Sharpy slowly regained his consciousness. At first he could just feel something itching in his hind leg. He wasn’t able to open his eyes or more. All he felt was the strange itching. But that itching slowly turned to pain. And as the time went on the pain just got worse and worse, until he shouted. He opened his eyes and started waiving his legs violently. His sight was still blurry and he couldn’t hear very well, but he noticed five other ponies jumping backwards in surprise. He stopped waiving his legs around when he started to feel tired.

“Yes, take it easy there, fella’”, Applejack said and so they all started to move closer to Sharpy. “It’s just us”. Sharpy looked at them like they were strangers. The five ponies all looked concerned at each other.

“It’s the blood loss”, Twilight stated. “We have to take care of this now! Rarity?”

“Oh…Of course”, Rarity said and started levitating a wet piece of cloth which she had dipped in the nearby river. “Just stay still, darling. This will only sting for a moment”. With that said, Rarity began to clean the wound. Sharpy winced a little when the cloth touched the wound, but he tried to stay as calm as possible. Rarity was done the next minute. With all the dirt gone from his leg, you could see just how big the wound really were. It covered almost his entire leg and it seemed to be quite deep as well. As far as she knew, they hadn’t brought any medical supplies. Sure, the blood had stopped flowing, but they still needed something to put pressure on the wound. Rarity checked her bag so see if there was something she could use, but then Pinkie poked her on her back. Rarity turned around so see what she wanted. In her mouth she was holding a roll of bandages.

“I figured we needed these, so here you go Rarity!” Pinkie said and gave Rarity the bandages.  Rarity thanked the smiling Pinkie Pie. “I brought them for just a situation like this!”

Rarity carefully wrapped the bandages around Sharpy’s leg, but still hard enough to do the job. Sharpy just looked down at his leg with a strained expression. It still hurt in his leg, but at least now it was clean and wrapped up in bandages, so that he wouldn’t risk getting an infection. Sharpy looked up to Rarity and gave her a grateful smile.

“So where did learn how to treat wounds like that?” Rainbow Dash asked Rarity. Rarity turned away from Sharpy to answer Rainbow’s question.

“Well fist of all, this isn’t something that’s too hard to take care of. But it is very important”, Rarity said sincerely. “But to answer your question; I’ve spent a lot of time with Fluttershy lately so I might have picked up a thing or two from her talents in taking care of animals”.

Sharpy instantly reacted when hearing the name Fluttershy. When Rarity had turned around Sharpy had returned to looking at his now wrapped up leg. But when Rarity mentioned Fluttershy he looked up once again. He didn’t say anything, just looked sadly at the other ponies. He tried to stand up, but as he putted weight on his hind leg he fell to the ground with a grunt.

“Whoa, there!” Applejack said and helped him up and made sure Sharpy didn’t put any weight on his injured leg. “Ya’ got to be careful with your leg, Sharpy. Ya’ don’t want to make it worse than it already is”. Sharpy tanked Applejack and stood up. They all looked at him like he was about to say anything, but he had nothing to say. He looked up in the sky. It was darker now than what it was when he passed out. That or his vision was still blurry, because he couldn’t see anything.

“I can’t see anything in this dark”, he said as he turned his eyes to the girls, who we currently looking up in the sky just like Sharpy.

“He’s right! It’s definitely too dark right now”, Rainbow Dash stated. The others agreed and started setting up camp next to the river that was flowing nearby.

When all the tents were raised and a campfire was burning in the middle, there were finished. Just like before, Sharpy declined the option of sleeping inside one of the tents and insisted that he could sleep outside, next to the campfire.

“If you change your mind, darling, you’re always welcome to sleep in my tent”, Rarity said before closing the entrance with a piece of cloth.

