A New Hero

by Alex The Lone Wolf

Owl's Well That Ends Well

Episode 24 – Owl's Well That Ends Well

A rapid, yet gentle knocking at my door woke me up. I looked out the window and noticed how the sky was a light orange color. I supposed it was early morning or sunrise. I got off from the bed and walked down the stairs to the front door. After opening it, I saw Fluttershy with a beautiful smile on her face.

"Hi, Alex." She greeted.

"Hey, Fluttershy…you're up early…" I responded.

"Early…?" She looked around. "It's almost evening."

"What?" My eyes widened in shock. I looked behind her towards the sky to check the sky again. Then I realized that it was actually sunset instead of sunrise. I placed my hoof on my face and sighed. "Sorry… my mistake…"

Fluttershy giggled. "Have you been asleep this whole time?" She asked.

"Yeah… I guess so…"

"No wonder I hadn't seen you around town. I was worried you might have been sick or something."

"Well, I'm alright… so what's up? You seem excited."

"I am! Guess what's going to happen tonight!"

I thought about it for a moment. Afterwards, I shrugged. "I have no idea."

"A meteor shower!" She cheerfully answered.

"Meteor shower?" I questioned.

"It only happens once out of every hundred years, so we're really lucky to see it for ourselves."

"That sounds…well…great. And you said tonight?"

"Mmhm, which is in a couple of hours. You're coming, right? It would definitely not be the same without you."

I thought how watching the meteor shower would be with Fluttershy. As soon as that thought came into mind, my heart instantly began feeling great and warm. "Of course, Fluttershy."

"Yay! I'm so happy!" Fluttershy replied, happily, although softly. "Is there anything you want to bring with you?" She asked.

I thought for a moment. "Not really…"

"Then, let's go!" She grabbed my hoof and lightly pulled me out of my home. After, we began walking towards the area where everypony, especially us, were going to gather for the meteor shower.

Fluttershy had hummed softly as we arrived at the spot. There were already several ponies around the area, talking excitedly about the show. We saw Rainbow Dash and Rarity as we walked upwards the hill. On each side, Applejack and Rarity were coming with their little sisters while Scootaloo was glued to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash turned around and spotted us. She grew a wide grin and flew over to us.

"Hey, guys. How's it hanging? Come to watch the meteor shower?" She asked.

"Yes!" Fluttershy responded. "I bet it's going to be so amazing."

Beside us, Spike suddenly appeared and began setting up a picnic blanket, along with a bowl of fruit and punch. Rainbow Dash lowered her head and grabbed an apple with her teeth. She took a bite and gulped. "Wow, Twilight! You're lucky to have such a rad assistant. I wish I had someone to do whatever I told them."

Scootaloo had walked over to us and bounced up and down. "Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! Me! I'll do whatever you want, Rainbow Dash!"

"Oh yeah, pipsqueak?" Rainbow Dash looked over to her slyly. "How about taking out the trash?" She tossed the remainder of the apple in front of Scootaloo.

"Yes ma'am!" Scootaloo exclaimed and picked up the apple with her teeth, running off.

Rarity walked over to us with Sweetie Belle as Scootaloo ran away. "Do we have Spike to thank again for this amazing spread? Isn't he simply amazing?" Rarity faced Spike which led all the other ponies to give their attention to him.

"Oh, come on." Spike responded, bashfully. There was a pause. Spike looked at us a little irritated. "I said come on."

Pinkie Pie immediately began nudging Spike on his head. "Little Spikey-wikey! Who knew that big ferocious dragon started off so cutesy wootsy?"

"Spike, you are such a little star that I had to make a little bow tie for you." Rarity presented a big tie, which was studded in gems. She placed the tie on Spike using her magic.

"Gosh. You guys are embarrassing me." Spike replied. "Stop it." There was another pause. "Twilight and Alex, your turn." He pointed as us.

I gave him an inexpressive look as I narrowed my eyes at him. He must have understood my silence, so he quickly shifted his eyes toward Twilight.

"Spike, that's enough." Twilight answered clearly but nicely.

"All right. That's enough."

"Hey, everypony!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "The show is starting!"

The girls immediately rushed over to the front while Applebloom stood on her sister's back, and Sweetie Belle climbed on to her sister's back. Fluttershy and I looked at each other for a moment and moved over to the front as well. We took a seat together and began observing the sky. As soon as the meteor shower began, everypony already released awes as each spec of light fell down in the sky. As the awes continued, I had received an unexpected surprise. Fluttershy laid her head gently on my shoulder. I was startled for a moment until I turned my head around to look at her. She was happily observing the night sky as I saw the reflection of light in her eyes. My eyes motioned to understanding ones and I slowly turned my head back towards the sky to continue watching the amazing show.

