Fluttershy's Animal Adventures

Chapters

Chapter 1: Along Came an Egg
Chapter 2: The First Few Steps
Chapter 3: Scales and Tales
Chapter 4: The Hiding Game
Chapter 5: Dragon Patrol
Chapter 6: Fish in a Barrel
Chapter 7: A Dragon Flight of Fancy
Chapter 8: How to Love a Dragon

Chapter 1: Along Came an Egg

In the beautiful country-side of Ponyville, near the edge of the Everfree Forrest, there lived a beautiful yellow Pegasi with pinkish long hair that resided within a cottage built into a giant oak tree. This Pegasi named Fluttershy was timid and quiet, but she did not live alone by herself. She had her animal friends that reside with her. She took care of the many woodland creatures who wanted her loving-care. Big nor small, she cared for each and every one of them as if they were her own family.

One morning, after Fluttershy finished her morning task of feeding her woodland friends, she grabbed her shopping bag and head towards Ponyville to purchase some groceries for herself and her friends. As she trotted through the Ponyville Park upon the dusty road, all of a sudden, the ground under Fluttershy began to grow darker. Of course, the journey to Ponyville did not take long for her to travel, this ever growing silhouette transformed into shape of a large obsidian dragon as it flew right over Fluttershy and high into the sky.

As she hid from the obsidian dragon, confused, she caught a quick glimpse of the drake as it flew high into the sky and disappeared into the cluster of clouds. She knew dragons would not wonder into Ponyville for any other reasons but to cause trouble. As she thought out to herself she spotted something glimmering under the shrubs of tree. Inspecting it closer, this strange object was none other than an obsidian egg.

“I should leave this egg alone or that dr-dr-dragon will come back for her egg, but," Fluttershy said to herself

“She left it all alone and no one to care for this little egg,” as she looked upon her reflection from the egg.

She made her decision, she gently picked up the egg and carefully placed it into her shopping bag as she cautiously strolled on to Ponyville, within her bag a soft glow shimmered through showing a baby dragon ready to be born very soon.

As Fluttershy arrives home from her shopping in Ponyville, she unpacks her goods and slowly places the obsidian egg upon a nest she built from discarded birds nest. Fluttershy carefully bundled up the egg with a few light covers as she started up her round of chores. As night slowly approached, Fluttershy carefully watched the egg to make sure the surface was not too cold,

"I hope its ok, maybe I should get more blankets from the attic?" said Fluttershy as she walked up her attic to search for more blankets.

After retrieving more blankets she thought to herself while walking back to her living room,

"I wonder what would a dr-dr-dragon be doing here in Ponyville and why would it leave behind such a defenseless egg?"

She pondered this question for a few minutes as she placed more blankets around the egg as she sleepily dozed off to sleep, cuddling the egg as she slept through the night dreaming of what to do after this dragon hatched?

Early the next morning, Fluttershy woke up to the sound of knocking upon her front door, she quickly panicked as she remembered the egg was still in front of her and if somepony found out that she has been caring for a dragon egg, Celestia knows that she could be forced to give the egg up and for it to be taken to Canterlot University to be studied and probed. Fluttershy frantically rushed to hide the egg in her closet with blankets covering it up as she quickly ran to the door.

"Oh...Twi..Twilight what brings you over this early in the morning...?" Fluttershy said looking a little sweaty,

"Oh I just came by to pick up the birds nest you were going to fix up, is it ready?" said Twilight as she looks at Fluttershy.

"Oh the nest...umm..." responded Fluttershy as she nervously looked at the closet door.

With the body expression Fluttershy was given off, Twilight looked in her general direction to see what she was peering at,

"Is it in the closet Fluttershy?" asked Twilight as she used her magic to encase the door handle as it slowly turned.

"Wait no, its not done yet!!!" yelled Fluttershy in a little higher pitched squeak, pressing herself near the door.

"Oh hehe, ok then Fluttershy, take as much time as you need to fix up the birds nest, I guess Spike could give up his bed for those family of birds a little longer," said Twilight as she began walking out of the cottage.

"Sorry for not getting the birds nest done on time, but it will be finished by next week," Fluttershy said as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh I almost forgot, could I borrow your broom from your closet?" Twilight said as she once again used her magic to turn the nob.
Frantically, Fluttershy comes in between Twilight, "You dont want my broom its almost broken and it has....." said Fluttershy as she tries to think up an excuse, "...it has...dust!!!"

"Dust?" wondered Twilight as she looked puzzled,

"Yes dust, dust that could...be harmful to Spike's allergies," said Fluttershy with a weak smile.
"Oh your right Fluttershy, Spike could be allergic to dust, maybe I should do some experiments to see if he is allergic? Ok then have a good day Fluttershy," Twilight said as she finally headed towards the front door.
"Goodbye Twilight, again I'm sorry for not finishing the birds nest on time," Fluttershy said as she slowly waved goodbye to Twilight.

Exhausted to making up excuses for Twilight, Fluttershy turns the handle of the closet to retrieve the egg from its hiding place, but just as she finally opens the door, she only finds the broken egg shells upon the floor, mixed into the blankets.

"Oh my goodness, the egg, it hatched, but where is the dra-dra-dragon?" Fluttershy nervously looks around inside the closet to search for the newly-born dragon.

As she looked around the floor boards, a set of yellow eyes gazed below to see the winged-pony with her back exposed. The black winged little dragon suddenly pounced upon Fluttershy's back, at exactly 20 yards, an ear-splitting shriek that frightened most of the woodland creatures from their nap could hear Fluttershy's shriek of terror. As Fluttershy rolls into a fetal position, the little dragon slowly walks closer towards the frighten winged-pegasi, Fluttershy began to whimper as its serpent eyes peered into her own eyes, as it began to look more and more innocent towards Fluttershy. The little dragon then slowly changes it's demeanor from a prey into a gentle creature as it purred and cuddled up to Fluttershy as she finally looked once again at the dragon.

"Awwww, your not a scary dragon at all, you were just frighten...just like...me," as Fluttershy gently but causally stroked the little dragon that suddenly laid on her lap.

