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// Spike, Muffin Therapist 
// Story: The Muffin Therapist 
// by FlashKenshin77 
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	The day was like any other, Celestia’s sun shining brightly through the sparse clouds. Ponies mingled in Ponyville, getting together like they did every morning. Pleasantries were made, bits were exchanged, and ponies left stalls with their spoils as the shop owners stored the bits away. It was a normal Friday morning, save for one gray pegasus.
Her mailmare outfit was ruffled and dirty, having landed in several mud piles. Her cap somehow stayed on her head after several crashes and run-ins with multiple doors. It seemed the wind was against her as well, a strong updraft going in the opposite direction she needed to go. Finally Ponyville came back into sight, her long journey from Cloudsdale over.
She gasped for breath, her wings beating furiously to keep her in the air, the wind chilling the tear streaks on her cheeks. She sniffed, wiping her eyes with a hoof as she haphazardly landed in front of Sugarcube Corner, the tip of the cupcake blocking the sun. She made sure her mailmare cap was at least sitting on her head. She reached into her saddlebag, the casp torn off from one landing or another. She searched, knowing that she had a few things for Mr and Mrs Cake. “A-ha!” She said, grabbing half a dozen letters in her mouth before she opened the door.
The bell at the top jingled, a few ponies turned to look at her before going back to their business. A baby dragon gleefully accepted a small pink box from Mrs. Cake and a gem-studded muffin before going to sit down at a table off to the side, smiling as he meticulously took the wrapping off his muffin. Mrs. Cake shook her head, bending down to straighten up the morning display.
Derpy walked up to the counter, sighing. “Good morning Mrs. Cake!” She said.
“Good morning to you too Derpy. How are you?” Mrs. Cake asked, straightening up some of the counter.
“I’m great!” She lied with a big grin. “I just stopped by to deliver the mail.” She said as she laid the mail down.
“Oh thank you Derpy.” Mrs. Cake smiled, grabbing the mail and looked through it before glancing at the pegasus. “Are you alright dear? You look… um, upset?”
“No, I’m alright Mrs. Cake… it’s just been a long day.” She chuckled. “You wouldn’t happen to have that special chocolate chip-blueberry muffin left right?”
“Let me check.” Mrs. Cake said, disappearing into the kitchen before returning. “I’m sorry dear, it seems Mr. Cake forgot to buy flour the other day, we couldn’t make as many muffins as we usually do… and you know they sell out fast.”
Derpy frowned, nodding. “Yeah, well… you do make the best muffins in Equestria…”
“Thanks dearie and I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright Mrs. Cake, well have a good day.” She said dejectedly, walking slowly to the door.

=

Spike rubbed his claws together, staring at his last bite, the biggest ruby nestled into the batter. He gleefully giggled, getting ready to finish it when he saw out of the corner of his eyes, Derpy slowly walked out the door, her ears flat against her head. He tilted his head, quickly finishing off his muffin before getting to his feet. “Hey Mrs. Cake, what was wrong with Derpy?” He asked, the box secured tightly.
“I’m not sure… she seemed like she was having an off day.”
“Oh… wait, did she ask for a muffin?”
“She did but you bought the last one we made today.”
“Oh…” He stared at the box for a moment before he took off running. “Thanks again Mrs. Cake!” He yelled, the door slamming shut.
“Your welcome!” She yelled, shaking her head before heading off into the kitchen. “That’s why I go shopping.” She chuckled, Carrot Cake shaking his head.

