It was a day like any other, with all four humans inside the house. While Huston and Jasmine were out to enjoy the day, Xavier and Cali were in the living room, watching the two pets of the house Gex and Rune interact with each other. The way they were was that Gex was on Rune's head as she walked around the house, the two having the times of their lives.

"It's better than them fighting or trying to eat one another I guess." Cali shrugged, but Xavier shuttered.

"Please don't mention that. I don't even want to think about Rune like that." Xaiver mentioned as Rune walked over to them, giving them a smile. Xavier shook the thought out of his head and smiled at the fox and picked her up, along with carefully taking Gex off her head and handing him to Cali. "Isn't that right, my cute little fox." He began to nuzzle the artic fox who began to chitter with glee from the affection. Cali simply rolled her eyes at the two.

"You two are something else." Cali smirked. It wasn't until a knock at the door did Xavier stop his affection. The two went over to the door to answer, and when Xavier opened the door they were greeted by their pony friends.

"Oh, hello girls, what are you doing here?" Xavier asked, Rune managing to squirm her way out of his grasp and run to Applejack's side to a dog that was next to her, the two starting to play. "Who's that?"

"Ah, well nice to meet you." Xaiver greeted, the dog yapping in response. Xavier then noticed that the rest of the girls had their pets with them, and he also noticed that Rainbow wasn't with them. "So, what exactly is going on?"

"We wanted to invite you to our Pony Pet Playdate this week." Pinkie responded, hopping up and down with Gummy on her tail, either clinging on for dear life of just existing, they couldn't tell.

"Pony Pet Playdate?" Cali asked, Gex crawling around on her arm up to her shoulder.

"It's a little get-together we have with our pets." Fluttershy explained. "We thought you would want to join so..."

"Ah, gotcha. Well I'm free for today so I can." Xavier agreed as he scooped up Rune into his arms.

"I guess me and Gex can come too, if he wants to that is." Cali said, looking at her shoulder to see Gex's reaction, to which he smiled. "Looks like he wants to come too, so we're in."

"Great. Let's go then." The group then left the house and went for the park. During the walk, Xavier needed to ask something.

"So, is Rainbow going to join us at the park?" The ponies all looked amongst themselves nervously, concerning him. "Is everything okay?"

"It's nothing to be concerned about, but she actually doesn't have a pet." Twilight answered.

"We were planning on inviting her anyway, but..." Fluttershy began, but she seemed nervous to finish.

“But she would probably rather take her afternoon beauty sleep than spending time for the Ponyville Pet Playdate.” Rarity finished for her.

“Yeah, besides, I think she wouldn’t be missing out on this.” Applejack added.

"Ah, that makes sense." Xavier agreed, knowing how much she liked to sleep in. After some walking, Rune began to get antsy, so she squirmed out of Xavier's grasp and leapt over to Rarity's back where her cat, Opal, was napping. This startled Opal enough to hop off of Rarity's back, hissing. Of course, Rune didn't see this as a threat but rather an invitation to play, so she began to chase the cat. "Hey, Rune! Don't do that!" Xavier than ran ahead of the group to try and catch her. When he managed to catch up, he was surprised to see not only Rainbow, but Jasmine and Huston at the park. And unfortunately, Opal and Rune managed to disturb them, with Huston holding a sketchpad under a tree that Rainbow seemed to be sleeping in, where the cat was next to Rainbow hissing as Rune simply yapped at her, Jasmine watching from above from a cloud. "Gah, sorry everyone." Xavier yelled out, getting the three's attention. "Rune thought Opal was playing with her."

"It's okay, Xavier. The two didn't do any harm." Huston explained as Xavier picked Rune back up.

"Still, I'm sorry. Say you're sorry too, Rune. To everyone, including Opal." Xavier scolded. While Rune was still happy, she seemed to get that what she did wasn't good, so she bowed her head to apologize.

"Hm, well apology accepted." Huston accepted as Rainbow and Jasmine descended to the two guys' level. It was then that the rest of the group caught up to Xavier and regrouped with him, Opal climbing down the tree to rest back on her owner's back.

"Why, we always round up our critters for a regular ol' Pony Pet Playdate in this park." Applejack explained. "Cali and Xavier are joining us today as well."

