Rainbow Unicorn: Griffon Grief

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Feathery Fury

Twilight Comet's hoof slammed squarely into Gilda's cheek. The blow was quick and impulsive, so Twilight did not put much of her strength into it. Still, it was enough to send the griffon stumbling backwards into one of the bookshelves, her large form causing it to rock and several books to tumble.

Eyes wide and beak hanging open, Gilda brought a talon to her cheek, rubbing it. Turning to Twilight, she stared a moment before glaring. Her wings flared out wide as she stepped forward.

"What is wrong with you?!" Gilda bellowed out.

"Me?!" Twilight shouted back. "What in Tartarus is wrong with you?!" Stepping forward, she jabbed the griffon in the chest. "Why would you say something like that?"

"Oh come on." Gilda rolled her eyes and gave a shake of her head. "What's the big deal that the little lizard had a crush on you?"

"The 'big deal,'" Twilight snarled out, "is that Spike is a child. He's... I don't even know how old."

"Ten," a raspy voice cut in. "Spike is ten."

Rainbow Burst made her way down the stairs, ears pulled back and horn glowing with magic. Eyes narrowed, she looked at the two of them.

"What's going on in here?" she asked. "Why are you yelling about Spike?" Her gaze drifted around the room. "Where is Spike?"

Twilight pointed a hoof at Gilda.

"This... this... featherbrain here basically humiliated and embarrassed him." Twilight turned to glare at Gilda again. "Despite the fact he is a ten year old child!" She took a step forward, getting in the griffon's face. "How the Tartarus would you have felt if somepony had done that to you when you were a... cub?... fledgeling?..." She let out a growl. "Whatever the griffon equivalent of a foal is."

Gilda took a step back, her face softening and her wings pulled back against her. She shifted her weight, looking off to the side.

"Look, Twilight, I--"

"Stuff it," Twilight cut in. Stepping closer, she pressed a hoof against Gilda's chest. "Here's what's going to happen: you are going to go to Sugarcube Corner, and wait there while I get Spike. When we get there, you are going to apologize -- sincerely -- and buy him a treat to make up for it. Got it?"

"Okay."

The agreement threw Twilight Comet off for a second. She had been expecting some kind of argument, and she was ready to threaten Gilda if she had to. So having her simply agree was not something that Twilight had been ready for.

"Okay then," Twilight said with a nod. "Rainbow, can you make sure she gets to Sugarcube Corner without any incidents, please?"

Rainbow stood there a moment, ears back and eyes narrowed as she glared at Gilda. The magic around her horn continued to swirl and throb, waiting to be released. With a snort, Rainbow dismissed her magic.

"Fine," she huffed out. "I'll take her."

"Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof. "Just don't take too long, or I might get bored and see if griffons can be vaporized."

Hoping that Rainbow Burst was just venting her frustration with dark humor, and not actually planning to blast Gilda, Twilight Comet made her way from the library and started looking for Spike. With Ponyville still being a small town, pretty much all of the residents knew each other, by sight if not by name. Even new arrivals like Rainbow Burst and Spike. Add in the fact that Spike was the only dragon in town, and pretty much any pony in Ponyville would remember seeing him. It just took asking the right ponies and following what they said to find out where he went.

At least, that was what Twilight thought.

Much like most things in her life, the theory was easier than the practical application. It did start as she had expected, she would ask a pony if they had seen Spike (or "the little purple dragon" when asked "who?"), and they would tell her they had seen him heading whichever direction, often pointing. As she got further from the library, it became more difficult as there were fewer ponies who had seen him and were still around. Some times she had to make a guess, and even double back and try again.

It was starting to look like she may not be able to find him, which worried Twilight a little.

"Hey!" a voice called out.

Turning toward it, Twilight caught sight of a mint green unicorn with similar colored mane and tail that had streaks of white in them. Twilight recognized the mare, had seen her around town and often in the company of the candymaker, Bon Bon, but her name eluded Twilight at the moment. It had something to do with music, right? Lute? Lute something. Her cutie mark looked to be some sort of stringed instrument, like a harp. Lute Harp? Lute... Harpsichord? That sounded about right.

Once seeing she had Twilight's attention, Lute waved a hoof toward her. It seemed like something was bothering her.

"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked as she landed in front of the mare. "I'm kind of busy looking for--"

"The dragon, right?" Lute asked. "Little purple guy who lives in the library with that new unicorn?"

"Yeah. Have you seen him?"

"He's... uh..." she pointed toward the bridge. "He's under there. I heard crying and... uh..." She shifted.

"Okay," Twilight said as she started to walk toward the bridge. "Thanks, Lyra."

Lyra! That was the mare's name: Lyra Heartstrings. Why in Equestria did she think it was Lute Harpsichord?

It didn't really matter right now. Twilight had more immediate matters to deal with than getting the name of a unicorn wrong. Walking, she made her way toward the bridge. Her steps were extra heavy and dragged a little, causing audible thumps on the ground. At the edge of the bridge, Twilight stopped.

"Spike," she called out, making sure she was hear. "Spike, I know you under there. I'm coming in."

Staying where she was and counting to three to give Spike time to collect himself, Twilight then took a deep breath and stepped forward. Slowly she made her way under the bridge and toward Spike.

Whether Twilight's intent had worked or Spike had already finished, he was no longer crying when she saw him again. Instead his head was resting on his arm, which in turn were resting on his knees. His eyes flicked to her before he turned his head away.

Twilight moved closer, sitting down next to Spike. She looked at him a moment before turning to look at the water.

