Author's Note
Disclaimer: If anyone here knows where the cover-art came from, please... I would very much like to know.
Only Chapter
I had never been much for extravagant and amazing dreams. I daydreamed enough in the day, so I could only conclude that my brain didn’t feel up to the task while I slept. This was why it came as a pleasant surprise when I dreamt of a wonderful, enchanted-looking meadow. When I say this place was pleasant, I mean it. Just resting while staring at the sparkle of dewdrops dancing on rays of sunlight slip past the rustling leaves; it was enough to lull me to sleep in my own dream. It was a perfect place for me to lay in the grass, with the warm light of the sun washing over me.
I sighed. My first shock of this dream came from my voice. Something had changed about it. Like it had became a few octaves higher since I had slept. Did dreams do that? They must, I concluded. I shrugged.
I stretched a bit then leaned back with my hands supporting me. The calm and tranquil feeling of basking in this great place still hadn’t left. I could only surmise that this dream had to be pure fantasy; made up by my imagination and subconscious in order to give me much needed rest. I smiled and closed my eyes as a gentle breeze washed over my skin.
My blissful experience, however, did not continue. I yelped as my body was forcefully raised high in the air, a gust of wind shooting directly into my eyes. I felt my arms bound together with a rope swiftly encasing everything around me. I tried moving my head, but it too was locked into a single position. All around me I could see a netted white rope which seemed to bind itself to my skin. It felt so painful that a few tears leaked from my eyes. And then I saw it.
“What is this…?” I said to no one in particular, while gazing down at my skin. It changed from its usual hues to a dark, sickly color of green. I could barely tell from my position, but if I didn’t know any better I would argue that it looked rough, and almost reptilian in nature. Again I tried moving my hands, but to no avail. I was trapped in my own mind who apparently decided to make my experience into a full blown nightmare.
I heard voices muttering below me and, for the first time, I heard the sound of the monsters that had imprisoned me. Questioned whirled in my head. Why was this happening? Who would dream up something as surreal as this? I certainly never had, even in my wildest daydreams. All thought processes stopped when I felt a large prick on my back side.
“Ah!” I screamed in shock. It was then that the veil of pleasant emotions had finally stopped. I could see my new reptilian claws and I could feel the very real wind flowing across my tear streaked eyes. This was no dream or even a nightmare, it was my reality. I passed out before I could process any further.
“We caught a dragon!” Three fillies screamed out in joy and unison. They jumped up and down in such furious excitement, one might think that it was their life’s ambition to capture unsuspecting drakes. They beamed at each other, but then heard something that made their hearts wrench. No noise or really any movement of any kind from the poor creature.
“Uh, Scootaloo?” The unicorn said toward the orange horse with wings. “I don’t think ferocious dragons are supposed to just lay there all limp.”
Scootaloo nodded in agreement. “Uh, maybe we tightened the trap too much, Sweetie Belle.” She then turned to the only one of the three who had a large red bow in her mane. “Apple Bloom, could you get me a stick?”
Apple Bloom finished playing with her bow and slowly nodded. “Alright, you’re not gonna hurt him, are ya?” she said with a raised brow, knowing full well just how thick headed her friend could sometimes be.
“No,” she replied, then snatched the stick from her hoof. Once it was firmly in her grasp and she was under the drake, she quickly said, “Maybe.”
Scootaloo jammed the stick directly at the dragon's tail, causing it to yelp in surprise. “There we go, he’s fine!” she said with a casual wave of her hoof.
Apple Bloom snapped the stick in half and glared at Scootaloo. “How’d you like if some unsuspectin’ critter just jammed a stick in your tail?” Apple Bloom said in an angry huff.
Scootaloo blinked and shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t feel it since our tails are just made of hair,” she pointed out.
“That’s not the point! Dragons' tails aren’t and now he’s cryin’!”
Scootaloo whipped her head up and, sure enough, the dragon had begun to sniffle and groan in pain. “Ah c’mon! This is supposed to be a dangerous, ferocious dragon! Did we even get our cutie marks for capturing it?!” They looked down to their flanks and all sighed. “Drat! This whole day was wasted!” She then cursed under her breath. “Just let him down, Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie complied then gently let the rope down with her magic. The drake, however, wasn’t moving and his eyes appeared to be shut tightly. Sweetie poked him a few times, but he didn’t move. “Uh, is it deadly to poke dragons in their tails?” she asked innocently.
Scootaloo stuck her ear to the green dragon’s chest and then sighed in relief. “No, he’s fine. Breathing anyway. What’s next on the list?”