"Wait, you didn't know?" Fluttershy questioned, to which Rainbow shook her head. "I thought she knew."

"Well, we had initially planned on inviting Rainbow, of course, except–" Twilight began, trying to make it not sound insensitive, at least until a pink blur popped up in front of Twilight.

“We were totally gonna invite you, Rainbow, then Twilight remembered that you don’t even have a pet, and Rarity remembered that you really like to take naps in the afternoon, so Applejack figured you wouldn’t be missing out on anything away, and we told Renny and the others about you not owning a pet while Fluttershy and I nodded our heads like this.” Pinkie explained, finishing by taking Fluttershy's head into her hooves and making her nod to emphasize the point.

“Oh, I’m not mad. You all are right. Not much point of a Pony Pet Playdate for me if I’m a pony without a pet, right?” Rainbow asked.

"Well, Rainbow does have a point in not having a reason to be here without a pet." Jasmine began.

“Eeexactly. So, if now you’ll excuse us…” Applejack said, picking up and throwing a stick for Winona to fetch, the rest of the group joining in soon after. While they were having fun with their pets, Cali noticed that the three outliers were trying to get back to what they were doing, but were failing since they were distracted by the activities.

"Well, it would be a lie to say I wasn't interested in having a pet of my own." Huston explained.

"It would be nice to have one too." Rainbow added. While the others were mostly distracted by their pets, one certain animal lover overheard them.

"Really? You really want a pet?" Fluttershy asked excited, somehow managing to push Cali out of the way despite her being stronger than her. "Really? 'Cause I've got so many wonderful choices at my house! Oh, and I know you'll just love them!" Fluttershy then grabbed Rainbow and began to fly away, but Rainbow's back legs were being dragged as Fluttershy didn't have the strength to go high with her. "And they'll love you! Oh, and you'll be best friends forever and ever! Oh!" Rainbow, seeing as how she wasn't going to get out of this, began to flap her wings to help Fluttershy fly. Huson and Jasmine looked at each other for a second before nodding and following along, wanting to have a pet for themselves as well.

Following the two pegasi, both Huston and Jasmine stopped when Fluttershy and Rainbow landed near the shy one's cottage. Waiting there was a large amount of animals, all of them curious on what they were doing there.

Now, Rainbow, my dear, I cannot express my delight
It's abundantly clear
That somewhere out here
Is the pet that will suit you just right

I can't wait to get started, but first let me set a few rules
It's of utmost importance
The pet that I get
Is something that's awesome and cool

Awesome, cool, got it!

I have so many wonderful choices, just wait, you will see

I need something real fast like a bullet to keep up with me

Sure! How 'bout a bunny?
They're cutesy and wootsie and quick as can be

Cutesy? Wootsie? Have you even met me?

Rainbow, have faith
You see, I will bet you
Somewhere in here is the pet that will get you

Come on, the sky's the limit!

Sky is good. I'd like it to fly.

As the two were looking over the options, a tortoise became interested in Rainbow, and began to waddle slowly to her.

Really? Because I think this widdle puddy tat has your name written all over it. Yes, he does. Aww, look, he likes you!

Pass.

I have so many wonderful choices for you to decide
There are otters and seals
With massive appeal

Otters and seals do not fly.

Maybe not, but I've seen this particular seal catch ten feet of air when he breaches the water!

That's it. I'm outta here.

As Rainbow was walking away, the tortoise from before managed to catch up to her and tried to tap her, but she walked away before it could.

Wait! There must be a pet here
That will fit the ticket
How 'bout a ladybug, or a cute cricket?

Bigger. And cooler.

Bigger, cooler. Right.

I've got just the thing in that tree, Dash
Meet your new fabulous pet, Squirrely!

Fluttershy then flew up to a tree and pulled a rope in it, making the leaves move like they were a curtain. Inside was a squirrel like Fluttershy said, though Rainbow wasn't impressed.

It's just a squirrel.

Not just any squirrel. A flying squirrel!

Fluttershy then picked it up and lifted it up, to which the squirrel hopped off her hooves and glided down, landing at Rainbow's feet.

...Yeah. So, like I was saying...

Fluttershy, pal, this won't cut it
I need a pet to keep up with me
Something awesome, something flying
With coolness that defies gravity!

I'm sensing you want an animal that can fly.

Ya think?

