A Different Shade of Red

AN: So, long wait for a short chapter. I got nothing to say about that. I'm in a University, I got jazz to do. Better than nothing right? ...Right?

Cadence and I stood on solid ground again. Well, Cadence stood. I on the other hoof sunk to the ground and tried to hold on with all of my might.

“It wasn’t that bad, was it?” Cadence asked. I nodded. Never again. I was never going to fly again. Never, ever, ever.

For the trip to Ponyville, Princess Celestia decided to let Cadence and I ride in her personal chariot. At first I was… apprehensive to the idea, but when we took off I was in awe. Being above the clouds was beautiful. Sunlight touched the soft pillow-like clouds and spread its warm glow along their surface. Feeling the fresh spring air caress my cheeks was a welcome sensation and I almost felt at ease. Until we broke through the clouds and I realized just how far from the ground we were. After that I was rendered to a shivering mass of broken pegasus for the remainder of the trip. I thought that being a pegasus would make me unafraid of heights. I was wrong. Very, very, wrong.

A few moments later Cadence was able to coax me to my hooves. The then flashed me a smile before trotting to a large tree. Cadence told me about the unicorn Twilight Sparkle on the trip to Ponyville. From what I gathered, she lived in this giant tree which also served as Ponyville’s library. I was happy to hear that this Twilight lived in a library. Libraries were quiet. I liked quiet.

Cadence gave the door three gentle knocks and waited for a response.

“Spike! Could you get that?” A voice rang from inside. So much for quiet. A scurrying of… something quickly approached the door. I could tell it was not the hooves of a pony. If this Spike was not a pony, just what was he or she? I shyly took a step back from the door in doubt. My curiosity was answered a moment later when the door opened to a purple reptile. It had green spikes on its body, claws, and I could see fangs protruding from its mouth.

With an incoherent squeak of surprise I zipped back to the chariot and took shelter behind one of the royal guards. A dragon! A real life, ten yards away from me, fire breathing, town destroying, eat a pony for breakfast dragon! I had only heard stories of dragons from the griffins. One day I remembered how the Lieutenant stormed in spitting and cursing about how a dragon had taken out half of his force over a territorial misunderstanding. The torn and burnt copses were taken past my prison on the way to be buried. And now there was one of them right in front of me.

“Something I said?” a boyish voice spoke. I assumed it was the dragon, I was too afraid to look and see who was speaking.

“I think she’s afraid of you, Spike. Let me talk to her okay?” Cadence responded.

“My little pony?” Cadence spoke as she approached, “You don’t need to hide from Spike. He’s a harmless and kind baby dragon.”

“A-a harmless baby dragon that can destroy towns and eat little ponies for breakfast!” I quickly retorted as I shifted around the royal guard to avoid Cadence’s gaze.

“Spike has been raised by Twilight Sparkle, he’s not going to harm you.”

“She has control of it? So she can command it to attack at any time!”

Cadence then tried to quickly round the guard, but I managed to slip under him before she could reach me. We continued the chase for a few moments, like a game, except the loser would get fed to the dragon.

“I really don’t know where these young ponies get all their energy from,” Cadence said between breaths. The guard just shrugged in response. I looked up at Cadence from under the guard, shaking like a leaf.

“Please, just trust me?” she asked and gave another one of her pouts. I wanted to trust Cadence. She hasn’t lied to me or put me in danger before, but this was a real living dragon.

“Twilight, I think you should handle this one. It looks like she has serious Fluttershy syndrome against dragons,” I heard the dragon say from the doorway. Fluttershy what?

“O-okay,” I mumbled and slid out from under the royal guard. Cadence and I then slowly trotted to the library door. The dragon was gone, and in its place was a lavender unicorn with a purple mane that had a single streak of pink in it. From Cadence’s description, I assumed this was Twilight Sparkle.

“How come you get all the hot mares rubbin’ up on you, colt?” I heard one of the guards say from behind us, he sounded young. The comment’s meaning was lost on me and if Cadence had heard him, she didn’t show any signs of it. The other guard, presumably the one I hid under, just gave a huff of annoyance. Did I do something wrong?

“Cadence! It’s so good to see you again,” Twilight said and pulled Cadence into a hug.

“It’s good to see you too Twilight,” Cadence responded and returned Twilight’s hug.

“I see you’ve brought your friend too, come on in and make yourselves at home,” Twilight said and motioned us to enter. Cadence crossed the threshold first and I reluctantly followed behind. My eyes darted around, trying to find the dragon and put as much distance between it and myself, but it was nowhere to be seen.