I felt so peaceful… I felt really… warm inside… especially as Fluttershy kept her head on my shoulder. I really felt amazing when she did that… I'm not sure why… but maybe it's because I feel as if I'm protecting her? I shrugged mentally and allowed Fluttershy to continue resting her head on my shoulder as the meteors continued to shower all over Equestria. However, despite the amazing mood Fluttershy and the shower placed me in, I couldn't help but wonder if they were watching it too… I wondered if they even noticed I was gone or even cared…? I sighed, mentally. Probably not…

After the shower finished, the girls and I gathered in the picnic Spike had set up and began having treats on there. Pinkie Pie was happily munching on one of the chocolate cookies, leaving many crumbs on her mouth. Fluttershy dipped her head in the cookie bowl and lightly grabbed a cookie with her teeth. As Fluttershy began munching on the other cookie, Pinkie Pie pressed her hoof towards the bowl, causing the rest of the cookies inside to jump up and fall straight towards her mouth.

"Mmm. Wow! These cookies are deeleesh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Spike made them. Speaking of, Spike, can you bring us some punch?" There wasn't an answer. Pinkie Pie and Twilight looked around with a questionable expression. "Spike?" Twilight called again.

We heard an echoed snore near us. We turned our heads to see Spike's head in the punch bowl as he snored loudly, soundly asleep.

"Ooh, poor little thing." Rarity announced.

"Aww... He's worked himself to the bone." Twilight added.

"And now the punch has been... spiked!" Pinkie Pie joked, causing the other girls to laugh happily.

After their moment of laughter, Twilight sighed happily and walked over to Spike to pick him up. "Well, I better get him home and put him in bed. It was fun watching the meteor shower with you guys!"

The girls exclaimed "Bye!" to Twilight and everypony as they departed back towards their homes.

I began walking Fluttershy towards her cottage, safely. When we neared her home, I began feeling cool breezes press against my body.

"Thanks for bringing me to the meteor shower, Fluttershy…" I told her at her door. "I thought it was amazing…"

"Me too…" Fluttershy responded softly and sweetly. "Tonight was so fun being with you and the other ponies."

I nodded. "Well… I guess I better head home now…"

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew at us, covering my body in coldness and making it shiver afterwards.

"It's so cold…" Fluttershy announced, shivering herself as well. "Are you sure you can make it home?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine…" I answered.

Another large cold wind blew through our manes.

"Come inside, you're staying here for tonight." Fluttershy told me.

I walked inside as she held the door open. After, she securely closed them and I could already feel the warmth of the cottage… It felt great.

"Fluttershy, are you sure?" I asked.

Fluttershy formed a light smile. "We've been over this, remember? Besides, I don't want you to get sick…"

"Thanks, Fluttershy…"

"Have a seat on the sofa; I'll go make us some nice and warm tea." She said as she began walking towards the kitchen.

"That sounds great, Thank you." I responded as I sat myself on the sofa.

Moments later, Fluttershy returned with a tray of a kettle of tea with steam pouring from it, and two teacups besides it. Fluttershy carefully placed the tray on the table and poured tea into both of the teacups. After, she sat herself next to me and grabbed her teacup. I did the same, lightly blowing on the tea and taking a sip of it. I felt as the liquid warmed my tongue and traveled through my entire body, warming up every part of it.

"How is it?" Fluttershy asked me.

"It's amazing, thank you."

After we finished the tea, Fluttershy placed the tray back in the kitchen and grabbed several sheets, placing them on the couch.

"There you go… all toasty and warm." Fluttershy commented as she aligned the pillow and blankets perfectly.

"Thank you again, Fluttershy… I really appreciate all this…"

"Anytime, Alex…" Fluttershy smiled. "Is there anything else you need?" She asked.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you…"

"Well, I'll be in my room if you need anything… I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay…Goodnight…"

"Goodnight." Fluttershy smiled once more and began walking up the stairs towards her room, shutting the light off after her.

I slowly and carefully tucked myself inside the blankets. I felt really warm as I lay my head on the pillow. As I closed my eyes, I could still hear the sounds of the wind blowing outside.

