What's a person, or a pony in this case, without their pets. And even the Mane Six have their own cuddly little pals. Meet their pets! Owlowiscious Gummy (…) plz Angel Bunny Applauds Opalescence Tank (sleep) plz Winona (Spinning in the Chair)

Our pony pals have very special, adorable, and unique animal companions. Applejack has her border collie, Winona; Fluttershy has her white bunny, Angel; Rarity has her persian cat, Opalescence; Rainbow Dash has her tortoise, Tank, Twilight Sparkle has her owl and nighttime assistant, Owlowiscious, and Pinkie Pie has her toothless alligator hatchling, Gummy. When we think of species of pets, a cat, a dog, a rabbit, and a tortoise would be preferable, while an owl and an alligator would be totally unexpected. And for somepony who loves flying fast, it's quite fascinating how Rainbow's pet would be as slow as a turtle. But then again, that tortoise has ideas of flying fast like his owner. These critters are really quite something. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie's history on acquiring Winona, Angel, Opal, and Gummy are a mystery, however, we all know how Twilight and Rainbow got Owlowiscious and Tank. Here are their stories.

Twilight never had a pet before. The only non-pony companion she had was her young dragon assistant, Spike, and he was proud of the respect and attention he got for it. However, his services to Twilight would wear him out, especially when he would want to work on into the night. This would concern his pony friend. But then, things were about to change. One night, after Twilight, Spike, and their friends got to see a meteor shower, the little dragon tuckered out. When they returned home, Twilight started writing her findings on the meteor shower, but couldn't help but wonder on how to help Spike with his workaholic service to her. Then, hearing a tap on the balcony door, she looked but found no one there. When a shadow flew past the window, Twilight opened the window to investigate, but a gust of wind blew her report out of another window. While she bemoaned the fact that it would normally be Spike's task to retrieve the scroll, an owl flew in through the window, hooted at her, and dropped the scroll onto her table. Twilight thanked the bird and invited him to keep her company while she worked. Seeing how efficient the avian was, Twilight decided to adopt the owl as her "new junior assistant." Owlowiscious was now a new member of Twilight's family. However, Spike did not like the idea. In fact, he became jealous of the newcomer, and thought he wanted to replace him as Twilight's assistant. And things only got worse. Later, Owlowiscious found a book damaged by Spike's fire breath and Twilight scolded the dragon for hiding it from her (surprised she wasn't livid with him burning it). So Spike really decided to get rid of his new rival. He framed Owlowiscious for killing a toy mouse. But when Twilight returned to see the pitiful attempt to remove the owl, she still expressed disappointment in Spike again. Convinced that Twilight no longer wanted him, Spike ran away from home into the Everfree Forest and took shelter in a cave full of gems. He realized too late that the cave belonged to an adult dragon, Owlowiscious, who followed the ketchup trail left behind Spike when he used it as blood for his framing scheme, soon arrived and saved him. The two caught up with Twilight, who admited to Spike that she only needs Owlowiscious for additional help at night, and that Spike will never be replaced. From the moment on, the dragon and owl became the best of friends. There have been times when Owlowiscious would at as the voice of reason whenever Spike was way in over his head, but the two remain good buddies. And while still her nocturnal assistant, the owl became Twilight Sparkle's beloved pet and possibly her familiar since she delves in magic.

