Mending Fences
Neltharon, once again, did not have sweet dreams that night. He dreamt of Stormwind, great city of what remained of the Human's once glorious empire. He dreamt of burning it to the ground.
In his dream he flew above the city, a leviathan of the sky, the size of their grand keep. He dreamt of raining fire down upon the town, as humans, civilians, women and children ran for shelter. He remembered the feel of watchtowers melting beneath his molten grasp. He remembered the deafening crack, as a segment of the city broke from the rest, sliding down in a massive quake into the unforgiving depths of the ocean. He remembered being the living incarnation of death for those who sought a peaceful life in Stormwind.
He remembered enjoying it.
He woke slowly that day, to the sounds of shouting outside. The voice wasn't as loud as the pink pony's, and he was thankful for it stirring him from his less than peaceful dreams. Glancing around he found his prepared pile of gems for his morning meal, and as he gulped them down he contemplated the little gold statue.
It was a mystery really. He had never seen the statue before, which meant it belonged to Fluttershy, had she really gotten it as a gift for him? It was a beautiful thing really, it being made of gold aside, a small and delicate pony of gold. He felt bad for startling her the night before, especially considering the nature of her visit, but he was in no state to explain his actions at the time. Today he would have to speak to her.
He rose from his cave to find the source of the racket, a certain cyan pegasus was pacing about ranting to Applejack. "Ah, it's you, the flappy one." He grumbled, moving to merely walk past the pair. The look he got from the winged pony told him it was a bad time to piss her off.
"What the hay is your problem?" She demanded, getting in the dragon's face. "Fluttershy is nice enough to let you live under her house, and in return you scare the daylight's out of her?"
Neltharion let out a long stream of smoke from his nose. "I dislike having intruders in my personal space. Fluttershy was lucky to get away with just being frightened."
"Is that a threat?" Applejack warned, stepping forward as well.
"Merely a statement of fact. I'll speak with her today and clear things up. I do regret that she was so disturbed by my actions." The dragon said dismissively, turning towards the cottage. "Is she not here?"
"She wasn't going to stay in a cottage right above your cave now was she?" Rainbow Dash said, still quite angry at the dragon.
"Well, where is she now?" He asked, growing impatient with the attitude of the two mares. Seeing neither willing to answer the question he huffed dismissively and went into town. Despite the mare's anxiety around crowds, her friends all lived in Ponyville, aside from Applejack and Dash, who were both here. He doubted they'd leave their friend unattended, which meant either Rarity's shop, Twilight's library, or... wherever the pink one lived.
The library first, he figured. Similarities to Malygos aside, the library was really the only building he could find easily. The trip was short, most ponies still stayed out of his way, thankfully. He couldn't imagine the frustration it would cause if every pony in Ponyville stopped to greet him every time he walked through town.
The library was quiet when he arrived, thankfully. If Pinkie was throwing a cheer up party he'd have to put off the discussion until later. A short knock on the door revealed a rather irritated Librarian. "No Spike to answer doors today?"
"He's at Rarity's, Fluttershy can't stand being around any type of dragon right now." She said, giving him a stern look.
"I'm here to talk to her about that actually." Neltharion said.
"Talk? Not apologize for traumatizing the poor dear?" Twilight asked, not letting him through the doorway.
"It is regrettable she had such a strong reaction, however I was fighting a very strong instinctive reaction to attack her." The dragon replied.
"Well then, you need to work on your temper, she was already afraid of dragons to begin with." Twilight said, moving out of the doorway and allowing him inside. The black dragon snorted hard in amusement, he had watched entire continents rearrange himself, dooming the lives of thousands, and a little purple unicorn tells him he has a temper problem.
"You can go talk to her, but be... delicate. Don't approach her, don't startle her, and for Celestia's sake watch your teeth and claws, they scare her." Twilight warned, gesturing to the stairs.
"I'll try not to smile." Neltharion said as he climbed them.
The room was exactly as he'd expect Twilight's room to be. Ever the studious one her desk and book collection took up more space than the bed. At the far end of the room, near the wall sat Fluttershy, looking at him in sheer terror. He stopped moving forward.
"Fluttershy." He began, knowing he had her attention already. "I came to discuss what happened last night with you. I am sorry I scared you, but I was quite angry that there was someone in my cave when I found you. I know I may have appeared frightening to you but..." he trailed off, seeing the mare still trembling in the corner, looking at him in wide eyed horror.
