Rainbow Dash considered herself a pretty good friend, especially towards Fluttershy. She understood her love of flying, fast pace movement, and athleticism were a little too much for the butter colored Fluttershy to handle. Sure, it was a little grating at times when she had to slow down so she could catch up, or when she had to go to a Wonderbolts show on her own, but she was probably the kindest, most understanding Pegasus she ever met. Truly a one of a kind friend she would never find again.
So what if she needed to stay behind every once in a while? So what if she needed a little push every now and again? She was her friend, and she was going to stay stuck to her like glue.
The point being, they had been friends with each other for years, so Rainbow knew that if there was anyone out there that knew Fluttershy the best, it was her. She knew her fears, what annoyed her, and most of all, her interests.
A tiny baby dragon that clamped itself to her leg was definitely not on that list. "I think that may be the coolest thing you've ever said, but I'm too surprised by the fact it's happening to do anything about it. Seriously, is this something I should be celebrating, or be in absolute terror of? Because I am leaning towards celebrating, but I know how you feel about dragons."
"Oh no, if you are going to do something, could you please keep it down? His ears are still developing, and I'm trying to keep him as calm as possible." The dragon itself had fallen asleep, but kept itself attached to Fluttershy's right front leg. Aside from the small trail of smoke that he breathed out of his nose, he looked normal, completely at peace with the world around him.
"Okay, but what exactly are you going to do with it.."
"Him Rainbow Dash. He's a dragon, not a rock." Fluttershy leered at her with as much intensity as she could muster. It wasn't much, but something about that amount of concentrated anger and disappointment sent a shiver down the rainbow filly's back. She was just glad death defying stunts were nearly as scary as this. Hopefully she would never see her do that to anypony else ever again.
"But still Flutters, you have a baby dragon hanging from your hoof." Once again, she had to double check herself if she was actually saying those words about the same filly. "What exactly are you going to do with him? Is he like your new pet or something.."
"Oh, I'm not sure really. I've tried talking to him like I did with the birds and squirrels before, but he doesn't seem to understand me. I think he's too young to talk to people though." She laid down to get a closer look at the sleeping reptile. "I, I at least want to take him up for the night, but I don't think I'm strong enough to fly him all the way up."
"Wait, did you say talk to.." Was today just going to be filled with surprises? "You know what, hit me with the bombshells another time, I'm already struggling with reality today as it is." Not wanting to be surprised by anything else tonight, Rainbow closed in on the baby, cautiously approaching it for Fluttershy's sake. "So what exactly are we going to do here?"
"Ah, I didn't really think I was going to get this far." Frankly, she already began accepting the idea she may have to stay down here until the dragon was fit to live on its own. Not the worst idea, the forest seemed to be a peaceful enough place. Maybe she should consider moving down here. "Just, gently slide him off." She lifted her leg up with little effort, though the weight made it a little difficult to balance on three legs.
"Okay." Rainbow did as she was told and place her hooves on the baby's sides. "Come on little guy, loosen up a bit." No budge, the baby's grip was tight as a lock. "Stop messing around." Her frown increased as she put more muscle into it, but he barely flinched to it. "Seriously, Dumbbell's dumbbells are easier to move than this!"
"Rainbow, shush."
"Sorry!" She screamed, enacting another shush from Fluttershy. "Give me a break here!" She yelled in a more whispery tone. "It's not like it's making a difference! I could literally do anything right now and it wouldn't make a difference!" To prove her point, she waved her left hoof in front of her face and begun to wave it, unaware the dragon's eyes were beginning to stir. "See, absolutely noth.."
CHOMP
"OWWWWW!" Pulling away as fast as she could, the little lizard was ripped from the pink maned pony's leg, as it had now a strong grasp on Rainbow's hoof. "GETITOFGETITOFFGETITOFF!" She flew as fast as she could, hoping to swing it away. Screw Fluttershy's stare (no offense to Fluttershy), but if it meant actually having a hoof in the future, than she was going to take it.
"Rainbow! Baby! Rainbow!" Her friend's plight had sent her upwards towards the clouds, and what could only be described as instinct jumpstarted in Fluttershy. She flapped her wings with more force than she's ever been able to use in the past. With each flap of her wings, she rocketed behind the blue Pegasus, eyeing the purple speck that hung on only by a tooth.
