Flurry and the Dragon

Flurry had scurried over to one of the corners of the cavern, sitting as far from the dragon as she could. She couldn't see the exit, wondering if the dragon's magic had rendered it invisible. He seemed to have only a passing interest in her, counting his coins by the candlelight and only pausing every so often to look up at her and smirk before returning. He was waiting for her to make a move.

"What do you want from me?" asked Flurry finally, after several minutes of silence.

The dragon smiled maliciously. "Much."

"That doesn't answer my question. Why did you bring me here?"

"Because this is where it will all happen."

Flurry scowled. "You're not being very cooperative."

"That is an accurate statement."

Flurry sighed. "What is it that you want? Money? Do you want my mom to pay you a ransom for my safe return?"

"That's a very tempting offer. I accept. She can gather up the coinage and send it here. Once it's been counted out, both you and the money can pack up and come with me."

"Who says I'm going with you?"

"Who says you have a choice?"

Flurry slumped down. "Fine. send your note, already."

The dragon shook his head. "No. I'll give her some time to miss you, first. A week, at least."

"A week?!" shouted Flurry. "You expect me to sit in here with you for a week?!"

"At least," nodded the dragon coolly. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Flurry folded her arms and turned away, pouting. "This is going to be even more boring than sitting in that rickety cart and having nothing to do. At least there, I could watch the countryside go by."

The dragon turned his head to Flurry, slinking forward until he was encroaching in her personal space. "Are you truly that bored?"

She scowled at him. "Do I look like I'm having fun?"

He shrugged. "You seem to have no trouble occupying your time with conversation."

"Yes, I'm bored," groaned Flurry, smacking his nose. "You don't have anything for me to do!"

A slow grin crept across the dragon's snout. "Well, then..." He turned and walked to the other side of the cavern and pulled out a chest. He opened it up and brought out a feather duster and a maid outfit. He tossed them to her hooves, letting them skate across the ground.

Flurry sneered at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

The dragon folded his front legs. "If you're that desperate for something to do, you can clean the place up. If you're exaggerating about how bored you really are, then you can sit and wait for the next week. That decision is yours to make."

Flurry picked up the maid outfit. "What makes you think this dress is even going to fit me?"

"I can see your body shape," answered the dragon. "I know your size, and I've even accounted for your wings. It will fit just fine. Unless you'd rather wear nothing at all?"

Flurry's stomach tightened. She was used to wearing little to nothing around ponies, but if this perverted dragon was suggesting that she clean his cave in the nude, there was no greater incentive to cover herself. She quickly slipped into the dress, finding that it fit her perfectly, even accommodating for her wings as promised. Best of all, there were panties under the skirt, so even if he did stick his nose up there, he wouldn't see anything.

"How's that," he smirked, chuckling at her. "Do you feel more comfortable now? Do you enjoy playing dress up?"

"No," answered Flurry. "I don't."

"Fine," shrugged the dragon. "Take it off, then. Nice and slow; I could use the entertainment."

Flurry's face went red. "I'm not stripping for you!"

"You say that, but it would certainly pass the time more than just sitting there and waiting for a whole week."

"No."

He shrugged again, and pushed a broom in front of her. "Well, set to work, then."

Flurry looked around. "You expect me to clean this whole place?"

"Why not?" he chuckled. "You're already dressed for it."

Flurry grunted in frustration and grabbed the broom. "Fine. You're lucky I'm so bored and grouchy!"

"Why would your mood have anything to do with it?"

"Because cleaning up is cathartic!!"

She started by sweeping up around her. To no one's great surprise, under the dirt that made up the bottom of the cavern was more dirt, and she was just pushing it around in circles, kicking dust into the air. All the while, the dragon just watched with a big smirk on his face, chuckling as she tried to clean the dirt from the dirt. It was a futile effort.

"My, my, my... You actually went and did it. You know there's nothing under here, right?"

Flurry threw the broom at him. "Why did you wait this long to tell me that?!"

"It's fun watching you do my dirty work for me."

Flurry scowled at him. "You're an arsehole!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes!"

"Let's see yours, then."

Flurry looked up at him. "What?"

"You say I'm an arsehole; show me." He pulled out a portrait of himself. "This is what I look like. If your arsehole looks the same, then I suppose I am."

"Fuck you."

"Is that what you want to do now? Or would you prefer to clean off the layer of dust from my coins and gems that you put there?"

She snarled at him as she snatched the feather duster from his claws. He'd scattered much of his hoard across the floor. There were no tables and only three chests. One of them had housed the clothing she was wearing, along with the equipment she was using. Who knew what else he had in there? She didn't know what was in the other two boxes, but one was marked with a clawed pair of gashes perpendicular to each other, right next to the lock. Could that mean he'd stolen it and couldn't open it?

At least his was something she could finish. She couldn't clean up all of the dirt, but she could clean the coins and gemstones. The latter, she could even break apart into its constituent pieces, separating the emeralds from the rubies and sapphires and tourmaline. It wasn't fun, but at least it was something to do.