“I suppose I should come up with a name for you, huh,” Spike panted absently as he ran down hallways and corridors, trying to cut off the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders from reaching the gala. Luckily, Spike had grown up in Canterlot, and though it had been a couple years since he lived there, he still remembered his way around.
Ducking behind a large tapestry, he followed the dark, narrow corridor, grinning to himself. There’s no way the crusaders know about all of the servant’s routes and shortcuts in the castle! If I could run just a little bit faster, I’d bet I could beat Rainbow Dash in a race! Well, okay, maybe not, but I would give anypony else a run for their gems! Mmm, gems...
Spike began to drool, before he slapped himself, trying to force himself to concentrate at the matter at claw. No, no slacking! I promised Twilight that nothing would happen, that she could trust me! If the crusaders get into trouble, she’ll never trust me again!
.o.O.o.
“Stupid lock!” Sweetie Belle grunted, trying to work her newly budding magic.
“Ah don’t think it’s gonna budge,” Applebloom commented, wincing as she massaged her hoof, having already attempted to buck the lock from the door.
“Ha! Time for the professional spy to try her hoof at picking the lock!” Scootaloo boasted, trotting forward.
“A beginner’s spy kit doesn’t make you a professional, Scoots.”
“It’s still more than you girls!” Scootaloo retorted, sitting in front of the small door. The crusaders were currently in a small garden, trying to get into one of the larger ones, guessing that Fluttershy would want to try her hoof at befriending the animals again.
Scootaloo muzzled through her tail for a moment, before extracting a small, purple manepin. “Aha! Alright, lock, you’re goin down!”
After several failed attempts at picking the lock, Scootaloo withdrew the manepin before it broke. “I guess it’s not strong enough,” Scootaloo sighed, starting to hide it in her tail once more.
“Wait a second,” Sweetie Belle protested. “You can’t just hide in your tail! It’s supposed to go in your mane, silly! Like this!” Scootaloo protested at Sweetie’s magic wrapped around the pin, tucking it into her mane. “There! Now it’s out of the way, and where it belongs!”
“B-but I don’t want to wear that girly thing!” Scootaloo argued, her face beet red. “It’s not cool!”
“Says who?” Applebloom retorted, butting heads with Scootaloo. “Are ya sayin’ there’s somethin’ wrong with wearin’ a bow or manepin or somethin?”
“Kweh!”
The three crusaders turned to face the lock, where Scootaloo’s chocobo was floating around the lock with an air of determination. As they stared at the purple chocobo, it sat atop the lock, pointing at the back of the lock. Scootaloo picked up the lock, flipping it best she could to read the fine print on the back. “In case of emergency, squeeze sides together?”
Looking at her fellow crusaders, who both shrugged, Scootaloo pushed the lock together, gasping at it became unlocked. “What?!”
The three crusaders gaped as Scootaloo’s purple chocobo stood atop the now-opened lock, whistling its victory to the other chocobos, its diminutive wings spread wide. Scootaloo found her voice first, exclaiming, “Chocobos are so awesome! Did you see that?! Rainbow Dash is so going to be impressed by my pet! It just helped pick that lock like that!” Scootaloo snapped her wings to her sides.
“Y-yeah... So, uh, we should probably git goin’,” Applebloom said slowly, opening the door.
“You bet! Come on, Locke, it’s time to find Fluttershy!” Scootaloo ordered, lowing her wing to the ground, creating a ramp for the baby chocobo ro run up. It then ran up Scootaloo’s withers, before settling itself in her mane, chirping proudly at its accomplishment.
“Locke?” Sweetie Belle asked Scootaloo as the crusaders renewed their search for the elusive buttercream-coated pegasus, in the hopes that she would be able to teach them how to care for their new pets.
.o.O.o.
“Discord did what?!” Twilight hissed to Spike, her eyes going wide.
“True... story,” Spike panted, pointing to the baby chocobo fluttering around the room.
Spike had found Twilight in a back-room, preparing for a small speech that was expected of her. Knowing how prone Twilight was to overreacting and over-thinking, he gave the shortest, simplest version of the story he could, hoping it would help prevent her from flipping out. He was almost right.
“This is bad. This is so very, very bad! Do you know what this means?! If the crusaders get into the gala, there’s no telling what they might do! Crusaders with pets?! What could possibly-
“Wark!”
