//------------------------------// // On the edge // Story: The Love of a Dragon // by Racko //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle slowly walked down the stairs in the library, unwilling to start the new day. She yawned softly, taking in the mess of books spread across the floor. Something that hadn’t happened in awhile. Walking slowly past the couch, a small shifting of white catching her eye for a moment before continuing to the kitchen. Levitating a cup to prepare some heaven in a cup, or as others referred to it, coffee. She waited drowsily for the sacred elixir, taking in the wonderful aroma seething from the cup. Levitating it to her lips and taking a sip, she suddenly stopped. Why was there a white mass on her couch? Frantically trotting back to the other room, she got a good look at what was on her couch, causing her jaw to drop. “P-p-princess Celestia?!” she stuttered, confused as to why her mentor was on her couch, and napping. She reached her hoof cautiously towards the white alicorn, who opened up her puffy eyes and looked at the unicorn. “Good morning, Twilight.” she muttered before stretching. Twilight took in the sight of claw marks on the chest of the white mare. “Good morning, Princess. May I ask why you are here, and why you have cuts on your chest? Did something bad happen to Canterlot? Oh no, that could be very, very bad..” she started, getting worked up over the thought of something able to injure her idol and Canterlot. “No, Twilight, none of that. Unless you call your sister forcefully evicting you out of your own bed a disaster.” the princess said with a small, sad smile, trying to reassure Twilight. “Wait, Princess Luna kicked you out of your room? Why?” “Well, let’s just say that it is related to one of your previous questions..” Twilight stood there for a moment before her mind pieced it together. “Spike?...” Celestia nodded, her face showing signs of sadness before taking on a determined shine in her eyes as she looked intently at the unicorn. “Why, Twilight? Why did you repeat the same mistakes with Spike?” she said softly. Twilight looked down at her hooves dejectedly. “I didn’t mean to, Princess. I thought everything was fine, Spike seemed happy and he never said anything about feeling alone to me...” Celestia was sitting upright on the couch now, looking down at her student, a small frown on her muzzle. “You never stopped to think about how he may feel? You’ve spent all these years with him and you still couldn’t tell he was upset?” “No, I couldn’t, and what about you, Princess?” Twilight said, looking up to Celestia with tears threatening to escape. “Why didn’t you help me? Why couldn’t you help Spike like you did before? You had no problem helping him last time!” “I didn’t know he was feeling left out again, I thought that you were keeping your promise to both me and him.” the Princess scolded. “Oh, you knew when your student was freaking out about being tardy, but not that Spike was sad? And he calls you his mother?!” the violet mare retorted. Princess Celestia cringed at the tone and the truth behind the words. She looked down, not saying anything. She closed her eyes, contemplating on what to say, when Twilight spoke up again. “I’m sorry, Princess.” she sat next to her mentor on the couch, wrapping her hooves around the larger alicorn. “I got carried away, I’ve just been kind of on edge since Spike disappeared and now came back, angry at everypony and hitting me..” feeling the princess nuzzle her mane, she pressed a teary cheek against the warm, white chest. “I’m sorry too, Twilight. I shouldn’t have tried taking it out on you, even though I am slightly disappointed.” the two mares sat there for a few moments in silence, enjoying each other's company, when Twilight quietly spoke. “I’m curious, Princess.” “About what, Twilight?” “How did you know Spike returned? We didn’t send you a letter or anything.” Celestia tensed up, unprepared for the question. “Well, um, you see, Twilight.” she started shakily. “I have something to tell you about that blue dragon I asked you to take care of...” Spike stretched, his joints cracking at every movement, his muscles unwilling to move. He opened his eyes, taking in the sights of the Clubhouse. He frowned inwardly, once again feeling alone, getting up from his slumber, multiple waves of emotions washed over him, followed shortly by exhaustion, hunger and an intense headache. Groaning and making his way out of the treehouse, he wondered on what to do, raising a claw to block the rays of the sun. His stomach gave a large rumble, and he decided to take care of his hunger, as well as talking to the pink mare he promised a chat with. Making his way to the Corner, he waved back