Chapter 2: The First Few Steps

As Fluttershy looks outside poking her head out first to see if no pony was in site before carrying the little dragon out into her backyard.
She laid the little dragon on the ground as he began to run around, trying to flap his wings. Though Fluttershy could only see he could only hover above the ground for a few seconds before landing on his feet once more.
This slowly reminded her of first time she had to learn to fly in Cloudsdale, as she recollected her thoughts about her life; the little dragon suddenly spotted a butterfly a few feet from him. He slowly followed the little creature and started to chase after it, Fluttershy watched in amusement seeing him happy making playful grunting noises.

“Hehe, you’re pretty energetic for a baby dragon that was just born a few minutes”

Looking at him once again, getting a response from the little guy as he looks back at her with a cute toothless smile and ears perked up as if he understood what she just said a few minutes ago. Fluttershy watched on as the little dragon continued to play upon the grassy null floor for a few hours, before finally the sun was over their heads. In the mean time, Fluttershy felt confident to leave the dragon on his own for a few minutes as she went around her cottage to feed the rest of the animals. As she returned to find him on the ground munching on something, she noticed the butterfly was not in sight. Fluttershy gasped as she rushed over to him and checks into his mouth,

“No no, don’t eat the butterfly, please”

as she pulled a drenched saliva covered butterfly in her hoof. She quickly cleaned off the butterfly and made sure it flew away in one piece or another, she then turned her attention back to the dragon as he began to whimper in hunger towards her.

“You must be hungry from all your playing, I bet?”

The little dragon nodded his head as he rubbed his stomach with his claw, giving out a low grumble in response.

“Oh you poor thing, lets get inside and make you lunch”

She carried the little obsidian drake in her hooves as she flew into her house and checked in the kitchen. She rummaged through her cabinets to find something he could eat. She finally grabbed a bag of pet food she fed her other pets and poured into a bowl in-front of the dragon. She watched as he looked curiously at the strange pellets in-front of him, sniffing at it, and finally munching on a few, before realizing what they were. He spit the half-chewed pellets on the floor and pushing the bowl away from him.

“Huh, so you don’t like pet food I take it?”

The little dragon shakes his head and makes a hissing noise at the bowl of pellet food. As he turned around to show his disapproval of the food presented to him. Fluttershy thought for a few seconds as she quickly remembered on occasions dropping by Twilight’s house at the library and how Spike usually ate gems to satisfy his hunger. She quickly rushed to her bedroom as she quickly came back and poured some gems in another bowl and gently nudged the new bowl in the little dragon’s direction.

The dragon noticing a new bowl behind him turns around looking at this new meal sniffs it, but once more, he pushes the gems away and looks round the kitchen to look for something else to eat. Fluttershy confused about the dragon’s taste in meals looks at the gems and tries to study them,

“Maybe his a little too young to eat gems right now, after all he was just born a few hours?”

Contemplating, Fluttershy wonders if he cannot eat gems, what baby dragons young as him can eat. As she looks around to find some other food to feed the little guy, the dragon wonders around and finally sniffs the air and heads in the direction of the ice box and quickly paws at the ice box. Hearing his claws scratch against the ice box, Flutterhsy quickly opens it and finds a hefty stack of fish she keeps in there to feed the more, carnivorous pets she cares for. The little dragon licks his scaly lips in anticipation trying to grab a fish; Fluttershy quickly grabs one and gently places the fish in a bowl and watches. The little dragon moves near the fish instinctively, and opens his mouth wider than before, revealing no teeth at all.

“That’s strange,” Fluttershy watched in amazement, “I thought dragons had teeth?”

As her question was cut off by the retractable teeth that appeared in his mouth as he chomped down on a piece of fish and swallowed it whole. As the little dragon continued his fish feast, Fluttershy slightly frightened looked again at the dragon, wondering what new surprises this little drake had in store for her. Her suspicion of the dragon disappeared as he gave a cute burp after devouring the fish completely as he lay on his side with a full belly of fish. Fluttershy giggled as she carried the little dragon into her living room and gently rubbed his stomach, hearing him purr softly as he slept. The dragon curled up in a ball, spread his wings across his tiny frame, and dozed off.

“I guess fish is what new-born dragons eat before gems I guess”

Fluttershy said as she watched him sleep in her arms content with his meal and long day of play. She noticed as she looked into his mouth, his teeth missing once more, she giggled and petted him once again.

“From now on, you’re going to be named…Toothless”

Flutterhsy noticed a louder purr that came from the dragon, she understood he liked his new name as he drifted off to sleep once more in Fluttershy’s loving arms, wondering what new things she could learn from Toothless and maybe even one day overcome her fears of dragons…

Chapter 3: Scales and Tales

A few weeks passed, as Fluttershy continued with her life, but with a new spark. That spark was none other than Toothless, who began showing some new behaviors she did not understand. One of the beginning signs of his strange behaviors started one afternoon after a tiring day of helping Apple Jack. She came home to find Toothless lying on top of the kitchen stove which she carelessly forgot to turn off in her rush.

“No, Toothless don’t lie on top of there, your going to hurt yourself!!!”

She picks up Toothless who miraculously is not burned at all from the scorching heat of the stove. As she turned off the stove, she looks at Toothless who seemed to have enjoyed a heated nap. Toothless looks up at her with a puzzled-look and jumps from her hooves and walks into the living room. Fluttershy thinks about this and wonders how he could endure so much heat in such a small body like his. Slightly worried, Fluttershy looked around for Toothless, who was sleeping on some charcoals that were still hot to the touch.

“This is…different, I never knew dragons loved to sleep in heated areas”

Looking again at Toothless, Fluttershy was unsure she could care for a baby dragon on her own, after all she tried to care for Philomeena on her own, but that didn’t turn out too well in the end. So how could she take care of another mystical creature unless she knew how to care for Toothless? These pressing matters would not go away unless she consulted someone who had more experience with dragons than her, but who? Fluttershy thought for a few minutes, than she had an idea, Twilight Sparkle. She took care of Spike most of the time she was in Canterlot. Maybe she kept notes or a journal on how she cared for Spike during their early years. Maybe her notes revealed things she did not know about Toothless or more. Her mind was then made up; she would head into Ponyville and find Twilight.

