• Published 18th Dec 2012
  • 16,068 Views, 1,469 Comments

My Little Dragon - Metal Pony Fan



Many years ago, shortly before the birth of one Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, ruler of Equestria, found a small item in a forest. That item? An egg. Around the same time, Celestia, ruler of Draconica found something small in a forest. A pony.

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Over the Hills and Far Away

It was early afternoon when Dragonspire came into view. Applejack had once again taken on the role of taxi service for the smaller dragons in the group, but this time, did not stop running until she was on the hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres.

"Whoo!" More than a little winded, she looked down at the expanse of towering old apple trees and smiled. "Told ya we'd make it 'fore supper." She started down the hill at a slower pace, keeping an eye out for specks of color between the trees. "Rainbow shoulda made it out here an hour ago, so-"

"There they are!" Twilight shouted. She was perched on Spike's head, since it provided a slightly better height than Rarity's, and pointing at something in the distance. "That's them!"

"That's who?" Spike wondered. He looked in the direction his passenger was pointing. There was a red shape among the trees, not too far away, near a comfortably dragon-sized farmhouse. The shape moved slowly and steadily towards a storage building while three smaller, and faster, shapes swarmed around it.

"Why's he goin' ta the barn?" Applejack started down the hill. "He's s'posed ta come meet us."

"Who is?"

"Mah brother." Applejack sped up to a dead run down the hill, thundering steps threatening to bounce her passengers right off. "Y'all'll meet him in minute."

"Woohoo!" Twilight grabbed onto Spike's mane like vilebull rider in a rodeo.

"If we make it in one piece," Spike muttered. He grabbed Twilight before she could lose her grip on his mane, and braced himself low against Applejack's back, kind of like how he would if he was on Grumble's back during a rough flight.

Rarity grabbed onto him before mimicking his stance. She had a smirk on her face. "I'm rather used to traveling in this manner. So, how does this measure up to flight?"

"Pretty close, actually." Spike shrugged as best he could while still holding on. "Grumble's a bit rougher, so he's easier to hold onto, but there's-"

Applejack planted her claws at the bottom of the hill, kicking up dirt and grass, and launching Spike forward. Rarity grabbed at Twilight with a cry of surprise, but she flew beyond reach with the pony projectile she was latched onto.

Before he could hit the ground, Spike was struck by lightning. At least, that's what it looked like. The flash, the crack of thunder...

Spike hit the ground with a dull, and Rainbow landed lightly beside him, dancing back and forth as electricity crackled over her body. In her mouth, held as delicately as eggshells, was the purple hatchling in a purple bubble.

The bubble was set down next to Spike as the pony groaned. "Sorry," Rainbow said with a shrug, "I was tryin' for both of you, but you just had to go and move."

Fluttershy jumped off of Applejack, grabbing Rarity and bringing her along as she landed softly near the center of the commotion. "Rainbow, what happened?" she asked, concerned.

Spike rolled over, getting his hooves under him. "Nothing, I'm fine." With a grunt, he stood up and started rolling each joint, checking for damage. "Next time, I want a warning."

"Nothing, my tail scales!" Rainbow pointed at hamsterball twilight, who was having way too much fun. "I sure as Talos didn't do that!"

Twilight rolled over to the group, merrily giggling the whole way. "Spike, this is so cool! You have to teach me this spell. Look, mom, I'm rolling around like Pinkie does."

"You sure are," Rarity replied with a smile. She walked over to her young charge as , much to the hatchling's dismay, her protective bubble started to fade, blowing away in layers like sand in an evening breeze. "Maybe you can convince spike to let you play in the bubble some more after we get home, hmm?"

Pleading purple eyes looked up. "But we just got here," came the puppy-like whine. "We can't just go home without dinner, we never visit the farm without staying for dinner. And all my friends are here, and Sweetie Belle was going to bring me a souvenir."

Rarity sighed and rested a claw on the hatchling's head. "That's right, we don't, and I wish to see my little sister as well, but..." The dragoness glanced back at a certain member of the group who was dusting himself off. There were things she needed to do, and dragons she needed to talk to. "I have something to take care of, so I want you to stay with Spike, ok? Do what he tells you, and don't give him a hard time."

"You got it, mom!" After a quick hug, Twilight ran over to Spike. "Do that again, I want to show the crusaders my new bubble-shield!"

"Uh-" Spike looked to Rarity for approval.

"With a smile, the dragoness nodded. Deeper thoughts racing through her mind, thoughts of trust, time, and possibilities."

"Pinkie!" Rarity shouted at the disembodied voice, blushing slightly.

The pink dragon fell out of a nearby tree, bouncing like a superball. "It's accurate though, right?" She giggled. "Seriously, it took you like, three months before you let me babysit Twilight. Letting Spike do it, even though all your friends are here, tells every dragon something really powerful, like, almost as powerful as that hot sauce I made for Cave's warming last year. Remember, the time that Rainbow dash almost-"

"Pinkie!" It was Rainbow who scolded the party dragon this time. "You promised not to bring that up!"

