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Another longer chapter so once again the download in the whole thing but for those just reading in the description it will be in two parts.
.......................................................................
Miranda and Derrick stood on either side of the landing platform, the morning sun just peaking up over the clouds as the two of them looked into the distance. She looked over at him, seeing the the sunlight bounce off of his scales, her gaze lingered for a moment before quickly snapping her head back forward. “You’re sure that Serena and Charles said they were coming the day before the expo to help get everything ready, right?” She yelled across the platform
“Yes I’m sure, and why are you standing over there?”
“I just feel like standing over here, is that a problem?”
“Well no......have, have I done something to offend you?”
“What? No, it’s just....I just want to be over here Okay!”
“Okay, okay, sorry I asked.”
Miranda sighed “I shouldn’t have yelled at him” she thought “but everything’s so confusing right now; if I just avoid being close, really close, to him for the rest of my time here I should be fine, but that doesn’t mean I have to be rude to him.” “Sorry Derrick. it’s just, the expo ya know? It has me a little stressed.”
“Its fine, I can’t really blame you, in all honesty it has me a little worried too.”
“Why are you worried? You do this every year.”
“I’m more worried about everyone buying your story about being my business partner’s daughter”
“If it’s that big of a risk maybe I just shouldn’t attend”
“Miranda.......I shouldn't have said that, I'm sure it will be fine, I do businesses with a lot of kinds. And I promise that even if we're found out I won't let anything happen to you. Besides I don’t think Aunt Serena will stand for you not being there.”
Before Miranda could put up an argument the two heard a familiar roar from the distance, shortly after a large purple wyvren landed on the platform between the two.
“Miranda, Derrick” Serena said as Charles dismounted Sibery “How have you been?”
“We’ve been fine” Derrick said as he and Miranda walked around to the front of the wyvren.
“I haven’t driven him crazy yet.” Said Miranda, stopping a few paces away from where Derrick stood
“Really?” Serena asked as Charles helped her down “I thought Derrick would have snapped by now from being around someone else for this long.”
“Aunt Serena, is that really necessary?”
“Oh I’m only having a bit of fun, now be a dear and help Charles unload the jewelry while Miranda and I have some girl time. Oh! And before you start unpacking throw me Miranda’s surprise.”
“A surprise?” Miranda asked as Charles lobed a brown satchel down towards them
“For later dear, now, I want you to tell me everything that’s happened since we left.”
……………………………………………………
Over the next few hours the two talked about almost everything that had happened over the past month, Derrick’s accident, their advancement in the battery system, how they finished it together and their conversation in the aviary, the only thing she left out was how she hugged Derrick when he told her that her temple would be safe.
“And that’s pretty much everything that’s happened” Miranda said as the two exited the dining hall “now if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to ask you a few things”
“Of course I wouldn’t mind, please, ask away.”
“Well, I was just wondering what you and Charles did for a living? I think I heard Charles say that the mines were doing well when you greeted Derrick, do you own a mine?”
“Charles family works with a few villages that own jewel mine, he and I design and craft fine clothes and jewelry using said mine's resources.”
“Oh, that must be interesting, do you show any of it during the expo?”
“Of course, speaking of which” Serena said, handing the satchel to Miranda “this is for you.”
“Oh yeah, my surprise, what is it?”
“A dress and some accessories for this evening of course, you must try them on.”
“Well, actually. I was meaning to talk to you about that. I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to attend the ball.”
“Well that’s......disappointing what makes you think that?”
“It’s just that the cover story we came up with is kinda flimsy and if anyone were to question it to much they might find out the truth and that would cause a lot of problems for Derrick.”
“I guess that’s a good point, at least try on the dress, I worked quite hard on it and I would hate for it to go to waste.”
“Firstly, I know that your trying to guilt me into this but alright, I guess trying it on wouldn’t hurt.”
………………………………………………………….
“Are you almost done in there dear?” Serena asked from the other side of the bathroom door “if you need any help I don’t mind”
“No! No, its fine” Miranda Replied smoothing out the ruffles on the dress in her room’s shower “I’m almost done.” She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Serena looked up from the bed she was sitting at “Oh you look gorgeous dear! let me have a look at you.”
Miranda turned to the large mirror that Serena requested earlier, starting at her collar bone there were a few rows of red ruffles that went down two hands widths, below that there was a slightly darker red section that was tight to her stomach and went down to her hips from there the dress was the same red as the ruffles and flowed down, hugging the curve of her hips gently, ending just above her hooves, on her arms there were long fingerless gloves, the same color as the top and bottom of the dress, that went half way up her upper arm.
Miranda was amazed by the dress “This all fits so…”
“Perfectly?” Serena interrupted
“Yeah, how did you make this so precisely?”
“As a jeweler and a dress maker I pride myself on being able to tell anyone’s size from one look, but were not done yet dear, I still have a few accessories I want you to try on.”
“Serena? I don’t want to appear rude; I mean this is easily the nicest thing I’ve ever worn but, why did you make something this elaborate, for me?”
“Well there are several reasons” Serena answered as she walked over to Miranda who was still admiring the dress in the mirror “First of all I wanted you to look your very best for your first upper class social gathering.”
Serena took Miranda’s hand in her own and clasped a golden bracelet just small enough to not slide of her hand around it.
“Secondly” she said as Miranda played with the lock a little bit, opening and closing it several times “I’ve never designed an ensemble for a unicorn before and I’ve had this Idea for one that I always wanted to try, turn around please.”
Miranda turned facing away from her and the jumped a little when she felt Serena grab her tail at the base “What are you doing?”
“Relax” Miranda said calmly “I’m just putting on the tail wrap I designed, as I understand it this is a common practice among equines, would you rather I didn’t?”
“No, you just sort of surprised me a little, I haven’t worn one in a while, it's not exactly an everyday thing for most of us.” she thought for a moment “And some believe the unicorns are actually more closely related to sheep and goats then equines”
“Really” she responded as she combed the hair on her tail a bit
“That's the theory anyways, even though we're all ungulates our hooves are closer to goats then horses but at the same time our tails are closer to horses than goats so its hard to know which came first.”
