//------------------------------//
// The Journey Begins 
// Story: Breath of Dragons 2 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

Sweetie Belle let out a happy squeal as Spike and the others led the large boar into the Ranger HQ.  "Hamlet!" she yelled happily, racing forward to embrace the enormous face.  The boar let out its own happy noise, nuzzling her and managing - through careful tongue placement - to only lick her face.

Pipsqueak, feeling rather exhausted from the adventure, smiled as he watched Sweetie embrace her pet.  Despite everything, that beautiful smile made it all worth it.

Sweetie turned to the group.  "Thank you all so much for returning Hamlet to me!" she said happily, giving a graceful curtsy.  Her eyes fell on Fluttershy.  "A new friend?"

Fluttershy smiled widely.  "Hamlet's told me a lot about you," she said softly.  "He's very happy to be with you and your care, but wonders if you might put a few less hard nuts in his feed.  They give him indigestion, which causes him to rampage a bit."

Sweetie's eyes widened.  "You can understand what he says?"

Fluttershy nodded.  "I can understand all animals," she replied.  "It's my special talent...and why I've spent most of my life amongst my monster friends in the wild."

"Wow!" Sweetie said in amazement, her eyes flicking to Fluttershy's cutie mark.  "I wish I knew what my special talent was."  Turning, she lifted the hem of her dress, revealing her well formed but still blank flank.

Pipsqueak fell backwards into a chair.  "Umuguwhimumble..."

Sweetie sighed, letting her dress fall back down.  "I wish I could stay and talk to you all more, but I have to return to Unicornia now."  She climbed up onto Hamlet's back.  "Come on, Hamlet.  Let's head home."

"Bwee!"  With that, Hamlet proceeded to leave.

"Bu..." Pipsqueak began, but hung his head as Sweetie was lost to sight.

Trixie clicked her tongue.  "It seems you two have done well.  Sweetie Belle already left your reward with me."  She set a bag of bits on her desk, which Spike claimed.  Trixie then turned to Fluttershy, pulling out a Ranger Badge.  "Are you planning to join Spike's team on a more permanent basis, as a member of the Ranger's Guild?"

Fluttershy lowered her head.  "Well, Spike's a really nice guy, as is Pipsqueak.  They saved me from the bad pony who was holding my friends and I prisoner, and my friends said I should help them in return.  So...I guess?"

Trixie nodded.  "Very well."  She pulled out a clipboard.  "We'll just fill out a few pertinent details and induct you in.  Name?"

"Fluttershy."

"Race Pegasus, gender female, age?"

Fluttershy blushed.  "Umm...22."

Spike blinked.  Six years older than him?  Not as big an age gap as he'd thought.

Trixie nodded, filling in a few more details from what she could see.  "Will you be needing a Ranger Suit?" she asked.

"I'd really rather not," Fluttershy admitted.  "I don't really like feeling constricted by my clothes.  It makes me feel trapped."

Trixie filled out a few notes.  "Very well.  Sign here."  She handed the clipboard to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy signed.  "And now I'm a Ranger?"

"Not entirely," Trixie replied.  "Trixie still needs to pin your badge to your chest."  She paused, looking at Fluttershy's wardrobe.  "Though perhaps hanging it around your neck might work better for you."

Fluttershy nodded, blushing.  Trixie put the badge on a thin silver chain and hung it around Fluttershy's neck.

"There you are," Trixie concluded.  "You are now a Ranger.  Now, about housing-"

"Umm," Fluttershy interrupted, "if it's okay with him, could I stay with Spike?"

Trixie turned to Spike, who nodded in affirmation.  "Very well.  Get some rest, all three of you.  It's getting late."

Nodding, Spike led Fluttershy and Pipsqueak to their apartment.  It was a small place, just a room with two beds, a couch, a fireplace, and a water closet.  "We usually eat in the Ranger's Cafeteria," Spike explained, "so there's no need for a kitchen in here."  Spike stretched.  "You can take my bed, Fluttershy, and I'll take the couch-"

"Oh no!" Fluttershy insisted.  "I couldn't take your bed from you!  That wouldn't be right!"

Spike blinked.  "But the couch isn't all that wide.  Would you really be comfortable there with your wings?"

Fluttershy shrugged her shoulders.  "I'm used to sleeping on the ground or in trees.  I can be comfortable almost anywhere.  But..."

Pipsqueak tilted his head.  "But?"

Fluttershy hung her head.  "Before I fell to the ground, I always slept with a large stuffed animal, almost bigger than me.  Once I was down here, I always had one of my friends to cuddle with.  I...I don't know if I could sleep alone."

Both Pipsqueak and Spike had a sudden mental image of Fluttershy curled up to and cuddling Angel, the Greater Dire Accursed Killer Rabbit.  It was both adorable and terrifying.  "I'm afraid we don't have any stuffed animals..." Spike managed to say.