Sweetie Belle brought her notepad then crossed out the section for ‘dragon catchers’. “I think the last thing was animal caretakers. Uh, but I don’t think Fluttershy’s gonna let us try that one again, not after last time,” she said with a shudder.
Scootaloo scoffed. “That chicken had what was coming to him. And we don’t need her; not now that we have a dragon to take care of!”
Apple Bloom smacked her hoof into her forehead. “Scootaloo, dragon’s aren’t animals.”
“Semantics. They eat gems and breath fire: sounds pretty wild to me. Like a wild animal. Besides, you weren’t just gonna leave him out here all alone? He looks smaller than Spike,” Scootaloo pointed out. “That’s mighty irresponsible of ya, Apple Bloom.”
“I’m not the one who decided to hurt him with a stick!”
Scootaloo fumed and pointed back to the net. “I didn’t tie the net too tightly, that was your job!”
“I didn’t even want to capture a dragon! This was your stupid idea!”
While Apple Bloom hadn’t called Scootaloo stupid, just hearing the word was enough for her. Scootaloo pounced onto her friend and began roughing her up. Apple Bloom, being the stronger one, was able to pin her down in a manner of seconds. “Settle down, Scoots. Or--”
Sweetie Belle sighed and stood up, then coughed. “I’m done. I told you two if you fight again…”
Scootaloo watched her leave their sight. “Where are you going?”
“Away while you two calm down. I’m also gonna tell Fluttershy about him,” she pointed to the dragon, “so she can help out.”
“Wait, we won’t fight!” Apple Bloom called out desperately.
“If you leave now then we won’t get an awesome cutie mark!”
That did it. Scootaloo’s voice stopped Sweetie in her tracks. She marched back over to them, took on a stoic expression and then sat down. “If I stay can you both promise to not fight for the rest of the day?”
They both nodded furiously.
“Pinkie Promise?” She pressed on.
“Uh, I don’t reckon I can go that far, Sweetie Belle.” Sweetie gave the farm filly a narrowed eye look and Apple Bloom returned it. “I had nightmares for weeks when Pinkie turned up in my closet, only to disappear a moment later. I told you both about that!”
“Uh, well…” Sweetie Belle said nervously.
“I asked her about it, the next day and she said that she hadn’t even been at the farm for weeks! Weeks!” Apple Bloom shuddered a bit. “No Pinkie Promises…”
Sweetie Belle smiled, then gave her friend a quick hug. “Okay, okay. But what do we do with him?”
Scootaloo shoved her friend off then started examining the dragon some more. “Where’d he even come from, anyway? I thought dragons lived really far away.”
Apple Bloom shook herself out of her Pinkie induced shock and shrugged. “That’s a good question actually. Didn’t Spike say that dragons live really far away? I know I’ve never seen another near Ponyville before. You two?”
They shook their heads.
“Huh. Well, now what?”
Sweetie Belle glanced down to their worksheet and hummed in thought. “Well, we should march him back to Fluttershy’s, say it was an accident, and leave it at that. Or…”
Apple Bloom examined her friends eyes and backed away a bit. “You’ve got that crazy look in your eyes!” Then she blinked in confusion. “Oh, wait, that’s usually Scootaloo who does that…”
“Hey!”
“Or, we take care of him and try and earn our marks in doctors!” Sweetie exclaimed excitedly.
“I thought we all agreed that dragons were animals. So, wouldn’t it be vet cutie marks?” Scootaloo pointed out.
Apple Bloom huffed again. “Animals don’t talk, Scoots.”
Scootaloo shrugged. “I didn’t hear him talk, did you two?”
They didn’t seem to have an argument for this, so Scootaloo continued. “Whatever, vet or doctor marks sounds good enough to me. Let’s get him back to the clubhouse and treat him! We kind of caused this mess so...”
“Ah suppose it is our responsibility to the poor critter. Sweetie Belle?”
“Let’s do it!”
I listened to the savage beasts speak among themselves while I pretended to lay unconscious. I had awoken sometime during their speech; a speech I didn’t understand. What did they want with me? I had heard of stories of ancient, savage tribes who would eat men unfortunate enough to wander their ways into their camps. I did my best to play dead, knowing full well that a single twitch could set them off. I didn’t dare open my eyes.
Their language sounded quite strange coupled with their high pitched voices. I wondered back to how mine had sounded, pondering on just why it had changed. Of all things I was worried about my voice; not my surroundings, my new skin, those monsters who enslaved and wish to eat me or where I was. No, my voice had been the oddest anomaly, in my opinion. Would a new body do that? I suppose I should have been thankful that I could even speak at all, giving my desperate circumstances.
