My red eyed Friend

by Freelancer

Chapter 5: Relighting the fire

Chapter 5: Relighting the fire

Everything was quiet in the southern mountains of Equestria, more so this morning, and it was due to the lack of a certain red dragon. The birds sung in the early light as usual, the cold hung in the air like an unwanted guest who refused to leave, and the grass that grew about the rocky patches not occupied by trees, as always, was the perfect place for a dragon to lie on his stomach and sun himself. Despite all of this, however, one dragon still felt a little unhappy this morning. At the base of the cave that Titan shared with his friends was a rocky outcrop, which also sported a rather large patch of soft grass, and It was there that two young dragons were soaking up the morning sun; one was the energetic, and at times rather annoying, Thane, while the other was Titan’s oldest friend, Ash.

“So where exactly did he say he was going?” Ash asked as he yawned and drug his claws through the dirt, tearing notches in the grass as he did while he stared over at Thane.

“No idea… but he said he was going to try and fix things with a female he knew,” Thane chuckled, lying on his back and looking up at the dark blue early morning sky, blowing small clouds of smoke into the air. “Personally I think he probably just wanted some female company, after being stuck with us for the last five years… if you get what I mean.”

Thane yelped as Ash brought his black scaled tail down in an arc, and made contact with the tender scaled flesh that was Thane’s backside, causing Thane to growl and relocate himself on the grass a little further from Ash as the young black dragon grinned to himself. Thane was a good friend in all, but from time to time Ash enjoyed reminding Thane that not every conversation was supposed to be funny, especially when it involved their other friends.

They were lying on a decently wide bed of green grass, just below the opening to the granite cave they shared with Titan and a few other friends, as Thane had just reminded Ash, all of them being young and rather annoying at times male dragons. They had all known each other since their hatchling years, and had been close ever since then, so when one such as Titan decided to leave for a little while it was not long before he was missed; as the dragon in mind was Titan, who Ash had been especially close to, he missed him a lot more.

Silently, Ash looked up from the grass to the sun that was rising in the distance, beyond the forest and between the rolling green hills; he had a feeling deep in his heart that he knew where Titan was, and if he was right he simply hoped by the fire of his ancestors Storm didn’t find out, otherwise Titan would be in real danger.

“When he said he was going to fix things with a female,” Ash asked, flicking his dark eyes back at Thane, who was now licking one of his claws clean. “Did he say anything about her?”

“He mentioned she wasn’t a dragon,” Thane shrugged as he returned his claw to the ground and stood up, his green scales matching the grass in colour and shade almost exactly. “Other than that he only said he hurt her badly when they fell apart… why?”

Ash sighed and lashed his night black tail around wildly, like he was swatting at a swarm of bees; now it all made sense as to why Titan had been so secretive when he had left. Ash had never told anyone else, but one night he had found Titan hidden in the forest, and crying his eyes out while he slashed angrily at varying trees; It was then once he had emerged from the shadows and calmed Titan as much as possible, Ash had learned exactly why he hated his older brother with such a passion. In truth, the black dragon had been surprised at what Titan had told him about his secret pegasus friend, but Ash had never been judgemental of anyone, and, if anything, felt deeply sorry for his old friend at what had happened; he had explained to Titan that personally he didn’t mind him being friends with another race, and if he told his other cave-mates he doubted they’d have any problem with the idea either.

“Hello… Ash… you there?” Thane asked, as Ash finally realized the green dragon was standing right in front of him, waving his claw and a look of confused curiosity on his face. “Care to enlighten me… because for some reason it’s either just me, or I’m the last one to know what’s going on with Titan?”

“I can’t tell you Thane because… it’s Titan’s secret to tell,” Ash sighed, rising to his own massive feet and shaking the dirt and grass from his scales. “but let’s just say I can understand why he wants to put things right… some years back he told me what happened between the two of them, and let’s just say it wasn’t enjoyable.”

