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Prickle Berry Tries to Be Careful

by David Silver

Chapter 42: 42 - End Episode 10 - Draconic Pride

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Prickle scrambled around the prone dragon. “We don’t have to fight,” she called out as she sprang into the air.

The massive beast rose sinuously, dirt raining down from its scaled form. “You are welcome to surrender at any time, trying pony.”

“That’s Tiny Titan.” She landed on his chest lightly. “And I won’t give up. I can’t! My town’s counting on me.”

The dragon curled on himself, head coming within an inch of Prickle’s costumed form. “I won’t give up,” he echoed. “The honor of my child has been besmirched. We are both bound by duty.”

“Tell me what happened?” Prickle smiled uncertainly. “Maybe we can work it out?”

“Twice...” He let out a weary sigh, flame licking around his lips and smoke escaping his nostrils. “Once by force of personality, the second by strength of arms. That the strength of your people is used only to remain in soft peace is baffling.”

Prickle dared allow her smile to widen a little. “Does that mean we can talk?”

The trickle of smoke became a brief blast of flames. “Yes! Yes... Get off of me.” He brushed her free and she bounced off his sides to a smooth landing below as he rolled over, belly down, to address her.


Garble wiped the last of the tears from his face and looked down to see his father talking with one of the ponies, the other half of the duo they were fighting. “What the...” He flew down, forgetting Immovable for the moment. “Hey, pops, what’re ya doing?! Go ahead and eat her already.”

The larger dragon glared at his son. “Haven’t you shamed me enough for one century? The adults are speaking.”

Prickle developed a savage blush, words driven from her. She was just called an adult by a dragon! She tried to speak, but the words were caught in her throat.

Immovable suffered no such difficulty. Landing beside Prickle, wings wide, she stuck out her tongue at Garble. “Yeah, you heard him, let the grownups talk.”

The father dragon turned his withering gaze on Immovable. “That goes for you equally as well.” His massive eyes fixed on Prickle. “Now then, where were we... Ah, yes... It started closely from their first introduction to one another. The one named Spike succeeded in obtaining a phoenix while Garble was left for injured. Hmph, I hope the egg made a satisfying crunch when it was destroyed...”

“That wasn’t what happened at all!” cried Spike, approaching at an energetic jog.

The father reared up, then snarled. “This is fortunate. I can exact my revenge without troubling your domain, little warrior.”

Spike skidded to a halt. “Oh, uh...”

Immovable slid into place in front of him. “No hurting Spike! We were specifically told to keep him safe.”

The father looked back at Prickle. “Is this true?”

“Well, yes.” Prickle nodded as she watched the other small dragons descend from the sky, eyes and noses running with liquids. She wondered what had happened up there, but she was busy enough with her own dragon to see. “Can we continue with the story? I mean, if we know what happened, we can act... responsibly.”

The large dragon rumbled, shaking the air as smoke trailed with smoldering fury. “Very... well. When you know the full measure of his crimes, then his punishment can be given. When next they met, it was at the behest of the last dragon lord. He wished to bequeath his reign to the younger generation, or I would have easily competed and seized the prize for myself.” He chuckled softly in thought of it. “Ah yes... But that was not to be. Instead he--” He leveled a claw at Spike accusingly. “--cheated, stole the title, then humiliated my son in royal decree with the very same title he did not deserve.”

He snarled, teeth displayed like the great swords they were. “The entire thing was a farce. The old dragon lord laid a cunning trap to ensure his own daughter would take the prize, in the end. Even with Spike’s cheating, he was powerless before his machinations. When they returned from the testing site, it was she that held the scepter and the title. I was scarcely surprised.”

Prickle raised a hoof at the tremendous dragon. “So, hold on. What did Spike actually do? I mean, to--”

Garble darkened, voice raising in a screech, “I don’t wanna talk about it!”

The father crossed his forelegs. “You will. The full measure of his crimes will be known, then we will have our revenge.”

Garble fidgeted mid-air, glancing around nervously. “But it’s embarrassing... Oh, and I’m not allowed to. Spike said not to.”

“That’s true,” mentioned Spike quietly enough that only Immovable heard him.

The father was incensed. “He is not dragon lord and never should have been! You will speak, now!” Flame erupted from his shouting mouth, washing over several dragons to no harm, but suitable measure of his rising fury.

“Alright... sheesh...” Garble descended to the ground, landing lightly on his legs, his arms not yet grown into forelegs as the older dragons seemed to have. “That jerk said I had to go up to every dragon I saw on the way home and get all friendly without telling them why.”

His ‘friends’ broke into fits of guffaws and laughter at the lamentable fate. His father, on the other claw, trembled with renewed rage. “Is such the depths of his honor, that he would request my son debase himself in such a manner?”

Spike put his claws on his hips. “I just told him to hug a few people. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

The father blinked with confusion. “Is this true?”

“Uh... yeah?”

“That is... not as bad as I had feared. Still a shameful task, but... not as bad as I had thought...”

Immovable turned to Spike. “So why’d you tell him to do that anyway?”

The father nodded. “That is a question I would like answered.”

“He was a big fat jerk.” Spike shook his head. “All through the contest he was getting in my way and insulting me and I got a little payback.”

The father nodded a little. “That much is true.”