"Well...I was thinking..."  Fluttershy blushed brightly.  "Spike...could I...share your bed?  If it's not too much trouble, that is."

Spike struggled to control his bodily reaction to the notion of spending the entire night cuddled up to Fluttershy's soft, warm, curvaceous, scantily clad body.  "...no problem..." he managed to say.

Smiling, Fluttershy hugged Spike tight.  "Thank you."

If looks could kill, Pipsqueak's glare would have taken all nine of a cat's lives.  "You lucky bugger!" he growled, climbing into his own bed and curling up with a 'huff'.

Chuckling nervously, Spike clambered into his own bed after Fluttershy as she pulled him close, his back to her as she wrapped arms, legs, and wings around him before resting her chin on the top of his head.  They both slowly drifted off to slumber.





During the night, Spike's sleep was disturbed as he heard Pipsqueak moving about and talking to someone.

"What?" Pipsqueak's voice was saying.  "You want me to..."  There was some whispering.  "Yeah, I can do that, but..."  There was more unidentifiable whispering.  "Okay, I understand.  You can count on me."

There was more whispering, and then the door closed.  There was pacing.  "No, I can't take Spike," Pip was saying.  "He was never as good at this as I was, or fully comfortable with it.  Besides, that would entail waking and bringing Fluttershy..."  Pip chuckled.  "Yeah.  I'm definitely doing this alone."  The door opened and then shut again.





Spike sat up in shock as his door was slammed open violently, startling Fluttershy into leaping up to cling to the ceiling.  "What have you done?!" Trixie demanded in barely contained fury.

Spike blinked.  "Umm...what?"

Trixie snarled, her nostrils flaring frenziedly.  "Blueblood is in an uproar, claiming his mansion has been burgled.  And witnesses name your partner Pipsqueak as the culprit!"

"What?" Spike shouted in shock.  "He wouldn't!  Blueblood's the most vengeful guy around.  Pip would never do anything that would put anyone in danger."

Trixie continued to glower, then sighed.  "Trixie knows this.  However, if Blueblood hears of this, he will raise a cry against the Ranger's Guild as a whole, and Pipsqueak in particular."

Spike nodded.  "I know.  I'll get to the bottom of this."

Trixie blinked, then smiled.  "Indeed!" she proclaimed.  "That you shall.  I can take no action against Pipsqueak until he returns to the Guild - Guild policy - but Trixie can assign his partner to bring him in once the truth has been found.  The Guild's flank is covered, and I'm only assigning you to do what you would do anyway."  Trixie glanced around, then walked up and laid a hand on Spike's shoulder.  "I don't believe Pipsqueak would do something like this," she said quietly, "so make sure I don't see him until you've captured the true culprit."

Spike nodded, shocked that Trixie dropped out of her usual third person speech.  Trixie smiled, then left, closing the door behind her.  Spike then sat down on the bed.

"Pipsqueak wouldn't steal from someone, would he?" Fluttershy asked as she fluttered to the floor.  "I just can't believe it."

Spike chuckled.  "I can believe it.  I'm pretty sure half of what we subsisted on as orphans before we got this job was stolen from the rich who wouldn't miss it.  But I know Pipsqueak isn't to blame here, because I can't believe he'd ever get caught!"

Fluttershy's eyes widened.  "He's a thief?" she asked, shocked.

Spike smirked.  "I'd call him a wealth redistribution artist.  I once saw him switch a diamond tooth with a cubic zirconia while it was in the minotaur's mouth, and the bull never noticed.  He never does anything that would risk hurting someone."

"Well, it's good to hear you still believe in me," Pipsqueak said as he slipped otherwise silently in through the window.

"Pip!" Spike almost shouted, rushing up to him.  "Tell me you didn't get caught robbing Blueblood's mansion!"

Pip sweatdropped.  "Well...I did get caught in the mansion when it had been robbed...but I didn't steal anything."  He looked up at Spike.  "You believe me, right?"

Spike looked his friend in the eye, then nodded.  "I believe you.  You'd never lie to me.  So tell me the whole story."  He almost didn't notice his mother's pendant glowing brighter as he said this.

Pip sighed happily.  "Well, it happened like this..."





"Fancy Pants hired me to steal something from Blueblood's vault, a magic hood.  At first I said no way, too risky for us.  But Fancy Pants told me that the hood itself was stolen, so Blueblood would never report it missing, so as long as I made it out undetected I'd be home free.  In the end I agreed, since Fancy Pants was trying to return the hood to the original owners.  Everything was going swimmingly..."

Pipsqueak carefully slipped into Blueblood's mansion through an open window, nary a sound escaping as he landed softly inside.  After giving a quick look around, he silently made his way over towards the vault, carefully evading each and every guard on patrol.  Damn, he thought silently, Blueblood must be paranoid if he has guards roaming his halls at night.  How does he sleep with the rattling of their heavy armor?

