When Twilight makes a bet with Rainbow Dash to ride a dragon into Canterlot Central Station, Rainbow becomes determined to do so. Of course, if it wasn't because of the reward, she might've never even considered attempting such a dangerous trial.
The cerulean pegasus approached the cave entrance with caution and wiped away the sweat that slid down her forehead. She adjusted her saddlebag and sniffed the fresh, moist air as rigid rocks clanked to her steps. She’d flown and climbed the challenging terrain for far too long merely to reach the penultimate top. After all that, she’d finally made it. Rainbow had arrived at the throat of the world where the legendary horror she’d heard of slept with little knowledge of somepony at its very doorstep. It all came to this, everything that lead to her possibly acquiring her only current desire was right in front of her, in the bowels of the mountaintop cavern. Right under her hooves, scorch marks circled around the clearing. A few steps more, and she would be directly above where so many had been burned alive. Following the brown rubble was smooth and pitch black gravel that once matched the dirt colors she walked upon.
Looking up into the silhouette shrouds of haunting darkness, her heart could be heard pumping against her chest. If she proceeded, Celestia knows what the outcome could possibly be. For all she knew, her main objective could gulp her in one go before anything exciting even happened, or worse. She could trot a few inches forward and be barbequed by the dragon’s treacherous firebreath. Just like that, the mare would be cooked and ready for the fiend’s immediate dinner. Thoughts of her friends and how devastated they would be if she didn’t make it back clouded her original thoughts, but one vigorous fact stopped her from turning around and abandoning the mission entirely. That was the remembrance of why she was there in the first place. Rainbow Dash hadn’t only come for the dragon. She took initiative to meet with it for a completely different, though somewhat absurd reason. Nevertheless, she had come all this way, and she wasn’t about to allow all that effort go to waste because of fear. Rainbow glanced back up and saw Fearsome amber eyes staring at her, and before she could even gasp at the beasts surprising stare, a strong claw swatter her body clean off the cliff.
The dazing impact forced a deafening ring to her ears. She began to spiral uncontrollably through the whistling winds. It seemed nearly impossible to stop herself from becoming sick. The strike was so devastating, it made her head feel like it was stuck inside a vase. The chill of icy cold mist crashing against her coat from the mountain clouds only helped Rainbow feel more conscious of the actual danger she was truly in. Never before had she faced such a demonic monster, not like this. Only once had she stared into the hellish eyes of a dragon, but that was under different circumstances. This time, it was all about riding one, not working on different ways of getting it out of its home. It was do or die-- Catch or be killed, and Rainbow assured herself it wouldn’t be the latter.
Upon gaining a glance at the menace jumping over the jagged edge and speeding down towards her, she snapped out of the swirls that somewhat blinded her eyesight and spread her wings to catch a potent gust of wind. Once Rainbow stabilized, she was able to get a better look at the dragon. Red scales coated its body. Razor sharp spikes aligned its back, orange in color, and its claws were definitely stained with blood, no doubt from the many victims it had taken over its years.
The dragon soared directly next to her, so close that its wing came within an inch of her mane and almost brought the mare rushing back into an uncontrollable free fall that would’ve surely lead to her premature death. With the dragon headed for the jagged boulders below, Rainbow took a deep breath and kicked the wall behind her. An intense burst of staggering speed was all she needed to get back into the hunt. Feeling powerful and stinging winds slap her face only made the sensation that much more enthralling. Nothing amounted to the rush of chasing something so large and threatening.
The thing then folded its wings and made a breathtaking dive, headed right for the solid grounds as if that kind of fatality would be pleasurable. “Oh no you don’t,” she chanted. The mare copied the dragon’s actions causing the spectrum lines behind her to distort and form ecstatic zigzags from the sheer velocity. Suddenly, her main focus ripped the air apart with its wings reopening to grab a hefty chunk of air. As she banked right and away from the cliffs, Rainbow saw the menace look back at her. Its mouth gaped open to release a horrendous flare of black and purple fire. Dodging the inferno, Rainbow panted from the heat it produced. The dragon’s neck turn back around along with its frame slowing a bit.
