//------------------------------// // I will call you Snuggles. // Story: Fluttershy's New Pet // by Diablomuerte2 //------------------------------// I will call you Snuggles. Rainbow Dash was so bored of having responsibilities lately, it seemed as if the world was desperately aiming for the pegasus to be put into an early retirement. She wasn't going to let herself be worked to the bone, regardless of actually not being overworked. She had enough of being the weather manager of Ponyville, and a Wonderbolt Academy student. It was bad enough working the odd hours but to also add insult to injury, she was saving ponies with barely a thank you. She wasn't doing it for fame or fortune, it just bothered her that saving ponies was barely recognized. As she reflected on her long day, she realized her efforts at least brought her things to look forward to like her pet. Tank was a marvelous pet and always able to help Rainbow Dash get over a bad day. "You know something Tank, you are living the good life," she tiredly commented. Tank wasn't able to respond using words so he just blinked slowly as any tortoise would and hoped his message was correctly conveyed. He wanted to let her know that being a pet isn't all it's cut out to be and she should appreciate the life she has, unfortunately for him what she got out of it was something entirely different. "See! I knew you agree with me... it's so easy just lounging around all day, I bet you just wait there and nap all day without anypony bothering you." She yawned into her hoof before picking the tortoise up and rubbing her muzzle on his shell. "You know Tank some days I wish I could be somepony's pet, and I think you know whose." She placed him down and tapped his shell gently with a wink. "Anyways I am going to bed, I hope to get rid of this pet envy before I do something stupid, goodnight Tank." Tank had been worried she might actually do something ridiculous. He was glad she wasn’t going to give up everything she had achieved in pursuit of lazy days. It was something he hoped never came up again in conversation, his inability to talk was proving to be a hindrance to his life. ____________________________________________________________ Fluttershy was slowly waking to the light of the beautiful sun. She was peacefully rising from slumber having had a good night’s rest. She carefully got off her bed to begin another day of taking care of her critters. She had always been blessed by the number of animals that filled her heart and home. Her cutie mark had determined she was destined to take care of animals, with her connection to the animals it wasn't too difficult a task. She was starting her day as usual with a nice bath, it was always her time alone to just relax and spend some time taking care of herself. She cleansed herself and scrubbed where she could allowing the water to do it's job. She finished cleaning herself and began drying off. She got as dried as she needed to be before heading to her mirror with a brush. She was slowly brushing her mane, making herself look presentable. She did so for any potential visitors, and because she sometimes left her cottage to get supplies for her animals. Then she continued her morning with some breakfast as usual and then suddenly heard a knock on her door that ruined her morning routine. She didn't expect any visitors so she was hesitant to open it. "Who... who's there," she timidly asked. ____________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash knocked on Fluttershy's door, "Fluttershy come on it's me, open up," she called out to her timid friend. She waited until the door finally opened before stepping inside her soon to be new home. She thought a lot about being a pet after talking with Tank. She tried sleeping but without any rest the thoughts had plagued her mind and eventually she began fantasizing being a pet to a pony. She thought about how lax she could be if she didn't have to lift a hoof to get anything she wanted. She knew the only pony could take care of a mare like her was Fluttershy. The morning she woke up did her job and went to the head office to request a month off. She was going to use all the vacation time she had racked up over the years and spend them on this month. She was only going to become a pet temporarily since she knew being a pet forever wouldn't be favorable to her friend. She already took care of bills and brought Tank with her to Fluttershy's house to make sure he got taken care of as well. "Hey Shy, do you have a minute so we can talk?" Fluttershy nodded and smiled, "Oh yes Dashie, I don't mind talking to you. What can I do you for?" she gently asked. Fluttershy watched Rainbow Dash walk to the couch and plop herself on it much to the chagrin of Angel Bunny. Rainbow Dash splayed herself on the couch and yawned, "Well Shy I need a favor from you, and it requires you to keep an open mind." Fluttershy was hesitant to reply, "oh... okay." Rainbow Dash yawned before getting to the question at hand, "Well, I kinda need you to be ... my owner... as in... I want to know what it's like to be a pet and I figure since you take care of animals that ... it wouldn't be hard for you to take in one more... so... will you let me be your pet Fluttershy?" Fluttershy blushed and looked away. Calm down Fluttershy I am sure she is just playing a prank on you, no way would Rainbow Dash want to be a pet, let alone your pet. "Ha ha, you got me good Dashie," she nervously replied. Rainbow Dash looked Fluttershy with a serious look, "Shy I really mean it, I want to be your pet for a whole month. I was hoping you would accept but if you rather I go elsewhere?" She began getting off the couch until she was stopped. "It's fine," Fluttershy said, "I just didn't expect you to want to be a pet... you are always flying off and being free, are you sure you want to be my pet Dashie?" Rainbow Dash smiled, "No other pony I would place my life with, I have known you since we were fillies and I know you are the best mare to be my owner for a month. It's going to be nice I will nap all day and you can give me belly rubs... and I can get an annoying pet name you can call me." Fluttershy smiled and said the first thing that came to mind, "I will call you Snuggles." Rainbow Dash chuckled, "See you are getting the hang of it, but seriously don't call me Snuggles." Fluttershy put on a serious face, "if you want to be my pet Dashie