“Well I'm glad your tails are closer to equines, I used some references from equine fashion when making this, that does mean I'll have to rethink some of the shoes I was considering though.” Serena said cheerfully as she began wrapping the base of her tail with a soft material, she stopped when she got to the tip of Miranda’s dock and began sliding half rings of gold on to either side of her tail as each peace went on it clipped to the previous one until the entire wrap was covered by an elaborate gold sleeve.
As Serena walked back to the bed to retrieve something else Miranda looked over her shoulder at her now wrapped tail “Wow” she said while waving her tail back and forth “I’ve never seen anything this nice, even on a noble.”
“Oh I’m so glad to hear that now there’s just one more piece, the crowning glory if you will.”
Miranda turned to look at her, Serena who was already standing right next to her, in her hands she had a small diamond shaped ring that was adorned with small jewels that were the same blue as her eyes “what’s this” she asked curiously
“Well a horn ring of course” Serena replied “I admit that I’m not used to making rings for horns that aren’t round but the diamond shape of your horn was so unique that I couldn’t resist trying”
“It’s beautiful” She was almost entranced by the piece of jewelry before her “May I put it on?”
“Well one of us should and I don't think it'll fit me” Serena slid the ring onto her horn until it stopped just above her head “Perfect! I dare say that this is one of my finer works, it’s too bad though.”
“What’s too bad?” Miranda responded as she looked at it in the mirror from every angle she could
“That you won’t be attending the ball of course, I’m sure Derrick would have loved to see you in it.”
“You....you really think so?” Miranda asked as a faint smile formed on her lips.
“That’s what I thought” Serena said as she sat on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed “so tell me; when did you realized that you were attracted to Derrick?”
Miranda choked a little “What?!?” she finally managed to say as her muzzle turned a deep red
“You made it rather obvious dear, the way you wanted to stand next to him on the platform but were too unsure about your feelings to let yourself, the way you talked about him when you were filling me in, and just now how you were so excited when I said that he would like the dress; don’t worry, nothing you say here will leave this room.”
Miranda was silent for a few seconds “You promise?”
“I promise”
“It’s just....he’s so kind and strong, but at the same time he can be nervous and a little dense, I feel like I can relax around him like I don’t have to worry about upholding my families duty to the temple, and, while I don’t know why, I….I find him…..attractive, the way he’s built, the faint shine of his scales and his eyes, oh gods his eyes, there so deep and caring, I feel like I could get lost in them.”
“Wow” Serena said patting the bed next to her “you’ve really got it bad.”
Miranda sat down next to her “you’re not kidding, it’s not like it matters though in about a month I’ll leave and I’ll never see him again.”
“What makes you think you’ll never be able to see him again?” Serena asked as she put her hand on Miranda’s shoulder
“After I leave I won’t be able to come back, I got lucky climbing the mountain the first time and I’m not about to try it again, keeping a wyvren around to fly me up would be a bad idea seeing how they're the thing of nightmares where I come from, and even if he just sent a wyvren down to pick me up people would start to wonder about where I keep disappearing to.”
“Seems like you’ve given this quite a bit of thought, have you considered asking him to come visit you?”
Miranda paused “I have......but then I remember that, because of the pact, he can’t have contact with kinds like me.”
“The pact is more of a guideline than anything else, so long as he didn’t cause hostilities to rise I’m sure it would be fine, the exposition is proof of that.”
“Even so, all it would take would be one scared villager to tell someone then bounty hunters would come from all over for Derricks head. Even if we could keep it a secret I couldn’t possibly ask him to leave his horde ungraded for me it's all he has left from his parents.”
Serena was silent for a moment as her brow creased and she reached a hand up to her neck before shaking it off “It would seem that this conversation has gotten a little depressing, but I know what will cheer you up.”
“What’s that?”
“Attending a high class ball with music and dancing of course!”
………………………………………………………………..
“I wonder if this is really a good idea” Miranda thought as she paced back and forth in the wyvren’s roost, it was wooden room, larger than the elite bedroom but not as big as the aviary “Having that wyvren Derrick rented bring me up here last night so my smell wouldn’t linger was pretty smart but what if one of the guests come up here with their wyvren? I guess I could hide in here until they leave, but what if the other wyvrens get a whiff of me and get a little to curious” Miranda looked down at the large brown wyvren that was sleeping on its back on top of a pile of hay in the corner “This wyvrens nice but I don’t think it could protect me from another one”
“Ms. Lummi?” Burtrum’s voice asked from the crystal at the top of the room.
“Yes Burtrum”
“The first guests have arrived and their wyvren is coming up now, I didn’t want you to be surprised when it came.”
“Oh, thank you. How did the final preparations go?”
“Smoothly, all the setup for the vendors is done and your scent's been removed, no one should know you were already here.”
“Thats good, thank you Burtrum”
A few seconds later a flapping noise fallowed by a loud thud could be heard from beyond the door, Miranda crept over to the large double doors and put her ear up to it “I can hear it walking but I can’t tell if it’s coming or going, it’s too bad that the only viewing crystals are in Derrick’s and the elite rooms” She slowly pushed open the doors, which were surprisingly light for their size, and peaked through.
Just as she had thought a wyvren, Darren’s, had landed in the large room outside it looked much healthier than it did last time. It looked back and forth sniffing the air “Oh no, can it smell me?” luckily the wyvrens head looked towards the other wall and trotted over to one of the large sets of doors, letting out a low growl and scratching at the door , a few seconds later Serena and Charles’s wyvren, Sibery, poked her head out and nuzzled Darren’s wyvren before it fallowed her into the room “I guess their wings and scales aren’t the only things the wyvrens have in common with the dragons” Miranda thought, pulling her head back in the room, as she remembered the dragons behavior before the last ball had began .
As the day stretched on more wyvrens arrived one by one, most of them found their own room with the exception of a few pairs that shared a room luckily the old manor was big enough to house all of them.
“Ms. Lummi” Burtrum said after a few hours of wyvrens entering the roost
“Yes Burtrum?”
“The last guest has arrived and entered the lift, it’s time for you to come down.”