Sharpy was sitting alone in the dark. He couldn’t sleep and had stopped trying. He was just sitting there, all silent, and looking into the fire. It was something special about fire. It made him feel calm. Well it usually did. But now there was too many things going on inside his head. The horrible memories from when his sister died made him feel cold inside, yet the fire was still burning strong. He’d started to feel some kind of inner fire when his transformation became weakened. But it didn’t feel unnatural. It felt like the complete opposite. Like that fire was supposed to be there, but something had taken it away. Like if he’d been transformed to something he wasn’t. Sharpy sighed. He knew what that fire was. It was the source of a dragon’s breath. He looked away from the fire and turned his eyes to the sky. It was dark and probably very cloudy, since you couldn’t see the moon or the stars. Sharpy sighed again looked at his wings. The green scales shone in the light of the fire. He wasn’t a pony. He just had the body of one. He looked at his front hooves. This wasn’t natural at all for him. He was supposed to have claws. Claws that could easily cut through any type of skin without any effort. Claws which he could easily grab anything with. These hooves weren’t good for anything but walking. He was a dragon, and a dragon was born to kill. He was violent by nature. Such a creature shouldn’t have anything to do with these peaceful ponies. He’d wondered what would happen if he killed Huffy and had always guessed that he would return to his original form. At first he was scared. If that happened, the other ponies would surely keep him from returning to Ponyville with them. But now… now he realized that would be for the best. Whenever something happens, he’d show his true self. He thought about it for a while. What would happen if he’d turn into the almost full grown dragon he really was?

How would they react to the real Sharpy? And more importantly; what would Fluttershy think? He almost didn’t want to think about it. He would understand if everypony would stay away from him, but having to watch Fluttershy’s reaction would just be too much. He’d felt broken inside just seeing her back away in fear due to his current appearance. If he walked up to her as a full grown dragon she might get scarred for life, or worse. A small part of him was actually glad that Fluttershy hadn’t accompanied them. He couldn’t bring himself to cause her more problems that what he already had. The more he thought about it, the more depressed he got. He curled up into a ball and covered himself with his wings. Trying to shield himself from all the problems of the outer world, he only found more problems to deal with inside himself. Sharpy started to shiver. It was getting really windy and the fireplace and the little green blanket offered little protection against the cold winds. He couldn’t help to wonder if it was any warmer inside one of the tents.

We must be close to the mountains, Sharpy thought. There was no other explanation for the cold winds. He wasn’t sure if he liked it or not, but he wasn’t going to back out now. He was too determined. He just wondered what they would expect once they found Huffy.

He looked at Rarity’s tent. He liked Rarity and she had offered him her support if he ever needed to talk to her. And he felt like not was the time.

***

Rarity lied down and looked up in the ceiling. It should have been very dark, but she used her magic to create a blue light that created just enough light so that she could see. She looked at the beautiful drawings that were sewn into the tent itself. Rarity rubbed her hooves together. She couldn’t sleep. She was too nervous. In a couple of days, or perhaps even tomorrow, they would stand before the infamous dragon, Huffy. If they would be prepared for what was to come was impossible to say. They would have to see when the time comes. And then it will be too late to turn back. Rarity sighed. She wondered if her friends felt the same way. Were they as nervous as she was? It would feel awkward to ask them, but she assumed they were. This was like nothing they had ever stood before. Sure, they had defeated enemies like Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony and Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen. They may have been more powerful, but they didn’t have any plans on killing anypony. Huffy, on the other hoof, does. She was deep in her thought just when a voice from the outside disturbed her.

“Hey, Rarity? Can I come inside for a moment?” the voice said. It was Sharpy. Rarity remembered her tilling him that she would be there for him when he needed someone to talk to, so she guessed that was the case.

“Of course, dear. Come inside”, Rarity said to Sharpy. The next moment Sharpy entered the tent. He looked around at the magnificent artwork. Rarity sat up from her lying position and looked at Sharpy. Sharpy looked back at her and gave her a sad smile before he sat down in front of her.

“What’s on your mind?” Rarity asked. Sharpy blushed and looked away. Rarity expected this. It can be hard to open up to somepony else. Perhaps he needed a little push.

“Is it about Fluttershy?” Rarity tried to start the conversation, thinking that Fluttershy might be a good place to start at. After a few seconds Sharpy answered.

“Yes… Fluttershy is a part of the reason why I wanted to speak with you”, Sharpy said with a insecure tone on his voice. Rarity nodded.

“Please tell me”. Sharpy thought for a second before continuing. Rarity guessed that he wondered where to begin.

“Well… I love her”, Sharpy began. “A lot…” Rarity nodded slowly. She didn’t know what to say if he didn’t continue.

“That’s wonderful”, she said. “But where does the real problem come in?”