I nearly jolted in fright when I felt their soft, furry stumps touch the base of my body. Were they carrying me off? Was this it for the life of Nathan Farrlen? My whole life and it leads up to being captured by furry creatures intend on eating me whole. Would I even be missed? Would they know what happened to me?
My thoughts jolted me back to reality when I felt my body lift up into the air, only to come crashing down into some kind of metal contraption. This was it, I was doomed and I didn’t even have the courage to run. A few tears leaked from my eyes, sliding down to the metal bed below.
“He’s so… heavy!” Scootaloo said with a grunt. she’d been trying to perch the small dragon up onto her back for all of ten minutes. She was insistent that her friends not help, for fear of hurting the drake.
“Scootaloo, just let Apple Bloom do it. She’s stronger and--”
“I got this! Just back off!”
Apple Bloom walked past her friend’s insistent hoof, then in a swift motion picked up the drake and gently slammed him into the back of their wagon. She looked back to Scootaloo smugly then stuck her tongue out.
“Whatever… stupid Earth Pony strength. Let’s just go.”
Sweetie Belle looked down to the dragon curiously and gasped. “I think he’s crying again.”
“Well, pet him or something,” Scootaloo suggested.
“Why?”
‘It’s what my mo-- Uh, I mean I’ve seen Applejack do it to Winona when she’s upset. Just try it.”
Sweetie shrugged and started to pet the dragon’s back in tiny circles. She even leaned down to coo to him, as if comforting a newborn. She would earn that cutie mark even if it meant going the extra mile!
Dear god! They’re trying to placate me for the feeding! I bet they’re checking how plump I am for the final feast! Oh dear god in heaven, if anyone is listening please help me! Save me from these beasts of burden! I shuddered in fear, knowing full well that they now knew I was awake.
“I don’t think it’s working, Scoots. He sounds mighty upset. You sure we shouldn’t just have Fluttershy look him over?”
Scootaloo shrugged while keeping her eyes on the dirt path. When she slowed her scooter down, she called back to them, “Maybe you can sing to him; I bet Fluttershy would.”
Sweetie nodded, but before she could even get out a single syllable, Apple Bloom stopped her. “Oh, oh, I’ve been practicing! Let me!”
Apple Bloom immediately began singing in an off tone, scratchy voice. Sweetie giggled, then swiftly joined her with a slightly more refined and elegant song of her own creation. Scootaloo couldn’t decided on which friend to mirror, so she alternated between both causing many ponies to stare at the three odd looking fillies, singing their hearts out as they whizzed down the streets of Ponyville.
Without looking down, the three Crusaders assumed that the simple gesture of a jaunty tune that would calm the dragon's heart. Of course given that the three did not recognize that they were out of tune and, unfortunately, out of sync, the three failed to notice just how badly they sounded. Almost anypony they passed along the way did, in fact, notice this as they covered their ears in displeasure.
They’re chanting! The primitive beasts are celebrating their soon to be feast! My heart wrenched while I felt the tinge of rapid anxiety course through me. What would they eat first? My legs, my arms? Would they rip the flesh from me after cooking it to a crisp? And when, oh god when would they stop that horrific chanting?! Would I even get a chance to run? With all of these morbid questions swirling around in my head, I had barely registered when we finally stopped moving.
This was it, the moment where I die.
“Did that help?” Scootaloo asked Sweetie Belle.
The filly poked the baby drake a few times, waited, then it promptly jumped up, screaming in terror. The dragon didn’t seem to know where it was going, which was why it didn’t shock them any further when it ran straight into a tree and collapsed yet again.
“...I don’t think so, Scoots.”
Scootaloo groaned then dismounted her scooter so she could go check on him. Her friend’s watched, transfixed, as she tiptoed over toward him. “I think he passed out… again. Apple Bloom, you think you can get him up to the clubhouse?”
“Already done!”
Scootaloo blinked in shock. She turned back and, sure enough, the dragon’s body had already vanished. She soon joined her companion’s inside who seemed to be busy propping the dragon up onto a mattress. “You know I think it’s only been ten minutes and we kidnapped a dragon, made him pass out twice and already carried him up to our secret headquarters.”
“Ah don’t reckon that Applejack wouldn’t be very proud of us…”
“And that’s why she’s never gonna know!” Scootaloo announced nervously. “Agreed?”
“But the dragon is gonna raise some questions, Scoots. They’ll wanna know where he came from and what we’re even doing with him,” Sweetie Belle replied rather sagely.
“So? It’s not like he can speak for himself or anything. It’s our duty to be translators for him so we can tell his side of the story! You know, when the time comes for that.”