at everypony who waved at him, though most of the ponies ran away from the dragon. While he didn’t exactly want to talk with Pinkie Pie, he hoped that it would do some good, and that it wouldn’t go sour. He felt calmer than he had the previous day, he just hoped that seeing the mare wouldn’t change that. Walking to the bakery, he took a deep breath before pushing the door open and walking inside. The inside of the shop looked as warm and inviting as ever, albeit void of ponies. Walking up to the counter, he wondered why nopony was around, especially Pinkie. “Hiya Spike!” came a loud, cheerful voice, causing him to jump and look down at the pink mare on the floor looking at him with a large grin, before he jumped back and sat down hard. “Pinkie! Where did you come from?” the hyperventilating dragon managed to ask. “Well, I came from my mommy, of course, silly!” she said. “I mean, what were you doing on the floor?” “I’ve been here the whole time.” Shaking his head, Spike calmed himself from the near heart attack. “Why are you laying on the floor?” “Umm,” she brought a hoof up to her chin before shrugging. “I can’t remember.” Spike brought a claw to his face, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Forgetting temporarily about why he was there in the first place, he sat down at a nearby table. “So why are you here, Spike?” Pinkie asked, bouncing to the table. “You wanted to talk, remember?” “Nopey-dopey.” Spike’s head fell forward onto the table. “You wanted me to talk about what was wrong?” “Oooooh! Now I remember!” Pinkie said, sitting down across from Spike, a mustache and monocle on her face. “So, what’s the matter, Spike?” Spike stared at the pink pony before shaking his head and starting. “Well, I guess the long story short is, I feel very lonely, left out, and..” he looked down. “Unloved..” “What? How could you feel lonely, left out and unloved? You’ve always been around friends!” “Yea, but I constantly get ignored by my best friend, my sister! And you girls are always leaving me behind on your adventures.” he said, upset. “I even missed Twilight’s birthday party when you went to Canterlot for it, even though I spent all day trying to make it special for her..” he studied his claws. “I even made her a special cake for it...” “What? You made her a cake? Why didn’t we see it? I bet it was good!” Spike glanced up at Pinkie for a moment, then continued staring at the table. “I... I ate it... After I found out you all went to Canterlot without me, I felt sad and lonely, and ate it..” “Why do you feel left out though? We bring you along to a lot of stuff!” “Oh, right, on picnics when I prepare them for everypony. What about when you went to Cloudsdale? Or went to deal with the dragon? Or at the Grand Galloping Gala? What about yours or Gummy’s birthday parties?” Pinkie Pie was visibly sad, looking down at the table. “Is that it, Spike?” she said softly, the dragon looking up at her. “Is that why you left us?” she asked, looking up at him. “I...” he looked away. “Yes, that is part of it.” “Is it what Rarity did?” Spike flinched. “Yes...” he said, barely audible. “But that’s only what pushed me over the edge.” “Well, what is it? It wasn’t me was it?” she asked, frowning. Spike shook his head. “No Pinkie, it wasn’t you.” he sighed. “It was Twilight.” “What about Twilight?” Spike looked down at his lap as he recalled broken promises, being treated more of a pet or servant than a friend, and how she almost never showed concern for him. He had tears in his eyes as he recounted some of his past to the pink mare. After he finished, he heard the normally ecstatic mare sniffling. Looking up at her, he noticed two things. First was the tears pouring down the earth ponies face from her cerulean eyes, the second was her mane. While normally all curly and poofy, it was now straight, seemingly straighter than Twilight’s mane. “Pinkie, are you alright?” The mare hesitated before starting to nod, only to shake her head part way through and look down. “How could she do that? How could we all do that?” she started crying heavily, and Spike watched sadly before moving around to her side and placing a claw on her shoulder. She looked at him, before wrapping her hooves around him and giving him a bone crushing hug, crying audibly and wetly into his neck. Spike returned the hug, rubbing the pink mare’s back as she cried enough for both of them. Minutes passed, and Pinkie finally pulled back, her crying subsiding. “Spike?