Chapter 12: Terrors
Despite what many ponies would believe, it was relatively easy living with a baby dragon, especially one that didn't really care for the taste of pony. And even though Twilight had never met any other dragons relatively close to Spike's age, she could still tell he was special either way.
Yet, of course, there were the unavoidable events that could only arise from someone as young as a child, even adragon.These would include early bedtimes, childish hobbies (there wasn't a single comic book in Ponyville Spike didn't own), and of course . . . .nightmares.
Over the years from when she first met Spike, Twilight had experienced more than one restless night. Now, nightmares were a common thing among anyone, but she knew they could always affect children worse than others, even if that child happened to be great at cooking, cleaning and sorting library books.
So, as the years passed, with every terrified shriek that woke her in the night, maternal instincts would kick in and she would quickly be up on her hooves, ready with comforting words and long hugs.
Now,Dannywas a different case altogether.
While Spike was always open to share whatever he was feeling, whether that was just talking about his day at the dinner table, or confessing what his dream was about, Danny . . . Danny never sharedanything.
Oh sure, he would talk . . . . .a lot,but he would never share any concerns with Twilight, at least nothing major. No matter how much she would poke and prod at him, he would merely wave her off with a snarky comment and change the subject.
This, of course, made the mare wonder. Why wouldn't he share anything with her? Was he embarrassed? Did he not think it was worth it? Did he not trust her?
That last thought would always make the mare's heart clench slightly. Even though she had only known the teen for a short while, it was obvious they had bonded. Him, the girls, even Spike. They had all bonded. So . . . . why couldn't he trust her?
But Twilight would quickly brush those thoughts away, mentally telling herself that Danny was just a private kid, and that he liked to keep some things to himself. After all, it was pretty obvious Danny wasn't like many other kids. Whenever she would wonder about it, she could never identify justwhatit was that made him so different. He just . . . was.
Although it became painfully obvious to her that he wasn't as different as one could hope when she would be awoken by screams in the middle of the night, ones that obviously didn't belong to her scaly friend.
Now, Danny had had nightmares before, and most of them never produced a sound from him. He would merely jolt awake in a cold sweat, panting heavily. Quickly deducing he would not fall back asleep anytime soon, he would merely walk to the kitchen and grab a snack.
Then there were the times hedidscream. It had only happened once or twice, but each time, Twilight would race to his room. Andeverytime, the teen would always assure her he was fine, even if it was clear he was not.
In fact, the only reason she knew about his silent nightmares were because he would usually run into Spike on his way to the kitchen, the little dragon occasionally waking to grab a midnight snack. And even then, it wasn't every night.
Who knew? Danny could have nightmares every night and nopony would know a thing! Just the thought of it infuriated Twilight, the strong feelings surprising her sometimes. In the back of her mind, she knew what those feelings meant, but she would always chalk it up to being a good friend and nothing more.
Yet whatever nightmare Danny would have, there was always one thing in common. He wouldnevertalk about them. Ever. Whenever Twilight would question him about them, he would instantly tense up before cracking a joke, quickly changing the subject. Frustration would be an understatement to describe Twilight's predicament, but what could she do?
How could she help somepony who didn't want help? What could she do when every time she tried to get through to him, he would instantly create a barrier of smiles and jokes to keep everyone in the dark.
But what if the barrier doesn't come up? What if, one night, he would be so rattled that his mind would not allow the barrier to come up at all? Twilight sadly got the answer to her question one night. She was instantly awakened when a loud scream pierced through the quiet night air.
Danny's eyes had shot open, but the images of his dream would not go away. They continued to flash before him, shocked gasps and choked breaths would escape his mouth in irregular patterns as he tried to figure out where he was, but nothing seemed to be working. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.
Tumbling off the bed, he landed painfully on the cold castle floor, the flashing images before his eyes refusing to fade away. Crawling underneath the bed, Danny had curled around himself, wrapping his tail around his shivering body. The world around him continued to spin as everything began to flash black with traces of blues, reds and greens.
It felt almost as if he were underwater. Everything was muted and blurry and cold.
Freezing.
That was how Twilight found him. Curled up underneath his bed, staring ahead blankly, tears streaming down from his faded empty eyes. "Danny?" She had called, a small twinge of fear shooting through her when the teen's ears didn't even twitch. It was as if he couldn't see or hear her at all.
Using her magic to gently pull him out from underneath the bed, she had wrapped her hooves around him, nearly recoiling from how shockingly cold he was, almost as if his fur was pure ice. Nevertheless, she had tucked his head underneath her chin and gently rocked back and forth, praying the teen would wake up from whatever nightmare he was obviously still having.
It had taken at least an hour to finally pull Danny out of the trance he had been trapped in, blue eyes finally blinking back into their original state.
"T-Twilight?" He had called softly, barely even a whisper. Barely even a word. Barely even a sound.
"I'm here, Roo." She replied gently, running a hoof through his hair. "I'm here."
Then he was crying. Without another word, he had merely buried himself into her chest and sobbed, his entire body shivering from fear and exhaustion. Twilight said nothing else, knowing there was nothing shecouldsay. But what made her feel worse wasn't the fact that it had taken an hour to free Danny of his mental prison, or the fact that the usually happy, bubbly teen was now sobbing into her chest.
No, it was the fact Danny wouldn't say a word on this the next morning. As usual, he would ignore it and crack a smile. And Twilight would have to live with the fact that the young colt was suffering inches away from her and she couldn't do a damn thing about it!
Still, she knew it wouldn't be able to last forever. Those were the thoughts going through her head as the colt fell asleep in her hooves, cheeks still glistening. Sooner or later, she would get him to open up. As she placed the sleeping colt onto her back, those thoughts continued to give her hope all the way back to her room, where she climbed back into bed, placing the unconscious teen next to her as she floated the sheets over his sleeping form.
Shewouldget him to trust her.
"I promise, Danny."
And that was a promise she planned on keeping.