The next day, Fluttershy got up and left some food for her animal friends, as well as for Toothless. She headed into Ponyville and came to Twilight’s home, which was nestled into a tree, her house also served as the local library to the citizens of Ponyville. She opened the door to her avail, a dragon smaller than her stood right in front of her. Spike, looked up at Fluttershy with a smile.

“Hi Fluttershy, what brings you over?”

“Oh, I came over to see if Twilight was home and I wanted to ask her a question”

“Oh Twilight, she’s not in, she had to make an emergency visit to Canterlot, but if there is anything you need, I could help”

Fluttershy was about to respond to Spike’s offer of service, but then she knew if she told Spike about Toothless, then he would tell Twilight about it, the news would travel to her other friends, and all the ponies would force her to give up Toothless or something worse…but if she could persuade Spike into a conversation about something off topic, maybe he wouldn’t notice if she sneaked something about how dragons. She would try, and began with a smile at Spike.

“I guess you could, but I’m not sure if you have it?”

“Have what Fluttershy?”

“A book about…dra…dragons?”

Giving Spike a wide-eye smile at him, he looked at her with little suspicion

“Ok let me look in the shelves and see if we have anything about dragons”

Spike runs towards a shelf and looks at a few titles: Dragon Lilies, Dragon Tales, Dragon Nights, Dragon Scales, Dragon Dances, Dragons and Dungeons, 50 ways to kill Dragons… The last title gave Spike a disturbing thought, who would write such a book on a topic like that? As Fluttershy walked around the room, she began to bring up the topic, while Spike was rummaging through the shelves.

“So Spike, when you were little, did you eat fish before gems, right?”

“Well sure, my teeth were not developed enough to bite into hard gems so soon, why do you ask?”

“Oh nothing, I thought that’s what dragons go through…when their growing, but when did you started eating gems?”

Spike looked at her for a few minutes, but turns around to finding a book on dragons and replied to Fluttershy.

“I guess it was around 6 months that I started eating gems, but I began changing”

“Oh what sort of changes Spike?”

“Changes like, how I like to sleep near warm places, like the fireplace or have an interest in shiny objects, things like that”
Fluttershy made some mental notes to keep in mind when taking care of Toothless and those behaviors were normal for a baby dragon. She continued on to ask more questions about Spike and how dragons behaved since his last visit on the great Dragon Migration a few months ago.

“So would you say Spike, that dragons are very affectionate?”

Spike blushes and looks at Fluttershy with a perplexed look on his face,

“Um Fluttershy, is this going somewhere where I think it is…?”

Fluttershy responded with a little stutter in her voice,

“What do you mean Spike….I…I don’t get what you’re saying…”

“I know what you’re going to say Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy started to get startled about how her persuasion didn’t work in her favor, where she would be found out and having Toothless taking away from her.

“…but I’m sorry Fluttershy, I’m not interested in you”

Feeling relieved, Fluttershy let out a gentle sigh,

“I love Rarity and between you and me, I don’t think it could work out. My heart will always be for Rarity and no pony else”
“Oh…um…I guess that’s…ok” said Fluttershy as she began to relax after this confrontation she would find a way to apologize to Spike later on.

“There is no book on dragons particularly, but if you wanted, you could borrow the journal Twilight kept as she was raising me?”

Fluttershy looked at Spike with new enthusiasm, but tried to keep her composure the same so she would give herself away.

“Really, I would love to Spike”

As he went into the other part of the building, a few minutes pass as Spike returns with the journal in claws and places it in her saddlebag.

“There you go, Fluttershy, I hope that helps in some way?”

“Oh it does Spike, thank you so much”

“No problem, Oh right, I almost forgot” said Spike as he tries to find the 50 ways to kill a dragon and 'accidentally' rip the pages from it.

“What is it Spike?”

“Rarity was going to come over to your house in about 3 minutes”

Fluttershy stood there in shock; she completely forgot Rarity was going to come over for tea later that evening and reveal her newest jewel incrusted dress to her, but she didn’t know Toothless was sleeping in the living room and Rarity’s knocking would wake him and she would find out about Toothless. She rushed out of the library thanking Spike for his help, hoping she was not too late to arrive at her cottage before Rarity found out her secret. The secret she has been keeping from all her friends and maybe from Equestria itself…

Chapter 4: The Hiding Game

Sweat dripped off Fluttershy’s face as she rushed home before Rarity arrived. She knew Rarity must have been ahead of her since she usually used her magic to open her door, turn on the stove, place the kettle on, and wait for her. Of course Fluttershy would let her friends into her house when she was not there and wait for her to arrive, but this time was different. Toothless was there alone, he wouldn’t react too well with a stranger in the house.

His not used to having other ponies around him and with Rarity bringing over a jeweled-encrusted dress to show. Toothless might accidentally attack her to defend his territory. All these thoughts were running through her mind as she followed the dirt road towards her cottage.
As she reached the entrance of her home, she could hear the murmurs of a pony inside. Fluttershy was ready to open the door, but all of a sudden, she heard a shriek. Fluttershy quickly opened the door and rushed into the kitchen were Rarity was…

“Please Rarity, Let me explain!!!”

“Explain what dear, about how fabulous your apron is?”

Fluttershy looked to the side as she spotted her pink tailored apron she made a few days ago. Once more she breathed a sigh of relief as she laid on her flank in exhaustion.

“Fluttershy, are you quiet alright, did you run all the way here?”

“Oh I’m fine, I completely forgot about you coming over that’s all…”

Fluttershy darted her eyes around the kitchen trying to get a glimpse of Toothless’ presence, but to no avail as she continued to watch Rarity who began preparing their tea time snacks. In a cupboard right behind Rarity, she spotted the yellow serpent eyes of Toothless, who was hiding and observing the unicorn with curiosity. Fluttershy had to think of a plan quickly to get Rarity out of the kitchen before she stumbled onto Toothless’ hiding spot…

“Um…Rarity, I could finish making the snacks while you wait in the living ro-“

“Don’t be ridiculous darling, I’m almost finished. Now all I need is to get some dandelions from the cupboard here”

Rarity used her magic to open the cupboard as she started to move towards Toothless’ hiding spot. Fluttershy rushed in between her and cupboard blocking Rarity’s vision. Rarity stood there dumbstruck looking at a nervous Fluttershy in her way, obscuring her vision and concentration her magic faded away from the cupboard.