“He must think that hit me,” Rainbow confidently said with a smug smile. Rainbow came up to its wing and biting her lip. At that time, adrenaline freely coursed through her veins like never before. To be so close to something so big was unreal to her, almost like a dream. Amazed she could barely keep up with her target despite its wings stirring up the air, Rainbow smirked and had to press her head down. Tears formed in her eyes and had to be rubbed away before escaping. Soon, she found the strength to roll completely over and glide right above it. Soaring above the dragon’s back, Rainbow yanked out the long leather rope from the sack that Fluttershy gave her with her teeth, but just as she pulled it loose, the dragon slapped her side with its wing and her saddlebag was knocked clean off her back. All she could do was stay focused on the dragon. While she kept a steady hold of what she actually needed, her eyes looked at the dragon’s neck. If she couldn’t find the tiny crease where its pressure points would be located, the whole whole purpose of this insane situation would be for nothing.
With the rope in her mouth and the dragon still directly beneath her, Rainbow Dash brought herself lower and wrapped the right end of the rope around and locked onto the dragon’s left fang. “One down, one to go,” she said. The being widened its eyes with realization and whipped to the left, making Rainbow shriek. The dragon pivoted its head madly, and though the rope was almost snatched clean from her mouth due to the strain placed upon it, Rainbow was able to maintain the situation. Finally, she caught her chance after the monster forced its head to the left again. She planted her hooves right next to the other outer fang, beat her wings to keep elevated and slip the hole through the sharpness securely. Rainbow returned to the neck and bit the middle end of the rope and then prepared herself for the dive that was sure to come. Her hooves curled around the lace while her teeth rearranged the rope inside her mouth, and just before the action she readied herself for happened, her mind trailed off to the moment which started all this madness; the single, foolhardy bet she made with Twilight.
Inside Twilight’s room in Canterlot, Rainbow and her friend resumed their talk. Twilight was seeing hardly any sign of getting through to the thick headed pegasus. “Look Rainbow Dash, I know you think it’s easy to do whatever you want, and really, anything you want, but there’s no way you’ll be able to pull this off. Ride a dragon? Look, everypony has their limits. I’m sorry, but that includes you.”
For the past several hours, the two had been debating whether it was possible for a pony to catch and actually ride a dragon. Of course, this was spawned upon by Rainbow reading an entry of Daring Do. The tale told of the adventurer trying to do just what they were bickering over. Though Daring came close to succession, she unfortunately failed. However, this sparked some thoughts within Rainbow’s mind, which lead her to ask Twilight if it was possible. They chatted for a bit, and finally, it came to Twilight showing she had little faith in Rainbow’s abilities. “How can you be against me on this?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight sighed and said, “Think about it. Why would I encourage you to basically put your life on the line?”
“Because you know I won’t die.”
Twilight stared at Rainbow, then glanced to the bed with uncertainty clearly visible in her eyes. “Why would you want to try this in the first place? Because it’s never been done before?”
Not answering her question, but instead changing the subject, the pegasus asked, “Why not have a friendly wager? You’re so unbelieving of me, I bet I can deliver a dragon to Canterlot Central Station just outside by riding it over. If I win...” She leaned in and whispered into Twilight’s ear quietly. The second the alicorn realized what sort of scheme Rainbow was actually up to, she gasped and brought her hoof up to hide her blushing cheeks. Rainbow resumed, “And you have to do it in front of everypony there, even if the princesses are watching!”
“R-Rainbow... I don’t know if I can do that...”
“Aww, c’mon Twi... I know what it is. You’re just too scared because you know I’ll win this easy.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight looked out the window to see all the smiling ponies down below. After a moment of thought, she nodded her head. “Alright, it’s a bet...”
All Rainbow could give was a satisfied, though cocky grin. She trotted to the princess and wrapped her hoof around her neck to ask, “And even though this isn’t going to happen, what do you want if I fail?”
