Dragon Contemplation

by frenettek314

The Beginning of Something New

It's been multiple hours since Fluttershy ran back home to her cottage in tears after the revealing of the baby dragon's heartbreak - the guilt that she felt kept piling on.

As the pegasus on the bed began looking through a photo album filled with memories of all her friends and their adventures in Ponyville, her guilt only grew as she realized there were very few, if any, pictures of Spike in her collection.

"There's no pictures of him because I was a bad friend. I was too worried about him being different from me to have fun with him, or invite him anywhere, unless he was upset." she thought, mentally berating herself for the lack of actual care and commitment she had shown him since that very first day.

She sighed as one more tear fell down her cheek.

"I wasn't a friend at all!"

Suddenly, something clicked in Fluttershy's head as the tears suddenly began to stop, looking at the photos again in sudden realization.

"I wasn't his friend!"

Fluttershy then proceeded to hoist herself off the soft and comforting mattress as she gazed out her window towards Ponyville with a determined expression on her face, before running down the stairs and out her front door. A certain tree in town was calling to her.

"I know what to do!"

---

It had been hours since Twilight managed to pick up a still weeping Spike and carry him back to the library (Rainbow being told by Twilight this was too personal of a matter for her at the moment, propelling her to leave). Once the duo had arrived back to the library however, Spike rather emotionlessly climbed up the steps to his bed before plopping himself down on top of it, his head refusing to see anything but the cushion lines of his pillow.

Twilight could only watch the display in sympathy as she sighed before sitting herself down in the nook of the library, contemplating what to do about her brother.

After a few hours of silent prodding however, Twilight heard a knock on the door, prompting her to rise from her spot and see just who was trying to visit her this late at night. When she opened the door, she was surprised to find Fluttershy there - and with a rather serious and determined flare in her eyes to boot.

"Hello Twilight. Is Spike still here?" she asked without a trace of uncertainty.

"Fluttershy. I'm sorry about what happened, but I don't think Spike is really in the mood to..." she began before a hoof was placed over her lips to silence her.

"I don't care if Spike never wants to talk to me again, he just needs to listen. Please, this is important!" Fluttershy prodded, her eyes never faltering as the flames inside only seemed to grow brighter and warmer.

Twilight, stunned upon seeing her normally reserved friend speak with such conviction could only nod in bewilderment before allowing her friend entry. Fluttershy, seeing she was allowed in, smiled pleasantly at her friend before marching up the stairs to where the bedroom was. As she saw Spike still face-planted on top of his pillow, she allowed herself to clear her throat before she spoke in an even, yet oddly inviting tone.

"Spike.." she began, seeing how the dragon would react to her voice.

The dragon in response upon hearing the familiar voice quickly rose himself from his bed before looking at the pegasus with a look of dread and annoyance.

"What do you want?" he mumbled, still sniffling upon the boatload of tears he had released earlier.

Seeing as this was actually a good sign to continue, Fluttershy once again spoke.

"Spike, I came over to say I'm sincerely sorry for the things I said and for the way I've acted around you. You said that I wasn't really your friend.."

"Because you wer..." Spike tried to quickly quip before he was caught by an even bigger surprise from the kind pegasus.

"Because I wasn't" she affirmed with a sincere nod of her head, before looking back up at the now interested dragon. Twilight, who had just walked up the steps to see what was going on, was also shocked as to where her friend was going with this conversation.

But they would both find out what she had meant soon enough as she prodded on.

"After my first day with you, I realized how different of species we are from each other. I always struggled to know whether you'd want me around or not because I never had a dragon friend before. I never offered you my friendship because I was too busy worrying about what you'd want."

The dragon could only gape silently as he never saw Fluttershy be this open with herself in front of him before. Even on the first day, she was more so asking him questions while she gushed.

"Even before the migration, even on that first day, I made a grave mistake. I realized I was trying to make a dragon friend but I was placing the word 'dragon' in front of it."

