A Butterfly and her Dragon

by Writer-0

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy
Length: 7618

A filly Fluttershy finds a certain dragon egg the day she earns her Cutie Mark.

A lonely Pegasus, scared by the world around her and content just being by herself. On a faithful day, she earns her cutie mark. What if on the same day, she also found a dragon egg. How would one simple shift change Fluttershy and Spike's life?

AKA, a story I'm surprised didn't get made sooner.
Inspired by The Dragon of sweet apple acres, My Dragon Brother, and Spike Pie.

Special thanks goes out to
NaomisHeadspaceART at devianart for making the cover. Seriously, thank you for this! :twilightsmile:

Published 2019-06-21 00:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-08-18 02:24:51 UTC

Egg

Author's Note

Heh, so this is my first story ever on this site after reading so much stories. Once again, I'm surprised this story hasn't been done already.

I OWN NOTHING

Egg

It was by far the most beautiful and exciting thing in the young pony's life. For the shy little filly, the sight of so many critters around her, wanting to be around her, desiring to be around her, it was practically a completely different world from the one she knew in the clouds. In the sky, it could get windy, cold, and a little lonely, but right here on the ground, she felt warm, secure, and loved.

Not that she was ungrateful for her mommy and daddy. She loved them as much as she could, and they also did their best to raise her well. Although, and it felt a little strange for her to say this, but they were almost more shy and quiet than she was. Not that she was criticizing them for that, she did prefer a more gentle hoof, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to put it down every once in a while.

Her baby brother came to mind when she thought of that. It almost pained her to think negatively about anybody, but she had to admit to herself that Zephyr was quite often very irritable. Maybe that could associated to his younger age, but the foal didn't understand the concept of personal space, or rather, considered everything to be his personal space. Everything was his and nothing was sacred. Every toy, every blanket, every pillow he would take on almost a whim, and he would throw it out once it 'lost its specialness', which was just code for 'I don't know what to do with it anymore'. She really hoped he grew out of it. It would be nice to finally own a hairbrush that didn't have bits of his blonde mane in it.

Then there was her best, if only, friend Rainbow Dash. She was definitely more outgoing then her, as well had a bit brash, a smite bit stubborn, maybe a little too hardheaded, but she always stuck by her. Whenever other foals teased her for being to timid, she was the only one that didn't laugh at her. In fact, she started racing that colt on her behalf, which was what sort of led her to this very moment. Fluttershy hopped she wasn't too much of a burden on her though, always needing to be helped, always scared of what came next.

But now, now she didn't have to be scared. Now, after seeing the most beautiful array of colors she's ever seen flash before her eyes, she had the company of so many animals she could have never encountered on the ground, so many she couldn't even imagine ever having the chance of seeing.

Maybe life wasn't as scary as she made it out to be. Maybe, maybe all she had to do was take the chance and..

POP

Another sound came through the air, scarring off the critters like before. Without the beautiful colors accompanying them, the foal thought she needed to fly off as well. And without the aide of her new critter friends, she didn't feel at all confident about facing whatever scared them away.

Except, no other sounds were made. The air was once again silent, almost too quite, even for her. Her eyes widened at what laid before, what made everything fly and crawl away from her, what she almost was scarred off by.

An egg. It was purple with spots covering it, but other than it's rather huge size, it was just that, and egg. A harmless, lonely egg.

With no immediate danger after her, she slowly made her way towards the object. It didn't have any cracks on it or anything wrong with it from what she could tell. Did some random bird just decided to abandon it's newborn in the woods? Well, at least she assumed it was a bird. She heard reptiles laid eggs somewhere before, and she didn't want the ire of a angry mother crocodile on her back.

She gently tapped on the egg. Nothing, it was quiet, and even felt a bit thicker than she expected. 'It probably still needed some time to hatch.' she thought. "Hello?" She whispered, hopping any animal would've stayed behind if they truly left behind and egg.

There was no reponse. She flew higher to grab some bird's attention. The Blue Jay's said no. The Cardinals said no. The Ravens, the hawks, the eagles, it seemed even with her newfound ability of animal communication, she couldn't find the parents of the egg.

A chilling breeze came from behind, making the filly shiver a little, half from the cold, half from worry. Didn't eggs need warmth to hatch? Would the baby on the inside die if was left unattended? The thought almost made her throw up.
Rushing back down to the eggs side, she felt it. Surprisingly, it was still warm, warmer than she was expecting, but with the day threatening to turn into night, she worried that wouldn't last long. She gently began rubbing the egg all over, keeping the egg's warmth all over. What else could she do? She didn't have a blanket on her, and she definitely wasn't a strong enough flier to carry the egg back to her cloud home. She could go grab something either, afraid something else might come along and take the egg away.

