Draconian Prince

“D-do you think he’s dead?”

“He’s a dragon! Hitting a tree won’t kill him.”

“Did you see how fast he was running? He must’ve been really scared!”

“Well excuse me for trying to be friendly. I didn’t see anydragon else trying to welcome him, so I decided to do it myself.”

“Y-yeah but, you were sneaking around, and that wasn’t very nice…”

“Well… I was going to go up to him but-“

“You chickened out after you got closer and saw how cute he was?"

"I-I didn't say that!"

"Well then, you wouldn't mind if I asked him out would you?"

"Hey! Leave him alone, he's sleeping!"

Spike's head hurt like crazy. There was a sharp pain in his forehead and a dull ringing in his ears that wouldn't stop. "Ohhh..." Spike groaned.

"Hey he's waking up!"

Spike slowly opened his eyes. The room he was in was fairly large with strange items decorating the walls and floor. There were paintings, horse shoes, dream catchers, you name it. The floor even had a pelt that looked strangely like a diamond dog's coat. But what had caught Spike's attention were the three dragons staring at him closely.

"Whoa!" Spike yelled as he fumbled out of the bed. When he fell to the ground, he felt a sharp jolt go up into his left arm. Spike gripped his arm tightly in order to ease the pain. When he looked up, he found himself staring into the eyes of the pink dragon from earlier.

"You know, it's considered very rude to run away from a cute dragoness when she is trying to introduce herself," the pink dragoness said with a pout. Her scales were a bright pink while her eyes and her spines were shaded with scarlet. She was taller than the other two dragons, but was still a bit shorter than him.

"Yeah right! You were the one avoiding him until he turned around and caught you red-handed," the dragoness behind her laughed aloud. She was completely teal except for her spines which slowly faded into a light turquoise at the tips, and her eyes were the same shade of blue as the sky. She stood a couple inches shorter than the pink dragoness but had larger, and a more powerful, pair of wings.

"P-please stop yelling at her. She was only trying to be friendly. Besides, it's not good to argue," the third dragoness said softly. Although she was scolding the turquoise dragon, it sounded more like an apology. Her eyes, scales, and spines were a very light blue color, and could almost be mistaken for white. She was easily the smallest of the three dragonesses, a whole head shorter than Spike. Her wings were proportionate with her body, but looked very thin and fragile. Spike wasn’t quite sure if the dragoness could even fly without breaking her delicate wings.

“W-wait. Who are you guys, and how did I end up here?” Spike asked.

The pink dragon put her hands on her hips. “Well, I was trying to say ‘hi’ when you ran off, and boy were you fast. I couldn’t keep up! You were all *woosh*, and you started screaming like *AAHHH!*, but then you hit a tree and fell to the ground and things got all quiet...”

“...”

“... Anyway, I couldn’t just leave you there so I lifted you up on my shoulders, and I brought you into town!” the pink dragoness finished with a smile.

Spike blinked. “Um... thank you?”

“You’re welcome!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I think you’re forgetting to mention the part where you were stalking him,” the teal dragoness reminded with a mischievous grin.

“I wasn’t stalking him! I was just looking for the right time to come out is all.”

“Yeah, cause the right time to come out is when you’re hanging upside down on a tree.”

“Hey, at least I tried. Where were you in all of this?” the pink dragon argued, slightly annoyed.

“That’s enough bickering for one afternoon, girls,” a powerful yet gentle voice called from the other room. Spike gasped when the giant dragoness stepped inside. Her scales and spines were a light tan color, while her eyes were dark brown. Her sharp spikes appeared to be both beautiful and deadly, and her face seemed to emanate kindness. “Are you feeling better?” she asked.

She’s bigger than Vargach! Even though Spike was slightly intimidated, he could sense that she was kind. “Y-yes, thank you for taking care of me,” Spike said as he stood up and held out his right hand. “I’m Spike.”

The dragoness took hold of his hand with two fingers and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Spike.  My name is Fewihl Itov, and I’m the owner of this home.”

Spike’s eyes widened in recognition. “Wait, you’re Fewi? That’s great! Princess Celestia told me to talk to you if we ever met in Draconia. She said you could help me.”

Fewi’s face brightened up. “You know Celestia? She is a very close friend of mine, though I regret not keeping in touch with her recently. How is she?”

“She’s doing well!” Spike laughed. “She and Princess Luna made up, and her kingdom is doing better than ever! Especially since Twilight became an alicorn.”

