> Born of Rock
>  by KidatHeart5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Big Emergency
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Mane Six and Spike were all waiting at the train station one afternoon. Pinkie Pie had received an urgent message from her sister Limestone Pie. 
Rarity asked, “I do hope you’ll clear this up in time for the annual Spring Palooza.”
Applejack asked, “Just what kind of emergency is it?”
Pinkie pulled the letter out of her bag and said, “I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s really, really, really, super-duper important.”
Applejack took the letter and read it. She could practically hear Limestone’s panicked voice blaring in her ears. The letter read:
Dear Sis,
HELLLLPPPP!!! Something’s happened on the rock farm and I need your help! I’m not going to explain in this letter in case it falls into the wrong hooves. But it’s really, really, really, super-duper important, Pinkie! I need you to come down here right now! Please!
Your big sis,
Limestone Pie
Rainbow looked over the letter and said, “Yep. I think this qualifies as an emergency, all right.”
Twilight said, “If you ever need help, Pinkie, just come to us. Okay?”
Pinkie smiled, “Yep! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Just then, the train whistle blared. The train to Rockville then pulled into the station.
Pinkie said, “Oh! There’s my ride! I’ll see you guys soon!”
When Pinkie boarded the train, the girls waved and Twilight said, “Bye, Pinkie!”
Rarity said, “Safe travels!”
Applejack said, “Say hi to your folks for me!”
To their surprise, Pinkie leaned out of the window and said, “I will! And make sure Gummy doesn’t get into any trouble.”
Fluttershy said, “I’ll keep him safe.”
Pinkie then withdrew from the window as she said, “Great!” A second later, she popped her head out again, saying, “And don’t forget to get ingredients for the delicious treats I’ll be making when I get back!”
Twilight said, “Yes, Pinkie. We’ll remember.”
Pinkie disappeared from view again until she leaned out the window again and said, “And one more thing-“
The conductor scolded, “Miss!”
Pinkie sheepishly chuckled, “Eh-heh-heh. Okay! See you guys later!”
The girls once again waved goodbye as the train pulled away from the station.





Pinkie rushed over to the rock farm as soon as she arrived in Rockville. She saw Limestone Pie, who had a look of desperation on her face, standing next to a blanket covering something large. 
The pink pony said to her sister, “Limestone, I got your message! What’s wrong?” She then turned to the blanketed mass, “Does it have anything to do with that big thing under the blanket?”
Limestone nodded, “Got it in one, Pinkie.” 
She pulled the blanket from the mass and Pinkie saw that Holder’s Boulder had a huge, glue-covered crack on it!
Pinkie gasped, “Wowee! That’s one huge crack!”
Limestone said as she went to the side of the boulder, “And that’s the least of it.”
She pushed the boulder and the halves split by the crack tore apart from each other, revealing the cavernous inside of the boulder. 
Pinkie exclaimed, “Whoa! It cracked just like an egg!”
Limestone clarified, “That’s because it was an egg.”
Pinkie’s eyes widened and she shouted in shock, “IT WAS?!”
Her sister nodded, “Yep. Remember that story about Holder Cobblestone finding the boulder? It was in an abandoned dragon’s nest. Holder knew that it might hatch, but he didn’t know for sure. When the…well, egg brought him good luck, he built the farm around it. For generations, we hoped that it was either petrified or not gonna hatch for another 200 years.”
“Wait, 200 years?”
Limestone stayed quiet for a few moments until she sighed, “We know what hatched that night. We were there. Marble, Ma, Pa, and I were all asleep when we heard a strange sound. We all looked out the door and saw that Holder’s Boulder was hatching. And then…there it was…”

> The Quest is On
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight was aghast when she cried, “A stone dragon?!”
Pinkie Pie said, “I know, right? At first I was totally *gasps dramatically*. And then I was like ‘No, seriously?!’ And then I –“
Rainbow said, “Yeah, Pinkie. We get the point.”
The Mane Six and Spike had gathered in the throne room of the Castle of Friendship. The girls and Spike were all amazed to hear what had happened on the rock farm. Nopony even knew that Holder’s Boulder was an actual egg.
Rarity put her hoof to her chest and said astonishingly, “Why, I…I never dreamed that this boulder of yours would actually hatch.”
Pinkie pointed out cheerfully, “But it did.”
Twilight asked, “Pinkie, may we see the book your sister gave you?”
Pinkie pulled out her bag and dug into it while saying, “Sure! Let’s see…It’s right…Ah! Here we go!”
Twilight used her magic to levitate the book to her and flipped through the pages until she found the section she was looking for. She read aloud, “’Stone dragons are exceptionally rare around Equestria. This is because they hide themselves really well and their eggs take about a thousand years to hatch. Just as the stones themselves last almost forever, so too do stone dragons live for a very long time, possibly millions of years.’”