'Don't momma birds sit on their eggs?' She blushed a little at the thought. She doubted even Rainbow Dash wouldn't be able to resist laughing at her for such a silly idea. She looked left, she looked right, and she looked above her head. Nopony was around to laugh at her. An ideal setting for a less than ideal situation.

Gathering as much twigs and sticks as she could, she began making the best nest she could make. She really had to thank the birds in the surrounding area, without them, she wouldn't have been able to build it half as confidently.

Placing the egg on the nest, she put it right in the center before commencing the more embarrassing part of this idea. Afraid to even breathe on it, she lowered her body on the egg, stopping every 5 seconds out of fear of crushing the air. Her yellow fur finally made contact with it as it rested against her belly, making her curl up so she could cover it as best as she could.

She gently petted the egg once more. Nothing came back. Daydreaming back to her early foalhood, she had vague memories of her mother being pregnant with her own baby brother. For hours and hours on end, her mother would lay down on the couch with her father, gently talking to the unborn baby almost everyday until it was born.

She didn't know if it was possible for the baby to here her from the outside, but it sounded like a nice enough thought to give a try. "Ah, hello." She spoke softly, feeling a bit silly for expecting the egg to talk back somehow. "You, you don't know who I am, and, and I'm pretty confused on who you are as well. You haven't responded to anything I've done, so I'm just going to make sure you're well rested enough to hatch."

She really hopped her voice was more of a comfort than a bother for the egg. Unless it was a dud and wouldn't hatch at all. Now that was a scary thought for the filly. This egg needed to hatch, it needed to be free, to be with it's family.
"Of course, I don't know where your family is. I can only assume you somehow gotten separated from your mommy and daddy." Unless the mommy and daddy left it all alone and abandoned it all together.

The more she though about, the more scared she felt for the little one inside. Here, something amazing, something beautiful was about to take place before her very eyes, and yet no one would be here to see it. Nobody to care for it when it looked for it's mother. Nobody to protect it when it sought its father. No family, no friends, the baby would grow up alone.

"No." She said with much more confidence in her voice. "I'm going to make sure you're never alone. I'll be here for when you hatch. I'll be there for whenever you need me." The egg still remined silent, but she smiled, as if she already felt the egg agreeing with her.

"The world can be a frightening place, but it can be less scary when you're with someone who care about you." She though back to her family. No matter how withdrawn she was when around other ponies, she would always have them. This little guy had no one. She was lucky. "I'll, I'll be sure to care for you. I'll care for you when you're young, and I'll care for you when I'm old. I'll make sure of that."

The silence in response felt a little more soothing. The sun was still up, and it's warmth was shinning down on her. She did her best to stay awake, she really did, but the drowsiness won out, shutting her eyes for the nest few hours, cuddling the egg closer to her person, unaware of the small crack beginning to form.

Celestia's sun was quick to leave her comfort, for her taste at least, as a chilly breeze woke her from the slumber. "Are you still okay?" She asked the egg. She still needed to find a way to take care of it full time. Maybe she could find a way to hide it and come back for it.

Now that she thought of it, the bottom of her belly felt the flat surface of the ground, which alerted the filly as she finally saw what happened. Her entire body was in the nest now, with a cracked egg shell split right down the middle.

"No, no I didn't.." This couldn't be right! She was supposed to protect the egg, and now she may have lost the baby, or even worse, smashed it in her sleep. "No, I, I couldn't, I, I wanted to, wanted too.." Her voice disappears the tears began piling on and on. "I just wanted.." She repeated over and over again. She spent the next 5 minutes trying to cry away the pain, only to come out no better for it. She just got her cutie mark! Today was suppose to be the happiest day of her life, and now here she was, alone, terrified, and sad with something pulling at her hair..

Wait.

She was so sucked in to her own guilt that she failed to notice something was tugging ate her mane the moment she woke up. Now that she thought about it, she felt some extra weight had been added to her back as welt. Whatever it was, it was knowing on her hair and had some pretty sharp claws, which rubbed against her just enough to feel the pointy ends of them.

She froze immediately, now too frightened to even think about her previous lingering guilt. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes passed, and the thing was still on her. Carefully breathing, she slowly pushed herself back up, hoping at the very least whatever it was didn't react too negatively to her movement.