Tears were now coming out of Fluttershy again, and she didn't know if it was from the blazing wind blowing across her face, or the fear that was overwhelming her. "I'm coming Baby!" The very idea of something so small, so innocent, so very, very helpless, something like her, in danger just broke her down on the inside. "Just, Just hang on a little while longer.
The little dragon himself, dazed and confused, did everything in his power to bite even deeper than before, hoping something tasty would come out of this. It seemed the more he tried to chew this, hard, round surface, the harder it turned out to be. Hm, maybe he just needed to bite it again.
"STOP THAT!" Rainbow cried out, finally reaching the cloud surface. Doubling her efforts, she shook even more violently, waving and spinning in every conceivable direction she could think of. "I'm not a chew toy! Why does it have teeth to begin with?! You just hatched!" She lifted her hoof above her head and threw it down in one final effort to throw the dragon off.
Instant relief came to her in as she felt the lack of fangs in her hoof. She rubbed it tenderly as she sighed. "Good, now all I need to do is wait for Fluttershy to come up and we can take the little monster back to her place, right?" She half expected the dragon to at least try to say something in response, so the lack of silence was a bit concerning. "Right?"
She looked around everywhere. Not on her left, not on her right. The only indication that it was there at all was the small hole right in front of her. A grim realization hit her. "Oh crap, that thing doesn't have wings, does it?"
"I GOT YOU!" The Blue Filly was thrown on her back as a blaze of yellow, pink, purple and green rose from the small hole, allowing Rainbow to breathe a whole lot easier. The last thing she needed to happen on the day she earned her cuite mark was an accidental baby death. "Are you alright?! Did you get dizzy, or nausea, or, or, or hurt somehow?" Fluttershy asked the little thing. She almost seemed perfect in this type of role.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking." Dash, a little unhappy with being ignored, decided to joke. Unfortunately, her friend didn't feel the same way.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Rainbow didn't even know Fluttershy was even capable of yelling. She didn't even raise her voice whenever Zypher did the little brother thing and annoyed them."NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE SOLVED WITH HIGHSPEED VELOCITY YOU KNOW!"
"Okay, okay, I get it!"
"Do you Dash, do you?" Fluttershy squeezed the little guy closely. "He could've been hurt, or traumatized, or, or worse!" The dragon big smile seemed to indicate otherwise.
"Hey, I didn't ask for it to bite me.."
"It's just a baby! He doesn't know any better!"
"Well, I'm sorry I didn't account for his feelings due to me losing all feeling in my hoof!" She groaned as she walked around in a circle. An argument with probably her best friend, again, way to much of a curve ball for any day. "Look, I'm sorry for scaring you." Fluttershy still had that unnatural frown of disappointment on her. "And for putting the little guy in danger."
"Better. Now, don't you want to go greet each other properly this time, do you, do you?" She cooed to the reptile, who just smiled back with complete innocence. "Come on Dash, I'm sure he's learned his lesson now."
"Yeah, because babies are known for learning quickly. Seriously, have you even met you own brother?" Sarcasm aside, Dash supposed this wasn't the worst thing to do. Heck, if the dragon hadn't almost bitten her hoof off, she would've admitted the little guy was kind of cute. For now, she'd save the compliments for when he'd actually earned them. "Hello, I'm Rainbow Dash, officially the fastest pony alive as of today!"
The dragon responded in the only way it could've possible done so. He reached out his little hand, and lightly pinched her on the nose with a small chuckle. "I'm pretty sure that means he like's you."
"Really? Because the bite mark must mean we're friends for life." Someday she'll get that dragon back. For now though, there was just one thing on her mind. "Exactly what are your plans for bringing him home? I mean, it's not like we can just go up to them and say.."
"I found a baby dragon and I want to keep him." Fluttershy said honestly once they came to her house. Initially, they were shocked at the sight of the two Fillies at all, seeing as they still had another week of flight camp left. Apparently, organizing an impromptu race, knocking everything down with a legendary sonic rainbow, and going missing for hours were grounds for early release.
All that, and the rather blunt admission of their daughter kept them as still as statues, with expressions of shock, horror, and confusion plastered all over their faces. "You just had to be honest with them."