Twilight blinked, pausing as she stared, cross-eyed at the baby chocobo standing on the end of her muzzle. “Did... it just talk?”
The chocobo whistled, puffing out its chest proudly.
“I... I need a drink,” Twilight sighed, trotting slowly to the punch bowl. The back room she had been practicing in held the back-up supplies for the gala in case the nobles actually emptied the punch bowl. Of course, that was never going to happen, as the nobles were far too afraid of the punch slipping and staining, so there weren’t any maids or butlers in the room.
Twilight quaffed a cup, then refilled it, staring into nothing at she tried to think.
“Wark!”
Twilight and Spike gaped at the baby chocobo, stunned at it started giving itself a bath in the cup of punch. It kept leaning down, filling its beak with punch, before leaning back, shaking its head to sprinkle the juice over itself. After several times, however, it blinked in confusion, before letting out a startled “W-wark?!”
Spike and Twilight started giggling as the chocobo half-fell half-fluttered to the floor before running in circles, trying to shake the juice off. While Spike doubled over, trying not to fall over from laughing, Twilight thought quickly, levitating a bucket of water from the table, setting it down next to the panicking chocobo.
“Kweh!”
The blue chocobo dove into the water without question. The small, feathery cannonball created a large enough wave to splash Spike, bringing him to his senses. Spike shook himself to get rid of the water, which slipped right off his scales. Twilight had protected herself from the small puff ball by using one of her new wings, shielding her face. Spike wandered closer to his new pet, watching with wide eyes as it started bobbing up and down on top of the water, chirping and whistling happily, creating miniature tidal waves, threatening to splash over the side of the bucket.
“Well, it’s certainly acting like a normal baby avion,” Twilight noted dryly, dialing down her internal danger meter. “It loves to take baths and splashing, and is very curious about its surroundings... So what are you going to name it?”
“Well,” Spike mused, stroking a non-existent beard. It likes water, and making waves... How about... “Tidus, because it made a wave to drench us. What do you think, Twilight?”
Twilight winced, but was able to hide it from Spike before he turned to look at her. Honestly, it sounds disappointing, but compared to what you named that poor baby phoenix... “It, uh, sounds great, Spike! Sounds like you thought about it, I guess.”
“Thanks!” Spike grinned, carefully picking up the drenched bird, who was whistling happily as it carefully climbed its way up to Spike’s shoulder, where it then shook itself vigorously. Spike gagged as the now-smelly water was shaken all over him. “Gah! Tidus, what the heck?!”
While hard to tell with its small size, Spike could have sworn he saw the baby chocobo smirk before fluffing its soggy feathers, leaning against Spike’s neck to warm up. Twilight just giggled at her assistant’s predicament, rolling her eyes. “Well... Okay, so the Crusaders are trying to get in because they want to talk to Fluttershy, right? It sounds like a simple situation then. We just have to find Fluttershy, and then find the Crusaders before they can ruin the gala. So... checklist, Spike?”
“Well, if I understood you right, let’s see,” Spike answered, glancing back to the top of the parchment he had been writing on. “Step one, find Fluttershy. Step two, explain the situation. Step three, wander around... somewhere? Step four, find the Crusaders and prevent disaster!”
Twilight nodded. “Right! Now, Fluttershy said that she was likely going to stay near Rainbow Dash this year, so our first stop is to find the Wonderbolts! So first stop, Luna to find out where she scheduled their V.I.P. room. Then we’ll get Fluttershy, and on with the plan!”
“And... then... on... with the plan,” Spike repeated, finishing with a flourish. “Okay! So on we go?”
“Right!”
“Your highness, you’re on in five,” a maid reminded Twilight, poking her head into the room. “Need any more refreshments?”
Twilight blinked, then facehooved. “No, I’ll be fine, thank you.”
“As you wish, your highness,” the maid replied with a bow, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
“... Being a princess sucks. Spike, don’t you dare write that down,” she warned, having heard the scratching of a quill on parchment.
“Write what on what now?” Spike asked nervously, brushing some ash that was suspiciously covering his claws. “I uh, don’t know what you’re talking about, Twilight! I’m on my way to find the Wonderbolts, like you told me to! Bye!”