“Wait Rarity; please…let me get that. You’ve already done so much”

“But I insist to make our snacks, you always prepare them every time I come over so I thought this time I would do the honor to make them”

“Well it’s very nice of you to do so…but I feel that you’re the guest here and I should prepare our snacks”

Both ponies pushed and shoved against each other trying to move one another side, but both did not move at all from their positions. Fluttershy quickly noticed Toothless from the corner of her eye, as he quickly leaped from the cupboard and latched onto her back without digging his claws into her backside. She quickly moved from Rarity and stood in front of her.

“Honestly Fluttershy, you don’t have to be so hostile to your guest who wants to return the favor”

“I’m sorry Rarity; I’m just…exhausted from running some errands around Ponyville and back”

“It’s quite alright, I know that same feeling when Sweetie Bell has her friends over, it can get really bad where I almost lost it after her friends made a mess in my room”

“Well I’ll be in my room getting myself…comfortable”

Fluttershy slowly walked backwards keeping her eye on Rarity as she walked out of the kitchen and quickly took Toothless into her room. She placed him on the bed as he looked up at Fluttershy with a puzzled look and snorted his disapproval of taking him from his sleeping spot.

“I know Toothless, but Rarity’s here and I don’t want you to cause any trouble where she will tell everypony about you and…and….I don’t want to lose you”

Toothless tilts his head for a moment, but then looks at a pillow and turns around on top of it and lies on it, Fluttershy watches him take a nap. She strokes him softly and kisses him on top of his head.

“Sleep well Toothless, later I’ll bring you some tasty”

Fluttershy heads back down into the living room as Rarity uses her magic to float a tea tray onto a wooden coffee table. Fluttershy sat opposite of Rarity, as she grabs herself a cup of tea and takes a sip.

“Fluttershy did you hear what Rainbow Dash saw today?”

“No, what did she see, Rarity?”

“Apparently, she said she saw a black dragon flying over Ponyville”

Fluttershy spits out her tea in a different direction and began to get jittery from the mentioning of a black dragon.

“A dra-drag-dragon…?”

“Why yes, she said while she was moving some clouds around, she could make out a silhouette of a dragon far up in the sky, circling around Ponyville for something”

“Oh but what would a dragon want in Ponyville?”

“I’m not sure, but Rainbow Dash was able to drive off the big brute and proceeded to tell the Mayor about this matter. So now all of Ponyville is on watch for any dragons, except for Spike, but don’t worry Fluttershy”

“But why should I be worried about a big…scary dragon that could eat me in one gulp?”

“Because the Mayor sent a message to Princess Celestia to have the Wonderbolts to watch over the skies of Ponyville until the dragon is gone”

Fluttershy nervously sipped her tea once again and tried to calm herself down. She tried to change the subject of the matter to something else and then she remembered the reason why Rarity was over.

“Um...Rarity, didn’t you have a dress you wanted me to look at?”

“Oh right, how forgetful of me, I just finished making this dress for a client of mine, but I wanted to show you first to get another pony’s impression”

She uses her magic to retrieve a shimmering dress with gems embedded into the patterns of the clothing. Fluttershy admired the dress as she looked over the design and made sure every stitch was placed correctly, but then the moment quickly passed as both look upwards as a stirring on second floor disrupted their concentration.

“Fluttershy, is there somepony on the second floor?”

“Wha-what pony, there’s no pony on the second floor?”

“I heard something for sure, none the less; I’m going to check it out”

Rarity gets up from her spot and starts to head towards the staircase, as Fluttershy once again blocked her way towards the second floor, but this time Rarity used her magic to forcefully move Fluttershy to the side and placed her on the sofa.

“Darling, what is wrong with you, I’ve never seen you act this way before?”

“Rarity, you don’t have to go upstairs everything is fine”

“Still, I’m going upstairs to see what’s going on”

Rarity made her way up towards the stairs and ascended to the second floor where she followed the noise in Fluttershy’s room. Fluttershy tried to struggle out of the spell, but it was hopeless, she was at the mercy of Rarity’s binding spell. After a few minutes passed, she knew Rarity would find Toothless and this would all be over. Suddenly out of blue, Fluttershy could her Rarity scream from her high pitch shriek she made. Fluttershy used all her might to get out of the spell and ran up towards the second floor. She opened the door to her room to find Rarity on the floor and Toothless about ready to take a bite out of her. Fluttershy rushed in and picked up Toothless trying her best to calm him down.

“No Toothless, don’t hurt her, she’s not here to hurt you, please!”

Toothless roared at Rarity with the weird swirly mane and tail, he did not know what it was, but for sure it was not friendly, in his own eyes. Rarity lay on the floor frightened, but unharmed and looked at Fluttershy and Toothless.

“Flut-Fluttershy…what are you doing, it’s going to bite your hoof off!!!”

“Its ok Rarity, you just scared him that’s all”

“OH I Scared Him, what about Me?!!”

“He didn’t mean to hurt anyone, I swear”

“But, that THING is a dragon and you should be frightened of him more than me”

“I know, but Toothless…his different, I…raised him when he hatched out of his egg before that black dragon left and I-wait, I know why the other dragon is here, its Toothless’ Mother, she’s trying to search for him”

Fluttershy still holding onto Toothless stroked him gently to calm him down and sure enough his frantic behavior passed.

“You see, he wouldn’t hurt a fly, Toothless must have thought your mane was some strange creature trying to do harm”

“Preposterous, my mane is not some ‘creature’, I always keep it clean and brush it every morning, how could a dragon mistaken this gorgeous mane for something else?”

“Well, his still a baby dragon, even younger than Spike”

Rarity picked herself up from the floor and looked at the small dragon that now slept in Fluttershy’s arms. She eventually brought up the courage to get a closer look at Toothless.

“Why yes, Toothless does look very similar to the description of the dragon Rainbow Dash saw today, maybe we should head to Twilight’s place and figure out what kind of dragon Toothless is?”