“Ok, I’ll be there in a minute.” She walked over to the still napping wyvren and scratched under his chin gently “Time to get up”
The large beast murred a little and rolled over, it stood up slowly and stretched out all four of its wings before walking over to the saddle laying on the ground, it was an interesting contraption that could be detached from a harness that the wyvren wore so they could rest without it on, after the wyvren worked its way under the saddle and it snapped into place, it walked over to Miranda and squatted down letting Miranda climb onto the saddle on his back. A few days ago the thought of actually getting onto one of these things had her breaking into a cold sweat but this wyvren had such a friendly manor about it she couldn't help but think it was kind of cute. “Down to the entrance.” she said firmly, the wyvren grunted in agreement as it pushed the door open and walked to the center of the room.
The central room was basically the back half of the old manor that had been hallowed out to form a roost. Large doors lined the walls on the floor as well as the two layers of catwalks above them, there were some wyvrens lounging on the walkways or just walking about which made a bit of the cold sweat come back thankfully any that did notice her didn't give her a second look. As her wyvren reached the center of the room it reared up onto its hind legs and spread its wings, he began sprinting towards the entrance and flapping both sets of wings, she tightly gripped the reigns as she thought back to earlier and how this was actually easier then when she had rode the wyvren up here with Derrick in the saddle in front of her, at least now she only had to worry about falling off and not ignoring how firm Derrick's back was as she clung to him on her way up. She was ok with coming up on her own but Serena, the sneak, had suggested Derrick ride with her to make sure she'd be okay then ride back on their wyvren Sibery.
She returned to the present just in time for the wyvren to leap off the edge of the roost and into the cold wind. After recovering from the initial shock and prying her eyes open she looked to the back of the saddle where a large crystal was mounted “It’s too bad crystals with portable healing auras like this can’t be made smaller” she thought as the dragon ballanced itself on the winds “This is so amazing, I’m actually riding a wyvren, no one would ever believe this, what am I gonna tell everyone I was doing up here anyways.” Before she could finish her thought they landed on the platform next to Serena.
“How was your night dear?” Serena asked as Miranda dismounted the dragon
“It was fine, changing into my dress in front of this wyvren in the morning was a little weird but other than that and the trip up there with Derrick” she shot Serena a look “it was fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that” Serena replied, deliberately ignoring the implication “now we should get going, Derrick and Charles are entertaining the guests but their all dying to meet the brilliant young mind who aided Derrick with his most recent invention. And I'm glad you enjoyed the trip up.”
Miranda huffed as the two entered the lift “How do they know about me already?”
“Well Charles and I have been telling the other guests about Derrick's new business partner since we got Derricks message about the sun crystals.”
Miranda gulped as the lift began descending “I hope they’re not expecting me to keep showing up for these things”
“Oh don’t worry about it too much, for now just enjoy the party.”
Once the lift stopped the two headed up the stairs to the main hall and stopped at the door , from the other side Miranda could hear a low murmur of the crowd “Here we go” Miranda thought as Serena put her hand on the door.
Miranda winced at the sudden burst of loud conversation from the ball room as the door was opened “Wow” Miranda said to Serena as she marveled at the large crowd “Derrick wasn’t kidding when he said the expo was open to all.”
Before Serena could reply the two were confronted by a strange looking creature, he was clearly feline but much slimmer then any of the cat's she had met, he was mostly yellow but covered with spots and had two black lines coming from his eyes and going down either side of his nose, he was dressed in a deep red suit that was completely lacking an undershirt showing off a surprising amount of his chest fluff.
“Serena” the stranger said “It’s been too long.”
“Indeed it has Lelisa, how are things on your side of the world?”
“Just as boring as usual, nothing like the vibrant displays you dragons put on but enough about me, who is your adorable friend?”
“Adorable? I honestly can’t remember the last time someone’s called me adorable.”
“This” Serena replied, placing her hand on Miranda’s back “is Ms. Miranda Lummi, the one I was telling you about in my letters.”
“Oh, so you’re the little genius who finally cracked it, it’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”
Miranda gulped and bowed slightly “I’m pleased to meet you as well, and I thank you for the compliment but I’m no genius, I just sort of lucked into the answer to the sun crystal.”
“And so modest too, but I wasn’t talking about you and Derrick’s little project I was talking about that.”
Miranda looked to where he gestured and saw a large group of mammals, birds, lizards and dragons all crowding around one of the display tables, it was a couple seconds before there was a break in the crowd big enough to see what the commotion was, at the center was Derrick who was holding a long staff covered in runes and explaining something to the group.
“As I hear it Derrick has bedded a few young females, much to my dismay, just to keep up appearances” Lelisa commented “but from Serena’s description you’re the first guest of his to ever actually get close to him, and all without getting into his pants, impressive.”
Miranda blushed a little as she starred at Derrick “ He looks so happy, I wonder wh… wait, a few? How many is a few?!” she thought angrily before she realized that what she was feeling jealousy and dismissing the thought “Were not that close, were more business partners than anything else.”
“I would believe that, were it not for the look of infatuation for him and jealousy for his partners all over your muzzle.”
Miranda’s blush deepened
“Oh you are adorable. Ah to be young again, now you should hurry up and join him, from the way he talked about you Derrick is just as excited to see you as you are to see him.” And with that he and Serena were off leaving Miranda by herself.
“That was, interesting” she thought as she began walking towards the crowd Derrick was entertaining “Is he really excited to see me?”
Before she could reach the crowd she was confronted by another guest, this time an older horned owl roughly the same size as her, Miranda just barely managed to stop before she ran into him “My apologies”
“No problem at all milady, my name is Wellington SharpFoot, I saw you speaking with Lelisa and Serena and I simply must know, are you the young unicorn who aided Derrick in finishing tonight’s main attraction?”
“Another one who knows me, how many did Serena tell?” “If by tonight’s main event you mean the new storage system then yes”
“I have to say that’s rather impressive, few of my peers and myself, would love to speak with you on the matter.”
Normally Miranda would be franticly thinking a way out of this situation but something about the old bird put her at ease “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to talk with them for a little bit”
……………………………………………………………….
The next hour or so was, by Miranda’s standards, rather amazing, she, Wellington, and his friends had gotten into a rather advanced conversation about how she dreamed up the sun crystals concept and branched from that into a discussion about the crystal’s ambient energy, their formation, different applications of her new design and several other topics. Miranda was able to keep up with the conversation and even answer some of their questions despite many of them still over her head, luckily Tiffany was a genius when it came to faking her way to an answer and had rubbed off on her more than she had liked.