I have plenty of wonderful creatures who soar in the sky
Like a sweet hummingbird or a giant monarch butterfly

Better, but cooler.

I see. How 'bout an owl, or a wasp, or a toucan?
There's so many wonderful creatures the likes of that
There are falcons and eagles
They are both quite regal
Or perhaps what you need is a dark and mysterious bat?

Now you're talking! But instead of just one standout, now that's too many.

So many choices, and such riches aplenty

Not a bad problem to have, if you ask me.

The bat would be awesome, but the wasp I'm digging too
Do you have something in a yellow striped bat?

No. I've got a hot pink flamingo, just dying to meet you

What to do, what to do? *gasp*
A prize! That's it! There's really just one way
To find out which animal's best
Hold a contest of speed, agility, and guts
That will put each pet to the test

Don't forget style, that should be considered

Then we'll know for sure who's best of the litter

The one who is awesomest cool

Just like me
Can't settle for less, 'cause I'm the best

So a contest we will see

Who's the number one, greatest, perfectest pet

In the world for me!

May the games begin!

And may the best pet win!

With the song over, both Huston and Jasmine looked at the two, one more confused than the other.

"Sooo... do the ponies around here always randomly break into song?" Huston asked.

"Said that. Rawk" Huston realized the voice was coming from above them. Looking up, he saw that a blue and green parrot was sitting above the two in a tree.

"Was it you, little one?" Huston asked, this time in a calmer tone than before. He was even getting a bit of enjoyment from it.

"Little one. Rawk." The parrot mimicked, confirming that it was indeed the parrot.

"Aww, how cute. Hi there." Jasmine cooed and greeted, thinking that it would copy her as well. Surprising her however, the parrot only tilted its head as if to show it didn't know what to do.

"What's going on over here you two?" The two humans looked over to see that Fluttershy was walking over to them.

"Oh, you actually managed to get him to talk!" Fluttershy exclaimed, gaining the attention of Huston.

"Yes, he's never spoken before. It's even stranger since his family is quite noisy." Fluttershy explained.

"Well, maybe he likes Huston. He didn't mimic me." Jasmine stated. Huston looked up at the parrot for a bit before smiling.

"Miss Fluttershy, is it possible to take this little guy?" Huston asked, surprising the group (Even the parrot was surprised since it didn't mimic him for once).

"Well, sure. He seems to like him, and I think he's quite funny. I'll be happy to have him, as long as he's okay-" Huston didn't finish his sentence before the parrot flew down to him and perched himself onto Huston's shoulder.

"Rawk!" The parrot bobbed his head around as if to show that he wanted to stay with Huston, making him chuckle.

"Okay. I hope you'll take care of him." Fluttershy said, allowing the parrot to live with Huston.

"I will. Thank you." He thanked, giving the parrot a scratch under the chin, it taking the affection happily.

"She is. She took most of the animals to get ready. Speaking of..." Fluttershy then turned to Jasmine. "Have you decided on who you want as a pet?"

"Umm, no..." Jasmine admitted. "There's so many options here, I couldn't decide."

"That's okay. No need to rush." Fluttershy comforted. "I can show you some options that I think would fit you well."

"No thanks." Jasmine sighed. "I think I'll watch Rainbow's contest. Maybe I'll find what pet will fit me there."

"Hmm, I'm also quite interested in the contest." Huston admitted. "I wonder how it will go." "Will go. Rawk."

Everyone was now at town hall, with the group all standing on or below the stage of the building with their pets, and Rainbow Dash was in front of them with a hat and whistle that made her look like a sport's coach.

“So! You all think you’ve got what it takes to be my pet, do ya?" Rainbow announced to the group of animals who were all lined up. "Well, we’ll see about that!” She pressed her nose against a flamingo, who let out a long gulp. “If any of you don’t think you can handle it, bow out now before you humiliate yourself in front of your peers. This competition isn’t for the weak. You’d better be prepared to step up your game!” She looked at the competitors and at the monarch butterfly, glaring at it. “You call that flapping?” She asked, making the butterfly flapped its wings harder. “That’s better There’s only room on Team Dash for one of you, and my future pet needs to be able to take it to the extreme! Any questions?”

"Yeah, is this necessary Dash?" Xaiver asked, clearly not understanding the point of the contest.