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Are we still friends?” Spike looked her in the eyes before giving her another small hug. “Of course, Pinkie. It’s not entirely your fault, anyways.” Pinkie gave the purple dragon a small squeeze before pulling away and standing up. “I better get to work, Spike.” “Alright Pinkie, do you think I could get some donuts?” he asked sheepishly. She gave him a small smile. “Of course, Spike, just a moment.” she walked into the back for a moment before returning with a big box of donuts, from chocolate covered, glazed, and blueberry flavored. “Here you go, Spike.” “Thanks, Pinkie. Will you be alright?” he asked, concerned for the depressed mare. “I think so Spike, I’m just super-duper sad that Twilight would ever do something like that.” “I know Pinkie, I know.” they gave each other a small wave as Spike walked out of the SugarCube Corner, holding his box of donuts. He walked casually to the park, opening the box of donuts and munching on a delightful blueberry donut covered in chocolate. Sitting down on the park bench, Spike took in the beauty of the morning. Birds chirping cheerfully, sun shining beautifully through the tree leaves.Closing his eyes, Spike inhaled, taking in the scent of nature, and the muffin he was about to eat. ‘Wait, muffin?’ he thought, before feeling hooves pressed to his eyes from behind. “Guess who!” came the playful, feminine voice. “Hmm, I don’t know, is it Carrot Top?” “Nope!” “Roseluck?” “Nuh-uh!” “Hmm, could it be Lyra?” “Nope, silly.” “I give up, who is it?” the drake said, smirking to himself. “I don’t know if I should tell you now.” the mare said, trying to sound hurt. “Aw, come on Derpy.” he said, leaning his head back as the grey pegasus removed her hooves from his eyes. Upside down, her crossed eyes looked even more silly. And undeniably cute. he thought as she gave him a smile. “How are you this morning?” “I’m just fine. Sent my little muffin to school and decided to fly around for a little while before going to work, and saw you here.” she said, walking around and sitting next to the “Your muffin?” Spike asked, offering her a donut, which she happily took. “Oh, my little Dinky. She’s just the cutest little filly ever.” she said, beaming, before she took a bite from the donut. “Oh, I didn’t know you had a kid.” “Yep, I wouldn’t trade her for the world, even though her father was a jerk.” “What happened?” “Well, he acted all nice, and when he found out I was pregnant with little Dinky, he started being a complete jerk. He called me names, teased me because of my eyes, even hit me a few times. I was kind of glad when he left, but I was still a bit sad when he wasn’t there for her birth. He hasn’t even shown up to any of her birthdays.” Spike placed a claw on her back, trying to cheer her up from the sad thoughts. She looked up to him and smiled, leaning into his side. They sat there, finishing the last of Spike’s donuts and talking lightly about Dinky and other little colts and fillies around Ponyville. “Hey Spike.” Derpy said, turning her head to the drake, the sun glimmering off his scales. “Do you want to go somewhere after I get done delivering mail?” Spike gave her a warm smile and nodded. “I would love to!” “Alright! I’ll catch you later, ok Spike?” she asked, getting off the bench. Spike stood up as well. “Sounds good, Derpy. Don’t have too much fun with the mail, alright?” The grey pegasus giggled and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking off. “Don’t have to worry about that!” she called, waving at him as she flew towards the post office to start her work. Spike waved back at the retreating mare before pulling his hand to his chest. ”Do I love her?” he asked himself. Turning away after the grey pegasus left his sight, he walked slowly down the path, lost in thought. He looked to the sky, admiring the birds flying merrily along, enjoying the young afternoon. Closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, he smiled to himself, shortly before walking into something. Or somepony. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” came the soft voice. “Spike? I’m so sorry.” Spike opened his emerald eyes, looking into the face of a very timid yellow pegasus. ”And cute.” he thought to himself before shaking his head. “Hi Fluttershy. What are you doing here?” “Um, I was just watching the cute butterflies flying around. They are just so beautiful when the light hits them just right.” she said, turning her eyes back to a group of nearby butterflies. ”You’re right about that, Shy.” thought the purple drake, who was staring intently at the trio of butterflies on her flank, before mentally slapping himself. ”No, stop thinking about Fluttershy like that. I have a marefriend now. I shouldn’t be looking at her flanks, even if those butterflies could draw any eyes to those flanks like magnets.” “That’s nice, Fluttershy. Sorry about running into you.” he said aloud, walking away. “Oh, I’m sorry Spike, is something