Pinkie exclaimed, “Wow! They can live for that long? I hope somepony remembers to give them birthday parties.” When she realized something, she gasped, “Oh my gosh! That poor baby dragon didn’t have a birthday party! That’s so sad.”
Applejack said, “And all the more reason we need to find it.” She gave a wink to Pinkie Pie, who beamed.
Twilight asked, “Spike, you’re a dragon. How do we find someone of your kind?”
Spike rubbed his chin as he went into thought. He then said, “Well, I don’t know much about stone dragons, but if this one is anything like other dragons, it would’ve probably shed its skin when it was born.”
Twilight chuckled, “Right. I remember when you first molted. I thought you were frozen.”
Spike smiled, “Yeah. You were freaking out left and right and I was hiding under the bed until –“
Rainbow cleared her throat, “Ahem! Getting off-topic here.”
Twilight chuckled nervously, “Eh-heh-heh. Right.” She then asked the pink party pony, “Pinkie, did the dragon chick leave anything behind?”
Pinkie pulled out a blue-and-gray piece of scale and said, “Limestone said this was all the dragon left. What are you going to do with it?”
Twilight levitated the scaly piece with her magic and said, “Starlight used the cutie map to activate Star Swirl’s time-traveling spell. So maybe if we put the scale on the map, maybe it will lead us to the dragon.”
She put the scale on the center of the map and aimed her magic at both the piece and the map. Sure enough, the map levitated the scale to a place near a range of mountains.
Twilight said, “That must be it! It must be moving towards the Smokey Mountains!”
Pinkie said, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
Just before Pinkie could leave her throne, Twilight said, “Not so fast, Pinkie. We need to be prepared for an encounter with a stone dragon. It could also move from place to place, so we might miss it.”
Applejack agreed, “That’s a pretty good point. What if this thing doesn’t stay in one spot? It could take us awhile to even find it.”
Fluttershy defended, “Oh, Applejack. It’s just a baby. It’s probably scared and alone out there.”
Pinkie Pie wailed as waterfalls sprung from her eyes, “That poor baby dragon!”
Twilight said, “All right, all right. Calm down, everypony. Let’s just search for the dragon so we won’t have to worry about it anymore.”
The rest of the ponies nodded, “Agreed.”





That night, a sleepy little town was disturbed by a large creature. It just so happened that Flim and Flam were resting in their wagon. Flim heard the sounds of yelling and screaming and almost immediately woke up. He went to the window and opened its shutters. He jumped in surprise when he saw the beast roaming about town.
He called to his brother, “Flam, come here!”
Flam was too deep in his sleep to hear his brother’s call. He snored and muttered in his sleep, “But, honey, I want to sleep in some more.”
“Flam!”
This time, Flam’s eyes fluttered open a bit and he drowsily said, “Brother dear, we need our beauty sleep.”
“Flam!!”
“Just wait until morning to practice advertising.”
“Flam, look out the window!”
This startled Flam and he fell out of his hammock with a start. He rose from the floor, grumbling, “All right, Flim. I’ll look out the stinking…” When he looked out the window and caught sight of the beast, he cried, “Whoa! That is one jumbo-sized monster!”
The brothers then grinned wickedly at each other and said in unison, “Filled with jumbo-sized profits.” 
Just then, a light shone on the beast. It was literally made of stone. Its blue gemstone eyes widened in alarm and fright. Its rocky horns were stubby and reflected a blue shimmer. The same could be said about the scales that trailed from its head to its tail. The Flim Flam Brothers yelped when they saw the creature’s face and quickly closed the shutters.
Flim exclaimed, “Flam, did you see that?!”
Flam panted, “I did, Flim.”
“What was that creature?!”
“I’m going to look it up right now.” Flam pulled out a book from the bookshelf and skimmed through it until he found a particular section. He let out a gasp, which caused Flim to be alarmed.
“Brother, what did you find? Flam? Flam?”
A devilish smile spread across Flam’s face and he said, “Brother, we struck gold big-time.”
Flim looked over Flam’s shoulder and his eyes widened in surprise. His face soon mirrored his brother’s and then said, “Oh, indeed, brother.”
Flam remarked, “A stone dragon would be worth millions and millions of bits!”