Realizing he wasn't getting through to her at the moment he searched his mind for ideas. She was familiar with animals, granted they were usually the soft and fluffy type, but she must recognize the standard cues that animals used to communicate. Snorting in frustration he settled himself down on the floor.
He lay his head down, between his forelimbs, wings folded up to his back tightly. His tail wrapped around him protectively, and he focused on slowing his breathing, exhaling rhythmic breaths of white smoke. Everything about his body language he made as submissive as possible, portraying the idea of 'you're in control here.'
He lay there, staring at the mare, puffs of smoke going by at even intervals, for what seemed like hours. It was embarrassing, and if any creature alive were there to see him, Neltharion, formerly known as Deathwing the Destroyer, the living cataclysm, submitting to a little pony for scaring her, he'd likely never live it down. Still he could see the effects, as her breathing steadily stabilized, and her eyes gradually seemed to grow clearer. Eventually, she took a tentative step from the wall, and lay down, matching his gaze and breathing.
"Fluttershy." He said very slowly, taking time to enunciate each syllable, seeing the little pony nod once in understanding. "I'm sorry for scaring you."
"I was upset that somepony was in my cave, my instinct was to hurt you. I stopped myself, because I don't want to hurt you, but stopping myself left me short tempered." He explained, seeing her nod along.
She made a small noise, like she was trying to talk. He waited patiently, as her voice cracked and she eventually spoke in a whisper. "I-I was j-just trying to g-give you a g-gift."
"I know. I saw it, it is lovely." He said, pausing a moment. "Thank you. You look tired, get some sleep, know that I won't hurt you. I'm going to get up now, and leave the room." Seeing a nod he stood slowly, and making no sudden movements he left the room. Only to find a rather irritated Twilight listening to a rather rapidly speaking Pinkie Pie.
"You've been in there for hours." Twilight said, turning away from her friend to level a cold gaze at the dragon. "Pinkie has been informing me of every possible thing you could be doing in there."
"I have corrected the misunderstanding, and repaired our relationship." The dragon said rather smugly, moving towards the door.
"Oh no no no no no!" The pink pony shouted running after him. "You can't just fix something like that with a quick... whatever you did in there."
Twilight seemed to blush at whatever thoughts her mind jumped to, Neltharion merely raised an eyebrow. "And what makes you the relationship expert?" He snorted.
"Well, if you are in a relationship with Fluttershy, you should have brought flowers!" Pinkie chirped, hopping around the dragon.
"Flowers?" he asked.
"Super-special-I'm-sorry-I-lost-my-temper Flowers." The pink pony nodded enthusiastically.
"Fluttershy did say she would normally be going to pick Blue Moon Blossoms this evening." Twilight added.
The dragon looked between the two, wondering what kind of odd society had such bizarre rules. He hadn't really wronged the mare, aside from giving her quite the fright, but he had explained why, and ensured they were now on proper terms. Why were friends required to bring flowers, perhaps as an offering of food? Dragons would sometimes bring gems as gifts. "What's so special about these flowers?"
"Well as the name suggests they bloom only on blue moons, and they remain in bloom if they are picked during that one particular night, such as tonight." Twilight said, as if reading from a book.
"Yeah! And Fluttershy was all excited to go flower picking tonight, but right now I just think she needs to hang out with the girls and eat ice-cream." Pinkie added.
"So these flowers don't have any special properties?" Neltharion asked, getting twin head shakes from the mares. "But I'm supposed to fetch them anyways, merely because I upset a friend?"
"A special friend." Pinkie added.
"Where are these flowers located?" Neltharion asked with a sigh, knowing already that they would be up some far off treacherous mountain. Sadly he was right. The two mares pointed towards a cliff face on the other side of the Everfree forest, and the dragon stepped out of the library, ironically enough, on a quest.
"Flint, Tinder!" He barked, and the two elementals appeared.
"Yes Boss!" "Yea Boss?" came the two simultaneous voices.
"We're going on a little trip." The dragon said, grudgingly admitting that despite the annoyance they'd no doubt pose, he'd likely need their assistance. If he left now, and made good time, it would still be dusk by the time he arrived.