“Maybe, but she wont be home till tomorrow and you said yourself the Wonderbolts are watching over the skies of Ponyville”

“That is true, but they will surely drive the mother dragon out of Ponyville and we won’t see her in time to give her Toothless”

Fluttershy gently placed Toothless on one side of her bed, both ponies headed downstairs and sat back in the living room.

“I’ll keep Toothless safe inside, but please promise me you won’t tell any pony that his here?”

“I don’t know Fluttershy, this is a big secret and all of Ponyville is in an uproar because of Toothless’ Mother flying about”

“Pretty please Rarity, for me?”

“Well...alright, I’ll be quiet for now, but for whatever reason, don’t bring him into my boutique, I don’t think Opal would enjoy his company, more than I would…”

As the sky grew dark and the moon began to creep over Equestria, Rarity made her way back home and Fluttershy already snuggled into her bed. Ready to sleep, but then she looked into the direction of where Toothless was sleeping. He looked peaceful after another long day; she knew that tomorrow in the morning she had to confess her secret to Twilight about the dragon and hope she could find a way to get Toothless to his mother safely, but that had to wait till in the morning…

Chapter 5: Dragon Patrol

As the morning sun crept over the sky, Fluttershy awoke to find herself alone in her bedroom. She looked around frantically under the bed, behind the curtains, and even in her closet. After a few minutes of panicking, Fluttershy saw her bedroom door opened. She followed them downstairs to find the little Obsidian Drake munching on a fresh fish. Fluttershy giggled as her worries faded away and stroked him calmly,

“Oh Toothless, I’m so glad you didn’t wander off outside without me,”

As she continued to stroke him as he ate happily. She remembered the same words that haunted her mind ever since Rarity came over last night, about how so many were looking for Toothless: The Wonderbolts were patrolling the skies, the Ponies of Ponyville on night watch, and finally Toothless’ Mother hiding some where in Ponyville trying to find her lost little drake. All these problems began to fill poor Fluttershy’s head as she began to hyperventilate, breathing in and out almost ready to have a panic attack when Toothless came towards her feeling her anxiety overtake her. As she felt Toothless comfort her as she did for him. She put aside her fears for what was to come and responded to Toothless,

“Everything will be fine Toothless, Don’t worry about me, I’ll find a way to get you to your mother or my name isn’t Fluttershy,”

As she said those words to Toothless she stroke up a pose to show off her confidence, which made Toothless let out a hearty little laugh. Both spent the day playing with each other and enjoying the bright sun behind the cover of her cottage. As the evening came so soon, Fluttershy fed Toothless as she ate her own dinner contemplating about tonight’s plan,
“Ok Toothless, are you ready to be going soon, because we’re going to sneak into Ponyville and see if Twilight is home, so she can give us an idea what kind of dragon you are and see what is the best way we can get you to your mother”
Toothless looked up at Fluttershy as she said those words, he understood what was going to happen and found his way into one of Fluttershy’s saddlebags. She patted Toothless on the head as he hid inside the saddlebag. Both made their way out into the night air, thus they headed off towards Ponyville and the possibility of finding Twilight at home so they could formulate a better plan. Flutterhy arrived in the streets of Ponyville, but true to Rarity’s words, there were police ponies patrolling with flashlights making sure Ponyville was safe. As Fluttershy hid behind a wall, she quickly glanced around the corner to find a police pony coming her way.

Just then, one of the police ponies turned a corner with his flashlight pointed towards the corner of the street. He looked, but nothing was in sight, but a couple of trash bins and a cat that passed by. The police pony continued on his patrol beyond the backstreet without any sign of disturbance. From one of the trash pin lids, Fluttershy peaked out and saw the other pony walk off. She quickly fluttered out of the bin as quietly as possible as she made her way once again towards her destination.
She spotted Twilight’s house in the distance and quickly dashed past another pony with a flashlight and knocked on the door of the Library,

“Oh I hope Twilight hears me in time before one of the other ponies spot me,”
she nervously said as she looked back and forth watching for any of the distance ponies to question her being out at such a late time.

“Who’s there? Can’t you see the Library is closed for the night?”

“Twilight, is that you? If so, please let me in quickly,”

The door slowly opens and there stood Twilight about ready to head to bed,

“Fluttershy, you know you’re not supposed to be out here so late, the dragon could swoop down and eat you”

“I know Twilight, but this is really important, could you please let in before one of the guards come by?”

Twilight Sparkle looked around outside and spotted a guard coming in their direction, she motioned Fluttershy in and she locked the door behind her. Fluttershy sat herself on one of chairs in the library as a knock on the door broke the silence. Twilight went towards the door and used her magic to reopen the door. There stood right in front of Twilight was the same guard Fluttershy tried to avoid in the alley,

“Excuse me Miss Twilight; you didn’t happen to see anything suspicious around your home tonight have you?”

Twilight, looked in the general direction of where Fluttershy stood, but she was not there,

“Uh no officer, I haven’t seen anything ‘suspicious’ going around here, its all quiet, hehe, you don’t have to worry about a thing,”

The pony looked at Twilight with a raised eyebrow, but took it for nothing else and bid her a goodnight as he went on with his duty. Twilight locked the door and tried to look for Fluttershy, but no avail, until she looked in the air and saw her flying quietly as possible,

“Ok Fluttershy, what was so important that you had to hide from the officer all of a sudden?”

Fluttershy landed on the ground with a clop and she moved back into her seat and placed her saddlebag gently on her lap,

“Well that’s because I didn’t want the officer to see him”

“See who, Fluttershy?”

“To see…Toothless”

“Toothless, who’s that?”

Fluttershy slowly opened her saddlebag to reveal the small dragon as he looked around the library with amazement; he jumped from Fluttershy’s saddlebag and ran around the library in excitement. Twilight yelled in surprise as she rushed towards the door about ready to alert one of the guards outside,

“Twilight please, let me explain!!!”

“Fluttershy, wha-what’s that dragon doing in my library? You need to get away from him, he might hurt you!!!”

“No Twilight, Toothless wouldn’t hurt a butterfly, well he did almost eat one, but he was just playing around, Honest!”

“Fluttershy, you mean that dragon is your friend?”