When I awakened, I felt much warmer. I opened my eyes and noticed how I was looking at the back of the couch. I was about to stretch until I suddenly felt movement near me, causing me to remain still for a moment. I slowly turned around to see another body near me. After noticing the color of the body and mane…I realized it was…Fluttershy…

Not in a bad way but…what was she doing here…? I was surprised…but it felt…nice…to have her here with me…

Her back was facing me, so her front was facing outwards from the couch. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to move because I thought it might wake her up. I remained still for a moment, but then I noticed how she didn't have anything covering her…poor thing… I grabbed my half of the blankets and lightly placed them over her. Afterwards, I lay back down and thought I could probably sleep a little longer until she woke up.

However, I thought about Fluttershy instead… She was so nice to let me stay… not only does she let me stay; she makes sure I'm comfortable enough. For some reason, she even allowed herself to be uncovered while I had the blankets… I wanted to express my gratitude so much to her… but a simple "thank you" wasn't enough…

Fluttershy began moving slightly. Then, she slowly sat up and turned her head towards me. She realized that I was awake and this caused her to be startled.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you up…" She announced while her cheeks were slightly red.

"No, it's okay… I was already awake…" I responded as she began looking at the sheets while she rubbed her left foreleg with her hoof, shyly. "I don't mean this in a bad way…but… why did you come sleep here?"

Fluttershy began looking a little embarrassed. "Well… my room got really chilly…" She continued to rub her foreleg. "…and I was really cold… so I came down here and it was warmer than upstairs… I thought it might have been alright to sleep here…but maybe I should have asked you… I'm sorry…"

"Don't be." I instantly sat up and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "I would have been alright with it… I mean… you're so nice to let me stay here because you don't want something to happen to me from the weather… you shouldn't even have to ask me… I wish I could somehow thank you for all this."

Fluttershy grew a light smile. "You don't have to… it's enough being with you." She suddenly widened her eyes in shock after saying those words, and she turned around in embarrassment as her cheeks blushed.

I didn't really understand why she did that… but her words did make me feel a little warmer and better inside… I moved to the edge of the couch and sat by her as she continued to look away, embarrassingly.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

Fluttershy rubbed her hoofs. "N…no…"

"Are you sure?"

After a moment, Fluttershy turned her head towards me and smiled. "I'm fine, really." She sat up from the couch and held out her hoof towards me. "Come on; let's go see what the others are doing." I grabbed her hoof, allowing her to help me up. We made the blankets neatly and placed them on top of the couch.

Fluttershy and I began walking out of the cottage and towards the town.

"So did you have a nice sleep?" Fluttershy asked me.

"Yeah… thanks to you." I replied, still wanting to somehow express my gratitude with more than a "thank you".

Fluttershy smiled lightly.

We had spotted Twilight, along with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack, having a conversation near her home. We walked towards them as they had just finished sharing a laugh with each other.

"Hey!" Twilight greeted us. "I have to introduce Owloysius to you both!"

"Owloysius…?" I questioned with a confused expression on my face.

"Yeah! See?" She turned her back towards us, presenting a furry little creature.

"Oh, what a fantastical, fluffelicious feathery little friend!" Pinkie Pie commented. "I'm... HOOked!"

Everypony laughed.

"He's just wonderful." Fluttershy added.

"'He's just wonderful.'" We heard a mocking voice above us, causing us to turn our heads toward it. There, up on a tree, we saw Spike lying down on a branch reading a book. He noticed us stare at him. "Uh, yes. Wonderful. He's quite... the charmer." Spike ended with an irritated tone to his comment.

"And Owloysius is just such a star I just had to make this little bow for you." Rarity pulled out another bow studded with gems and placed it on the owl. It looked just like the bow that Rarity had given Spike the night before. The owl looked down to observe the bow for a second, and then looked back at Rarity with no significant change in his expression.

Spike had seen that and immediately filled his face with redness that he stormed back into the library and slammed the door shut.

"What's he all saddle sore about?" Applejack asked.

"He's probably just jealous of Owloysius." Rainbow Dash answered.

"Maybe Spike feels threatened or worried that Owloysius will replace him?" Fluttershy offered a suggestion. I turned to believe her because she did have a lot of experience and knowledge with animals…

"Replace him? Hah! That's crazy! Spike knows he can't be replaced." Twilight responded with confidence. "Well it's been fun talking with you guys, but I have to finish some work."

"Bye Twilight!" The ponies waved goodbye to her as she walked back inside the home with her owl.

"Hm…so what do y'all want to do next?" Applejack asked.

Pinkie Pie placed a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. After, she threw it up to the air and answered. "Oooh!Oooh! Let's have some yummy treats over at Sugarcube Corner!"

"Pinkie Pie, is Sugarcube Corner all you think about?" Rarity asked.

"Well, duh! It's my favorite place in the whole wide world!" She hopped cheerfully and waved her forelegs to follow her. "C'mon guys! To Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie Pie ran off as the rest of the girls looked at each other and giggled.

Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack walked in front of us as they giggled and talked happily to each other. However, I walked with Fluttershy, feeling a little uneasy about Spike's behavior. Fluttershy noticed my silence and looked at me with a questionable expression. "Is something bothering you, Alex?"

"Um… It's just the way Spike's acting… He seems really upset about the whole 'Owloysius' thing." I answered.

"Oh. I know what you mean… I think he just feels like Twilight's owl is going to replace him, but Twilight said that he knows he can't be replaced so… I'm pretty sure he'll get over it after having some time to think about it." Fluttershy released a warm smile afterwards.

"Hm…" I still couldn't help but feel a bad feeling about it.

We arrived at Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie was already baking batches of cupcakes and sweet treats. The girls and I sat down at one of the tables.

"Oh, can you believe it?" Rarity began exclaiming. "The Gala is so close!" She gave a sigh of happiness. "I can't wait to meet the Prince. I'm sure he'll be everything I've dreamed of!"

"And I can't wait to make all the money from selling my apple treats so I can do a heap of fixin' for Sweet Apple Acres! And if I have any bits left over, I can use it for something for us." Applejack shared the excitement as well and winked at us.

"Impressing the wonderbolts is all I dream about!" Rainbow Dash added. "Imagine me! With the wonderbolts! I can already see it now!"

"Didn't you already impress the wonderbolts at the Best Young Flyers' Competition?" I replied. "You saved not only Rarity, but them as well, and did the sonic rainboom. I don't think anypony can pass that."

Rainbow Dash blushed slightly. "Hehe, yeah. But getting into the wonderbolts is hard since it's an elite team of acrobatic ponies and all…"

"Well… whatever you have to do… I'm sure you'll make the team if you really put your mind to it. It seems the sonic rainboom would have been an instant approval."

"Heh, thanks… What about you guys?" Rainbow Dash directed towards Fluttershy and me. "What are you ponies planning on doing at the Gala?"

Fluttershy and I looked at each other for a moment, and then back at the girls awaiting our answer. "Actually, we're—

Fluttershy and I stopped ourselves when we realized we were speaking at the same time. We looked at each other, which led to Fluttershy to begin blushing and looking slightly away.

"So?" The girls asked excitedly, feeling as if the words we were about to speak were really important.

Fluttershy looked as if I should tell them the news, so I turned to face the girls. "Um, we were planning on going to the Gala together…"

Every one of the girls, even Pinkie Pie, who was at the counter in the kitchen baking treats, gasped loudly.

"You mean… as a date…?" Rarity questioned in the silence.

"Um…" I looked over to Fluttershy, who was blushing even more to the point where she would definitely be unable to answer the question. "…yeah…"

There was a long awkward pause as the girls just stared at us with widened eyes. Suddenly, they all cheered about it.

"Oh, I bet you two are going to look so cute together at the Gala!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Um…" I felt a little uncomfortable about the situation. It's wasn't because I was going with Fluttershy… it's just that… this whole "date" thing was a bit of a problem for me. I really had no idea what a date was supposed to be… like I didn't know what you were supposed to do or act or anything… I'm just hoping Fluttershy understands and maybe she would be able to direct me through it…

"Here you go!" Pinkie Pie dropped the tray of cupcakes in front of us and returned to the kitchen to bake something else.

The girls were about to question or bring up something else about Fluttershy and I going to the Gala together, but Applejack immediately interrupted them when she realized something.

"Wait, y'all!" She exclaimed. She looked over to Pinkie Pie, who was busy placing something else in the oven. She waved her hoof in a motion to bring our heads closer to her at the table. Once our heads were close enough, she looked at us with almost worried eyes. "What about Pinkie Pie's birthday…?" She whispered.

"Birthday? Oh dear, I almost forgot!" Rarity exclaimed, but in a whispered tone so Pinkie Pie wouldn't hear.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash added. "Her birthday is before the Gala. We have to throw her a surprise party before worrying about the Gala!"

Pinkie Pie had walked over to the table to place some plates with pieces of cake. "Watcha guys talking about?" She asked.

"Uh…" Applejack tried to answer. "We were talkin' 'bout…"

"About…how much we love parties!" Rainbow Dash answered, most likely with the first thing that came to her mind, as Rarity smiled nervously at Pinkie Pie.

"Yes, parties!" Rarity emphasized.

"Oh really?" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly. "What kind of parties?"

The girls looked at each other confusingly for a moment.

"…uh…regular parties?" Rainbow Dash guessed at the question.

