Hatching in Equestria as a Silver Dragon

Hearth Warming this year was peaceful, nothing of note really happened, our gifts were mostly small symbolic objects, I got a writing kit, quill, feather, tons of parchment, not literally tons mind you, but a good quality writing desk and many bottles of good quality ink, along with magical writing utensils like gem infused chalk, and paint!

I had enough paint for painting a bunch of canvas, not that I had any idea of how to draw, but my dear parents were kind enough to encourage me to learn.

I bought them winter clothes and some other accessories, trying to find something that fit their personality. I wanted to get Sylf some fancy clothes but she is much bigger than a pony so she would need a custom made dress if she wanted one.

Ponies weren't really much into clothing, unless it was high society and some events, but I still held some attachment to the concept of clothes, at least I liked the hoodies I picked up, there is no concept of pants for them however, so only upper body clothing and sometimes dresses for mares in formal occasions, for stallions there are formal clothing, but again, no pants at all.

So they have fancy tuxedos and jackets and all that but their rear end is all bare, I can't understand why they do this but I don't want to ask either.

The new year celebration was a fun time too, we went outside to the greenhouse to the third floor balcony to watch the fireworks and sip champagne, that is Coco and Sylf. I'm too small to have alcoholic drinks, even mild ones like this.

I still asked for a little sip out of curiosity, and I must say I love the taste of this drink, I felt like I would be fine even if I drank the whole bottle, probably due to my toxin immunity... Something to consider for later.

My 10th birthday I decided would be held in Ponyville, a few letters exchanged and it was confirmed, the Apple family was glad I chose to celebrate it with them.
I made it a proper party, with a band we hired to play music, plenty of food and drink, alcoholic for the adults and various fruit juices for me and my friends.

For the food Granny Smith helped with the desserts, but I bought the ingredients and with mom's help we made a menu for ponies and a menu for me and her, since I wanted to have seafood I went for lobster ravioli with cream cheese and toasted pistachio inside, served with cream asparagus sauce.

For the ponies we had a few options, all vegetarian, they had veggie ravioli with ricotta, all served with carrot sauce, tomato soup with croutons and veggie pie, they could have one or all three if they wanted.

Plenty of extra food was made, considering that most of my friends were with their parents, I invited them so they could hang out with my parents, in total there must be 40 ponies here, between parents and siblings, the Apple family and all.

I stand in the stage prepared for the music band, saying hello to them as I stand there, I get a few nods and smiles on return. "Good day folks! I'm Onyx and this is my birthday party, I just wanted to ask you to play any music you think would fit a foals birthday party."

"Happy birthday Onyx! I promise we have just the thing. I'm Soothing Song, the conductor of this little orchestra, you're from Canterlot right? I think I've seen you before when I was at the market, you are a very adorable little dragon!
You're also bigger than the last time I saw you, how old are you now?" The middle aged unicorn mare with light blue coat and darker blue mane asked, while approaching me, I offered her a claw and she took it and shook it gently.

"T-thank you, I've been growing steadily since last year, and yes I'm from Canterlot, you may have seen me since I frequent the market when I need anything, I mostly buy from there. This is my 10th birthday, the 20 of February! I haven't heard your music before but I'm sure we will remedy that, right?" I smile at her, genuinely happy to be recognized in a good positive light.

"Ohh you just turned 10 huh? Your way of speaking is as if you were older, or a noble, you aren't a noble, are you?" I shake my head no and she continues.

"Oh that's good, 10 years old is such a wonderful age! me and my group here will do our best to make your birthday unforgettable, just leave it to us! If you like our performance don't be afraid of calling us again for any party or event, okay?" I not to her and she gives me a few headpats before going back to her spot, going to practice with her band and prepare, in the meantime I turn around, facing the crowd of ponies, feeling a bit nervous to be on a stage again, there is more people here than I imagined.

But this are my friends and their families, I let out a sigh and relax my anxious mind, smiling softly, I stand on two legs and clap my paws together, producing a loud sound that catches everyone's attention.

"Excuse me everypony! A moment? I just want you to say that this party is not only for celebrating my birthday, but to celebrate our friendship, I wanted to make it extra special because we will soon be moving into highschool, where we may end up separated." I pause for a bit to let everyone take the information in, then I continue explaining.

