Tsundere Travels

Ember was finally free of that prison! She celebrated that freedom by flying higher and higher into the cool and refreshing night air. Up and up she went, until the carts she could see on the ground were as tiny as ants. Only then did she halt her ascent and look around.

Overhead, she could see the stars twinkling in the night sky. But no matter where the dragoness looked, she couldn’t find a single constellation that she knew. Ember knew then that she was very far away from the Dragon Lands. Lessons from her childhood came to mind, ones where she was taught how to find constellations in the sky and use them to navigate her way home. But if the stars were all different, how could she figure out how to get home?

The Dragon Lord next decided to look for a castle nearby, or some place that looked like it had a princess living there. She hoped that that princess would help her find where the pony had been dragged off to, and also help them find their way home. So Ember looked down at the ground, and gasped in wonder at what she saw. The Dragon Lands were sparsely lit by the volcanoes there, but she knew the pony lands were mostly dark at night. Not here! This place was brightly lit in comparison; not even Canterlot was this bright at night. A lot of the lights were laid out in a grid, along what she guessed were roads. And she could see lights moving along those roads. She wondered, were those the strange carts that the monkeys rode in?

She was too high up to hear anything, but she wondered if the carts would creak and squeak like the Equestrian ones or growl like the ones she saw when she first arrived. Off to her left, she could see many of those zipping lights going back and forth; but they were going much faster than the ones directly below her. So she decided to fly over and take a look.

Many, many carts raced by at an impossible speed! Five rows wide going both ways, the speeding red and white lights across the roadway amazed the dragoness. She found herself drifting lower to get a better look, and wondered at everything she saw. As she descended, she could hear the growls of the carts as they sped by. She saw lines between the rows of carts, and a short wall that separated the carts going in opposite directions. There were trees framing the gigantic road, and there was a large, curving bridge that let more carts join the race from the other side. As Ember slowly drifted over the freeway, her wings felt the slight increase in temperature and she automatically adjusted for the warmer air. The smell reminded her of a belching volcano near where she grew up, and the memory made her a little homesick. Not that she would admit that to anydragon. Or pony for that matter.

Just then, a huge wagon raced past - one that the dragoness hadn’t seen before. It had a large, curved front and belched hot gasses from two big pipes. Behind the pipes was a large box, easily 4 times longer than the front. Even though Ember was still high above the freeway, the roaring wagon still amazed her. It sorta reminded her of a snoring dragon, with the noise and smoke it spewed into the sky. She cart-watched for a number of minutes, mesmerized by the speeding vehicles, before shaking her head to clear it. Sightseeing was fun, she mused, but she had a princess to find. So the Dragon Lord leisurely floated across the freeway to the other side

Directly beneath the dragoness were some cottages spread out amongst some strange trees, and off to her right were some blue and white buildings that were packed closely together. Farther off to her right were some tall buildings, and behind those she could make out bright lights and noises. Ember’s curiosity won her over, and she decided to check the scene out. But she figured it was best not to be seen doing it, as she didn’t want to be dragged back to that prison again. So the dragoness aimed her flight above the tallest building instead, figuring she could peek down on things from there. A few strong flaps of her wings, and she was able to soar above the tall buildings. However, once there she realized she had three places to spy from; three tall buildings that oversaw the same scene. Her thoughts were frozen in indecision for a few moments, until she realized she could eventually use all of them. So she shrugged and headed to the leftmost building.

Conveniently, there was a large circular clearing on top of the building. And even better, the clearing was marked with the number ‘18’. Ember descended slowly and gently alighted in the middle of the clearing. To her surprise, the clearing was not made of dirt but some sort of rough rock. The Dragon Lord wondered at the mystery, then shrugged her shoulders. It mattered not that they had a suitable dragon landing at the top of the building, only that they had one. She walked to the edge of the landing pad, then used her wings to glide down to the roof’s surface. From there, Ember made her way to the north edge of the building so she could see what was going on.