“Oh come on… I’m the one who said he should go, and now I don’t even get to know where he went.” Thane grumbled, throwing a tongue of flame at a nearby rock to show his frustration, before turning back to Ash. “Come on… you can tell me… I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“If your horns grew a scale length for every time you couldn’t keep your mouth shut, Thane, they’d be bigger than your tail,” Ash chuckled, shaking his head as Thane grumbled again before giving off an amused laugh.

“Yeah… but females love males with big horns ri… OW!”

Thane yelped as Ash turned and gave him another slap with his tail, this time however the black scales of his tail meeting the green scales of Thane’s face.

The black dragon laughed and began to walk away as Thane growled and rubbed his cheek, but before he got far a thought hit him, one that he was amazed he hadn’t foreseen earlier; he realized that despite Titan’s best efforts there was little to no chance the pegasus would believe him in what he said, as he had no proof other than his own words, and those Ash knew the pegasus wouldn’t even want believe after what had happened.

Now Ash’s mind began hurtling and he began pacing in circles, Thane watching him intently as the black dragon mumbled to himself as he thought.

“No… he’s crazy… I’m crazy… that’s a stupid idea… uh… but otherwise… maybe… I must be insane… and yet… no… wait… yes… of course… it could work… then again… but it’s Titan’s best chance…”

“ASH!” Thane roared as loud as he could, shattering the black dragon’s thoughts, and making him spin around in annoyance to face his green friend. “If you’re going to ramble on like your brain is a rock, can you at least please try and make some sense while you’re at it? You’re gibberish is making me feel like I have embers in my ears.”

“Uh… sorry Thane,” Ash sighed as he began pacing again. “But I’m just thinking about Titan… his intentions are good and true, but the chance of this female believing him are slim to say the least… so I was thinking about maybe… MAYBE… going over there and standing up for him.”

“Going where?” Thane asked, sitting back on his rump as he watched Ash continue to pace in rapid circles. “To where this female lives… how do you know… oh wait, that’s right, Titan tells everyone what’s going on but me.”

“Oh get over yourself Thane,” Ash snapped, the venom in his voice only making Thane grin even wider, he always knew how to get under his friends scales. “Look… all I’m saying is that Titan’s going to need some support in his claims, and I know exactly what happened… and I guess in my heart I believe it’s also the right thing to do after…”

“Cool… I’ll go tell Saran we’re heading off for a while,” Thane laughed, rising from his hinds and jumping into the air before Ash could get a word in.

“THANE!” Ash roared; it was no use however, as Thane was already half way up the mountain, if there was one thing Thane was better at the being annoying, it was flying.

And when it came to flying, if there was ever a dragon who came anywhere close to out flying a bolt of lightning, it was Thane.

“Uh… why do I feel this was a bad idea?” Ash sighed, smacking his face with his claw before spreading his own massive black wings and jumping northwards into the morning sky.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” Applejack asked as she walked beside Titan, his massive strides forcing her to trot just to keep up with him. “You’ve only been here a day.”

“The sooner I tell her why I acted like I did, the better,” Titan sighed, casting his massive red eyes down at the tiny form of the amber pony as she looked up at him. “But thank you for your concern Applejack… I know this will not be easy for either of us, but it is best if we both at least try and move on from what happened.”

“You don’t mind if I stay do ya?” She asked as her eyes shifted between his own red ones, and Fluttershy’s cottage as it appeared at the end of the forest road. “She’s gonna want me to be there, just to make sure she knows you’re telling the truth.”

“If it puts her mind at ease, I have no problem…” Titan smiled, lowering his head and running his tongue along Applejacks back, the amber pony laughing at the strange sensation “…and thanks for letting me sleep in you barn by the way.”

“My pleasure,” She chuckled, readjusting her hat as they walked.

The two of them found Fluttershy waiting in the back garden, along with Twilight, Rarity, and Spike, all of them sitting under a rather large tree and talking away happily with a cluster of Fluttershy’s animal friends. They all looked up when they heard Titan’s loud footsteps, and moved back a little so he had room to lay his head down among them on the grass, the red dragon accepting the invitation as Applejack sat beside Fluttershy, under the tree on the opposite side of the small group. The day could not have been more perfect in Titan’s mind for his apology, the wind was blowing lightly and the sun was gently shining down on them all, which would make admitting everything a little easier.