"I know that it's going to be difficult to go our separate ways, if we do, but I want to thank you all for the last 5 years of friendship we had, we spent so much time together, hanging out, playing and more, and we still have this entire year together. What I want to say is that... I wouldn't have it any other way, my dear friends, I love you all and I hope we still are friends after school, whenever life takes us." I looked at all and every one of my friends, some were teary eyed but I didn't want to make them sad.

"I have to admit that I may not have time for hanging out as much when I become older, my life goals require me to travel and to be out for prolonged periods of time. That is why I'm saying all of this, I will still do my best to meet with you once in a while, I'll make sure to write to you, but by now I'm sure you all have gotten tired of this rambling little drake so..." My friends have a sad smile on them, some outright look sad, but some chuckle at my last remark, along with some of the parents too.

"Let's enjoy the party! Drinks and food will be served now!" I exclaimed loudly so the people who were paid to serve the food heard me.

Shortly after they came out with carts filled with plates of warm food and started to serve the guests.

"You can start playing the music now miss Song." She didn't need to be told twice and soon after an upbeat classical music started to play, it was like those songs you would hear a medieval tavern, its delightful!

"Good stuff!" I gave them a big smile and a nod and walked towards the table where my friends were, there was tables for adults and for minors like us, because of the different drinks.

Cadence and Shining Armor are sitting together, they already are very close friends and maybe more. Silver and Sweet are just as close and Sprout is with the other two mares, Ruby and Aquamarine.

I'm close with Shining too, as well as Ruby and Sprout. Cadence is also friendly but we aren't extremely close as we haven't been together as long as me and the others.

"Happy birthday bro! Come sit down, there's room here." Shining offered with a kind smile, patting the space between himself and Cadence, who also smiled up at me.

I was not expecting that, but I won't say no to sit between the two most adorable ponies.
All the others wish me happy birthday as well as I sit down.

"Hey Cadence, Shining, I'm surprised you have let me sit here, are you sure you're okay with that?" I ask with some doubt in my voice, I didn't want to bother them, I knew they were very close.

This time Cadence answered. "Onyx, I have known you for a few years now, Shining has told me a lot about you, and there is only good things to tell! Come here my sweet and loving scaly friend~" She proceeded to put her hooves over my shoulders and pull me into a tight hug, and damn was she strong! But I gladly returned it, she pressed the top of her muzzle against my chest, while I gently caressed her neck and sides. Her coat is really really soft!

"You know she's right Onyx, thanks to your magic classes we bonded and became closer, I even got my cutie mark thanks to you dude! How would I ever feel anything but happy to have you next to me?" He joined in the hug, hugging me from the other side, his head also on my chest area, nuzzling me and Cadence at the same time.

"You inspire me and motivate me to become a royal guard, you know? To become stronger to protect those I care about, even just to become strong enough to beat you in our little play fights. By the way next time I'm definitively winning." He spoke softly, we stayed like that for a full minute until they slowly moved back to their seats fully.

"Thank you so much you two, I was... Worried that I would get in the way of your friendship if I tried to be closer to both, I will not worry anymore!
This news is the best possible gift I could get, other than you being here of course." By now my hands were gently petting the two ponies, and they relaxed and closed their eyes, we stayed like that until our food was brought out, that immediately the attention of all of us.

The smell of the delicious dishes was enticing and everyone was hungry, me included. So we started eating with eagerness, I popped a sauce covered ravioli in my mouth and bit into it, the flavor was perfect, I couldn't stop myself from moaning a bit as I started eating. "Mmmhh~ it's so good! You guys are missing out, but I bet your own pasta dish tastes just as good, I can't get enough of this dishes! I'm gonna try the tomato soup after this, a small plate of it." I say to no one in particular, but the two next to me seem curious.

"Yess! Ours is delicious too! What is it that you're eating? Is it different than ours?" Shiny asked me after eating a few. Cadence nodded with an approving smile.

"I have to agree with Shiny, everything in this is delicious, the sauce and the filling, even the pasta itself, is it carrot sauce? It tastes like carrots."

"Yes it's different, and yes Cadence it's carrot sauce.
I'm having lobster ravioli with asparagus cream sauce, it's amazing! The lobster is an ocean animal, it has a shell and pincers like a crab, but it's got a longer body shape with a tail." Some of the ponies looked a bit disgusted at the idea, while some looked intrigued, Shining among them.

"Wanna try some?" I asked him, he nodded and I passed a ravioli covered in sauce to him, he grabbed it with his magic and ate it reluctantly.

