The Goddess of Spring

by kurusagi16

Chapter 6

The once quaint and lovely palace of spring was no more, as it had now been turned completely upside down, literally. Somehow, the entire building had been turned upside down, and yet it didn't collapse or crumble to bits. Not only that, but her animals were also running about outside in a frenzy, confused of what was going on and fearing danger. Fluttershy just stood there and stared at what had become of her home. What has Dracon done?! She wondered to herself.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Fluttershy rushed in as quickly as she could into the palace, as she did, she called out for Dracon. Eventually, she found him in the lunge, where he was using some paints he'd likely taken from her shed to paint garish colors and zig-zags all over the walls.

"What are you doing?" She cried.

Dracon turned toward her, a smug smirk on his face. "Oh just a little redecorating." He answered. "I was thinking that this place could use a little sprucing up, so I managed to gather enough magic to make this palace more interesting."

"You...you did what?" She uttered softly. She knew what he'd said, but she still couldn't believe it.

"And a good thing too." Dracon said, completely oblivious to her distress. "I've been wanting to add a little flair since I first laid eyes upon it. So boringly normal, I really don't know how people like you can stand--"

Dracon silenced himself when he heard a sniff, he looked back at Fluttershy and saw a sight that made his whole body stiffen. Fluttershy's eyes were wet and full of fat tears that continued to stream down her face. She tried to speak but choked on her own sobs, until she couldn't take it anymore and ran away, heading in the direction of her chambers.

All was quiet, aside from the loud sounds outside from the panicked animals. As he stood there in silence, a strange, unfamiliar feeling welled up inside of him. It felt like a worm burrowing its way into his heart and twisting itself into knots. Even his stomach felt like it was squirming around. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant feeling. But what was this feeling that he was having? And why was he feeling it now after seeing that goddess cry?

"Perhaps you feel bad for what you did?"

Dracon glanced to his side to see a double of himself wearing a pair of spectacles. He knew of course who this was. His inner self, a figment of his mind he conjured now and then when he felt it most necessary. One might even call him his voice of reason.

He scoffed at his double. "I don't see how my actions play into this. Compared to what I've done in the past, this has been nothing but child's play."

The double replied, "Perhaps you're right, but if that were true, then why else would we feel like this?"

"Maybe it's something I ate." Dracon countered. "Something from breakfast that isn't agreeing with me."

The double arched an eyebrow, knowing full well that wasn't true. "Or maybe, considering everything she's done for us to this point, the thought that we caused her to break down into tears is too much."

Dracon scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous." He paused and corrected, "Scratch that, still be ridiculous, but don't suggest such an idea. I mean, really! I've upset plenty of people, outbursts of anger, rage, pleading for mercy, and none of them have ever affected me before."

"Yes, but those were all just nobodies, this is happening to somebody, and that somebody has taken it upon herself to be our caretaker. Not only that, but she's been unbelievably patient with us, given the circumstances, and has broken down because of us."

"I still don't understand!" Dracon said in frustration. "Why her? Why now? It doesn't make sense!"

"Funny, I thought we were all about not making sense."

Dracon could feel his cheeks grow warm. He still couldn't explain this feeling or understand the reason behind it, but the way that this foreign emotion twisted and gnawed at him, made him want nothing more than to be rid of it.

"Alright then, since you seem to have all the answers, how do I get rid of this strange feeling?" He asked.

The double said nothing for a moment and bit his lower lip. "You're not going to like it."

---

Fluttershy instantly collapsed into her bed the moment she entered her bedchamber. Her tears seemed endless, as though all the emotion she'd been bottling up were now spilling out of her. And who could blame her? She'd tried so hard to be a good hostess, to care for her guest and treat him well. However, her guest didn't seem to care an inkling for her actions or her feelings. She felt helpless and didn't know what to do. Feeling drained and worn, Fluttershy cried herself to sleep, unsure of what to do when she would wake up.

When Fluttershy had finished her nap, she still felt weary, her eyes ached almost as much as her heart. When she got a better look of her surroundings, she blinked in surprise. Before, her floor had become her ceiling, and vice versa. But now, it had been undone. Fluttershy jumped out of bed and rushed to a nearby window, she gazed below and saw that her animals had settled down and were behaving themselves. Not only that, but the rest of her palace was right side up again!

"I wonder..." She muttered to herself, and hurried off to find Dracon.

He was right where she'd left him, in the lunge, this time working to clean up the mess of paint he'd made.

"Dracon?" She said, almost barely above a whisper.

Dracon turned to her and said, "Oh, Fluttershy. I was wondering when you'd come down."

"Did...did you do all this?" She asked.

Dracon gazed down, clearly embarrassed to admit it. "Y-yes I...when you left I felt this strange, unpleasant feeling. I debated myself with what it was until I told myself that perhaps undoing what I'd done would somehow fix everything thing."

"Then you, felt guilty?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Is that what that feeling is called?" He asked back. "Huh, then yes, I did feel guilty I suppose. Though I'd never felt guilty before, until now that is."

Fluttershy took all of this in. Dracon had felt bad for what he'd done to her, and had tried to fix what he'd done. It seemed so strange, considering the kind of man he'd acted like till this point. And yet, Fluttershy couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you." She said.

Dracon, still feeling embarrassed, merely replied, "You're welcome."

"I should probably check on my animals," She said, preparing to leave.

"No need for that, I left that little rodent, Angel, in charge." Dracon said. "He seemed quite eager to be put in charge."

"I see." Fluttershy said, her smile seeming to bright a little more. "Still, I'd like to see how they're doing. Thank you again, Dracon."

As she left, Dracon once again felt a peculiar emotion rise up. It wasn't bad like the last one, in truth, it felt rather warm and pleasant. It felt similar to the happy or pleased feeling he got whenever he caused trouble for others. But this wasn't quite like that. It felt gentler, lighter, and filled him up like a glass of warm milk. It was such a nice feeling, that Dracon ended up smiling in spite of himself. For what reason, it didn't make any sense to him. Then again, not making sense was his specialty.