To her relief, the creature, who she could feel was much tinier than she expected it to be, slid off of her like running water down her back, making her duck behind a tree the moment she knew she was free. 'What to do, what to do, what to do!?' Whatever that was, it already had a taste for her? But what was it!? And what did she do wrong!? She'd never bother anypony before.

Unless that was the angry parent of the egg that now wanted bloody revenge for the death of it's unborn. She now had blood of her hooves, and now she had to meet her maker.

'Wait, I can talk to animals now! Maybe I could explain myself?" Longshot? Definitely, but it was either that or be mauled by some vicious beast. With possibly her last deep breath, she closed her eyes, came out from the front of the tree and prepared to face the full fury of some vicious, slobbering beast...

..only to be met with the young eyes of an adorable, drooling baby instead. It was way, way smaller than she was expecting, purple with a trail of green spikes from head to tail. It was completely hairless, covered in smooth scales instead of fur. The more she saw the baby try to crawl, the more the Pegasus found herself drawn to it. She unconsciously started walking forward, kneeling down to look at the creature eye to eye.

"Hello." She cooed, making sure her voice was soft enough for the newborn's ears. This had to be what was inside the egg. The little lizard stayed in once place the entire time, just blinking as he came face to face with the filly, trying to get the best look at her he could. "I'm, I'm Fluttershy. Can, can you understand me?"

The mouth moved but the sounds didn't register in the baby's head. He on turned his head on it's left, then on it's right. Was this was he was? What could he call himself? Seeing the Pegasus in it's kneeling position, the baby used all the strength in it's young muscles to copy it, only to fall flat, making it sniffle in its failure.

"Nononono, don't, don't cry, don't cry." She repeated, scooping the little guy into her hooves and holding it close. "I'm here. You don't have to worry about falling when I'm around." Her wide eyes and gentle smile made the hatchling stop its crying, reaching out and touching her nose, gripping it as tightly as it could.

The filly only chuckled at this, thinking the hatchling was trying to hug her. Willing to comply, she did so, with his head facing backwards as she held him. She patted his back as she tried to make him as comfortable as possible. "There, there, no need to be afraid of anything.

FSSSHHH

Her eyes widened as the back of her felt suddenly warmer. It didn't help that the baby giggled in delight. Afraid to turn around, she faced the tree she hid behind, and saw nothing but black soot in it's place. The birds and squirrels resting in its branches made their anger loud and clear, but it felt deaf on the Pegasus as she looked at the pile of ashes, and then the baby, who smile couldn't have been any bigger.
This baby was a dragon.

Dragon.

Dragon.

Dragon

If she wasn't still in awe of the babies cuteness, she probably would've dropped in and flied right home with enough speed to make a sonic rainboom. Dragons, fearsome, gruesome, horrible creatures that devoured any pony unfortunate enough to get in it's way. The smog they produced made everything dark and scary, their teeth were sharp enough to cut through pony bodies, with claws that were said to be sharper. If you ran into a dragon, it was best to either play dead or be dead.

But that's not what she saw when looking into this little hatchlings eyes. Innocence, cuteness, playful. This described a normal foal, not some savage beast. There was no way she could ever be afraid of something, no, someone like this.
"You're not scary at all, are you? I bet there's not a single bad bone in your body." She proclaimed as it clamped itself to her leg. "You're just a normal baby, aren't you?"

The baby sneezed, showing a steam of green flames from it's mouth.

"..you just happen to be a little different." She rationalized. Aside from the fire, she could get used to this. The warm feeling she got when she was able to comfort little creature, when she was able to comfort this little guy. She could do this for her entire life.

"Fluttershy! Fluttershy!" A raspy voice yelled, making the pink maned filly cover the dragon's ears (at least, where she though the ears were) as a color maned Pegasus stopped in front of her. "Fluttershy, you're here! I couldn't find you after the race and I really needed to tell you about how I w.."

Fluttershy noticed that her friend now had her own Cutie mark as well, a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. "Huh, must be a coincidence." She noticed right then her friend had stopped talking, staring at purple creature now occupying her leg.

"Fluttershy, what the heck is that?" She asked with half shock, half astonishment, probably because she didn't expect the normal recluse Pegasus to allow something so strange looking so close to her, let alone touch her like it owned her.

"Oh, ah, I found a big egg earlier, and I think I hatched it." She said with a small hint of pride in her voice. "And I think he thinks I'm his mother."

