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

The walk back to Fluffy’s parent's house was rather pleasant, not the least bit because Fluffy was practically glued to my side the entire way, causing me to purr happily. When we finally arrived at the house, Fluffy quickly ran ahead of me and to the door before slowly and quietly opening it. I followed her inside, and just as she was closing it again, a voice chimed in.

“There you two are, I went to look in on you two this morning but didn’t see you in your room. I take it you two wanted to have a nice walk in the woods this morning?”

I turned to the dining room where the voice had come from and noticed Gold Digger sitting at the table and examining one of the stones we had collected yesterday, though it might have just been one he had already had.

“Oh, hey Dad. No, I was just taking Big Softy here to the cave where I dug my own tunnel. I didn’t know what you wanted to do today and I thought I should try to show him that before we left.” Fluffy seemed to be trying to sound calm, but I could pick up the nervous tells in her voice.

Gold put down the gem he had been examining with concern. “Oh. You probably should have told me that before you went and did that. I’ve been meaning to go back there and sure up the walls. The rock bolts are coming loose and I’m fairly sure that it’s going to collapse somewhere. Thank Celestia you two are safe. Just don't go back there.”

Fluffy lowered her head and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. “Alright, Dad.”

“As a dragon, especially one who lives in a lair, I would know if there was a problem, and I didn’t see anything that would suggest we were at risk.” I puffed up my chest, pulled my head back, and flared my wings slightly in a display of pride.

“Remind me to show you bolt fifteen along the Delta branch, that one comes right out. You might live in a lair, but I’ve been digging mines for going on thirty years, I know the signs of a mine that’s on borrowed time.”

I began to growl softly at that, as well as flaring my wings slightly more than they already were. “I know what I am talking about. It’s safe enough for me and Fluffy to be in there.”

“If you say so.” I was getting ready to put Gold in his place for making that comment, but Fluffy cuddled up firmly against me and began stroking me with her wing, prompting me to turn to look at her and see her shaking her head, asking me to be nice. “Anyways, on a less serious topic, it’s only six thirty, so you two are the only ones else awake. Since I’m guessing neither of you were listening last night, me and your mom were thinking about taking your dragon friend here on a hike today so we could all get out of the house and get to know each other better.”

Fluffy turned to face me with an uncertain stare. “Is that something you'd want to do? You might be a little tired tomorrow when we go to fly home.”

I simply lowered my head and began to nuzzle the side of her face while smiling. “Don't be ridiculous, I would never be too tired to fly with you. I’m part azure dragon, I could never do such a thing.” I lowered my voice before continuing, “Especially since I’m always willing to chaise your sexy flank.”

Fluffy began nuzzling me back before reaching up with a wing and stroking my face. After a few seconds of this, Fluffy pulled away and turned to her father, to my disappointment. “Alright then. Just make sure you three come back quickly, I know Big Softy enjoys our cuddle time and would hate it if you kept him from it.”

Hearing my mate say this brought a purr to my lips, and I couldn’t help but begin to rub against one of her wings, earning me a happy sigh from Fluffy as she leaned more readily against me.

“You’re coming too, this was meant to be a family hike. When your mother wakes up and takes her shower, it shouldn’t take her too long to get down here. And once your brother wakes up, we can start getting ready to go.”

That last part caused my purring to stop. I was not a fan of having to deal with Fluffys brother any more than I had to, and having to spend an entire day around him was not my idea of pleasant.

Fluffy picked up on my purring stopping and spread her wing so that she could cover my head with it while stroking my chin with her hoof. “It’s not going to be so bad. I’ll stay right next to you the entire time, how's that?” She waved with her feathers a bit.

I remained still for a moment, thinking about her offer. While being around her brother was an irritating prospect, the fact that Fluffy would not only be there, but be right next to me, letting me feel her lovely fur and feathers, was all the incentive I needed. I began rubbing my head across the bottom of her wing and returned to purring.

“You two love birds should probably take a seat, Cloud and Never will probably be awhile. I’m just making sure all these gems I’m taking to Bedrock’s next week don't have any left over stone.”

I began to growl a little at Gold’s comment. I had just gotten comfortable and was in the middle of cuddling with my sexy, fluffy mate. I was not going to allow him to interrupt this.

Unfortunately, Fluffy was. She gave my chin a few more rubs before lowering her hoof and removing her wing from my head. “Come on, Big Softy, we can cuddle on the couch while we wait.” She then began walking towards the family room.

I still kept growling, unhappy about being forced to take a break from cuddling with her, but did so much quieter as I followed her to the couches.

On the plus side, when I arrived at the large couch and laid down on it, I was able to grab Fluffy in my claws and pull her into the optimal position for us to continue our cuddling, much to Fluffy’s approval. The rest of the family slowly made their way to the family room and witnessed me and Fluffy purring and cuddling with each other.

“Aw, isn’t that sweet.” Fluffy’s mom sounded very approving of seeing us like that, causing me to feel an immense sense of pride. “I hope we’ll be able to convince you two to separate in a little, your father and I were thinking about having a family hike.”

“I wouldn’t count on that, Mom,” Fluffy giggled. “But we know, Dad told us,” Fluffy responded with closed eyes as she nuzzled against my chin.

“Alright, but we still need to pack some lunch and snacks for it, so I would really appreciate it if I could get your help.”

“I’m a little busy at the moment, Mom, but if you could convince Big Softy here, I’ll be happy to lend my hoof.”

Cloud didn’t immediately respond, instead, she turned to the kitchen and walked off. I was extremely happy that not only had my mate told her mom that she would rather keep cuddling with me, but her mom had not tried to stop us, causing me to purr even more. Apparently, my display yesterday that I would not tolerate having my cuddle time interrupted had been understood. Unfortunately, this was a message that her brother had not received.

A little while later, her brother made his way out of his room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and yawning.

“Oh good, you're finally up. Could I get your help in the kitchen? Your father and I decided that all five of us will be going on a hike today and we need to pack some food.”

“Alright, be right there.”

The two of them were working in the kitchen for some time after that, talking about where Cloud and Gold were planning for them to go while preparing lunch and snacks. But during a lull in the activity, Never must have either picked up on our purring, or noticed us cuddling.

“Hey, Danger, you think you can stop with the loving and come help by making breakfast? He said as he came over, receiving an angry growl and bared teeth from me as I brought a wing in front of Fluffy, causing him to quickly make his way back to the kitchen.

