Trusted Scales

Upon leaving the library, Spike was greeted to the calm morning air that seemed to always accompany sunrises in Ponyville. No matter what was happening, and no matter how chaotic the mood of its denizens, one thing was assured: mornings were always pleasant. The air was pleasantly chilled, thanks to the fresh dew on the grass and plants that were ever-abundant in the eco-friendly town, and the fragrances given off from the many flowers were almost entrancing to those that caught a whiff of them.

Spike knew better than to waste such a graceful opportunity, and chose to stand completely still and close his eyes. Inhaling sharply through his nostrils, he took in the calming atmosphere that had befallen his home and let it overtake his mind. He was filled with a sudden, vigorous enthusiasm that made him shiver with energy. He shook his head quickly and stretched as he woke from his extremely short nap.

“Right,” he said, turning back to make sure the library door was locked. He gave it a compulsive several turns before nodding to himself and giving a calm smile. No pony in Ponyville would steal, he wagered; and he figured that if they would steal, their target would not be books.

He turned to walk in the opposite direction, only to stumble backwards and yell as he registered what looked like a fluorescent pink blur. Luckily, he had backed against the door and suffered only a minor state of confusion from this little incident.

“Hi!” Pinkie Pie greeted, her signature smile beaming from ear to ear. She had grown taller over the past two years, Spike recalled. Other than that, however, little had changed. She had grown to be a bit more calm about depressing things, fortunately. Otherwise, she was still her cheery, friendly, Pinkie self.

“Pinkie Pie..” Spike said in relief, letting out a sigh as he gathered his wits. He pushed off of the door and stood straight, slightly looking down to meet Pinkie’s forever-alert eyes. Spike was delighted to find that his new height had brought him to be a bit taller than others - after all, ponies the world around said that they found tall stallions attractive. Couldn’t that rule apply to dragons, too?

“Hey, silly! What are you up so early for?” Pinkie said with her impossibly cheery voice. One might have found it annoying if they didn’t know her as he did. Spike, however, found Pinkie’s everlasting joy to be a lovely trait of hers.

“I could ask you the same thing, Pinkie. Shouldn’t you be getting some sleep?” Spike replied, crossing his arms as he asked. He had only just become aware of the grin that had spread across his own face. Pinkie Pie’s infectious happiness had come to him, it seemed.

“Oh no, I wouldn’t dare sleep right now!” Pinkie said, her expression changing to that of surprise at the mere notion of sleeping in. Spike knew she had an overabundance of energy, but he couldn’t quite comprehend why she couldn’t at least get adequate rest.

“And might I ask why that is?” Spike inquired, raising what could be considered an eyebrow for a dragon. It amounted to little more than muscles behind scales, but he raised them nonetheless.

To answer him, Pinkie initially pointed with one hoof towards the sky - specifically, towards the mountains outside of Ponyville’s borders. “The sunrise is going to happen soon,” she proclaimed with a hushed voice, one that was filled with both wonder and subtle excitement. Such an expression left Spike with a hint of curiosity, and it made him inquire further.

“So you like the sunrise, then?” he asked, pointing out the obvious. To Pinkie, however, it seemed that this was precisely what she wanted him to ask, because her face lit up with childish joy as he finished.

“Yep! I haven’t missed a sunrise in over a year. I love them! They’re so bright, and cheery, and happy, and they make the dark go away! That way, I know it’s time to get my party cap on and have some fun!” Pinkie explained in her usual way of making everything seem more exciting.

Pinkie Pie’s enthusiasm for the things many would chalk up to simple and routine never ceased to amaze Spike. It was as if she woke up every day with the mindset of a young filly: always ready to learn, play, and have a generally good time. Where one might see this as a hindrance to maturity, Spike chose to believe it was nothing less than pure joy taking its course within her mind. On some level, he had always envied Pinkie’s way of looking at the world.

“Thinking on it now, the sunrise really is spectacular. But can you really see it all that well, what with all of the buildings in the way?” Spike said, motioning with one claw to the numbers of houses, shops, and other buildings that crowded the residential district of Ponyville. For a small town, Ponyville had its fair share of denizens; it was no surprise that the number of buildings had to match that in order to keep up.