Biting shows you care

Author's Note

Heh, sorry about the wait, but I finally got my first job, so a lot of my time has been taken up. Nevertheless, here you go. Enjoy.

Also, special thanks goes out to Sweetolebob18 for proof reading this chapter.

Biting shows you care

Rainbow Dash considered herself a pretty good friend, especially towards Fluttershy. She understood her love of flying, fast pace movement, and athleticism were a little too much for the butter colored Fluttershy to handle. Sure, it was a little grating at times when she had to slow down so she could catch up, or when she had to go to a Wonderbolts show on her own, but she was probably the kindest, most understanding Pegasus she ever met. Truly a one of a kind friend she would never find again.

So what if she needed to stay behind every once in a while? So what if she needed a little push every now and again? She was her friend, and she was going to stay stuck to her like glue.

The point being, they had been friends with each other for years, so Rainbow knew that if there was anyone out there that knew Fluttershy the best, it was her. She knew her fears, what annoyed her, and most of all, her interests.

A tiny baby dragon that clamped itself to her leg was definitely not on that list. "I think that may be the coolest thing you've ever said, but I'm too surprised by the fact it's happening to do anything about it. Seriously, is this something I should be celebrating, or be in absolute terror of? Because I am leaning towards celebrating, but I know how you feel about dragons."

"Oh no, if you are going to do something, could you please keep it down? His ears are still developing, and I'm trying to keep him as calm as possible." The dragon itself had fallen asleep, but kept itself attached to Fluttershy's right front leg. Aside from the small trail of smoke that he breathed out of his nose, he looked normal, completely at peace with the world around him.

"Okay, but what exactly are you going to do with it.."

"Him Rainbow Dash. He's a dragon, not a rock." Fluttershy leered at her with as much intensity as she could muster. It wasn't much, but something about that amount of concentrated anger and disappointment sent a shiver down the rainbow filly's back. She was just glad death defying stunts were nearly as scary as this. Hopefully she would never see her do that to anypony else ever again.

"But still Flutters, you have a baby dragon hanging from your hoof." Once again, she had to double check herself if she was actually saying those words about the same filly. "What exactly are you going to do with him? Is he like your new pet or something.."

"Oh, I'm not sure really. I've tried talking to him like I did with the birds and squirrels before, but he doesn't seem to understand me. I think he's too young to talk to people though." She laid down to get a closer look at the sleeping reptile. "I, I at least want to take him up for the night, but I don't think I'm strong enough to fly him all the way up."

"Wait, did you say talk to.." Was today just going to be filled with surprises? "You know what, hit me with the bombshells another time, I'm already struggling with reality today as it is." Not wanting to be surprised by anything else tonight, Rainbow closed in on the baby, cautiously approaching it for Fluttershy's sake. "So what exactly are we going to do here?"

"Ah, I didn't really think I was going to get this far." Frankly, she already began accepting the idea she may have to stay down here until the dragon was fit to live on its own. Not the worst idea, the forest seemed to be a peaceful enough place. Maybe she should consider moving down here. "Just, gently slide him off." She lifted her leg up with little effort, though the weight made it a little difficult to balance on three legs.

"Okay." Rainbow did as she was told and place her hooves on the baby's sides. "Come on little guy, loosen up a bit." No budge, the baby's grip was tight as a lock. "Stop messing around." Her frown increased as she put more muscle into it, but he barely flinched to it. "Seriously, Dumbbell's dumbbells are easier to move than this!"

"Rainbow, shush."

"Sorry!" She screamed, enacting another shush from Fluttershy. "Give me a break here!" She yelled in a more whispery tone. "It's not like it's making a difference! I could literally do anything right now and it wouldn't make a difference!" To prove her point, she waved her left hoof in front of her face and begun to wave it, unaware the dragon's eyes were beginning to stir. "See, absolutely noth.."

CHOMP

"OWWWWW!" Pulling away as fast as she could, the little lizard was ripped from the pink maned pony's leg, as it had now a strong grasp on Rainbow's hoof. "GETITOFGETITOFFGETITOFF!" She flew as fast as she could, hoping to swing it away. Screw Fluttershy's stare (no offense to Fluttershy), but if it meant actually having a hoof in the future, than she was going to take it.

"Rainbow! Baby! Rainbow!" Her friend's plight had sent her upwards towards the clouds, and what could only be described as instinct jumpstarted in Fluttershy. She flapped her wings with more force than she's ever been able to use in the past. With each flap of her wings, she rocketed behind the blue Pegasus, eyeing the purple speck that hung on only by a tooth.