I received a light slap on my wing from Fluffy as well as a disapproving ‘Big Softy’, but I didn’t care, I had made my point. I lowered my head and gave her a lick across her muzzle, causing her to puff up her cheeks and glare at me. I knew she was mad at me for still not getting along with her brother, but I knew as long as I just growled at him, Fluffy wouldn't be too angry.

“Never,” Cloud said accusingly, “have you learned nothing about dragons? You sister’s his most valuable treasure now, you can’t just go in there and demand he hoof her over, not unless you want to fight him, which I will not allow in this house.”

He sighed. “But she should really be helping us in here though.”

“She could, but if you keep pressing the issue, you won’t only have to fight Big Softy to seperate them, but your sister as well. Are you sure you want that?”

He shivered. “No thank you.”

Sadly, our cuddling session eventually had to end. Gold went to the kitchen after I had made it clear that me and Fluffy were doing something more important than helping to start breakfast. After he called out to us that it was ready and to come over, I could hear Fluffy’s stomach growl. She gave me one last kiss and pushed at my forelegs to get me to let her go. I reluctantly complied and folded my wing back to my side as well so she could get up. When she did, I rubbed my head along her spine as she got down and began walking.

The two of us made our way towards the dining room, with me following behind her, but as soon as she looked into the room, she jumped back towards me and put her hooves on my chest. “Don't go in yet, breakfast isn’t ready!” Her tone was obviously panicked, confusing me to no end.

I looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. “Didn't your dad say it was ready?”

“Yes, but they still need to do some things.” She thought for a second, looking around hecticly. “Hey, didn’t you say you wanted to make me a necklace with that tooth you lost?”

“It was only an idea, I’m fine if it wouldn’t interest you.” I leaned down and began nuzzling her cheek. “You always have me to cuddle with.”

“Well I was just thinking that it would be something nice to have for when I’m waiting for you in the lair. Why don't you go to our room and put it in my saddlebags?”

I stared down at her, still trying to figure out why she sounded so panicked. I don't think she would be this concerned about breakfast not being ready when her father said it was. It would be irritating, but I wouldn’t be angry with him for simply being a little too fast at declaring this. Nevertheless, I shrugged and planted a kiss on her lips before heading up towards our room.

I released a sigh of relief at seeing Big Softy heading up to our room, but immediately turned back to my confused looking family to fix this.

“We need to get rid of those, now!” I said pointing towards the pile of pancakes at the center of the table.

“What, why? Why are you so freaked out about us having pancakes?” Never asked.

“They’re made with eggs, Big Softy will be furious if he sees those! Now hurry, he’s going to be back any second now, I’ll tell you later.”

“Ok, but I expect an explanation.” Dad grabbed the plate in a hoof and began making his way back to the kitchen. “I’ll fix up a large fruit salad as fast as I can. Hopefully your dragon friend won't have an issue with that.”

I watched as Dad walked back into the kitchen and placed the pancakes into several plastic containers. My heart was practically pounding out of my chest as I feared Big Softy coming back down, noticing what Dad was doing, and asking about it.

Fortunately, Big Softy was having a hard time finding my saddlebags as Dad was able to store the pancakes in the refrigerator and start on making the fruit salad before Big Softy showed back up.

When he made it back downstairs, he gave me a kiss and lifted me into his forelegs. “Sorry it took me so long, I had to wrap the tooth in some spare cloth to make sure it wouldn’t damage anything.”

I leaned up and kissed him before motioning for him to let me down. “Don't worry, Dad just went to grab a bowl of gems for you. Why don't we sit down with everyone while we wait.”

Big Softy and I sat down in what had apparently become our seats, with Never getting ever so slightly farther away from Big Softy. I internally sighed at this, I probably should have more firm when I chastised him for growling at Never. At this rate, they weren’t going to start getting along until Never and I were both old and grey.

I was relieved that while we were having breakfast, Big Softy didn’t start questioning what had brought about my sudden desire to keep his tooth. Unfortunately, the conversation did turn to our morning excursion.

“So, I can't help but ask, did I hear you right when you said that your dragon friend here lost a tooth?” my mother said between pieces of fruit.

I sighed. “Yes. Me and Big Softy were exploring the tunnel Dad took me to where I dug my own little tunnel this morning and I accidentally hit him.”

My mom gasped when I said that, and I couldn’t help but sink down into my seat a little. “You hit your special somedragon?”

“It was an accident, we were going around in the dark because I thought it might be fun to try hiding from him, but then he came out of nowhere and scared me.” Big Softy, sensing my discomfort, pulled me closer to him with his wing and lowered his head to mine. I reached up and began stroking the side of his face where I had hit him, feeling the missing tooth under his skin. “I felt really bad, but my generous and awesome dragonfriend here said he wasn’t angry and that he was going to lose the tooth soon anyways.”

This time it was my father’s turn to respond. “He was going to lose it anyways?” I could see out of the corner of my eye that his gaze was now fixed on Big Softy, and he did not look happy. “If you were going to lose that tooth because of neglect, you best hope to Celestia I never hear that my grandfoal is taking after her father.”

Big Softy immediately jumped out of the chair and began growling as he flared his wings, causing everyone else to shrink back in fear. Wanting to prevent this morning from becoming unsalvageable, especially since I had just prevented that not even ten minutes ago, I touched his chin to get him to look at me while beginning to stroke his chest with my wings. “Remember, I had no clue either. And Dad,” she turned to him, “it’s not a good idea to threaten my dragonfriend, okay?”

Thankfully, Big Softy stopped growling. He nuzzled the side of my face with his before turning to my dad to answer. “No, it was not due to neglect. Dragons simply lose their fangs occasionally. They are constantly being replaced so none of them become too dull.”

“Oh, sorry if I may have insulted you there, I didn’t know.” Dad gave Big Softy an apologetic nod as he and everyone else did their best to return to the positions they had been in. “Let’s hope our grandfoal inherits that trait from you then. Would save both of you a great deal on dental.”

The rest of breakfast passed rather uneventfully after that, though I did see Big Softy enjoying some of his gems a little bit more than usual. If they were the equivalent to candy for him, I might have to think about setting a limit on them for him. I didn’t want him getting unhealthy. I knew he would growl and hiss when I proposed it, but I knew what to do to convince him.

When breakfast was finished, Dad and Mom were hasty in getting us moving; collecting plates, grabbing the bowls of fruits and gems, and gently nudging Big Softy and I to get moving. I wonder why she tried this, she must have known by now that Big Softy wouldn’t like this. And of course, he growled at her when she tried pushing him. And even when I glared at him, it did not quiet him down. I had to tell my mom to stop pushing him before things escalated. Mom just rolled her eyes at this and told us to get going on getting to the kitchen before she began walking to the front door. Big Softy was still perturbed about how my mom had acted, but when I started to head towards the kitchen without him, that seemed to take precedence.

