutes before Fluffy’s dad once again decided to break it, this time with a sigh.

“Your lucky to have her you know. She loves you quite a lot.” While his voice was still a little distant, there seemed to be a little more focus to it now.

“I would hope so. We have been together for quite a while.”

“Yeah, I think you said four months. While I’m not exactly happy that you got my daughter pregnant after the two of you first met, I’m not blind, she seems happy enough and that’s all I can ask for.” The distant look and voice of Fluffy’s father quickly become more concentrated as he turned his head towards me slightly, putting me firmly in his field of vision. “To be honest, I haven't seen her this happy since she earned her cutie mark. Even when she found her first real artifact when she started to take after her cousin, when she came to us she was just so proud of herself and wanted to show us what she had accomplished. I can tell she is ecstatic to be with you, I just hope you feel the same.”

I turned my head towards him, not even trying to hide the displeasure I was feeling after such an insult. “I would hope that my actions with your daughter would have proved that. She is MY mate, and as a dragon, I do not give up what is mine.”

I could see a Fluffy’s dad develop a lopsided smile as he went back to staring ahead of us. “That’s sort of reassuring. Still, I remember the last time she was overjoyed about something that didn’t go over too well. She was going through an old ruin and wasn’t being careful enough; the floor and ceiling collapsed in front of her. Would have likely trapped or killed her if her cousin hadn’t have been there to save her. She locked herself in her room for a while after that. Not because of what she did, but what she could have done. If this relationship goes bad, I don't know how she would take it, but I know it wouldn’t be good.”

“Well that’s not going to happen. I love her, and there’s nothing that's going to stop that.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Gold’s voice then took on an almost deadly seriousness. “I may not be as big or as strong as a dragon, heck, I’m fairly confident you could beat me if we fought, but if I found out you hurt my daughter, I wouldn’t hesitate to make you pay.”

My eyes widened and my head shot back in surprise. Of all the things I had been expecting, being threatened by a pegasus was not one of them. It took Fluffy becoming a Kirin for her to reach that point, but here was her father doing it on a casual walk through the woods.

“Are you threatening me after admitting that you wouldn’t be that big of a threat?”

“Yes.” The answer was immediate.

I couldn’t help but allow a wide smile to form on my muzzle. And how could I? Fluffy’s father had the guts to threaten me even though he knew he would surely lose. Despite the fact I had no tolerance for being threatened, I felt I could let this slide, at least this once. He had definitely earned my respect.

We continued in silence for a little while until it was my turn to break it. “You remind me of my own dad. “

“Oh? And how’s that?”

“I don’t know. If I had to say, it’s probably because you’re both so calm and seem to know what you’re talking about.”

Fluffy’s dad chuckled at that. “Your dad probably knows a lot more than me, if I had to hazard a guess, he’s got me beat by a few centuries. But, I’ll take that as a compliment.” He sighed as he tilted his head forward a bit. “With age comes perspective, after a certain point, you just stop trying to fight every little thing. It wasn't ‘til Never was about ten that I finally figured that out. Take it from me, don't make the same mistake with your kid. Just calm down and let them be themselves and everything will eventually sort itself out.”

I cocked an eyebrow as I stared down at him. “Are you telling me to just let my child do as it pleases? I would hardly call that being a parent.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Look, if your kid puts themselves in danger, if they start heading down a path you know won’t end well, then put your hoof down. Well, actually your claw but you get the point. Just remember that your kid almost never turns out the way you want them to, you just have to accept it.”

“And why do you think I would do that?” I was slightly interested in why he was thinking I would try to turn my kid into me. While he wasn’t wrong, I was interested in how he had figured that out so quickly.

“You aren’t as hard to figure out as you might think. For one, you're a new father. That’s always the first instinct. And secondly, your parents, or more specifically, your mom. You aren’t as talkative about her as you are with your father. I have a feeling you took after him more than you think. If a relationship with one of my parents was as bad as it seems yours is, I have a feeling I would make sure my child wouldn’t have the same experience.”

“Now you're really starting to sound like my dad.”

“Hopefully it helps you start calling me that sooner rather than later. I prefer the idea of my son-in-law not calling me Gold or Mr. Do every time we’re together, doesn’t sound right coming from my daughters coltfriend.”

I snickered a little at that. “Ok, ‘dad’. So, how far until we reach one of the caves ‘mom’ was talking about.”

“You may think you're being smart, but that does sound better than hearing you call us by our first names. And to answer your question, that’s it right in front of us.” Gold lifted his head and pointed it towards the side of the mountain we were heading.

Looking in the same direction, I noticed that I could just make out the entrance to a tunnel that had been carved into the mountain’s side. If I thought the entrance to my lair was small, this one took the cake. It was only just slightly bigger than I was, meaning I likely wasn’t going to be stretching my wings if they got sore in there.

