Primal Hearts

by KristenTheKittyKat


Pet Play Date

The wind gently blew as Celestia's sun shone on the spring day. Clouds were scattered around with no real pattern, flowers dotted the fields, and trees danced in the breeze. It was truely a peaceful day. On days like those, Rainbow Dash chose to just leisurely fly by and admire the view she had helped create. She flipped in small circles, sighing as her wings beat lazily just above the ground. She paused and looked behind her, searching for something. Her face lit in a grin as she found what she searched for: a tortoise floating as gentle as the wind with a contraption strapped to his back that allowed him to fly. He gave her a small smile as she laughed.

"Gosh Tank, don't get in too big of a hurry," she teased.

Tank just gave her another smile, wishing he could talk to her, tease her back. But he settled for the smile, letting his expressions be the bridge between words and understanding.

Her pink eyes shined as they entered the park, Tank slightly behind. She met up with her other friends and their pets, late as usual.

"Nice a' you ta join us, Dash," Applejack smiled.

"Ah, you know me," Rainbow said, folding her wings to her back as she landed. "If it feels good outside, I can't help but, y'know, take it easy."

"Did Rainbow just say that she likes to be slow?" Pinkie gasped, jumping up to Rainbow and comically inspected her. "Are we sure this is the real Dashie?"

As his owner defended herself and the others joked on, Tank landed with the other pets. Winona bounded up to him. "Hiya, Tank! How's your week been?"

He smiled at her enthusiasm. It was a wonder she wasn't Pinkie's dog with the way she presented herself. "I'm fine. Just trying to keep up, you know."

"Oh yeah! It must be so hard ta be with Rainbow Dash when she's SO super fast like she is!" Winona barked in her Southern twang.

Tank smiled and was going to mention his helicopter-like machine that let him go as fast as possible, but Opal interrupted. "Oh yes. Being a turtle must be hard. I don't think I could handle being so slow."

Tank frowned. Opal was mean more often than not, but she did have a soft side. She just had a temper, and by the way she was being rude, Rarity must have done something to tick the cat off. "Oh no, it's fine. The propellers have power behind them, so it's not hard to fly with her."

"Doesn't that thing ever get uncomfortable?" Angel asked, eying the strap with a critical eye. He snorted. "Fluttershy could never force me into THAT thing."

"If it means I get to live with Rainbow, then I don't mind," Tank said, looking gratefully at Rainbow.

Owlowicious noticed this. "You really care for her."

"Don't you?" Tank countered gently.

"Oh golly, a' course we do!" Winona shouted, jumping around the tortiose. "We wouldn't be nothin' 'thout our owners!"

Opal and Angel's eyes softened, Owlowicious nodded, and Gummy blinked. Around then, their owners came over and started to play with their respective pets. Tank looked for Rainbow, but couldn't find her. He looked to the air and gasped when he was nose-to-nose with the pegasus, who was hovering right above him. She burst out laughing.

"Y-You should have seen your FACE!" Rainbow giggled, pointing at him with one hoof and clutching her stomach with the other.

Tank slowly lost his look of surprise to replace it with a good-natured grin. They both took to the air for their version of play- training. While Rainbow liked to play, she was also very serious about her ariel stunts. And with Tank, she always kept him in the loop of her latest move, even teaching them to him. He could only do a few, since he couldn't quite maneuver like she could. That never stopped him from trying, though.

"Alright!" she shouted, saluting to him. "Today, the brave and awesomely amazing Rainbow Dash is going to give you a show unlike any other she has done before!" She glanced at him and leaned forward, whispering where his ear would be, "That is, if you don't mind."

She looked back, and his instant smile told her the answer. Of course he didn't care- getting a front-row-seat watching the amazing Rainbow Dash as she performed just for him? Who would disagree?

There was a tiny flicker in his chest as he watched her twist and twirl, a move he had never seen before. It was slow and graceful, a dance, almost. Her body moved with the wind, calm and controlled. It was a major change from her usual wild and flamboyant stunts. Her mane flowed gracefully as she twirled in mid-air. She broke her spin and lazily flapped higher, flipping backwards and dragging her hoof along a cloud. She produced a small ball of cotton. She shifted it as she approached him. She produced a heart, which she blew in his face like she was blowing him a kiss. It dissipated as it touched his nose. His jaw dropped.