When we both got there, we saw Dad messing with something in his saddlebag before he looked up and told us to grab a saddlebag each and head out the door.

With that, everyone but Dad headed outside and grouped up around where Big Soft had landed. And as expected, Big Softy wasted no time in pulling me close to cuddle as we waited, while Never stood off to the side and away from both of us.

The wait for Dad wasn’t too long though, as he came out and locked the front door as I was just getting comfortable.

“Ok, seeing as Danger is pregnant, we were thinking we might want to go a little easy on the hike today. Me and your mom were thinking we should take Panorama to Observation Peak and come back on The Emerald Glen.”

I puffed up my cheeks slightly at that. “I’m not crippled just because I’m pregnant. Why don't we just take The Spill up and back? We’ve done than one dozens of times so it's hardly a challenge.”

“Honey, you do remember you’re molting.” Mom gave me a gentle yet firm glance as she said this. “You need your wings to be in their best condition for that route. And the trail isn’t wide enough for your dragonfriend here to join us if we did take it.”

I knew mom was right, but I still wasn’t happy that we were taking the easiest hike around here. The only thing that kept that route from being a foal’s hike was it’s length. I still kept my cheeks puffed though, and I was starting to feel the feathers on my wings begin to ruffle from my frustration. Big Softy, seeing this, began nuzzling my wings and purring.

That’s one of the wonderful things about having a concerned dragonfriend, the slightest sign of annoyance causes him to cuddle me to calm me down.

“I think your parents' idea is great. They likely know more about this than we do. If they say we should take the easy route we probably should.” He then pushed under my wing and started nuzzling against the side of my stomach. “I would hate to put our child at risk, we need to be careful with them.”

I sighed, I knew Big Softy just wanted what was best for me and our child, but it was at times like this that I wished dragons didn’t lay eggs. “Fine, let’s go on the hike Mom and Dad chose.” I then turned to Big Softy and used my wing to push his muzzle away from my side. “But I hope you know you’re going to have to make this up to me.”

Big Softy just smiled and brought his muzzle up to mine, giving me a kiss and a gentle parting lick on the lips before whispering his response. “With such a sexy and generous mate, I’m sure I’ll be able to find a way to make amends.”

I could feel myself blush at that before I gave him a gentle slap with a wing. “Naughty dragon.” I hated when he pulled his mischievous dragon tricks, they weren’t fair.

“So, now that Danger is onboard, let’s head off.” Mom began pushing Never to get him to begin walking toward the trailhead while me and Big Softy started to follow them, walking side to side.

“Danger,” Dad called out from behind us, causing both me and Big Softy to turn to look at him, “if I could borrow you for a second, I need to ask you about something.”

Big Softy began growling at that suggestion though as he unfurled his wing slightly and used it to firmly bring me to his side. “I have been trying to cuddle with my mate all morning, and every time I do, one of you tries to separate us. She also promised to stay by my side the entire time, so I am going to hold her to that. I’m beginning to rethink my opinion of you and your family.”

“It’s just a quick little thing, it won't take more than a minute, and once I’m done, I’ll make sure nopony else bothers you again today. Deal?”

Big Softy just continued to growl, obviously Dad wasn’t going to be able to convince him. “Big Softy.” I touched his side with my hoof and did my best to look at him past his wing. “I promised my dad I would explain something to him as soon as I could. And I promised I would be with you the entire time for the hike, and we haven’t started the hike just yet, have we?”

Big Softy’s growls became deeper and louder after this before abruptly stopping as he lowered his head so it was right in front of mine. “You never said that it started when the hike began though.” His voice having a dark undertone.

I lifted a hoof and began to stroke the side of his face. “I also never said it would start before the hike either. Look, this is important to me. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Big Softy grumbled for a second before planting a kiss on my lips and removing his wing from my side. “I’m going to hold you to that, and it better be worth it.” He then moved his head over to my ear before finishing his response in a whisper. “I expect tonight’s massage to be extra wonderful for being so generous and well behaved.”

I stepped back slightly so we were standing face to face before planting a long, loving kiss on his lips. “Naughty dragon.” I then bopped him on the nose with a smile. “So we have a deal. I’ll be right there, go catch up with my mom and brother and we’ll be right behind you.”

Big Softy gave me a naughty smile before turning around to do what I said, and as I was turning to face my dad, I felt Big Softy gently slap me on my right cutie mark with his tail as he left. I rolled my eyes and smiled before walking over to my dad.

“So, about this morning.”

“Just… hold on for a second.” Dad held up a hoof and watched Big Softy with a critical eye for several seconds before beginning to slowly follow after him.

“Wait!” I turned and trotted so we were walking side by side. “I thought you wanted to talk?”

“I do, but I also would prefer not being growled at by your Dragon friend again today, and judging on how long it took him to let you go, I’m guessing you had to convince him to let you talk to me.”

I didn’t immediately respond, instead pulling my head back slightly at how good of a deduction that was. “Yeah.”

“Well, I thought it might be best for the both of us if we walk just out of earshot and talk about this morning. That way, you two get back together sooner, and I hopefully stop being the villian in his eyes.”

“You're not the villain to him. He’s just…”

“Clingy?”

“Yeah, that’s about right”

“So, unless we want to talk about breakfast later and risk his ire again, I would suggest you explain the whole egg thing.”

“Right. Well, you see, the egg thing is something instinctual for dragons, they lay eggs, so if you give him something with egg in it, he… doesn't take it well. It’s like you are cooking one of their hatchlings.”

“Hmm.” Dad began to stroke his chin with a hoof as he looked towards Big Softy. “That makes some sense. I take it you had to learn that the hard way?”

“Yeah, I tried to make pancakes for breakfast once, trying to be a nice marefriend, but when I asked him where the eggs were, he didn’t take it well. When I explained that we use eggs for baking, he got really angry, saying we were barbarians. He got really pouty too, he didn’t want any cuddles and just gave me the silent treatment all day.” I lowered my head slightly as I said this, the memories of that day still being painful.

“Hey, don't be so down, you didn’t know.” Dad bumped my side, doing his best to get me out of my own head. “Seeing how you reacted and that you’re still together, I’m guessing you two made up.”

“Yeah. When we were about to go to sleep, I went to talk to him about why he got so angry about the eggs. He reminded me dragons laid eggs, so me asking if he had any eggs we could use to eat was sort of a bad move. Thinking back on that, I probably should have realised that eggs wouldn’t have been in his diet sooner, especially after I had to explain pregnancy.”

