The black dragon had been trying to fly out of the forest, but his attempts were futile. He felt the pain in his tail burn and sting. One of his back-tail fins was ripped off. He knew he should have let the bird go. It wasn’t worth the trouble chasing for a quick snack. Now he was a downed dragon. It irked his pride that a small pony had saved him from a tree of vines. If he ever got back to the other dragons, what would he tell them? Both the bird chase and pony rescue were equally embarrassing to him. He was a night fury. One of the deadliest dragons. At least when he would grow to his full height. Now he was stuck in a forest not knowing where to go. The trees could still have vines in them, and he would get caught again if he tried to climb them to see over the tops. Not only that, these trees were too small to get a good vantage point over the land. Who knows what kind situation he would run into if he ventured out in the open? He would have to wait until dark to move in the shadows of night.
He felt a bit of pity for that young filly. She was only trying to save him, and he scared her almost to death. Well, he just felt a small amount of pity. After all, she did damage his pride of saving him even though it was greatly needed. Maybe he should check to see if she was alright. She did fall from a great height from the trees. He could at least see if she wasn’t badly injured to head home. He then turned to head back to make a small check on the filly. He wasn’t concerned about her, at least that is what he told himself. He just wanted to see if she was gone to never bother him again.
When he came back to the spot where he last saw her. He noticed she was unconscious on the ground. He sniffed the air to make sure this wasn’t a trap as he came closer to the filly. So far nothing seemed strange out of the ordinary. He came over her and nudged her body. She wasn’t dead, but she still wasn’t moving. He saw that her foreleg was starting to swell and bruise. He figured it had happened when she fell through the trees. He assumed she was at an age around ten years old. What he didn’t understand was why she wasn’t flying yet. He didn’t understand the anatomy of a pony’s body on how they could fly. There had been some ponies known to have small wings and big bodies that were able to still fly. He just didn’t know why she couldn’t.
Apart from that, this filly needed help. Dragons had no real knowledge of pony medical aid. But what the night fury did know was when some ponies he saw that were injured, they would have some white cloth around the spot they were injured. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was the only thing he could do for the filly.
Although, not having any white cloths lying around, he grabbed some leaves and vines and wrapped her leg in leaves and tied it up in the vines. For added measure, he had placed mud under the leaves of the bandage. He had no idea if this was enough, but that was all he could do for the filly. That and stand watch in case any predators came to make a meal out of her. He perched himself in a tree to watch over the filly and over anything that moved around the area. Staying in the shadows of the tree made great cover for him until she woke up.
The sun was passing by as time dragged on. The night fury felt that he would have to spend the night and miss his chance to get back home. He hoped some pony would miss her and send out a search party. That way he could leave the filly in their care. But as dusk was falling, not a sign of a pony was seen. Perhaps they didn’t know where to look. Maybe this filly wasn’t from this part of the land. Maybe this filly was all alone. Either way, he had to stay and make sure she was alright.
The night fury noticed that it had been a while since the filly was unconscious and had gone without water since she was out. The night fury groaned as he took a leaf to dip in the water and cup it in his front foot to hold the water. He then came over to lift the filly’s head a bit before letting some drops fall in her mouth and then a few more when he was sure the first drops went down her throat.
Night had fallen and the night fury had gathered sticks to make a small fire around her to keep the filly warm. He was growing quite irritated about having to spend the night out watching over the filly. He could only hope she would wake up soon. Perhaps it was his own fault. He did roar right in her face as she was already cowering in the fetal position.
He spent the night watching over the filly as he spent the night in the tree. Morning soon came and the sun rose up in the sky. The night fury had kept the fire going all night so the filly wouldn’t freeze in the morning cold. When the sunlight finally reached the filly, she started to stir. The night fury was both relieved and upset that she was awake and was going to be able to leave him alone, but the night fury had to hide out until night so he could return home.
Scootaloo opened her eyes a bit dazed. She tried to rub her eyes, but her leg was still sore. She also noticed the bandage made of plants around her leg. She wondered who made it for her. It couldn’t have been a pony. They would have taken her with them to town. Maybe she did it in her sleep? It was a long shot of an answer.
She slowly got on her hooves and looked around. “Hello? Is anypony there?” She called out to anyone that might have been out there. She had the feeling something was watching her.
From behind her, a black tail stirred as it was hanging for out of a tree. The two bright green eyes watched her as she looked around. He then started to make his way down as Scootaloo turned to see him climb out from the tree. She gasped in fright scared and confused to why he was there. His head was low and back arched as if ready to pounce. His eyes glared at her full of distrust.
Scootaloo relaxed a bit after seeing that the dragon made no move to advance at her. “Um… hello?” She nervously greeted.
“Look pony, I didn’t have to stay and watch over you, but I did because you got me out of the tree. Now you are awake and can go back to your home.” The night fury said.
Scootaloo was surprised that he was finally talking to her. A bit rudely, but at least there was communication between them. “S-so you can talk.” She said
“Are you saying I am not intelligent enough to talk?!” the night fury growled.
Scootaloo raised her hooves defensively waving them and shaking her head. “No, no! It was just that you did say anything when I was talking to you before.” Scootaloo said trying to calm the dragon’s temper. “I’m Scootaloo.” She said placing out her hoof to the night fury.
“I have no desire to talk or give you my name.” The night fury said coldly.
“Well that sure is a nice way to thank a pony for saving you.” Scootaloo retorted. “I could have left you there and ran away, but I came to help instead because you needed help.” She said glaring at the night fury.