“Well, yes, but he imprinted on me and he thinks I’m his mother,”

Twilight watched as Toothless was chewing on a ball as Spike did when he used to teethe when he was little, she then understood the predicament Fluttershy was in and she found a seat near her and sat. After an hour of explanation, Twilight looked once again at Toothless, who was sleeping on the heated charcoals of her fireplace,

“So you’re telling me, you found Toothless who hatched from an egg, you raised him in your house for a couple of days, and now the bigger dragon, who is Toothless’ mother, is trying to find him?”

“Yes Twilight, I have to bring him to his mother before the Wonderbolts or the Police find her and oh, who knows what they will do with her?”

“I don’t know, but first things first, we got to find out what kind of dragon Toothless is?”

Fluttershy goes over to the fireplace and picks up Toothless from his cozy nap as Twilight wakes up Spike from his nap to get her the book on Dragon Breeds of Equestria. As Spike finds the book and steps into the main room, he spots Toothless. Both Spike and Toothless exchange looks of interest and finally Spike looks at Fluttershy,

“Whoa, who’s this guy?”

“That’s Toothless, Spike, his also a baby dragon just like you, but younger”

“Oh, that makes a lot of sense, though he cant speak that’s for sure,”

Spike said as he opens the book and Twilight comes behind him and starts to look into the book as well,

“Alright, Fluttershy you hold onto Toothless, while Spike and I look in the book to see what kind of dragon Toothless is and find out what we can”

“Ok then Twilight, now hold still Toothless, this wont take too long,”

As Fluttershy held onto the scruff of Toothless’ neck, Twilight, with the help of Spike, looked through the pages and tried to match up the images of different dragons found in Equestria. Minutes passed as Twilight effortlessly flipped through the pages again and again trying to find any entry about Toothless’ species,

“I can’t find anything about this guy in my dragon breed encyclopedia…”

“Oh then how are we ever going to get Toothless’ mother out in the open so we can give her Toothless?”

“Hmmm...Give me a minute; I think we should take a break, I’ll get us some snacks, oh by the way, and what does Toothless eat?”

“Oh he usually eats fish, since his teeth are still growing and that’s the only food he will eat,”

As Twilight went into her kitchen to grab everypony a midnight snack, she got an idea,

"Fluttershy, you said Toothless eats only fish and no gems, correct?"

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Fluttershy, I think I know of a way to get his mother’s attention and away from the Ponyville,”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight and she knew, if Twilight had a plan then it was for sure, things will go according to plan,

“How are we going to get Toothless’ mother out from hiding and for her to come to us?”

“I’ll explain everything first thing in the morning, but for now, we should all get some sleep, Fluttershy, you can sleep in the extra bed in my room with Toothless”

“Oh thank you so much Twilight, how could I ever repay you?”

“Just make sure Toothless gets to his mother safely, I know I would be worried if Spike went missing…”,

As Twilight said those words, she looked at Spike who was already fast asleep with Toothless lying next to him in a separate bed. Everypony was fast asleep, all except for Fluttershy. Who was still worried about meeting Toothless’ mother, she would be upset for taking her child and who knows what she will do to her when Toothless’ mother spots her carrying Toothless. Fluttershy knew she had to do the right thing and bring Toothless back to his mother before any other pony took them away from each other. Fluttershy knew tomorrow was the day she had to confront her fears of dragons once and for all…

Chapter 6: Fish in a Barrel

As Celestia raised the sun over the sleepy town of Ponyville, Fluttershy yawned and stood up from the guest bed. She looked around recollecting the night before, having to sleep over at Twilight’s due to Ponyville’s strict night watches from the Police Ponies and the Wonderbolts. She sniffed the air and smelled fresh orange juice and muffins coming outside of the room. She walked into the kitchen, watching Twilight, Spike, and even Toothless all making a healthy breakfast to start off their day.

“Good morning Fluttershy, sorry for not waking you up, we thought you should sleep a few more minutes before we came to wake you,”

Twilight said as she used her magic to place some plates and cups around the kitchen table. Trying her best to remember what she was going to say to Twilight, Fluttershy was quickly distracted as she laughed as Toothless tried to help around the kitchen, but to no avail. She picked up Toothless and placed him at the table, as Twilight and Spike placed the breakfast banquet in the middle of the table. Finally, Fluttershy remembered what she was going to ask Twilight that plagued her mind all night long,

“Twilight, I was wondering, even if we could get Toothless’ Mother to come to us, how will she get there without grabbing attention from not only the Police, but also the Wonderbolts?”

Twilight sipped a bit of her orange juice before she could answer Fluttershy’s question,

“You don’t have worry about that Fluttershy, I already have a plan for distracting the Police and the Wonderbolts, but it’s going to require the help from two of our other friends to make this possible”

Fluttershy watched as Toothless ate his fish and walked over to Fluttershy and took a nap near her on the table. Fluttershy could not resist but to pet him as he slept as Twilight continued on with her speech,

“So anyways here is the plan: Fluttershy, remember what you said about Toothless and him only eating fish?”

“Yes I do remember Twilight, but what does that have to do with luring in his mother?”
Fluttershy asked as she wondered why she would bring up that small detail,

“It’s simple, whatever species of dragon Toothless and his mother belong to, their diet may choose fish over gems unlike Spike,”

As Twilight made her hypothesis, Fluttershy looked over and saw Spike enjoy his bowl of gems he was gorging down his stomach,

“So I need you to go back home, grab as much fish you can, and bring it over to the open fields of Sweet Apple Acers, while I go over to Rarity’s Bouquet and ask her to make a quick outfit for us,”

Fluttershy looked perplexed at Twilight once more,

“Why do we need a dress for this plan Twilight?”

“It’s not a dress Fluttershy, it’s an outfit that looks similar to Toothless, but way bigger, I already have one pony in mind who can put on the disguise and lure away the Wonderbolts before they catch a glimpse of Toothless’ Mother”

“This plan sounds dangerous Twilight, who would put on the disguise and get fast enough away from the Wonderbolts?”

“Why none other than our loyal friend, Rainbow Dash”

“Ok then Twilight, I’ll head back home and grab all the fish I can, but what is this plan called then?”

“The name of the plan is…Operation Fish in a Barrel!!!”