Twilight shook her head as Spike flashed her an obviously fake grin before running off, closing the door behind him with a slam, causing the purple alicorn to wince. Trying to reassure herself, Twilight started talking to herself once more. “It’s okay, it’s okay... Spike is a responsible baby dragon. He’ll be fine! He took care of our pets for a few days, so he can handle something like this... Right? I mean, he was responsible enough to come find me first before something big could happen... I hope.”
*Boom!*
“... Ugh... Luna buck me to the moon,” Twilight cursed under her breath, messaging the bridge on her muzzle once more. “But it’s okay! Because everything is going to be fine!”
.o.O.o.
“Where are they flying off to!?” Applebloom exclaimed, running after her chocobo.
“I don’t know!” Sweetie Belle shouted back, chasing after hers as well.
“Maybe it’s because you guys haven’t named yours yet?” Scootaloo guessed, split between which friend needed more help. “Locke, come on, help us! Why the heck are they going all psycho?”
“Come back!”
Scootaloo turned in time to see Sweetie Belle chase her chocobo through a cracked window leading to the orchestra section of the gala. Scootaloo turned to Applebloom to let her know she was going to help Sweetie Belle, when she saw what room Applebloom’s chocobo had chosen. “The Wonderbolts?! Heck yeah! Locke, keep an eye on Sweetie Belle for me, okay? I’m going to help Applebloom!”
With a tiny salute, the tiny purple chocobo flew off to the open window with a whistle, leaving Scootaloo to do an impromptu dance of glee at meeting her idol’s idols. if she found out something about the Wonderbolts that Rainbow Dash didn’t, maybe she could talk Rainbow Dash into an extra lesson next week! Two lessons a week was alright, but getting a third would be 50, no, at least 80% cooler! With a plan to follow, Scootaloo chased after Applebloom, not noticing the glow that was starting to emanate from the garden maze...
.o.O.o.
Applebloom chased after her chocobo, looking left and right as she ran past ponies in blue suits, ignoring everypony around her, her focus entirely on the flying gold puff of feathers.
“Wark!” Applebloom watched in horror as she saw Rainbow Dash with a couple Wonderbolts ahead, talking, a small cloud laced with electricity floating in the air behind the rainbow-maned pegasus.
“So, as you can see, to get a cloud to shoot thunder the direction you want it, it just takes some careful aim, focus to prevent yourself from bucking it too hard, and...”
*Boom!*
Applebloom screamed in horror as a bolt of electricity shot from the cloud and slammed into her new pet chocobo, sending its tiny body into seizures. It fell to the ground, limp, and completely black.
“What was that?” Rainbow Dash turned around, sure that she had placed the cloud so that it would hit the wall harmlessly. “It was just a special effect bolt...”
Looking down at the floor, she saw Applebloom carefully cradling a small black puff, crying. “Uh, you okay, Applebloom? Sorry about your snack, but aren’t you overreacting a bit?” she asked, rubbing the back of her neck, starting to get a little nervous at the attention she was starting to attract, now that her little lecture on the proper use of performance lightning was over.
“Y-you killed my new pet,” Applebloom whimpered, unable to speak louder than a whisper as she stroked the tiny ball, barely touching it.
“W-what?!”
Scootaloo and Fluttershy came rushing over from different directions, having heard Rainbow Dash’s shout. Scootaloo froze up as she saw Applebloom clutching her new pet, her face streaked by tears, and Rainbow Dash, standing just a few steps away, shocked. H-how... N-no, no way... Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do that! She couldn’t! She wouldn’t! She... “A-Applebloom...”
Applebloom burst into a fresh wave of tears as Scootaloo gave her a hug, allowing Fluttershy to carefully take the chocobo from Applebloom’s hooves. As Fluttershy begane to examine it, however, she grew from concerned to upset. “You are in big trouble, Missy!”
“I-I...” Rainbow Dash stammered, her eyes wide as she fell to her flanks, her ears wilting. She was doomed. Her reputation as the coolest, fastest, most awesomest pegasus in Equestria was now going to be ruined. In a room full of Wonderbolts both current and retired, were going to hear her get lectured by her best friend, and with the paparazzi nearby, there was no way she was going to escape unscathed. Her chances of becoming a Wonderbolt now were surely doomed...
