//------------------------------// // Another Rider // Story: How To Ponify Your Dragon // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Celestia gently levitated the green gem with the golden dragons from Twilight and gazed at it with narrowed eyes, silently thinking to herself how she wished to never lay eyes on it again. The rays of the sun shone through the castle windows and onto the gem, casting both princesses and the room in an emerald glow. "You have done well, Princess Twilight, to have recovered the dragon gem as quickly as you did," Celestia praised while raising an eyebrow at the saliva that seemed to cling to the gem no matter which magic she tried. "I wish I could accept your praise, Princess, but it was a team effort," Twilight spoke up for her friends. "I'm not sure we would have made it if we all hadn't worked together, especially against...Wijida." Celestia heard Twilight's voice quiver a bit when she spoke the Puppeteer's name, and she turned her attention from the gem to her student to see hints of fear in Twilight's eyes. "There is no need to be afraid of Wijida, Twilight. Now that we know who and what we're up against, we will work together to figure out a way to free the dragons from her clutches." Celestia had hoped for her words to inspire Twilight as they had done in the past, but instead Twilight looked up at her teacher with confusion and fear. "But what if she already knows our plans? What if she knows what we're going to do and how we're going to try and capture her! She can see the future and has abilities that can rival my own!" Twilight reminded Celestia while starting to panic. "Wijida probably knows what we're talking about right now and is-" "Twilight." Celestia's tone silenced Twilight's words and the Princess of Friendship looked up at her teacher intently. "Wijida is powerful, that is true. But so was Tirek. And Discord. And...Sombra, to an extent. They were all foes that could match us and had abilities that we could not match. But you and your friends beat them with the power of friendship every time. And I am certain that you will do so again. You have never failed me." "But none of them could see the future," Twilight whispered. "None of them knew everything that was going to happen." "And neither does Wijida. Or did you forget what she said about Hiccup and Toothless?" Celesita asked, a smile crossing her face when she saw the fear slowly begin to dissipate. "Even she is blind to the future in some areas. We will use that to our advantage. But I feel as if you have been stressing over this for too long. I recommend that you take a break and spend some time with your friends. Rarity has sent me a letter or two saying that a certain somepony has caught your fancy?" Celestia's smile spread when Twilight's face turned red and she started to stammer out excuses for herself and Rarity, but after a moment Celestia held up a hoof. "I jest, Twilight. I will not pry into your personal business. But I will ask that you, or rather Hiccup, hold onto this," Celestia said in a serious tone when she gave the gem back to Twilight. "If Wijida has been honest with us, then no matter where I hide it she will know its location. But if Hiccup holds onto it..." "I understand, Princess," Twilight replied as she took the gem from Celestia before looking up at her teacher with a smile. "And I promise that I won't let you down. Are you going to head back to Canterlot?" "Yes my dear, I must be on guard in case of another dragon attack," Celestia replied as she began to glow like the sun. "Remember, your friendship is the ultimate magic. Not even a being that can see the future can overcome its power." The light shone so brightly that Twilight had to look away, but when she could see again she found that she was the sole occupant of her castle once more. She then looked down at the gem that Celestia had entrusted to her before clutching it tight, promising not to fail. She remembered what Celestia told her about spending more time with her friends and flew out of her castle with a smile, wondering what her friends were up to. She was not expecting the answer. "Puuuulllleeeeeezzzzeee. There is no way that overgrown lizard can beat me in a race," Rainbow Dash laughed at Hiccup with a smug smirk, getting an eyebrow raise out of Hiccup. Twilight found her friends near Sugarcube Corners, where Dash and Hiccup seemed to be in a heated argument, while Fluttershy and Pinkie were lavishing Toothless with attention. "You sure seem confident for someone who has never raced against a Night Fury before. Toothless here just happens to be the fastest and greatest flier out of all the dragons," Hiccup responded while motioning to the dragon with one hand, neither of them noticing that Toothless was on his back with his tongue hanging out, a common effect from being petted by Fluttershy. "What are those two arguing about?" Twilight asked as she floated down next to Fluttershy and Pinkie. "Hiccup is trying to convince Rainbow that Toothless could beat her in a race," Pinkie said with a smile as she held out a cupcake in front of Toothless' nose while just out of reach of his tongue, giggling to herself as Toothless began to lick lazily at the air in an attempt to grab the cupcake. Both Fluttershy