The Goddess of Spring

by kurusagi16

Chapter 3

Over the next few days, Fluttershy did her best to ensure that her guest was comfortable, making sure that he was warm and well fed. After a while, he began to make interesting requests from her. First it'd been a glass of water and some tea with honey, both of which seemed normal enough. Until he started to ask for a crystal cruet with codfish oil, saying that it was for his chest. Then he asked for some pumpkin soup, silky scarves to wrap himself in, warm milk pastries, noodles, a swiss cheese sandwich on rye bread, basil, mince pies, and so on.

Fluttershy would do what she could to meet her guest's demands, but he would always have more requests to ask of her. From the sidelines, Angel watched as his mistress tirelessly worked herself to care for this ungrateful man, till at one point he couldn't stand it anymore. He hopped up and tugged at the hem of his mistress' skirts, trying to get her attention.

"Not now Angel," She said, obviously distracted. "Our guest wants a bowl of peas with some grated cheese."

Angel made a face and tapped his foot in a disgruntled fashion.

Fluttershy sighed, "Yes, I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but he is our guest, and while he's here we must treat him to our hospitality."

Angel shook his head and slammed a paw in front of his face before hopping off. He hopped towards the man's room and peaked inside. The intruder was lounging about on his bed, acting as though he hadn't a care in the world. It burned Angel up inside to think that this was the man who was treating his mistress as though she were no more than a common servant (though in some respect, he himself was one to talk). Angel entered the room and hopped up onto the bed, where he made a lot of angry gestures, in the hopes of asserting his displeasure of the unwelcomed guest, and that he disliked the treatment he was giving to his mistress.

The man just watched in amusement before letting out a chuckle. "Why isn't that just precious? So, you think a little bunny rabbit like you has what it takes to stand up to me? Ha! Ha!" Without any warning, Angel found himself lifted up into the air and dangling just a few inches in front of the man's face. A twisted grin etched on his face. "I'm afraid you're sorely mistaken, little rabbit." For a brief moment, his eyes glowed red, and then Angel was tossed onto the floor like an old shoe.

Angel lifted himself off the floor and stared at the man in wide eyed horror. This man...who, what was he?

"Angel." Fluttershy said as she entered, carrying the bowl of peas and cheese. "Please don't bother our guest, why don't you go out and play in the garden?"

He didn't like the idea of leaving his mistress alone with a clearly dangerous man, but Angel knew that he'd need to warn the other animals that lived at the palace of what trouble they had on their paws, and hopefully, they'd be able to formulate a plan for getting rid of him.

As Angel hopped off, Fluttershy turned her attention back to the man. "I'm sorry about that, I hope Angel didn't bother you too much."

The man waved his hand dismissively, "Oh think nothing of it." He then proceeded to gobble up the cheesy peas while Fluttershy stood aside.

"Um..."

"What is it?" The man asked.

"Since you won't tell me your name, is there some name that I could call you by?" She asked. "It would make it easier to hold a conversation.

The man considered this and answered, "You may call me Dracon. Admittedly, it's not as grand as my true name and perhaps it's even a little overdone, but it shall suffice."

"Alright then, Dracon, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly, after all, you've done more than enough." Dracon said.

Fluttershy smiled. "Well in that case I'll--"

"But since you asked, " He interrupted. "I've been feeling in the mood for a nap. You don't happen to have a singing harp by the name of Lousie lying around, would you?"

"Um, no." Fluttershy said, quite befuddled by his request.

Dracon frowned. "Pity, I was hoping that her dulcet tones could help soothe me to sleep."

"If you'd like, I could play you a song." Fluttershy offered.

"If you must then you must." He answered, lying back with his arms rested behind his head.

Fluttershy got out her panpipe and tried to think of a song that her guest would like. Perhaps something nice and cheery. She then began to play Tom Tom the Piper's son.

Tom Tom, the Piper's son,

Stole a pig and away he ran,

And all the tune that he could play,

Was over the hills and faraway.

Over the hills and a great way off,

The wind shall blow my topknot off--

"No, no, no, no!" Dracon interrupted. "That won't do at all."

"I'm sorry." Fluttershy said, ceasing her pipe playing.

"Don't get me wrong, it's a charming ditty and all, but don't you know of any more interesting songs?" He asked.

"Er, well, what sort of song did you have in mind?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you for suggestions."

At this point Fluttershy was starting to lose her patience, but she managed to remain calm and suggested, "Well, I could try jumbling different songs I know so that they fit together into one song. Would that be okay?"

"Hmm, I suppose so." He said. "Play away."

And so she did.

Four and twenty tailors went to catch a snail,

The best man amongst them durst not touch her tail,

She put out her horns like a little cow,

So run tailors run or she'll have you all beaten now.

Hey diddle pippety poppety pet,

The merchants of downtown they where scarlet,

Silk in the collar and the gold in the hem,

So merrily march the merchant men,

There I bought, a pipkin and a popkin,

A slipkin and a slopkin,

All for one farthing.

