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Description
It was a beautiful morning to feed the animals, but instead of the early-morning serenity that usually opened up each day, tension weighed heavily in the air. Fluttershy and Marble Pie, who usually used this time to bond, were starkly at odds with each other.

At this point, they couldn’t talk about anything without it leading back to the baby dragon in their home.

“Piper could have been seriously hurt! You don’t know what could happen when that dragon—“

“That dragon is named Rosemary!”

Fluttershy snipped back before Marble could fret any further.

“I can’t believe you! She’s our daughter and you’re treating her like she doesn’t belong!”

“She doesn’t!”

Marble quickly felt a pang of guilt at what came out of her mouth. She was terrified after the “incident” with Sandpiper but she didn’t mean to come across so heartless. She knew her wife worked hard to take care of Rosemary just like she did any young and helpless creature.

“I mean…”

“Shhh.”

Fluttershy shushed her softly. She was absolutely peeved and ready to argue further, but she had a job to do first. So she poured some birdseed on the ground and waited patiently for the songbirds to come for their breakfast.

This moment of silence gave Marble some time to think about her feelings and how she wanted to express them, how she could get Fluttershy to see her side. As she pondered, a pair of birds landed by her hooves and she got an idea.

“These little ones have a family, right?”

“Mmhm.”

Fluttershy mumbled out what would usually be Marble’s typical response, her teeth still gripped tensely around the bag of seed.

“Imagine if another bird took one of their eggs while they were away. Maybe…a toucan. Those birds live in the rainforest, which is no place for a little songbird. And they’re omnivores, I think. A songbird wouldn’t be able to handle eating lizards and rodents and who knows what!”

“Where are you going with this?”

Her wife asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew.

“The toucan who took the egg would have no idea how to raise a songbird, because their home and lifestyle aren’t fit for it. And Equestria is no fit for a growing dragon. We don’t know the first thing about raising one! If you hadn’t taken her from that nest, she would be raised by her kind and they would know how to take care of her.”

“So you think we should send her back?”

Marble nodded, so sure of herself that it made Fluttershy want to scream.

“Do you know what would have happened if I hadn’t taken her egg home? I don’t even want to think about it…because she wasn’t even in a nest. She was all alone, abandoned in a bush. We’re the ones giving her any chance of a life at all.”

The earth pony mare was about to object to this, but Fluttershy stopped her.

“But you do have a point.”

Fluttershy almost didn’t want to admit this, but she was always wiling to put her pride aside when it concerned someone else’s well being. This wasn’t about who was winning the argument.

“I was just as scared as you were when Rosie started breathing fire. I guess I realized…we’re really not prepared at all. We have no clue how to keep her AND Piper safe, I really should have thought this through.”

“Hmm?”

Marble almost couldn’t believe it, for once Fluttershy was starting to admit she was wrong in all this. That she’d gone behind her back, forced a baby on her that she didn’t sign up for. That she shouldn’t have brought the dragon home at all…well, not that far yet. But maybe she’d soon realize that.

“But I know plenty of dragons and ponies who could help us. Spike was a dragon raised in Equestria and it worked out really well for him. If Twilight could do it, so can we.”

Or not.

Fluttershy grew less peeved and more confident, once again assuring herself that she could solve anything as long as she was kind enough, as long as she cared enough.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”

But when Marble would usually have been comforted by her wife’s ability to take charge and problem-solve, she wasn’t convinced at all. Fluttershy had been too confident before and this is where it got them, putting their child at risk.

She was starting to lose trust in her judgment.

~~~~~~~~~~

Previous: Going Sour
Next: Babyproof

Background by Snuggle-Pounce

~~~~~~~~~~

[Image Description: Marble Pie, a silver earth pony with a straight gray mane, is arguing with her wife Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with a pink ponytail who is simply glaring pack at her, gripping a sack of birdseed between her teeth. In the space between them are two birds eating seed from the ground, a songthrush and robin colored to look like Bertie and Speckle from “Tuca & Bertie.” End Description.]