Twilight looked into her friend’s eyes for a moment, then said, “If it’s not too much trouble, your promise to never try this again.” Her gaze lowered to the grassy plains down below. “I hate it when you go doing these things... You know how much you make me worry sometimes, Rainbow?”
Tugging her tightly, the cerulean mare smiled. “It’s a deal.”
Soon after that, Rainbow returned to Ponyville on a train, then went straight to Fluttershy’s house. If there was anypony who knew just how to deal with dragons, she was her best hope. After all, while Twilight was in Canterlot, Fluttershy was all too willing to babysit Spike. The dragon, though being just what Rainbow wanted to briefly study probably didn’t know much about his own kind. The mare arrived at Fluttershy’s house during the afternoon, just as the sun started to sink into the distance. The butter-yellow mare sat in the grass, right in front of a stump that acted as a table for her drawing board. A pretty little blue jay rested on a bush branch with its talons digging into the wood. It kept perfectly still for Fluttershy, and she was nearly done drawing its image with excellence. All that was left was the beak. Then Rainbow landed right next to Fluttershy, scaring her friend away and ruining the piece of art Fluttershy had spent all day drawing. Huffing at the unfortunate timing, Fluttershy lowered her head and muttered with the pencil still in her mouth, “I was so close to finishing this...”
“Uh, what’s up?” Rainbow asked. “I didn’t interrupt anything too important did I?” She glanced to the picture only to get a guilty feeling in her stomach. “Oh...”
Fluttershy put the writing utensil down and stood to say, “It’s alright. You didn’t mean to, and besides, she’ll be back... Was there something you needed, Rainbow Dash?”
The mare looked around before stating, “I kinda was wondering if you knew anything about... how I could ride a dragon...” Fluttershy blinked with a blank expression while Rainbow attempted to explain further in detail on why exactly she wished to gain such knowledge. “You see, me and Twilight had a bet. If I win, well... I’ll leave the details out for now... All I need is to ride a dragon into Canterlot, but I haven’t the slightest idea how I’m supposed to pull that off.”
Sighing and turning towards her house, Fluttershy instructed Rainbow to follow her. As they entered, Fluttershy explained, “I’ve only read about this possibly being true. Dragons are said to have extremely delicate pressure points in their necks where you might be able to stick your hooves, and disable them from fighting. After you do this, the book said it’s very likely they’ll bend to your command and even become surprisingly loyal towards you, assuming you don’t abuse them.” She looked under the couch and in the basket for Spike, but he wasn’t found. “Spike? Are you in here?” She returned her sights to Rainbow. “I guess he must be at Rarity’s...”
“No, here I am,” he said from around the stares. “Sorry, I was dusting your room. Hope I did a good job.”
Fluttershy blushed at his kindness. “I only asked you to tidy up down here.”
Spike said, “I like to go that extra mile.”
“Ahem.” Rainbow looked at the two with growing anticipation and asked, “Those pressure points, Flutters?”
Her friend looked at Spike with worry before asking him, “Please turn around and stay perfectly still...” As he did so, he looked at Rainbow wondering what they planned to do with him. Fluttershy rose her hooves up to rest them upon his shoulders, then she moved slightly towards his back. Once she stopped and held herself in what appeared to be the correct place, she told the dragon, “Now, Spike, this is going to hurt. Just bear with it for now. I promise, tonight, I’ll treat you to crystal ice cream for being such a well behaved helper.”
She nudged the summits of her hooves through his thick scales making Spike’s vision blur for some reason. His mouth dropped and numbness overtook his legs. Searing pain shot through his body, not just from his neck, but through his very claw tips as well. Soon, he couldn’t take it much more and pleaded, “S-stop it! This hurts way too much!”
All Fluttershy could do was continue applying pressure while saying, “I’m sorry, just keep yourself together and kneel down.”
Spike immediately did as he was told, and collapsed to the hard wood. With her releasing him from the terribly uncomfortable grip she had, Spike muttered with a shaky voice, “I c-can’t move... I can’t stand. What’d you do to me?”
Right away, the caring mare hugged him while apologizing many times. “I just had to show Rainbow exactly where she needed to place herself.”