“Ah think we’re doomed, Scootaloo. We should really just give him over to Fluttershy and maybe, just maybe she won’t say anything.”
Not wanting to give up on the idea that this could be the opportunity they had been waiting for, Scootaloo groaned and shook her head. “She’s afraid of dragons! So no!”
“No! She’s scared of big dragons! Scootaloo, we’re gonna get in trouble if we keep this up!”
“Girls! Don’t fight!” Sweetie urged. “You promised!”
But instead of heeding her words, the two began arguing back and forth, screaming at each other which, in turn, caused Sweetie to join in.
They’re fighting over who gets to eat me! I have to get out of here, I thought with a start, finally waking up again. As they fought, kicked and screamed in terror, I slowly inched my way over toward the door. My mind felt so hazy that I barely registered the details of anything except my potential freedom and their yelling.
I was so close to my freedom; I could practically feel my heart pumping its way out of my chest, or trying to anyway. When my hand, or claw as it were, touched the door I felt an immense swell of happiness. I was saved -- that was until I felt something furry on my shoulder, causing me to stop in horror. I was caught.
“Shh, it’s okay, Mr. Dragon. We’re not fighting anymore,” Sweetie Belle murmured while doing her best to relax him. She rubbed his shoulder place in tiny circles over and over.
Sweetie’s friends calmed down and looked at each other guiltily.
“Sorry Sweetie,” they said in unison.
She sighed. “Look, you promised not to fight. But, Scoots, Apple Bloom’s right. I know you want your mark just as badly as anypony else, but we’re not gonna get one by taking care of a gibberish speaking baby dragon.”
Scootaloo looked away, but didn’t have the drive to fight her. You just didn’t fight back with Sweetie Belle, just like Pinkie Pie, you won’t win that battle.
“Besides, maybe Fluttershy can teach us something about taking care of him. Not the worst idea we’ve ever had,” she said in a renewed and perky tone.
“Hey, yeah! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before!” Scootaloo exclaimed as if it were her idea in the first place.
Apple Bloom remained perfectly silent.
“But how do we get him to come with us without another freakout?”
As it turned out, the words freak out was the exact words required to cause said dragon to leap into the air, dash at the door and break it down without much effort. When it was over with, there was a baby dragon shaped hole left in the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse. The three silentlty stared at one another, as if daring one of them to go after the frightened drake. They of course knew that by even bothering to do so, they would open themselves up for a world of trouble. After all, it wasn’t as if the dragon could communicate with other ponies, and tell them what had happened.
Still, a big part of Sweetie Belle’s conscience caught up with her, so she sighed. “C’mon, girls, if we don’t do something then I’m sure he’s gonna get hurt. We scared him… some how. So let’s go fix this.”
Scootaloo took a few steps past Sweetie, then called back to her, “I’m gonna regret this, aren’t I?”
The sounds of horrific screams, property being destroyed and a scared creature running in the distance greeted them. As if the universe had answered Scootaloo for her.
“Eeyup.”
My alien feeling, chubby feet made me feel clumsy which in turn made me feel motion sickness, but I ran for all I was worth. I had no clue where I was going, just that I had to get as far away from these creatures as I possibly could. I had no plan for after, but if I didn’t hurry then there wouldn’t be a later. Trees, bushes, buildings and even those terrible creatures blurred in my vision as my steady pace increased. Off in the distance I saw a forest which seemed like the perfect place to hide so I could get my bearrings. If I could just get to it, then I would be safe!
“Scoots? You find anything?” Sweetie asked, after re-joining her in the search.
Scootaloo stood, perched on a rather tall rock, facing the forest. Her posture was relaxed, and, for some reason, she seemed to be blowing bubbles out of a wooden carved pipe. “Sweetie Belle! Attention. You’re late, maggot! Drop to the ground and give me twenty!”
Sweetie scratched her head several times before reluctantly speaking. “Twenty what?”
Scootaloo just remained still, her stoic expression and constant stream of bubbles never ending. “Heck if I know! Do I got a cutie mark yet?”
“Uh… no.”
“Okay, so I guess I’m not a military general. You can scratch that one off, Sweetie.”
Sweetie Belle blinked and resisted the oh so welcoming urge to slam her hooves into her face. “Scootaloo, did you even look for that dragon?”
“Yes! I just, you know, figured we also work on other cutie marks while we’re at it. Besides… if you don’t find him… not like ponies are gonna know it was us that scared him. Right?”
Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes, but before any response could meet Scootaloo’s ears, an unwelcoming one did.
“This your dragon?”