Flim then sang, “Dragon lava…”
Flam sang, “Dragon toes…”
“A dragon tooth…”
“And a dragon nose…”
“Every little piece…”
“Every little piece…”
“We could make a million by slicing it…”
“Dicing it…”
“Brother, we could sell every little shell…”
“There's enough of it to go around…”
Both brothers then sang, “Money, money, money by the pound…”
Flim sang, “Every little piece…”
Flam sang, “Every little piece…”
“We can take a scissor and clip it up… “
“Rip it up…”
“Every little part is a work of art…”
“Think of what a dragon heart would bring…”
“Wrapped up in a ribbon and a string…”
Both brothers sang, “Dragon fingers can cure a cold…Dragon powder grows hair…With dragon stone, you'll never grow old…”
Flam sang, “Every item is covered with gold…”
Flim sang, “Every item is covered with gold…”
“Every little piece…”
“Every little piece…”
“Dragon, you're our wagon to destiny…”
“You're the key…”
“Every little shred…” 
“Moving us ahead…”
“Every dream of ours will be fulfilled…”
“What a dragon business we can build…”
Both brothers sang, “Dragon sediment keeps you thin…Dragon rock is for burns…A dragon tear will clear up your skin…”
Flam sang, “Watch the profits come rolling in…”
Both sang, “Watch the profits come rolling in…Every little piece, every little crease…”
Flim sang, “All lead us to the dragon…We'll buy it up…”
Flam sang, “Tie it up…”
“Drag it from the cave…”
“Show it that we’re brave…”
“We'll bind it up…” 
“Grind it up…”
“Lop it up…”
“Chop it up…”
“Can't you hear that jingle, jangle sound?”
“Oh, yeah!”
Both sang, “It's money, money, money by the pound! Money, money, money!”
Flam sang, “Crowns…”
Flim sang, “Sous…”
“We'll have banks…”
“Full of francs…”
“Quids…”
“Bucks…”
Both sang, “In truckloads…Cash…”
Flam sang, “Stocks…”
Flim sang, “Bonds…”
“Bigger shares…”
“Millionaires!”
“Marks…”
“Yens…”
Both brothers sang, “In tens and twenties…Cash…Dragon sediment keeps you thin…Dragon rock is for burns…A dragon tear will clear up your skin…Watch the profits come rolling in…Watch the profits come rolling in…Every little piece, every little crease…”
Flam sang, “Lead us to the dragon…We'll buy it up…”
Flim sang, “Tie it up…”
“Drag it from the cave…Show it that we're brave…”
“We'll bind it up…”
“Grind it up…”
“Lop it up…” 
“Chop it up…”
“Can't you hear that jingle, jangle sound?”
“Oh, yeah!”
Both brothers sang, “It's money, money, money by the pound!”
Flim sang, “Money, money, money by the pound…”
Flam sang, “Money, money, money by the pound…”

	

> Finding the Dragon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	When the Friendship Express dropped them off at a station near the Smokey Mountains, the Mane Six and Spike took their gear and headed towards the mountain range.
Twilight said, “Now remember, girls. We best look for clues that will lead us to the dragon’s whereabouts. It could be anything. A scale, a piece of stone, or-“
Spike pointed to the ground while impassively saying, “Or giant footprints on the ground?”
The Mane Six all looked down to see large footprints that seemed to belong to a dragon.
Twilight nervously chuckled, “Yes. That, too. Come on, girls. Let’s find that dragon.”
The Mane Six and Spike marched onward. Rainbow Dash flew quietly while acting as lookout.
Suddenly, she saw something and whispered, “I see it! Over those rocks!”
The group quietly scurried to a rock and slowly looked over it. They gasped at the sight of the stone dragon. The chick munched on small rocks and chunks of rock.
Fluttershy cooed, “Aww, it’s harmless.”
Pinkie was about to creep forward until Twilight warned, “Pinkie, don’t you dare.”
The pink pony whispered, “But I really want to-”
“No! You’ll scare it off!”
Rainbow Dash added, “Or worse, make it mad!”
Just then, the dragon chick swept its tail along the ground and created a cloud of dust. It hovered to Spike and he was beginning to sneeze.
Twilight cried in a soft voice, “Spike, no!”
Applejack and Rarity held Spike’s nose and it stopped him from sneezing. The ponies pulled back as Spike said, “Thanks, girls. I think I’m okay now. Ah-choo!”
This alarmed the dragon and its head turned in the group’s direction.
Rainbow Dash muttered, “We’re in for it now.”
But to their surprise, the chick ran off in fright.
Twilight said as the ponies gave chase, “Quick! After it!”
Fluttershy said, “Be careful with it!”
They all ran until they came to a cave. Rainbow Dash punched her hooves together and said, “We’ve got it cornered now!” But before she could go in, her tail was pulled back by Applejack. She angrily said, “Hey, what’s the big idea?”
Applejack let go of her tail and explained, “We don’t know what this varmint might do! Hay, we don’t even know how harmless it is!”
Fluttershy admonished her, “Applejack, it’s just a baby! I’m sure it won’t hurt anybody!”
Twilight said, “Both of you may be right, but we don’t know for sure. Somepony has to go in there.”