“Ahh, yeah, understandable. Well, silver lining is me and your mom won’t have to worry about you overeating any cakes,” Dad said, the smile evident in his tone.

“Ha, I wouldn’t count on it. I was able to figure out good alternatives for eggs when baking, so while they don’t taste the same, Big Softy can eat them and not feel guilty.”

“Probably should have seen that coming. Adversity breeds ingenuity after all.”

We walked in silence for a little while longer and soon came to where Mom, Never, and Big Softy were waiting for us. As soon as I arrived though, Big Softy carefully swept my off of my hooves and was now holding me upside down in his forelegs. He lowered his head and began to nuzzle my chest fluff while purring.

After a few seconds of this, he stopped his nuzzling and moved up to give me a kiss. “Now that that is over, I’m going to make sure I hold you to your end of our deal. I think it shouldn’t be too difficult to stay with me the entire time if I’m holding you.”

Seeing and hearing what Big Softy was planning to do, my mother chimed in. “If you don’t mind me saying, it would be best if she walks. A pregnant mare needs to keep strong for herself and the baby.”

Big Softy looked down at me with wide eyes and a mildly sad expression. “Is that true?”

I looked up at Big Softy and gave him my most innocent smile. “As you said, Mom went through this before, she should know what we should and shouldn’t do.”

Big Softy frowned slightly, but ultimately put me back down and turned to my mother and gave her a nod and a smile. “Thank you for looking out for Fluffy. If she needs to take hikes around our lair for herself and our bornling, I’ll make sure she does it.”

“Oh, no. As long as she stays relatively active, she should be fine. She doesn’t need to do a hike like this all the time, just some light activity to keep her healthy. We just thought it would be good to give her one long hike while she’s still able to do it.”

Big Softy nodded in approval and fixed me with a naughty glance. I knew what kind of ‘light activity’ he had in mind, but I would let him have that. It wasn’t like I was opposed to the idea. So with that, Dad walked over to mom and the two of them started to walk the Panorama trail. Never made a move to follow, but Big Softy growled and explained that he could follow us instead. I slapped him with my wings for that, but Never complied, so me and Big Softy ended up walking side by side not that far behind Mom and Dad while Never followed us.

The hike was fairly mundane, as it always was, though, the views on this trail were likely the best around here. While I tried my best to get Big Softy to look around and appreciate the views, all I got were these corny lines about how ‘no view of your parents’ mountains could ever compare to your beauty’ and the like as he pressed into my side and occasionally snuck in a few naughty moves here and there.

While his lines were overly sweet and ered on the side of sycophantic, they were no less effective at getting me to blush and lean into him.

We all walked in silence for a bit, relatively speaking, as Big Softy couldn’t help but purr as we walked, until I remembered something about half way to Observation Peak. Mom and Dad’s plan was for this hike to be a chance for Big Softy to get to know my family a bit more. I looked over my shoulder at Never and saw that he was keeping his head down as he was walking.

Felling bad for him and how he and Big Softy were not getting along, especially when I thought about how uncomfortable having to walk behind me and Big softy while we were practically glued to each other must be, I decided to try to get something going.

“So, Never, we didn’t get to hear that much about your marefriend Holly yesterday. Why don’t you tell me more about that while we walk.”

Big Softy began to grumble after I said that, until I looked up to him with pleading eyes. “I promised to be with you while we’re on the hike, and I still am. But Mom and Dad planned this hike so you can get to know my family and for them to get to learn about you. The least you can do is give my brother a shot.”

Big Softy turned his head so it was pointed at Never before glaring and replying with a voice filled with contempt. “I did, and he has been nothing but a fang in my tail since he got here.”

“Please, just give him one more shot, I’m sure you two will eventually stop your fighting, just give it time.” I watched as Big Softy narrowed his eyes at Never, and when I looked back at him, I saw he was retreating slightly, doing his best to get Big Softy to stop glaring at him.

I stepped away from Big Softy for a second and exened my wing so it could lay against his side while I looked up at his face with the best puppy dog eyes I could manage. When he finally looked back at me, I made my request again.

“Please, for me?”

Big Softy sighed and grumbled something about evil fluffy pegasi tricks before turning back to Never and addressing him in the most neutral voice I had heard him use. “Fluffy asked you about your marefriend.” I cleared my throat, earning me a slight growl from Big Softy before he continued in a more irritated tone. “And I would like to know about her as well.”

I looked back at Never and did my best to look encouraging. Hopefully something about Holly and his relationship would get Big Softy to be less hostile towards him. After a few seconds of Never coming to terms that I was finally getting Big Softy to behave, he cleared his throat and straightened up, walking closer to us until Big Softy growled.

“Well, as I said yesterday, she isn’t the biggest fan of the kind of affection Dad or Mom had while we were growing up, or you and your dragonfriend, so when she picks the date, we usually just cuddle at home. I was in charge of the date last week, so I decided to try something different and took her out to see Summer Cherry Petals.”

I couldn't help but chuckle at that, cutting off what he was about to say. “You really sat through that? I would have thought that that would have been the last movie you would want to see.”

I watched as Never went red in the face out of both anger and embarrassment. “I thought she would like it, ok? And she did. We cuddled the entire time and she thanked me for doing that for her.”

“Never, I was just giving you a hard time, I think it’s sweet.” I smiled at knowing Never wasn’t entirely hopeless when it came to finding and keeping a marefriend. Out of the corner of my eye though, I saw Big Softy almost perk up at what Never had said, making me smile even more.

“I don’t know what these movies are, but if they help one cuddle with their mate, I’d be more than happy to take Fluffy to one.”

“Well, you might be a little big to fit into an actual theater, but if you could find a fly-in one, I’m sure you and my sister would have a good time. I would just suggest you go for something scary if you want her to cuddle you even more.” Never seemed to be trying his best to get along with Big Softy, but he still sounded a little on edge. But despite appreciating what he was doing, I was a little peeved at his last sentence.

“Never! I don't need you puting any more bad ideas in his head. You know I can’t watch scary movies while I’m pregnant.”

Big Softy began purring and started to nuzzle between my wings. “Well, as long as we get to cuddle, I’m sure it would be fine. Although, I would like to know what these movies are though.”

I flipped my free wing up and gave him a light slap for that. “Naughty dragon. Movies aren’t just for cuddling, you’re supposed to enjoy them too.”

Big Soft just moved his head in front of mine with a smirk and gave me a lick on the lips. “And I will, as long as I’m cuddling with you.”