O~O~O~O~O
At Twilight's library Fluttershy finally felt able to fall asleep. She had spent all night there awake and terrified. Each time she tried to go to sleep she saw those eyes, and those teeth, and heard that awful growl. When Neltharion had entered the room she thought she might die of fright, but instead he simply lay down on the floor, looking as pathetic as a pony sized dragon possibly could.
He just lay there, looking at her, as if waiting for something, not moving or saying anything, just breathing, slow rhythmic breaths, in such a hypnotic way that she felt herself compelled to follow along. With her breathing under control the rest of her followed, and she eventually stopped cowering by the wall. It was then when he began to talk, in a slow and deep voice, keeping her calm and helping her to understand.
She did understand, now, what had happened the previous night. He wasn't angry at her, he didn't hate her, he didn't want to hurt her. These things comforted her, in a way that her friends couldn't during that sleepless night. They had said such unkind things about the dragon, when they learned how he had scared her. Even through the terror she had wanted to speak out in his defense, she had seen enough injured animals in her lifetime to spot the metaphorical scars the dragon carried.
She was a coward, she'd be the first to admit it, and much like the dragon she would much rather run from problems. She was afraid of fighting, but for different reasons than Neltharion. She had seen it in the way he put aside his pride to ensure she was okay, he had harmed someone in the past, and had not been forgiven.
The dragon was haunted.
O~O~O~O~O
It had only been a few hours, but Neltharion was already sick of the forest around him. It wasn't much like the forests of Azaeroth, or else he'd be chased every few seconds by one sort of beastly critter or another. No killer spiders lurked under the trees, no ferocious wolves prowled the underbrush. Instead there were rather mundane horrors, creaky branches, bubbling mud pits, and trees that appeared to have faces.
Flint and Tinder took it upon themselves to spot the spookiest visage among the tree trunks, each one arguing adamantly over each and every quality on their tree, before dropping it and finding another.
In an effort to drown out the ambient chatter, his mind drifted to why exactly he was going on such a journey. Flowers to apologize, for harming, mentally at least, a 'special friend'. What was the pink one getting at? Was Fluttershy special? In what way?
He supposed he enjoyed her company more than the other equines. Twilight was interesting to talk to, like his brother was on occasion, Spike he could see taking under his wing, but Fluttershy... The yellow pony was quiet and unobtrusive, staying out of his way when he needed her to. More than that though, she seemed 'understand'. Not that she possibly could, the very fact that the guilt of his actions didn't crush him utterly was possibly the most disturbing part of his past.
Still, she seemed to be the only one to recognize that he was hurting, far from home, far from his family, and trying to repent for what he had done.
"So we're doing this to get flowers for the boss's marefriend?" Tinder asked his companion.
"That's the story, the boss must really want to impress her. She's a real sweet pony too, didn't even get angry when you singed her house." Flint replied.
'Mare-friend', there were these odd words again. Why did one need to reference gender or species when referring to a companion? He didn't expect the ponies he met to refer to him as their dragon-friend, and the idea of them doing so seemed silly, as if warning others 'be careful, my friend is a big scary dragon.'
There were days when he relished being a big scary dragon, even before his little madness induced meltdown. Now he figures if he were even average size for a dragon he would give Fluttershy a heart attack, and her friends would come at him with torches and pitchforks. Not that it matters, he'll only grow a few feet in every direction in his new friend's lifetime. Even Spike, who is a whelp and thus will develop quickly, will only become a drake near the end of Twilight's lifetime.
That's why his chasing Rarity was harmless he supposed, as nothing romantic could ever really come out of it. She would be old and grey before the whelp ever understood the urge to take a consort.
There was that word again, triggering all sorts of horrifying memories. He'd had consorts in the past, companions, partners, lovers, every Aspect had three or four. What had happened to his was truly horrifying, after the madness had taken him, only one had survived being killed by his own doing. She now lay dead at the hands of her own twisted creation.
He felt no urge to find another consort. He didn't feel he deserved one, knowing what had happened to the last ones. They had been his closest confidants, and they had died at the hands of his mutilated body. Besides, with his body the way it was now, as tiny as he was, no dragon would find him attractive.
What was it Twilight had asked? Could he find romance with a pony? What a strangely odd question to ask of him at that moment. Mortal culture was truly odd, and he took back what he had ever said about dragons who wasted their time studying it. Were he living among dragons he wouldn't even be on this journey, his terrorizing of Fluttershy would stand on its own, no explanation needed.