"Does she even understand what a pet really needs?” Applejack asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, like care and attention, love and affection–" Twilight began to add, at least until she was licked by Winonna. "Ugh! And breath mints!"

"All true, but you also have to think about other things when it comes to a pet. Like the daily life of the owner." Huston added, remembering the song that she and Fluttershy sung before coming here.

"So, you chose a parrot as your pet, huh?" Cali questioned lightheartedly, motioning to the parrot that has made itself at home on Huston's shoulder.

"Yeah, he bonded with me quite quickly. I liked him so we fit perfectly. Hmm." Huston brought a hand to his chin as he closed his eyes, thinking about something for a bit. After a bit, he reopened them and smiled. "I think I'll name you, Mohou. That sound good?"

"Mohou. Rawk" The parrot squawked, flapping his wings as if to show he was excited.

"I guess that's that. Welcome to the family Mohou." Huston said welcoming his new pet know named Mohou to the group.

"Hey! Quiet over there!" Rainbow yelled out to the group, many of them with different reactions to her calling them out. When Rainbow looked back over to the animals, she noticed that Fluttershy was floating over, pushing the tortoise from before over.

"Seriously, Fluttershy! The turtle? What did you bring that thing here for?" Rainbow asked frustrated, clearly not happy that Fluttershy was pushing an animal she didn't want into her plans (Even though said pegasus was helping her)

"Technically he's a tortoise, and he's always dreamed of being somepony's pet. He just wants a chance to compete, he won't get in the way. You won't even know he's here." Fluttershy explained, giving his shell a bit of a polish. The two looked at her hopeful, but Rainbow wasn't convinced.

“Ugh, but there’s no way he can possibly keep up.” She exclaimed, pushing the turtle away before it accidentally rolled on his back and return to his original position. “Look at him!”

"Just let him try?" Fluttershy then pushed the tortoise at Rainbow, practically begging her to let him join.

“Ugh, okay! Okay! Fine!” Fluttershy was pleased and put the tortoise down, but Rainbow immediately went up to it and pressed her nose to it. "But don't say I didn't warn you! This isn't a game, you know!" Rainbow then stood up again and looked amongst the animals. "Alright, now these games will determine which one of you has the most important qualities I'm looking for in a pet. Speed. Agility. Guts. Style. Coolness. Awesomeness. And radicalness." Rainbow explained while flying around showing off each of the categories, ending by standing on her hind legs, crossing her front and posing with sunglasses.

"Aren’t those all the same thing?” Twilight asked, at least before Xavier walked over.

"You would think that, Twilight. Remember that this is Rainbow we're talking about." Xavier explained.

"And that's why you would never be qualified to be my pet." Rainbow said before walking off, the animals following along.

The group was now standing around a track, all the animals lined up at the starting line ready to start, even the tortoise was there. After some moments, Rainbow blew the whistle she had, signaling the flock to start flying. All of them flew off and began to fly laps around the track, well most of them. The tortoise barely made it over the starting live as the rest were doing laps. As they were flying, Rainbow was watching them.

"Sorta speedy... not speedy... pretty speedy... could be more speedy..." She judged. It was then that the falcon let out a cry and bolted forward in a powerful burst of speed, landing right at the finish line. "Yeah, that’s speed!” Rainbow called out excited as the rest of the flock flew in. Once the last of the animals landed, the tortoise finally made it to the start line, but Rainbow simply looked at it with a disapproving look. “That’s just sad.”

The group was now standing around a large number of obstacles, all with the purpose of testing the animals in how agile they were.

“Sorta agile…” Rainbow judged as the monarch butterfly floated through some of the obstacles. Then she looked over to the flamingo, who fell over on a seesaw. “Not agile…” Looking up to the toucan, she saw that it managed to fly through a tube-like obstacle with no problems. “Pretty agile…” Flying up, she watched the bat fly through a hoop. “Could be more agile…” On the ground, the tortoise was watching the others and decided to try and jump. Unfortunately, it didn't make any air as it simply fell forward. "Wanna know the opposite of agility? That.” Rainbow commented before a small, green blur flew past her. That blur flew through each and every obstacle with ease, even doing some twice. Once it came to a stop, it was revealed that the blur was the hummingbird. “Yeah baby, now that’s what I call agility!” She raised her hoof in front of the hummingbird, much to its confusion. “Come on! Don’t leave me hanging!” The hummingbird slapped one of its wings on Rainbow’s hoof, but it made it fall on itself before re-flapping its wings and looked at Dash with a nervous look. “Yeah…I’m gonna have to shave a point off your score for that.”

