"Fluttershy, one thing I like about talking to you is, you don't laugh at me."
Fluttershy said gently, "Why would anycreature laugh at you? I mean, when you aren't tellng jokes." She reached for her teacup, and took another sip.
Spike lamented, "I was raised by ponies. I was taught to talk like a pony, in Ponish. But a dragon is kind of like an animal, too. My animal instincts want to growl and snort dragon style to help get my point across. But I never learned the right way to do that, because I didn't grow up around other dragons."
"Now, now," Fluttershy said. "I can understand your growls and snorts and grunts just fine."
"Yeah, but you're a pony. And you can understand everycreature anyway. Are you SURE there's nothing wrong with my dragon noises?"
Fluttershy winced. "I'll admit you might have a bit of an accent. But that's nothing to be ashamed of. It just means you're well-travelled. A dragon of the world."
"Yeah, right. A dragon of the part of the world that's just Canterlot and Ponyville. Pony, pony, pony. My whole life is about ponies. Sometimes I feel like one of those baby ducklings that when its egg hatched, just imprinted on the first kind of creature it ever saw. But...the way I feel when I get 'excited'...well, dragons are kind of rough, tough creatures, you know?"
"I understand," Fluttershy said. "You don't have those claws and sharp teeth just for eating watercress sandwiches."
Spike snorted, accidentally spewing a little flame. "Sorry!" he said. He grabbed a bucket of sand, and dumped it out onto the tea cozy that he'd set to smoldering.
Fluttershy giggled. "You really are the nicest dragon, you know. Not everydragon would be so conscientious about putting out every fire they start, and so promptly."
"Yeah. Spike the nice guy." He sighed. "Sometimes I think everything about me is wrong. Sure, I used to have a crush on Rarity, when I was younger. But...part of me just wants to do things no pony could handle."
"Oh?" Fluttershy said. "Is this stuff you feel too embarrassed to talk about? At least for now?"
"When I feel...THAT way, I...well, dragons like it rough. Or so I hear."
Fluttershy smiled a bit impishly. "I guess if you're a dragon, there's nothing wrong with that. You dragons are built for that, right?"
"Sure," Spike said. "But the way I was raised...I kind of imprinted on mammals. Fluttershy, I'm a furry." He shuddered, and grabbed at his own shoulders with his talons. "I'm just wrong, Fluttershy. I'm messed-up, mismatched parts that don't belong together. If I could have Trixie cut me in half, and put me back together differently, so I could be...not wrong. Maybe I'd like that. Sometimes I feel I'd be better off if I...never mind."
Fluttershy said, "Would you like a hug? A safe, gentle one?"
"Sure. Why not?" Fluttershy walked around the table and slowly, carefully hugged the dragonling.
Spike took a deep breath. "How does that feel so good? When at the same time, it's so close to feeling so wrong."
Fluttershy said, "Maybe because you know I love you...but not THAT kind of love. Maybe that makes it feel safer for you."
"Yeah. That's probably it." Spike relaxed in Fluttershy's embrace. One nice thing about Fluttershy was, she was a good conversationalist, but she didn't feel the need to talk all the time either. It was no wonder she got along so well with animals of all kinds.
After a few minutes, Spike said, "Well...I guess I should be moving along. I'm sure Twilight needs me help her with something. And other ponies, too."
Fluttershy frowned. "Spike...I worry about you. Twilight raised you as a full time assistant, working almost all the time even when you were little. How many children do you know of who were expected to work so much?"
"It's...it's important. Twilight is a princess. And a repeat worldsaver. Even just being an assistant to her is more important than anything else I could do."
Fluttershy looked angry. "Have you ever even had a chance to think about what YOU want to do with your life? Do you even know what you like? You need to learn to stand up for yourself, Spike."
Spike shrugged. "Just helping Twilight is standing up for every creature in Equestria. That's good enough for me." He backed out of the hug. "Well, gotta go." He rushed out of the cottage.
Fluttershy snorted. "I worry about that dragon sometimes. Don't you agree, Angel?"
The pegasus looked around the room. "Angel Bunny? Where are you? Angel?" She said to herself, "I guess he's gone."
***
Spike walked along the path from Fluttershy's cottage towards Ponyville. "Maybe she's right," he said. "I DO need to learn to think about what I want, not just what other ponies want me to do." He shook his head. "But what I want is...I'm just some kind of freak. I'm unnatural. Fluttershy thinks I should make my own decisions, but I'd just make them all wrong."
A powerful blow from behind knocked Spike down, rolling him head over heels. "AAAGH!" he screamed. "Who IS that?"
Spike lay flat on his back in the middle of the path. Where he'd been walking, a white rabbit stood with arms crossed, tapping one foot. "Angel? Did YOU do that? Why did you attack me?"
Angel kept giving Spike an angry look. "What do you want? I didn't do anything to YOU."
Angel leaped through the air, landing on Spike's chest. "Ooof!" said Spike as air rushed out of his chest. "Why? What did I--"
Angel slapped Spike's face with one paw.
Spike felt so angry. He raised one arm, hitting Angel's shoulder.
"I'm sorry!" Spike said. "I didn't mean to. You just made me feel..."
Angel punched Spike in the face. "Ouch! Don't you have any sense of self-preservation? You crazy hare!"
When Spike called him a crazy hare, Angel shook his head.
"Ok. So you're NOT crazy?"
Angel barely shook his head.
"You're not a hare?"
Angel nodded.
"You're a rabbit, not a hare."
Angel nodded again.
"But why did you attack me? Why did you just hit me and hit me until I hit you back? Do you WANT me to hit you?"
Angel tilted his head slightly, as if uncertain how to answer.
"Do you want me to be...rough with you?"
Angel nodded vigorously.
"Even though you're a furry little creature?"
Angel nodded. The rabbit leaped off Spike's chest, ran to a small tree, and used a paw to karate chop a branch off the tree. Angel bent forward, slamming his forehead into the tree's trunk, and the tree cracked.
"You're a lot tougher than you look."
Angel nodded vigorously, jumping up and down with enthusiasm.
"You hit me because you want me to understand how tough you are. And you DID want me to hit you."
Angel nodded and cheered silently, waving his forelegs.
"Angel...this is a lot for me to think about."
Angel nodded once, recrossing his forelegs.
"Angel...can I give you a hug?"
Angel hopped up to Spike, and held out his front legs. The dragonling and rabbit embraced.
After a moment, Spike shouted, "Ouch! You bit me!"
The rabbit nodded. The rabbit pulled his face away from Spike's shoulder, and silently opened and shut his mouth.
"You want me to bite you too. On the shoulder?"
Angel nodded.
"Well...ok."
Soon the rabbit and dragonling were rolling and wrestling on the ground, poking and nipping and clawing each other hard enough to cause some pain, but not hard enough to do serious damage.
Eventually the pair grew tired, and lay side by side in the grass. Angel reached out and grasped Spike's nearest forepaw.
"Yeah," Spike said. "This is the weirdest morning I've ever had. But maybe it was the best morning, too."
Angel squeezed Spike's paw.
"Me too," Spike said.
Author's Note
forbloodysummer, you wrote "Dog Nonce" and ~~said~~ I misunderstood you and thought you said you like Spike/Angel shipping, so this is the least I can do for you.
Or maybe forbloodysummer was talking about "Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"
I'm trying something I haven't done in a while: writing a story so the end of each chapter at least kind of works as a story end too.
I have no idea whether I'll add more chapters to this story. But if I do, wish me luck!