“You’re scaring poor Applebloom to death with your little stunt! Now you get up right this second and apologize to her!”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t bring herself to even raise her head, lest she be met with Fluttershy’s gaze, which was surely filled with disappointment and sadness, and if there was anything Rainbow Dash couldn’t take, it was disappointing her friends. “I... I didn’t mean to-”
“Kweh!”
Everypony watching gasped in shock as the black ball shook itself, soot falling from it, revealing a fluttering yellow chick. Applebloom watched, not willing to believe what she saw, but her hoof reached out for it to perch regardless. It slowly waddled its way up Applebloom’s foreleg, hanging its head before settling down to rest on her muzzle. Applebloom sniffed several times, before muttering, “Y’all shouldn’t be so mean, Lightning. Ah thought you’d died!”
“Well it shouldn’t have,” Rainbow Dash added with a sigh of relief, knowing that the animal was fine, and thus her reputation still fine. “It was a special effects bolt of lightning! It shouldn’t have done anything to it, which is why I was so shocked! If anypony knows their weather, it’s me!”
“Yeah! I just knew that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have killed Applebloom’s pet!” Scootaloo agreed, now completely relaxed.
“Yeah, about that,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Why the heck does Applebloom have a baby chicken for a pet? I mean, I know you live on a farm, but-”
Rainbow Dash had to use her legendary speed to get away from the irate chick, who had been grievously insulted.
“So you’re naming it Lightning, huh?” Scootaloo asked Applebloom, watching in admiration and awe as Rainbow Dash eluded her opponent, twisting and corkscrewing about the large hall, doing her best to dodge both pillars, supports, other pegasi, and the baby chocobo.
“Eeyep!” Applebloom chirped, having cleaned her face with a hoofkerchief offered by Fluttershy. “I mean, it is pretty fast, right?”
Scootaloo nodded, turning to her friend. “Well, maybe in small places, yeah, but Rainbow Dash would crush it in a straight race for sure!”
“Heck yeah I would!” Rainbow Dash said, laughing as the two fillies jumped, startled as Rainbow came up from behind them. “But I didn’t know that they could fly, let alone as babies. Is it the same deal as with pegasi foals or something?”
“Nope!” Scootaloo was quick to educate her surrogate older sister, wanting to impress her. “Discord gave them to us when we said we wanted pets! they’re called Chocobos, and they’re magical!”
“You got this from Discord?!” Dash hissed, eyes going wide. “Are you insane? It’s probably-”
“Cadance helped us, so they’re not dangerous,” Scootaloo interrupted quickly, trying to head off the argument. “We just have to train them a bit, that’s all!”
“Speaking of Cadance,” Rainbow Dash said, narrowing her eyes. “Wasn’t she supposed to be watching you guys? Where’s Sweetie Belle? Did you guys run away from her or something?”
“W-well, we had to!” Scootaloo protested. “Sweetie Belle’s and Applebloom’s chocobos just flew off, so I told Locke to help Sweetie Belle while I helped Applebloom.”
“Lock? Why would you tell a metal-”
“N-no, no, that’s what I called my chocobo!” Scootaloo said proudly, puffing out her chest. “It helped us get here to find Fluttershy!”
“But now we gotta find Sweetie Belle,” Applebloom moaned. “Applejack’s gonna kill us...”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, picking up Applebloom and placing her on her back. “There. Come on, let’s go find the others. And don’t scuff the dress,” Dash added, glancing back at her passenger.
“And here I thought that the tough Rainbow Dash didn’t care about clothes at all,” came a teasing voice from behind.
Rainbow Dash blushed, flustering as she tried to ignore Soarin and Spitfire, the former of whom had made the comment. “I-I don’t, not really! I just don’t want Rarity nagging me later for getting it all messed up and getting it steamed or whatever.”
“You realise the more you protest the more he’s going to tease you about it, right recruit?” Spitfire said with a knowing grin.
“Pfft, as if I care what he thinks,” Dash blustered, trying to ignore her reddening face. “Come on, Squirt, we have to find Sweetie Belle yet. Knowing our luck, Rarity will have already found her, so-”
“We’re doomed,” Scootaloo moaned, fluttering after her idol, suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of foreboding. Sharing a glance with Applebloom, she knew the feeling was mutual...