Scootaloo turned on the spot and watched as Rainbow Dash, the Rainbow Dash hovered just above them, holding a shivering baby dragon in her hooves. She had her eyes square focused on Scootaloo and did not look the least bit happy. Sweetie Belle surmised this probably had to do with her usual pristine, rainbow colored mane now colored a smokey black.
Rainbow tapped glared down at them impatiently, daring either of them them to respond.
“Wow, Sweetie Belle, your acting skills have gotten so good! We better tell Miss Cheerilee that play on the dragon is so on!”
Rainbow shook her head.
“We’re in trouble, huh?”
Rainbow chuckled. “Trouble? Hmm, the way I see, you’ve got two options. You can either accept your punishment and take it like a grown mare… or run, let me capture you, and get your punishment anyway. Your call, kid.”
Scootaloo went to reply, but Rainbow shook her head. She tried again, only for Sweetie to repeat the gesture, apparently not willing to get into any more trouble. Finally, upon the third time, she paused - thought better of trying to make an excuse - and sighed. They were in trouble.
“Ah’m real sorry for telling on us, girls. I couldn’t find the dragon and Ah kept panicking and Rainbow found me out near the forest… so I just panicked som’more,” Apple Bloom admitted while scrubbing hard into her front porch.
Scootaloo grunted but, for the sake of retaining their friendship, said nothing and scrubbed away.
“It’s okay, Apple Bloom. I bet we would of been found out soon enough. We always seem to,” she said, muttering the final part. “Besides, your sister’s right: if that dragon hadn’t of been caught, he’d be in danger out in the forest.”
The farm filly snorted. “Yeah… heh, he was a danger to Rainbow’s mane.”
Sweetie giggled, but for the sake of retaining the image of awesome that was Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo just kept on cleaning.
“Still, what’s gonna happen to the dragon?”
“Eh, I’m sure they’ll just ask Spike what to do,” Scootaloo replied casually. She then slowly stopped cleaning and looked at her two friends. “You girls ever notice how Spike seems to just, like, know things?”
“No.”
“Nope.”
“Oh…”
“Why would I know what to do with a baby dragon? In case you haven’t noticed I am a baby dragon…”
Twilight Sparkle and her five friends were all gathered around Spike and the magically induced sleeping drake. Spike kept looking down at it as if it were some foul beast that would attack at any moment. The uni-alicorn in question kept a fake smile plastered on her face as she stared down at Spike.
“What do you mean? You’re a baby dragon, he’s a baby dragon! You have so much in common!” Pinkie argued, her usual poofy mane threatening to flatten out.
“Uh huh. I can see that, but didn’t Princess Celestia say to do something about him?”
“We are!” Twilight argued. Her eyes twitched a bit and she seemed like she hadn’t slept in ages. “Spike, how would you like to earn six-”
“Twelve,” he argued.
“Uh, right, twelve pristine gems? All you have to do is… find out where he lives and… let us get some sleep. Please?”
Spike scratched under his chin, everypony ready to hang on his every word. He shrugged. “I guess if-”
“Great!”
In the span of about three seconds, a baby dragon was dropped into his arms, along with twelve small gems. Six ponies then ran out of the castle as if their lives depended on it.
Twilight came back a moment later. “I live here so… yeah.”
Spike sighed. “C’mon, little guy, time to see a certain Zebra.”
“So, Zecora, how would you like to earn three-”
“Make it half a dozen, or of my help have you none.”
“...Six shiny gems. All you gotta do is help me find this little guy’s home!” Spike gestured to the drake, while patting him a few times. “...Please.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Have you asked him where he lives? Perhaps the answer he will simply give.”
He shrugged. “He doesn’t speak Equestrian.”
She frowned and sighed. “Ah, I can help this dragon that is lost, but the answers we seek may come at a cost.”
“More than six gems?!”
“No my dragon friend, not at all, where he’s from, is truly abysmal.”
What are they doing? I thought while looking around frantically. I saw no pot to cook me or pit to roast me on. No. I was being carried toward what looked like some oval shaped television. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was a trick mirror; not reflecting anything as it should have. Instead of feeling the instant death I just could feel was coming, I instead felt a sharp, cold sensation flow all around me. It was such an alien feeling, I couldn’t help but yelp out in surprise. Then, it was over with. I felt myself being unceremoniously dropped onto my ass like I was just kicked out of a cartoon bar. I blinked, heard a small noise from behind me, and suddenly I felt alone.
“Hey, is that someone’s lost puppy?”
“Wha.. youch!”
I felt myself being lifted by the scruff of my neck. And, as I looked down a bit to examine myself, I saw a bright green colored set of furry puppy paws. I could only think one thing: What now?