“Okay! Which of you has the guts to try and get Opal’s favorite toy away from her.”

Now everyone was in a field, with Rainbow standing over a cat-carrier, who opened it to reveal that it was Opal who was very ornery. Seeing her, none of the animals were even willing to look at the cat in fear, all but the monarch who floated over to the cat. Of course, Opal didn't take something coming over to take her toy lightly no matter how small they were, so she bared her claws, ready to strike. The butterfly however stopped flapping its wings and showed the pattern of it, practically confusing and hypnotizing Opal as she simply began to dizzily look forward, allowing the monarch to simply pick up the toy.

“Now that takes guts!” Rainbow exclaimed, impressed by the butterfly’s strategy. Once Opal regained her senses, she looked around for a bit to see that her carrier was tipping over onto her, curtesy of the tortoise. Opal reacted fast enough though and moved from the impact zone to the tortoise, relentlessly scratching his shell as he hid inside. Rainbow simply looked at the display disappointed as she walked away.

Rainbow was now standing on a stage, with Rarity holding a camera. The contest now was more like a photo-opt as each animal took their turn to pose with Rainbow.

“Any pet of mine’s gotta look good, ‘cause you gotta make me look good!” Rainbow explained as Rarity got her ready for the next and last photo, this one was with the tortoise. Once the camera flashed however, the tortoise was startled and he hid in his shell, leaving a photo that had Rainbow giving him a disappointed look

Now the contest was about seeing which animal had the coolest sound, at least according to Rainbow. The first animal to go was the owl, who made a simple 'hoot'.

She pointed at the ground, as she looked down to see the wasp as it just let out a buzzing sound.

Pointing to the monarch, the butterfly didn't make a sound since they couldn't make one.

“I can’t hear you!” Rainbow yelled out. She was interrupted by some coughing, and looking to her side she saw the tortoise coughing and hacking, earning a disgusted look from Rainbow. Another cry was heard, this one however was incredibly powerful as it came from the eagle. "Now that's a cool sound!"

The next event was awesomeness, and this event focused more on the things that the animal could do. They started out by watching the bat, who was using its echolocation.

"Sorta awesome.” Rainbow shrugged. She then looked at the toucan, who was... doing something with its tongue. Whatever it was doing, it wasn't impressing Rainbow in the slightest.

“Could be more awesome.” When Rainbow looked over at the owl, it showed its talent of rotating its head in a full 360 turn. This really impressed Rainbow. “Hohoho, yeah, that is awesome!” She was cut off when the tortoise walked up to her and stuck its head into its shell, though Rainbow was not impressed. “Uh, you did that already. That’s pretty much all you can do, huh?” The tortoise felt hurt by her words as it peeked out of its shell, and some of the spectators felt a bit bad for it.

The final event was radicalness, and this one was apparently a talent show. Oddly though, many of the animals were doing things that you'd expect from an actual talent show, from dancing to arts and crafts, much to the humans' confusion.

"Maybe..." It was then the bat's turn, and on stage was a table of glasses. The bat skillfully tapped them, creating a pleasant tune on them before screeching towards them, shattering them.

"Whoa! That was truly awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed; the group also impressed. "But I'm afraid this is the radicalness competition, so I'm gonna have to take some points off." Rainbow earned a facepalm from most of the humans, Jasmine not as she was clearly in awe at what the bat could do. The last participant went last, the tortoise. The tortoise's talent was an obstacle course you would see a daredevil try and attempt, but his attempt was cut short as he couldn't even jump onto the first spring, landing upside down. As the curtains closed and the tortoise flailed about, Rainbow sighed and went up to the stage.