“Finally” Miranda thought as the final member of the group left for the dining hall “while that was fun I feel like my head is going to explode from everything I just learned, now where did Derrick go?” She looked around for a couple seconds before she spied him in the middle of another large group “There you are” she thought as she began walking towards him “Now if I can get to him befo”
Before she could finish her thought she was interrupted by yet another guest, this time a dragon who was slightly taller than she was, covered in blue scales and had a row of small spikes going down his back from the top of his head “Well hello.” He said slyly as he held out his hand “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure, I’m Sir Gerald SeaFlare, and you are”
“Oh boy” she thought “Another sir” “Miranda Lummi” she said flatly as she put her hand in his
The Dragon brought her hand up and pressed his lips against it “I’m pleasured to meet you” he said as he let go of her hand “and may I say that you are particularly lovely this evening.”
Miranda pulled her hand back quickly, blushing slightly “Um, thank you”
“Oh you’re very welcome, In fact you’re so lovely that I’m inclined to make you a very generous offer.”
“What kind of offer?”
“Being a unicorn, I would venture a guess that you are either part of a noble house that has done business with the SkyBlaze family or a commoner who was recognized for her radiant beauty and invited here by a noble.”
“Not quite” Miranda responded, thinking about the cover story they had come up with “My father did do business with Derrick but we aren’t nobles, and I was invited here, by Derrick, to help him with developing tonight’s main attraction.”
”Are you…with Derrick”
This question caught her off guard the first few times she had been asked it tonight but this time she was ready for it “No, we share a purely professional relationship.”
“Excellent! In that case I will be blunt, I want you to be part of my harem”
Miranda was silent for a few seconds “Ex..Excuse Me!!!!! Did, did you just say HAR” She stopped before blurting it out and whispered “harem.”
He chuckled a bit at her reaction and said “yes I did, I have no problem sharing my wealth and love with multiple partners.”
Miranda was speechless; she couldn’t believe what this dragon was suggesting so casually “No! I’m sorry but no.”
“Why not? You would be taken care of for the rest of your life, in the lap of luxury, you may not know this but my family is behind the scenes of one of the biggest fishing company in the continent so money wouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s not why I don’t want to go with you” Miranda replied, having calmed down a bit “I have a home, friends, responsibilities and at least a little self respect; I...appreciate, the offer but I can’t just leave them behind to be some dragons newest toy, now if you’ll excuse me Sir Derrick is waiting for me.” She pushed past the dragon but was stopped when she felt something tug on her wrist.
“You don’t seem to understand” He said, holding her wrist in his scaly hand “I want you, and I get what I want.”
Miranda’s eyes flared in anger, before Gerald could even blink she turned around as fast as she could and slapped him across the snout hard enough to make him let go of her wrist and stumble backward.
He quickly raised his hand to his hand to his face “How, how dare you! I don’t care whose guest you are” he clenched his fist and began turning back towards her “when I’m fini”
Before he could finish his sentence he felt something sharp poke his throat and stopped, he looked down and could see the top of Miranda’s head past his snout, as he was turning around to strike back she had rushed forward and now had the tip of her horn at his throat.
“If you ever even think about touching me without my permission again I promise you, Derrick, will be the least of your worries, are we clear?”
“A,a,a,as th, the skies”
“Good” she removed her horn from his throat as she stood back up “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be on my way.” She turned around to find that almost everyone in the ballroom was staring at the scene “Should have figured this would happen” she thought as she walked forward, the other guests quickly looked away and returned to their conversations as she did.
Miranda found Derrick and walked up to him huridley before someone else wanted a word “Sorry, I guess I caused a bit of a scene”
“It’s no problem, I'm glad you were able to handled it” Derrick replied “I’m sorry you had to deal with Gerald”
“I too apologize for the way my boy acted” said one of the older looking dragons that Derrick was standing with, he looked almost exactly like Gerald only much older “he forgets his manners every now and then; I suppose it’s my fault for spoiling him though, thank you for knocking some sense into him, and don't worry, this is hardly the first time hes been rejected at a party.”
“Um, you’re welcome?”
“Well, now that all that is over how about we unveil our little project?” Derrick asked
“Now’s a good a time as any.” She replied
“Right then, ladies first.”
“What a gentlemen” the two began heading towards the horde room doors.
“If I may have your attention please!” Derrick boomed as the two reached the door “I know many of you have been wondering about the main event that I have been alluding to all night, and I assure you, the wait will be well worth it, now without further a due may I present I and Ms. Lummi’s breakthrough, the sun crystal!”
The doors to the horde room opened slowly letting out a blinding light that caused the rest of the guests to look away, as the doors closed and the guest looked back, they were all speechless. The sun crystal was a soft golden hue and had crystals sticking out from every angle forming a large spiky sphere, that’s only half of what impressed them though, what really got them was the fact that it was floating about halfway between the floor and the ceiling; as it floated overhead Miranda looked up at it and felt a sense of pride in what she’d helped create.
“Now I assure you, while it is a magnificent site the sun crystal is much more than a decoration, Ms. Lummi and I were able to infuse this crystal with an exponentially greater amount of mana, so much that one of these can sustain at least four long distance communications before significant loss of mass.”
The crowd began to murmur as the sun crystal stopped in the middle of the room.
“The float runes were a nice touch.” Miranda whispered
“Seeing something float through the air is always a crowd pleaser” Derrick replied before he continued explaining “Now, while I can’t tell you all of my secrets, Ms. Lummi and I will be taking some questions you may have.”
About half of the kind's in the rooms hands went up in an instant
“About the Sun crystal” Miranda clarified
About a quarter of the hands went down
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Miranda didn’t know how long the two of them were answering questions but by the end of it she was mentally exhausted. “I can’t believe you have to do this every year.” Miranda said to Derrick as the two ascended the stairs to the dining hall.
“You get used to it after a while, and believe it or not it's easier than dealing with the nobels, you seem to be adapting to it very well.”
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be but after answering all of those questions I definitely could use a break.”
As they reached the top of the stairs Miranda stopped suddenly as her hands gripped her sides as she doubled over in shock.
“Miranda?” Derrick asked as her legs began to wobble “Miranda!” he quickly wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling over “Miranda what’s the matter!?”
“It hurts, my whole body hurts.”
.......................................................................
