The four dragons sat down on the cavern floor, a silence between them.  
“So what, we just wait now?” Magma asked.  
“Well we could swap stories to pass the time.” Snort offered, “You guys should tell me more about yourselves, I know youre trying to save the dragons from this diamond dog warlock, but what were you guys doing before that?”  
The trio looked at each other, seeing who should start off, when Sharp spoke up, How about you start us off, Snort?  
“Okay,” Snort said, “well you know that I was stuck down here for a while, but before that I was in a squad with a handful of dragons, I always had a knack for finding gems and tasty ones. Most dragons dont notice the subtleties, but each gem and stone has a different taste to me, not that my squad cared all that much. They just liked that I could find them easily, and while we shared the spoils it was often every dragon for themselves.”  
“That sounds familiar,” Sharp replied, “My squad was the same way with gems, always wanting to keep the hoard pile healthy. I mean I like gems as much as the next dragon, helps keep the scales healthy, but I just planned to contribute as much as I could until I could grow my wings big enough to fly.”  
“You cant fly?” Spike asked.  
“Not yet I cant,” Sharp shook his head, “Some dragons just have an easier time flying that others, Im one of the dragons who has a hard time with it. Been training as much as I could, thats why Im as fast as I am, he said with a pat of his legs, too many running take offs and gliding, cant get enough lift yet.  
“So thats why we just couldnt fly to the spiral mountain, with you carrying me,” Spike said, “Well if you could we wouldnt have met up with Magma,” Spike directed his question to him, “Were you in a squad, Magma?”  
“Pfft, used to be,” Magma said, “Till I realized those lazy dragons were just having me do all the work finding gems for the hoard, so I just left, and lived on my own.”  
“Isnt that rather lonely though?” Spike asked.  
“Thats the fate of all dragons eventually, isnt it?” Magma asked, “I mean we have the yearly migrations where all the dragons meet up to socialize and stuff, then we all go back to our solitary lives. Where have you been Spike, under a rock?  
“No, that would be me,” Snort interjected and the group gave a chuckle. “But yeah, Spike, you werent in a squad?”  
“That right you dont,” Sharp commented, “Youre not from here, I remember from that first night we met, didnt you say youre the pony princess pet dragon?”  
“A pet dragon?” Magma said, “No wonder you were so weird when I met you.”  
“Does the pony princess like to dress you up in silly costumes?” Snort teased.  
“Im not a pet dragon,” Spike protested, “I was hatched and raised by the now pony princess, though she wasnt before, and she and her friends are more than just my squad, theyre my family. Dont you guys have families?”  
“Like mothers and fathers?” Sharp asked rhetorically, “Of course we have them, its just dragons arent normally raised by them.”  
“Then who raises you guys?” Spike asked.  
“Well, were technically raised by them until were old enough to fend for ourselves,” Snort explained, “Then the migration happens, and they drop off all the younglings in an area, to then fend for themselves, making squads and stuff.”  
“Its to prevent pre-mature growth when we grow older around our parents hoards,” Magma chimed in, “Apparently theres some kind of weird magic with dragons where they grow rapidly should they be around a large hoard of possessions once they reach a certain age, and its been a sort of measure to prevent that by making it difficult to have too big a hoard. The growth period can last a few days to a few months, but its different for every dragon so as a coverall, young dragons raise themselves.”  
“So THATS what that was?” Spike exclaimed, “Wish someone told me that I needed to take a vacation to a desert for my birthday.”  
The group laughed realizing that Spike had suffered that magical growth spurt the rest had been spared from.  
“What was it like being that big?” Magma asked, “If I could grow up that quickly, I would think that would be the greatest thing.”  
“I honestly dont remember all that much, its very hazy,” Spike answered, “I stopped thinking, and all that mattered was collecting more and more, it was kind of scary, I sort of lost myself.”  
Magma became less excited about magical growth shortcuts, and sighed, Sorry, I guess I never thought about it that way. I always figured it was because elder dragons were just being greedy, but it seems like it was for their and our protection.  
“Its okay,” Spike said, “I had some good friends who were able to snap me out of it and reverse the growth. Turns out it has something to do with fighting against the greedy nature of dragons to keep my sanity.”  
“Friends helping to fighting your own nature” Sharp said hesitantly, “Guys, are we friends?”  
“I think we are, considering all weve been through in these short two days, I consider you guys friends,” Spike said almost immediately.  
“Friends huhwell as long as you dont make me do all the work, I could get used to having you guys around,” Magma said after thinking about it for a moment, “Yeah, you be my friend Sharp, and I call us even.”  
“Well, Im completely alone and starved for any kind of social interaction, so duh, Im definitely taking this chance to call you guys my friends,” Snort answered rather bluntly.  
“Cool” Snort said contently, “I think I just realized how long a day its been and how I can no longer move my body, so Im gonna fall sleep.”  
“Good idea,” Magma said with a yawn, “Night guys.”  
“Night” the rest replied in unison, and with that the four dragons fell asleep to rest after an arduous day.
 
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