"Hmm... Its... Oh it's good! It has so many textures, crunchy, chewy, creamy... I see why you like it so much, I may have this next time I see it on a menu." He smiles at me and goes back to eating his food.

"Just don't eat too often, I'm not sure if ponies can eat meat and be fine, but I certainly enjoy it. Just ask someone like a doctor if you can first." I pointed out before going back to eating.

The party was relaxing and fun, we had various cake and desserts mostly apple flavored thanks, and played party games, the ponies were nervous at first to have the manticore cub playing with us, but they relaxed around him once I showed them how sweet and friendly he was, he was just a big ol' kitten who just wanted to play and was happy to see me again.

It was a good thing I could use a spell to speak with him too.

"I missed you cousin! I wish you would visit more often so we can play, but I'm happy you are here, who are all this ponies?" He asked as I held him up and walked on two legs, carrying him against my chest, he had gotten bigger and was now about the size of a large dog.

"Oh this are all my friends, please don't mind them being a bit scared, hey everypony, come close he doesn't bite or sting! He's a really good kitty, aren't you?" I gently lay on my back on the grass and lay him on top of me, gently petting him, he acts just like a cat and purrs, relaxing, his scorpion tail lazily swaying side to side, he has a cork at the tip to prevent him from accidentally stinging someone, probably asked by the Apple family so he can play with Mac and Applejack, who was also here and already a year and a half old.

My friends slowly approach, clearly still unsure, but once they start petting him, they realize he is just adorable.

"Awww he's an adorable kitty! You're right Onyx, we're sorry, it's just that we haven't ever seen a manticore up close, what is his name?" Cadence asked while gently taking over me and petting him on the head.

"His name is Wishpaw, he is basically my little cousin, his mom is my honorary aunt, Kari who is over there with my parents." I pointed towards the adults table where my parents were, where they were talking amongst the parents of my friends, Bright Mac and Pear Butter were there too, Kari with them. Mom must have cast the animal speaking spell on them so they could get to meet the large Manticore.

By now Kari was incredibly powerful and intimidating when she wanted to be, I could sense her from here, she was just as strong as mom and I, she had no magical presence to speak of, but she still had a presence, a strength that left no room for opposition, she could probably easily defeat a hydra or any other manticore into pulp, not to mention any other Everfree monster. She also towered over the ponies, but she clearly was getting along with them and they were curious about her, she must be reigning in her aura of intimidation.

"Woow... She's huge! So that's what an adult manticore looks like huh? She looks stronger than any pony I've ever seen!" Shining said, impressed by the sight of such a large creature, the others looked a bit intimidated but nodded at his words.

"Yeah, she's strong and she's kind, she is also an extremely good mother to this big kitty~" I smirk and start tickling the relaxed Wishpaw, making him squirm slightly and let out a small annoyed growl but I can tell he's not really angry.

"Heeey! Don't do that, or I'm gonna bite!" He says in a playfully threatening tone, I start tickling him again and he baps me quickly without extending his claws, then bites me on the paw, just hard enough to hold it and pushes it back towards his head , I do as he orders and go back to providing headpats, he is gentle even with me, he is just really playful and likes to slap things around with his paws, specially my tail when I'm distracted.

"Sorry heheh you're just so adorable! But I promise not to tickle you again for now, deal? Just join us for some more games!" I nuzzle him happily and he smiles and nods.

"Sure, your friends are really nice... Their hooves aren't as soft as your paws but they still feel nice, I'll play with you all, but can you invite Big Mac? He's over where with the adults and Applejack, maybe the two of them can join in the games too?" I don't see why that would be an issue, so I nod my head in affirmation.

"Yes sure! I'll go get them now, sorry but no more cold dragon bed for now mister." He pouted and gave me a hurt look but I just gave him a few more headpats and lifted him off me with my magic, placing him on the ground on all fours, then I got up and walked over to the side of the adults.

There I reached them and they greeted me with smiles. Pear Butter was the first to speak.

"How are you liking the party Onyx? I hope the food was to your liking, specially the desserts we made, did you like them?" Her tone was hopeful, I approached her and gave her a big hug.