"I know, but I've always been taught to never lie to authority. It just leads to problems down the road. Besides, I need to be a good role model now that I'm looking after him." Fluttershy now had the dragon on her back, resting peacefully. The only real problem at the moment was Zephyr trying to get his grubby hooves on the little guy. Fortunately, Rainbow's presence was enough to keep him away, though it was less out of fear and more out of the embarrassment of the meaningless stutters he'd go into whenever she was around.
"Well, I, I have to say, this is a surprise." The mom was the first to find her voice again. "Fluttershy dear, when you said you wanted to make a change during flight camp, we kind of hoped it was for something, not that."
"Yes, we, we love you, and you know that we support you no matter what." The quiet voice of the father spoke. "But, isn't this, a little, big for a filly?"
"Maybe, but I also got my cutie mark today." Humbly, she showed her flank to the members of her family, who were now even more agape at the non-social butterfly of the four. Even Rainbow was taken back a little, somehow completely missing that they both now had their marks. Today was feeling a lot less like a series of epic coincidences, and more along the lines of a thought out plan for their lives. "I can talk to all sorts of animals, and that led me to finding his egg."
"Come on guys, please, please let us keep it." Zephyr managed to get past Rainbow. "Having a pet dragon is like the most amazing thing ever! Everypony's going to be jealous of what I have."
Of course, can't be supportive without being a little greedy. "Dear, uh, if we agree to this, then your sister would own it." The mother cleared up.
"Oh come on! Why can't I have something cool whenever she get's something cool?"
"Because I'm trying to take care of him, not flail him around like every new toy you throw out!" Fluttershy raised her voice, not nearly as loudly as she did with Rainbow earlier, actually a lot closer to her normal tone, but still enough to get her brother to back away in shock. Her parents followed likewise, though not without some hint of pride. "And he's a he! He's not my pet! He's, he's.." Actually, she didn't even take the time to figure out how this was going to work. "I, I don't really know, but for now, I want him to be my friend." Stirred awake, the dragon woke up with a slight daze, staring right into the eyes of Fluttershy, feeling nothing but comfort and security. "Do you want to be my friend?"
The dragon smiled after letting out a small sneeze of green flame, making Mr. and Mrs. duck for cover. On the one hand, it was a dragon, that alone should warrant a town evacuation.
But on the other hand, Fluttershy seemed to be a lot different than the filly who barely had the strength to flap her wings right. She spoke up, spoke clearly, and didn't run away in terror of the creature they'd spent hours explaining wasn't hidding in her closet. "Normally, we, we'd hold a little more reservation with these kind of decisions." The father said.
"But, the dragon does seem to, hehe, spark a certain, confidence in you Fluttershy, so, maybe for now, it's for the best if you watch over him." The mother finished.
"Really?" Said a confused Zypher.
"Really?" Said a baffled Rainbow Dash.
"REALLY!?" Declared Fluttershy, swooping up the little drake, cradling him in her hooves like the newborn he was. "Did you hear that? You get to stay with me. You get to be a part of my family."
"Speaking of which, exactly what are you going to call him, because I am a little tired of hearing the word 'baby' over and over." Rainbow complained.
"Good question." What could you call an adorable baby dragon that didn't make him sound threatening when he got bigger? She took a long look at the little guy, smooth purple scales that felt like they were polished, cute little spines that green spines that grew from head to tail. Or was it more appreate to call them spikes?"
That's it!
"Spike. His name is Spike."
"Really, Spike?" Zypher question as if he had anything to say about the situation. "If he was my pet Dragon, I would totally come up with something totally more amazing, like.."
Whatever name he was about to sell was left untold, as no one in the room really cared to hear him out, especially the dragon now named Spike, who let out a loud belch in Zephyr's direction, which once again, had a trail of emerald fire follow it. Not enough to scar the colt for life or leave permanent damage, but enough to burn the top bun of his rather shaggy blonde mane off. The colt looked like he was about to scream, turning purple as he held his breath. "IGOTTOUSETHERESTROOM!" He screamed out, running off to freak out in privacy.
"Okay, Spike it is then. That almost makes up for everything." Rainbow chuckled, now having the baby drake stare at her. "Almost."
"I guess that's settled then." Fluttershy flew to her room to plan out what she was going to do next, along with Spike in her hooves. "Welcome to the family, Spike."