Eventually, he reached the hallway that led to the vault and walked up towards the door.  However, before he could open it, it swung open and a young pegasus raced out.  He had just enough time to see the pegasus was female, about his age, with a brightly colored mane, and wearing a skin tight body suit before she slammed into him, knocking them both over.  He landed heavily on his back, with her splayed out on top of him, practically straddling him.  The loud noise attracted the guards.  She stood up, stomped on his stomach, and leapt out a nearby window before racing off into the night.

Pipsqueak staggered to his hooves just as the guards rounded the corner.  He desperately pulled himself out the window, doing his best to hide from all the lights being turned on.





"But I knew they'd seen me, so I had to stay hidden," Pipsqueak concluded.  "So I stayed in the shadows until I made it back here, and-"

"How did you let her get the drop on you?" Spike demanded.  "I've seen you in action, Pip.  Last time something like that happened, the guy who ran into you wound up on his stomach, with his arm behind his back, your knife at his throat, and gagged with his own money pouch!"

"Oh...my," Fluttershy murmured.

Pipsqueak blushed.  "Well, she was my age, like I said.  And she might have been, well, young," he said, cupping his hands on his chest indicating a small bust size, "but she had a killer flank, and with that skin tight catsuit I could see everything!"  His blush - along with Fluttershy's - brightened.  "And then when she landed astride my lap like that...well..."  He rubbed the back of his head.  "I was...distracted...which might be why she stomped my stomach."

Spike groaned.  "I guess that Pegasus was the one who was the real thief."

Fluttershy smiled.  "At least we have a description: slim build, brightly colored mane.  Shouldn't be too hard to track her down."

"Doesn't sound like much of a description to me," Spike pointed out.

"With how few pegasi leave the clouds," Fluttershy pointed out, "it's an excellent description.  We could probably just ask around if anyone's seen a pegasus other than me and track her down."

Spike nodded.  "Alright, I see your point.  So we track down the real thief once we find Pip somewhere to hide out.  We can't bring him with until we clear his name."

"Maybe with the bloke we saved from Hamlet?" Pip suggested.

Spike shrugged.  "It's as good an idea as any."

"But how will we sneak him out of town?" Fluttershy asked.  "The guard is sure to be on high alert, right?"

All three lowered their heads in thought.  Spike raised his head.  "I have a cunning plan!" he said, raising his hand into the air.

"It's not going to involve me dressing up as a dog so you can take me for a walk, is it?" Pip asked.  "Because I said I was only doing that once and never again!"

As Fluttershy giggled cutely, Spike held the pose for a bit.  "I have another cunning plan!" he announced.

Pip nodded.  "So what are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to take the garbage out," he said, walking over to the room's trash can and dumping it out.

"How is that going to he-whoa!" Pip tried to say before Spike grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Good thing you're so small and light weight," Spike commented as he stuffed his friend into the trashcan before slamming the lid on.  "Now don't move or make a sound until we get there."  Picking the can up, he left the apartment, Fluttershy following along.

Once they reached the front gate of town, he was stopped.  "What's in the can?" Flash Sentry - the young town guard recruit - demanded.

"Pipsqueak," Spike said calmly, as both Pip and Fluttershy froze up.

Flash bit his lip.  "Sneaking him out?" he asked.  "Well...I didn't see you."

Spike nodded.  "Thanks."

Flash chuckled.  "I wouldn't believe anything bad of Pip anyway.  Besides, after he saved my little sister when she fell off the cliff, I owe him big time."

Nodding, Spike carried the can out of town.  Fluttershy followed, feeling rather mystified.





After an uneventful crossing of the mountain range, they reached the small hut on the southern peninsula.  Spike set the can down.  "We're here," he told Pipsqueak.

"Finally!" Pip replied as he climbed out of the can.  "Think he'll let me stay?"

"We can ask," Fluttershy said worriedly.

Pip blinked for a bit.  "Bet there's no way he'd refuse if you asked him, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy blinked.  "Well...I'll try..."

The three friends walked into the hut.  The old man of indeterminate species looked up from attempting carpentry.  "Oh, it's you two and the pretty lady that saved me from the big piggy!" he said happily, stomping over.  "Name's John Smith."  He held up a pocket watch, shaking it.  "Do you know what time it is?  My watch is broken."

"It's about 2200," Fluttershy replied.  "Umm...that's-"

"I know pegasus time, pretty lady," he replied.  "What can I do for you?"

"Umm...my friend here is in a bit of trouble, not his fault..." Fluttershy began.  "He needs somewhere to stay until we find the real culprit.  Can-"

"If he can fix the house up, sure."

Pip shrugged.  "I guess I can do that."

Spike nodded.  "Now we just need to find that pegasus who stole from Blueblood."

"I've heard tale of a pegasus at the Hoarsair Coliseum!" John mentioned.

Spike looked at Fluttershy and shrugged his shoulders.  "It's as good a lead as any," he admitted.

"Guess we're on our way to Hoarsair," Fluttershy agreed.





Pipsqueak left the party.