Miranda and Derrick stood on either side of the landing platform, the morning sun just peaking up over the clouds as the two of them looked into the distance. She looked over at him, seeing the the sunlight bounce off of his scales, her gaze lingered for a moment before quickly snapping her head back forward. “You’re sure that Serena and Charles said they were coming the day before the expo to help get everything ready, right?” She yelled across the platform
“Yes I’m sure, and why are you standing over there?”
“I just feel like standing over here, is that a problem?”
“Well no......have, have I done something to offend you?”
“What? No, it’s just....I just want to be over here Okay!”
“Okay, okay, sorry I asked.”
Miranda sighed “I shouldn’t have yelled at him” she thought “but everything’s so confusing right now; if I just avoid being close, really close, to him for the rest of my time here I should be fine, but that doesn’t mean I have to be rude to him.” “Sorry Derrick. it’s just, the expo ya know? It has me a little stressed.”
“Its fine, I can’t really blame you, in all honesty it has me a little worried too.”
“Why are you worried? You do this every year.”
“I’m more worried about everyone buying your story about being my business partner’s daughter”
“If it’s that big of a risk maybe I just shouldn’t attend”
“Miranda.......I shouldn't have said that, I'm sure it will be fine, I do businesses with a lot of kinds. And I promise that even if we're found out I won't let anything happen to you. Besides I don’t think Aunt Serena will stand for you not being there.”
Before Miranda could put up an argument the two heard a familiar roar from the distance, shortly after a large purple wyvren landed on the platform between the two.
“Miranda, Derrick” Serena said as Charles dismounted Sibery “How have you been?”
“We’ve been fine” Derrick said as he and Miranda walked around to the front of the wyvren.
“I haven’t driven him crazy yet.” Said Miranda, stopping a few paces away from where Derrick stood
“Really?” Serena asked as Charles helped her down “I thought Derrick would have snapped by now from being around someone else for this long.”
“Aunt Serena, is that really necessary?”
“Oh I’m only having a bit of fun, now be a dear and help Charles unload the jewelry while Miranda and I have some girl time. Oh! And before you start unpacking throw me Miranda’s surprise.”
“A surprise?” Miranda asked as Charles lobed a brown satchel down towards them
“For later dear, now, I want you to tell me everything that’s happened since we left.”
……………………………………………………
Over the next few hours the two talked about almost everything that had happened over the past month, Derrick’s accident, their advancement in the battery system, how they finished it together and their conversation in the aviary, the only thing she left out was how she hugged Derrick when he told her that her temple would be safe.
“And that’s pretty much everything that’s happened” Miranda said as the two exited the dining hall “now if you wouldn’t mind I’d like to ask you a few things”
“Of course I wouldn’t mind, please, ask away.”
“Well, I was just wondering what you and Charles did for a living? I think I heard Charles say that the mines were doing well when you greeted Derrick, do you own a mine?”
“Charles family works with a few villages that own jewel mine, he and I design and craft fine clothes and jewelry using said mine's resources.”
“Oh, that must be interesting, do you show any of it during the expo?”
“Of course, speaking of which” Serena said, handing the satchel to Miranda “this is for you.”
“Oh yeah, my surprise, what is it?”
“A dress and some accessories for this evening of course, you must try them on.”
“Well, actually. I was meaning to talk to you about that. I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to attend the ball.”
“Well that’s......disappointing what makes you think that?”
“It’s just that the cover story we came up with is kinda flimsy and if anyone were to question it to much they might find out the truth and that would cause a lot of problems for Derrick.”
“I guess that’s a good point, at least try on the dress, I worked quite hard on it and I would hate for it to go to waste.”
“Firstly, I know that your trying to guilt me into this but alright, I guess trying it on wouldn’t hurt.”
………………………………………………………….
“Are you almost done in there dear?” Serena asked from the other side of the bathroom door “if you need any help I don’t mind”
“No! No, its fine” Miranda Replied smoothing out the ruffles on the dress in her room’s shower “I’m almost done.” She took a deep breath and opened the door.
Serena looked up from the bed she was sitting at “Oh you look gorgeous dear! let me have a look at you.”
Miranda turned to the large mirror that Serena requested earlier, starting at her collar bone there were a few rows of red ruffles that went down two hands widths, below that there was a slightly darker red section that was tight to her stomach and went down to her hips from there the dress was the same red as the ruffles and flowed down, hugging the curve of her hips gently, ending just above her hooves, on her arms there were long fingerless gloves, the same color as the top and bottom of the dress, that went half way up her upper arm.
Miranda was amazed by the dress “This all fits so…”
“Perfectly?” Serena interrupted
“Yeah, how did you make this so precisely?”
“As a jeweler and a dress maker I pride myself on being able to tell anyone’s size from one look, but were not done yet dear, I still have a few accessories I want you to try on.”
“Serena? I don’t want to appear rude; I mean this is easily the nicest thing I’ve ever worn but, why did you make something this elaborate, for me?”
“Well there are several reasons” Serena answered as she walked over to Miranda who was still admiring the dress in the mirror “First of all I wanted you to look your very best for your first upper class social gathering.”
Serena took Miranda’s hand in her own and clasped a golden bracelet just small enough to not slide of her hand around it.
“Secondly” she said as Miranda played with the lock a little bit, opening and closing it several times “I’ve never designed an ensemble for a unicorn before and I’ve had this Idea for one that I always wanted to try, turn around please.”
Miranda turned facing away from her and the jumped a little when she felt Serena grab her tail at the base “What are you doing?”
“Relax” Miranda said calmly “I’m just putting on the tail wrap I designed, as I understand it this is a common practice among equines, would you rather I didn’t?”
“No, you just sort of surprised me a little, I haven’t worn one in a while, it's not exactly an everyday thing for most of us.” she thought for a moment “And some believe the unicorns are actually more closely related to sheep and goats then equines”
“Really” she responded as she combed the hair on her tail a bit
“That's the theory anyways, even though we're all ungulates our hooves are closer to goats then horses but at the same time our tails are closer to horses than goats so its hard to know which came first.”
“Well I'm glad your tails are closer to equines, I used some references from equine fashion when making this, that does mean I'll have to rethink some of the shoes I was considering though.” Serena said cheerfully as she began wrapping the base of her tail with a soft material, she stopped when she got to the tip of Miranda’s dock and began sliding half rings of gold on to either side of her tail as each peace went on it clipped to the previous one until the entire wrap was covered by an elaborate gold sleeve.