"Awesome! Regular parties are classic!" Pinkie Pie responded with a gleeful cheer.

"PINKIE PIE!" We heard a voice outside.

Pinkie Pie looked back and walked over to the door. "Oh, hiya, Spike!"

The girls gave sighs of relief.

"Pinkie Pie, I need a quill! Do you have one?" Spike asked.

"I swore I had one here somewhere." Pinkie Pie began searching through the drawers and cabinets. "Ah, here it is! A quince!" She threw it outside towards Spike.

"Not a quince." Spike kicked the quince and continued his pursuit for a quill. "A quill!"

"Right. A quail?" She threw out a quail, which brought me to think why in Equestria would she have a quail? "A quilt!" She threw out a quilt, covering Spike's body. "A quesadilla?" She also threw the piece of food out the door, causing Spike to sigh in frustration. "Aha! A quiche!" She threw out the other piece of food, pronouncing the name phonetically.

"Not a quiche." Spike pronounced correctly. "A quill!"

"Nope. Sorry. All outta quills." Pinkie Pie finally got right.

Spike sighed again. "Shoot." He grabbed a piece of the quiche and took a bite of it. "Well, thanks for your help Pinkie, I need to hurry up and find a quill for Twilight."

"Okay, bye!" Pinkie Pie walked back towards us as Spike ran off. "Well, everypony… dig in!" Pinkie Pie began munching on the cupcakes and cake as we ate our own pieces.

"You know…" Fluttershy spoke. "Since today's such a pretty sunny day. We could have a tea party outside my cottage."

"Oh, that sounds splendid!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'll go freshen up." Rarity began leaving the shop and returning to her own place.

Every other pony agreed and began departing.

However, before they left, Pinkie Pie looked over at the remaining treats and called over to them. "Hey, don't you ponies want the rest of these delicious cupcakes?" She asked. When the other girls politely declined, Pinkie Pie responded happily. "Well, more for me!" She grabbed all the cupcakes and stuffed them in her mouth, giggling afterwards.

Fluttershy and I walked out the shop.

"Are you coming with me?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sure, I'll help you set up." I responded, walking us to Fluttershy's cottage.

"That's sweet… Thank you."

"Anything to help you…"

Fluttershy presented another soft, sweet, and shy smile.

When we arrived, Fluttershy began making the tea while I grabbed a few blankets and placed them lightly on the soft grass outside. I could hear many of Fluttershy's pets speak. Birds chirped, chickens clucked, mice squeaked… well many of the animals seemed to be having a good day outside. I've got to admit… it was a nice day to be outside… being with friends… I grabbed several pillows and carefully and neatly placed them around the area the tea party was to be.

Fluttershy walked out of the cottage with a tray of a tea kettle in the middle and several teacups around it. She carefully placed the tray on the blanket and looked at me. "Great job on setting the blankets, Alex."

"Thank you, Fluttershy…"

We heard hooves plant on the ground as they walked. We turned around to see Applejack walk over to us while Rainbow Dash flew and Pinkie Pie bounced positively toward us.

"Hello, girls." Fluttershy greeted them. "Have a seat over here; I'll pour some tea for you all in a minute."

"Sure thing, Fluttershy!" Applejack replied.

"I brought some cookies too!" Pinkie Pie added as she bounced toward the pillow.

After, we saw Rarity walking towards us with a familiar companion by her side.

"Hello, Rarity. I see you brought Opal with you?" Fluttershy commented.

"Of course, Opal wouldn't miss this for the world!" Rarity responded, to which her cat hissed at afterwards. Rarity didn't seem to notice this reaction as she walked over to the blanket with tea and her pet walked with rather more pride on the way.

Finally, we saw Twilight arrive at the party… but she had a disappointed look on her face…

"Hello, Twilight." Fluttershy looked around Twilight but only noticed Owloysius on her back. "Where's Spike?" She asked.

"He's at home…" Twilight responded in an almost gloomily voice. "I'm very disappointed in him."

Fluttershy returned a light gasp. "Why?"

"I was on my way back towards home to bring him to the tea party after Rainbow Dash told me about it, but when I opened the door, I saw something that truly depressed me. He tried to deliberately set up Owloysius with some pathetic attempt…" She sighed. "He let his jealousy get the best of him…"

"Oh no… I'm sorry to hear that…" Fluttershy responded as we walked with Twilight to the blanket.

"It's alright… hopefully he has the time to think about what he's done. Hopefully, he'll learn how to get over his jealously of Owloysius."

"I hope so too." Fluttershy grabbed the tea and began to pour it in several different teacups. Afterwards, she passed one to everypony, including me.