“There’s a new alicorn?!” Fewi gasped in surprise. “My, things certainly have changed since the last time I had visited. You stay right here, Spike. I’ll be going to the market so that I can get some materials to send Celestia a letter. In the meantime, why don’t you get acquainted with the girls?” Fewihl turned to the three dragonesses. “I expect you all to be at your best behavior. Especially you, Khana.”

The teal dragoness rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. I’ll try not to mess with him too much.”

Fewi smiled. “That’s all I ask.” Without another word, Fewihl left the room and went out the entrance. After the door was shut, Spike turned his attention to the other three dragons in the room, each of them staring.

He stared back, unsure of what to say. I guess I’ll just introduce myself. “Uh… hi. Sorry for running away before. I’m Spike.”

The pink dragoness smiled brightly. “Apology accepted. I’m Xena Tilek, a fire dragon! If you’re ever feeling down or want someone to talk to, I’m always ready to listen! And I would really like for us to be frien-”

Xena was pushed aside as the teal dragoness took her place. “Hey, I’m Khana Nepesk if you didn’t catch my name the first time. I’m a wind dragon, and in the air I’m untouchable! I bet you heard all about me from the other dragons since I’m the one who-”

Khana was pushed aside and Xena retook her original spot, this time with the light blue dragoness by her side. “Yes, yes. You broke the speed record for dragons in your age group. That’s very exciting, especially since you mention it all the time, but I’m sure Spike would like to be introduced to Nari first.” Xena motioned to the small dragoness. “This is Nari Jospril. She’s a little shy, but she’s very sweet. She likes to cook, clean, and is one of the few ice dragons still alive. Why don’t you say hi to Spike?”

Nari looked up from the ground to look at Spike, but brought her gaze back down before speaking. “H-hi Spike. I’m N-Nari, and...” Nari trailed off, failing to complete her introduction. Her entire body was shaking, obviously nervous of Spike. She continued to look down, even as Xena encouraged her to speak.

Khana jabbed Nari’s side with her elbow. “C’mon, Nari. Spike’s not gonna bully you. I can tell he’s different from the other dragons. I mean, didn’t you hear Fewi? Spike is pals with one of her best friends! He has to be a nice guy.”

Nari looked up, this time with confidence. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried again. “I’m Nari... and I’m sorry for being so shy. I-I’d like it if we became friends...” She looked down fearfully, afraid that Spike would pick on her for being so shy.

Spike smiled and offered his hand to Nari, trying to look as friendly as possible. “Hi Nari, I’m Spike. I’m not sure what kind of dragon I am, but cooking and cleaning is my specialty too. And I would be glad to be your friend.”

Nari’s face flushed red after hearing Spike’s reply. She shook his hand with her own and quickly brought it back to herself. “T-thank you, Spike,” Nari said quietly.

“Alright, enough of all this formal stuff,” Khana said. She turned to Spike with a look of disbelief. “And what do you mean you don’t know what kind of dragon you are? It’s pretty important for you to know that kind of stuff.”

Spike shrugged his shoulders (which was really painful). “I was born and raised in Equestria, so I don’t know much about dragons.” As soon as his words left his lips, the three dragonesses gasped in unison. Uh oh, did I say something I wasn’t supposed to?

“You were raised in Equestria?” Xena asked. “That’s impossible! No dragons would raise their children outside of Draconia!”

“I wasn’t raised by dragons,” Spike replied. “My egg was left in Equestria, so I was hatched and adopted by a unicorn.”

“You were abandoned? That’s even worse!” Khana exclaimed. “What kind of parents would just leave their egg like that?” She instantly regretted asking such an insensitive question, as Spike’s happy demeanor was dropped immediately.

“That’s the reason why I’m here. To find out who my parents were... and why they left me.”

“O-oh... Sorry for asking that, Spike. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s fine.” Spike replied simply. Despite his answer, it was obvious that Spike didn’t feel like talking anymore.

Nari stepped forward. “I-it couldn’t have been all bad. You’re really nice, Spike. That must mean that the pony who adopted you took really good care of you.”

Spike smiled, breaking out of his stupor. “Yeah, I don’t regret being raised by her one bit.” Spike decided to crawl back into the bed and yawned. “Thanks again for letting me stay here, I’ll leave as soon as I get better.”

Khana spoke up. “Whaddya mean you’re gonna leave? You’re here to learn right? Fewi is the smartest dragon in the village! If anyone can teach you about dragons, it’s her.”

