//------------------------------// // La Isla Bonita // Story: My Little Dragon // by Metal Pony Fan //------------------------------// Rarity dipped the tip of her claw into the cool, running water of the river. It was perfect, it always was. The river was fed by springs close to the mountain. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of summer, or the middle of winter, it was always the same temperature. It was also perfectly clear, like liquid glass running along the rocky terrain. This was the widest part of the river, and if it wasn’t for the ever-present current, it would be possible to mistake it for a small lake. After a few seconds, a school of minnow surrounded her claw, investigating the shiny, purple intruder to their watery realm. Farther from the shore, large shadows danced under the water’s surface. Behind the dragoness, Twilight bounced on her heels in anticipation, clutching her bundle and tin can in quivering claws. “Here?” She kept her voice at a whisper, not wanting to disturb anything. The dragoness slowly lifted her claw from the water. With nothing to hold their attention, the minnow swam off in search of other entertainment. Rarity looked back at the hatchling with a smile on her face. “Here.” Twilight set the items she carried down a short distance from the water’s edge, right next to the basket Rarity brought with her. Ignoring the tin, she set about unfolding the canvas bundle. There were two items inside, a long tube and small box. She opened the box first, inside were an assortment of globes and hooks in various colors. Tiny clips and chips of gemstones were organized in small canisters along the edges of the box. The hatchling picked out a bright green globe and held it up, examining it in the light. It almost looked like it was made of glass, clear and shiny, reflecting sunlight like that was its only purpose. Rarity walked over to the hatchling and sat down next to her. “Are you sure that’s the best choice? It may not have enough contrast.” Twilight glanced up at Rarity before returning her attention to the globe. “You’re right.” She put it back in the box and reached for a solid red globe, but stopped before picking it up. “Opaque colors are no good, they’ll see it and spook.” She examined the box’s contents carefully before picking out another globe. She held it up. It was a dull orange, made of the same material as the green globe, but not quite as glossy. Rarity looked at it and nodded. “Excellent choice. As for the hook,” the dragoness reached into the box and removed a paper sleeve, “I ordered this after what happened last time.” She tilted the sleeve, dropping the item within into her outstretched claw. She lowered her claw so Twilight could see it, a large, red fish hook. It was polished to a shine and held no sign of ever being used. “A twelve-oh circle hook with a welded eyelet. Let’s see those river kings get away from us now.” Twilight’s eyes held a gleam of determination as she studied the fish hook. “Not a chance.” The hatchling returned the globe and turned her attention to the cylinder. She picked it up and pulled on one of the ends which popped off with ease. She tilted the tube and three long, thin rods slid out, the pieces to a sturdy, little fishing pole. Twilight fit each piece together and locked them together with a twist of the wrist. She picked up the poles case and tilted it again. This time, she shook it until something else fell out, a small, barrel-type bait-casting reel loaded with a spool of thin, braided wire. She seated the reel and secured it in place with a single, well-practiced motion. She then ran the wire from the reel through the ferrules of the rod. She set the fishing pole down and took hold of the wire sticking out from its tip, then she pulled it over to the box and sat down. Keeping hold of the wire with one claw, she dug around in the box until she found a pair of pliers under the various globes. The hatchling set those down next to her before reaching back into the box. She picked up a canister and gave it a little shake, putting it back when the rattle didn’t match what she wanted. She repeated this process for several more canisters until she finally found the one she wanted. She opened the canister and peered inside, confirming one last time that she had the right canister. It was filled with little metal crimp tubes, exactly what she was looking for. She set the canister down without closing it. Twilight then took one of the crimps and slid it onto the wire. Next, she picked up the orange globe she picked out earlier and located a small loop on its surface. She ran the wire through that loop. Holding the crimp in one claw, the hatchling grabbed the very end of the wire in the other and stretched her arms as wide as they would go. She shifted her grip on the crimp and repeated the motion twice, each time grabbing more and more wire. She then ran the excess wire through the crimp. She picked up the pliers and lifted them to the crimp. She hesitated though. The hatchling looked over her shoulder at Rarity. “Is that enough?” The dragoness nodded. “It’s perfect, darling.” With a smile, Twilight turned back to her work. She closed the pliers around the crimp, flattening it and securing the globe in place. She then took two more crimps out of the canister and slid them onto the end of the wire. “Oh?” Rarity held out the hook so Twilight could take it. “What was that all about?” Twilight took the hook and slid it onto the wire. “Backup,” she said confidently, ”take no chances, need no excuses.” She looped the rest of the wire through and secured the first crimp close to the hook. She used the length of the pliers as a guide and secured the second crimp farther up the wire. She put the pliers back in the box and looked up at Rarity. “This spreads out the stress so they can’t break at the same time.” She looked back at her fishing rig and noticed that there was some excess wire sticking out of the last crimp. She quickly leaned forward and bit it off. She then spit it out into the box. Rarity winced. “You’ve been spending too much time with my father.” Twilight shrugged. “He knows a lot about fishing.” She closed the canister of crimps and put them back in the box. Holding onto the hook, she got up and walked over to the tin can and gave it a good shake. The rattle of broken gemstones answered her. She popped the lid off the can and set it down. Rarity coughed and turned away as the hatchling reached into the tin can and retrieved a shiny, blue, wriggling glome-worm. She hooked it and put the lid back on the can. “Done!” Rarity