As everypony began talking about different things, I could only stay silent and think back on Spike's behavior. He is really upset about Owloysius's position… what if after seeing Twilight's reaction to his "pathetic attempt" totally breaks him? What if it causes him to do something he will regret later on?

"Alex, is something on your mind?" Fluttershy had broken me out of the trance I was currently in.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Is something on your mind?" Fluttershy repeated.

"Oh… uh…" I finished the tea in the teacup and lightly placed it back on the tray. "I need to go check up on something really quick… I'll be back in a while. Okay, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, okay, Alex. I'll see you in a while then."

I nodded and stood up. Afterwards, I began walking back into town.

I walked quickly over to Twilight's home. I knocked on the door and called out. "Spike?" There was no answer. I slowly opened the door and walked inside. The library was in total silence. I looked around and called out for Spike again, but received no answer. There was no baby dragon working in the home. I knew that every time Spike was alone at the home, he would always have something to do as Twilight's assistant, but this time… there was nothing…

"Oh no…" I whispered to myself.

I quickly ran out the door and looked around. I took a seat to quickly think about where he would go.

C'mon, think… if you'd run away, you would go to a…

I received an immediate answer which led me to begin running straight towards the Everfree Forest.

I continued running, not stopping at any cost, to find the baby dragon before anything horrible occurred. I searched through the forest for a specific spot Spike might have hidden away to. All of a sudden, it began raining, drenching my mane. But I didn't stop.

I continuously looked around the forest for any signs of Spike. I suddenly heard a loud and fierce roar nearby. I looked for where it came from and noticed a cave nearby. I immediately began sprinting towards that location, hoping I wasn't too late.

When I entered the cave, I quickly looked around and noticed an emerald-colored and huge dragon corner a baby dragon towards a dead end of a wall. Spike! Without hesitation, I galloped toward the dragon as its head moved closer to Spike. Right before it could burn Spike to a crisp, I charged towards the dragon and kicked it on its nose. Its head was pushed away and it began to grab its nose with its hands as I jumped over to the front of Spike.

"Leave him alone!" I ordered in a bold tone.

"Alex!" I heard Spike from behind me.

However, the green dragon roared fiercely at us and was about to swipe its deathly sharp tail at us but something inside me struck, causing a blinding light to emerge. The dragon was actually pushed back by some, but not as much as when Gilda had tried to attack me.

"Spike! Now's your chance! Run!" I commanded Spike.

He began running as the dragon's attention was turned towards me now, as I was its worst threat. The dragon took a swipe at me with its claws but I quickly ducked and ran under the dragon. It noticed this and tried to swing its tail at me, blindly. However, I quickly jumped and grabbed hold onto the tail. It quickly turned around, trying to spot its target. It knew that I was holding on to its tail, but it couldn't find me. After, it began trying to shake me off by shaking its tail wildly.

Eventually, I lost the strength significantly when I had to hold on to such a brute dragon's tail, so it threw me against the rocky wall, almost like when I was trying to save Rarity from those diamond dogs, but this time I didn't pass out. I was struggling, trying to push myself up from the ground, but the dragon had quickly regained its balance and walked towards me, very aggressively and ticked off.

I could hardly move as I began dealing with the pain of the impact. The dragon was preparing to do its attack at me. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it out of this one… I felt as it was all over until I heard a sudden noise.

"Uhoo!"

An owl had flown over to the dragon and attacked its face, distracting it. It was Owloysius! Afterwards, the dragon had tried to attack the owl with its sharp tail, but Owloysius had swiftly dodged each attempt. Owloysius created a smart move by having the dragon attack its own face with its own tail, severely hurting the dragon.

"Alex! Over here!" I heard Twilight's voice call for me. I looked over at the cave entrance and noticed Twilight there, waving for me. With all my strength and energy, I pushed myself up and began running towards Twilight. Owloysius had been distracting the dragon as I made my escape. When I reached up to Twilight, Spike was on her back. "C'mon!" She exclaimed. Owloysius flew out of the cave and began following us as we ran out of the area. We could feel the extreme heat the dragon created when it blew fire behind us.

We continued sprinting, but the dragon wasn't going to let us get away as easy as that. It was heavily sprinting behind us as well.

"It's too dark! I can't see!" Twilight exclaimed.

Owloysius had flown to the front of us and began directing us through the dark path. However, my body was too weak to be able to jump successfully over a log Twilight had jumped over. I had almost made it, but my remaining energy preventing me to do so, causing one my hooves to be caught by the log and fall. Twilight continued running as the dragon must have silenced my fall. I was panting heavily as I turned around to face the dragon. There was no time to get up and start over. I was too drained out now. The dragon had stopped and roared in frustration as it lost Twilight and the others. Eventually, the dragon spotted me as I could only feel myself at lost. It raised its claw to strike me while I could only place my foreleg in front of me and flinch, waiting for my defeat.