Rainbow Dash also never had a pet in her life, and seeing how the rest of her best friends had animal companions of their own, she grew envious. After seeing the rest of her friends out in the park on a playdate with their pets, Rainbow expressed how she felt left out because she had no pet, and then explained that just because she didn't have a pet it didn't mean she never wanted one. With help from Fluttershy, Rainbow tried to find herself an animal to be her pet using a series of contests. Fluttershy spotted a tortoise who wanted compete in the competition as well. After a series of events, Rainbow Dash challenged the four flying finalists — an eagle, an owl, a bat, and a peregrine falcon- to a race through Ghastly Gorge, the one crossing the finish line with her to be her new pet. In the race, Rainbow Dash's wing was caught under a rock, but the tortoise, who had continued to race, arrived to help free and take her to the finish line. At first, Rainbow was going to accept the winner of the race, the peregrine. However, Rainbow didn't feel right with the falcon as her pet, even if it was everything she wanted. She said that her pet would be the one that finished the race with her, and the tortoise was the only one who did so. So, Rainbow would call the tortoise her new pet and named him Tank for his tenacity. And what's more, Rainbow could finally be part of the pet playdate with her new pet, who would wear a magical copter made by Twilight to fly with his new friend. However, Rainbow discovered that having a reptile for a pet has one drawback. Before they could have their first winter together, Tank was already showing signs of entering hibernation. To avoid missing him throughout winter, Rainbow tried to sabotage the Weather Factory, but to no avail. Although this was very hard to accept this, Rainbow had to let Tank sleep through the winter, but he will wake up every spring. No matter what, Rainbow and Tank would always be the best of friends.

Of course, having a pet can be a handful, or hoofful in this case. Rarity's cat Opalescence can be very irritable towards her pony, and act a little snooty. But despite the too much pampering the persian would receive, she can be a good kitty, especially with the rest of Rarity's best friends and pets. Fluttershy's bunny, Angel, can be a real burden for though. The rabbit can be immature, bossy, and spoiled, acting bratty when he wouldn't get his way. But he will help his owner when she needs it, like planning for a real Nightmare Night fright for her friends. However, even he has reasons for acting up. After Fluttershy opened up her animal sanctuary, Angel felt neglected when Fluttershy's work at the Sweet Feather Sanctuary prevented her from giving him attention. Zecora the zebra offered them help by giving them a potion that caused them to switch bodies. Initially ecstatic at finally able to talk to ponies other than Fluttershy, Angel was pressured into handling all of Fluttershy's duties at the Sanctuary, which he handled with complete indifference and callousness, resulting in chaos. When an exhausted Fluttershy returned to the sanctuary, Angel turned to the other animals for help and acknowledged how difficult Fluttershy's work is. After the two returned to their own bodies after reconciling with each other, Angel offered to help out around the sanctuary every now and then so that Fluttershy would not get overwhelmed with work so frequently.

But the one creature who had the biggest problem with the pets was Spike. Before Twilight Sparkle became an Alicorn, she and her friends were invited to the Crystal Empire to welcome the Equestria Games inspector. Before they would set out, Spike asked if he could pet-sit for them in exchange for gems for a gem-filled cake for him. Unfortunately, Spike found the task a little more daunting than he expected and had no time to mix the gems into his cake in which ended up spending his gems as an attempt to restrain the pets. When he along with the pets and the Cutie Mark Crusaders accidentally boarded the Friendship Express to the Crystal Empire, Spike feared being exposed as a fraud when he admitted to the pets that he put himself over their needs. The pets then cooperated and stayed quiet until the Express returned to Ponyville where Spike happily returned the pets to their owners. Spike learned that pet-sitting means that you need to pay more attention to their needs, and not just your own. And that our pets will always be beloved to us.


I've been thinking about this for some time. I must admit for some of the pets, finding the right poses was a challenge. But nonetheless, it was worth it. If you all notice, the pets are in the same positions as their owners, more or less, and they have the same background. To tell the truth, I was thinking about giving Tank his copter, but having him hover might be a little trickier than anticipated, and not just making the vector, but also to place it without having a part of him cut out from the pic. I'll continue experimenting and see what I can do.

And one more thing, this month is the one where one of my dearest pets sadly passed away. My tabby, Monkey, was euthanized after a failing battle with liver cancer, and on the day after my birthday. It's very, very sad to lose one of your cuddly, snuggly pals. But I will treasure her for all time.

Mane Six Pets by me

Well, that's all for now. And don't worry, there are more group pics to come.