looked back, but tried to avoid looking at the squirming blue mass at the end of the hook. Twilight set the hook down and lifted the fishing pole. She leaned back in preparation for a cast, but stumbled under the weight of a fishing pole that was much taller than she was. After catching her balance, the hatchling held the pole out towards Rarity. “You’re gonna have to do it.” “Eww.” Rarity gingerly reached out and took the pole, still trying to avoid looking at the bait. Once it was in her claws, she hit a lever on the reel and gave the pole a smooth flick, casting the globe and bait into the center of the river. She immediately gave the pole back to Twilight. “You either need to get bigger, or you need to start using artificial bait.” Twilight sat down with a huff. “But river kings just don’t bite on fake bait.” “There are plenty of other things you could catch.” Rarity organized the box and packed it away before sitting next to the hatchling. “I don’t see why it always has to be river king.” Twilight tapped her feet. “‘Cause it’s the only thing I can catch that’ll feed everydragon. I’m not big enough to hunt, or to fish for anything really big, but I can catch river kings at least.” Rarity put a claw around the hatchling’s shoulders. “You know, you don’t have to feed everydragon. Look at me, I’m no good at hunting. I can’t even put one of those repulsive, little glome-worms on a hook.” Twilight looked up at her. “But you can make things that can help everydragon like harnesses, packs, and armor. All I can do is keep track of books that nodragon wants to read.” Rarity looked down at the hatchling. “Lots of dragons come to the library for books.” “Yeah, for the same five books.” The hatchling pouted. “A few dragons just keep coming for the same book over and over, I may as well just give them the books. And I’m pretty sure Caramel only stops by so often ‘cause he lives next door and leads the dullest life anydragon can.” Rarity giggled. “Now, now, Twilight, just because he’s not the most interesting dragon around, it doesn’t mean that-“ “Rarity,” the hatchling said evenly, “he writes Dragin Do fanfiction.” The dragoness shrugged. “Everydragon needs a hobby.” Twilight sighed. “He writes it for the Claw Flandrake version, not Garrison Cloud.” “Oh my.” Rarity cleared her throat. “Well, that’s his business. I’m more interested in why you’re so worried about being useful all of a sudden. You’re a hatchling, it’s your job to not be useful. You’re supposed to play and have fun and get into trouble.” Rarity tilted her head to the side as she ran over her words a second time. “But not too much trouble.” “But I feel like I should be doing something to help out.” Twilight looked up at the tip of the fishing pole, idly wondering if she should have picked a different color glome-worm. “You’re always taking care of me, and I don’t think you should have to.” The dragoness let a soft sigh and pulled the hatchling closer to her. “I don’t have to, I want to. Why is this bothering you all of a sudden?” Twilight looked down at the claw resting on her shoulder. “Rarity, what would you do without me? What would you be doing if you didn’t have to take care of me? ” “Oh, who knows?” The dragoness put a claw to her chin. “I’d probably be off somewhere wallowing in pity, or self-doubt, or whatever it is that dragons are supposed to wallow in.” Rarity chuckled as Twilight rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you, and I don’t think I want to. Why? What do you think I would be doing?” The hatchling sighed sadly. “Magnum called me his favorite grand-kid, so I guess you’d have your own family, a real one.” Rarity grabbed the fishing pole out of the hatchling’s claws and set it on the ground. She then turned Twilight around by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “Don’t say that, don’t you ever say that. You and I are family, as real as anything deemed by blood. I don’t need anything else to be happy.” Twilight looked down at the claws on her shoulders. “But, don’t you ever want anything more than that?” Rarity shook her head slowly. “I would be lying if I said I never thought about starting a family, but I already told you, I don’t need that to be happy.” She pulled the hatchling to her chest in a tight hug. “Nodragon could ever replace you. And if I ever let another into my life, they better be ok with that.” The dragoness chewed on her lip for a moment before continuing. “And, I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about that.” She let go of Twilight and took a deep breath. “I think I’ve found the one.” Twilight looked up in shock, taking a step back as realizing for the first time that she had miscalculated. She knew that Rarity put her own needs after the hatchling’s, and that had always bothered her, but she had never expected her to already be attached to somedragon. How long? The hatchling sat down heavily. How long had Rarity kept this hidden? How long had she been denying her feelings and desires for the sake of a hatchling that isn’t even her own? And what about Spike? Twilight thought she would be able to get him and Rarity together, but if she already had somedragon, then he didn’t have a chance. He never had a chance. All Twilight wanted was for everydragon to be happy, but it looked like that wasn’t possible. Whatever happened, at least one heart would end up broken. She looked up at the dragoness with tear-filled eyes. “Rarity, I’m sorry. I was about to do something selfish.” The dragoness stared in shock at the crying hatchling, wondering what she had done to make her so upset. “Twilight, what’s wrong? What are you talking about?” “I should have known it was too perfect. It was like something out of a storybook, and I wanted it to be true, but things don’t work that way in real life.” The hatchling stood up and walked over to her guardian, leaning her head against the larger dragon’s chest and prompting another solemn embrace. “I’m happy for you, Rarity.” Twilight tried to rub the tears from her eyes, but when that didn’t work, she settled on closing them and letting the tears flow. “H-how long?” “Not very long, I’m afraid.” The dragoness gently stroked her claw along the hatchling’s spines. “I should have told you about it earlier, but I wasn’t sure how you’d react. Not to mention the fact that it’s only been a few days, and I don’t know how he feels yet.” Twilight’s eyes snapped open. “A few days?” She pushed herself away from Rarity far enough to look up at her. “Who is it?” “Well, dear, you see,” the dragoness scratched at the back of her neck, “it’s Spike.”