wrong?” she said, turning an eye towards him, the tone of his voice drawing her concern. “It’s nothing.” he said, still walking slowly away. “I’m.. Fine.” “Really Spike? You don’t sound fine.” she was concerned for her friend, even after the rest of the girls told her what happened while she was unconscious a few days prior. “You know you could tell me. If you don’t mind, that is...” Spike turned towards the butterscotch mare, slowly looking up to meet her eyes. He could not bring himself to be upset at the pegasus, even after everything that had transpired. She was the first pony to show a lot of interest in him. “I guess I can. Do you want to walk around, Shy?” the pegasus nodded and shyly took a spot next to her scaled friend and walked slowly with him. “It’s just that, I feel lonely. I know you girls are my friends, but you have so many adventures and fun while I get stuck behind doing menial tasks at the library, all alone.” he said to the sky. “Oh my, I never even realized that, Spike. I’m sorry..” “I was fine, but the more and more you girls left me out, the more depressed I felt. Especially when Twilight stopped talking to me as much, again. Just talking to tell me to do something, hardly even saying ‘thank you’ to me. Even Owlowiscious gets more appreciation than me.” he sighed. The mare next to him had her head down, taking everything he said to heart. “I know I should feel happy for Twilight, she finally made friends, but I can’t help but feel unwanted.. Unloved.. Unneeded..” he trailed off. They had stopped at the bottom of a small hill, and Spike stared at his claws, digging into the dirt. “I’m sorry, Spike.” the yellow mare said softly. “What? It’s fine, Fluttershy.” Spike replied casually. “No, it’s not. We should never have left you all alone, Spike.” she said, sniffling. “We considered you our friend, but we never did anything with you, and never once thought about you or how you were. We even let you fall into a freezing cold lake and laughed about it.” Spike looked at his friend, noticing the tears on her cheeks. She gave a loud sniff and whimper, breaking his heart before she continued. “I could have gone and saw how you were doing, or at least talked to you more... I’m...” she sniffled loudly. “I’m the worst Element of Kindness ever...” she trailed off, tears running freely down her cheeks. Spike couldn’t take the sight of the shy pegasus crying, and walked over in front of her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “No you are not, Fluttershy.” “Yes I am, I can’t even show somepony who I considered my friend kindness. How am I not a horrible pony?” Spike wrapped his arms around the crying mare. “Because you never meant to hurt any one, Fluttershy. And you are showing me kindness right now by listening to me.” The yellow mare threw her hooves around him, pressing her muzzle against his chest. Spike rubbed her back slowly, hoping she would stop crying. ”How many times am I going to be hugging mares today.” he thought, looking at the pegasus. ”This is, what? The second? Third?” his eyes drifted down her back. ”I wonder how soft those lovely flanks are... NO!! Stop. She’s just you friend.” he frowned, turning his head towards the distance, watching birds and small critters in the field. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the warm mare pressed against his body. ”Curse you, traitorous brain. Stop thinking about Fluttershy like that. Or any mare, for that matter.” Moments passed as Spike fought with his thoughts, and Fluttershy got her emotions back under control. “I’m sorry, Spike.” she said, pulling away and wiping her eyes with a hoof. “It’s ok, Fluttershy. Thank you for listening to me.” “Spike, next time you are feeling alone or unwanted, you could come talk to me about it, you know that, right?” she asked softly, giving him a small smile. “If you want to, that is.” “Of course, Shy.” he gave her a small hug, which she returned happily. “Hey, what time do you think it is?” “About three in the afternoon, I would guess. Why?” “Um, I’m supposed to be meeting with somepony.” “Oh! Alright, I better get back to my animals anyways. It was nice talking to you, Spike.” she quickly walked away from him, waving at him. Spike returned the wave and looked towards Ponyville. He took off at a brisk pace, and jumped off, fluttering his wings, before coming back down on his four paws. “Huh.. I guess I never actually learned how to fly, did I? But then, how did I fly before?” he asked himself. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on flapping his wings, getting the feel of his wings catching the air, slightly changing the positions as he flapped. He gradually felt himself lifting off the ground as he flapped harder. He opened his eyes and was shocked, causing him to drop a couple feet before regaining his composure. He was flying several feet above the trees nearby. “WOOHOO!” he cheered, attempting to do a backflip, only to nearly crash back into the ground. “Whoops, better take it easy.” he slowly, and cautiously, flew back to Ponyville, to meet up with his marefriend. Landing at Ponyville Post Office, he looked around for the grey pegasus. “Derpy? Are you here?” he called out. Suddenly, something landed on his tail, causing him to nearly jump out of his scales. He turned around, breathing heavily, a claw raised up, until he saw the pony responsible who was giggling to herself. “Derpy! You nearly scared me to death!” “But you were just standing there, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!” she giggled, sticking her tongue out at Spike. Spike huffed. “Well, you got me, just don’t do that again, please? So, what you want to do?” “You can fly, right?” “Uh, yea?” The grey mare jumped around and waved her tail at him. “Grab my tail and close your eyes!” Spike’s eyes were plastered to the bubbles on her flanks, his mind blank. “Spike?” she turned her head back to look at him. “Did you hear me?” “Wuh?” he said, shaking his head. “What?” “Grab my tail, and close your eyes. I got a surprise for you!” “Uh, alright.” he said, unsure. He grabbed her blonde tail with both hands and closed his eyes. “Ready?” “Yea.” as soon as he said that, he felt the mare starting to fly, so he started flapping his wings to follow her into the air. They flew for what felt like ages, until he felt the pegasus slow down and make a slow descent. He followed, and upon feeling something extremely soft beneath him, his eyes shot open. The dragon blinked a few times before he realized where he was. Looking at the soft, billowing clouds and flowing rainbows, his jaw dropped. Derpy looked at his expression with a smile on her face, walking next to him and looking on, before being swept up by an arm and placed in a crushing hug. “Thank you so much Derpy! You didn’t have to take me to Cloudsdale, but thank you thank you thank you!” “You’re welcome, Spike, but could you let me go?” she said, muffled. “I can’t breathe.” “Oh, right.” he let her go and gave her a sheepish smile while she stumbled away. He looked back at the wonderful cloud city, still awestruck by the amazing sight. “Hey Spike, are you going to sit there with your head in the clouds or are you going to come eat?” she giggled, watching him as he ran to catch up. “They got this really cool place here that makes all their food look like rainbows!” “Really? That’s amazing!” his stomach grumbled, causing him to blush as the grey mare looked at him and giggled. “I guess my stomach thinks so, too.” they laughed as they walked through Cloudsdale, enjoying the beautiful city, and each others company. “So, you’re telling me.. Spike... Sister... Discord... Oh, WHAT?!” the mare speaking was obviously flustered. “So, you are saying that Luna was there as the dragon?! We could have been hurt!” “Believe me, Twilight, I didn’t want to do this, and Luna agreed not to harm any of you. But from how Peewee has been acting when he comes to visit Philomena lately, I could tell something was up, and when I watched all of you here in Ponyville, my suspicions increased.” “So, you have Princess Luna, act as dragon, and have all of us, including a stallion that you didn’t know, go try to get rid of the dragon, all because of a hunch?! A hunch!?!” “Please, calm down, Twilight. I would not have dreamed of putting any of you in danger if I wasn’t certain. I believed that if that stallion, Obsidian, I believe you said, was indeed Spike, that his love for his friends would pull him out from the pony.” “And what would have happened if Obsidian wasn’t Spike? Or if he wasn’t able to come out?” Twilight stepped closer to the white alicorn. “And why did you think that Spike was Obsidian? How would you ever guess that?” “Please, Twilight, please understand. I want to tell you everything, but at least wait until we have resolved this problem with -” she was interrupted as a purple hoof ran across her face, and watched as the unicorn it belonged to trotting away, running up the stairs. She looked back at the Princess before she entered her room. “You come here, yell at me for abandoning Spike, blame me for his disappearance, tell me that you intentionally put us in danger for a hunch, and won’t even tell me why?” she had a tear in her eye, and wiped it away. “How can I trust you, Princess? Just leave me alone....” with that, she entered her room and slammed the door shut, leaving Princess Celestia alone. Princess Celestia looked at the door to her student’s room, before looking out