I puffed up my cheeks, which only made Big Softy smile wider.

“As for movies are,” Never chimed in, “imagine if there was this large picture that covered an entire wall, but instead of being static, everything moved and had the appropriate sounds, making it seem like you were there.”

Big Softy scrunched up his face in confusion. “That sounds interesting, but how do they do that? Is it some kind of magic?”

“No, there are devices that allow ponies to record things, and other devices that show what was recorded.”

“I am still a little confused, but I’m guessing I’ll need to experience one for myself.” Big Softy then leaned down and began nuzzling the side of my face. “Specifically while I’m with my mate.”

“Again, they're not all for cuddling.” I turned back to Never so we could get back on track. “Anyways, what do you usually suggest for your dates, seeing as taking your marefriend to see such a sappy romance was so different?”

“Well, I normally suggest we go hiking or climbing for a weekend. She gets to see and collect all the plants she likes, and I get to stretch my wings.” Never’s tone shifted to a more melancholic one after he said this. “Unfortunately, I cant use any of my ‘pegasus tricks’ to get any of the interesting plants I see.”

“You might have to explain that ‘pegasus tricks’ thing. For me and Big Softy, it's probably a lot different.”

“You see, she made me promise that if I was going to retrieve a plant or seed for her, I couldn’t fly up to get it. I’ve had to get really good at rock climbing all in an attempt to impress her. It sucks too since every time we do something like that, I always see something that I could only get to by flying.”

“Never.” I stopped and turned to face my brother, forcing Big Softy to stop so he could stay next to me. “What was it that I literally told you yesterday?”

“Not to worry about trying to impress her.”

“Yes, so why are you still moaning about that?”

“I’m a Do! We should be able to prove ourselves, but with Holly, she just doesn’t want that. I want to show her that I can be a good coltfriend, but nothing that feels like it would be the perfect thing to do is what she wants from me. I just feel… unneeded. She was doing just fine without me, so she never asks me to do anything other than just be with her.”

“And? She told you that that’s what she wants from you. Look at me and Big Softy here. Since I don’t know that much about taking care of a lair, he takes care of most of that. He was also doing just fine before I came along, but that doesn’t matter to him, I just need to be there to cuddle with him to make him happy.”

“Cuddling is very important!” Big Softy joined the conversation to my surprise. “I had everything except company before you arrived at my lair,” he continued, sneaking in a rub between my wings with his muzzle. “You came to my lair with exactly what I needed.”

I saw his smile and was too distracted by his sweet talk to realize what he would surely say next since he is the dragon he is. “A lot of cuddling and great sex.” I was too surprised to react at first to immediately react, a fact he took full advantage of. “That is also one of your purposes as Holly’s mate, to satisfy her needs. So make sure you please her when you two have sex… you do make her happy, don’t you?”

I should have expected him to say that. I definitely should have expected that.

“Big Softy!” I stepped away from him slightly and glared up at him. “How many times do I have to tell you that ponies don’t talk about things the same way that dragons do!” I looked back at Never and saw how he was just as shocked as I was, with his mouth slightly agape and his face as red as a ruby.

I sighed and turned around to continue the hike. Big Softy was quick to follow, immediately turning around so he could stay right by my side, while Never seemed to stay paralyzed for a few seconds before galloping to catch up with us.

“I hope you’re happy with yourself,” I grumbled at Big Softy while keeping my head pointed down the trail. “We were having a nice conversation with my brother and you just had to bring up sex.”

Big Softy lifted his wing and draped it over me, pulled me closer to him, and snaked his head around to look at me with a slightly worried expression before beginning to nuzzle my muzzle with his. “It’s not my fault you ponies are against talking about it.”

“I know, it’s just that I want them to like you, and you to like them.” I sighed, hanging my head slightly. After a few seconds of silence, where I thought about how Big Softy usually acted, I figured out what I had to do, and I knew he wouldn’t like it. “I don’t want to do this, but I would appreciate it if you promised me that you won’t bring up sex again in front of my family while we’re here.”

Big Softy pulled back slightly and scowled. “Fluffy.” His tone was dark and bordered on threatening.

“I know, a dragon’s promise is binding, Pacta Sunt Servanda. I’m not demanding that you promise, just…” I lowered my head so I was looking at the trail, feeling a little bad for asking Big Softy for yet another favor. “...to consider how ponies are.”

Almost immediately after I finished, I felt Big Softy stop as well as him putting a claw under my chin. He lifted my head up so that I was staring straight at his smiling face. “Ich verspreche, dass ich das Thema Sex deiner Familie gegenüber nicht mehr ansprechen werde, zumindest während dieses Besuches. If it will make you happy, I’m willing to do anything.”

I looked up at him, slightly confused but also happy. “What... what did you just say? Was that old draconic?”

“Yes, yes it was.” Big Softy just leaned forward with his head and gave me a loving lick across my cheek. “And I promised more or less what you asked me for. I just thought that if I was going to promise you anything, it would make you more happy if I say it in the language you love to hear so much.”

I smiled and couldn’t help but grab his head with my hooves and bring him in for a kiss. After we parted, I continued to smile at him. “Thanks for that, it means a lot. I’m guessing though that this is going to cost me.”

He looked back at me with that caring face he would always make when he comforted me and wasn’t being naughty. “You're my mate, and you’re carrying our child, I can’t let you be sad.” His caring smile turned naughty though after saying this. “But don’t worry, we can discuss how you can reward my good nature when we get back to our lair.”

“Naughty lizard.” I leaned forward and pecked him on the lips. He smiled and turned back to looking down the trail, and the both of us returned to our usual pace.

Mom and Dad didn’t seem to have noticed that we had stopped as we walked for a while after this without seeing them ahead of us. It wasn’t until we reached the summit that we saw them again.

“And here we were thinking that you three somehow got lost,” Dad happily called out when he saw us. “Did you all stop to get a good look at the mountains?”

“No, we just slowed down so we could talk to Never about his marefriend.” I turned back to Never and nodded.

“Well, you two can fill us in on what Never told you while we all have lunch,” Mom said, smiling at us as she removed the blankets she had packed and spread them out.

“Mom! You don’t need to ask that. Can’t you just let some things just be between me and my sister?”

“Did you tell them anything you haven't already told me and your father?”

Never looked away slightly at that. “No.”

“Then what are you being so defensive for? Just let your sister and her dragonfriend fill us in on what you’ve told them and we can have a nice little chat about it.”

“If I told them nothing new, there is no need to clue you in, right?”