"Whatever!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You've had your fun, but I think you and I both now who made the cut and who didn't." The tortoise only blinked in confusion before letting out a croak. "You didn't." Rainbow waved her hoof upwards to show the winners in her eyes, the bat, the falcon, the owl, and the eagle. While the ponies were cheering, the humans were focused on Rainbow and the tortoise, not exactly liking Rainbow's attitude. "I mean... 'A' for effort and everything, you gave it your best shot, maybe I've got a gold star sticker around here somewhere you can have, but, seriously, go home. You're starting to creep me out." The tortoise simply stared at her with pleading eyes, thought Rainbow wasn't phased. "So, anyway, you're all outstanding competitors, but there can only be one of you who's number one." She announced to the winners, all of which were curious as to what the final test was. "So the final, tie-breaking contest is going to be..." She turned away for a moment. "...Pause for dramatic effect...a race against...me! Through Ghastly Gorge! Dun dun dun!"

"Ghastly gorge? Sounds a bit extreme." Cali called out, clearly thinking that this wasn't the best plan.

"Nah, it's okay." Rainbow waved it off. "Ghastly Gorge isn't scary. It's fun. Heh. I've flown through it a million times myself." Rainbow bragged, getting mixed reactions. "So naturally, I'll be up front. Whichever one of you makes it across the finish line with me will be granted the title and honor of being my pet."

"Are you sure this is wise, Dash?" Xavier asked concerned. "This seems a bit much, even for you."

"Like I said, I've flown through a million times. It'll be okay." Rainbow said confidently as she took flight. "I'll lead these guys to the starting line, I'll see you guys at the finish." With that, Rainbow took off for the gorge, the four winners following along.

"Well, we're going to the finish line. See ya there." Applejack said as she and the rest of the ponies left.

"I guess we should follow?" Cali suggested. When the humans were about to move out as well, they noticed that the tortoise was walking in the direction that Rainbow went. "Um, the tortoise seems quite determined."

"I can tell." Xavier confirmed. As they were watching the tortoise move slowly, Mohou flew from Huston's shoulder and landed on the tortoise's shell.

"Mohou? What's up buddy?" Huston asked. Surprisingly, Mohou didn't mimic Huston as he simply squawked continuously, flapping his wings as if to try and take flight with the tortoise. "Do you, want to help the tortoise become Rainbow's pet?" Mohou stopped for a moment and looked at his new owner and began to nod furiously. "You are? Hmm..."

"I can agree on that. That pony." Xaiver added with a shake of his head. "Still, you have to admit the little guy has some guts, more so than that butterfly. And that's saying something."

"Do you think we should help him too?" Jasmine asked, the other three humans thinking for a bit.

"I think you should take him to Rainbow, Jasmine. You're the only one who has the best chance of meeting up with her." Xavier suggested.

"U-um. Sure." Jasmine agreed hesitantly since she was a bit nervous about going to a place called Ghastly Gorge, but she was going to put on a brave face for her friends. So she took the tortoise in her arms and summoned her cloud, ready to take flight. Before she did however, Mohou flew next to her and began squawking.

"Oh, it's fine. I don't mind the company." Jasmine agreed as she began to float upwards. "I'll meet you at the finish line with Rainbow. See you in a bit." Jasmine said, flying away with a tortoise in her arms and a parrot flying behind.

Jasmine was now a couple meters above Ghastly Gorge, a large canyon that had a very ominous look to it. There was a lot inside, from cactus-like bramble patches to rivers that seemed far too deep. The most unnerving thing though was the many large holes that littered the walls of the canyon. All and all, it was not a place that could be described as 'not scary'.

"Why does she think that this place is safe?" Jasmine thought out loud. "This place looks like a death trap." As she was floating along, she wasn't paying attention and lowered downwards, coming close to one of the holes. As she got closer, Mohou flew a bit past her. When he did, he passed the hole they were nearing, and shooting out was a giant, scarlet eel-like head, aiming to have a bite of parrot. Fortunately, Mohou saw it coming and flew upwards, just fast enough to avoid getting snacked on. Unfortunately, the sudden appearance of the giant creature was enough to scare Jasmine greatly. "What in the world is that?!" Jasmine screamed as the eel creature reeled back into its hole. Looking around, she concluded that all the holes belonged to those beasts, so she and Mohou carefully descended to the ground, careful as to not pass over any more holes. "I guess we're walking from her. *Sigh*"

"HELP ME! HELP!" Jasmine jumped in fright at the sudden shout, but soon recognized the voice and tone.