“You got that right, bucko! That’s why I climb those hills right over there -” Pinkie answered, gesturing with one hoof towards a recreational area set aside specifically for such things. It offered many pleasant memories for Spike, and he knew it well.

“Well I suppose you ought to get moving, then. Sun’s coming up pretty soon,” Spike replied, forsaking the peculiar nickname Pinkie had just given him temporarily - or what he hoped was temporarily. It was true, though; he could feel the air warming up ever-so-slightly, and that usually meant that the morning had come.

“Oh yeah! Bye, Spike!” Pinkie said, trotting happily on her way to the nearby hills. He turned to walk towards Fluttershy’s house before being stopped by Pinkie once again. “By the way!” she called back at him, “What are you doing up, anyway?”

“I’m off to see Fluttershy,” he answered casually. This seemed to strike a chord in Pinkie’s mind, as she gasped and galloped in place for a moment, repeating “Oh!” several times.

“She’ll be so happy to see you!” Pinkie said giddily, which caught Spike slightly off-guard. “She’s had asked me whether or not you had turned up, and I told her that you were at the library. After that, she seemed kind of sad. But now she can be happy, now that you’re going see her!”

“Huh. Thanks, Pinkie! Enjoy the sunrise!” Spike said with a final wave of goodbye, to which Pinkie returned the gesture with her hoof. She turned away and bounced around the corner, no doubt off to watch her daily spectacle.

Spike turned away, walking down the path that cut through town and towards Fluttershy’s home. He found himself pondering what Pinkie had said, however. Fluttershy seemed sad at the mention of his absence; that’s what Pinkie had told him.

His pace slowed as he went over it time and time again in his mind. For some reason, he found himself smiling; not the goofy kind of smile that he wore whenever Pinkie was around, but rather one of a subtle joy. One that was accompanied usually by the warmest of memories. There was a warmth spreading through his body that made him feel slightly more confident about this whole ordeal.

It was then, however, that he felt a slight pang of guilt run through his heart. He had caused her to feel that way, but it wasn’t due to his actions. It seemed to him that all of his worrying was actually making others worry - and this would not do.

His resolution was absolute by the time he had passed through Town Square, having tossed a glance towards Town Hall. He gave a slight chuckle as he looked upon the building. It was the site of one of Twilight’s defining moments as a pony, and he remembered it well. He distinctly remembered Applejack hanging around the library for quite some time after that, as well. He had his theories as to what that was about, but never inquired further about it.

For now, however, his mind was mainly focused upon this whole situation he had gotten himself into. Fluttershy, who he considered to be quite possibly one of his closest friends, had now been driven to worrying over him. While this just went to further prove his point of her being close to him, it also meant that she saw him as someone to be worried over.

He had made the mistake, he realized, of not being very social with Fluttershy over the years. She had treated him with the utmost kindness and care, and he had done so in return. What he had not done, however, was spend much time with her. In all of the opportunities to visit or otherwise simply spend time with her, he had simply chose to do other things. Sometimes he even chose to do nothing at all, and stay at the library.

He made the mental decision that if all of this were to turn out positively, he would make sure to spend much more time with her. He believed that someone as kind as her should not go unrewarded; the least he could do was at least talk to her. What was a little spared time for a few years worth of kindness and understanding, after all?

When he reached her cottage, the sun had climbed its way over the trees and had come to cast a brilliantly orange light onto Fluttershy’s home. Spike slowed his pace down bit by bit until finally he came to a standstill on the dirt pathway leading to the cottage. He spun around slowly, taking in all that the nature of the place had to offer him. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt at ease this way.

His urge for sightseeing satiated, he steeled his nerves and made his way up to the cottage. He took one final glance towards the sky and judged that she would most likely be up by this time. She did have her animals to take care of, and he knew she was always one to wake up rather early. With one final nod, Spike shimmied his shoulders and stood tall, raising a balled fist up to knock on the door.

He stood like this for a good five seconds before realizing something very important - he had no idea what he wanted to say. “Sorry that I’m growing, but don’t worry! It’s just a phase!” That wouldn’t cut it. He pulled back his fist and ran it along the fins on his head, letting out a sigh of contemplation.