=

Derpy sighed, trying to figure out where to get her muffin from. Well I might be able to get a muffin from Mr.Cuisine… but he said he didn’t want to see me after I crashed into the cafe’s window… or
“Derpy!” Spike yelled, the pegasus in question turning around.
“Oh hey Spike. Need to mail something?” She asked.
He panted, his claws on his knees as he held up a finger, trying to get air. “Phew, you walk fast… N-no, I was going to ask if you wanted this.” He held out the box.
She looked at him quizzically and grabbed it, opening the box. Inside, a delicious looking muffin sat, three blueberries in a pattern very similar to a certain marshmallow unicorn. It took Derpy a moment to realize who and she quickly shoved it back into Spike’s claw. “Nonononono, I can’t accept that Spike. It’s for Rarity.”
“So? I’ll just go back and get another one.”
“They don’t have anymore, at least today.”
“I know.” He patted her back and forced the cupcake into her hooves. “It looks like you could use this more than me or Rarity.”
She stared at the small  purple dragon, tears pouring down her face as she fiercely hugged him. He stood there, stunned for a moment before gently patting her on the back. “Uh… there, there…” He said, looking around for help.
“Thank you Spike… I needed that. It’s been a rough day…” She said, looking at the muffin.
“What happened?” He asked, leading her to the park. Several ponies stopped and moved out of the way as the dragon glared at them, daring anypony to interrupt. 
The pegasus sighed, sitting on the bench. “It was a rough day at work. I was late, ran into a few ponies, sent some mail to the wrong house…” She sighed, biting into the muffin. “I try my hardest to get all the mail right and I don’t mean to run into things…” She sniffed, finishing off the muffin.
He hopped up onto the bench, sitting right next to her. “It’s not your fault though…” He trailed off.
“How!? How is not my fault?! For being the clumsy, laughable, stupid mare!?”
He nervously fidgeted with his claws. “When I got presents for my hatch day, I started to get greedy, wanting everything I saw. With the more stuff I got, the more ferocious and rude I got. I transformed into a greedy dragon, taking anything I saw. I destroyed a lot of the town and trapped the Wonderbolts inside the water tower. It wasn’t until Rarity reminded me of who I am that I transformed back and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy saved us. I learned who I really was and been through a lot to prove that I’m better. I fight the urge to just gobble any gem I see, or anything that I want, I make sure I either earn or ask for. Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t. Dragons are inherently greedy and I fight to prove some aren’t that bad.” He looked at her, kicking his feet in the air. “So yeah, I know a bit how you feel. You just can’t listen to those ponies. There going to be ones that yell in your face just because they can and they know it bugs you. Just gotta ignore them and move on… or at least that’s what Twilight says.”
Derpy stared at him, his words clicking. She reached out to hug him, nearly crushing his ribs as he patted her back. She let go and smiled at him as he sagged onto the back of the bench. “T-thanks Spike… I guess I just needed to hear that… and not from Dinky.” She looked away. “I guess when you hear the same thing over and over again, it sorta becomes ingrained into you and you start learning to think like that.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. At least Twilight says I’m finally learning to ignore the stares and snide comments.” He looked at his feet. “It’s just funny that even with everything, they still trust us, ya know? I destroy half the town and you crash or destroy the mail. And yet, here we are, doing exactly what they thought we’d never do. I’m not breaking anything and you're still the best mailmare this side of Manehatten. I don’t think anypony’s faster than you in getting the mail delivered, whether it’s the right pony or not.” He chuckled.
She blushed and nodded. “The world’s a funny place, I guess. It seems that even with our problems, everypony still relies on us for one reason or another.” She smiled at him and gave him another hug. “Thanks Spike, I needed that.” She grinned. “And I thought you were too young to be a therapist.”
He blushed, chuckling nervously. “Well I do spend all my time with Twilight, I gotta pick up some things here and there.”
She laughed. “Well I better be going, Dinky’s waiting for me at the schoolhouse.” She walked away, the sun highlighting her mane just enough as Spike watched her leave.
“Tell her I said hi.” He said, waving goodbye at the departing pegasus. He sighed, shaking his head as a pair of hooves wrapped around his neck. He jumped and looked up to see a smiling Rarity looking down at him. She leaned forward and gently kissed his forehead. His face turned bright red, his jaw coming unhinged.
A muffin stuffed with gems floated into his lap. He followed it, holding it. “W-what’s this for?” He stuttered.
“For being such a gentledrake to a certain mailmare.” Rarity said. “And a generous friend. A few ponies said that you also defended her against a few other unsavory residents.”
“B-but how did you know?”
“I stopped by the library and asked Twilight for your assistance and she said you were out buying something for ‘somepony’.” She said with a small smile as he felt his face burn even brighter. “That is very kind of you darling by the way. And when I stopped by Sugarcube Corner to pick you up something in return, Pinkie filled me in on what transpired. So I just followed the clues and this was the closest, secluded spot.”
“O-oh… I guess that’s true…” He paused. “H-how much did you hear?”
She tapped her chin for a moment. “I walked up when you were retelling how Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy saved us after you transformed back into my Spikey-wikey.”
“Y-yeah…”
She giggled and kissed his forehead again. “And that is why I treasure our friendship Spikey-wikey. You go above and beyond what other gentlecolts do just to see a smile on a friend’s face.” She smiled and unwrapped her hooves around his neck, walking away from the bench. “Now come on darling, I wanted to show you something back at the Boutique.” She said, gently flicking his noise with the end of her tail.
He nodded dumbly, shoving the muffin in his mouth and jumped up after her. “Coming!” He said, running to catch up.