Spring, 13 Years Ago......
It was Springtime! The most wonderful time of the year! I could roll in the mud as much as I wanted! It felt so good, even with Sunset laughing at me.
"Quickheart! Silly dragon! You're getting all dirty!", she laughed.
"Oh my! I think we're going to have to give him a.....a B-A-T-H....", Mrs. Shimmer whispered to Mr. Shimmer.
I didn't have to go to school to know what that spelled, so I ran as fast as I could to hide behind some flower pots. But Mr. Shimmer caught me.
"Not so fast, Quickheart, boy! You need a bath!", he chuckled.
I whimpered in despair, I hated baths, especially when they used cold shampoo.
"Don't worry, boy! It'll be fun!", Sunset smiled, kissing my muddy forehead.
Bath time was the same every single time, Mrs. Shimmer would first hose me down with the water hose, she would scrub my head and back with dog shampoo. And then she'd scrub my underbelly, gently rinse my wings with warm water, along with the rest of my body. And finally, she'd wax my horns, claws and tail tip with turtle wax.
She reached for a towel and massaged my fur until I was a fuzz ball.
"Awww! He's so cute and fluffy! Let me get a picture!", Sunset beamed, picking her camera out of her satchel, and took me in her arms and snapped the picture.
Mr. Shimmer then called from the living room, "Sunset! Gramma Shimmer is here!"
"Come on, Quickheart! Gramma hasn't seen you yet!", she grinned.
So we dashed to the living room and found an old mare sitting on the sofa, she looked like an older version of Mrs. Shimmer.
"Sunset, Darling! I haven't seen you since you were a wee little foal! How have you been doing?"
"Great, Gramma! Look what Mom and Dad got me for my birthday last year!", Sunset beamed, holding me out to her, I cocked my head in that adorable way.
"Oh my stars! A Pygmy Dragon! You remember Toto, Delilah? You two were peas in a pod! Doing everything together!", Gramma Shimmer grinned, scratching behind my ears.
Mrs. Shimmer smiled sadly, "Yes, poor Toto. I loved him very much, he was my best friend. You would've liked him, Quickheart. But he got old, and passed away. He was very old, about 123 years old. He was 80 when I got him...."
Sunset got a little worried, "How old is Quickheart?", she asked.
Gramma Shimmer took my paw and examined it, "Oh! You have nothing to worry about! He's only about 7 or 8, you still have a long way to go before he even hits his prime.", she smiled reassuringly, showing Sunset the unusual lines on my paw.
"Just like me!", Sunset beamed, squeezing me tightly, I loved it.
Then it was time for dinner, lasagna (vegetarian) and rolls. Like always, Mrs. Shimmer put some in my bowl, so I could eat when they did. Then, after dinner, we listened to Gramma tell a story about a princess in tower with very long hair, or something of the sort. I loved Gramma's stories, especially when I had Sunset squeezing me tightly, scratching behind my ears with her hooves, and kissing my forehead. Gramma spent the entire spring with us, and we heard stories every night, and they never got old! Neither did the love Sunset showed for me.......
Present Time.....
Here I am still, miserable, lonely. Until a neon pink alicorn walked in the room. I jumped in surprise, it looked like I got scared, but what I was really thinking was, "Oh my gosh! Did Celestia have kids with a cupcake?!?"
The supposed cupcake/alicorn hybrid walked over to me and smiled, patting my head, "Awwww! You're so cute! But you look so upset, what's wrong?"
I cocked my head and gave her a "Really?" look.
The princess sighed, "Sorry, I forgot you couldn't talk....just thought I'd ask..."
She then saw my picture album, opened to Summer 1984, "Oh! Is that your owner?", she asked, feeling concerned.
I gave her an annoyed yip before looking back to my pictures and nodded.
"Awww...you must be lonely...", she smiled.
Getting sick of her company, I did what any sensible pony would do if they were me. I barked madly at her, which, if you had heard, you would've clearly translated as, "Shut up and leave me alone!"
"Fine..mean puppy....", she pouted, mumbling under her breath as she left.
I barked angrily one final time, which sent her scurrying out. I laughed to myself, looking back to the picture album, it was the fall of 1983 that Sunset had got me, and it was now already Summer 1984......
Summer 1984......
I was sunbathing. Why? Cause Mrs. Shimmer was doing it, and it looked fun. Not to mention, it made scales feel good.
So when Sunset came home from her last day of school, she laughed when she saw me in my own lawn chair next to Mrs. Shimmer wearing sunglasses. I may not have been able to talk, but I was very intelligent, and I had something ponies didn't have: fingers. So, as luck would have it, I found in front of our house, a toy that was apparently the big thing at that time....you know, I was never actually sure what it was called, but it was a little yellow Volkswagen Beetle toy. But after fiddling with it for a bit, I found it could "transform" from the little Volkswagen, to a humanoid robot.
Sunset laughed when she saw me playing with it, but soon started collecting them. They had all sorts of funny names like "Brawn", "Cliffjumper", and "Jazz". I soon learned these were called "Transformers" and the one I had found was called "Bumblebee". The years after that, we collected every single one, Equestrian and Japonese. We have yet to get our hooves and paws on a 1989 mint condition Star Saber, exclusive to Japon.
Anyway, I was sunbathing, playing with my Bumblebee, when Sunset came up and asked, "Silly dragon! What are you doing now?"
"He's sunbathing, Sunset! It must make his scales feel good!", Mrs. Shimmer laughed along.
"Hey, Quickheart! Can I join?", she asked.
I hopped off the lawn chair and let Sunset lay on it before jumping on her lap and letting her scratch my back. But when Mr. Shimmer came up with a box, we were surprised with what it was in it. What was in it? You ask?
Well, that's a story for another chapter, because right now I need a nap.....