Tears were now coming out of Fluttershy again, and she didn't know if it was from the blazing wind blowing across her face, or the fear that was overwhelming her. "I'm coming Baby!" The very idea of something so small, so innocent, so very, very helpless, something like her, in danger just broke her down on the inside. "Just, Just hang on a little while longer.

The little dragon himself, dazed and confused, did everything in his power to bite even deeper than before, hoping something tasty would come out of this. It seemed the more he tried to chew this, hard, round surface, the harder it turned out to be. Hm, maybe he just needed to bite it again.

"STOP THAT!" Rainbow cried out, finally reaching the cloud surface. Doubling her efforts, she shook even more violently, waving and spinning in every conceivable direction she could think of. "I'm not a chew toy! Why does it have teeth to begin with?! You just hatched!" She lifted her hoof above her head and threw it down in one final effort to throw the dragon off.

Instant relief came to her in as she felt the lack of fangs in her hoof. She rubbed it tenderly as she sighed. "Good, now all I need to do is wait for Fluttershy to come up and we can take the little monster back to her place, right?" She half expected the dragon to at least try to say something in response, so the lack of silence was a bit concerning. "Right?"

She looked around everywhere. Not on her left, not on her right. The only indication that it was there at all was the small hole right in front of her. A grim realization hit her. "Oh crap, that thing doesn't have wings, does it?"

"I GOT YOU!" The Blue Filly was thrown on her back as a blaze of yellow, pink, purple and green rose from the small hole, allowing Rainbow to breathe a whole lot easier. The last thing she needed to happen on the day she earned her cuite mark was an accidental baby death. "Are you alright?! Did you get dizzy, or nausea, or, or, or hurt somehow?" Fluttershy asked the little thing. She almost seemed perfect in this type of role.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking." Dash, a little unhappy with being ignored, decided to joke. Unfortunately, her friend didn't feel the same way.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Rainbow didn't even know Fluttershy was even capable of yelling. She didn't even raise her voice whenever Zypher did the little brother thing and annoyed them."NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE SOLVED WITH HIGHSPEED VELOCITY YOU KNOW!"

"Okay, okay, I get it!"

"Do you Dash, do you?" Fluttershy squeezed the little guy closely. "He could've been hurt, or traumatized, or, or worse!" The dragon big smile seemed to indicate otherwise.

"Hey, I didn't ask for it to bite me.."

"It's just a baby! He doesn't know any better!"

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't account for his feelings due to me losing all feeling in my hoof!" She groaned as she walked around in a circle. An argument with probably her best friend, again, way to much of a curve ball for any day. "Look, I'm sorry for scaring you." Fluttershy still had that unnatural frown of disappointment on her. "And for putting the little guy in danger."

"Better. Now, don't you want to go greet each other properly this time, do you, do you?" She cooed to the reptile, who just smiled back with complete innocence. "Come on Dash, I'm sure he's learned his lesson now."

"Yeah, because babies are known for learning quickly. Seriously, have you even met you own brother?" Sarcasm aside, Dash supposed this wasn't the worst thing to do. Heck, if the dragon hadn't almost bitten her hoof off, she would've admitted the little guy was kind of cute. For now, she'd save the compliments for when he'd actually earned them. "Hello, I'm Rainbow Dash, officially the fastest pony alive as of today!"

The dragon responded in the only way it could've possible done so. He reached out his little hand, and lightly pinched her on the nose with a small chuckle. "I'm pretty sure that means he like's you."

"Really? Because the bite mark must mean we're friends for life." Someday she'll get that dragon back. For now though, there was just one thing on her mind. "Exactly what are your plans for bringing him home? I mean, it's not like we can just go up to them and say.."

"I found a baby dragon and I want to keep him." Fluttershy said honestly once they came to her house. Initially, they were shocked at the sight of the two Fillies at all, seeing as they still had another week of flight camp left. Apparently, organizing an impromptu race, knocking everything down with a legendary sonic rainbow, and going missing for hours were grounds for early release.

All that, and the rather blunt admission of their daughter kept them as still as statues, with expressions of shock, horror, and confusion plastered all over their faces. "You just had to be honest with them."

"I know, but I've always been taught to never lie to authority. It just leads to problems down the road. Besides, I need to be a good role model now that I'm looking after him." Fluttershy now had the dragon on her back, resting peacefully. The only real problem at the moment was Zephyr trying to get his grubby hooves on the little guy. Fortunately, Rainbow's presence was enough to keep him away, though it was less out of fear and more out of the embarrassment of the meaningless stutters he'd go into whenever she was around.