"Oh no, Rainbow!" Jasmine ran past the eels to the voice, and when she made it she saw that Rainbow was next to a large pile of rocks and boulders, and one of her wings was lodged underneath one of them. "Rainbow! Are you okay?"

"Jasmine?! Wahoo! My prayers have been answered!" Rainbow cheered. "Yeah, I'm okay. But for some reason an avalanche started all of the sudden and my wing got caught."

"What about the other animals?" Jasmine asked as Mohou perched himself onto the boulder Rainbow's wing was trapped under.

"Well that's... um..." Jasmine was struggling to find the right words to say to comfort Rainbow. As she was struggling, the tortoise managed to squirm his way out of Jasmine's grasp and began to walk towards Rainbow.

"Well, I kinda came to try and get you to give the little guy another chance with you..." Jasmine admitted, prompting Mohou to begin squawking again.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rainbow exclaimed angrily. "Great! Just great! Not only am I doomed! But stuck here with the annoying turtle in all of Equestria!"

"WHATEVER!!!" Rainbow's emotions were pretty uncontrolled, which was understandable. As they were arguing, the tortoise was doing a bit of digging around the boulder before sticking his head inside of the hole.

"Um..." Jasmine took notice of the tortoise and grew curious. Before she could question it however, the boulder that Rainbow's wing was under began to shake, prompting Mohou to fly off squawking. The boulder began to rise and move, enough so that Rainbow could get her wing out from underneath it.

"Woah..." Rainbow murmured in awe as she removed her wing. "What did you do Jasmine?"

"I didn't do anything." She admitted. "I-I actually think the tortoise actually did that." To prove the point, she pointed to the tortoise, who's head was underneath the boulder before he moved out of the way, the boulder slamming back down onto the ground.

"Woah..." Rainbow stared. "U-Um, thanks for that." Rainbow thanked, her tone portraying some regret and guilt.

"Is your wing okay?" Jasmine asked. Rainbow looked at it for a second before twitching it, but immediately flinched.

"Gah, nope! No it not!" Rainbow cringed. Before Jasmine could do anything about it though, the tortoise was already at Rainbow's side, and with a mighty heave, he managed to get the pegasus onto his shell. "Woah, hey now!"

"Wow, he's really strong for being so small." Jasmine noted, to which Rainbow began to think to herself.

With Rainbow safe, the quartet began to walk their way out of the canyon. Jasmine was planning on using her cloud to fly their way out since Rainbow could stand on it, but then she remembered the holes with those beasts, so she decided to just walk along. It would take a while since they were going tortoise speed, but it gave Rainbow plenty of time to think. After some time walking, the four managed to find their way out of the canyon and even found the rest of the group.

"Rainbow!" Xavier yelled out, but before him and the rest of the group could run for them, Jasmine dashed over to them and stopped them.

"Wait, let them come to us!" Jasmine's actions confused them, at least until they saw that the tortoise was dead set on reaching the finish line. When they saw that, they allowed it since this would be the first victory for the little guy. At least, until they realized how slow he was going. "Um, I guess we can meet halfway..." At Jasmine's request, Twilight decided to use her magic to move the finish line and bring it over to the tortoise so it could cross it without spending an hour. Once the tortoise made it past, the whole group let out a cheer.

"Nice going, little guy." Huston congratulated, knelling down to pet the tortoise's head as Mohou perched himself back onto Huston. "Nice going. Rawk"

"Oh man, that looks bad." Xavier commented. "Jasmine, here. I have a first-aid kit. You think you can patch her up?" Jasmine nodded, taking the kit so she could fix up Rainbow's wing.

"I certainly hope all of this dreadful dust was worth it!" Rarity commented as Jasmine was starting her work, right before sneezing due to said dust.

"It sure was, if'n it means Rainbow gets to have her own little critter just like the rest of us from now on." Applejack smiled as she petted Winona on the head. Rainbow looked a bit hesitant and looked down, and when she did she saw the tortoise giving her a hopeful look.

"Uh...thanks." Rainbow thanked as she knelt down to his level. "What you did...I owe you one." She held her hoof out, the tortoise bumping it like he was giving her a hoof-bump.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy called. "Your new pet is over here waiting for you!" She presented the falcon that was sitting on her back, who spread his wings and flew over to Dash, landing above her newly bandaged wing. The tortoise looked up at her sadly before looking down, but this time Rainbow actually felt bad.