“There's a nice vein of gems about three-hundred meters back. You should be able to find the gems you like there.”

With that, the two of us continued our trek down the forest trail and to the cave. When we arrived, Gold opened a wooden box that was sitting inside of the cave and removed a heavy cloth bag as well as a lantern before pulling out and putting on a helmet with a light on it. Strangely though, the lantern was actually a magical one rather than one that used a flame.

“With how you were talking earlier, I was guessing you used older style lanterns.”

“Yeah, I do prefer them, there is just something more comforting about the flickering if a fire. Unfortunately, I found a few pockets of lignite in here, and until I can dig them out, I would rather not risk an accident.”

I didn't know what this lignite was, but if having an older lantern would be a danger, I would prefer he keep us safe.

After Gold ignited his lantern, casting a whitish-blue glow against the walls of the tunnel, he grabbed a pickaxe in his teeth and headed down the tunnel. I began following him, grumbling slightly at the fact that my sides were almost scraping the sides of the tunnel, I needed to keep my neck level with the ground, and whenever my tail would swing, it would always hit the sides of the tunnel.

But through my displeasure, I remembered that there was a question that had been in my head for a while for both of her parents. I figured that since Fluffy’s father was here, I should probably ask him now and talk to her mother when we got back. “I was wondering, what tricks do you know of that would help with making a pegasus happy?”

“If you are referring to my daughter, the answer is basically what you’ve been doing already. If you are talking about me and my wife, just don't eat us, steal our things, or make Danger unhappy.”

“That wasn’t what I was talking about. I was wondering if there was anything I could do when it's just me and Fluffy having our fun. I already figured out that nibbling between her wings gets her in the mood, and since you and ‘mom’ are pegasi, I figured you would know of some tricks I could use.”

“Uh, now isn’t the best time for that. Let's just find you some gems and head back home.” Fluffy’s dad’s voice sounded extremely uncomfortable before he started to walk just a little faster.

“I don't see the problem with talking about that now, unless you would prefer it if your wife was there too so she could confirm what you say.”

“NO!” Gold rounded on me with a look of horror on his face, dropping his pickaxe in the process. I was actually scared slightly and almost flipped my head back into the ceiling. The amount of reverberation in such a small space made the shout far louder than I had been expecting. It was almost loud enough to sound like it had come from a dragon.

“Are you afraid that you’re going to reveal a secret technique you use on her? I’m pretty sure she already knows how you do everything.”

“It’s not that. It's just… you're asking me about… how to have sex with my daughter.”

“And? I don't see the problem. Dragon parents teach their hatchlings how to mate quite early. Before I left my parents, they had taught me everything about how I was supposed to please my mate. The problem is that their lessons were for dragons.”

Gold’s face returned to one of discomfort, and based on the reddening of his face, serious embarrassment. “Well… ponies are a bit different. We don’t exactly… talk about that so… casually, especially when it comes to our kids.” Gold lowered his head and picked up the pickaxe he had dropped. “Could we just get back to finding you some gems and drop the subject? I really don't want to talk about it.”

While I was incredibly confused as to why ponies were so against talking about mating, I felt I should simply leave the topic be and follow Fluffy’s dad. I couldn’t stifle a frown from appearing on my muzzle though. I had been hoping to learn how to improve Fluffy’s experience when we were having our fun times; sadly, ponies weren’t like dragons when it comes to mating.

I could at least still be thankful that neither of Fluffy’s parents were like my mom.

I continued to follow Fluffy’s dad for a lot longer than I was expecting through the tunnel, passing branches to the tunnel and sections of rocks with a smell that reminded me of coal, but far acrider. Those were likely the pockets of lignite he had been talking about. Eventually though, we reached the gems.

The tunnel widened out slightly, just enough for me to turn around, but not enough that it would be either easy or comfortable. As the light of the lantern began to illuminate the walls in this area, glints if gems that were half exposed began to sparkle. And based on the smells that I could detect, there were quite a few gems still here, and a good variety as well.

“So, just tell me what kind of gems you like and I’ll start working on mining some out for you. I can't promise I’ll have everything in here, but I can try to find things that won’t be too objectionable.”

“Just mine what you can and I’ll find and dig out the gems I want. When we get back to your house, I can sort through everything and find the ones I like.”

Gold fixed me with a skeptical stare. “Not to insult you, but the mountains here mostly granite.” He removed the pickaxe from his mouth and slammed it hard against the floor, causing a satisfying ring of metal to resound throughout the tunnel. “I had to have this pickaxe enchanted just so it would break the rocks around here without breaking itself.”