Three little mice sat down to spin,

Pussy passed by and she peeped in,

"What are you at my fine little men?"

"Making coats for gentlemen!"

"Shall I come in and cut off your threads?"

"Oh no pussy you'd bite off our heads!"

Fluttershy looked back up at Dracon, an indifferent expression remaining on his face.

"Well?" She asked.

"I suppose it'll do." He said. "You may go now."

"Al-alright." Fluttershy took one more glance at Dracon before leaving.

Dracon couldn't help but smile to himself. Though he didn't want to admit it aloud, it had been a pretty song.

---

Fluttershy strolled down the corridor lost in thought, wondering what to do about Dracon. She couldn't understand him. It seemed that no matter what she did, he didn't seem to take notice of her efforts. Not only that, but a part of her was slowly starting to regret bring him to her temple, a feeling she didn't like. What should I do? She wondered. The answer quickly came to mind. Whenever she had a problem she couldn't solve on her own, she usually went to one of her friends for help. But who could she talk to? Then it hit her. Rainbow Dash!

Rushing out into the garden, Fluttershy hurried over to Angel bunny, who was talking to a group of birds.

"Angel, I'm going out to see Rainbow, while I'm gone I want you to take care of our guest. Can you do that for me?"

Angel gave her a nod and thumbs up.

"Oh thank you, Angel." She said, and off she went.

Once she was gone, Angel smiled wickedly. Oh, he'd help him alright.

---

Rainbow Dash, the goddess of summer, lived in a palace entirely made of cloud, with plenty of open space for her to fly about as she pleased, or to simply settle down for a nap. When Fluttershy came by for a visit, she was taking part in the latter, and was found lounging in a cloud hammock.

"Um...Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked out softly, feeling a little hesitant about waking her friend from such a peaceful sleep. "Rainbow Dash?"

She then reached over and gave the summer goddess' shoulder a little shake. While that had managed to wake her up, it also startled her and caused her to accidentally fall out of the hammock and onto the ground with a loud oomph!

"Oh my goodness, are you alright Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked worriedly, kneeling beside her friend.

Rainbow sat up and rubbed her head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." She looked toward Fluttershy and just then realized who it was she was talking to. "Oh, hey Flutters. What brings you by?"

"Well, there's something I need to talk to you about." She began. "But you need to promise not to tell anyone else about this, okay?"

Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise. "A secret huh? Sounds kinda serious. But don't worry, you can trust me to keep it for you. So what is it?"

---

Rainbow Dash listened carefully told her everything that had happened, how she'd found the mortal man lying in the snow and brought him back with her. How she'd been nursing him and was starting to make demands of her. Occasionally, Rainbow would speak up to voice her concerns, but Fluttershy would calm her down and ask her to wait until she finished her story.

When she'd finished, there was a brief silence between the two before Rainbow replied, "So, that mortal guy is causing you trouble, huh?"

Fluttershy glanced down and twiddled her fingers. "Oh, I don't know about that..."

"C'mon Fluttershy, he totally is!" Rainbow said. "He's taking advantage of you, and you can't even see it."

Fluttershy shrank back, "I'm sorry."

Rainbow heaved a sigh. She loved Fluttershy dearly, but she could honestly be such a doormat sometimes. "Look, it's not your fault, okay? All I'm saying is that you need to be a little more tough on him. Say he's one of your animals, would you allow one of them to behave this way? Asking crazy, unreasonable demands of you?"

Fluttershy thought over this for a moment before answering, "No, I wouldn't."

"Well there ya go, you need to show that mortal that you're in charge, that you have rules and that he should follow them."

"But how?" She asked helplessly. "I may be good with animals Rainbow, but I don't have that much experience talking down to mortals."

Rainbow tapped her chin for the moment. "What about the nymphs? Weren't they cuasing trouble just a little while ago?"

"You heard about that?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, Rarity told me about, even your brother came by and told me, trying to impress me with how heroic he was." She shuddered at the memory of it. "Anyway, just imagine this guy as being like the nymphs or your animals, be firm and show him who's boss."

"I don't know if I can do it though, Rainbow. You make it sound so easy."

"Hey," Rainbow reached over and placed a hand on Fluttershy's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "You need to stop selling yourself so short, okay? You may not act like it, but I know that you be strong and tough when it matters. You just need to learn how to make it work in your favor."

Fluttershy reached up and touched Rainbow's hand, giving it her own little squeeze along with an appreciative smile. "Thank you Rainbow, I'll try."

"Thatta girl!" Rainbow said, giving her a rather firm pat on the back.

Fluttershy lifted herself off of the ground and said, "I should get going, I left Angel in charge and I don't want him to be overwhelmed."