“Dad!” Garble sputtered a little. “You--”

The adults are speaking,” roared the dragon at his son.

Garble grumbled to himself, but did not dare to speak up at that time.

Prickle gave a little smile. “So, about that first time.” She looked to Spike. “What happened with that phoenix egg?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s why I came. I didn’t break any phoenix eggs. Garble wanted to smash it and I saved it instead and ran away with my friends.”

The father arched a brow. “I don’t understand. It is a tradition that dragons, especially young and energetic, attack phoenix nests. We are traditional foes.”

Spike raised a claw. “But I’m not a traditional dragon.”

The father nodded. “Also true... Did the phoenix attack you once able?”

“No... he grew up... and I let him go...” Spike gave a sad smile, a tear threatening to break free. “I couldn’t give a phoenix what it needed, so off he went.”

The father inclined his head slowly. “I... see. A curious game. You are foolish if you think your one act of kindness will undo millennia of strife between us, but you are welcome to try.”

Garble stomped a foot on the ground. “So when do we get to the part where we show him a lesson?”

“Not today.” His powerful wings beat, blowing dirt and grass away as he lifted into the sky. “Spike is a curious, weak, dragon, but he is a dragon, and did not act with shame.”

“But... he...”

“You brought it on yourself. Come on, before little miss dragon lord blows something looking for us.” The other dragons made idle talk of agreement and they began to lift off to return to the dragon lands.

Garble stomped up towards Spike, pointing at him behind Immovable. “This isn’t over, runt. You’re going to slip up, and I’ll be there, ready to help you fall!”

Spike flashed a bright grin. “So you’re ready to lose to a bunch of ponies again?”

With an infuriated growl, Garble took off to join the others.

Prickle looked after the departed flight of dragons before she shook her head and joined Immovable and Spike. “That was really dangerous. Shouldn’t you have waited in the castle?”

“Yeah.... probably.” He shrugged softly. “But I kept thinking about you two risking everything just for me.” He put a claw on his chest. “It didn’t feel right. They were here for me. I had to do something.”

Immovable wrapped a wing around Spike suddenly. “You are too adorable. Thanks for the help!”

Prickle nodded less certainly. “It worked out in the end, I guess... You are alright, Spike?”

“Oh yea.” He bobbed his head. “Immovable didn’t let them lay a claw on me.”

“That’s my job,” she crooned happily, still hugging Spike tight in her wings. “Hey! That means we did it, our biggest job ever!”

Prickle broke into a quirked smile. “We’re lucky he was willing to talk after fighting a little... I don’t know how much I wanted to keep that up.”

“What are you talking about?!” Immovable shook her head. “You were great! I barely kept away from them, but you were tossing him around! Boom, crash! You hoofwrestled with a dragon and won!”

Two pairs of hoofsteps came from the town as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo rushed to join them. Scootaloo was waving wildly as she went. “That was amazing! It was like every comic I ever read, but better, because it was right there, in front of me, and I knew the hero and...”

Apple Bloom snickered softly. “Calm down, Scoots. TT, Immovable, you two alright?”

Immovable released Spike. “As if anything could hurt me.” She fluffed out her fur and feathers.

Apple Bloom pointed behind Immovable at her still scorched tail. “Reckon ya ain’t totally fireproof.”

Immovable’s proud stance faltered. “Well, guess not...”

Spike gave an emphatic thumbs up. “You were both great. Thanks for keeping me in one piece.” He turned to the town. “And not a single damaged house. That’s better than some times Twilight went to save the day.”

Scootaloo burst into laughter. “That’s a low blow, Spike. You know they do their best.”

“I’m just joking around.” He gestured up to the castle. “Want a celebratory lunch? I’ll cook.”

Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. “Ah ain’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth none, but this is more of an outdoors celebration time. Reckon maybe we can have ice cream?”

Prickle licked her lips at the thought. “That sounds really nice... and not on fire.”

“Yeah, I’ve had enough fire for one day,” agreed Immovable. “Where’s the ice cream?”

As the group began to move in quest of frozen treats, Prickle moved in beside Apple Bloom. “I thought you were heading home?”

Apple Bloom had the dignity to blush at being caught. “And miss that fight? Nothin’ doin’! Ah couldn’t not watch that.”

Scootaloo’s wings fluttered in a rapid buzzing. “As if we wouldn’t watch that? You two were super amazing! Hey, Immovable, what’d you throw at the dragons that went kasploosh like that?”

“That was a gift from a teacher.” She nodded as she went in time with her hoofsteps. “She said I had to be ready to have it used on me, so I kept it around. Then it... you know, seemed like a good time to use it. I bet they hadn’t been sprayed before.”

Scootaloo tilted her head. “You can get sprayed with that junk now?”

Immovable tensed. “Uh....”

Prickle slipped in between them. “Immovable is still practicing.”

They arrived at the store and were greeted as heroes. When Prickle tried to fish out a few bits to pay, she was gently refused. The stallion behind the bar shook his head. “I saw you two fighting off a whole mess of dragons out there. Today, it’s on the house.” After a pause, he seemed to rethink that. “One each.”

Author's Notes:

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Next Chapter: 43 - Start Episode 11 - Celebration Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 22 Minutes
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