And there was a lot going on! There were a lot of those hairless monkeys walking around, talking and laughing and having a good time. There were many brightly-lit signs, some that read ‘HHLA’ and ‘Islands’ and ‘Ben & Jerry’s’. A popular place was called ‘Buffalo Wild Wings’. The name made her wonder if the place was run by buffalo, or served cooked buffalo. A green sign said ‘Starbucks’, and she wondered what the deer from the Everfree Forest were doing there. The last sign she could see on her right said ‘Dave & Busters’, which made no sense at all. The monkeys walked in and out of doors beneath these signs, and growling carts went in and out of tunnels beneath them. Laughter and voices drifted up to Ember’s ears, but nothing she heard made any sense. It all sounded like mindless gossip, but they sure seemed to be having fun.

And the smells! Her sensitive dragon nose smelled cooked meat and vegetables all over the place! Different smells came from doors near each sign, which she realized were for different shops. Ember wished she hadn’t used all of her gems at the ‘Food Mart’ earlier, but also realized that she couldn’t visit the shops at all. Not once had she seen another race, only the bald monkeys. This land must not know of Equestrians or dragons, and probably didn’t know Equestrian currency or princesses. If she was seen, she’d probably be poked with those stinging sticks again and dragged back to prison. Nope! She’d have to wait until the shops closed up, then see what she could find.

Ember waited for HOURS.

But finally, FINALLY, the shops closed one by one and the monkeys left in their noisy carts. Many of the lights and signs were still on, but for the most part things were quiet. The dragoness wanted a closer look at things, so she left her rooftop hiding place and flew over to the roof above the ‘Dave & Busters’ sign. And there she waited for her prey. Fortunately, she did not have long to wait. A bald monkey came out of a doorway, pushing a wheeled garbage cart in front of itself. It was dressed in some sort of uniform that she’d seen some of the other monkeys wearing. The garbage can it pushed was full of black bags, but Ember could smell the scent of meat clinging to both the monkey and the bags. The monkey whistled to itself as it pushed the garbage cart past the ‘Dave & Busters’ sign and onto the sidewalk in front of the building. Ember followed the monkey from the rooftop as the creature walked and whistled its way down the sidewalk.

The monkey’s journey took it past a set of moving staircases. The dragoness would have marveled at the amazing feat, but she was too focused on the enticing smell of meat coming from the garbage cart. Farther down, the monkey turned into a large entranceway that Ember remembered said ‘Service Only’. The wheeled cart got louder once in the entranceway, then she heard some other noises and a metallic clang. Shortly afterwards, the monkey wheeled the empty garbage cart out of the entranceway and returned the way it came.

Ember watched the monkey walk away with its cart, then jumped off of the rooftop. Her wings snapped open a moment later, and she deftly flew into the large service entrance. Her flight made no noise as she glided down the wide hallway, then banked left once the hallway ended. She landed near some large metal bins that were full of black bags. She sniffed the air once, then twice. Her third sniff finally narrowed the scent of meat to the fourth bin. Her claws flung the large lid open with a bang, and she leapt into the bin. Her claws ripped through the bag on top to find her reward: flat patties of cooked MEAT! The smell alone set her nerves on fire from the anticipation. The dragoness snagged one lukewarm patty in a claw, then quickly stuffed the meat into her mouth. She moaned aloud in carnivorous ecstasy! Her rump flopped down to sit inside the trash bin while she chewed slowly.

Travis was grumbling to himself as he made his way to the service dock. Sometimes he really hated this security job at the Howard Hughes Center. He didn’t mind dealing with the rowdy drunks, they weren’t so bad once you calmed them down. But the homeless folks could be a real pain. The crazy ones could go into a blind rage when you got too close. The local homeless population had discovered that no one bothered to lock the dumpsters, so they were always coming around and raiding the trash. For some reason, Travis’ boss always picked him to run the homeless folks off. Like now. Someone had heard a loud noise by the dumpsters, and he was told to go check it out.

He slammed open the door leading to the service dock, and saw someone wearing a blue coat sitting in one of the dumpsters. The blue color was unusual, but not the most colorful thing he’s seen someone wear there before.

“HEY! GET OUT OF THERE!”