"Well, I, I have to say, this is a surprise." The mom was the first to find her voice again. "Fluttershy dear, when you said you wanted to make a change during flight camp, we kind of hoped it was for something, not that."

"Yes, we, we love you, and you know that we support you no matter what." The quiet voice of the father spoke. "But, isn't this, a little, big for a filly?"

"Maybe, but I also got my cutie mark today." Humbly, she showed her flank to the members of her family, who were now even more agape at the non-social butterfly of the four. Even Rainbow was taken back a little, somehow completely missing that they both now had their marks. Today was feeling a lot less like a series of epic coincidences, and more along the lines of a thought out plan for their lives. "I can talk to all sorts of animals, and that led me to finding his egg."

"Come on guys, please, please let us keep it." Zephyr managed to get past Rainbow. "Having a pet dragon is like the most amazing thing ever! Everypony's going to be jealous of what I have."

Of course, can't be supportive without being a little greedy. "Dear, uh, if we agree to this, then your sister would own it." The mother cleared up.

"Oh come on! Why can't I have something cool whenever she get's something cool?"

"Because I'm trying to take care of him, not flail him around like every new toy you throw out!" Fluttershy raised her voice, not nearly as loudly as she did with Rainbow earlier, actually a lot closer to her normal tone, but still enough to get her brother to back away in shock. Her parents followed likewise, though not without some hint of pride. "And he's a he! He's not my pet! He's, he's.." Actually, she didn't even take the time to figure out how this was going to work. "I, I don't really know, but for now, I want him to be my friend." Stirred awake, the dragon woke up with a slight daze, staring right into the eyes of Fluttershy, feeling nothing but comfort and security. "Do you want to be my friend?"

The dragon smiled after letting out a small sneeze of green flame, making Mr. and Mrs. duck for cover. On the one hand, it was a dragon, that alone should warrant a town evacuation.

But on the other hand, Fluttershy seemed to be a lot different than the filly who barely had the strength to flap her wings right. She spoke up, spoke clearly, and didn't run away in terror of the creature they'd spent hours explaining wasn't hidding in her closet. "Normally, we, we'd hold a little more reservation with these kind of decisions." The father said.

"But, the dragon does seem to, hehe, spark a certain, confidence in you Fluttershy, so, maybe for now, it's for the best if you watch over him." The mother finished.

"Really?" Said a confused Zypher.

"Really?" Said a baffled Rainbow Dash.

"REALLY!?" Declared Fluttershy, swooping up the little drake, cradling him in her hooves like the newborn he was. "Did you hear that? You get to stay with me. You get to be a part of my family."

"Speaking of which, exactly what are you going to call him, because I am a little tired of hearing the word 'baby' over and over." Rainbow complained.

"Good question." What could you call an adorable baby dragon that didn't make him sound threatening when he got bigger? She took a long look at the little guy, smooth purple scales that felt like they were polished, cute little spines that green spines that grew from head to tail. Or was it more appreate to call them spikes?"

That's it!

"Spike. His name is Spike."

"Really, Spike?" Zypher question as if he had anything to say about the situation. "If he was my pet Dragon, I would totally come up with something totally more amazing, like.."

Whatever name he was about to sell was left untold, as no one in the room really cared to hear him out, especially the dragon now named Spike, who let out a loud belch in Zephyr's direction, which once again, had a trail of emerald fire follow it. Not enough to scar the colt for life or leave permanent damage, but enough to burn the top bun of his rather shaggy blonde mane off. The colt looked like he was about to scream, turning purple as he held his breath. "IGOTTOUSETHERESTROOM!" He screamed out, running off to freak out in privacy.

"Okay, Spike it is then. That almost makes up for everything." Rainbow chuckled, now having the baby drake stare at her. "Almost."

"I guess that's settled then." Fluttershy flew to her room to plan out what she was going to do next, along with Spike in her hooves. "Welcome to the family, Spike."

Diamonds aren't just for fillies

Taking in the rather small reptile was something of a small event for the household. The Shy's meant to keep it on the down low for as long as possible, but when you have to deal with the regular trials of a newborn, your house would be anything but quiet.

It didn't help either that Spike would burp fire almost every hour on the hour. Fortunately, the hole he created in the house wall made a rather convenient window, so anytime he showed the signs, Fluttershy would take him to it so he could let it out. Great for the house, not so great for the occasional victim.