“What? I don’t understand...” Spike laid down on the floor with a small tear escaping. He looked over to Rainbow and asked, “What’re you p-planning on doing?”
Clearing her throat, she explained, “I’m gonna try and ride a dragon...”
Fluttershy stood after pecking Spike’s worried head and said, “You saw where I grabbed him, right?” She put Spike in his bed and continued, “Not too close to the head, but not on the lower neck either. Right in between...” She turned and headed towards a saddlebag that laid on the table. Lifting it and sitting the thing up right, she started filling it with traveling supplies and food. The last thing she added was an extremely long and leather rope with two loops tied at both ends. She pulled out a piece of paper from a drawer and laid it out. It was a drawing of a dragon skull. To Rainbow’s surprise, way in the back if its toothy gums were a pair of extra fangs. She would’ve never guessed those to be there without Fluttershy’s assistance. “These,” she said while pointing them out. “These are your targets. Rumor has it that the only way to catch a dragon is by wrapping a very durable thread around those two fangs. After that, you need to prepare yourself. This actually has been attempted before. Unfortunately...”
Fluttershy trailed off and trotted back to the drawer while her friend asked, “What happened? Tell me.”
She dug up an old, tattered book and sat it along side the picture. The title read, “The Theory of Dragon Riding, by the Late Dark Sight.” Rainbow’s jaw dropped, and Fluttershy admitted, “He died during practice... Shortly after, his colleagues gathered his findings and published them into one book. According to their comments, he came pretty close to achieving his goal. The biggest flaws, though, was him being a unicorn, the type of rope he decided to use, and the knowledge he needed. It snapped in two, and he was sent plummeting to his death because of an unpredictable occurrence. Once a dragon knows it’s been leashed, it apparently takes a final dive...”
All Rainbow could muster was, “Crud...”
Fluttershy gulped and said, “I know where a dragon is... You’ve heard of the one towards the south entrance of the Everfree Forest, just beyond the lake, right?”
“...Yeah,” Rainbow nervously said. Her gaze was almost unbreakable from the book.
“It’s said that this dragon can be found high in the mountains, and is the only one that’s within flying distance, but just barely... Rainbow?” The mare tilted her head and perked her ear up to listen. “I think you can do it... Just...”
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy and nervously asked, “Hmm?”
The yellow pegasus offered a worried smile and said, “Just promise me you’ll come back in one piece, alright?”
Rainbow smirked, grabbed the saddleback and tightened it around the lower spacing of her wings before boasting, “No worries. That dragon’s as good as mine!” As she flew off over the Everfree Forest, she reminded herself of how she was to capture the dragon. All she and Fluttershy could do at that point, though, was to hope.
As her memory ended, and the dragon below growled ferociously, Rainbow nodded her head. “Let’s do this.” Immediately, though expectedly, the monster hurled its entire body down and began to take Rainbow for the fastest ride of her life. Tornado-speed winds lashed her cheeks and made the leather scar her hooves. She couldn’t bring her body down to its neck, for the pull of the dragon’s frame prevented her from hardly even thinking about doing so. All She could do was hold on tightly and pray the strap wouldn’t cut.
It straightened itself out just before crashing directly into the waters below. Gliding with impeccable speeds over the Everfree Lake, Rainbow and the dragon tussled with each other for quite a distance. Rainbow sensed her challenger twist its body in a circle, so she did her best to followed the patterns. The pegasus forced her wings to flap harder than ever before. Just then, she looked down to see her reflection in the water, and sensed not only her mane slapping the liquids below, but her tail as well. Finally, right when the ripples were an inch away from her muzzle, the beast began to return to its regular flying style. Rainbow groaned through her teeth as they roared through the sky. Pulling back on the ropes to bring her thoroughly burnt out nemesis up to the clouds, she elevated it to ensure she could hit pitch perfect on its neck. With her hooves forming the shape of a sharp pen tip, and her eyes locked dead onto what she was certain to be its pressure point, Rainbow slashed right into the very bone and heard the creature shriek in paralyzing agony. “Yeah, you like that? Huh?!” Rainbow taunted. “You like being beat by a girl?!”