"She is right, ya know." Applejack looked down at Rarity with a shrug. "Ah know it would have ta be a mighty special drake 'afore Ah trusted 'im ta watch Applebloom. Ah guess that's one point."

If roses would bloom in arctic lands, they might come close to matching the red on white coloring of Rarity's face. "Well, I, I wouldn't-" her eyes met Spike's, and she stopped herself. He looked at him a moment, and at the hatchling looking up at the older dragons in confusion. "Yes," she stated, matter of fact tone surprising even herself. "He is quite special, both to myself and Twilight, and I trust him to watch over her. That doesn't let the rest of you off the hook though, I expect you to help him while I speak with my parents." A shadow fell over the suddenly talkative dragoness. "Who were no doubt resting in the farmhouse when we started making a commotion, and are most likely standing right behind me."

"Nnope." Rarity looked back and up, and up, and up, at the dragon behind her. Standing on two legs like statue carved from crimson stone, he towered over... only the smaller members of the group. This must be the brother Applejack spoke of, Big Macintosh. It wasn't the most fitting name, he was taller than Fluttershy, but not as tall as Rainbow Dash. He was solidly built, to be sure, but wasn't really all that big. He stared passively at the small group and pointed towards the farmhouse. "They're watchin' from the window."

Every dragon leaned to look around the newcomer. Hanging out of an oversized window, two dragons waved, a drake and a dragoness. They were only a little larger than Rarity, similar in color to her, and were dressed in traditional tourist garb. Both wore hats made of straw, with brightly colored fabric bands, one wore sunglasses, and the other, a flowing sundress of tropically patterned fabric.

"Grandma! Grandpa!" Twilight waved excitedly. "You're back! Do you have my gifts?"

"Straight to the point," the drake mused, "I like it."

A smaller, closer voice let out a whine. "I'm back too, don't I get a mention?" The red dragon twisted around, revealing a trio of hatchlings latched onto his tail as if they were trying to take down an anaconda. There was a white one, a yellow one, and an orange one, but only the white one seemed interested in anything other than their improbable wrestling match. "I found the perfect souvenir too!"

"Sweetie belle!" Twilight ran to her friend, timing the swaying of the red dragon's tail so she could latch onto her friend's. "What was it like, treasure hunting near the ocean? Were there pirates?"

"No, but we had to fight off giant lobsters!" Sweetie Belle's grip slipped with Twilight's added weight, and the two fell to the ground. "The hotel was over run with them."

Twilight tilted her head to the side. "Did they taste good?"

"Head in the game, guys!" The orange hatchling cried out. "We've almost got him!"

The drake in the window chuckled as the two hatchlings started jumping for the red tail with each pass, but turned his attention to Rarity. "Is that him?" the drake shouted, pointing at Spike. "He's smaller than I expected."

The dragoness gave him a little shove. "Of course not, dear. His head's still attached. She said she was going to tear it off."

Spike choked back a snicker. Rarity had already explained her thoughts on the prophecy to him, and how they were changing, but it made sense that she might have to explain it a few others, like her parents. He waved to the two dragons. "She's tried!" he called out in jest.

The drake smirked at his companion. "See, I told you that was him."

"Our little girl is growing up." The dragoness made a show of sniffing and wiping at an eye. "Are we going to have to hand down all the things we saved from the hatchery?"

"Mom!" Rarity cried in embarrassment.

"THUD!!" A spiky brown shape fell from the same tree as Pinkie and shook itself awake. "Huh, what?" it mumbled groggily, still upside down. "I nodded off, did I miss something?"

Spike welcomed the distraction. "Flip over, Grumble."

"Ah! Grumble!" The drake from the window called. "You win, fair and square, that is definitely not a dragon."

The dragoness smacked the drake in the shoulder. "That's not nice, he may end up as our son in law, at least say, 'he is not a dragon.' Or, better yet, remember his name."

Spike shot an inquiring look at his brown friend, who shrugged it off. "They didn't believe that you weren't a dragon, so we made tiny little bet."

"Ah." Spike nodded slowly. Grumble could probably retire off the treasure he earned of those bets, he made them often enough. But it seemed in poor taste to scam Rarity's parents... Wait... Rarity's parents? Shoot! He had romantic intentions towards their daughter, he needed to make a good impression, but how?

Applejack stepped in, and whether she planned it or not, offered Spike a push. "It looks like Twi wants to spend some time playin'," she nodded to the house, "Ah'll keep an eye on her, why don't ya go say hi?"

Spike thanked her and walked up to Rarity. "Shall we?"

Rarity gulped. "Do I have a choice?"

Author's Note:

Be sure to check out the side story. That story will be updating before the next chapter of this one is posted.


Chapter Title - Over the Hills and Far Away by Gary Moore, also covered by Nightwish

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_795580&feature=iv&src_vid=o8gXzDLNWl8&v=meLi4p9uQjs]

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