Titan could, however, still feel the tension in the air, and he knew it was entirely directed at him; he was nervous to say the least, but the feeling of having everypony, as well as Spike and the various animals staring at him, while he tried to explain himself made him feel even more uneasy. Fluttershy seemed content to run her eyes sceptically over her former friend, as if she already doubted she’d be accepting his apology, the shadow of the proud tree she was sitting under covering most of her face and making her look almost intimidating.

“Alright then…” Twilight began, trying her best to break the uneasy tension, that was simmering in the space between the glaring form of Fluttershy and Titan, her purple eyes darting between the two of them. “Just so everypony knows, Dash has cloud clearing duty, and Pinkie’s stepping in for Mr. Cake today, so they won’t be joining us unfortunately.”

“With all due respect to both of them Twi they aint needed,” Applejack yawned, placing an amber hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she looked over at Titan. “The only two who matter right now Titan and Fluttershy… we’re just hear to make sure everything stays calm, ok?”

“Ok…” Titan sighed, raising his head from the grass and shifting his red eyes to the tiny form of Fluttershy, her own eyes looking up to meet them. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” She replied quietly, her voice this time no longer in an angry rage as it had been the night before, but rather the sweet and gentle tone Titan had once adored her for. “I am ready to hear you Titan.”

Titan closed his eyes and took a single long breath, summoning from his mind the words he had decided upon as he had walked with Applejack. They were brutally honest in all regards, and would no doubt hurt both of them a little, but they were the absolute truth about why Titan had acted like he had all those years ago.

“Fluttershy… that night all those years ago, when I said all those mean things to you in front of Scorch and Storm…”

“Wait… who now?” Spike jumped in suddenly, his mouth shutting instantly and his cheeks glowing red as Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack all glared at him, Titan however took no notice of his much younger comrade.

“As I was saying,” Titan went on, his eyes still closed as the visions swirled around inside the front of his mind. “All those things I said, I did so for two reasons… the first I doubt you will believe, but I am being for once with honest with us both… those things I said to protect you. I never introduced you to my brother Storm, or any other dragon, because most are not like me, and if they knew we were friends they would not think twice about burning you to a cinder. I mentioned to you that night the ‘dragons’ pride’, which is, if you must know, an ancient ideal that states that dragons… should have nothing to do with the creatures beneath us in the order of the world… such as ponies. My brother is a firm believer in that ideal, and if he knew that we were actually friends, he would see our friendship as an insult to our family pride to say the least… so… I said all those mean things... to make it look like we weren’t friends, so he wouldn’t hurt you.”

At the words everyponys’ mouth dropped in awe except Fluttershy, she was looking up at him, but she no longer looked anywhere near angry, but rather almost grateful in a way. Quietly she turned her eyes from Titan to Applejack, who after shaking her head and returning to the present moment returned the gaze.

“Fluttershy…he’s telling the truth.”

“I know,” She smiled, the sight for the first time in a long time bringing a real feeling of happiness to Titan’s heart, that happiness dulled a little however, when he remembered he still had one more thing to admit.

“There is however one more reason I must admit,” He sighed, dropping his gaze and looking down at his dark red claws in shame. “I now know the errors of my heart… but I must tell you there is another reason, even if it is no longer part of me. You see Fluttershy… and if you hate me for this I will understand… but even if Storm didn’t have a problem with you being a pony, I still wouldn’t have admitted our friendship. Back when I was young, I was always afraid that we would be discovered… but not because of fear, but because of my own stupid inner pride. I enjoyed our time together so much, but I could never tell any others of my kind because… I was embarrassed that I enjoying being around you… I was scared that if any others of my kind knew we were friends, I’d become an outcast and a joke among my friends,”

“So… you were embarrassed about being friends with a pony?” Fluttershy asked, standing up and walking over to Titan, who no matter how he tried couldn’t meet her gaze. “…that’s why you never wanted me to meet any of your friends isn’t it?”