Description
It was a beautiful morning to feed the animals, but instead of the early-morning serenity that usually opened up each day, tension weighed heavily in the air. Fluttershy and Marble Pie, who usually used this time to bond, were starkly at odds with each other.

At this point, they couldn’t talk about anything without it leading back to the baby dragon in their home.

“Piper could have been seriously hurt! You don’t know what could happen when that dragon—“

“That dragon is named Rosemary!”

Fluttershy snipped back before Marble could fret any further.

“I can’t believe you! She’s our daughter and you’re treating her like she doesn’t belong!”

“She doesn’t!”

Marble quickly felt a pang of guilt at what came out of her mouth. She was terrified after the “incident” with Sandpiper but she didn’t mean to come across so heartless. She knew her wife worked hard to take care of Rosemary just like she did any young and helpless creature.

“I mean…”

“Shhh.”

Fluttershy shushed her softly. She was absolutely peeved and ready to argue further, but she had a job to do first. So she poured some birdseed on the ground and waited patiently for the songbirds to come for their breakfast.

This moment of silence gave Marble some time to think about her feelings and how she wanted to express them, how she could get Fluttershy to see her side. As she pondered, a pair of birds landed by her hooves and she got an idea.

“These little ones have a family, right?”

“Mmhm.”

Fluttershy mumbled out what would usually be Marble’s typical response, her teeth still gripped tensely around the bag of seed.

“Imagine if another bird took one of their eggs while they were away. Maybe…a toucan. Those birds live in the rainforest, which is no place for a little songbird. And they’re omnivores, I think. A songbird wouldn’t be able to handle eating lizards and rodents and who knows what!”

“Where are you going with this?”

Her wife asked, though she was pretty sure she already knew.

“The toucan who took the egg would have no idea how to raise a songbird, because their home and lifestyle aren’t fit for it. And Equestria is no fit for a growing dragon. We don’t know the first thing about raising one! If you hadn’t taken her from that nest, she would be raised by her kind and they would know how to take care of her.”

“So you think we should send her back?”

Marble nodded, so sure of herself that it made Fluttershy want to scream.

“Do you know what would have happened if I hadn’t taken her egg home? I don’t even want to think about it…because she wasn’t even in a nest. She was all alone, abandoned in a bush. We’re the ones giving her any chance of a life at all.”

The earth pony mare was about to object to this, but Fluttershy stopped her.

“But you do have a point.”

Fluttershy almost didn’t want to admit this, but she was always wiling to put her pride aside when it concerned someone else’s well being. This wasn’t about who was winning the argument.

“I was just as scared as you were when Rosie started breathing fire. I guess I realized…we’re really not prepared at all. We have no clue how to keep her AND Piper safe, I really should have thought this through.”

“Hmm?”

Marble almost couldn’t believe it, for once Fluttershy was starting to admit she was wrong in all this. That she’d gone behind her back, forced a baby on her that she didn’t sign up for. That she shouldn’t have brought the dragon home at all…well, not that far yet. But maybe she’d soon realize that.

“But I know plenty of dragons and ponies who could help us. Spike was a dragon raised in Equestria and it worked out really well for him. If Twilight could do it, so can we.”

Or not.

Fluttershy grew less peeved and more confident, once again assuring herself that she could solve anything as long as she was kind enough, as long as she cared enough.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”

But when Marble would usually have been comforted by her wife’s ability to take charge and problem-solve, she wasn’t convinced at all. Fluttershy had been too confident before and this is where it got them, putting their child at risk.

She was starting to lose trust in her judgment.

~~~~~~~~~~

Previous: Going Sour
Next: Babyproof

Background by Snuggle-Pounce

~~~~~~~~~~

[Image Description: Marble Pie, a silver earth pony with a straight gray mane, is arguing with her wife Fluttershy, a yellow pegasus with a pink ponytail who is simply glaring pack at her, gripping a sack of birdseed between her teeth. In the space between them are two birds eating seed from the ground, a songthrush and robin colored to look like Bertie and Speckle from “Tuca & Bertie.” End Description.]