“Now how can I put this,” Spike pondered to himself aloud. Thus began one of the worst habits that he ever obtained by being around Twilight Sparkle; he began speaking his thoughts. “Yes, I’ve grown. Yes, I know you are scared of dragons. But it’s okay! I’m still the same old - no that sounds condescending.”

He turned away from the door and began going over a mental plan in his head, considering all of the things he wanted to say to Fluttershy, but didn’t quite know how to. He hadn’t quite realized how awkward this situation would be to him when he was panicking at the library, or wondering about Fluttershy on his way here. As a consequence, he was at a loss for words. He took a seat in front of her door and began to ponder what his next step of action should be.

“Should I go back?” he asked himself, scratching the top of his head in confusion. “I mean, what’s one more day, right? I’m sure she could-”

His thought-train was interrupted by something smacking against his head - namely, a carrot. Spike turned around to find an impatient Angel, Fluttershy’s prized companion, staring at him in slight annoyance. He was tapping his foot and had his arms crossed, but his face portrayed little to no anger. It was more along the lines of questioning, from what Spike could tell.

He and Angel had become friends - or at the very least, acquaintances - since that fateful day at the Crystal Empire. Since then, the two had seen each other in a brighter light. This didn’t mean that Angel had completely forsaken his old ways and welcomed Spike with open arms, however. The expression upon his face was evidence enough of that.

“Hey, Angel,” Spike said, raising a hand in greeting. He was going to explain what he was doing here, but chose at the last moment to simply wait for Fluttershy instead. “Is Fluttershy available? I’ve got to talk to her.”

As if she was called, the pegasus that had been on Spike’s mind all this time came walking towards the door. “Who is it, Angel Bunny? Do we have gu- Oh,” she stopped midway, turning to greet Spike with one of her warm smiles. “Spike?”

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Spike managed to say, giving off a nervous laugh as he did so. He observed Fluttershy’s face and found that she had hardly a trace of nervousness in her voice. It was more of an uneasy silence - one that was common around the shy pegasus.

It wasn’t until he stood up and brushed himself off that he noticed Fluttershy’s demeanor slightly shrink back. It was as if she wasn’t looking at him for him, but rather she was looking at the dragon he could be. This discomforted him extremely, and brought back the notion that he was quite possibly too late. Fortunately for Spike and his sanity, the desire to salvage what was looking to be a broken friendship was enough to push such worries aside - if only temporarily.

“Have you got some time? I’d like to talk with you about something that’s..” Spike paused in the midst of his speech, considering the best way to put it. Deciding upon being straightforward, he continued with, “Well, something that’s bothering me. If you’d like, though, I could come back later or-”

“No!” Fluttershy said, albeit a bit too quickly. It took Spike off guard and apparently Angel was surprised as well, as he slightly jumped at the abrupt speech of his owner. A blush came to her face as she gave a sheepish grin and said shakily, “I’ve got time. Come in.”

At this, Angel sighed and opened the door wide, gesturing with one arm for Spike to enter the home. Not wanting to drag the awkward atmosphere along any further, he obliged politely but as quick as he saw fit. He had to duck into the house in order to avoid bumping his head on the door frame, but the inside seemed to accommodate his size rather well.

“Would- Um. Would you like some tea, Spike?” Fluttershy asked timidly, her voice just above a whisper. Spike found this to be a convenient way to start a conversation, and agreed with a simple, “Sure, thanks.”

As he sat at the table and watched Fluttershy pour him some tea, he picked up on the faint noise of the cup clattering against the plate, and took this to mean that she was nervous. This could be a little more difficult than he imagined, it seemed. But if it meant saving their friendship, Spike was entirely willing to suffer through this awkwardness. He only hoped it would end better than it seemed to be starting.

Fluttershy sat down at the table and took a shaky sip of her coffee, then hid half of her face behind her mane. “You said something was, um, bothering you?” she asked carefully, seeming to pause slightly after each word to consider them carefully.

“Right,” Spike said, taking a sip of his tea. He savored the flavor of it for only a moment, and found its calming taste an ironic contrast to the tense atmosphere that had befallen them both. He put the cup back onto the plate and rested his elbows on the table, then began the conversation with, “Where to begin..”