The homeless person looked up at the noise, then turned to face Travis. The man could see that the vagrant had a burger patty hanging out of his mouth, with both hands full of more patties. The two stared at each other in silence. Travis was surprised, while the bum only looked mildly curious.

‘What the hell is he wearing? Is that a dragon mask? It’s not close to Halloween, so where’d he get it from?

‘Doesn’t matter, he’s gotta go.’

“Beat it! You can’t hang out here and eat the garbage!”

The homeless person threw his face up and tossed the burger patty in his mouth into the air. When it came down, he snatched it out of the air and swallowed it in one piece. Then he turned to Travis and yelled back at him.

“Buck off, buddy! I haven’t eaten all day, and this meat is delicious!”

The bum then stuffed another patty in her mouth and began to chew it.

Travis just stood there, his mouth gaping open. He wasn’t sure anymore what he was looking at. First off, the voice was definitely female. Wouldn’t be the first time he guessed a vagrant’s gender wrong. But that mask was way too realistic. The way she was eating those patties with the mask on...it looked like a real mouth. And the blue on her wasn’t a cloak or a cape, it looked like her skin. And she had claws instead of fingers. What the hell was she? His brain finally unlocked and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"What...what are you?!"

"I'm Ember, the Dragon Lord! Who the hell are you?"

‘A dragon? No way!’

"I'm...I'm Travis. I'm a security guard here."

"Why do I have to leave, Travis?"

"Um, I'm not supposed to let anyone into the trash. They make a mess and might get sick on the food."

"Well, I'm a dragon and we can eat anything without getting sick."

"Dragon, right. I still can't let you stay here."

Ember rolled her eyes and sighed audibly.

"Fine, I'll go. You're lucky you're cute, for a hairless monkey."

The ‘dragon’ who called herself Ember grabbed two big handfuls of burger patties, then jumped out of the dumpster. To Travis’ surprise, instead of hitting the ground she opened a set of wings and soared down the passageway! She hooked a right at the end and disappeared from the man’s sight. Travis ran after her and out the service entrance, but Ember was nowhere to be seen. He removed his hat, then ran his fingers through his short hair. And wondered what the hell he had just seen.

"I don't know who or what that was, but I'm just gonna report this as a homeless person in the dumpster. Man, what a crazy night."

The rest of Travis’ shift was fortunately uneventful. He clocked out just after 4am, then got into his old Honda and made his way home. While the man wasn’t tired just yet, the lack of traffic at that early hour made the drive home dull and boring. So much so that he barely remembered driving it. He mindlessly pulled into his apartment complex’s underground parking, then turned into his single parking space. As he left his car and walked up to his apartment, his mind was already on the video game he wanted to play. Travis found it hard to fall asleep right when he got home, so he would play a fun yet mind-numbing game until he was ready to doze off.

Travis turned his key in the lock of his door and opened it. Inside he walked, then swung the door closed with a slam. The man didn’t care if he woke up his neighbors, ‘cause they always woke him up in the afternoon when he was trying to sleep. He had just begun to unbutton his work shirt when there was a pounding at his door. Travis growled in frustration, fully expecting to get bitched out by one of his neighbors for making too much noise. But when he opened the door, he saw a certain blue dragoness instead.

"Hi. Can I come in?"

Travis had no answer, he was too busy staring dumbly at her. Who in his opinion, was a lot sexier standing in his doorway then she was dumpster-diving for day-old burgers. But Ember didn't wait for Travis to reply, she just pushed past the male to enter his apartment.

At first glance, the apartment was small and cozy. The front door opened into the corner of the tiny living room. A dingy blue loveseat sat against the left wall, right in front of the door. A beat-up wooden coffee table with glass inserts was in front of the loveseat, and it was covered in game controllers and beer cans. On the opposite wall was a large flat-panel TV mounted on the wall, with a couple of older game systems on the dark blue carpet in front of the TV. Just beyond the TV was a doorway that led to the kitchen, and on the opposite wall next to the kitchen was a tiny hallway that led to the bathroom and the bedroom. The white walls were completely bare of, well anything. But the paint seemed clean enough.

"Eh, kinda a dump don't you think?"