“Perhaps I would like us to have a conversation while we eat, and seeing as your sister was just told this, I might want to hear what her thoughts are.”

“Telling you her thoughts and asking her to tell you specifically what I told her are totally different, Mom,” he sighed, “but fine.”

Mom smiled at Never and went back to making sure everyone had something to lay down on, well, everyone except for Big Softy. While she had brought as many blankets as her saddlebags could carry, Big Softy was just a little too big to fully lay on what she had for him. He was fine though, saying he didn’t need any, but I convinced him to at least use what she had brought for him. We each removed our saddlebags and laid down to begin digging into what my family had packed. Obviously, I laid down against Big Softy’s side and allowed him to drape his wing over me so we could cuddle as we ate.

My family seemed to have made Neighples sandwiches as well as packing a fresh apple and a container of nuts and dried berries for everyone. I was happy to see that the second saddlebag they had given to Big Softy was about half full of gems, meaning that even if he wasn’t a fan of everything else, he would still have something to eat.

“So, what was it that you three were talking about on the way?” Dad said after a bite of his sandwich. “Never’s probably told us everything about Holly, so I doubt you’ll be able to surprise us.”

I was about to respond when Never beat me to it. “They just wanted to give me their two bits on how I could be a better coltfriend.” Never rolled his eyes as he finished and began to dig through the nuts and dried fruits to find all the raisins.

“And was their advice helpful?” Mom gave my brother a smug look, knowing what the answer would be.

“Sort of,” Never’s said, almost under his breath.

“What did I tell you, just roll with what she gives you. Look at me and your mom. She was the one who had to get me to start going on the crazy adventures.”

“Is that so?” Big Softy seems to have taken an interest in my parents, bringing a smile to my muzzle. Hopefully, this was because he was actually interested and not because he was trying to make me happy after everything I said to him.

“Yep. She’s the actual Do in this relationship, I just married into this craziness.” Mom lightly slapped Dad for that, but based on her smile, they were just messing with each other. “I had hoped that at least one of our kids would have taken after me, but unfortunately, Never is too energetic, and Danger is just about a carbon copy of her cousin.”

“Well, I am of course grateful that Fluffy took after her cousin, at least when it comes to her adventurousness, but is even more fluffy.” Big Softy then leaned down and began to nuzzle me down my spine before pulling away with a slightly naughty grin. “If she wasn’t so bold, we never would have met, and I would have never found such a soft and lovely mate.”

I could feel myself start to blush at that. “Oh, stop it you. You still have all the food my family went out of their way to make, the least you could do is eat some of it.”

Big Softy just smirked, but did as I said, turning back to his food and deciding what to have first. I looked down at what I had as well and decided to move on to the sandwich. As I lifted it up to start eating, I noticed that Big Softy had decided to try it as well, or was simply deciding to mirror me.

“Wait, the way you said that makes it sound like you met Daring?” Mom sounded more than a little surprised at that.

“Indeed. I met her when I was chasing after Fluffy a few weeks after she’d stolen my candle of inspiration after our first date.”

Dad turned his gaze to me and I instinctively tried to get as small as possible. “You stole from him during your first date?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I was just playing with him, and we’re together, aren’t we?”

Mom sighed and slowly shook her head. “Your cousin is a bad influence, we keep telling you that. We’re going to have to sit down later so you can tell us exactly what happened.”

I looked away from them to try to save myself the embarrassment from them learning about that part of my and Big Softy’s relationship and started to eat my sandwich. After taking a bite, I was slightly surprised at the taste. I’d had these sandwiches before, but this time it tasted a little too spicy. I opened up the sandwich and saw that while there were still some banana peppers, there weren’t quite as many as there were usually.

Seeing me opening up the sandwich, my mom piped up. “I cut back on the peppers for your sandwich. I remember when I had your brother I wasn’t as much of a fan of them. Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s just a little spicier than I remember.” I began removing the banana peppers and putting them into my empty nut and berry container, surprised that I wasn’t enjoying them. After I removed them all, I lifted the container up and looked at my dragon friend. “Big Softy, do you want them?”

Big Softy gladly took the container of peppers and immediately tossed them into his maw. As soon as he swallowed them, he lowered his head and began to nuzzle into my chest fluff, resulting in him having a few pieces of my sandwich fall out from between the bread and land on his head. I chuckled at seeing this, especially at how he didn’t even react to it happening. I just smiled and sighed before using a wing to brush off what had landed on his head, earning me happy purrs from him.

“Hey, Danger, are the peppers too hot for you? I never thought you would be so weak someday,” my brother said sarcastically, trying to ruffle my feathers as we tended to do towards each other. Unfortunately, I had to jump forward and wrap my hooves around Big Softy’s snout before he could turn towards my brother. I could see by the way that he inhaled that he had been planning to spit fire at my brother.

We struggled for a moment, with me clinging to his snout and him pulling and whipping his head slightly in an attempt to get me to release him. I could tell though that he wasn’t actually trying to get me off of him as I knew how much stronger he was than me. I started to purr as well while restraining his muzzle, hoping to calm him down. Eventually, he stopped throwing his head around, ending his attempts at trying to get me off, but he began to softly growl.

When I was sure that he was done trying to hurt or threaten my brother, I let go of him and allowed him to pull his head back before grabbing it between my hooves and looking him in the eyes with the cutest expression I could muster. “Don’t roast my brother, Big Softy. Please, be a good dragon.” I placed a kiss on his snout before continuing. “I know dragons don’t care that much about their siblings, but ponies do. It’s why I’m fine with him doing that. Please, I want you to promise me that while we’re here you won’t hurt him.”

He increased his growling, but I knew he was just posturing, so I let go of him. “I can try to be more forgiving with him, for you, but I can’t promise since you know how binding that is. At least not with how he has been behaving.” He then turned to my brother with a glare. “Don’t mock my mate,” he hissed, “or I'll show you something too hot for you!”

Never turned pale at Big Softy’s statement and gave a few horrified nods before returning to his food.

“Never, haven't you been paying attention to how your sister’s dragon friend is around her? You should have expected something like that.” My mom seemed to be taking this in stride, much to both my and Never’s shock.

Never turned to Mom with a look of absolute astonishment. “I was just ribbing her. How was I supposed to know that he was going to get so defensive? And thanks for having my back, Mom.”

“I have to agree with Never on this one,” Dad piped up, setting aside the apple he had been eating. “Whatever you were thinking about doing, Big Softy, I would not have approved of it. I know dragons have a different mentality, but while you're here, I expect you to not act so aggressive.”