I gave him a smug grin before I began to smell the air, flicking my tongue to get a taste of any odor particles. As I approached one of the walls, I began focusing on a portion just slightly above what would be eye level for Gold, tasting something as I licked the wall. “Do I need to remind you I’m a dragon?” I raised a claw and started to scratch a small pyramid out of the rocks. As Gold had said, the stone here was far tougher than what I was used to, and was taking me a little more effort to carve, but it was still no match for my talons.

After only a short while, I was able to remove the section of the wall and hold it in one of my claws. I then squeezed it, and eventually, the rock shattered. When I opened my claw and blew off the dust, a small amethyst was revealed. “We are quite good at finding and digging for our own gems.” I then threw it into the air and caught it in my teeth as it came down.

“Well, this will definitely help things go faster.” Gold then turned around and began walking further down the vein. “Still, you have any preferences?”

“I don't like diamonds, garnet, or beryl. Most other gems I’m fine with or like.”

“You got it.”

And with that, the two of us began to remove gems from within the walls of the tunnel and place them in the bag Gold had brought. Gold was picking away and filling the tunnel with the sounds of rocks being broken up while I kept tasting the walls and carving out the gems I either knew I liked or new ones that smelled and tasted like I would enjoy them.

After a while, Gold stopped working on the walls and came over to me and dropped the gems he had just found in the bag and picking it up. “Ok, I think that should be good to keep you happy while you’re here.” He sounded a little worn out, and I couldn't blame him. Picking away at these stones seemed like hard work for non-dragons.

I just nodded and moved so that my right side was against the wall, allowing him to walk past me. After Gold had passed, I followed after him and tossed the last gem I found into my mouth. Chewing it, I found it had a nice, chewy flavor, reminding me of clinohumite, but without the intense sweetness.

“You have a lot of tasty gems in here I haven’t tried before. I might have to work my magic with Fluffy to convince her to have you send us some of them every now and then.”

“Is that so?” Fluffy’s father sounded a little strained. Obviously the bag of gems was a little heavier than what he was used to carrying. “Well, if you’re willing to offer me some of that treasure you were talking about earlier, I might be convinced to mine them to send to you.”

“Oh, and can I expect a family discount?” I smirked a little at turning the tables on him.

“You want to grow your hoard, I want a pool. I think we might be able to work something out. If you don't mind me asking, what gems do we have that you might like?”

“I just found it before you wanted to leave. It was white with black veins, looked very similar to marble.”

“Oh, that sounds like howlite. I hardly bother with collecting any of it, too common to be worth the effort. Have a whole box of it back in the study to practice carving.”

The remaining walk back through the tunnel was fairly uninteresting, mostly involving me telling him what my favorite gems back home were and that gems did have very different flavors. When we finally made it back outside, I couldn't help but flare out my wings and stretch my neck while Fluffy’s father placed the lantern and helmet back in the box, set the pickaxe beside the box, before then setting the bag of gems on the ground and leaning back against a tree. Even though I appreciated him taking me into the mine with him, pony-sized tunnels were not comfortable for dragons.

When I had properly stretched myself out, I turned back to Gold and noticed that he looked quite exhausted. “I can carry the gems. Fluffy probably wouldn’t approve of me letting you carry them, especially since they seem to be too heavy for you.”

“Thanks.” I picked up the bag and placed it on my back before turning back to him. “Yeah, I’m not the stallion that I once was. Wasn’t that long ago that I could have kept mining for several more hours and humped two bags heavier than that one without a sweat. Let me tell you, growing old isn't fun.”

Seeing the state of Fluffy’s father, I thought of something I could do that would probably help in getting him to approve of me being Fluffy’s mate. “If you want, I can always carry you back.”

“No, I can still walk, I just need to catch my breath. Thanks for the offer though, I would just rather not be carried around like a plushie by my son-in-law. Not exactly the best look for a stallion.”

“We’ll be able to get back sooner if I carry you, and I would prefer it if I could get back to my mate as soon as possible. I doubt that anyone will see me carrying you if that’s all you are worried about.”

Gold gave me an unsure look, but after a while, he eventually sighed. “Alright, I’ll let you carry me. I don't suppose that means I’ll be riding on your back?”

I bared my teeth slightly and growled at him. Just because I was playing the nice dragon didn’t mean I had to completely demean myself. “No. Only my mate is allowed to make that request.”

While I hadn’t entirely intended to scare him, my change in demeanor had obviously put him on edge. “I had a feeling.” As he got up, I stopped growling and did my best to return to how I had been before he had asked to ride on me.

He approached me though, still looking apprehensive about the prospect. Whether it was mostly due to him still not being comfortable with being carried by me or if my growling had made me look like I had been intending to attack him. If it was the latter, I wouldn’t hear the end of it from Fluffy. But I still had my draconic pride, and I would not permit anyone to ride on me save for her.