"Wow, wait, you left Angel in charge?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason, though you might want to hurry back." Rainbow knew what kind of bunny Angel was, and chances are, with him in charge, things were likely to get ugly.

"Alright then, I'll try to visit you again real soon." Fluttershy then proceeded to fly away. "Take care, and thank you for the advice."

"No prob, Flutters!" Rainbow called out. She then got back into her hammock and relaxed herself for a nice nap.

---

Back at Fluttershy's palace, Angel had gathered up all of the animals on the grounds for a strategic assault on the intruder. The plan was to get him to surrender so that he'd beg Fluttershy to let him leave early, and then they'd never have to see him again. Some of the animals hadn't been to sure about this, thinking that Angel was just overreacting. But when Angel told them about all the hard work he was putting their mistress through, that was enough to convince them.

The birds were to start the attack, followed by the rodents, while some of the bigger animals would stand guard and make sure that either the man didn't escape, or if he did they'd be there to chase him down and tackle him. Angel also warned them of the strange power the man seemed to possess when he was levitated, and to be on their guards.

Angel led the animals into the palace and towards the guest's room, he peaked inside and saw the man himself lounging on his bed without a care in the world. Making a motion with his paws, he signaled for the birds to enter and begin the attack. The birds swooped in, and as planned, they swooped and chirped and pecked at the man. Angel listened careful to hear the man's screams, but something went wrong. Instead, he could hear the bids cry out in alarm.

All of the other rodents, including Angel, rushed in to see what had happened, and to their surprise, the birds had been trapped in a large yet cramped birdcage. The man looked down at Angel and his battalion with a smirk.

"So, this is what you came up with? You thought an army from the zoo would get rid of me? Please."

His condescending tone infuriated the rabbit even more, as he let out a war cry and led a charge towards the enemy.

The man raised an eyebrow as he flicked his wrist. Instantly, all the animals were lifted high into the air, each of them scrambling around in confusion.

"You're going to have to do better than that if you ever hope to get rid of me." The man taunted. "Now then, what should I do to punish you for your little uprising?"

"Dracon, STOP!"

All eyes turned toward the doorway, where standing in shock was none other than Fluttershy.

Dracon was so surprised by her sudden appearance that it caused him to lose focus and allowed the animals to return to the ground, and off they scampered. The look in Fluttershy's eyes was fierce, is was the look one might see a mother bear gives before defending her cubs.

"F-fluttershy!" He fumbled. "How are things?"

That did little to improve the situation, as Fluttershy walked up to him. "How dare you." She said almost venomously. "There's a lot that I can take, but harming my animals is something I will not stand for."

"It was all self-defense, I assure you." Dracon said, pleading his case. "I was minding my own business when suddenly they came in and attacked me."

Fluttershy's frown deepened. "Still, that's no excuse to go harming harmless animals."

"Harmless?!"

"And this." She said, gesturing to the bird cage. "This magic you used, just what are you?"

Dracon seemed dumbfounded by the sudden boldness the once meek goddess was displaying. The fire he had stoked inside her was enough for her to stand up to him, though for how long she didn't know.

Finally, Dracon answered, "You could say I'm a mage of sorts."

"A mage?" She questioned.

"Yes, though at the moment I fear my powers aren't what they once were." He said.

"How so?" She pressed.

"That information really doesn't concern you."

"It does if withholding it could end up hurting my friends." She countered. "Now answer me, please."

He groaned but said, "I was in a little encounter with some...enemies of mine, they attacked me and managed to weaken me of nearly all of my powers. I was wandering out there in the cold looking for a place to rest when I collapsed from my lack of strength."

Fluttershy folded her arms over her chest, still not looking too happy. "I want you to tell me this next part truthfully, are you still weak or have you been fully recovered this whole time?"

"I can assure you that I'm still in need of rest." Dracon said. "I am feeling much better than when I first woke up, but this body still feels feeble, and what's more is that my magic power is still pitifully low."

Fluttershy said nothing, her eyes looking into his face, searching his eyes, trying to find any indication that he was lying. When she could find none, she loosened up a little and said, "I had told you that I would take care of you until you got back to full strength, and I will keep to my word. However, there are going to be a few changes around here."

Dracon cocked his head to the side. "Changes?"

Fluttershy nodded. "You heard me mister. Starting tomorrow, you'll be helping me out around the grounds of the palace. You'll do chores and tend to the garden. Not only will it help you to strengthen up your body, but it'll also tech you a lesson about messing with my animals." With that said, She took the bird cage and left saying, "That will be all."

Dracon stared after her and chuckled. "So, the goddess has a backbone after all. Well, things have just gotten much more interesting."

Author's Note:

The songs Fluttershy played on her pipes are from Peter Rabbit that I thought seemed fitting. Also, Fluttershy isn't singing the lyrics, the lyrics are just a way of showing the song/tune that she's playing.

Also, this is not a romance fic, but I'll still leave it open to interpretation.