The inside of the tree was breathtaking. There were so many books. Every wall was covered in shelves that stretched to the ceiling. Thin books, thick books, red books, green books. I don’t think I could ever recall seeing so many books in one place. The castle in Canterlot had a library, but I never got around to stepping inside.

“Come sit down,” Cadence spoke, breaking me from my thoughts. I joined Cadence on the couch just as Twilight brought out a tea set and placed it on the wooden table in front of Cadence and I. Twilight then took a seat across from us. I stared at my cup of tea. I had not tried any when in Celestia’s personal chambers, or any of the other times I was offered.

I curiously lifted my own expensive looking tea cup and lifted it to my lips. The liquid tasted stale and bitter, but even more so, it was scolding hot. I have a high tolerance to pain, luckily for me, and quietly set the cup back down. I glanced up to see Cadence and Twilight looking my way with blank looks. I nervously returned my gaze to the floor.

“Has it cooled down already?” Twilight asked as she wrapped her magical aura around her own cup and lifted it to her lips. One second and one startled yelp later, she got her answer.

“Twilight! Are you alright?” Cadence exclaimed.

“Yes… yes. My goodness this is still very hot. Did you burn yourself? Are you alright?” Twilight directed towards me. Per usual, I nodded my head and kept silent.

As Cadence and Twilight conversed, I let my mind drift around the library. It was so different from what I was used to. The atmosphere was calming, unlike the hopeless and stale state of a cell or the tense and suffocating air of the castle. The library was lived in. Personal items like quills and telescopes were strewn about the floors and tables. Vases of bright colored flowers decorated the windows and tables. A floral scent filled the air. This place felt like a home.

“Of course Twilight,” Cadence said as I finished my thoughts.

“I need to show Cadence something, would you like a book to read as you wait?” Twilight directed at me. I nodded out of compliance. She then levitated a thick book that read Astronomy 101: A Beginner’s Look Volume I and smiled.

Cadence and Twilight then moved to the kitchen. I took this opportunity to stand up and stretch my legs. I then slowly trotted over to a vase of bright orange flowers. They had five to six large petals that had a number of smaller brown freckle-like dots on them.

“A-are you sure that I’m the best pony for this task?” I faintly heard Twilight say from the kitchen. Task?

“The princess seems to think so. Remember when I took care of you? It’s the same thing, except this time you get to be the foul sitter. You can even teach her the dance.” Cadence giggled. Dance?

I continued to scan the library until something else caught my interest. Another vase of flowers, but these were different. They had rich, dark blue petals arranged in an upside down bell-like shape. They were captivating. On the same windowsill, another vase of these flowers sat to the left, but these were different. The tips of the dark blue blossom showed a slight crumbling and the leaves of the stem showed hints of brown. The flowers were also leaning to the right, as if stretching for the light.

Flowers need sunlight and water right? I nudged the vase with my nose until the flowers were basked in the warm light. That takes care of one problem, but where was I going to get water? I glanced around the library, but there was not a watering pail in sight. Does she ever water these poor things? My eyes then rested on the tea set, sitting on the table. I took a quick peek in the direction of the kitchen.

“Of course I will. I would be happy to take her in with me,” Twilight’s voice sounded.

“Good, let’s go let her know the good news,” Cadence replied, ending the conversation. I then scurried to the table, grabbed my cup of tea in my mouth, and dumped it into the vase.

“Oh, do you like those?” Twilight asked. I nodded nervously.

“They’re called Tulips,” she said. Tulips. I think I like tulips.

Cadence explained to me that she was Twilight foalsitter years ago, going into detail and sharing stories of how much fun they had together. They showed me their ‘dance’ that I have overheard about earlier and every attempted to get me to try it, which ended up with me shaking my head and eventually burying my head in my hooves.

I was scared of living with Twilight. She seemed like a nice pony, but I’ve come to learn how easy it is to hide your true nature and emotions. I wanted to trust Cadence and believe that Twilight could be trusted, but I didn’t know how trustworthy somepony could be when they had an attack dragon at their disposal.

Cadence didn’t stay much longer. If felt strange as I watched her leave. I’ve been forced to watch many ponies get dragged off to what I assume was their death, but I didn’t feel anything for them. It hurt as I watched Cadence get on the chariot to leave, even when she said she would visit from time to time, and I couldn’t explain why.

I felt uneasy. Is this what my life is going to become? Being passed from one pony to another for the rest of my life? I don’t like the idea of that, not at all, but what if things got better? I’m not expecting things to, but maybe I can wish. Just for a while.