A part of him realized just then what a cruel species he belonged to.
O~O~O~O~O
Twilight sat in the kitchen of the library, her pink earth pony friend sitting across from her, they had been deep in serious debate for quite some time now.
"It's obvious to anypony that Nelly is sweet on Flutters. He's a big softy on the inside." Pinkie said.
"I don't think he'd appreciate being called Nelly." Twilight said, she was still trying to puzzle out what was going on here, rather than jumping to conclusions. She had a hunch a lot of this was Neltharion's lack of understanding nonpony culture.
"He lets Fluttershy call him Nel." Pinkie said. "And he said they have a relationship."
"You know his way of talking, relationship can just mean the interaction between two individuals." Twilight argued, they'd been having this discussion for hours now.
"He said she was his special friend!" Pinkie maintained.
"You said she was his special friend, he just didn't correct you, probably because he was confused." Twilight corrected.
"If he didn't like her, why is he out getting her flowers?" Pinkie asked.
"Because you told him he should, and he was foalish enough to take your word for what is the social norm in this situation." Twilight sighed.
"So why'd you go along with it?" Pinkie asked.
"Because Fluttershy deserves it." Twilight said simply, going back to drinking her tea. Movement on the stairs signaled Fluttershy's descent from the bedroom. "Good afternoon! I'm glad you finally got some sleep." She called to the pegasus.
"I'm sorry if I kept you up last night." The yellow pony said, slowly walking over to the table.
"It must have been a real doozie of a fright." Pinkie noted, seeing how tired the mare still looked. Twilight rose to get her some tea and a salad.
"My fear of dragons made it worse, but we talked about it, it was for my own good." She said, smiling at Twilight as the unicorn levitated over a cup of herbal tea. "Like Zecora and the poison joke, her warning scared us, but she was trying to protect us from something dangerous."
"Aww, see I told you he's a big softy on the inside!" Pinkie chirped.
"What was so dangerous in his cave that he had to scare you away?" Twilight asked, she was distracted before she could get an answer by a knock on the door, the other mares had arrived, bearing ice-cream of course.
With everyone distracted they didn't hear Fluttershy's whispered response.
"Himself."
O~O~O~O~O
Neltharion finally arrived at the cliff about an hour after sunset, dirty, tired, and rather annoyed at his companions. He gave Tinder orders to stay back, lest he burn the entire field of flowers down, and he and Flint entered the clearing.
Dragons appreciated beauty, so it was perhaps he alone that could really understand why he had walked several hours to reach this clearing in time. It was a breathtaking sight, the entire clearing was filled with flowers in full bloom under a brilliant night sky. They each glowed a pale blue in the moonlight, casting the clearing into an ethereal ambiance, and causing the dragon to walk with reverence towards the first group.
"Welcome dragon, black as night. Have you too come to see this sight?" Came a voice from the other side of the clearing, another pony but striped. She appeared to be a Zhevra, only without a horn.
"I've come to collect some for a pony that couldn't be here tonight." He said, returning to staring at the flowers. His instincts told him to hoard them all to himself, even if they would not endure like gold or gems.
"To reach this place you've journeyed long. Your love for her must be quite strong." The pony said, placing several flowers into her saddle bags.
Neltharion paused, considering the words. Flowers were a sign of affection then? Surely Twilight would know before sending him, or perhaps it was just these flowers that signified that sort of thing. Mating rituals of every culture were complex, and he knew better than to even attempt to apply his knowledge of draconic culture to this sort of thing. "She is... special to me." He admitted. It was true, out of all of the ponies he knew she meant the most. He did not have a lot to compare that level of meaning against, but with his isolationist tendencies he likely never would.
"When on the path to home you wander, perhaps your feelings you should ponder?" Came the advice of the striped pony, as she turned to exit the clearing.
"How many should I take?" He asked, seeing her nearly out of sight.
"If into romance you wish to delve, then you should give the lucky mare twelve." Came the voice echoing out of the woods.
He turned to look at the collection of flowers in front of him. "We're taking as many as we can." He said, as Flint dropped the empty bags he carried.
O~O~O~O~O
"Twilight isn't convinced that he likes her, like likes her likes her." Pinkie said, getting odd looks from Rarity and Applejack. The three were off to one side of the library, away from Fluttershy and the others. "And Rainbow Dash doesn't seem to like him at all! So you two are my only hope on this."