"What? Hey! Whaddya mean, a dump? I--"

Ember interrupted Travis' rant with a smile and a claw over his lips.

"Relax, I'm just yanking your tail. Sure, it's no palace. But I can appreciate a home with just the bare essentials."

Travis was stunned into silence once again, so he did nothing but watch Ember as she walked through his living room and into the kitchen. A few moments later, he heard his cabinet doors being opened, one by one. His brain noted that the kitchen light was off, but the girl didn't seem to have any trouble getting around. Travis suddenly realized he was standing there with his front door wide open, so he swung the door closed. He next heard the oven door slam shut, then heard Ember speak.

"Looks kinda like Sparkle's kitchen. What's this?"

Travis next saw some light appear in the kitchen, which he guessed came from the refrigerator.

"Ooh, nice and cold!

“Is that cow milk?

"Smells like it."

‘Shit! Homeless girl is raiding my fridge!’

Travis made for the kitchen, but the room went dark again. Ember walked back into the living room and nearly bumped into Travis.

"You mind if I have a glass of milk later? We don't get that stuff in the Dragon Lands."

'Dragon Lands? This homeless chick is crazy.'

"Uh, sure."

"Thanks!

"What's down here?"

Ember turned to her right and walked the few steps down the tiny hallway. She looked in the room to the right, which was a small bathroom. The dragoness walked into the bathroom, then almost immediately walked back out.

"What's that room for?"

"Uh, it's a bathroom. You never seen a toilet or a shower before?"

"Nope. Oh, wait. Bath...room! I know what that is now. But why's it called a bathroom if there isn't a bath?"

"I guess it's too small for a bathtub. Most people just use the shower."

"Huh. Then I guess the 'toilet' is where you do your thing?"

"Yeah."

'This is one weird conversation.'

"Hmm. The ponies just squat over a hole in the ground. We dragons just do it over a lava pit and it all burns away."

'Yup, one weird-ass conversation.'

Ember walked into the remaining room, which was Travis' bedroom. This time, he decided to follow her. As he crossed the threshold into the dark room, he instinctively flipped the light switch with his right hand. The Dragon Lord's response was swift.

"OW! BUCK! Warn me before you do that next time!"

"Sorry."

Travis could now see that Ember was standing in front of his bed, which was directly across from the bedroom door. Her back was to him, but he could see that she was covering her eyes with an arm. As he watched, she slowly and gingerly lowered her arm.

"Okay...okay...I can see again. That sucked."

"Said I was sorry."

"It's fine. Now what's in --

"WOAH!"

Travis couldn't help but smile at Ember's reaction. She was staring at a poster on the far wall, a poster of a large red dragon standing over a large pile of gold and bones. (This one: https://annestokes.com/wp-content/uploads/Dragons-Lair.jpg)

"Awesome, ain't it? It's called 'Dragon's Lair', by Anne Stokes."

"Oh, yeah. Sexy, too. He looks so fierce, it makes me feel all tingly."

"Riiiight. Yeah, dragons are awesome."

"We are, aren't we?"

'She's really playing this whole dragon costume thing up'

"Oh...uh, I got a little dragon statue too."

Ember tore her eyes away from the poster and frantically looked around the room for the statue. When she couldn’t find it, she turned to Travis.

"Where?!"

He pointed to his right, Ember's left.

"Over there, on the desk."

The dragoness turned to her right, and as soon as she focused on the desk she quickly walked over. The desk was actually a small table, and contained an open laptop, some disorganized papers and school books, and one nine-inch tall statue of a bronze dragon. (It looked like this: https://www.gothicplus.com/image/cache/catalog/pacificgifts/11544-bronze-age-dragon-statue-650x900.jpg)

"Ooh, he's a cutie."

"Yeah, kinda like you."

'Did I say that out loud?!'

At first, Travis had been weirded out by this weird homeless girl. She followed him home, then just barged her way into his apartment. But while she was acting really weird, she didn't act like she'd been living on the street. She didn't smell bad, for one. He had to admit, she was kinda cute in her own way. Maybe she was some crazy cosplayer or something?

"Cute? Cute?!"

