Scars That Need To Heal
Chapter 3: Scars That Need To Heal
"Um, here we are...Mr. Dragon...some fresh salmon with berries. I hope this satisfies your...appetite." Fluttershy proclaimed while carrying the large plate on her head.
She stopped in the middle of her tracks when she saw what was going on in the living room.
The fireplace was the only illuminating source in the room. Fluttershy assumed that the dragon lit it. But in the glowing yet shadowed light, the shy pegasus witnessed him on all fours ready to prey on the chipmunks and rabbits shivering in the corner.
"STOP!" Fluttershy screamed.
He turned his head away from his prey, and snarled at the pony "Why should I?!"
Fluttershy stomped over to the bully dragon while still carrying the oval plate on top of her head. In all honesty, he wasn't expecting the shy pegasus to speak out so loudly and march over to him so angrily. But regardless, he still maintained his ferocious image.
Fluttershy continued her rant with "You promised that you wouldn't harm them if I did as you said! And I am feeding you, just as you asked!"
"Oh yeah? Well... you were taking too long! And I need food now!"
"I was only in the kitchen for two minutes!"
"Pfft! Still waaayyy too long."
Fluttershy couldn't help but growl underneath her breath. She grinded her teeth slowly yet harshly. But you couldn’t hear the frightening grind of her teeth. She was so angry, so frustrated at this brute who had scared her animals and barged into her home and taken it over.
However despite this, she kept a straight yet cold face in front of him and placed his meal in front of him, "Here."
The dragon looked down at the meal and then back up at Fluttershy, "That's it? That's all you got?!"
"You should considered it lucky that I had any meat at all. Ponies don't eat meat."
Garble’s angry eyebrow arched up with suspicion and slight curiosity. But his eyes widened with his curiosity. However, this curiosity didn’t last. After all, this pony mustn't know that he has a slight interest in what she does with her life. So, he asks her in a deep yet suspicious voice, "So, why did you?"
She looked over to the whimpering and wounded bear in her living room. She sighed sadly. "It was for Mr. Bearington."
The teenage dragon looked over to the bear too, trying to see why her tone suddenly changed when she looked over to him.
"Eat up." The serious pony stated before walking over to attend her animals.
"Whatever," he mumbled before digging into his meal.
To him, the meal lacked flavor and taste. It was nothing compared to eating a fresh warm kill out in the mountains. Yet despite his hunger, his mind couldn’t help but wander back to the pegasus. He imagined what she did in the corner of room with this bear. He didn’t know why he was thinking of her. He didn’t know why he was interested in what she was doing behind his back. Was it a dominance thing? Did he need to know what she was doing at all times in order to control her better? Or was it actual curiosity?
This pony...was different from all the ponies he has ever met. And he hasn’t met many ponies. Probably, only ten ponies in his lifetime. She was submissive yet rebellious. She was meek but then loses this meekness whenever he threatens the animals. She’s cold to him but mournful with these pathetic beasts. And yet for some reason, whenever she acted sad around other creatures in the cottage...his anger only increased. He could feel his fire bubbling and boiling in his throat just thinking about it. What frustrated him even more was that he didn’t know why he felt this way.
Luckily, Fluttershy always kept a first aid pet box underneath her couch. She pulled it out and addressed Mr. Bearington's wounds.
She was thankful that it was just a bruise on his stomach instead of his ribs. She wrapped his stomach in white bandages to keep his back straight. Then, placed an ice pack on his stomach and told him to lay down slowly on his back.
After that, she walked over to Shaun, who was in much worse shape than Mr. Bearington. His head was covered in bruises and scratches. His back was bent out of shape. His horns were still in good shape, but it didn't help his situation. The best she could do was bandage the top and the sides of his head, along with his back. She also gave him a cold pack for his head and gave him some herbal pain relief that Zecora made for her. The medicine helped the suffering goat to take a nice nap.
As the yellow mare walked away from Shaun the goat and towards the young dragon, she noticed something new about him. And it made her stop in her tracks.
While he was eating his salmon on all fours, she got a good view of his back. It was covered in scars. Deep, cruel, unforgiving scars. Scars created by claws as large as his own. These claws were probably from a older, giant dragon. A lot of the scars were old. But there were some fresh wounds alongside these old scars. These fresh cuts disturbed her the most.
She just imagined how much pain this poor creature was in, despite him hiding it as well. His back was probably stinging, and most likely got infected by the harsh wilderness. No wonder he hadn’t just fled to a cave somewhere. His back was so sore that he wouldn't didn't have the strength to flap his wings.
Fluttershy then realized something. He wasn't a bully. He wasn't a brute or a beast. He was like...
The wolves.
Sometimes, during the white blistering days of January, she would get poor and starving year-old wolves wandering around her cottage. At first, these young wolves would only growl and sneer ferociously at her when she approached. They would usually think she was a hunter or some other creature trying to dominate them for territory. It was natural for them to not trust her; they were too focused on staying warm and finding food. But once Fluttershy made a soft den for them outside her fence line and fed them some meat, the young wolves weren't so bad. And because of her kindness, these wolves would visit her during the summer and come back to her homemade dens in the winter. They wouldn't be friendly like puppies towards her, but they would silently acknowledge in her presence and show her trust.
Fluttershy felt her heart sink in her chest. How could she be so blind to an animal that needed her? No wonder he’d barged in like he did; he was just a scared and wounded soul that needed somepony to take care of him. Even though guilt was breaking her heart, her mind motivated her to approach the dragon quietly.