“I will do everything that is necessary to protect my mate,” Big Softy hissed while blowing a small smoke from his nostrils at Dad before turning back to me. “I will do anything to protect you, you are my mate! It would be shameful if I was too weak to do that.”

I smiled at him and placed my hoof on his nose. “My knight in shining scales,” I said before adding a kiss on his scaly nose. “But you don’t need to defend me against my own brother, I can handle him.”

He wanted to reply to that, but I silenced him with my hoof. “I know, great awesome strong mate of mine, I’m sure everypony understands that.”

Luckily, this seemed to do the trick as he snorted agreeingly, meaning we could return to our meal without any serious harm.

Sadly, when I had jumped onto Big Softy’s muzzle to stop him from attacking my brother, I had dropped my sandwich onto the blanket, causing it to come apart and spill out in front of me. Seeing this, Big Softy turned to my brother and grabbed his sandwich with his teeth before Never could react. He turned to me with a smile as he presented the sandwich. I knew Never wanted to say something, but with what had just happened, I knew he was going to keep his mouth shut.

I internally sighed at what Big Softy had done. I knew that I was never going to be able to convince him to give it back, so I might as well accept it. I happily took the sandwich from his jaws and proceeded to open it up to remove all the peppers. Big Softy was more than happy to keep his mouth open so I could toss the peppers I removed in.

When everyone was finished with their lunches, we began packing up to head back to the house, folding up the blankets and putting them in our saddlebags along with our empty food containers. Big Softy was given the responsibility of cleaning up the spilled sandwich and bringing it and the apple cores back in his bags. He was about to burn the food waste so he wouldn’t have to before my mom chimed in saying she wanted to use it for fertiliser, asking him to not go through with what he was about to do.

While we were walking down The Emerald Glen, I couldn’t help but feel that I should try to get Big Softy to keep talking with my parents. While I would have prefered trying to get him to become more friendly with Never, I knew that for the time being, that was a lost cause.

I rubbed my side against his belly. “Hey, Big Softy, why don’t you ask my mom and dad about themselves.” Big Softy didn’t seem to acknowledge what I said, but I knew he heard me. “I could always talk to them myself, but if I were to do that, I wouldn’t be able to cuddle you as much.”

I could see Big Softy glance back at me before looking towards my parents. It was obvious that he didn’t need to be told anything else to convince him.

“I seem to remember Dad talking about how he had to be convinced to do all the exciting things you wanted to do, Cloud. So, are there any tricks you used to convince him that might work on Fluffy?”

Crap, I should have thought about him asking something like that. I knew he promised not to bring up sex, but I had a feeling he was fishing for the right way to get them to talk about sex without breaking that promise. I stopped cuddling him for a second and instead looked at him with suspicion.

Big Softy turned to me and smiled before nuzzling my chest fluff. He did this for a few seconds until I just sighed and began stroking his head with a wing, getting him to start purring.

Evil dragon tricks.

Mom looked back at us, and I could tell by the smirk she seemed to have a good idea about what was going on. “Sorry to disappoint, but I didn’t need to use any tricks to get him to join me on an adventure or two. I just had to ask him really nicely if he didn't seem like he would be up for it.”

“Yeah, I was more than willing to go along with most of her off the wall expeditions when she asked, and when that didn’t work, she does have the best puppy dog eyes I’ve seen.” Mom slapped Dad with her wing for that, but it was apparent that she knew he was just messing with her. “It’s the reason I asked if she would like to date me.”

“You’re just saying that because I was the only mare that was willing to join you in your little tunnels.” Mom smiled at Dad before she moved over and kissed him on the cheek.

Big Softy pulled up from nuzzling my chest and looked towards my parents. “Hmm, well now I know how Fluffy got so good at that look. But I’m sure she’s far better at it than her mom though. So, how did you meet?” Immediately after he said this, he lowered his head between my wings and began to nuzzle me there.

While I was appreciative of the affection, I would prefer it if he could go more than a few seconds without cuddling me and instead just talk with my parents, I had promised to cuddle him if he talked with my parents, so the least I could do would be to return the favor. So with a wry smile, I cuddled up closer to him.

Dad was the one to respond this time. “Well, I was in the middle of digging out an offshoot tunnel to a mine I’d recently started. I had more or less made it my home over the last week trying to find anything of value in there. It's actually not that far, probably only about a half an hour flight west of here in the smoky mountains. Anyways, while I was digging it out, Cloud here came flying in thinking that it was some old ruin entrance.”

Mom bumped Dad with her hip for that. “I did not. I was just wondering what a hole in the side of a mountain was doing there. And you have to admit, a hole in the side of a mountain in the middle of a forest is rather interesting, especially when there's the possibility of it being more than just a random cave.”

Dad reacted to that with a soft snort before actually responding. “As I was saying. After Cloud here stumbled into the mine I was digging, we really hit it off. She told me she came from Cloudsdale and was exploring west of there to find any interesting areas to check out. She began to tell me about herself, and I did the same. I was quite surprised when she told me that her special talent was cloud shaping, specifically in making cloud homes. Given that she prefered to be underground half of the time or off exploring, you can imagine how strange it sounded to hear she excelled at being up in the clouds as a homemaker.”

“Gold.” Mom’s tone had a warning tone to it, telling him he wasn’t being funny. His comment also earned him a slap across his back from her wings.

Dad, for his part, just smiled and continued on. “So, after your mother here told me about herself, she asked me about what I was doing there. I explained to her that my talent was finding gold and gems. I even handed her my pickaxe and showed her where she should swing. She ended up with a rather nice piece of blue zircon, she still keeps it in a box on her bedside table. While I was explaining how I evaluate the strength of rocks and find the easiest areas to dig, I managed to break into a cavern.”

Never suddenly cut in before Dad could continue. “Hold on, why is this the first time you're telling us this story? I thought you told us all your cool mining stories. I remember you told us natural caverns were extremely rare.”

“Yeah, I have to agree with Never on this one, why didn’t you ever tell us this story when we were growing up?”

Dad turned his head to look at us and with a raised eyebrow. “I did, though it seems like my little story just went in one ear and out the other for you two.”

I lowered my head and cuddled in closer to Big Softy after that.

“As I was saying, I managed to find a natural cavern while talking to Cloud about mining. It’s actually because of that that I started to call her my lucky charm. We explored the cavern for a while, finding it was actually a system of the things, and it wasn’t until Cloud asked what time it was that we realised that we had been exploring the caverns for the last six hours. We said our goodbyes and she left to go back home while I stayed in the caverns.”