then you will accept the name Snuggles. I like the name and since you are my pet I will make full use of it." Rainbow Dash was going to return home and forget the whole ordeal until she felt a leash being put on her. "Shy? What is this thing?" Fluttershy tightened the leash and tugged it, "It's a leash, since you are a bigger pet I need to secure you during our walks so you don't cause trouble." Rainbow Dash was nervous about the entire thing but felt Shy was just teasing, "Aha you got me Shy, good one... now can you take the leash off I was going to nap." Fluttershy smiled and took off the leash having her bit of fun, "Alright go nap, and maybe you will wake up not wanting to be a pet Dashie." Rainbow Dash ignored her and went off to the couch just wanting to relax. "I tell you what, I am due for a big bonus soon if you take good care of me Shy, I will get you anything you want for putting up with me." Fluttershy was going to protest being paid but saw her pet already sleeping on her couch. "Oh... I can't believe this is happening, Rainbow Dash is actually my pet," she quietly spoke. She decided it would best serve her time to acclimate to this new situation. She knew it would be a good start to get the necessary supplies needed to best take care of an exotic pet. Since owning pony's isn't legal, she would have to do her best to get items that would best help her take good care of Rainbow Dash. ____________________________________________________________ Angel Bunny saw his owner leave and got pissed off that his couch was being used by the sleepy rainbow maned wannabe pet. He was the only pet in Fluttershy's life and he wanted to remain being the top animal in her heart. He wasn't enthused about the idea of Rainbow Dash trying to steal his owner's attention. He noticed Tank was just minding his own business, seemingly alright about this new transition. He rushed towards Tank and tried communicating with him. The first attempt at communication went alright but the translations between bunny language and tortoise language was not perfect. He told him in bunny language, "Listen, I don't know what you told her about being a pet and I don't care really but I want her gone." Tank made a slow noise that could be considered a chuckle, "Well I don't like this idea either, and I told her not to do this." Angel Bunny wasn't in the mood for his couch being taken, "Can we at least get her off the couch?" Tank slowly shook his head in protest, "She gets crankier than you Angel... you won't like it when she is cranky." Angel Bunny crossed his arms in anger. He decided that the stupid tortoise had a point, and it wasn't worth getting potentially yelled at. He already had faced off against Discord for that couch before with negative results and didn't feel like pushing his luck. ____________________________________________________________ Fluttershy was shopping around looking for brushes, collars, and other artifacts that was meant for pet handling. When she was finished spending her bits and getting what she needed she went off back to her home to check on her new pet. I can't believe I am already thinking of her as a pet, I need to remember that Rainbow Dash is just probably going through a phase or being silly, there is no way she is going to actually be my pet ... so why did I buy all these things? While she was deep in thought, she walked right into another pony and caused the contents of her saddlebag to spill out. "Oh I am sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," she profusely apologized. She was picking up her recently purchased items as the pony she ran into became curious. "Fluttershy, did you recently get a new pet?" Twilight gently inquired. "Twilight! I umm' I no," Fluttershy quietly stammered. Twilight, confused by the answer, responded," What was that?" Fluttershy couldn't possibly explain her situation to Twilight without it being weird, "Well... you see...I got a new pet, and I named it Snuggles, so I can't have guests over for awhile because I need her to get settled into her new environment," she half-lied. Twilight gave a confused look, "So what kind of animal is Snuggles?" Fluttershy froze and shook in terror. She was going to be exposed if she had to answer the question and lucky for her Spike showed up to distract Twilight with something. Spike was going on about something, it was the distraction needed. He was complaining about the Cutie Mark Crusaders bringing him along to a day of crusading. In hopes of gaining their cutie mark they eagerly did some dangerous tasks, and almost got Spike injured because of it, "So I almost got eaten by a manticore and they complain that they didn't gain their cutie marks." Fluttershy had ran off while Twilight was distracted and rushed home avoiding any other ponies who may want to interact with her. She had a situation to handle that was already causing her problems. ____________________________________________________________ Rainbow Dash began waking from her nap and felt like a million bits, not having any responsibilities. She looked at the ground and saw what appeared to be Tank and Angel Bunny getting into an intense argument of some sort, she merely shrugged it off as it wasn't her problem of the moment. She wasn't abandoning Tank in any form just didn't feel he needed her protection from a wimpy rabbit. Just as she was getting off the couch, she heard the door open and instincts kicked in. She flared her wings and appeared intimidating, until she noticed it was just Fluttershy returning home. "Whoa Shy, sorry... I was just alerted," She embarrassingly explained. Fluttershy saw Rainbow’s wings flared out and was impressed by the display, "I can't believe how defensive you are, like a real pet, which brings me to question... is this really for real? Are you really my pet?" Rainbow Dash put her wings to the side and blushed, "Shy... I ... it's for real I want to be your pet... if it's too much I can just go." Fluttershy quickly responded with, "No! I just... spend real bits getting some stuff for you and I just was hoping it wasn't for nothing." Rainbow Dash felt guilty, "Shy let me pay you back for the stuff, I didn't mean for you to buy me things already." Fluttershy chuckled, "It's okay, I just want you to know that if you are going to be my pet, we will have to go over some rules." Rainbow Dash cringed at the word rules, "Rules... what kind of rules?"