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Did you like it?"

Tank blinked and collected himself, nodding. There was another flicker in his chest, but he pushed it away.

"You know, I came up with that," she boasted.

He blinked again. He expected it to be choreographed by Fluttershy, or maybe Rarity, but Rainbow herself?

"I made it up 'cause I just felt really inspired to dedicate a move to my favorite pet," she winked. "I wanted it to be really relaxing and what-not 'cause you're really relaxing and calm, y'know?"

Tank felt the flicker in his chest and ducked his head in embarrassment. She made a move? For him?

She hugged his shell, careful of the propellers that kept him afloat. "Aw, don't go gettin' shy on me."

He nuzzled her cheek lovingly, wishing more than ever to be able to talk to her to express his gratitude. They soared up to a cloud and mutually agreed to cuddle up and take a nap. With a yawn, Rainbow nuzzled her head under his chin, draping a wing across his shell as though to shelter him- even though he didn't need it, it was still a considerate thought. He snoozed lightly, stuck between consciousness and being asleep. His mind wondered to his owner, one of his only friends and by far his closest. Even though they had no way to verbally communicate together, they both felt like they knew everything about each other.

Tank mulled over the past stories Rainbow had told him just to clear her mind. She had told him of how her parents had pulled her out of school when they found out she liked both mares and stallions. She lost contact with her marefriend, and had ended up breaking up with her after a huge fight together one night when Rainbow sneaked out. She ran away from home not long after that since her parents were even more strict than they previously were, which he understood to be alot. But despite her rough patch, she had made a living in Ponyville on the weather team at the age of sixteen. She studied weather so she wouldn't get fired since the manager had been wary of giving the young mare a job. She quickly excelled in ranks and skills and managed to clear the weather in less than a minute. The manager had promoted her as highly as he could, and when he retired, she had stepped into his place. She was in charge of the weather- so long as she got it cleared by Canterlot officials, of course.

Her pay increased and she had moved out of her cardboard box behind Sugarcube Corner and had bought the best house she could. Ever since, she had never wasted any money, knowing the value of a dollar better than other ponies thought.

Tank sighed, listening to Rainbow's gentle breathing as she napped on the cloud beneath them. He wished she knew of his past. It wasn't anything special; it would just be nice for him if she knew more about him. If only they could talk with each other, just for a day.

Rainbow had been very nostaglic lately, and even suffering from insomnia. Her sleeping patterns had been out of line for the past week, and every time she was alone- or thought she was- she was sad. He wished he could ask her what was wrong or offer words of comfort. But he did what he could, whether it be her teddy bear to clutch when she needed help falling asleep or nuzzling away her tears- which she refused to acknowledge- that runned down her face.

"Hey, Rainbow! I thought we were supposed to be playing, not napping!"

Both pet and owner opened their eyes and looked over the edge. Everypony was looking at them, amusement in their eyes. Rainbow grumbled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, we all have our own definition of 'fun'. Mine just happens to be napping."

Bull. He knew she needed the sleep because she hadn't slept in two days. But, once again, he was forced to keep quiet.

"Well, come down here!" Rarity shouted. "My Opal wants to play with the others, and I assume Tank would want the same, hm?"

No. He'd much rather be Rainbow's teddy bear.

Rainbow stuck her tongue at them, but smiled and said, "Alright, fine!" She turned to him, revealing the subtle bags under her eyes. "C'mon, Tank. Go show those pets who's the boss around here!"

Tank begrudgingly agreed and lifted off of the cloud- just before he remembered his propellers were off and he went crashing down to earth.

He was caught, though. He didn't fear for his life for one second. He had Rainbow to catch him, and even if for some reason she was delayed, his shell would always be an extra precaution so at least he wouldn't get hurt.

