A Secret Admirer 3: Spike's Sacrifice (AU)

MEANWHILE

Smolder was curled up on her bed, buried under a mountain of covers and depression. The destroyed teen felt like throwing up after another three hours of non-stop crying. Sobbing over Spike made her weak-kneed and she couldn't get the nauseating scene of seeing her boyfriend's destroyed body out of her head. On nights she did manage to cry herself to sleep, she'd usually wake up less than three hours later hearing Spike screaming for her to save him, only to realize, night after night, that the Dragon she, as well as 11 other girls, loved more than anything, was dead. Unfairly taken. Gone forever. All for what? Because help, including her, was just a little too slow to show up and rescue him. Even if Smolder couldn't have saved him, she could've at least seen him one last time to say goodbye to him as well on that fateful day. She did get a tiny bit of closure giving her speech at his funeral, but it seemed like any amount of pain she felt far outweighed any comfort. She knew the others were probably just as emotionally crushed as she was. That made her sadness and pain increase ten-fold because she could do nothing to comfort them, or herself for that matter, and try to move on with this horrific tragedy.

"Why? Why Spike?" she would often whisper, as if someone there would answer back. Alas, the only thing that would greet her question was dead silence.

She heard a knock at the front door.

"Who is it?" she asked with a big sniffle.

"Smolder," called a voice, who Smolder immediately recognized as Garble. "Open up. We need to talk."

Smolder blew her nose and wiped her eyes before slowly, but surely, made it to the front door and opened it.

***

Garble didn't know why his sister wasn't answering. He was about to open his mouth again to speak when the door slowly creaked open, revealing a very saddened Smolder. The others couldn't help but look shocked when they got a good look at her. Smolder's eyes were red-rimmed, puffy, and they had datk bags under them. She was leaning against the door jamb because she couldn't even stand up straight. The non-stop crying really took a lot out of her. Her usually vibrant, icy blue irises seemed to have faded. She looked like she was about to cry again.

"My god! Smolder!" Gallus exclaimed looking at his depressed friend. "You look horrible!"

Garble shot him a glare.

"She doesn't need that, Gallus!" he said through clenched teeth.

Gallus realized what he said and blushed with embarrassment.

"Oops," he said sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Anyway," grumbled Garble, turning back to face Smolder. "Can we come in, please?"

"Sure," said Smolder with a sigh. "Just a heads up, it's a real mess in here."

Smolder flicked on the lights and slowly trudged back to her bed and sat down. The others stepped inside and were greeted with the new look of Smolder's room.

A "real mess" was an understatement of what her room looked like. Empty tubs of ice cream, used tissues, and wrappers from cupcakes and hard candy were scattered all over the place. The blankets on her bed were in disarray and, along with Smolder's pillow case and upper bedsheets, were soaked thoroughly in her tears. Smolder did have a trash can, but it was already overflowing with empty ice cream cartons, used tissues, and cupcake and candy wrappers.

After a solid minute of silence, Smolder broke the ice and spoke up.

"What are you all here for?" she asked.

"We're here to help get you out of your slump, dear," Rarity said.

Smolder felt her whole body go cold. She had silently prayed that they weren't here to discuss how she was taking Spike's death. Sadly, it seemed that prayer had fallen on deaf ears.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," the Dragon's voice started to crack alongside her mask. "I'm coping with Spike's passing just fine like the rest of you."

"The used tissues tell a different story, sugarcube," came Applejack's curt reply.

"Oh, that," Smolder gulped. "W-Well, you see, I've been fighting this really nasty cold lately. I think I might've caught something from somecreature when we were at the cemetery."

"What about all these wrappers and the fact your trash is overflowing?" Gallus asked.

"Just neglection on my part," Smolder had started to fidget by this point. "Those are old wrappers from the times Spike and I would..."

Tears had started to flow down Smolder's face before she had even come to realize it.

"W-Would..."

Smolder's mask shattered the moment she collapsed on the floor in a fit of agonized wails as the pent-up emotions finally began to overflow.