“Oh that sounds…interesting Twilight, what time do we need to be over at the open fields?”

“Around 9 when the sun goes down and starts to get dark, by then, it will be time to put this plan into action,”

As Twilight finishes up her breakfast, Spike comes over and grabs all the plates and places them in the sink,

“Don’t worry about Toothless, Fluttershy, he will be taken care by Spike as we get this plan into motion, right Spike?”

“Yeah Twilight, Me and Toothless will be great for the rest of the day, its been a long time since I had any fun with another dragon,” said Spike as he carried Toothless into the other room and both started to play together.

“See Fluttershy, things will turn out good, so long as we stick to the plan,”

As Twilight headed into the main room of the library, Fluttershy remembered her part of the plan, got whatever she brought with her and began to head towards the door before she looked back and saw how much fun Toothless was having with Spike. She knew that this was all for him and his chance to reunite with his mother.

As the sun began to set behind the mountains, Fluttershy flew with a wagon full of fish all stacked full inside 5 barrels, avoiding a few Wonderbolts who were flying in her direction, two of them stopped Fluttershy as both Pegasi floated in mid-air,

“You there, don’t you know it’s almost night time?”

“I’m so sorry sir; I was just getting these barrels to my friends place over in Ponyville…,”

“None the less, Miss Fluttershy, you need to turn around and head back home, the dragon is still at large and we wouldn’t want you to get hurt”

“But, but, but, I need to get these delivered right away…if I don’t, their going to be mad at me and I have to go back to Flight School and have to take the Flying Test all over again, and…and, I can’t go back there, Waahh!!!”

Fluttershy tried her best to cry in front of the two Pegasus; both of them looked at each other, slowly feeling empathetic towards the weeping Miss Fluttershy,

“Well…alright, go on ahead, but make sure after your down with your delivery you head straight back to your home”

“Sniff…really? Oh thank you so much, I won’t forget your kindness,”

As Fluttershy flew pass by the two Pegasus, she pulled out of her saddle bag a small veil of eye drops, if the two Pegasus were in range, they could of heard the small murmur of a Fluttershy, whispering under her breath,

“Works everytime”

Fluttershy flew onto the rendezvous point in a small clearing very close by to Sweet Apple Acres. She slowly began to unload the barrels from the back of her wagon, as three figures started to trot in her direction, Fluttershy was frighten and thought the two Wonderbolts caught onto her charade and brought an Officer to take her in...She began to hyperventilate as the three silhouettes began to come into view of Fluttershy. It was only Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and of course, Rainbow Dash,

“Oh my, you all startled me really bad; I thought I was going to be caught,”

“ Don’t be such a Scaredy Pony, Fluttershy, So long as I’m around, nopony or dragon is going to harm us”, Boasted Rainbow Dash as she struck a fighting pose having her front hooves in front of her ready to strike at the closest object near her,

“Rainbow Dash, you remember what your supposed to do?” Twilight looked at Rainbow as she looked stern,
“Pfft, Of course I do Twilight, I’m supposed to get into this…disguise, fly around Ponyville, make a lot of roaring noise, get the attention of the Wonderbolts, and get them on a wild dragon chase around Equestria with my awesome skills,”

“Right Rainbow Dash, but make sure you don’t go too fast or the disguise Rarity made will come off and they will know this was a trick”

“Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll make it convincing enough and a challenge for them to try and catch me”

“Alright then everypony, and of course everydragon too, let’s begin Operation: Fish in a Barrel,”

As Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Spike all knew what to do; they all got into position and headed out to begin the first phase of Twilight’s Master plan…What could possibly go wrong with a plan named “Fish in a Barrel”…?

Chapter 7: A Dragon Flight of Fancy

Rainbow Dash placed on herself the fake dragon costume and waited for the first phase of the plan. With only a few rays of sunlight slowly fading away in the distance, Twilight gathered all her notes and found a spot behind Rarities’ Boutique.

“Alright Rainbow, by my calculations, the Wonderbolts should be starting their evening patrol of the sky. Very soon, all you need to do is to get their attention by roaring as loud as you can”

Rainbow Dash pulled down the hood of the costume as she combed her mane back into the costume as she got adjusted into the outfit,

“Got it, I’ll be up there in no time flat; I’ll give them one of my signature loot-a- loop, let out a big roar, and fly them away from Ponyville”,

“Sounds good Rainbow, Fluttershy, the smell of the fish should attract Toothless’ Mother from Ponyville, once she sees the fish pile place Toothless on the ground and let him go to her”,

As Fluttershy held Toothless in her hooves she looked at Twilight,

“Ok, but Twilight, when Toothless’ Mother arrives and sees me trying to release him, wouldn’t she be at me…?”

“Relax Fluttershy, She will be too busy to notice you while she is eating the fish, I know you can do it”

Fluttershy stood there looking at Toothless in her hooves, petting him gently as he let out a grunt. He looked up at her with a gentle smile, reassured now she could do this…As night came over Ponyville, right on time, the Wonderbolts began their evening routine around the town from the sky. Behind Rarities’ Boutique shambled in a black gem studded costume, Rainbow Dash looked into the sky, observing the movement of the Wonderbolts. Thanks to the clear night sky, she was able to see the silhouettes of each Pegasi in the night air.

“Ok, I got this, time to give the Wonderbolts a show of their own”,

Rainbow Dash placed on some night vision goggles she borrowed from Pinkie, She quickly sucked as much air into her lungs as much as she could and let out a loud-piercing roar. The sound of Rainbow Dash’s yell drew the attention of the Wonderbolts in the area as she flew into the air and did a loot-a-loop in the air. She went into the opposite direction of where Twilight and Fluttershy were as she spotted most of the Wonderbolts chasing after her,

“That’s right, follow the “dragon” away from Ponyville”,

Muttered Rainbow Dash as she flew fast enough for the Wonderbolts to be on her tail…

In an open field near Fluttershy’s cottage, Twilight and Fluttershy began to place loads upon loads of fish into one big pile. Amazed, Fluttershy looked at the pile of fish,

“That’s…a lot of fish…”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy with an awkward expression,

“I was wondering about that, how did you manage to collect all those fishes?”