Twilight sat there impressed by what she was seeing. Fluttershy was being open and honest with a sort of grace and dignity she never thought the pegasus could have. Before she internally praised her friend though, her words brought the focus back.

"Just because you may be a dragon doesn't mean you're any different from my other friends - So I should've treated you like one."

Spike finally found his voice as he retorted rather bitterly, "So that makes everything ok?"

Fluttershy however, to everyone's surprise, was unfazed at the comeback as a tiny smirk formed on her face before she responded.

"No, it doesn't. At all. But I want to be your friend now. Even if you don't forgive or trust me, I still want to be there for you. I want to see the kindest, sweetest gentledrake I know grow up and have fun along the way. I don't just want to think or say these things, I want to actively do them. I want to show you that I'll always be here and make time for you and you alone. I said you were different than the others, but you're instead special because of how generous, willing, and dependable of a being you are, and I wouldn't want a better friend than you."

At this part of the speech, Spike began tearing up again. He wanted to believe the warm and loving words that were spilled out in front of him, but he still had his doubts.

"You say that now, but what happens if I get another growth spurt or I get older.. and I become a monst..." Spike questioned before he was silenced by the sudden appearance of a smiling pegasus in front of him that had just trapped him in the warmest hug he had ever felt.

"Don't ever say that, Spike. I know for a fact that you will never and I mean never be a monster." she chastised softly, yet firmly as Spike could feel the hug around him become tighter. Fluttershy meanwhile never took that warm and accepting smile off her face as a few tears began slipping free from her irises.

This time, Spike surprised everyone in the room by whispering in an almost chilling display of fear.

"But what if I am a monster?! What if I feel like one? Like those others back in the Dragonlands?"

At this, Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she never realized Spike still held mental baggage from his journey. Fluttershy, meanwhile, abruptly stopped the hug before holding his face close to hers so that two were in direct eye contact with each other.

"Listen to me, Spike." she said firmly with all the seriousness in the world, her smile vanished for the moment and replaced with a thin line so that she could show him what she was saying was crucial.

"I don't care if you never forgive me, just please take what I say here seriously. You will never be a monster. Even if you feel like you are, or even if someone else tells you you are, you will never ever be a monster. And if you ever feel that way, you can always come talk to me or any of the other girls and we will listen - we will help in anyway we can. Even if we're never friends, even if you don't trust me, that offer will always be good no matter what. Ok?" she switched back to a warm smile as she began nuzzling his cheek.

Spike looked ready to burst from emotional release at any moment.

"H..how do you know this?" he simply asked, pleading for an answer.

"Because I can tell." Fluttershy responded nonchalantly, her grin becoming ever so brighter and friendly.

"Because I don't act like other dragons?" Spike asked rather hesitantly, fearing confirmation.

At that however, Fluttershy simply shook her head no, before she slowly and tenderly kissed the dragon's forehead and tackled him with a rather affectionate hug.

"Because you're Spike. And I'll always love you for who you are." she whispered lovingly into his ear.

This was too much for Spike to bear as he felt the dam forcefully burst open. With heavy wails and sobs, he gripped Fluttershy for dear life, who in return copied the magnitude of the grip while calmly comforting him.

"Shhh.. it's ok. I'm here. Let it all out."

At the heartfelt display, Twilight couldn't take it any longer as she galloped towards the two embracing friends and joined in the affection, happy to see Spike being shown this kind of love by someone other than herself.

As Spike looked up at the solid wall of comfort the two mares had provided for him, he could only sigh in content.

"I have the best friends in the world."

Comments

[Magic135]

Nice job, Fluttershy.

[Yoshifan30]

Aww that was really sweet and everything I really do like how Fluttershy really was sincere about this whole situation yes she was something even though she never meant to say but it was there but no matter what she will always be Spike's friend and no matter who you are this was a pretty nice chapter

[misery680]

lo perdió fácilmente su amistad con el pequeño dragón, pero lo recuperó rápido...
His friendship with the little dragon lost him easily, but he quickly regained it...