"I-It's not fair!!" she bawled. "W-Why him? Why Spike?! He didn't deserve this!!"

She was abruptly swept off the ground without a word and pulled onto her bed in a tight embrace. For a solid twenty minutes everyone just held the embrace and kept quiet, allowing Smolder to express her grief uninterrupted. The Dragoness’ sobs eventually devolved into whimpers. Then she fell silent with the exception of the occasional sniffle, before soft snores began to fill the air. The others watched her with a mix of sympathy and concern.

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said quietly. “Spike’s death really has impacted her harder than I thought.”

“Yeah,” Garble whispered back. “So, now what do we do? We can’t talk to her now.”

“I think it’s best if we let her rest for now. It definitely looks like she hasn’t gotten much sleep lately and having a crowd around her when she’s in this state won’t make this situation any better,” Fluttershy instructed. “Rest assured, though, I will meet with you and Smolder tomorrow.”

Very carefully and reluctantly, Smolder’s fellow harem mates and friends removed themselves from the cuddle puddle without disturbing the dozing orange Dragon until only Garble remained.

“Garble,” asked Fluttershy. “Are you coming with us?”

“No,” said Garble. “I’m staying here with Smolder. “I’m her brother and I have a duty to stay by her side.”

“Very well,” said Fluttershy. “I’ll be back to check on you both later.”

With that, the group of creatures left the room, leaving the sibling duo alone.

THE NEXT MORNING

Garble wasn’t sure what time he had ended up nodding off yesterday. The last thing he remembered was eating a plate of gems that was provided to him by Fluttershy and then slowly nodding off as the afternoon wore on. He had been woken up when the first rays of the morning sun hit his eyelids. The red Dragon let out a yawn and looked down to see Smolder clutching his torso and still snoring softly. While he was pleased to see his sister still at ease in her peaceful slumber, Garble knew he couldn’t let her stay like that. Fluttershy would be expecting them both soon.

“Here goes nothing,” he thought.

Very carefully, the red Dragon began to rub the orange Dragon’s back tenderly until she began to stir.

"Wakey wakey, little sis," he said quietly to the groggy, orange Dragon.

“Ugh, Good morning, Gar-Gar,” Smolder let out a groan as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Garble waited until Smolder’s consciousness had built itself back up before speaking again.

"Whenever you're ready, I want you to see Fluttershy. She told me to tell you that she has something that she wants to say to you."

Garble avoided the subject that Fluttershy wanted to talk to Smolder about. The last thing he wanted was to remind her of why he was even there with her on her bed to begin with, but it seemed Smolder already figured out what was going on.

"It's about Spike's death, isn't it?" she asked.

Garble gulped. He knew there was no point in lying to her.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Well," Smolder said as she stretched. "Might as well find her and see what she has to say."

"I'm coming with you," Garble said. "You've suffered with Spike's loss alone long enough and I won't let you walk this journey of recovery on your own for another second."

Smolder could only smile warmly as she jumped up and wrapped her older brother in a hug, "Thanks, Gar-Gar."

"Anytime, Smolder," Garble said as he patted his little sister's back, feeling another wave of relief wash over him at seeing her smile again. "Now, then, let's go see Fluttershy. Hopefully, she gets you out of this."

With that said, the two Dragons freshened up and flew to the castle of friendship to start off in search of the cream-colored Pegasus. They soon ran into her in the castle's dining room, She was having breakfast. When she saw Smolder, Fluttershy's expression instantly brightened.

"Good morning, Smolder, Garble," she said.

"Good morning, Fluttershy," Smolder said before wiping a tear away from her eyes. "I hear that you want to talk to me about Spike?"

"Yes, Smolder," she replied. "After breakfast, I would kindly request that you and Garble come to my bedroom."

"Okay," Smolder said quietly.

"In the meantime, though," Fluttershy said. "Why don't I stay for your breakfast? You both look like you could use the extra company."

"Really? Thanks, Fluttershy," Smolder said in a tone almost inaudible while flashing her a small, sad smile.