“Aren’t there any books I can read, or schools I could go to?” Spike asked.

“Dragons don’t have schools. Parents pass on their knowledge to their children personally. Besides, all of our books are written in Draconian. How would you learn from books you couldn't even read?” Xena asked.

“Yeah, just stick around for a while. Fewi can teach you how to read, and write, and even how to use your magic! She’s the one who taught us after all.” Khana added.

Really, are you sure? I wouldn’t want to be a burden...”

“I don’t think you would be a burden,” Nari said quietly. “It would be really nice to have somedragon helping me with the cooking and cleaning.”

Spike thought about their proposition. It would be pretty cool to learn from Celestia’s old friend. And everydragon here is really nice. Spike decided that it would be best for him to accept their offer. “All right, I’ll stay.”

“Woohoo!” Xena cheered. “Spike's going to stay! This is gonna be so much fun!”

“Yeah, and I’ll finally have someone to race around here."

“I hope you won’t mind living with us, Spike.” Nari said.

“Wait, what about your mom? Shouldn’t she get a say in all of this?” Spike asked. “This is her home after all.”

The girls looked at each other to see who would answer. Eventually, Xena stepped up and started explaining. “Spike, this is a foster home. Each of us lost our parents one way or another, and we all ended up here with Fewi. Besides, it’s not like she would have turned you away.”

“Oh... I see,” Spike said. “Sorry for bringing it up. I didn’t mean to-”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Khana interrupted. “We’re the ones who asked personal questions in the first place. Besides, we got over it.”

“Yeah, and we’re really glad we found this place. It’s like we’re all one big family!” Xena said cheerfully.

The sun outside began to set as Nari yawned. “Now that we have everything settled, I think I’m going to go to sleep.” Before Spike could protest, she crawled into the bed with Spike and shut her eyes. “Good night.”

“H-hold on! Why are you going into my bed?” Spike asked.

Xena grinned as she  jumped onto the bed on the other side of him. “Even though this place is a foster home, it’s not that big. Not many dragons lose their parents, so there was never any need for much space. Besides, this is a pretty big bed, so I’m sure we can all fit.”

“The problem isn’t whether we all fit or not. It’s a matter of personal space!”

Khana jumped onto the bed laughing. “Aww, are you embarrassed to be sharing a bed with three gorgeous dragonesses? Don’t worry, we’ll kick you out if you try to do anything funny. And by the way,” Khana leaned in and whispered in his ear, “we tend to cling to stuff while we sleep, so watch out.” Khana chuckled quietly to herself as she threw a blanket over her body and shut her eyes.

And with that, Khana, Nari, and Xena had all fallen asleep. Spike however, was wide awake, unable to relax. “Oh man, this is gonna be a long night.”

After spending an entire day, Vargach had finally finished mapping the area between Equestria and Draconia. Finally, I can get out of here. Vargach was about to send the map when he spotted a dragon flying towards him, a messenger pouch hanging by his side. Why would the prince send me a messenger when he could contact me with dragonfire? The dragon flew down and saluted Vargach.

“Greeting, General. I am messenger #19 from-”

“Just shut up and tell me why you’re here,” Vargach growled.

“Y-yes sir. The prince wishes for me to deliver the map personally.” Vargach simply glared at the messenger, demanding a more thorough explanation. So the messenger continued. “With rebel groups growing in size, letters sent by dragonfire are being intercepted more and more. For security reasons, the prince has entrusted me to- *yelp*”

Vargach gripped the smaller dragon by the throat and began squeezing. “Why would the prince entrust you with critical information like this? By the looks of it, you wouldn’t survive an ambush from a bunch of ponies, let alone rebel dragons.” Vargach lifted the dragon higher and tightened his grip, cutting through the messenger’s scales and causing blood to seep down his neck.

“P-please. D-don’t kill me,” the smaller dragon blubbered. He was lifted completely off of the ground, unable to breathe. The messenger tried his best not to squirm, knowing that it would only anger the general even more.

Vargach continued to glare at the struggling dragon for a few seconds, and let him go, dropping him onto the ground. "You're not worth the trouble," Vargach spat with disgust. The messenger didn't reply as he was too busy placing his hands around his neck, gasping for air. Vargach scoffed at the pitiful dragon and started walking out of the forest.

“G-general, where are you going?”

“I’m going to deliver the map myself,” Vargach yelled behind his back. And I have a couple of questions for the “prince”.