the window, watching the sun approach the horizon. “I want to tell you, Twilight. I really do.” she said to herself. “I just don’t think I could go through it more than once.” Spike sprawled across a cloud at the edge of Cloudsdale, belly full, covered in rainbows, and a giggling mare next to him. After they had eaten at the rainbow specialized restaurant, which unfortunately didn’t have gems, they had gone on a game of tag when Derpy purposefully tripped him and called him a slug. He had chased the mailmare across Cloudsdale, almost catching her. Almost, before she made him fly right into a pool of liquid rainbows. After escaping some upset workers from the rainbow factory, the couple had collapsed on the cloud, too tired to do anything else. ”This day couldn’t get any better.” Spike thought to himself, wrapping an arm around the grey pegasus, who nuzzled into his side. He turned his head over the cloud, watching the sun set slowly, the clouds glowing with an orangish-red hue. He rolled over onto his stomach, awestruck by the sight. “It’s beautiful.” he whispered. He didn’t even notice the grey mare moving beside him, watching the beauty on the horizon. Derpy rubbed her cheek against his, enjoying watching such a beautiful sunset with the purple dragon. Spike turned his head towards her, leaning his face towards hers. She closed her eyes, leaning in just a little as their lips met. They lay on the cloud as the sun lowered from sight, their lips locked in a loving kiss. All too soon, they pulled away, smiling at eachother. The serene moment was shattered as the young dragon let out a giant yawn. “You sure know how to ruin a perfect moment, Spike.” Derpy whispered, nuzzling him. “Come on, let’s go back to Ponyville.” The pair slowly departed the cloud city, flying around in broad loops, laughing and enjoying the early night. As they approached Ponyville, they saw the thick clouds in the area. “I knew there was supposed to be rain tonight, but it looks like they over did it, again.” the pegasus said. They sped up as they got closer to the downpour, Spike started flying over Derpy, causing her to smile warmly at him as she flew towards her house. Landing outside her simple home, she quickly entered, inviting Spike in from the rain. “Thanks Derpy, for everything today.” he gave her a hug. “You’re welcome, Spike. Thank you for giving me such a wonderful time.” she said, returning his hug. As soon as they pulled away from each other, Spike walked back into the doorframe, ready to depart. “Are you staying close by? Don’t want you out in that rain too long.” “Um, at the Crusader Clubhouse.” he said softly. “I can manage.” “Oh no, you’re gonna stay here.” the grey mare said, planting a hoof on his tail. “Where would I sleep?” “Well, we don’t have a couch, and I don’t think you want to sleep on the floor. You could always share a bed with me.” “Uh, I can just sleep on the floor.” the drake said, fighting his thoughts that flooded his mind “Oh, something wrong with that? I see.” she said softly, turning her face down a little. Spike was caught between a rock and a hard place. He didn’t want to give in to his minds temptations, but he also didn’t want to leave his marefriend seemingly disappointed. “Nothing is wrong with you, Derpy. But won’t I take up most of the bed?” “No, there should be plenty of room for both of us.” Spike sighed inwardly as he came back inside, closing the door. “Alright then, lets get to sleep, then?” Princess Celestia continued to watch the rain, having sat there for hours, watching as the pegasi moved clouds for the nighttime rain, and continued to stare outside long after she lowered the sun. She sighed, turning towards the stairs, thinking about the purple unicorn at the top. She slowly made her way up the stairway and towards her students door, pushing it open. Inside, Twilight was laying on her bed, looking at a book, muttering “No, no, no, no..” Celestia quickly made her way over to the bedside and nuzzled the unicorn, before looking at the book, the sight of which caused her to gasp. The book was a picture book, and towards the back of it was a big picture of Twilight and all her friends, with a picture of Spike being taped next to them in the picture. Link in case the image isn't working. 'This was a triumph. I'm making a note here, huge success!' 'Oh god, why? I didn't know that could happen. I don't want to imagine another octopus again.' 'And the whales. Can't forget the whales.' 'Don't. Make. Me. Think. About. It. We should really get going, we are behind schedule as it is.' 'Every party needs a pooper, that's why they invited you, party pooper!' 'Just quit delaying.' 'Fine. You are such a buzzkill. I'm going to call you Buzzkillington.'