As Serena walked back to the bed to retrieve something else Miranda looked over her shoulder at her now wrapped tail “Wow” she said while waving her tail back and forth “I’ve never seen anything this nice, even on a noble.”
“Oh I’m so glad to hear that now there’s just one more piece, the crowning glory if you will.”
Miranda turned to look at her, Serena who was already standing right next to her, in her hands she had a small diamond shaped ring that was adorned with small jewels that were the same blue as her eyes “what’s this” she asked curiously
“Well a horn ring of course” Serena replied “I admit that I’m not used to making rings for horns that aren’t round but the diamond shape of your horn was so unique that I couldn’t resist trying”
“It’s beautiful” She was almost entranced by the piece of jewelry before her “May I put it on?”
“Well one of us should and I don't think it'll fit me” Serena slid the ring onto her horn until it stopped just above her head “Perfect! I dare say that this is one of my finer works, it’s too bad though.”
“What’s too bad?” Miranda responded as she looked at it in the mirror from every angle she could
“That you won’t be attending the ball of course, I’m sure Derrick would have loved to see you in it.”
“You....you really think so?” Miranda asked as a faint smile formed on her lips.
“That’s what I thought” Serena said as she sat on the edge of the bed with her legs crossed “so tell me; when did you realized that you were attracted to Derrick?”
Miranda choked a little “What?!?” she finally managed to say as her muzzle turned a deep red
“You made it rather obvious dear, the way you wanted to stand next to him on the platform but were too unsure about your feelings to let yourself, the way you talked about him when you were filling me in, and just now how you were so excited when I said that he would like the dress; don’t worry, nothing you say here will leave this room.”
Miranda was silent for a few seconds “You promise?”
“I promise”
“It’s just....he’s so kind and strong, but at the same time he can be nervous and a little dense, I feel like I can relax around him like I don’t have to worry about upholding my families duty to the temple, and, while I don’t know why, I….I find him…..attractive, the way he’s built, the faint shine of his scales and his eyes, oh gods his eyes, there so deep and caring, I feel like I could get lost in them.”
“Wow” Serena said patting the bed next to her “you’ve really got it bad.”
Miranda sat down next to her “you’re not kidding, it’s not like it matters though in about a month I’ll leave and I’ll never see him again.”
“What makes you think you’ll never be able to see him again?” Serena asked as she put her hand on Miranda’s shoulder
“After I leave I won’t be able to come back, I got lucky climbing the mountain the first time and I’m not about to try it again, keeping a wyvren around to fly me up would be a bad idea seeing how they're the thing of nightmares where I come from, and even if he just sent a wyvren down to pick me up people would start to wonder about where I keep disappearing to.”
“Seems like you’ve given this quite a bit of thought, have you considered asking him to come visit you?”
Miranda paused “I have......but then I remember that, because of the pact, he can’t have contact with kinds like me.”
“The pact is more of a guideline than anything else, so long as he didn’t cause hostilities to rise I’m sure it would be fine, the exposition is proof of that.”
“Even so, all it would take would be one scared villager to tell someone then bounty hunters would come from all over for Derricks head. Even if we could keep it a secret I couldn’t possibly ask him to leave his horde ungraded for me it's all he has left from his parents.”
Serena was silent for a moment as her brow creased and she reached a hand up to her neck before shaking it off “It would seem that this conversation has gotten a little depressing, but I know what will cheer you up.”
“What’s that?”
“Attending a high class ball with music and dancing of course!”
………………………………………………………………..
“I wonder if this is really a good idea” Miranda thought as she paced back and forth in the wyvren’s roost, it was wooden room, larger than the elite bedroom but not as big as the aviary “Having that wyvren Derrick rented bring me up here last night so my smell wouldn’t linger was pretty smart but what if one of the guests come up here with their wyvren? I guess I could hide in here until they leave, but what if the other wyvrens get a whiff of me and get a little to curious” Miranda looked down at the large brown wyvren that was sleeping on its back on top of a pile of hay in the corner “This wyvrens nice but I don’t think it could protect me from another one”
“Ms. Lummi?” Burtrum’s voice asked from the crystal at the top of the room.
“Yes Burtrum”
“The first guests have arrived and their wyvren is coming up now, I didn’t want you to be surprised when it came.”
“Oh, thank you. How did the final preparations go?”
“Smoothly, all the setup for the vendors is done and your scent's been removed, no one should know you were already here.”
“Thats good, thank you Burtrum”
A few seconds later a flapping noise fallowed by a loud thud could be heard from beyond the door, Miranda crept over to the large double doors and put her ear up to it “I can hear it walking but I can’t tell if it’s coming or going, it’s too bad that the only viewing crystals are in Derrick’s and the elite rooms” She slowly pushed open the doors, which were surprisingly light for their size, and peaked through.
Just as she had thought a wyvren, Darren’s, had landed in the large room outside it looked much healthier than it did last time. It looked back and forth sniffing the air “Oh no, can it smell me?” luckily the wyvrens head looked towards the other wall and trotted over to one of the large sets of doors, letting out a low growl and scratching at the door , a few seconds later Serena and Charles’s wyvren, Sibery, poked her head out and nuzzled Darren’s wyvren before it fallowed her into the room “I guess their wings and scales aren’t the only things the wyvrens have in common with the dragons” Miranda thought, pulling her head back in the room, as she remembered the dragons behavior before the last ball had began .
As the day stretched on more wyvrens arrived one by one, most of them found their own room with the exception of a few pairs that shared a room luckily the old manor was big enough to house all of them.
“Ms. Lummi” Burtrum said after a few hours of wyvrens entering the roost
“Yes Burtrum?”
“The last guest has arrived and entered the lift, it’s time for you to come down.”
“Ok, I’ll be there in a minute.” She walked over to the still napping wyvren and scratched under his chin gently “Time to get up”
The large beast murred a little and rolled over, it stood up slowly and stretched out all four of its wings before walking over to the saddle laying on the ground, it was an interesting contraption that could be detached from a harness that the wyvren wore so they could rest without it on, after the wyvren worked its way under the saddle and it snapped into place, it walked over to Miranda and squatted down letting Miranda climb onto the saddle on his back. A few days ago the thought of actually getting onto one of these things had her breaking into a cold sweat but this wyvren had such a friendly manor about it she couldn't help but think it was kind of cute. “Down to the entrance.” she said firmly, the wyvren grunted in agreement as it pushed the door open and walked to the center of the room.