and Twilight smiled at the dragon before the princess looked back to the arguing pair. "I should probably break that up. Toothless may be fast, but I'm certain that Rainbow Dash would be much too fast for him," Twilight said as she took a step forward, only for a white hoof to wrap around her throat and pull her off her hooves in a flash. "Twilight!" Rarity exclaimed as she looked down at the floored Twilight, who looked up at the smiling face of Rarity while trying to piece together what just happened. "I have great news for you darling! You know how that fair that you enjoy going to is coming up?" "Uh, I think so?" Twilight said weakly as she pushed herself up, using her magic to get the twigs and leaves out of her hair. "Well, I just so happened, by the purest of coincidences, to get two V.I.P tickets ahead of everypony else," Rarity said as she flashed two tickets under Twilight's nose before holding a hoof to her head and throwing her head back. "Alas, I cannot go and yet I have no idea who to give these tickets to." Twilight raised an eyebrow at Rarity's performance. "Rarity, if you want to give these to me, all you had to do was say so. And don't worry, I'm sure one of the girls would love to come with me," Twilight said as she took the tickets. "Are you sure there isn't...someone else that you would rather go with you instead?" Rarity teased, flicking her eyes from Twilight to Hiccup. Twilight let out a sigh as she tossed the tickets back at Rarity. "Rarity, for the last time, I don't like him like that," Twilight muttered, but a smile crept across Rarity's face at the lack of conviction in Twilight's voice. "Of course not, darling. That's because you haven't gotten the chance to learn more about him," Rarity teased as she held the tickets in front of Twilight's face, nearly covering her eyes with them when Twilight tried to look away. "Darling, you have been so focused on work and princess business too much! You deserve a break. Ask him out. If he says no, then no harm done. But I don't know anypony that could say no to you." Twilight considered saying no for a moment, but then when she looked over at Hiccup (who was still arguing with Rainbow Dash) she remembered how he had helped them with no questions asked, how he had marveled at her inventions while his own were equally incredible, and how the two of them had worked together so well. 'Not to mention it's so rare to find somepony who is a lot like me--who likes to read, who enjoys learning and...when the two of us went flying together...' Twilight thought to herself before she felt her face reddening and she quickly buried her thoughts. 'Y'know what, all this stuff with the dragons has been pretty stressful as of late and I would like to get to know him better...' "Fine Rarity, I'll ask," Twilight caved, but there was a small smile on her face when she walked over to Hiccup, holding the tickets behind her back as she approached. "Hey Hiccup?" Hiccup turned around as Twilight began to clear her throat, practically hearing Rarity squeeling behind her as she did so. "Would you mind, I mean, you don't have to if you don't-" Twilight's words were cut off as Toothless ran in between the both of them, tackling Hiccup to the dirty road and roaring happily as he began to run around in circle, mostly on top of Hiccup. "Get off me!" Hiccup yelled before he was buried beneath the Night Fury again, who ran over to Fluttershy and licked the pony before racing back to Hiccup, who had just managed to pull himself up. "What's with him?" Twilight asked in confusion as Toothless reared up on his hind legs and began to bark. "I'm...not sure..." Hiccup muttered as he watched his dragon's movements carefully, his eyes widening in surprise as he recognized them. "But that can't be right, the only time he acts like this is when Storm-" A cry from above cut Hiccup off and turned all eyes skyward to see what had caused the sound. The ponies saw a strange blue and yellow dragon flying over the town, but for Hiccup, he only saw the glimpse of a black shadow before he was crushed by a falling object. "Ooooowwww....that hurt. What landed on me?" Hiccup groaned as he looked up, right into the beaming smile of a person he knew all too well. For the longest moment there was nothing but silence, until a confused but ecstatic smile spread across Hiccup's face. "Astrid?" he asked the female human in disbelief. "Who else would jump off their dragon to see ya, babe?" Astrid replied before pulling Hiccup into a tight hug, laughing with a huge smile on her face. Hiccup looked from Astrid to Toothless before wrapping his arms around Astrid as well, laughing with her while the numerous spectators around them wondered what was going on. Dash, Shy and Pinkie looked confused, Rarity's jaw was on the ground and Twilight looked on with a blank expression. "Hiccup?" she asked in a small voice. "Who is this?" "Oh, right. Um, Twilight and others, this is Astrid," Hiccup began as he looked from the golden haired Viking to the princess and ponies. "Astrid...these are...well, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie," Hiccup introduced, with only Pinkie waving at Astrid. "So...the ponies here talk as well?" Astrid nervously asked Hiccup, who replied with a smile and a