Nobody really gave them a hard time for their choice to take the dragon in, except for the occasional concerned citizen and Zephyr, who had yet to stop complaining about his burnt mane. Rainbow's parents also initially held some reservation about their daughter hanging out with Spike, though she was able to calm their worries with ease, no matter how sore her hoof still felt. The little dude was now someone important to Fluttershy, so now she would stick by his side as she would by Fluttershy's.

Boy was she regretting that decision right about now.

"Oh come on!" As if trying to bite her hoof off wasn't annoying enough, she now had to worry about losing her tail too. The baby thankfully only bit for a second, but the pain was still enough to cause momentary grief. "Do I look like a buffet to you? I'm candy colored, not candy flavored."

"Sorry Rainbow, he's teething." Fluttershy apologized as she held a small green container with a spoon inside. "Time to eat, little Spikey. Here's something yummy to keep you strong." The baby refused, holding his head high to avoid any contact with his mouth. "Spike, you need to start eating. You'll get sick if all you do is chew on Rainbow.."

"Trust me, I'm already sick of it."

Spike remained defiant, knocking the spoon out of his caretaker's hoof. The consequences were unavoidable after that.
"Now Spike, I've been very, very patient with you." Fluttershy's voice lowered but the volume increased. "I loved taking in that sweet, adorable dragon to my family, and I love you. The least you can do is eat something." Spike eyes were now forced onto Fluttershy's eye's as they were now wide eyed and angry. For a good 20 seconds, the hatchling felt alone and terrified, like every scary thought he could ever conceive was now appearing right before him in some kind of horrible amalgamation of horror. "Otherwise, I wont be happy, and when I'm not happy, then you won't be.."

The dragon practically swallowed the entire spoon before she could finish. It felt icky and slimy, but the less he saw the filly in whatever state this was, the better.

Rainbow herself held her jaw at the scary sight, not sure if this was impressive or terrifying. She wasn't sure if it was the passive or aggressive side of her speech that made her feathers stand on the edge. "Flutt-Fluttershy, what was that?"
"It's something I've been working on ever since I got my cutie mark. I just focus really hard and ask." Fluttershy said with absolutely no trace of the tone she had before.

'Should I be worried about this?'. Fluttershy not being walked over was a nice thing, but that little performance actually made her feel sorry for the dragon. "I'm not going to see that every time I come over, will I?"

"Oh, I certainly hope not. I find it a tad too extreme to use. I just really needed to get him to eat something." Fluttershy let out a long breath, sinking to her stomach before turning on her back. It was here that Rainbow Dash was finally able to get a close look at her friend. Her mane was very unkempt, even more so than her own, and her eyes were a little dark and heavy. "He keeps rejecting everything I give him.

"Whoa, Fluttershy, I know you're the one that brought him here, but shouldn't your parents be taking care of this kind of stuff? You look like you haven't slept in a while."

"Mom and Dad are still getting used to living with a dragon. It's hard enough trying to get them in the same room together." For as supportive as they were, it was hard to appreciate it when her parents were doing it from a distance. "It wouldn't be much of a problem if I knew what he needed to eat, but none of the baby food my parents bought seems to make him happy."

"Aren't there books on this type of thing? I mean, I'm not exactly an egghead, but shouldn't there be some sort of instruction manual on how to train your dragon or something at the library?"

"No, no. I haven't found anything. Ponies are too scared too actually get close enough to study." Being so close to Spike now, that almost felt like a silly superstition. "I didn't think about this long enough. How am I going do this?"

Before Rainbow Dash could offer a comforting wing, the door to Fluttershy's room got busted wide open, and the mild severity of the situation seemed to have gotten sucked out the window and replaced with something much worse.

"HEL-LO EVERY-PON-Y!" Zephyr exclaimed as the older fillies rolled their eyes. The light green colt intruded with a wide smile. Fluttershy had hoped his annoyance at Spike would've discouraged him from coming into her room so often. Obviously, Zephyr was not one to learn his lesson. "Check out my sweet new crown!"

Indeed, Zephyr had something on his head covered in small but shiny jewels, but all Rainbow could do was snicker. "Ah, I'd hate to burst your bubble, except I don't, but that's a tiara."

"Whatever." He said with disbelief. "Don't be hating just because I already have that royal look about me.."

"Yeah, if you're trying to be the Princess of annoying.." Rainbow muttered.

"You say tomato, I say potato."

"That's not even close to being right." Rainbow once again had to roll her eyes at the little brother's denseness. "Nobody cares about your bald spot, so can you take a hint and leave?"