I simply reached down with my right foreleg and scooped him up, flipping him onto his back before standing up. I had done this a few times with Fluffy so I had mostly mastered walking around with a pony in one of my forelegs. “This comfortable?”

“Uh… yeah. It is kind of nice. Now I see what Cloud and Danger were talking about.” While Gold sounded a little calmer now, there was still an undercurrent of unease in his voice.

“I’m glad to hear you enjoy it too.” And with that, I began to walk back down the trail that the two of us had taken a little over an hour ago.

As I was carrying Gold, I couldn’t help but notice how different he felt from Fluffy and her mom. While Fluffy was overall extremely soft; with her thick coat, chestfluff, and playful feathers, and her mom was soft, feeling like fluffy except without the chestfluff and having a thinner coat, her dad’s coat and feathers, while being thicker than his wife’s, were much coarser. He did have the chestfluff though, so I did have him to thank for Fluffy having that.

“So… uh… I couldn’t help but start thinking about what you’re going to be eating while your here when we were finding you some gems.”

“Hmm? What about it?” This was an interesting change of subject. I wonder where this came from.

“Well, I was curious, how, uh, filling, are gems for a dragon?”

Now that was an interesting question. I don’t think even Fluffy had asked me what gems were like to eat. Granted, she had asked me what gems were my favorite so she could buy me some on our one month anniversary, and asked what they tasted like on several occasions, but never what it was like to eat them.

“They fill me up quite well. But since Fluffy moved in, I’ve learned to appreciate a little variety in my diet.” I turned my head towards him after saying that, looking at him with mild curiosity. “Why do you ask.”

“I was just thinking… if you, uh, want to eat something that we don't have, we wouldn’t be offended if you leave to go find it.”

“And what might that be? You seem to have a good variety of foods in your home.”

“You know. Ponies aren’t exactly known for having an extremely… welcoming diet for non-ponies. So if you feel like eating something other than gems and vegetables, we would, uh… appreciate it if you would, make sure not to… you know.”

I just raised an eyebrow at that. While their softness helped make them rather appealing, I was not in any way a fan of how indirect they tended to be. It always irritated me to no end when Fluffy would do this and not just tell me what it was that she was trying to say; now her father was doing it. Hopefully this wasn’t something that all ponies did.

Gold just seemed to become more uncomfortable under my gaze, shifting slightly and turning a bit red. “We wouldn’t want to be rude, just, us ponies are very restricted in our diets. And we don't do too well with seeing griffin food, or dragon food, or manticore food. Simply smelling or seeing leftover pieces is enough to make us feel not so good.”

I opened my mouth and was about to demand he not be so vague with what he was saying when it hit me. All of the creatures he had named were predators to one degree or another. “Are you asking me about me hunting and bringing back what I killed?” I felt a smile begin to tug at the corners of my mouth at that revelation.

My response appeared to have flustered my new dad even more as he seemed to turn a brighter shade of red under his fur. “I, uh, well, sort of, yes. I would rather not have to see any blood or smell death while your here. Don't take that the wrong way, I know that things like that are part of your diet and I’m fine with that. I would just prefer it if I don’t have to see it.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore, a wide smile broke out across my muzzle and I released a burst of hearty laughter. “Hahaha, oh, don't worry, Fluffy is already keeping me in line when it comes to that. And as I said last night, I can eat anything, so I won't need to hunt while I’m here, so don’t worry.”

Gold seemed to calm down quite a bit after that and just relaxed into my foreleg. I continued to walk for a while until he decided to restart the conversation. “I just noticed, is Fluffy your pet name for Danger?”

“Yes, yes it is. When I first met her, when I touched her fur, I thought it felt amazing. Since then, that’s just how I’ve been referring to her. And I have to add, I am so happy she inherited your chestfluff.”

“I… don’t know how I should be feeling about that. You do know she has an actual name, one that she’s been going by for the last two decades?”

“I know, I’ll call her Danger every once in a while, but Fluffy is just so much easier to say, and far sexier. After our first mating session, she really seemed to embrace the name. I have got to say, feeling her fur when she is cuddling me is nice, but it can't compare to when the two of us are having fun. There’s just something about me mounting her or her mounting me that makes her fur feel just that much better. When we were first going at it, after-”

“Big Softy!” The shout from Gold brought be out of my memories and back to the present. Looking down, I noticed that the coat around Gold’s face had turned an almost vibrant shade of red.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about your pony sensibilities.”

And with that, the remaining trip back to Fluffy’s parents’ house returned to how it had been when the two of us had come here, except I was now carrying Fluffy’s dad in one of my forelegs and had a bag of gems jostling on my back.