"Of course, you know I love your cooking! You and granny make the best apple desserts I've ever had! And I've had many before, you also are very versatile when it comes to variety, and your peach inverted pie is the best I've tried, you know I think you should grow peaches here too, despite this being an Apple themed farm I think having peaches would be a wonderful idea... They are both delicious fruit." I nuzzle her, showing affection like ponies often do, and she returns it gladly.

"Thank you! And yes I agree, we have already planted a good amount of peach saplings but they'll take a few years to grow, so for now we just have to wait, don't let me keep you, the others want to have a word with you too."

Next is Bright Mac who nods in my direction in greeting.

"Hey colt, it's good to see you have so many nice friends, it's important to have them growing up, are you having fun? This party is something that brought a lot of ponies together, I even made a few friends and acquaintances, all thanks to you colt... Not to mention some good deals for our farm." He actually pulls me into a hug, which I gladly returned, behind his usually reserved exterior he was a pony like any other, then he went back to telling me his thoughts, something I had not heard before since he was usually quiet.

"Also your idea of having Kari and her cub with us, in our farm and even our home was the right choice, they are wonderful to us, she helps around the farm every day, she also keeps away any of the other Everfree predators who used to always be around, no timberwolves have even dared to get closer, even during zap apple harvest."

"Despite our first doubts, you've only ever wanted to help and you made things better here, Kari even got accepted by the ponies in the village, she stood up for us and we stood up for her and helped her get accepted, now she even goes with us into town, you should see how every mare fawns over her little cub, and how much he likes the attention, he even goes to school with the other foals! Even if he can't really speak with them, they somehow communicate and have fun together." He finished speaking and telling me all about how Kari and Wishpaw have become basically part of the Apple family, or that's what it seems like to me.

"That's wonderful to hear mister Bright, I'm really glad things worked out for you all, oh I must say thank you all for allowing me to celebrate my birthday here this year, would you be okay with Big Mac and Applejack joining us for a few games? Only if they want to, but they've been here so I figured maybe they were too shy to join the foals table?" I gave him a pleading look, I really wanted to include the big red colt and the filly in some games, make this a fun and happy experience for them too.

"Oh sure colt! They are a bit shy is all, Big Mac has always been a bit of an introvert shy colt who prefers to be by himself, something rare amongst ponies, but he thinks highly of you, im sure if you ask him he will gladly accept." I thanked him and headed to the spot where the two of them were, having some extra dessert.

"Hey it's been a few months, hasn't it Mac? This is little Applejack? It's the first time I see her. She's really adorable!" I ask him, happy to meet again but also curious about his little sister, he smiles and answers in a soft voice.

"Eeyup she is, good to see you again Onyx." We share a hoof bump, me making a fist.

I then approached her and she looked back at her big brother who nodded with a small smile. "He's good" she nodded and approached me as I laid down on loaf mode, where she got to my face and poked my snout with her hoof, then grabbed the sides and pulled, and just started to play with my face like I was some sort of toy.

"Nice to meet you Applejack, you certainly... Aren't afraid, that's good, hey! Not there please?" I wince as she starts to pull my eyelids, thankfully she isn't mean enough to touch my eyes.

I still don't know how sometimes hooves can grab and pull things, but they can't hold other things like handles, maybe... They have some sort of pinch like ability or magnets? School never really explained this, or I didn't pay enough attention.

The mischievous filly grabbed my ear and pulled on it too, as well as my horns that were now long enough to be visible from afar, still not much more than a few centimeters, good thing she didn't pull my ears much, she was just playing.

Big Mac only giggled as he watched her, I glared at him and stick my tongue out, which was a terrible idea because the filly grabbed my tongue with her hooves and, with the same attitude of a cat who just caught a mouse by its tail, she pulled on it hard, and giggled as i whimpered in pain, quickly moving the tongue back into my maw and wincing slightly.

"Ow... You should tell her to not do that..." I gave Mac a serious look and gently petted the little filly, getting up and not allowing her to play with my face more, she was adorable but she was also a menace, very hoofy and curious, she probably never saw a dragon before so I couldn't complain much, and she was only a year and a half.

"She doesn't usually get so touchy with ponies, I think she was just curious because you're different." Was Big Mac's helpful response. "But we will teach her to be less forcefully when playing once she has learned how to talk, from what my dam told me, foals have trouble controlling their strength, especially earth ponies."

"It's fine, it doesn't hurt anymore... so you two want to join our games? We are going to play some games that our parents organized, how about it?"