With a grip of the dragon’s neck and its fangs sustaining the rope, Rainbow was then literally wrestling with the horror in midair. He bucked back and forth, almost knocking its rider off, but Rainbow wasn’t letting go. She recalled the book, how its author died like this and told herself that wouldn’t be her. She drilled in and almost punctured the scales of her enemy. Soon, they flew far enough away from the shores to rest upon solid ground. The dragon flailed its heavy body from side to side and almost rolling completely over, but Rainbow made she it didn’t get that chance. She yanked the rope to the right just before it was able to squish her, and finally, after much fighting with the abomination, it gave in. Collapsing its head down on the dirt and grunting a bit from the stinging sensation that ravaged its body, the thing looked over at Rainbow, almost giving her these eyes that told her she’d bested it in sheer flight combat. Loosening her stance on the dragon’s pressure points, she beamed at its gaze. “I... did it... I won! Heha!”
She hopped down and tied the rope to some trees while looking her new pet over. “You’re not humiliated, are you boy?” Giving an offended growl at that last word and showing Rainbow a displeased stare, the beast let her know it wasn’t male. “Whoa... You’re a chick?” Rainbow asked. “Cool! I thought you were a guy... Sorry about what I said earlier then. My bad.” She shifted her head over and closed her eyes. “Hey, hey, don’t worry. I only need one small thing from you. Do you think you could help me?” The dragon looked back, waited a moment, then nodded slightly while offering an unsure expression. “Look, I made this bet with one of the princess, that if I ride you into Canterlot Central Station, I’ll win. After that, you’re free to go! I promise, you won’t be hurt or captured.”
The dragon’s eyes widened at the reason Rainbow had given her such a rough experience. After some blinks and a chortle of smoke was exhaled, the dragon ndded once more and lowered its head for her temporary owner. Rainbow hopped on and grabbed the rope with her hooves, but just before taking off, she warned the dragon, “Try any funny business like burning down the castle, and you’ll never be flying again.”
The dragon boomed her voice and spread her wings, telling Rainbow she had her word. As rainbow experienced the divine feeling of sailing on a dragon again, this time in complete control, she relished at how amazing it truly was. For the first time ever, Rainbow was sailing with the guidance of a dragon. It almost felt like her second choice destiny. With calm winds whirling her mane in a majestic fashion, Rainbow stared out at the nearly setting sun. Upon reaching Canterlot, the day’s end would make for an excellent setting. Not only that, but right at those hours, she and Twilight would get a gloriously large audience.
Meanwhile, Twilight brushed her mane and looked out the balcony to see hundreds of familiar faces returning home. She wondered how Rainbow was doing, and was even tempted to use a locating spell to see where that pegasus was. Despite her worries, she tried her best to keep absolute faith in her friend. Just before turning around and head for the Grand Hall to dine with her fellow alicorns, she heard something. Once one hears the shout of a dragon, it’s hard to forget it.
Slowly and timidly, she turned her head around to look back outside. Just passed the misty peaks of the distant mountains, she saw the beast that made its way towards the city. There was no doubt about it. Either Rainbow Dash succeeded, or a dragon coming to attack then of all times was the most absurd coincidence of her life.
Instantly, the alarms were sounded, and every unicorn guard in all of Canterlot was summoned to bring up the magical shields. Pegasi scattered at the edges of the walls with spears adjusted on their shoulders. Earth Ponies prepared the catapults with flaming balls of intense fires. All of this was done in little more than an hour. Just as the flying fiend reached the force field, Twilight looked up to see the shadow of a spectrum mane, and rope wrapped tightly around the edges of the dragon’s mouth. Twilight commanded the unicorns to drop the shield and allow the two entrance. Right when the guards did as they were told, Rainbow guided her pet down and landed before everypony, right in Canterlot Central Station. She smugly hopped off while confidently saying, “It’s alright citizens, just me and my friend here.”