Dad then released a few light chuckles before continuing. “Ha, that funniest thing though, the next day, I woke up to this lovely mare here shaking me and demanding I get up.” As dad said that, I watched as Big Softy snaked his head down with a smirk before giving me a kiss.

“Like mother, like daughter. These Do mares are quite lovely.”

Dad seemed to agree, laughing good naturedly before lightly bumping Mom with his hip, earning him a smile from her. “Apparently, me telling her about how strange this system was got her interested in exploring it. While there weren’t any ancient civilisations that lived there, Cloud still seemed to enjoy them all the same. We actually learned that the caverns were old magma chambers that had drained several centuries ago. It’s most likely why the Smoky Mountains got their name, seeing as we found dozens of vents leading to the surface and letting in light.”

Big Softy perked up at that. “Oh, so do these caverns still have some magma in them somewhere?”

“Not quite. In all our searching, all of the old dikes are either sealed from cooled magma or no longer lead to any liquid magma. The best guess we have is that a xiulcoatl was living in the magma chambers and eating the magma, but then there must have been some kind of event that cut off the chambers from what was feeding them, meaning that as it ate, the chambers depleted.”

Big Softy had begun to growl at the first mention of this xiulcoatl, even baring his fangs. “Serves it right, those pests are just as bad as the ventalas.”

I looked up to Big Softy in confusion. “What are ventalas?”

“Vile little birds that steal a dragon’s gems and eat them. It’s difficult to get rid of them since they’re so nimble. Even catching them with our claws or fangs is a hard task. We would burn them if we could, but like the phoenix, which is a much nicer bird, they’re immune to fire.”

“To finish my story, we didn’t find anything all that interesting in the caverns, but, if it wasn’t for Cloud here happening across the mine I was digging, we might have never gotten together, and I would have never met the most amazing mare in Equestria.” Dad finished by rubbing noses with Mom while smiling.

“Wait.” Big Softy had grown a wide smile, one I usually only saw on him when he was being naughty. “Are you saying that you and her met because she found you and couldn’t wait to come back to your lair, only for both of you to fall in love?”

“Well… I wouldn’t exactly call that mine I was digging my ‘lair’.”

“But you were living there, no?”

Dad looked back at Big Softy quizzically for a few seconds before responding. “I guess you could say that, but I had to leave about a week later after some pony that didn’t know anything about mining bought the land.”

Big Softy smiled and turned back to me before giving me a kiss on the forehead. “What did I say, like mother, like daughter. It seems finding a mate in their lair and using their charm is just how Dos find partners.”

I could feel my face turn red from that. “How I met you and my mom met my dad are completely different. The only similarity is that we both met our significant other while in a cave and while we were exploring.”

Big Softy smirked at that. “I think there are a few more similarities than just that, especially since you ponies are so against talking about naughtier topics.” Big Softy then leaned down and began nuzzling my chest fluff. “Unfortunately, because of my promise, I can’t ask how similar our meetings were.”

I scrunched up my face and began to growl slightly at how even though he promised not to bring up sex, he was still able to skirt the line. While I wanted to pull back or push him away for still being naughty, he was keeping his promise.

After that, the conversation died down a bit, with my parents not exactly knowing how to continue things after Big Softy’s comment. However, because of my earlier statement about wanting him to talk to my family so that he would keep getting cuddles, he was quick to break the silence that had developed. His first question was about what I was like as a foal, much to my embarrassment, especially after my mom started to tell all the worst stories of me as a filly. For the most part after this though, Big Softy’s questions were much less personal, most likely due to him seeing how red my face had gotten after my mother explaining my childhood.

Eventually though, mostly to save myself the embarrassment, I asked Big Softy if he wouldn’t be opposed to just walking the rest of the hike in silence while we cuddled. He couldn’t have agreed faster, pulling me closer with his wing, starting to rub his muzzle against my neck, and releasing a quiet, happy purr. The walk back home after this was rather uneventful, with everyone staying quiet and enjoying the views. When we did get back, I pushed off from Big Softy’s side, earning me a look of hurt from him.

At seeing this, I flew up, struggling slightly, took his muzzle between my hooves, and gave him a kiss. “Don’t give me that look. I was next to you the entire hike cuddling with you.”

“Yes, but why are you leaving?”

“I just want to talk to my mom before we head inside.” Big Softy was still giving me that betrayed face, so I figured I needed to elaborate slightly. “It’s about mare stuff.”

Big Softy looked down towards my stomach before smiling slightly and giving me a lick. “Alright then, I’ll go inside, but don’t take too long, I enjoy feeling my fluffy mate under my wings.”

With that, I let go of him and landed on the ground. As I watched him and everyone else walking towards the front door, I called out to my mom and told her I wanted to talk with her. She nodded towards me before giving Dad a kiss and heading back towards me.

“What is it, Danger.”

“Hey, I just wanted to thank you for helping with Big Softy. I really enjoyed walking with you guys.”

Mom smiled before pulling me in for a hug. I responded in kind and the two of us embraced for several seconds before she pulled away. “I know you, Danger, and I’d like to say I’ve gotten a read on your dragon friend. He may be more than a little clingy, but I’d like to say his heart is in the right place.”

“Still, thanks for talking him out of carrying me. While I love it when he carries me, I still enjoy being my own mare.”

“I figured as much. It’s still nice to see that you found yourself a stallion, or in this case a dragon, that is willing to move mountains to make you happy.”

I chuckled slightly at that. “Don't give him any ideas. The last thing I need is for him to cause an uproar.” I sighed, lowering my head before looking up to the red and orange glow of the evening sky. “I just wish he would cool it a little with Never. I know he loves me and wants to protect me, but attacking Never just because of a few slip ups is now what I would call being nice to my family.”

Mom walked over and wrapped me in a hug again. “I know, Danger. You just need to give it some more time. You can't expect that the love of your life is going to instantly get along and care for everyone in your family. I’m pretty sure your dragon friend is just tolerating me and your father so that you’re happy. I’m sure that if you just keep telling him that it would make you extremely happy if he would just get along with Never he’ll find something to like about him. Just give it some more time.”

I released a sarcastic exhale before gently pushing off from my mom. “I appreciate your optimism, but with Softy, I think it will take a little more than me batting my eyes at him.”

“Hmm, you never know. You would be surprised what I’ve been able to accomplish doing just that.”

I couldn’t help but to chuckle at that. “Thanks, Mom. I’ll keep that in mind. Perhaps Big Softy was right and I‘m a lot more like you than I’d care to admit.”

“I’m glad I could help. Now, let’s head inside, your father thought we should play a game of Gold Digger with dinner to relax after the hike.”