Tyrants Path

Spike sat there, clicking his long tongue in thought as he stared down at the massive hole. At the bottom, grass, flowers, and some trees had been planted, making the hole seem more natural, and a part of the river that beavers had once dammed up now flowed down the side in a waterfall. The excess water would be drained into a hole on the size, leading to an underground reservoir, which the Apple Family would use in crops. Hopefully, the beast would like its new, temporary home.

Spike looked towards the forest, his wings tucked against his side, the soft, cool breeze brushing against his scales. He watched birds fly off in the distance, humming in thought, before looking back at the hole.

"I don't know, maybe we should make it bigger."

"We should make it twenty percent cooler."

"Now what does that even mean?!"

"I really doubt the big one will want something cool."

Fluttershy turned to Spike, watching him, seeing him stare into the hole. She slowly walked over to Spike and sat next to him, wrapping her hoof around him, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"Sorry Shy, I have a lot on my mind." Spike mumbled out, staring into the hole again. He looked back to see Chomper chasing a light that Rarity was casting from her horn, snapping and biting the at the little light. "He happens to be one of those things."

"Yeah. We have to reintroduce the hatchling to the adult slowly, so we don't freak out Chomper." Fluttershy said, before resting her hoof on her chin. "Though, we have no clue how the adult will react to you, Spike."

"What do you mean?"

Twilight trotted over, ready to congratulate the group on their work, when she saw Spike and Fluttershy sit together, stopping in her tracks, her wings flaring out a bit. She slowly walked over, straining her ears a bit to overhear. Zecora watched from the sidelines, humming in thought as she looked between Twilight and Fluttershy, rubbing her chin with a hoof.

"Well, Spike, Twilight and Rainbow Dash filled me in after I came in with Zecora. It isn't just normal for a carnivore to do that. It sounds like it was trying to communicate with you." Fluttershy pointed out, before scooting closer to Spike, looking down into the hole. "Maybe you should try talking to him?"

Spike sighed and ran his hecks through his spines, making them flick back up, before saying, "Well, I just dragonnapped his kid, so I don't think talking will really work out."

"We'll find a way. We always do, despite how I might act sometimes."

Fluttershy only smiled, before placing her hoof on his hand, her gaze returning to the apple orchard and slowly setting sun. He looked at her, his eyes widening a bit, before blushing and gently adjusting his hand to grasp her hoof. Although Fluttershy was blushing wildly, she didn't retreat into her mane and just watched the hues of the pink and orange sky with Spike.

Twilight started walking away from the duo, her mind conflicted at the sight, her ears downturned and wings rustling a bit. That was when Chomper ran up to Twilight and gave a loud, throaty chirp, catching her attention.

She looked down to see Chomper, who was currently holding a tennis ball in his jaws, staring up at her. It seems Applejack dug out a toy that belonged to Winona and Chomper was currently playing it. He dropped it at her feet and stared up at her, giving another chirp, his tail waving to and fro.

She smiled, before grasping the ball in her magic and tossing it, Chomper chirping excitedly as he chased it, snapping his jaws after it. Twilight looked back at Spike and Fluttershy, who were leaning on each other, then walked back to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who were watching the two.

"Ah, young love, ain't nuthin like it." Applejack spoke, making Twilight blink, Rainbow Dash snickering at the words.

Chomper took this moment to reappear, running next to Spike, sitting next to him, the young drake scratching the youngsters back with his free hand.

"Our little Spike is growin up." Applejack said, making Rainbow Dash roll her eyes.

"He's already grown up, AJ!"

"That's not what I meant."

"He finally found a mare that likes him and you're too busy thinking about how tall he is."

Twilight blinked as she watched the bushes on the other side of the hole rustle. She squinted a bit, before seeing the bush stop, the fur on her neck standing up as she stared at the bush.

"Hey, gals, what is that?"

The bushes shook again, much louder, catching the others attention. Spike grasped Chomper and slowly walked backwards, his wings flaring out and shielding Fluttershy through instinct, his lips peeling back to show his fangs.

"Is it the big guy?!"

Zecora pulled Applebloom close, straining her ears as she adjusted on her hooves, ready to run, before saying, "The birds do not flee, and I do not see its shape near the trees!"

Chomper gave a soft chirp, his eyes scanning the treeline, sniffing the air, before wilting a bit into Spikes arms. That is when the beast jumped out of the bushes, feathers fluffing in the dying sunlight, staring at the group, their shocked faces the first thing it saw.

Only for it to get distracted by an ant on the ground, using its long tongue to flick out and try to lick it up, confusing the group.

"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked Twilight, who quietly took out a notebook and starts drawing the beast, its one fingered arms flexing a bit as it chased the ant.

Standing on two legs, covered in fluff and having a face disk, with one clawed arms, and a small head with a long tongue, this was the famous Shuvuuia deserti, which meant "Desert Bird", a small theropod that was best suited for hunting colony bugs, much like anteaters. It stood around 3 meters in length, was covered in feathers, and its hands had one large, powerful claw.

Fluttershy subsequently squee'd at the little creature, making it jump up and stare at her, wary, before giving a soft, squeaky chirp. Spike sat down, confused, the rest of the group walking over to inspect it.

The Shuvuuia gave a squeak, before jumping on a log behind it and scampering off into the jungle, the group not noticing the pair of eyes watching from the treeline, narrowing in on Chomper and Spike. A soft huff was released, before something darted out of the bushes, watching Spike as it took cover behind a tree.

It will stalk them before making its next move.

Spike took a glance at the setting sun, before nodding to himself, looking back at Twilight and Zecora. "We should head home and get ready for when we spot the big guy again."

"Agreed, let's get some of those stink bombs, Zecora. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."