Suddenly, another bright light emerged. My eyes continued to remain closed as I breathed heavily. Am I… Am I…?

I slowly opened my eyes and noticed something different… I was in a different place… I looked around. There was no dragon in sight. I released a deep exhale and fell to the ground, panting.

"Alex!" I heard a shout of my name not too far away. I turned around and heard the call again. I slowly pushed myself up and began limping my way towards the voice. Slowly managing to walk through several trees, I came upon an open spot. There lay Twilight on the ground, sobbing quietly as Spike tried to comfort her. Owloysius could only stand on a tree branch with his eyes closed solemnly.

I continued limping towards her, releasing light grunts with each step. Twilight must have heard this because she immediately looked up and noticed me walking towards them.

"Alex!" She exclaimed and instantly began running towards me. She threw her arms around me for a hug, almost pushing me towards the ground because of my weak body.

"Easy, Twilight…" I replied, drained of energy.

"What happened? Where were you?" Twilight asked me in a worried tone.

"I don't know… I was too weak to go on and the dragon had caught up to me… but suddenly this light emerged and when I opened my eyes… I was somewhere else…"

"Are you hurt?" She pulled away and asked.

"I don't think so… I'm just in some pain."

Twilight placed her horn on me and did a spell. Afterwards, I felt a little better. I was at least able to walk.

"It's a light painkiller. It won't get rid of all the pain, but at least it will take some of it out."

"Thank you…"

Twilight had carried Spike as Owloysius and I walked towards Twilight's home.

When we arrived, I lay on the floor to try to rest a little while Twilight was questioning Spike.

"Spike. We were so worried about you. I was so worried about you. Why did you run away?"

"I thought you didn't need me anymore. And that you didn't love me anymore."

"Spike… Sure, I was disappointed, but you are my number one assistant! And friend. And you always will be. It's just that sometimes I need some help at night. I can't ask you to stay up late. You're a baby dragon and you need your rest. Owls are nocturnal. So I asked Owloysius to help. But not to take your place. No one could ever replace you, Spike. Not even when you are being a jealous numbskull." Twilight began returning to her happy self.

"I'm sorry, Twilight." Spike hugged Twilight. "I never should have been so jealous."

"And I'm sorry too, Spike. I should have been more sensitive."

"And Owloysius..." Spike walked over to Owloysius, who was sitting on top of a stand nearby. "I know now that you weren't out to take my job. Forgive me?"

"Hoo?" He answered.

"Me. Forgive me, Spike." Spike repeated.

"Hoo!" He repeated the answer as well.

Spike looked over to Twilight and shrugged.

Twilight giggled. "He forgives you, Spike."

"Hey! How did you guys know where I was?" Spike asked.

"It was your ketchup covered feet. Owloysius discovered your footprints and we followed them all the way to the cave." Twilight answered.

"Oh yeah, the ketchup. It looked pretty real though, didn't it?" Twilight returned an annoyed stare, causing Spike to chuckle nervously.

"I know Princess Celestia will wanna read about what happened today..." Twilight said as she walked over to the table with an empty scroll on it. Spike ran over to the table and grabbed the quill to begin the letter.

"I'm ready when you are." He answered.

Twilight opened her mouth to begin the letter, but instead she closed it when she realized something else. "Hey, Spike. Why don't you write to Princess Celestia? And tell her what you've learned?"

"Really? Why, that's a big responsibility!"

"I know. But nothing my number one assistant can't handle."

Spike smiled and began writing the letter. "Dear Princess Celestia, this is Spike, writing to you about my adventures. This week I've learned that being jealous and telling lies gets you nowhere in friendship. I also learned that there's plenty of love for every friend to share. So from here on out, I promise, that I, Spike, will..."

His head had suddenly dropped towards the letter as he began snoring loudly.

"Oh, Spike." Twilight announced.

"Hoo?" Owloysius replied.

"Who? Spike! You kno... Oooooh..." Twilight realized. She began giggling as she took Spike to bed.

I had stood up and walked over to Owloysius as he stared at me, though, not as creepy as Philomeena did, but in a friendly way. I looked towards him and spoke. "Thanks for saving me by the way Owloysius…"

"Hoo."

"Yeah…"

Twilight had walked back in the room moments later.

"Hey, Alex…" She spoke as she walked over to me.