Rainbow let out a sigh of relief as she hovered in the air, squeezing him in a hug. "Silly Tank. Always trying to make my heart race," she joked, but only his trained hearing caught when her voice hitched with worry. His contraption was turned on and he floated lazily to the ground. The mares went off on their own, leaving him with a whimpering Winona nudging him.

"Ya' had us worried, Tank. We thought you was gonna crash and split open and be all turtle soup-y!" she whined.

Tank smiled. "You know my shell is strong enought to withstand a little fall like that," he joked.

"Nice going," Angel sneered. "That was really dumb, you know that?"

Opal looked horrified. "Oh, the mess it would have made! Imagine the poor fellow who would have to clean it up!"

Owlowicious rolled his dark eyes. "So you were more worried about the mess than his safety?"

"You know they were joking," the voice of Gummy spoke up, timid and distant as ever.

"Of course," the tortoise agreed, being the mediator of the group. "Now, why don't we all calm down and go for a walk?"

Everyone agreed, so they trekked along the grass in no specific direction. Tank made a note of where they were headed, since no one usually did and almost always ended up getting lost and unable to make it back to their owners. They were soon in a heated debate about who the best vet in town was- Owlowicious, Tank, Winona, and Angel being with Fluttershy and Gummy and Opal (more of Opal) being with another local vet. They approached the edge of the park when they decided to head back by the guidance of Tank.

"... and Fluttershy is SO much nicer than that uptight ole' stallion that pokes the most random pla- hey, those flowers 'r pretty!"

Everyone looked to where Winona had pointed out and found a very small patch of blue flowers. They all approached them, Winona being the most excited and Owlowicious being the most cautious. "I don't know, guys... I've never seen this kind of flower before, and I've read many books in the library about-"

"Aw, c'mon!" Winona barked happily, tail wagging as she pranced through the flowers. "Somethin' this pretty can't be bad!"

"Yes, lighten up," Opal chided, strangely in a good mood. She sniffed one in a deep breath. "They smell wonderful!"

Angel felt one in his paws, rubbing the petals with his padded paws. "You gotta admit, they feel really soft."

Tank flew through the batch, dragging along some petals as the wind picked them up. One fell on Gummy's nose, prompting him to sneeze.

"See, Owlowicious? Other than Gummy, everyone else is enjoying them," Opal purred.

Winona laughed and giggled as she and Tank raced through a tiny patch, the latter letting the former win. Tank sighed happily, floating by where Owlowicious had flown up next to him. The propellers and his wings caused petals to flutter around them, several landing on them. "See? There's nothing wrong with them."

Owlowicious frowned. "I suppose."

"Hey! Hey, I got an idea!" Winona jumped. "Let's head back!"

Tank and Owlowicious both tilted their heads at the odd request, but decided against pointing it out. "Alright," the owl said. "I guess it would be wise if we chose to head back now."

Winona burst out laughing, receiving weird looks from all of the animals there. "Get it?" she cried. "Cause he's an owl? WISE!" She continued to giggled uncontrollably. Owlowicious rolled his eyes, grabbing her with his talons and taking off in the direction of where Tank had been going first. The others followed, eager to re-unite with their true best friends.

The trip back seemed to take more time-consuming than the previous one, but Tank wasn't bothered by it. He wanted to get home and cuddle back up with Rainbow and just sleep for the rest of the afternoon. They climbed a hill and on the other side hovered his owner, Rainbow Dash. He zipped over to her and accepted her hug, surprised but not ungrateful for the extra attention she seemed to be giving him. "Heya, boy! Have you had fun today?"

He smiled his answer.

"Perfect!" she shouted, but exhaustion was creeping into her voice. "How would you like to just sleep the rest of the day away?"

He nodded in his slow way.

"Awesome! I'm really tired. Well, let's get going!"

As he rode off with Rainbow, he heard the excited bark of Winona as she shouted, "Bye-bye, Tanky! Have a good day!"

When they got to their house, Rainbow all but stumbled to her room and collapsed onto her cloud bed. Tank nuzzled up beside her and they continued what they were doing earlier at the park. Just as he was dozing off, he heard Rainbow mumble, "Why do I always sleep my best when you sleep by me?"

Tank smiled, because he didn't know.