Scaled Foal : Recess , Part 8 .
• Meanwhile, at the Playground.
Spike tried his best not to cower, as the foals ganged up on him. He didn't even make it to the swings. As soon as the other children noticed him, they swarmed. Asking a billion embarrassing questions. Spike was trying to be polite, and answer them.
Shining Armor's speech, about public image, had really hit home. The last thing Spike wanted to do was embarrass Twilight, and since Spike was her ward, everything he did reflected on her.
Shining Armor... he's the one that pointed out to Spike that he was Ponyville's unofficial Prince. Spike HAD to go to school, and be an expert of Friendship, or he'd bring shame to Twilight... Shining Armor hadn't phrased it like that, but Spike had developed Twilight's habit of over analyzing everything. He wasn't as bad as her, but he did tend to do it, if he was honest with himself.
"Why don't you have wings?" one asked.
Spike blushed and explained, "it's a birth defect..." he assumed, not yet knowing most Equus Dragons aren't born without wings, and don't develop them until their first Molt.
Spike's lack of wings, was actually something he was pretty self conscious about, ever since the dragon migration.
He learned a lot, being with the other dragons. But sadly, the biggest lesson he'd learned, was how all dragons are jerks!!!... well not ALL he should say.
There were more civilized Dragons, in districts found in many of the big pony cities. Spike had been to one of those areas. Back wen a rogue fire snail, was setting fires all over Manehattan.
The Guards automatically assumed it was the Dragons, and there had been a lot of... problems as a result.
Princess Luna had gotten Spike to help, as even the dragons living in pony cities, were very tight lipped around ponies. She thought Spike would have better luck, finding out what was going on...
None of that really matters now, other then Spike did learn that he wasn't actually the only Dragon in the world, who wore aprons or read comic books. City dragons were actually decent folks, even if they are very distrustful of ponies, but with how most ponies treat them, he couldn't really blame them.
They explained that some "Whelps" just had to wait until they were "Fledglings" before they grew Wings. In other words, he was a baby, and would have to be at least a kid before he could fly. But dragons don't enter the kid phase, until they are in their 20s.
When, in his 20s, the city dragons couldn't say, as it was different for every-drake. And Wingless Dragons were offen late bloomers.
At least Spike got that cookbook, that had lots of proper recipes, for bug and fish related dishes. Those animals weren't even sentient, as they were properly mindless, so Ponies didn't mind predators eating them.
Until then, Twilight had just been giving him bowls of bugs. maybe occasionally baking them into something, but they didn't have any proper recipes.
The city dragons explained they don't need protein, but rather dragons absorbed the magic inside the critters. Same reason they eat gems, but they needed both kinds of magic, to stay healthy.
Twilight new what his diet was supposed to be, but didn't know it was the magic he needed, not the meat.
"You're not going to hulk out on us and destroy the town again are you?" Another asked, referring to the time Spike turned into a giant full sized dragon, and attacked the town in a greed filled rage.
Spike blushed and shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, "N-no t-that was a one time thing... see dragons kind of lose control of themselves, if they collect too much stuff too fast."
The foals gaped, "So you can't own ANYTHING!?"
"No I can own stuff. I just can't get a lot of stuff at once. I have to collect things slowly. A few new items a week won't matter. So I don't get overwhelmed by my own greed."
The city dragons from Manehattan had actually explained that to him. It was why city dragons were less jerky then nomadic ones. They were very conscious of collecting their hoard slowly over time, so as to not overwhelm themselves to their basic instincts.
Embarrassingly, one of the dragons actually gave Spike a book on Dragon anatomy.
Spike didn't really understand how he could read it, as it was in some strange hieroglyphs that literally looked like chicken scratches, but it all made perfect sense to him.
The book explained that dragons instinctively understood the ancient language of Draconic, and although few actually spoke it, nearly everything was written in the language, in order to preserve their secrets.
Spike actually practiced writing the Language, himself, and was a little shocked how easy and natural it was. He tried to actually teach Twilight, but the subtle dips and curves were really tripping her up, as even the slightest change, could make the symbols have entirely different meaning. It was easy for Spike, but Twilight couldn't even read the stuff.
The book also explained that Spike wasn't actually a boy, but rather dragons were "Mono-Gendered". They were like pony Stallions, as boys who could get pregnant, and so weren't like lower animals... but there was actually only 1, in a hundred eggs, that were born even looking female, but even they still had a penis and testicles. Equus Dragons had no true females, or males, as all were both.
Although the book didn't explain, how somepony (or "some-dragon") could get pregnant... Twilight wouldn't tell him either. She just said the father put "seeds" in the mother's belly, but refused to say what kind of seeds, or where you got them.
She promised to explain, when he was married, but not before... and he wasn't allowed to get married until he was a thousand, she was adamant.
"Equus Dragons will eventually grow up to be about 8 feet tall. But we grow as big as Skyscrapers, by tapping into our greed." Spike explained. Hoping he was being a proper Prince by doing so.
"We can even shrink down to as small as flees." At least theoretically. Spike still hadn't figured out how to do that. As the book said size alteration was very dangerous, and easy to lose control to your instincts. It didn't advise practicing outside of dragon school, or rather outside of an older dragons supervision.
"Is it true dragons eat defenseless animals for breakfast!?" one foal asked, pulling Spike from his thoughts. Before he could answer another quickly scoffed. "Idiot they eat ponies, not critters,"
Spike shifted a bit, as he knew both were true... of nomadic dragons at least. "I'm on a strict pony diet,"
One of the foals screamed, "He DOES eat ponies!"
"No no!" Spike quickly backtracked. "I mean I eat hay and flowers and fruits and pastries and all the normal stuff ponies eat," he assured, "The only really strange thing I eat is gems,"
"You eat rocks?" Another asked.
"No I eat gems," Spike corrected, "There magic is good for my scales and bones, plus they strengthen my own magical reserves." he flexed his muscles before flinching back when the foals actually reached out and TOUCHED him.
One of the foals giggled, "he feels like a snake." "I thought they'd be all hard and rough."
That is when Button stepped in and literally shoved the ponies away, "What's the matter with you foals!?" the young colt demanded. "Just cuz Spike isn't a pony doesn't mean you have the right to treat him like a freak show!
"Spike totally sacrificed himself to Miss Cheerlee for me," he proclaimed, as over dramatically as possible. "He's a good guy and it doesn't matter that he isn't a pony! So leave him alone! I bet the Princess would lock you in her dungeon for harassing him like this!"
The foals grumbled but reluctantly disbanded.
Spike couldn't help but sigh with relief, "Thanks,"
Button blushed, "Sorry I ran so far ahead, I thought you were right behind me,"
"I was until I was foal napped by the... well... foals," Spike shrugged.
Button nodded, "Just forget about them. Come on, the Swings are still calling us,"
Spike reluctantly nodded and followed closely after.