The night fury snarled at her making her remember not to antagonize a fire breathing dragon. But the night Fury new she was right and sighed. “Toothless.” He said.
“Wait, what?” Scootaloo asked confused at the word.
“My name is Toothless. Don’t ask why that is my name.” Toothless said begrudgingly.
Scootaloo made sure not to since he was very temperamental. It was silent for a while before she spoke. “Um, thanks for watching over me.” She said grateful for his aid.
Toothless just snorted as he faced away. “Just be careful next time.” He said bluntly.
Scootaloo walked a bit close to him. He saw her from the corner of his sight. She held out a hoof to him. “Friends?” she offered.
Toothless just growled and glided away to another spot away from Scootaloo. He made a shaky landing on an open spot. He hoped to discourage the pony from making anymore contact with him. He burned the ground with his flames to warm it up to rest on. What he wouldn’t do for a pile of gold to sleep on. He would then lie on the ground and hope to pass the time until the pony was well enough to leave. He noticed the birds flying in the sky and grew envious. Now with his tail damaged, he would never get to fly again. A bird swooped by his face and made him turn to watch it. It made him notice Scootaloo sitting just across from him giving a sheepish grin and wave of her hoof. Toothless grunted in annoyance and shifted his body so the fin of his tail would lie between them and block his vision of her.
Scootaloo was persistent to try and make friends with him. She limped over to a berry bush to pick some off and place it in a big leaf to carry over to Toothless. She was about to tap his tail, but he lifted it before she could touch it and gave an irritated groan. She presented the leaf of berries to him as a friendly offering. Toothless snorted and shook his head before walking away from her. Scootaloo remembered that dragons were flesh eating only. She then retreated and started eating the berries herself while trying to think of what else she could do.
This time he hung from a tree branch using his tail as a hook to hang upside down over the ground. This way the pony couldn’t reach him as he let his sleep pass the time away. An hour had passed. Toothless was still slumbering in the tree before a pesky bug flew in his nose. He then sneezed out fire to burn out the insect. The rude awakening made him wake and yawn. He wondered if the pony had left already. Instead he saw her sitting on a rock. She seemed to be doing something in the dirt as her head would move around. Curiosity got to Toothless to wonder what she was doing.
Scootaloo had a long stick in her mouth as she was drawing in the dirt. She had been drawing other pictures as well. As she drew, she then saw a shadow loom over her followed by the sound of deep breathing. She only assumed it was Toothless looking over her shoulder. Finally making some progress with interacting with the night fury, she just continued to draw in the dirt.
Toothless was looking at the pictures in the dirt. All pictures having to do with her and him playing, flying, and being friendly towards each other. Dragons were no artists or had no desire for it. When toothless saw it being done in front of him just with a simple stick being dragged in the dirt, he became curious of the significance of art. He figured he could at least give it a shot to see what the meaning behind it that made this filly draw. He began to walk away from Scootaloo to find something to draw with.
Scootaloo then noticed him leaving and turned to see what he was doing. She saw him rip a branch off a tree and hold it in the middle from his mouth. She was now curious herself to know what he planned to do.
Toothless then started to drag one end of the branch through the dirt and walk around making lines in the ground. Going from one area to the other and making turns and twists making it look like some strange dance. He would occasionally look back at Scootaloo and then return to drawing again. He would once and a while brush the leaves over Scootaloo’s head making her try to duck from the passing branch. Finally, the picture was complete. Toothless nodded thinking it was a well-done picture of his. It was supposed to be Scootaloo, but it was hard to tell as a bunch of scribbling in the ground. Scootaloo got up to try to get a better view of it. She then heard Toothless growl at her making her freeze.
“Excuse me, did I walk all over your picture?” Toothless said offended by her negligence.
“Sorry.” She apologized as she tried walking over the lines. She knew she would have to get out from the lines to get a better view. She carefully started walking over the lines so not to anger the dragon again. More focused on avoiding the lines, she wasn’t paying attention to where she was heading. She finally walked over the last line to escape the little obstacle course of lines. “There, I am out.” She said proud of her effort. She then felt a gust of wind or at least the breath of Toothless brush through her mane. Her smile disappeared knowing where she just walked next to. She slowly turned and recoiled to meet the eyes of the night fury. To her surprise, he seemed to have a more relaxed expression as he looked back at her. More curious than hostile by her. She then made another attempt to lend out a hoof for a shake. The closer she got, the more he would make a low growl of weariness of her hoof getting closer. She pulled back her hoof a bit frightened to see him settle down again.
Scootaloo then closed her eyes and faced away to lend out a hoof in his direction. Toothless saw this and was surprised by her actions. She was allowing him the choice to shake her hoof instead of trying to push her friendship on him. He figured she really did have respect for him. This made him allow himself to trust her. Instead of placing his paw up to shake her hoof, he closed his eyes and placed his snout onto her hoof instead. Scootaloo winced at the sudden contact on her hoof. She slowly turned to see what had happened and was surprised in awe to see the connection.
Toothless then took his snout off her hoof and looked at her. “I guess you are okay, for a pony.” Toothless said before walking off to another spot to rest.
Scootaloo just stood their amazed at what happened. “I guess I better get going. My friends and family should be worried about me. I’ll be fine to get home.” She said
Toothless grunted in acknowledgement. On the way back, she couldn’t get it out of her mind about that moment they shared. She felt something special between them some kind of connection they shared that made them the same. It was a great feeling that made her feel better about herself. The troubles of flying seemed far in the distance that it no longer bothered her. She remembered his tail and thought she should try to do something nice for him. She just hoped he would still be there the next day.