He seemed to think for a few seconds but follows me towards the table where the other ponies our age were, Applejack follows next to her big brother.

"That sounds fun, there isn't many ponies mah age in Ponyville, thank you Onyx, come on sis."

"Then I'm happy to present you my friends, I'm going to introduce you to them and then they can introduce themselves to you, how does that sound?" I ask him, holding my front paw around his shoulder as I hug him from the side while we walk.

"Eyuup, that sounds good." As we approached we came upon the most curious sight.

My friends playing... Soccer? or something similar, kind of, away from the tables, using two big wooden baskets as goals, Wishpaw was also part of the game, he was about the size of the other foals too.

He was quite good at it, just as we arrived he kicked the ball and scored a goal, the entire team he was a part of cheered and hugged him, he was so happy he produced a bellowing roar, making everypony shut up, but when they noticed it was just him and he was smiling, then cheered as well and some tried to roar too.

"Let's join in, shall we?" I asked the two, Applejack probably didn't understand but Big Mac happily agreed to join.

I remembered something and called my friends over before we started playing with them.

"Hey everypony, I want you to present you to somepony who is a close friend of me and his little sister." I ruffled the red colt's mane and gently nudged him forward.

"He is Big Macintosh, a really kind colt who likes to keep conversation short." At that Big Mac waved at the others and smiled shyly.

But my friends weren't so shy and they introduced themselves to him, making small talk, big red just answered with a soft eyup or nope, sometimes actually talking when it was necessary, it was that he was against talking, he just preferred to use shorter sentences, but he always got the point across and he was precise with his words, something I respect.

After that we took turns playing, since the teams already were large enough, we watched the match go on for about half an hour, with the team Wishpaw was part of dominating the match.

The sport was definitively not soccer, even if the ball was a soccer ball, I asked Big Mac if he knew it and he told me it was Buckball, a sport that earth ponies love to play, maybe this sport was suggested by somepony before the party? I was not aware of it, but it looked familiar somehow.

Still it was my turn, and I have to say I really had fun playing, Applejack watched from the sidelines and cheered for his brother in her baby voice.

But our team ended up losing against the extremely talented 'manticore' team, that is what they decided to rename themselves to after the prowess the little cat was clear to everypony.

"Good game, specially you big kitty! You've become a lot more agile since we last met, have you been training or something?"

"I've been playing with Big Mac who taught me all about the game, I also climb trees all the time, you're still pretty good cousin Onyx! We only won by one point, so don't be humble, you did almost as good as me in your first attempt." Wishpaw ran over to me and jumped on my back, laying on me like he does lay on his mom.

"You're always cool to the touch... It's different from mom or the ponies, I like it." He nuzzled the back of my neck while purring like a kitten, relaxing on top of me. Even during winter he still didn't mind my cold self, I was glad, but I suppose when it's cold outside I'm less cold than the outside.

Meanwhile the twins were staying with mom, as they didn't really feel ready to play with older ponies, they were only 6 months old and still too small.

After all that playing and partying everypony was starting to feel tired, and it was getting a bit late, half a day had almost passed, now the parents had began walking around too, Cadence's aunt didn't come this time, she was under the care of Twilight Velvet and Night Light for the day, but Twilight Sparkle was here too, she stayed with her parents because apparently she was too sleepy to play after having stayed all night long reading a book on magic, and her sleep schedule was messed up.

I could completely relate to that, I did all nighters more than a dozen times by now, studying magic spells I wanted to learn quickly, and I messed up my sleep cycles just as badly, mostly when I was younger.

Then the cake was brought out and placed in the main table, were i sliced into it and started to cut off portions for everyone, it was a multi layer cake with vanilla flavor, something simple but delicious, real natural vanilla was expensive here since it was imported from the southern distant jungles, but for a cake it was essential and completely worth it.

After that there was a little birthday song by the musical band we hired, which made me slightly embarrassed, much to the amusement of my friends and mainly my parents. Then everyone had their fill of cake and the party was officially over, of course some stayed dancing to the music and the band played for a few more hours, but many other ponies had things to do the next day and left to take the train to Canterlot.

About 2 hours later everypony but me, the Apples and my parents had left, not before giving me lots of hugs, nuzzles and even small kisses on the forehead, ponies will be ponies... I really have gotten lucky with this ponies, I guess the real ones do stay.
I count myself lucky i hadn't encountered any real bullies yet, but who knows what highschool will bring?