“Well you could say I have some animal friends who love to eat fish, so I had some of them to gather up as much as they could”

“So…you had your forest friends collect the fish rather than going to the market?”

“Well of course, Twilight, how fresh could you get them?”

Just as Twilight was about to make a witty comeback, Toothless made his way towards the pile of fish and began to eat them one by one. The aroma of fish swayed through the air as the wind blew the horrid smell straight into the Everfree forest…

Deep in thought, Fluttershy looked at the pile and Toothless who tried to pull another fish and fully consumed it, she turned her attention toward Twilight who was writing in her clipboard making more calculations, what if the pile of fish does not attract Toothless’ Mother, what if we get nothing but cats, what if… something bigger comes…?

“Um Twilight can I ask you a something about the fish pile…?”

“Not now Fluttershy, I’m about ready to turn on the fans. So if you could grab Toothless before he eats all the fishes we can start the final phase my plan”

“Alright Twilight, but maybe we should…”

As Fluttershy was about to tell Twilight about the predicament that was about to befall them, Twilight used her magic to turn on the fans in the direction of Ponyville…suddenly a tremendous bellow came not from Ponyville…but from the Everfree forest…

“Wha…What was that noise…?”

Fluttershy hid behind Twilight as she began to speak,

“It must be Toothless’ Mother”

“It could be, Twilight”

“What do you mean, Fluttershy?”

“That noise was far louder than any normal creature, but something larger…”

“So, that must be her, coming out from hiding”,

Twilight commented as looked in the direction of Ponyville,

“What if it’s not her, Twilight?”

As Fluttershy and Twilight stood silent to listen again as the thing that made the noise began to move…Silence again, but all of a sudden an enormous silhouette lunged into the sky almost over shadowing the moon completely. The creature spread its web-like wings as it soared towards the two ponies and the pile of fish,

“She’s coming Fluttershy, get ready”

“Um…Twilight”

“Once she takes the fish, you can let Toothless go and we can slowly move away into the bushes”

“That’s not Toothless’ Mother Twilight...”

“Wait what?!!”

Fluttershy continued to hide behind Twilight as she spoke again,

“That’s…not her…”

“How can you tell, Fluttershy?”

“This isn’t the same dragon I saw from before; this dragon is far much larger than the one who tried to flee from me”

“Maybe it’s Toothless’ Father?”

“Then where is Toothless’ Mother, Twilight?”

The red-scaled dragon began to land a couple of feet away from the pile as it began to move towards the pile of fish and Twilight began to compare Toothless to the dragon,

“I think your right, Fluttershy”

“I told you…”

The dragon made its way towards the pile before noticing Toothless who began to growl at the dragon, Fluttershy quickly noticed where Toothless was. As he blew out a ball of fire at the scarlet dragon’s eye, as it writhed in pain for a few second. The scarlet dragon glared with its good eye at Toothless, as it began to open its maw to unleash a fearsome breath of fire straight at Toothless…

Chapter 8: How to Love a Dragon

As the ground sizzled with burning embers, what was left of the patch of grass was nothing more…

Off to the side where the scorched earth, Fluttershy flew swiftly to catch Toothless in time before the enormous fireball came in contact toward its target. Lying exhausted on the floor, Fluttershy slightly bruised from the sudden impact of dirt and earth hitting her underbelly glanced at the little dragon in her hooves. Before she could slightly scorn Toothless for taking on a bigger dragon, the behemoth itself roared in anger as it was about to set off another round. As it was close to unleashing a ball of fire at the two below, a sudden sound along came into ear-shot as a sudden explosion hammering across the side of the beast all happening at once as the dragon screamed in pain as another fury projectile slammed across the other side of the dragon again.

As Fluttershy composed herself upright seeing this sudden change of event, the dragon, now wounded quickly flew into the sky and retreated back into the wilds of the Everfree forest where it belonged. Looking a bit puzzled Fluttershy trotted towards Twilight who was knocked out by the sudden impact of the bigger dragon’s fireball,

“Twilight are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I'm fine, I was knocked out unconscious for a few minutes, but what about you and Toothless?”

Looking across as Toothless was back at the huge pile of fishes eating the rest of the fishes there.

“He's alright Twilight, but if you were knocked out unconscious, then who drove the Big Dragon away…?”

Just like magic, a sudden black silhouette of another dragon flew down without much hassle as its big yellow eyes locked onto the two ponies standing there watching them as it was steadily moving closer to the two,

“Stand back Fluttershy, this could be another dragon here to cause us more trouble”

As Twilight began to charge up her horn to ward off the other dragon as it was just a few feet from them,

“Wait Twilight don’t!!!”

Spreading her wings and stood right in front of Twilight,

“Fluttershy get out of the way, it’s going attack us, just like the other dragon!!!”

As Fluttershy continued to stand her ground, not moving an inch as the large obsidian dragon moved in closer just inches from the two,

“I know this dragon is Toothless’ mother; I’m sure of it, trust me”

Spinning around, face to face with the obsidian dragon looking deep into Fluttershy’s eyes, none of them moved from their spot as the dragon moved in close ready to lift its large paw at Fluttershy as it…

Began to hug her…

It was a miracle, even to Twilight, as the great obsidian dragon hugged Fluttershy in a moment of bliss, Fluttershy returned the hugging embrace towards the dragon as Toothless let out a happy growl as he rushed forward towards his mother. Both Toothless and his mother hugged each other and rolled around on the ground playing with one another, happily together once more,

“I'm so proud of you, Fluttershy”

“At that moment when I looked into her eyes, I knew…”

As both ponies stood there watching the two playing, the dawn of the early morning sun rose into view, shining over the four. As time moved on, the town of Ponyville returned back to normal with a bit of gossip as to the dragon being a hoax by a Pegasus in disguise, but only a few knew about the truth… Fluttershy continued on with caring for her animals within her cottage, Twilight tending to her duties as being the new Princess, Rainbow Dash bragging about being faster than the Wonderbolts, and Rarity, after her confrontation with the little obsidian dragon came out with a new line of obsidian-designed outfits. Though at times, Fluttershy remembers about the time she was brave enough to stand up to her fear of dragons and to show Kindness even to those that may seem scary at first, is far different than which they truly are.