“Y…ye…yes,” He said finally, digging his claws into the soft ground and growling at himself, the sound causing everypony except Fluttershy to take a few steps back from him. “I was stupid enough to listen to my head, and not my heart… it was only years later when my emotions got the better of me, and I told a close friend of mine about you, that I realized… my true friends wouldn’t have cared that I was friends with a pony, but by then I hated myself, and what I did so much I couldn’t bear to see you and risk dragging up all those memories of yours. So I buried my own memories of that night, in the deepest depths of my mind possible… but now I guess I no longer need to live with or fear them… and now you know why I said all those things thirteen years ago.”

That was when the tense silence returned, as everypony looked between the two silent forms of Fluttershy and Titan. They all knew Titan was telling the truth, but at the same time they were all a little nervous about how Fluttershy would take what he had said; he had, after all, just stated that despite everything they shared, he had once found it embarrassing being her friend. For a single moment everypony thought the situation had just crashed and burned, but at last Fluttershy let out a gently sigh, and placed a front hoof on the tip of one of Titan’s ivory talons.

“I can understand why you were a little embarrassed about me Titan… dragons are after all supposed to be fierce and fearsome, and the idea of you being friends with a pony like me, probably wasn’t back then something to be proud of around your own friends… but I do want us to be friends again… you were the sweetest and gentlest friend I have ever had, and if you are willing to let go of what happened between us...then so am I.”

“You… you really want us to be friends again?” He choked as his emotions blew out and tears began to fall from his deep red eyes, perhaps the happiest tears any dragon had ever cried. “Even after everything I have said, and all these years?”

“Yes…yes I do.”

Everypony let out a sigh of relief, as the two now forgiven friends smiled at each other, for the first proper time in over thirteen years, Titan lowering his head and lovingly running his long red tongue over Fluttershy’s face in a show of affection. Titan himself felt like a massive stone had just been unchained from around his heart and now at last he was free from his memories; he decided in his mind then and there, as he smiled down at Fluttershy and her friends, he would never be embarrassed about knowing them, it was his choice and he was proud to be able to call them his friends.

“Well… that went better than I personally expected,” Rarity said happily as she got to her hooves and shook the grass from her fur. “And I am glad you two have both moved on… but I’m afraid I must get back to my bou… WHAT THE?”

Rarity’s sudden fright was matched by everypony else around her, including Fluttershy, each and every one of them jumping to their hooves and looking around. Titan shook his head in confusion for a moment before everything clicked, and a second later his blood turned to fire; in the middle of speaking, Rarity had been interrupted by a monstrous roar that Titan knew only a dragon could produce, but he had heard the sound so many times in his life he took no notice, until he realized that it meant there was another dragon in the near vicinity of Ponyville.

In a flash he was up and in the air, his eyes angrily scanning the sky for any sight of the roars owner; it didn’t take him long to realize, once he spotted the dragon, who it was, he was however still surprised. Right above the centre of Ponyville, and by the looks of things in chase of a cyan blue blur that was Rainbow Dash, was the slender green outline of Thane, apparently content, to Titan’s horror, to try and make a meal of out the cyan pegasus mare.

“Thane,” He growled to himself, his mind overcome by rage as he shot through the air like a lance at his green friend, leaving Fluttershy and the other ponies in Fluttershy’s back yard behind him. “What have you done?”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Notes:
Hope it was worth the wait

1) Chapter 6 will probably be coming out early to mid-next week (around 2nd of May) but if I have enough spare time maybe sooner

2) I have another story idea I’ll pass by you all in the coming weeks…

Comments

[Clemerl]

Oh lordy, someone's gonna' get it!

[Freelancer]

513037

my bad...chapter 6

[Nikent63]

I think Thane is gonna get beat up by Titan. Big time.

[Blue Streak]

RD screwed up big time, I think. Thane screwed up big time, maybe. Titan is done screwing around, most definitely