The central room was basically the back half of the old manor that had been hallowed out to form a roost. Large doors lined the walls on the floor as well as the two layers of catwalks above them, there were some wyvrens lounging on the walkways or just walking about which made a bit of the cold sweat come back thankfully any that did notice her didn't give her a second look. As her wyvren reached the center of the room it reared up onto its hind legs and spread its wings, he began sprinting towards the entrance and flapping both sets of wings, she tightly gripped the reigns as she thought back to earlier and how this was actually easier then when she had rode the wyvren up here with Derrick in the saddle in front of her, at least now she only had to worry about falling off and not ignoring how firm Derrick's back was as she clung to him on her way up. She was ok with coming up on her own but Serena, the sneak, had suggested Derrick ride with her to make sure she'd be okay then ride back on their wyvren Sibery.
She returned to the present just in time for the wyvren to leap off the edge of the roost and into the cold wind. After recovering from the initial shock and prying her eyes open she looked to the back of the saddle where a large crystal was mounted “It’s too bad crystals with portable healing auras like this can’t be made smaller” she thought as the dragon ballanced itself on the winds “This is so amazing, I’m actually riding a wyvren, no one would ever believe this, what am I gonna tell everyone I was doing up here anyways.” Before she could finish her thought they landed on the platform next to Serena.
“How was your night dear?” Serena asked as Miranda dismounted the dragon
“It was fine, changing into my dress in front of this wyvren in the morning was a little weird but other than that and the trip up there with Derrick” she shot Serena a look “it was fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that” Serena replied, deliberately ignoring the implication “now we should get going, Derrick and Charles are entertaining the guests but their all dying to meet the brilliant young mind who aided Derrick with his most recent invention. And I'm glad you enjoyed the trip up.”
Miranda huffed as the two entered the lift “How do they know about me already?”
“Well Charles and I have been telling the other guests about Derrick's new business partner since we got Derricks message about the sun crystals.”
Miranda gulped as the lift began descending “I hope they’re not expecting me to keep showing up for these things”
“Oh don’t worry about it too much, for now just enjoy the party.”
Once the lift stopped the two headed up the stairs to the main hall and stopped at the door , from the other side Miranda could hear a low murmur of the crowd “Here we go” Miranda thought as Serena put her hand on the door.
Miranda winced at the sudden burst of loud conversation from the ball room as the door was opened “Wow” Miranda said to Serena as she marveled at the large crowd “Derrick wasn’t kidding when he said the expo was open to all.”
Before Serena could reply the two were confronted by a strange looking creature, he was clearly feline but much slimmer then any of the cat's she had met, he was mostly yellow but covered with spots and had two black lines coming from his eyes and going down either side of his nose, he was dressed in a deep red suit that was completely lacking an undershirt showing off a surprising amount of his chest fluff.
“Serena” the stranger said “It’s been too long.”
“Indeed it has Lelisa, how are things on your side of the world?”
“Just as boring as usual, nothing like the vibrant displays you dragons put on but enough about me, who is your adorable friend?”
“Adorable? I honestly can’t remember the last time someone’s called me adorable.”
“This” Serena replied, placing her hand on Miranda’s back “is Ms. Miranda Lummi, the one I was telling you about in my letters.”
“Oh, so you’re the little genius who finally cracked it, it’s very nice to make your acquaintance.”
Miranda gulped and bowed slightly “I’m pleased to meet you as well, and I thank you for the compliment but I’m no genius, I just sort of lucked into the answer to the sun crystal.”
“And so modest too, but I wasn’t talking about you and Derrick’s little project I was talking about that.”
Miranda looked to where he gestured and saw a large group of mammals, birds, lizards and dragons all crowding around one of the display tables, it was a couple seconds before there was a break in the crowd big enough to see what the commotion was, at the center was Derrick who was holding a long staff covered in runes and explaining something to the group.
“As I hear it Derrick has bedded a few young females, much to my dismay, just to keep up appearances” Lelisa commented “but from Serena’s description you’re the first guest of his to ever actually get close to him, and all without getting into his pants, impressive.”
Miranda blushed a little as she starred at Derrick “ He looks so happy, I wonder wh… wait, a few? How many is a few?!” she thought angrily before she realized that what she was feeling jealousy and dismissing the thought “Were not that close, were more business partners than anything else.”
“I would believe that, were it not for the look of infatuation for him and jealousy for his partners all over your muzzle.”
Miranda’s blush deepened
“Oh you are adorable. Ah to be young again, now you should hurry up and join him, from the way he talked about you Derrick is just as excited to see you as you are to see him.” And with that he and Serena were off leaving Miranda by herself.
“That was, interesting” she thought as she began walking towards the crowd Derrick was entertaining “Is he really excited to see me?”
Before she could reach the crowd she was confronted by another guest, this time an older horned owl roughly the same size as her, Miranda just barely managed to stop before she ran into him “My apologies”
“No problem at all milady, my name is Wellington SharpFoot, I saw you speaking with Lelisa and Serena and I simply must know, are you the young unicorn who aided Derrick in finishing tonight’s main attraction?”
“Another one who knows me, how many did Serena tell?” “If by tonight’s main event you mean the new storage system then yes”
“I have to say that’s rather impressive, few of my peers and myself, would love to speak with you on the matter.”
Normally Miranda would be franticly thinking a way out of this situation but something about the old bird put her at ease “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to talk with them for a little bit”
……………………………………………………………….
The next hour or so was, by Miranda’s standards, rather amazing, she, Wellington, and his friends had gotten into a rather advanced conversation about how she dreamed up the sun crystals concept and branched from that into a discussion about the crystal’s ambient energy, their formation, different applications of her new design and several other topics. Miranda was able to keep up with the conversation and even answer some of their questions despite many of them still over her head, luckily Tiffany was a genius when it came to faking her way to an answer and had rubbed off on her more than she had liked.
