Smolder flew across the dark canvas of the night as a fiery comet of orange. Pale blue eyes glowed like diamonds amongst the void, the dragoness swooped down towards an abandoned schoolhouse near The Everfree.
This decayed slice of paradise was her private dragon sanctuary. A place she could cut loose and be herself away from the judgemental eyes of the equines. The roof had caved in six moons before, granting a beautiful sunroof for the moon to shine through.
A scent of sulfur wafted nearby from the heat vents found in the forest. The main reason the structure had been abandoned long ago, yet to her was the smell of home and the lava pits she'd visit during the summer.
Landing outside the building with a dull thud she clutched a wriggling fish within her jaws. She loved the slimy mouth feel of a freshly caught fish, the pure rush of adrenaline from her hunt was a sensation she sorely missed.
With the powerful snap of her jaws, she felt the fish cease its hopeless struggle. A light toss of her head upward and the snack plummeted easily down her open mouth. She savored the salty taste momentarily before swallowing, as it slowly slid down her gullet.
Inside the dilapidated homestead was nothing but clutter basked within a pale blue light. To the right, a large nest of comfy cotton was torn out from the ceiling and placed upon jagged wood.
Far more comfortable to lay in than it looked.
To the left a homemade workout area created solely out of twisted metal, rusted pipes, and rotted wood. She was indeed a work of art, which she dared not to touch yet due to tetanus.
The dead center of this disaster zone were two odd misshapen lumps of red and blue. The patchwork was one of a true novice, as the red was massively oversized and lumpy. While the blue was so petite and malnourished it shouldn't be a thing.
Spike created these monstrosities which he named, Beanbags. Because they were made of these odd, bland, and truthfully tasteless beans. She tried them a few times before and no matter the added flavors, they were nasty.
"Sup," Spike spoke from atop the massive red monster, his entire body nearly sunk into its deary innards.
Smolder scrunched her snout seeing empty cardboard buckets of mud-drenched gems strewn about her hideout messily. "At least clean up after yourself, nerd!" She barked with an annoyed growl before picking up around the vicinity.
"I thought anything goes here?"
"No, it's a dragon sanctuary! Not your pigsty!!" Smolder tossed the buckets into a pile near the corner, with a blaze of fire from her nostrils they were set aflame.
"Where were you anyway?" Spike questioned his friend as she walked over and kicked the backside of the beanbag, the young drake sent crashing to the floor loudly.
Smolder plopped lazily onto her lumpy seat with her slender frame stretched out. "I went fishing for a snack." She picked a scale from her teeth with a feminine claw.
Spike chuckled as he sprawled out on his belly over the blue bean bag. He always thought it was interesting that she enjoyed hunting small game, he could never bring himself to hurt another creature, no matter how small.
To him, gems soaked in fresh mud were enough of a treat. Twilight cut him back after he began to form a gut, so this hideout was his only chance to pig out without the fear of that lavender frown.
"What's it like?" Spike placed a claw upon his cheek, dark green hues locked onto her above.
Smolder shrugged as she inspected her foot in a lackadaisical fashion. "I dunno like kicking a bag of chickens? Your backside isn't that scaley." She snorted with a tiny chortle of amusement.
"Not kicking me! Hunting!!" Spike shot daggers at her in anger.
Smolder shrugged in deep thought of such a question. In all honesty she never really gave it any real consideration, it was more like second nature at this point. The rush of finding a creature unaware of its surroundings, the deathly silence before the pounce. This had become something of a blur more recently.
"It's like letting your instincts guide you, the world is left behind and the only thing to be appreciated is the scent of blood and the beating heart of fear." Smolder gazed up towards the stars above in thought.
"You don't feel remorse?" Spike questioned with a slight frown from below.
"No, it's in my nature."
Spike let his green eyes lower to his claws in a silent stare. The dragoness was quick to sense a nerve had been struck, her slender frame rolling over onto its side as she extended a claw to pat her friend's head sarcastically.
"You don't think I'm a monster or anything?" She quipped with a flick of her tail.
"No, just you said it was nature. "
Smolder snorted with a sly smirk at the young drake. "Oh, you think you're less of a dragon for not partaking in the hunt?" She erupted in a series of small giggles that quickly filled the room.
"Shut up!" Spike puffed up his chest from embarrassment.
"No, you're not less of a dragon at all!" Smolder grinned with a playful wink.
"Some dragons are just more gentle and…"
"Wimps. '' Spike rolled away onto his side facing a blank wall silently.
Smolder snorted with a flick of her wrist. "I was going to say wise smart-ass." She rolled her eyes in a lackadaisical fashion towards the drake.
"Psst!"
"I'm serious, some dragons understand the world from a different view. They are kind and full of a spark only found from years of understanding their fellow-creatures." She tapped her friend on the shoulder gently.
"Ember never has hunted either. "
Spike jolted upward with a shocked expression. "No way!" He simply gazed forward with his jaw slacked in awe.
"True, strength doesn't come from certain actions or ceremonies but the heart." Smolder grinned with an odd gentleness to her voice.
Yet she was quick to brush off such sentimental thinking before letting out a loud belch into the dead of the night. Spike simply laughed before joining his friend in a session of lounging, both gazing high above the calm sky full of beauty.
"Thanks, Smolder."
"Whatever dork."