"You're very welcome," Fluttershy said, wrapping Smolder in a hug.

With that said, the two Dragons were each given a bowl of gems, generously provided by Fluttershy and Rarity, and enjoyed looking at the clear, blue sky of the morning.

A LITTLE LATER

Smolder gulped as Garble and she walked to Fluttershy's bedroom. Fluttershy had walked up just a couple minutes before them both to prepare her bedroom for them both.

They knocked on the door.

"Enter," came a voice on the other side.

Garble and Smolder opened the door to find Flutershy sitting at the end of a large couch. She smiled warmly at both of them.

"Please take a seat," she said, patting the cushion next to her.

Garble and Smolder did just what she said. Smolder sat in the middle of the couch, next to Fluttershy, and Garble sat on the outside.

"Alright," Fluttershy started. "It's come to my attention that you've had a harder time coping with Spike's death than the rest of us."

"That's a vast understatement," Smolder said as she looked down at the floor and sniffled. "I loved him more than anything and now he's gone."

Another large, single tear rolled down her cheek and fell onto the floor. Fluttershy could've sworn it took the shape of two halves of a heart. There was about a half centimeter gap between the two halves. Each half had a jagged edge where the two said halves would've connected to make a whole heart. Fluttershy and Garble both couldn't help but feel sorrier than before for the downtrodden, heartbroken Dragon.

“What sucks even more is that the rest of you are also still mourning and I hate that I can’t help any of you out in moving as well as myself,” Smolder continued on with a sigh.

Fluttershy listened to Smolder’s last sentence intently. Right away, the pieces fell into place and she now knew what to say to pull Smolder out of her slump. The Pegasus placed her hoof under Smolder's chin to pull her head up and she looked her right in the eye.

"I know you're sad, Smolder," Fluttershy said. "But there is something that you don't know. Spike is still here."

Smolder became confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"What I mean is Spike may not be here physically, but he resides right here," Fluttershy explained, placing a hoof on the left side of Smolder's chest, directly above her heart. "He resides in the same place inside me. Another thing you should know is that you have a piece of Spike's spirit inside of you. Everyone who knows has a part of him big or small residing in him, whether they want to believe that or not. You expressed that fact just seconds ago."

Smolder was still confused.

"How?" she asked.

"You did say that you wanted to help the rest of us move on just as much as you want to see yourself move on. Correct?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Uh, yeah," Smolder said, unsure of where this would go.

"That's something that Spike would've wanted for us if one of us died," Fluttershy explained.

Smolder became shocked before going deep into thought. She began to process all that Fluttershy had said to her. There were six minutes of dead silence as Smolder digested her thoughts. Afterward, she looked at Fluttershy with a warm smile and wrapped her in a hug. She was crying again, but it was of happiness this time.

"You're right, Fluttershy," she whispered. "I do have a part of Spike's spirit inside me. I just needed to see it for myself. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Smolder," Fluttershy whispered back.

Garble also joined in the group hug. The feeling of his happiness was indescribable at seeing his sister going back to her normal self. For a solid three minutes, the two Dragons and Pegasus just hugged each other and didn't say a word. Both Fluttershy and Smolder knew that, with each other's help and lessons from Spike during the short time they were a part of his harem, they could help each other move past this tragic event. When they broke away, Fluttershy spoke up again.

"If you ever feel lost again as you cope, I'll be more than happy to direct you back on the path of recovery," she said.

"Thanks, Fluttershy," Smolder said.

Garble wrapped Fluttershy in another tight hug.

"Thank you for helping my sister," he said. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"Anytime, Garble," Fluttershy replied. "Anytime."

After breaking away, Fluttershy spoke up again.

"I'm heading out on a walk. Would you two care to join me?"

"Yes, please," said the two dragons simultaneously.

Fluttershy chuckled.

"Very well, then," she smiled. "Come on."

With that said, the three creatures headed out of Fluttershy's bedroom and outside. They all knew that there would, hopefully, be no more sad days for any of them as they continued their journey on the road to recovery.