"Oh, hey, Twilight." I replied.

"Thanks, for saving Spike… we'd probably be too late if it wasn't for you."

"Don't worry about it…"

Twilight released a smiled. "There's just one thing I'm wondering about…"

"What is it?" I asked.

"How did you know where Spike was?"

I looked away sadly and answered. "…Let's just say…it's something I've learned from the past…"

Twilight knew she could have easily questioned about my answer, but she somehow also knew that I didn't really want to talk about it. "Pull out your hoof." She said. I pulled out my hoof and she pulled out something with her magic and placed it on my hoof. It was a star that was neatly decorated as a light chain held it. "It's a good luck charm."

"A good luck charm?" I questioned as I held it up and observed it.

"Yup. I made it with magic for you a while back… I figured now is probably a good time to give it to you… you know… since you're my best friend and all…" I turned my head towards her. "And I don't just mean my best friend…" She continued. "I mean like… my best of best friends." She giggled.

"Really…?"

"Mmhm."

"Thanks, Twilight… I really appreciate it… I mean truly…"

"You're welcome, Alex…" She replied while giving a warm smile. "You deserve it."

I gave a light nod and held it in my hoof. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow. It's late and I need to rest up after what had just happened…"

Twilight chuckled and gave me understanding eyes. "Of course… take care, Alex."

"You too…" I replied as I began heading out the door. "Good night…" I opened the door and closed it lightly behind me.

I walked over to my home to drop off Twilight's good luck charm. I walked up the stairs towards my room and walked over to my shelf. I placed the good luck charm carefully near the trophy and medal from the Running of the Leaves. After observing the charm in its place for a moment, I turned around and walked back downstairs, walking out the front door.

I headed towards Fluttershy's cottage.

When I arrived, I noticed the lights were still on. I knocked on the door. She opened them to see me.

"Oh, Alex! Where have you been? I was so worried you weren't going to come back."

"It's a long story… I'll tell you inside."

"Of course, come inside."

When I walked inside, she noticed how I walked differently than I usually did.

"Are you hurt, Alex?" She asked.

"How'd you know?"

"The way you're slightly limping…" She grabbed my hoof and led me toward the couch. She helped me lay down and covered me with blankets. I felt a lot better and comfortable.

"Thank you, Fluttershy."

"You're welcome." She took a seat near me. "Now, what happened to you?" She asked.

"Well…" I began explaining to her what happened. I told her how I had to excuse myself from the tea party because I felt a bad feeling about Spike. I told her how after realizing he had ran away from Twilight's home; I had raced through the Everfree forest to find him. I also told her what happened with the dragon and how Twilight and Owloysius came to save me. I told her basically everything that happened. At the end, Fluttershy had placed both her hooves on her mouth in shock. "Oh my goodness… I'm so glad you're alright." She embraced me but then pulled back suddenly. "Oh, I'm sorry! I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"No, it's alright. Twilight did a spell on me that lightly relieved the pain."

"Oh, good." She continued embracing me. "You're such a brave pony… I'll stay here all night with you, if you want…"

"You don't have to stay up, I'll be fine. We should both get some sleep."

Fluttershy smiled. "Okay…" She pulled away. "Well, I'll stay in my room this time so you can get some rest… it's not that chilly tonight anyway. Just remember to call me if you need anything…"

"I know… Goodnight, Fluttershy."

"Goodnight, Alex." She began walking towards her room, shutting the light after her.

I was really exhausted from the adventure of today, so I didn't really bother thinking too much. Instead, I closed my eyes and waited for my appointment with sleep.

Comments

[BronieMan305]

We got the jewel from Rarity the seed from Applejack the whistle from Rainbow Dash and the charm from Twilight. Since Fluttershy is the shying flame that sets his heart aflutter (bad pun intended) im going to guess the next gift from Pinkie Pie. Wow thats going to be tough having a serious sweet moment with that poof of pink partier.

[Tesla Moon]

Oh that should be good

[Spiderlock]

Every 8-5 chapter there is a black out line of a pony out the window looks like he may need that whistle after all because:
STRANGER DANGER!

[Haffnium]

awww fluttershy is so cute i want one i want t- http://i.imgur.com/2Vl6kD0.png

[smolbep]

Dudes, this is gonna turn into a love...uh...septagon? I dunno.

[Kit-San]

4954337 XD nice.

[Peter20percent]

4954337
Omg that caught me off guard...

[DGJabberwocky]

some pathetic attempt…" She sighed. "He let his jealousy get the best of him…

Jeez Twi! really makes you sound as if you hate him

[Deltorix]

2264199
Probably in party of one