"Ah'm not too sure 'bout playin' matchmaker on this Pinkie." Applejack said, looking over at their timid pegasus friend. She was doing a lot better than she had earlier. Neltharion didn't seem like he was one to apologize, but whatever he had said had sorted things out.
"Well you know what Twilight got out of him, he is at the eligible stage in his life, and he doesn't object to the idea of ponies and dragons dating." Rarity added, getting an enthusiastic series of nods from Pinkie.
"Well, Ah reckon he does show a soft spot for Fluttershy, but she's our friend, we can't go setting her up with someone she don't like." Applejack objected.
"I'm certain she likes him dear, she always sticks up for him whenever any of us say something mean about him. She just needs time to get used to him, like she did all of us." Rarity said.
"Yeah! She was overwhelmed by me at first, but now she even attends some of my parties!" Pinkie said, causing the other two mares to quiet her down.
"Well we need to take this really slow, so the two can get used to each other." Applejack said.
"We can set them up on a date, give Fluttershy two tickets to free dinner at Horsey on Main, and then make sure everypony she could possibly invite is busy, except Neltharion." Rarity said.
"Good, 'cept Neltharion only eats gems. He won't even sit down ta eat breakfast with Fluttershy in tha mornings. He goes out and feeds the animals instead." Applejack replied.
"OhohI know!" Pinkie said.
"It can't be a party, both of them hate crowds, nightclubs and bars are out as well." Applejack interrupted, derailing whatever scheme Pinkie likely came up with.
"There's a fireworks display tomorrow night remember?" Pinkie said. "We were all going to go together, we just have to make sure Fluttershy winds up going alone with Neltharion."
"Brilliant, we can all make excuses to not go, and then monitor the date from a distance. Twilight will agree once we tell he it's for science. But what about Rainbow Dash?" Rarity said, causing all three to glance over at the cyan pegasus.
"This could be a challenge." Applejack muttered.
O~O~O~O~O
Neltharion had done a lot of thinking on the way home that evening. Through every train of thought the final phrase he stumbled upon time and again was merely 'she is special to me'. It was frustrating, to an extent, as he was completely lost in dealing with this sort of thing. She was a friend, that much was certain, and she deserved the flowers he had worked so hard to retrieve.
He arrived back at the cottage a few hours before dawn, and, by virtue of being a total hypocrite, snuck into the building. To his dismay he couldn't find a single vase or jar for the flowers anywhere, despite his excellent night vision. So he did the next best thing.
Several pounds of clay, a very messy Flint, some quick applications of dragon breath, and much sneaking later Fluttershy's cottage was decorated with every flower Neltharion had picked for her. He went to bed that morning curled contently on his hoard, clutching the gold pony like a teddy bear.
When Fluttershy awoke a few hours later she was shocked to find her home filled with Blue Moon Blossoms. Whether through coincidence or subliminal action, her home contained twelve hand crafted vases, each holding twelve flowers.
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can't wait for next chapter
"seemed 'understand'"
seemed to understand
"What had happened to his was truly horrifying, after the madness had taken him, only one had survived being killed by his own doing."
should be:
What had happened to his was truly horrifying. After the madness had taken him, only one had survived being killed by his own doing.
"It was a breathtaking sight, the entire clearing was filled with flowers in full bloom under a brilliant night sky."
should be
It was a breathtaking sight. The entire clearing was filled with flowers in full bloom under a brilliant night sky.
I noticed you do this a lot, so those two are just examples. It's better to shorten sentences than make complex compound ones, usually.
Poor poor dragon, being maniplated on social norms that he doesn't understand.
MOAR! Pls moar. i love the way you post every or at least every other day. Keep up the good work. I play WoW so i find those references to the game extremely cool. mentioning Malygos and all. Love it
Poor understanding of social norms and being manipulated in to getting flowers and hes not even sure why, romance always seams to make the best comedy
Awww... It's quite refreshing to see a different take on Deathwing. Keep up the good work!
Great story, I love the little touches of WoW. I'd like to see more Spike/Deathwing interaction.
"You have done NOTHING."
Good attitude, Nel. Keep it up.
too long since last uppdate. need more
that's like the equivelent of 12 lovers! Subconicious love ftw!
damb hes got it baaad