The enraged dragoness roughly put the dragon statue back on the desk, then turned on Travis. Her wings flared out from her sides in a show of force, and she stomped over to the man in a way he found completely adorable. She poked a claw hard into his chest, but not so hard that it broke his skin.

"You take that back!"

While Ember had been close to him before, that was the first time he'd had a chance to REALLY look at her. He'd seen some really good cosplays that one time he went to Comic-Con, but when you got up close you could see all the glue and makeup and all the parts that made up the costume. But this one...this one still looked real this close.

'No way. This has got to be a fake!'

Without thinking, Travis reached out and grabbed Ember's muzzle. Then gave it a tug. He expected her mask to come loose, but it was stuck on good.

"Hey!"

He first turned her head left, then right, and finally up; but he couldn't see the seams in the costume. Nor the paint on the mask, it all looked like real scales.

"Stop that!"

Travis pulled Ember close to himself, so close that they were nearly touching. The dragoness grabbed his arms and tried to push herself away, but Travis held her fast. He peered down at her eyes, trying to see the makeup that blended her eyes into the mask. But it all looked like one piece of flesh, with tiny scales all around her eyes. And he realized, her mask didn't feel like plastic but warm soft flesh. And her breath was hot against his hand.

Eyes wide at his sudden realization, Travis let go of Ember's muzzle. The dragoness took a step back and rubbed her muzzle with a hand.

"What the heck was that all about?!"

"You're real."

"What was that?"

"You're real. A real dragon!"

Ember crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked at him.

"Well, yeah. What did you think I was?"

Travis was suddenly overcome with emotion, and he reached out under Ember's arms and lifted her up in the air.

"You're real! Dragons are real! Haha!"

"Stop that! Put me down right now!"

"Okay, okay!"

Once Travis had put Ember down, she swatted his arm gently.

"Don't do that again! I'm not good with all that touchy-feely stuff."

"Sure, sure. Oh! You wanted a glass of milk, right? I'll go get it for you!"

Ember watched the crazed human run out of the room, then heard him exclaim "Dragons are real!" She stood there in the bedroom with a bewildered look on her muzzle as she heard Travis run around for a bit, then heard the sound of metal clinking against metal. Then Travis ran around some more. The dragoness stood nonplussed in the bedroom for a while longer until Travis called out to her.

"Come on out here! I've got your milk all ready!”

The Dragon Lord left the bedroom in a bit of a daze. She still wasn't sure what to make of the bald monkey's strange antics, but she had to admit he was pretty cute when doing them. The smell of cold milk finally drew her out into the living room. Once there, she saw Travis sitting down on the loveseat looking up at her with a smile. On the clean coffee table in front of the loveseat was her glass of milk, nice and tall as she liked it. Travis also had a drink, but it was in a bottle with a white and blue label on it. From what she could smell, the bottle had alcohol in it.

"Come on, I don't bite!"

Ember slowly walked over to the couch and picked up her glass of milk. Sure enough, the glass felt nice and cold. When she looked at Travis again, he gave her a wide smile and patted the cushion next to him. The dragoness looked at him warily, then climbed onto the couch but sat on the armrest instead. She took a sip of her cold cow milk, and sighed happily.

"So, what's your name?"

"Ember. I told you that before."

The dragoness took another sip of her milk. The cool refreshing flavor was soothing her nerves from her rough treatment earlier.

"Right, right. And you're from the...Dragon Lands?"

"That's right."

"Can you tell me about the Dragon Lands?"

"Well..."

Ember answered Travis's questions, and eventually asked him about who he was and about his life. The dragoness had another glass of milk while Travis had a couple of beers, and they talked until long after the sun's rays had peeked through the curtains. They had found something in the other that they liked, and became fast friends. When they decided it was time to go to bed, Ember made a nest in Travis's bedroom out of his spare blankets and pillows. In no time, she fell asleep and began to lightly snore.

Travis, on the other hand, was too excited to sleep; there was a real dragon in his bedroom, after all. So he settled for watching Ember sleep for a while. He couldn’t help but smile when her snores turned into soft trilling, and those adorable noises finally lulled him into a deep and peaceful sleep.