With a look of sympathy, she asked him "Um, Mr. Dragon?"
"Gmarble," he mumbled. His mouth full of food almost spilling out every time he uttered a syllable.
"Huh?"
The teenage dragon swallowed his fish quickly and exclaimed, "Garble! My name is Garble! So, don't call me ‘Mr. Dragon.’ Okay?!"
"Um, okay...Garble...where did you get those scars?"
Garble looked away from his pony servant, and looked down at his empty plate. His shoulders hunched over, and acted as a wall for his face. Fluttershy immediately noticed this, and tried to search for his eyes. It was like he was hiding them from her, and she didn’t understand why he was doing this.
"That's none of your business."
"I... I understand that. And I'm sorry to intrude, but... I want to help you. With your scars... and your wounds."
Garble quickly lifted his gaze and stated bluntly to her face, "I don't NEED your help. My scars AND my wounds are just fine!"
"But... don't they hurt?"
"No!" He pouted his lips forward, sounding like a stubborn foal.
"It's okay to admit that they do."
"Hmph! No they don’t," Garble grunted while taking his head away from her.
"I won't tell, I promise." Fluttershy tried turning her head towards his, while suppressing a smile. He really was a teenager. That thought alone made the small pegasus chuckle.
Her quiet laughter faded and the core issue at hoof returned to her mind. "Please Garble, let me help you. If you don't let me help you, you won't be able to fly for a long time."
This made the dragon softly gasp. Ever since his fight with the mountain elder dragon, his wings would sting every time they flapped. And this new pain only aggravated the old scars on his back. It never occurred to him how long it would take to heal. The thought of being grounded was just too humiliating for him.
He knew what he had to do, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. "Fine! Go ahead, just... don't take too long. Alright?"
"I won't, I promise."
Fluttershy went into the kitchen and soaked a towel in warm water. With the towel in her mouth and a bowl of warm water on her back, she walked back to Garble.
He set the plate aside and adjusted a comfortable position for himself on the floor. While laying his head on his arms, he closed his eyes and tried to not think about the agony jabbing him all over his back. Fluttershy lowered herself right next to him, and soaked the towel in warm water again.
With the lightest touch she could muster, she gently placed the warm towel in the middle of his back.
"Aah! Geez!" Garble cried out. He turned his neck, glaring at her. "What was that for?!"
"I'm sorry Garble, but before I can bandage your wounds,I have to clean them up first. And the only way to clean them, without a lot of stinging that is, is with warm water."
"Well, I think that you should-- aah!" The tough dragon then felt a sudden tension stiffening his neck and it forced him to rest his head again.
Fluttershy then gave him a big pillow to cling on to, which he took without hesitation. "I know this hurts, but try to relax. It doesn't sting as much when you do. I'll be super gentle, I promise. But you'll have to trust me in order for me to do that. Do you think that you could do that? Just for one moment?"
Garble took a moment to reflect. The thought of trusting this wimpy pegasus made him gag. Dragons were independent and solitary souls. Dragons relied on their own strength and intuition to survive the lands beyond Equestria and fight off creatures of pure magic and darkness. Asking for help and trust would mean weakness.
And weakness usually led to your own demise. However, he needed this pony's help to fly again.
So, he lied through his teeth. "Alright, fine. I trust you. For now."
With Garble's approval, Fluttershy went back to softly stroking her warm towel in the middle of his back. The teenage dragon hissed through his teeth once she started, but the pain wasn't as bad as it was before. His muscles were still stiff and tense, but at least he was allowing her to do this.
There were long wounds planted across the middle of his back to the spot between his wings, and that was the area that Fluttershy focused on first. She figured that this was where the majority of the back pain was coming from.
The higher that the towel went up his back, the more Garble buried his head into his pillow. Fluttershy couldn't bare to hear his muffled squeals and growls, nor bare to see his almost hidden expression of pain in his face. So, she decided to gently massage his back and scars with the warm wet towel in order to help him relax.
And it worked. She could instantly feel his muscles relaxing. Garble loosened his grip on the pillow, but he still kept his face buried in it. With a soft smile on her face, she could focus her circular massage on the other wounds that needed her attention.
Garble didn't feel comfortable with the fact that this pony's touch was relaxing him. It was like every part of his hard scaly skin was becoming baby soft and squishy under her touch. What was she doing to him?! The young dragon tried to come up with conspiracies or some ideas about why she was doing this. What would she gain from this? Maybe she was just using her fake nicey-nice behavior to charm him into leaving.
Well, I have news for ya pony, he thought to himself, you won't break me down that easily!
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The Element of Kindness everypony
Well it looks like things are turning pretty well so far at least for Fluttershy so anyway Fluttershy made the fish for garble but he was going after the Chipmunks and it really got her mad that he promised he won't hurt any of the animals so he backed off for now and ate the fish as Fluttershy is attending to the bear and the goat who got hurt from garble he was confused why is she is doing and why is she being so kind to the animals it's just Fluttershy always have that magic touch she is the element of kindness and speaking of that Fluttershy notice garble injury and he looks like he got in a fight with other creatures who is bigger than him so she wanted to help him to get better but of course he is so dang stubborn but she promised she won't tell anybody and well help him to recover and with that he would let her do it now again she has a Magic Touch hopefully this would help him realize what he did was wrong