Little did either know that Fluttershy was attempting to sneak past them, with little Spike being dragged along from grabbing onto her tail. For whatever reason, Zephyr would insist on tagging along everywhere whenever Rainbow was around, which baffled her considering all they ended up doing was bicker with each other. As she tried to drown out the pointless argument, Spike's attention was fully on the small ornaments of Zephyr's tiara. The shiny luster called to the baby dragon, making him lick his lips.

"First of all, it's not a bald spot, it's just an unfortunate haircut." Spike finally let go of Fluttershy's tail. "Second, I can't help if the situation demands my presence. You two would be hopelessly bored without me to spice up your life." The baby had curled up its body before forming it into a pouncing position. "Come on Rainbow, it's not like there's anything better for you to do."

Spike sprang into the air as soon as he finished speaking and snatched the tiara from Zephyr's mane, and immediately began chewing it into bits. Zephyr could only stare in silence as he began crying on the inside. "That, that cost me 10 bits. It had real gems and everything." A single tear fell from the ground.

"I don't know, watching this seems be pretty entertaining." Rainbow smugly smiled with pride. "Well, what do you know? Spike has a great sense of humor."

"I don't think that's it." Fluttershy flew closer, inspecting the bent and broken crown. It was beyond repair for sure, but what caught the filly's attention was it's lack of glimmer. It looked like the baby bit around the crown to get the little gems out from it. Lookin back to Spike, a small crunch could be heard from within his chewing mouth. The baby's satisfied smile was all she needed to know. "He just wanted to eat the gems."

"AND HE HAD TO DISTROY MY CROWN FOR THAT?" Zephyr screeched, though Rainbow easily pushed him to the side.

"Okay, that answers that, but what are we going to do now? It's not like we can go to the jewelry store for every meal."

"He can eat other foods, it just looks like gems are his preference." Fluttershy eyes lit up. "Zephyr, you wouldn't happen to have more tiara's?"

"Well, yes, but.." He wasn't even given that chance to finish as Rainbow dashed out of the room and came back with a whole trunk full. "I spent a lot of bits.."

"Put a sock in it. We'll pay you back eventually." Rainbow reached into the chest and flung another tiara to her friend.
"Thank you Rainbow. And thank you Zephyr. Spike really appreciates it."

"Like I care what.." Rainbow shoved him out of the room, leaving nothing but frustrated muffles from behind the door. As satisfying as that was, Fluttershy had to get back on track. Holding the baby food from before in one hoof, she held the tiara in the other, presenting both before the young drake. As she expected, the baby was going for the tiara.

"Now, now, Spike, you can have one gem." Shaking the headwear, she shook it until one of the jewels fell out. She made sure his eyes were glued to the gem as she placed it in the baby food. "You can eat that gem, but you'll have to eat everything else in order to get it."

Annoyed, Spike opened his mouth wide so that another spoonful could enter his mouth. He nearly gaged. It sloshed around his mouth, but their was no gem. "Again." Spike relented, allowing another spoonful in. Still no gem.

That's how it went, again, and again, and again. Mouthful after mouthful, more of the green goop was poured into the drake's mouth. Spike belly filled up rather quickly. As much as the thought of having more of those tasty stones pleased him, he really couldn't take another bite.

Fluttershy smiled as Spike refused to take another bite, even though the gem was right in the middle for him to see. "Good Spike, maybe next time you'll actually eat it."

"You totally made sure to avoid that gem, didn't you?" Rainbow was strangely proud of her friend. "Now that's just cruel."

"Not at all. I just do what I can to take care of what I love." She turned back to the now full dragon, already drifting into slumber. "Okay little one, time for your nap." Grabbing ahold of him, she ducked under her bed and grabbed a single blanket and pillow from underneath. With no fight in him, Spike embraced the soft coziness of his 'bed', sleeping immediately upon contact.

"Why do you have a pillow and blanket under your bed?" Rainbow tilted her head. Definitely not one of the weirdest things she'd been exposed to within the past week, but odd nonetheless.

"Uh, sometimes when it gets a little too stormy, or too dark, or too noisy, I sleep underneath to protect myself. That's not too weird, right?"

"It's more normal than living with a baby dragon, so there's that. I mean, it's not like you live under there." Rainbow took a glance under the bed. She found herself dumbfounded. "Why is there a lamp stand under here? And how did you fit in an entire bookshelf?"

"I'm afraid of the dark. I don't spend a lot of nights sleeping, so there was plenty of time."