shrug. "Yeah, freaked me out a first too, but...I got used to it," he shrugged. "Most of them I consider to be friends at least. Don't worry, they're nice enough. Say hi." "Nice to...meet you," Astrid said with a look at the ponies before turning back to Hiccup. "So, I finally found where you've been all this time. Do you have any idea what I went through to find you? Stormfly and I had to sleep outside while constantly being watched. It was exactly what I'd call fun." "I don't even know how you're here," Twilight thought aloud, getting both Hiccup and Astrid to turn their attention to her. "I can only assume that you got here through the same portal that I created to bring Hiccup here, but that shouldn't be possible because the portal closed probably a second after he entered it." "I'm with Twilight. How did you get here?" Hiccup asked. To Twilight's surprise, Astrid's answer was to look at Hiccup with a smug smile on her face. "That second she mentioned was how close you were to losing your title as dragon racing champion," she smirked as she punched Hiccup in the shoulder, laughing before freeing herself from his arms and standing up, offering him a hand as she did so. "I've always got your back." Hiccup grabbed her hand and she pulled him up, but the fact that neither let go of the other's hand was not lost on the ponies. But their attention was diverted when the blue and yellow dragon landed in the middle of the group, where it roared and began to look around at the number of ponies with interest. The ponies were wondering whether they should attack or not when an orange object rolled off the dragon's back and to the dirt, where she staggered weakly to her hooves with a green face. "Ugh...ah'm never...flying...on one of those dragons again," Applejack muttered before holding a hoof to her mouth, fighting back down her lunch before looking at Astrid. "Ah thought ya said...that would be...relaxing?" "What, flying through the sky while diving and weaving through trees wasn't relaxing?" Astrid asked with a smirk before catching Twilight's blank stare. "What's the matter with you?" "Oh nothing!" Twilight quickly said before holding out a stiff hoof to Astrid with an even stiffer smile on her face. "Happy to meet you, Astrid!" Astrid looked from the hoof to the smile on Twilight's face, her eyes just barely narrowing for a second as she began to think. "Come on Astrid, don't be rude. Twilight here saved my life just the other day," Hiccup told her while gently elbowing Astrid in the side. "Fine. Nice to meet you Twilight and thanks for saving Hiccup's life," Astrid replied as she tried to shake Twilight's stiff arm. She let go just in time to turn around and get tackled by a mass of black and scales, getting a shriek out of her as Toothless laid on top of Astrid and began to lick her face. "Agh! Toothless! Good to see you again!" she laughed while Toothless greeted her with dragon kisses, barking happily as he did so. Hiccup laughed at the scene before he felt a nose nuzzle its way under his arm, getting him to look down to see Stormfly peering up at him from under his arm. "Of course I'm happy to see you as well," Hiccup said as he scratched Stormfly on her neck, getting the dragon's eyes to roll back in her head. Twilight watched the dragons greet the humans for a moment before she turned to Applejack, who was being greeted as well with more concerned eyes. "Are you doing alright, dear?" Rarity asked Applejack, who was fighting the desire to vomit as best she could. "Ah'm fine...never...urp...better," AJ groaned before casting a look at Astrid, who was still trapped beneath Toothless, though Hiccup was doing his best to get the dragon off of her. "Glad to see...she found who she was looking for." "How did you meet Astrid? Is she your new friend?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically, but when AJ failed to answer Pinkie picked her up and started to shake the pony. "Come on, tell me about your new friend so I can become her new friend! Tell me!" AJ's answer was not what Pinkie was expecting, and Fluttershy had to walk Pinkie back to her house so the party pony could wash off while the others stayed with AJ. "Ah brought Astrid here because she was looking fer somepony, so ah figured that Twilight would be able to help us ask," Applejack groaned with a hoof on her stomach. "Didn't expect that somepony to be here. Ah also...didn't expect...to fly...uh-oh." Rarity patted AJ on the back while her lunch exacted its revenge, giving Twilight a moment to look over at Hiccup, who had finally managed to get Toothless off of Astrid and helped her up. "Well, now that the usual greeting is over I guess we have a lot to talk about?" Astrid asked, but to her surprise Hiccup grabbed hold of her hand and began to run off with her in tow. "Agh Hiccup?! Hold on! Where are we going?!" "We can talk on the way, but there are so many cool things here that I need to show you!" he yelled over his shoulder, getting a bark from Toothless and Stormfly as the dragons followed him as well. "But first let me show you something called sugar!" And all the while Twilight watched with sad eyes, watched the smiling pair run through the streets with their dragons chasing them, holding the tickets to the fair behind her back.