Spike raised his claw, “I’ll go. I’m the closest it has to its kind.”
The ponies all looked at each other before nodding. Twilight then said to Spike, “All right, Spike, but be careful.”
“I will, Twi.”
Even though a hint of fear began to grow within him, Spike walked into the cave. In the darkness, he could barely see the chick’s large, stony form. His heart broke a bit when he heard it whimpering. 
He walked up to it and softly said, “H-hi.” He jumped for a bit when the dragon looked at him. “Easy, easy. I’m not going to hurt you.”
When he looked at its blue gemstone eyes, he felt awed by them. They were so beautiful that he forgot to fear the chick. 
When the dragon licked Spike, he asked, “You’re not gonna eat me, are you?” The chick then nuzzled its head against Spike’s body. Spike rubbed its head and chuckled, “Aww…You’re not so bad after all. Wanna go back to the rock farm with us? There’s lots of rocks and the ponies there are nice. Whaddya say?”
The chick nodded and made a sound that was much like a “yes”.
When Spike emerged from the cave, the ponies asked, “What happened? Is it okay? Are you all right?”
Spike said, “Girls, girls, the dragon chick is fine. And I think that it’s a girl.”
The ponies were amazed to hear that. Twilight asked, “Really? How did you know?”
Spike shrugged, “I just did.”
A voice said behind them, “Well, in that case, thank you for leading us right to her.”
The ponies and Spike turned to see Flim and Flam, a most-despised duo of salesponies. 
Applejack said, “What the hay are you two doing here?”
Flam answered, “Why, we’re here to fetch our dragon, of course.”
Flim said, “She’s gonna make a lot of profits for us.”
Spike spread his arms to block the brothers and said, “Nuh-uh! There’s no way she’s going with you!”
Flim said, “Now, now. Let’s not be too hasty. Be a good gentledragon and step aside.”
“No!”
Flam said, “Well, brother. Looks like we have to do this the hard way.” 
He used his magic to lift Spike off the ground, but as soon as he did so, a spurt of lava hit the ground before the twin ponies. 
Flam lowered Spike to the ground as Flim nervously tittered, “On second thought, let’s just forget this whole business.”
Flam added as he and his brother slowly backed away, “We’ll just be on our way.”
The brothers both said as they dashed off, “See ya!”
After the ponies saw the brothers pushing their cart away in frenzy, the dragon chick emerged from the cave. The ponies’ fears were alleviated when Spike stroked his claw on her head and said, “That was awesome, Gem!”
The girls asked, “Gem?”
“I came up with that name just now. I like how pretty her eyes are.”
Rarity agreed, “Ooh…They are shiny and gorgeous, especially on Gem.” 
The ponies then surrounded Gem and bonded with her.

> Three Months Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It had been three months since the Mane Six and Spike took Gem back to the Pie rock farm. She still had to get used to her surroundings, so Spike and Pinkie opted to stay on the farm until Gem was comfortable there. Rarity and the others had to manage the Spring Palooza without Pinkie, but thankfully, the festival was a major success.
Three months after Pinkie and Spike came back from the rock farm, the ponies and dragon were returning there once more to check up on Gem and the Pie family. When they arrived, they saw a crowd of ponies at the rock farm.
Pinkie exclaimed, “Wow! Business is really booming!”
Limestone then came up to them and said, “And it’s all thanks to Gem. And you guys, of course, since you brought her back.”
Twilight asked, “Does Gem like it here?”
Limestone answered, “Yep. She’s bonded with Marble and now those two are best friends. Besides, it’s gotten Marble out of her shell a bit.”
The ponies looked to see Marble Pie petting Gem in a fenced-in area. Several other ponies lined up at the fence to see Gem. Marble said to Gem, “You’re such a good dragon, Gem. Yes, you are. Yes, you are.” She then told the ponies at the fence, “Don’t get too close to her. She doesn’t like that.”
Twilight said, “I’m glad for both Gem and Marble. This is great for them.”
Maud then came up to them with a bowl full of stones, chunks of rock, and bits of gems. She said in her usual deadpan tone, “It’s feeding time. This is Gem’s favorite meal. Spike, would you like to feed her?”
Spike grabbed the bowl and said, “Oh, thanks, Maud.” As he walked up to the fence, he waved and said, “Hi, Gem.” When Gem saw him, she rushed to the fence and licked him. He chuckled, “Okay, okay! I get it. You missed me.” He stroked her head and said, “I missed you, too.”
He then grabbed a handful of rocky clump decorated with gems and said, “Here you go.”
Just then, Gem clamped her toothless mouth on Spike’s arm, albeit on accident, and chewed on the clump he had held in his claw. Spike chuckled, “It’s a good thing she hasn’t teethed yet. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be so cute.”
The ponies all laughed at this.