Twilight jogged up to her. “What in the world do you think you’re doing Rainbow?!” Twilight looked at the two with anger in her eyes. “I know we had a deal, but seriously; I can’t even fathom how you were able to carry out this ludicrous stunt.”
Rainbow laughed at her friend, then looked her in the eyes. “You have a bet to own up to...” Twilight backed away and peered around. All the citizens of Canterlot were watching, now curious about what Rainbow were talking about. “Attention everypony,” Rainbow hollered. “Twilight and I had an agreement. I was to ride... Yes, that’s right, you heard me. I was to literally ride a dragon into Canterlot Central Station to win this little deal we’ve got going. I’ve done my part, as you can plainly see.” She gestured to the bowing beast and continued, “Now, Twilight has to keep her part of the arrangement!”
Twilight gulped sheepishly and begged her friend, “Rainbow... Please don’t do this to me.” She looked up at the high towers and finished, “The princesses are watching... Even Shining Armor is there, and Cadence...”
“Oh, what’s that?” Rainbow refused to let Twilight escape this situation she stuck her in. “You’re not going to remain loyal to our deal...?”
Twilight bit her quivering lip, and approached. “Alright,” she whispered. “Let’s just get this over with, then...”
Rainbow chuckled, “You think it’s just gonna be a quick five second thing? No Twilight. It’s gotta be good, and you’ve gotta mean it. I didn’t go through all this for nothing you know.”
Twilight sunk her brow and nodded. “Fine... I’ll make it count.”
She looked back up while clearing her throat. Passionately, their lips began to lock. Nudging each other’s noses a bit, the two began to make out in front of the whole city. Princess Celestia and Luna up above both stood dumbfounded and open mouthed while Twilight’s brother and his wife just watched with bulging eyes. Discord showed up right on time from behind the two princesses and asked, “What’s going on?” As he looked down to see the two kissing, he chuckled a bit before shattering the silence that fell upon the town with his bellows of laughter. After a moment, his voice died down from him leaving into the castle once again, still enjoying the image that remained fresh in his head.
Rainbow curled her hoof around Twilight’s neck and deepened the pecks which soon turned into full tongue swaps. Twilight, who at first didn’t wish to proceed found it much more enjoyable with closed eyes. Feeling Rainbow’s personal taste was more fun than she originally thought it’d be, and likewise for the pegasus. Twilight couldn’t help but to pant a little in between gasps of air, and even started to moan from the pleasurable feeling. Her friend just kept giggling at how she was able to catch Twilight in such a predicament. The alicorn felt Rainbow’s tongue begin to exit, so to Rainbow’s surprise, Twilight sucked on it a bit, almost not wanting her to exit. With a serine pop, Rainbow ended their kiss. Twilight found it impossible to frown, so instead, she cheekily grinned. “That was... more amazing than I thought,” Twilight confessed.
“I know, right? I’ve never done something like that... I just, you know... always wondered.” Rainbow peered around at the ponies that surrounded them. Every single individual was either looking the other direction, or had their mouths wide open. As for the dragon, she sealed her sights with a wing. “Uh, I’d better go,” Rainbow mumbled. “You’ve got some explaining to do, too.”
Twilight heard Princess Celestia and her sister land right behind her, but didn’t even dare to turn and face them. As for Rainbow, she hopped onto her dragon friend and started to take off, but before leaving Twilight with the issues she’d justly caused, Rainbow chanted to her friend, “Next time, Twilight, it won’t be a mere kiss!”
The alicorns watched the very first dragon rider sail off into the sunset that Celestia herself made. Twilight took a deep breath and turned towards the two with a worried look. All Princess Celestia could do at the time was lead the aroused mare into the castle. Even she found it utterly embarrassing to be in front of her subjects, let alone thinking of making Twilight explain herself in front of all her friend. In time, the two princesses, Shining Armor, Cadence and even Discord would learn of the story behind all this. They would even come to understand why Princess Twilight agreed to such a deal in the first place; because in truth, she knew Rainbow Dash would succeed so long as she had such a powerful driving force.
