Raison D'être

by mechafone

18 - How To Love And Tolerate A Monster

Spark Storm awoke to find himself alone in the tree. Oh crap. He hopped down from the tree, his wings spreading to slow his descent. Ok, think, Sparky. If you were a nymph far-removed from home and woke up in a strange place, where would you go? Like I know. Stop talking to yourself, idiot, and go find Orea!

He groaned and ran through the gardens. He stopped once he approached the finely polished stone castle, his ears leaning this way and that, listening for tell-tales signs of a mythical creature among the public. Still, he could hear nothing. Spark was starting to panic. A living legend walking around could cause some serious problems. How the hell did she even get up without waking him up?

He ran inside, thinking it might be a good idea to find a turret. A good view might help him out. He was nearly to the stairs when a little purple and green figure hopped into his path. Spark let out a yelp and hop/tripped over the little figure and fell onto his chest. He heard a gasp from a familiar feminine voice. Ugh. So early in the morning? This is not turning out to be a great...His thoughts trailed off as he turned around and saw who he was expecting. Twilight Sparkle. He was not expecting to see her shielding what looked to be like a little baby dragon.

"Wha...Twilight?" He stepped closer to get a better look at the shy creature. Twilight politely kept the dragon behind her, fixing Spark with an even stare that obviously meant he should move along. He did not, but he didn't press the matter. After all, he had a Nymph to take care of. Twilight had her dragon. Seemed pretty even terms. "Twilight, I don't suppose you've seen Orea, have you?" Twilight frowned just slightly, just a little miffed that he hadn't taken her hint and left. "Who?"

"Who else could I be talking about?" He held a hoof up level with his jawline. "Cute little mare, sweet and innocent, looks like a tree?" Twilight's eyes narrowed. Spark Storm had lied to her teacher about this creature. She was feeling none too nice about the whole situation. "Oh. That."

It was Spark's Storm's turn to give Twilight a sour look, then he looked pointedly down at the little dragon hiding behind Twilight's legs. "Watch your tone, Sparkle. It's apparently not against the rules to have monsters running around the castle." Twilight's horn lit up threateningly, her eyes blazing with anger. "Spike is not a monster!" At this, Spark's wings spread threateningly. "Neither is Orea!"

"Children!" A furious voice rang from down the hall behind Spark. Twilight and Spark glared daggers at each other, but both stood down as Princess Celestia marched up to the three figures. Spark finally turned around and bowed to her respectfully. "First thing I get up to in the morning is the two of you about at each other's throats!" Celestia said, her voice booming through the hallway.

"Sorry." Came the response from both Spark and Twilight. Neither answer sounded very sincere. "Sorry..." Came a voice from behind Spark. He turned to look at Spike. Had that come from him? He'd never heard a dragon speak, let alone actually seen one, so this came as a surprise.

"Yes, he speaks," Twilight said curtly. "He's an intelligent and productive member of society. Unlike - " She didn't get to finish when Celestia stomped her hooves on the floor. "Enough! I think I see what's going on here." She said, glaring down at Twilight, who backed away with a surprised look. "And I think I have a solution, as well. Twilight, Spark, you two will spend one week getting to know one another's special friend. Spark Storm, you with Spike, Twilight Sparkle, you will accompany Orea. Neither of you are getting out of this, I'm quite tired of the animosity between you two! I fully expect positive results from this practice! And it starts now!"

"But I don't even - " Spark began, only to be cut off by an angry glare from the Alicorn. "No buts, Spark Storm. You will take Spike with you wherever you go from now on, until I say you may return him. Twilight Sparkle, Orea is at the top of this section's tower. You will accompany her until I say you've learned your lesson. All creatures deserve our respect, no matter what we think of them. Think of this as my lesson for the week. Now go, children, and learn!"

Twilight looked up at her teacher with an expression of pained insult. For a moment, she made no move to leave. Finally, she huffed and stomped off towards the stairs that would lead her to Orea. Spark sighed and looked over at Spike, who was holding his tail and looked very vulnerable without Twilight next to him. Spark looked up at Celestia with a worried expression. She returned the exact same look, then trotted off looking deflated.

After a moment of silence, Spike slipped closer to Spark, who looked down at him with a weary expression. "Mister Spark, Sir? You don't...you don't think I'm a monster, do you?" Spark smiled down at him and shook his head. "No way, Spike. Not a chance. I'm closer to being a monster than you are. I'm sorry if I made you think that." Spike seemed to brighten up a bit at this, then extended Spark a claw. "Well, here's to a weird week!" Spark chuckled and shook the little dragon's claw. "Weird indeed, kiddo."

Twilight Sparkle made her way out into the open air. There, as Celestia had mentioned, was the creature called Orea. While she had not personally seen her up close, she was absolutely unmistakable. Her long, silky fur resembled the greenest grass. Her tail, while done up with a cute little bow, also looked like grass. Her wings, while insectile, looked more like wings of moss and some other kinds of plant-life.

When Orea turned to her, Twilight noted that Spark's description of her had been accurate. She had the sweetest face the Unicorn had ever seen, and she was crying. It did surprising things to Twilight's heart. It made her feel sad. It made her want to go and comfort the Nymph.

"Orea? Why do you look so sad?" She said, approaching slowly. Orea frowned at Twilight. She had been expecting her Storm to come and ease her pain. She knew now why her mother had sent her to this place, but it didn't change the loneliness she felt. She had never been away from her home, away from her family. Even though her sister had been cruel to her these long years, she craved their company.

"I...I miss my home. I miss my Storm. Where is he?" Twilight tried not to make a face at the creature talking about Spark in any sort of possessive way. So gross. "Uh...well, he can't be here right now. He's going to be busy for a while, taking care of a dear friend of mine. And I...Well, I'll be keeping you company in his stead."

Orea had an unreadable expression on her face until she laid down on the floor and burst into tears, hiding her face in her forelegs. Twilight sighed and looked around. Did she really have to do this? She moved herself to Orea's side and, after a moment, reached down to stroke her mane. Wow, she's really soft...She thought.

The distraught Nymph quieted after a few moments. When she looked up at Twilight, the Unicorn could see that her tears had stained the stone green. As she stared at this spot, the green grew until it formed a small circle of lovely green moss.

Twilight gasped. Despite all the talk and all the hype, she hadn't really put much stock into creatures of legend. Spike didn't count, dragons weren't that rare. But this...this was something else. Twilight could feel tears threatening to fall from her eyes. The very existence of this creature felt sacred, and to see her so sad was making Twilight feel terrible for how she had talked about her.

"Oh, Orea..." She whispered. She laid down beside her and took her into her forelegs, giving her a comforting squeeze. "It's not so bad. We'll take care of you, I promise. And you'll see Spark Storm in a few days." Orea said nothing as she leaned into Twilight's embrace. She fit her head under Twilight's chin, continuing to sniffle quietly. For now, she was at peace, and Twilight felt taking care of this special creature wouldn't be such a burden after all.

Comments

[Melody Brush]

AAWW, I like little Orea. Maby I can draw her for ya mech.