"So... I guess it's true then," she said softly, "you're infatuated with me?"

"I guess," Spike sighed out. "It's just... when Rainbow and I were working on The Summer Sun Celebration and I saw you on that bench reading, you were like... the most beautiful mare I had ever seen."

Twilight shifted at the compliment, her face heating up as she blushed. Her wings flickered at her side. She was not used to others complimenting her appearance, much less calling her "beautiful." Normally it was ponies like Rarity or the flower mares who got compliments like that.

"Then it turns out that you're really smart, talented, loyal, and really brave," Spike continued. "Who wouldn't fall in love with a pony like that?"

"That's... very flattering," Twilight said. Reaching out, she place a hoof on Spike's back. "But it's also not the entire truth, Spike. You're kind of looking at an idealized version of me, and not the real me."

"I know," Spike sighed out. "So, I guess you don't feel the same way about me?"

Twilight moved to look at him. A part of her felt bad, but it was better to be honest on the matter than to string him along. As disgusting a simile as it may be, it would be like lancing an infected wound. Yes, it would hurt and be uncomfortable, but doing so would allow for proper healing, in this case allowing Spike to get over his crush and move on.

"I'm sorry, but no. I know it's hard to hear, but that's the truth."

"...is it because I'm a kid?"

"...I won't lie," Twiilght said softly. "That is a part of it. Not simply because of the age difference, but because you're still at a point where you're figuring out who you are and what you want, both from life and from a relationship."

Moving closer, she wrapped a wing around him.

"I know this is hard to hear, but I promise you'll feel better someday. You'll meet others -- maybe a pony, maybe not -- and get to know each other. Some times you'll even feel like you're in love. Maybe it will work out, and maybe it won't. If so, you two will work to get closer and be happy, and if not, you'll try again, a little wiser for it."

Spike shifted to look up at her.

"Did that happen to you?" he asked. "Have you been in love before?"

Twilight shifted, turning away from the young dragon and looking at the water flowing by. Picking up a pebble, she tossed it into the water and watched the ripples. As it did, the image of an old memory seemed to move across it.

"When I was little, before I met Applejack, my brother was like my only friend," she said as she continued to look at the water. "He was the coolest, best big brother a filly could ask for. So, naturally he kind of became the benchmark for what I thought I would want in a relationship. I didn't want to date Shining Armor, but I saw all these great things in him I thought I wanted in a stallion.

"Then one day, I met a stallion named Flash Sentry. He was kind of cute and was everything I thought I wanted. He was even planning on joining The Royal Guard when he was old enough. So I thought that he was exactly what I was looking for." She smiled. "Even turned out that he was actually interested in me as well, although I wasn't aware until somepony flat out told me. Applejack says that when it comes to being flirted with, I'm 'as dense as a fence post.'"

She tossed another pebble.

"Anyway, I thought he was exactly what I was looking for, that he was perfect for me." She let out a sigh. "Then we went out on a date. Technically, everything went perfectly. We talked, we laughed, we had fun, but for some reason, I was just disappointed in the whole thing. Despite it seeming like it should be perfect, it wasn't. It felt like I was just hanging out with a knock-off of my brother. Once I looked past the things I thought I wanted, I realized I didn't really know Flash, and there wasn't really anything there that interested me.

"When I ended things with Flash, it turned out that I found another way he was different from what I imagined. He... ended up having a bit of a temper. He didn't hit me or anything like that, but he did not take it well."

She gave a shake of her head.

"Since then, I've been trying to figure out what I want a little more. I've had a few relationships since then, and they haven't really worked out, but I've learned from them."

Turning back to Spike, Twilight smiled again.

"The same thing will probably happen to you. In the mean time, I'll still be your friend. That is if you want." She shifted some. "I'd also offer to give you dating advice if you need it, but I'm not really very good at the whole thing. Really, Rarity would be the best to talk to about stuff like that."

"I bet," said Spike, smiling slightly. "She's checked out a different romance novel practically every week."

"No surprise," Twilight replied as she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, Gilda is waiting at Sugarcube Corner to make up for embarrassing you the way that she did."

Spike moved, turning to pull away.

"Thanks, but I think I want to be alone for a little while longer."

"Okay," Twilight said as she pulled away. "Well, I'll leave you alone then. Need to get there anyway to make sure that Rainbow Burst doesn't do any serious harm to Gilda."

"Okay," Spike replied. "And... thanks. For... talking to me and all..."

"Like I said, I'm still your friend."

"...yeah..."

Leaving the underside of the bridge, Twilight Comet took off and flew toward town. She felt a little bad about leaving Spike behind, but there was nothing else she could do. Besides, she should respect his wishes.

At least he seemed to be taking it well, and the two of them would still be friends when this was all over.

"TWILIGHT!" Spike was suddenly shouting from behind her. "HEY TWILIGHT!"

Turning around Twilight made her way back toward the bridge. Spike had come out from under it and was looking up at her. In his claws was a scroll.

"You said Rainbow was at Sugarcube Corner right?" he asked as soon as she was close enough to hear. "Can you give me a ride there?"

"Sure," Twilight answered as she landed and bent down to let him climb on. "Is everything okay?"

Spike shifted, then held the scroll out to her.

"Here. Maybe you should read it yourself."

Comments

[Alticron]

Dun dun dun!

[Comickook]

Not much I can say other than, as usual, excellent job on the exchanges, emotional content and future chapter set-up in all the right places. That was good of Twilight to let Spike down gently and even share a bit of her own experience on the matter of relationships. And I have a bad feeling about that letter at the end of the chapter. Still, I AM looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.