“Finally” Miranda thought as the final member of the group left for the dining hall “while that was fun I feel like my head is going to explode from everything I just learned, now where did Derrick go?” She looked around for a couple seconds before she spied him in the middle of another large group “There you are” she thought as she began walking towards him “Now if I can get to him befo”
Before she could finish her thought she was interrupted by yet another guest, this time a dragon who was slightly taller than she was, covered in blue scales and had a row of small spikes going down his back from the top of his head “Well hello.” He said slyly as he held out his hand “I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure, I’m Sir Gerald SeaFlare, and you are”
“Oh boy” she thought “Another sir” “Miranda Lummi” she said flatly as she put her hand in his
The Dragon brought her hand up and pressed his lips against it “I’m pleasured to meet you” he said as he let go of her hand “and may I say that you are particularly lovely this evening.”
Miranda pulled her hand back quickly, blushing slightly “Um, thank you”
“Oh you’re very welcome, In fact you’re so lovely that I’m inclined to make you a very generous offer.”
“What kind of offer?”
“Being a unicorn, I would venture a guess that you are either part of a noble house that has done business with the SkyBlaze family or a commoner who was recognized for her radiant beauty and invited here by a noble.”
“Not quite” Miranda responded, thinking about the cover story they had come up with “My father did do business with Derrick but we aren’t nobles, and I was invited here, by Derrick, to help him with developing tonight’s main attraction.”
”Are you…with Derrick”
This question caught her off guard the first few times she had been asked it tonight but this time she was ready for it “No, we share a purely professional relationship.”
“Excellent! In that case I will be blunt, I want you to be part of my harem”
Miranda was silent for a few seconds “Ex..Excuse Me!!!!! Did, did you just say HAR” She stopped before blurting it out and whispered “harem.”
He chuckled a bit at her reaction and said “yes I did, I have no problem sharing my wealth and love with multiple partners.”
Miranda was speechless; she couldn’t believe what this dragon was suggesting so casually “No! I’m sorry but no.”
“Why not? You would be taken care of for the rest of your life, in the lap of luxury, you may not know this but my family is behind the scenes of one of the biggest fishing company in the continent so money wouldn’t be a problem.”
“That’s not why I don’t want to go with you” Miranda replied, having calmed down a bit “I have a home, friends, responsibilities and at least a little self respect; I...appreciate, the offer but I can’t just leave them behind to be some dragons newest toy, now if you’ll excuse me Sir Derrick is waiting for me.” She pushed past the dragon but was stopped when she felt something tug on her wrist.
“You don’t seem to understand” He said, holding her wrist in his scaly hand “I want you, and I get what I want.”
Miranda’s eyes flared in anger, before Gerald could even blink she turned around as fast as she could and slapped him across the snout hard enough to make him let go of her wrist and stumble backward.
He quickly raised his hand to his hand to his face “How, how dare you! I don’t care whose guest you are” he clenched his fist and began turning back towards her “when I’m fini”
Before he could finish his sentence he felt something sharp poke his throat and stopped, he looked down and could see the top of Miranda’s head past his snout, as he was turning around to strike back she had rushed forward and now had the tip of her horn at his throat.
“If you ever even think about touching me without my permission again I promise you, Derrick, will be the least of your worries, are we clear?”
“A,a,a,as th, the skies”
“Good” she removed her horn from his throat as she stood back up “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be on my way.” She turned around to find that almost everyone in the ballroom was staring at the scene “Should have figured this would happen” she thought as she walked forward, the other guests quickly looked away and returned to their conversations as she did.
Miranda found Derrick and walked up to him huridley before someone else wanted a word “Sorry, I guess I caused a bit of a scene”
“It’s no problem, I'm glad you were able to handled it” Derrick replied “I’m sorry you had to deal with Gerald”
“I too apologize for the way my boy acted” said one of the older looking dragons that Derrick was standing with, he looked almost exactly like Gerald only much older “he forgets his manners every now and then; I suppose it’s my fault for spoiling him though, thank you for knocking some sense into him, and don't worry, this is hardly the first time hes been rejected at a party.”
“Um, you’re welcome?”
“Well, now that all that is over how about we unveil our little project?” Derrick asked
“Now’s a good a time as any.” She replied
“Right then, ladies first.”
“What a gentlemen” the two began heading towards the horde room doors.
“If I may have your attention please!” Derrick boomed as the two reached the door “I know many of you have been wondering about the main event that I have been alluding to all night, and I assure you, the wait will be well worth it, now without further a due may I present I and Ms. Lummi’s breakthrough, the sun crystal!”
The doors to the horde room opened slowly letting out a blinding light that caused the rest of the guests to look away, as the doors closed and the guest looked back, they were all speechless. The sun crystal was a soft golden hue and had crystals sticking out from every angle forming a large spiky sphere, that’s only half of what impressed them though, what really got them was the fact that it was floating about halfway between the floor and the ceiling; as it floated overhead Miranda looked up at it and felt a sense of pride in what she’d helped create.
“Now I assure you, while it is a magnificent site the sun crystal is much more than a decoration, Ms. Lummi and I were able to infuse this crystal with an exponentially greater amount of mana, so much that one of these can sustain at least four long distance communications before significant loss of mass.”
The crowd began to murmur as the sun crystal stopped in the middle of the room.
“The float runes were a nice touch.” Miranda whispered
“Seeing something float through the air is always a crowd pleaser” Derrick replied before he continued explaining “Now, while I can’t tell you all of my secrets, Ms. Lummi and I will be taking some questions you may have.”
About half of the kind's in the rooms hands went up in an instant
“About the Sun crystal” Miranda clarified
About a quarter of the hands went down
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Miranda didn’t know how long the two of them were answering questions but by the end of it she was mentally exhausted. “I can’t believe you have to do this every year.” Miranda said to Derrick as the two ascended the stairs to the dining hall.
“You get used to it after a while, and believe it or not it's easier than dealing with the nobels, you seem to be adapting to it very well.”
“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be but after answering all of those questions I definitely could use a break.”
As they reached the top of the stairs Miranda stopped suddenly as her hands gripped her sides as she doubled over in shock.
“Miranda?” Derrick asked as her legs began to wobble “Miranda!” he quickly wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling over “Miranda what’s the matter!?”
“It hurts, my whole body hurts.”
Category Story / All
Species Unicorn
Size 96 x 120px
File Size 114 kB
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