"The best of the best like you wanted, remember? It can fly and it's not a squirrel!" Fluttershy agreed. "Should we sing about it again?"

Rarity placed her camera in front of Dash and took a picture of her and the falcon, which caused the turtle to hide and cower in his shell the moment he saw the flash.

"Easy, fella. Nothing to be afraid of." Rainbow assured, patting on his shell with a soft smile. "The falcon sure does look cool..." The falcon puffed his chest proudly. "He's absolutely everything I wanted in a pet."

"...Yay?" Fluttershy cheered, but in a questionable matter. As Rainbow looked at the falcon for a bit before something popped into her head and she grinned.

"You did! You did say that!" Pinkie exclaimed, remembering Rainbow's words. "She did say that, that was the rule!"

"And the only racer who crossed the finish line with me was the one who stopped to save me when I needed help. The tortoise!" Rainbow announced, raising the shelled reptile up high. The falcon realized it's mistake and lowered its head as he got off Rainbow.

"But what about the–" Twilight began to ask, worried about how the falcon would react, but she was surprised to see what it was doing. On the tortoise's level, the falcon put its wing out as if to shake on a fair game, and the tortoise put its foot out to shake as well. Once they were done, the falcon simply began to walk away with its head down.

"Huh, I guess even animals have honor amongst themselves." Cali commented. Rainbow simply smiled as she put her hoof onto the tortoise, the little one looking up to her and smiling in a slow manner.

"Would you look at that? He even smiles slow." Applejack commented, the group laughing at the comment.

"Hey Dash, if you want to write a letter to the princess about what you've learned today, I can write it for you and hand it to Spike later." Xavier offered.

"You know what, I think I will." Rainbow agreed to his offer, the human nodding and pulled out a paper and pen.

Dear Princess Celestia,
I used to think that the most important traits to look for in a pet, or any best friend, were all physical competitive abilities. But now I can see how short-sighted and shallow that was. Today I learned what the most important quality really is. A certain kind of spirit. A stick-to-it-ive-ness. A never give up, can-do attitude that's the mark of a real winner. And this tortoise has it.

"You just can't stop that little guy. He's like a... like a... Tank!" Rainbow thought out loud, patting the tortoise's shell.

"But Rainbow! You didn't want a pet that couldn't fly because it would keep you grounded and hold you back, remember?" Fluttershy reminded Rainbow. Realizing this, Rainbow brought her hoof to her chin, thinking. As she was, her gaze fell onto Xaiver, and that's when she got an idea.

"Ah, Xavier!" Rainbow yelled, startling Xaiver as he was finishing Rainbow's letter. "I need your help!" Rainbow rushed over to him with the tortoise in her grasp, grabbing his arm and dragging him.

"I have an idea!" Rainbow said before turning to the others. "I'll see you next week at the next pony pet playdate!" With that, Rainbow left with the tortoise and Xaiver, leaving the others behind.

"Well, I guess she has it handled." Cali commented before turning to Jasmine. "So, did you choose who you want as your pet?"

"Oh, well..." Jasmine then turned to the four contestants that raced with Rainbow, looking at one that didn't exactly fit in with the others.

Jasmine decided on the bat that participated in Rainbow's little contest. She was very impressed at what it could do and found it cute, so she decided that it was who she wanted. Now the group was at the park again, waiting for Rainbow and Xaiver.

"I mean, Rainbow seemed quite excited." Pinkie commented. It was then that they heard something... whirring.

"Sounds like a drone from home." Huston mentioned. When they looked at the sound, they saw something that they never would have thought to imagine. Flying towards them was Rainbow and none other than the tortoise, who was now decked out with goggles and some device that gave him a propeller, granting him flight. Xavier was following behind as well, smiling at the display.

"Woah, did you make that Xavier?" Jasmine asked, watching the tortoise fly around them.

"That's what I named him." Rainbow said flying next to the tortoise. "Pretty cool, Huh?"

"I think it's lovely." Rarity agreed. Soon, the group began to play and interact with their pets, both new and old. It was like nothing was wrong. Unbeknownst to them however, within the tree line that was near the park, a pair of brown eyes watched them, their eyes focused on Rainbow and Xaiver.

The Impact of Humans on Ponies

by the koopanater

May the Best Pet Win