“Dragons are extremely dangerous creatures. Do not approach them for any reason. Do not provoke them in any way. If you see a dragon, turn around and seek cover,” Twilight read out loud.

She put down the book and looked at the tiny baby dragon in front of her, who was chewing at his own tail.

“He doesn´t look that dangerous. This book isn´t helping. It´s only telling me that dragons are dangerous. It doesn't explain anything about them.”

She looked at the book a couple of times more , trying to match the terrifying picture in the page with the drooling creature that rocked back and forth on the ground. Twilight had never seen a live dragon before, only heard stories about them. Shining Armor once told her a story about a dragon that tried to eat a princess and she had nightmares for a week. But she wasn't scared at all of the baby dragon, she found him quite adorable.

Twilight wanted to know more about him. The teachers refused to give her explanations and even Princess Celestia dismissed her questions, saying it was simply a special test. That didn't satisfy Twilight´s curiosity so she insisted to the Princess that she be allowed to stay with the dragon a few more minutes, before he was taken away. The Princess agreed to give her half an hour while she attended some business, reminding Twilight to take good care of the baby since he was her responsibility now. Twilight took the chance to ask her father to get her some books about dragons from the library before they left her alone with the baby, but they weren´t helping.

Twilight looked at the baby, who was still chewing on his tail, not doing much else. She had to admit that, while she did find him cute, the novelty was starting to wear off. That the Princess called him her “responsibility” made her feel important, like she had a special duty. But that duty was starting to become rather boring.

“Don´t you get tired of doing that all day?” she asked the baby, who obviously didn't answer back.

Twilight inspected the room and found a ball on the floor. It was next to a few other objects, probably used by a previous student for another test. She levitated the ball, which took her a lot of effort, and moved it next to her.

“See? A ball. You see?” she asked the baby, moving the bright red object in front of him.

This got the baby attention, and he stopped chewing at his tail. Twilight pushed the ball to him and made some gestures to tell him to push it back. The baby dragon just looked at it, confused. Twilight sighed, thinking that maybe he was too young to even understand her. He had hatched just a few hours ago after all. The book said something about dragons living a lot longer than ponies but nothing about their lives after they left the egg.

Just as she was thinking that, the ball rolled next to her. She looked and found the baby standing on his four legs, just like she was. Smiling and feeling proud of him, she patted his head.

“Auh! We have to do something about that spike,” she said, looking at her sore hoof.

Hearing this, the baby dragon made a noise which sounded like laughter. Twilight wasn´t exactly happy that he laughed at her pain, but he looked so cute, she decided not to say anything.

At that moment, Princess Celestia and her parents returned.

“Is everything alright, Twilight?” the Princess asked.

“Yes. We were having fun,” she replied.

“It seems you did a splendid job taking care of him,” the Princess congratulated her.

Twilight´s mother patted her head, congratulating her on her own way.

“Well then, little one. It´s time for you to go to bed,” the Princess, levitating the baby dragon.

She was careful and gentle but Twilight couldn't help looking worried. She felt like the Princess was doing something for her. Wasn't the baby her responsibility, after all? Shouldn't she take care of him? The baby seemed to agree, looking at her with sad eyes.

“Does he really need to go?” Twilight asked the Princess.

“Don't worry, Twilight. The Princess will take good care of him,” her father answered for the Princess.

“But I thought I was supposed to take care of him.”

“You´re still too young to be taking care of a dragon on your own. He may be a baby, but he´s still a dragon and needs special care,” the Princess explained in a soft tone.

Twilight lowered her head, not wanting to argue with the Princess but also, not wanting to show the sadness on her eyes.

“So keep that in mind every time you come visit him at the Palace,” the princess added.

Twilight cheered up in a second and the baby responded, smiling along with her. The Princess nodded at the Sparkle family and walked towards the door.

“Good bye, Spike!” Twilight said, waving at the baby.

“Spike?” her mother asked and Twilight blushed, not sure how to explain herself.

The Princess smiled and said, “Good name.”

Twilight waved once more at Spike who waved back at her.