[Leo]
I lay on my back in my bed, listening to Rainbow describe everything that she hoped the migration to be. It was wildly over-blown, of course, but I liked listening to her talk. Besides, I needed to stall while I tried to remember something. Gah! I rubbed my snout, to sub in for pinching the bridge of my nose. Fuck, it was super simple! What the hell was it?!
"... And we're even going to get Fluttershy to come, too!" Rainbow continued. "We hope it'll help with her fears. I mean, She already stood up to one dragon! How hard can a bunch from a distance be?"
Was it something to do with Joy? I groaned. I think-? Or was it Conner? Fuck it. I'll sleep on it.
"Oh, you probably want to sleep now." Rainbow winced. "Sorry."
<<Yeah, it's okay.>> I yawned. <<Just don't forget to wake me up before you go.>>
"I won't leave you hanging, don't worry."
I nodded and closed my eyes. I drifted off to sleep, and snapped awake the next morning. With a yawn and a stretch, I rolled out of bed. I glanced at Rainbow's bed, and saw that she was still asleep. I looked around for her alarm clock, and figured it was outside again after I couldn't spot it. I hopped up onto the window sill, and spotted it upside down in a nearby tree. Once I got the time, I nodded to myself, turned, and jumped.
I landed square on Rainbow's stomach. I rolled off as she folded onto herself. Once she had caught her breath, she glared over at me.
I met it with an arched eyebrow. <<We should have been up half an hour ago.>>
"Horseapples!" She swore, and began rocketing through her morning routine. In short order, we were meeting up with Twilight to go get Fluttershy.
"I spent most of the night thinking of what to say to convince Fluttershy to come with us." Twilight stated as we crossed over the little bridge in front of the cottage. "I know this will do her some good."
<<I wonder if Twilight will appeal to Joy's academic side?>> I shrugged. <<I mean, she can try, but it won't work.>>
Rainbow snorted.
"What? This was you're idea!" Twilight scolded.
"That was about something else, Twilight." Rainbow assured as she knocked on the door. "Hey! Hey, Fluttershy! Are you in?!"
I watched Twilight pull a note off the door. "'Gone to watch migration, far outside of town. Be back after the dragons are gone.'" Twilight read aloud. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I groaned smacking my forehead with a paw. <<Oh, ri~ight.>> I looked at Rainbow. <<Conner said something about him, Angel, and Joy going to the far side of the valley to watch the migration.>>
"Guess she already had plans?" Rainbow addressed Twilight while shooting me a glare.
"I guess she's not joining us, then." Twilight frowned. "It's odd, though. Fluttershy's not usually this spontaneous. Wonder what she's doing?"
"Whatever it is," Rainbow began to lead the way back to the ditch the others were digging, "I hope she's having fun."
I nodded as I followed the two mares. Fairly soon, we came upon Pinkie and Applejack shoveling dirt from one side of the trench, while a pair of dirty rooster tails fountained up from the other. I walked up to the edge and peered down at the Reckless Duo as they dug. As I watched, they both jumped back from the section they were digging, looking expectantly at the indent they had made under me.
I had just enough time to realize what was going to happen before the ground gave way.
I slid down into the trench, tumbling into a dirt pile at the end. I Glared at the duo as I dug myself from the dirt. <<I hate you both so~o much right now.>>
<<Why?>> Cy asked.
<<You were the one who stood on top of the area we were digging in.>> Vince oh so helpfully pointed out.
<<Are you guys arguing again?>> Zann popped up between us, causing us to bounce away from him.
<<Where the fuck did you come from?!>> We all screeched in unison.
Zann just arched an eyebrow. <<From Earth?>>
We were all interrupted by Rarity calling out to the group. I winced at how eye-wateringly bright Rarity's 'camouflage' was. <<I thought Lulu would cut some of that back!>>
<<Believe me, I tried!>> A stream of water growled from nearby. It quickly reformed into Lulu. <<But, would she let me help? Noo~oo!>> The water type began to rant as we were joined by Yomega and Abes.
We tuned her out.
It wasn't very long before the migration started to fly overhead. We became lost in the majesty of the reptiles flying high above us. We "Ohh'd" and "Aww'd" at the aerial acrobatics some dragons displayed before us.
<<Do a barrel roll!>> Zann called as Rainbow shouted something. Lulu wisely doused most of us as a dragon looped around and breathed fire on us. Rainbow was lightly toasted, but Zann was pumped up and cheering. <<Again, again!>>
<<No!> A literal dog pile formed on top of the fire type.
Our little scuffle was interrupted when we heard Spike cry out in disgust. "Waddles?! Ugh!" We looked at the retreating and, yes, waddling dragon as he stormed off. Turning we gave disapproving looks to the offending parties.
I shook my head at Rainbow. <<Not cool, Dash. Not cool.>>
Later that night, after what we thought was the majority of the dragons had finished flying over head, Rainbow and I were sitting on her bed. While it had faded, I hadn't dropped my scowl since that morning.
"Okay, what did I do wrong?" Rainbow finally asked.
<<What did-?>> I took a deep breath before speaking. <<What was that back there? With Spike?>>
"Just some good-natured ribbing." Rainbow dismissed with a wave. "Totally harmless! Don't know what was up with him."
My scowl deepened. <<Okay, I know that this may be hard for you, but fucking think for once!>>
"Hey!"
I steamrolled on. <<Spike is a baby dragon. He may act more mature then we do, but he's still just a child! Don't you think that he looks up to you, Rarity, and the others? How do you think he felt when you guys started insulting him?>>
"But we weren't-?"
<<Not to him!>> I snarled. <<And you just happened to target his most sensitive part. And that just makes it worse!>>
"What part?" Rainbow asked, now frowning herself.
I sighed and pointed out the window. <<He's a dragon.>> I pointed at her. <<You're ponies.>> I turned my paw to point at myself. <<We're Eevees and assorted evolved forms. Essentially, he's alone, with no one to teach him about his heritage. On top of that, he's a predator living amongst prey. He may not realize it, but it does affect him on a subconscious level.>>
"I get the not knowing his culture part, but what's the under mind thingy about?"
<<How would you feel if you could understand tulips, and they started telling you that all ponies were brainless sacs of flesh that were only good for fertilizer?>>
Rainbow sat in silence for a bit. I let her stew in her thoughts. Finally, she sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'll go apologize to him first thing tomorrow." With that, she floated out her window and grabbed her alarm clock. I hopped down and laid in my own bed with a stretch and a yawn. I looked over as Rainbow set the alarm and placed it beside her bed. "Night, Leo."
<<Night, Rainbow.>> Slowly I drifted off to sleep.
<<OW, FUCK!>> I woke the next morning when Rainbow hit me in the head with the clock in her sleep.