“You know she’s afraid of me. And I know that you girls have told me that she still loves me”, Sharpy was very straightforward. “But I have a hard time seeing how that works. I’ve tried to forget about her… move on… let go. But I can’t”. In the end Sharpy’s voice got unstable, so he stopped there. Rarity looked at him and felt sorry for him. She didn’t know much about him, seeing that she have only known him for a few days. But if somepony earned your best friends love, he deserves your help.

“Why would you let go in the first place? She still loves you”, Rarity asked. She had her theories, but wanted Sharpy to speak for himself. Sharpy was quiet for a moment. He was looking down, avoiding Rarity’s eyes, looking very uncertain. Then he looked up, straight into Rarity’s eyes.

“Because I love her!” Rarity turned her head when Sharpy said that. This didn’t make any sense to her. If somepony was in love, shouldn’t he want to be together with the mare of his dreams? Rarity just looked confused, so Sharpy continued to explain himself.

“I love her… and I would, without a doubt, sacrifice my own happiness to see her smile”. Sharpy looked into Rarity’s eyes, waiting for her response. But Rarity didn’t know what to say. This was all too sad. Rarity couldn’t accept their love to go wasted.

“But she loves you. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

“It means everything. But I make her insecure, uncomfortable and afraid. I can’t see how that would work”, Sharpy said. In the end his voice started to get all shaky again. “She’ll move on and find somepony that can make her happy. Because as it looks like right now… I can’t”. A single tear dripped from his eye to the floor. Rarity watched the tear as it dried out.

“Let’s leave this subject for another time, dear?” Rarity suggested. “There’s no need to jump to conclusions”. Sharpy nodded and calmed himself down a bit.

An awkward silence occurred and lasted for the next couple of minutes until Rarity finally spoke up.

“I guess you had more you wanted to talk about?” Sharpy nodded and looked up in the ceiling. He closed his eyes and just waited. Rarity stared to feel a bit uncomfortable, since the conversation was going nowhere fast in the moment. Sharpy apparently noticed that and just before Rarity would ask another question, Sharpy spoke.

“I’m scared…” Rarity just looked at him. She didn’t expect him to say that. He’d been so brave all this time. But she figured that his courage might just be a shell. When she looked at him she could see how worried and insecure he really was.

“Don’t worry, Sharpy”, Rarity said with her sweetest voice. She moved closer to him and putted her hoof on his shoulder. “We are all afraid of what will happen when we encounter that dragon Huffy”. Sharpy looked at Rarity. She gave him a calm and understanding smile. Sharpy nodded slowly.

“Yes… I worry about that too”, he said. “But I can’t do much about that”.

“Too…?” Rarity asked. If Huffy wasn’t what made him scared, then what?

“I’m afraid of myself. Of whom I really am”, Sharpy said with a sad tone. Rarity was about to ask him what he meant, but he continued before she got the chance. “You see… I like this life as a pony and I want to leave my past life behind. My sister is dead and friends are temporary anyway… But I’m afraid to… I’m a dragon and a dragon is a born killer. And sometimes it feels like my instincts are taking over. I don’t want to damage your wonderful world”.

Rarity looked away after hearing this. So he was afraid of himself. Or not himself… but what he was capable of. He was truly a nice person. Rarity knew that much. He was loyal to her and her friends and even though he sometimes seemed a bit down, she usually had a good time when speaking to each other. Rarity looked back at Sharpy for a second. She looked at his wings, eyes and teeth. He was a dragon… and apparently he didn’t want to be.

“One shouldn’t run away from his true nature”, Rarity said. Sharpy looked at her skeptically. “It’s who you are… you can’t change that. Even if it means you can get aggressive, you just have to learn how to control and live with that”. Sharpy just sighed. Then he got a weird cold look in his eyes.

“That dragon from earlier…” Sharpy said with a deep voice. Rarity didn’t like where this were going. “I bit his throat and left him without looking backwards… I don’t even know if he’s still alive…” Rarity tried to look away, but couldn’t.

“I even got the taste of his blood...” Sharpy said sadly. Suddenly Rarity started to feel sorry for him again. “But the worst part is… I liked it”. Sharpy stopped there and looked ashamed at Rarity. Rarity just looked back. She didn’t know what to say or to think. Right now she was trying to get the horrible pictures out of her head. But Sharpy didn’t seem to mind about Rarity’s disgusted looks. It was more or less what he expected anyway. But Rarity was quickly able to put his brutality aside. She knew ponies could do horrible things in the heat of battle. What she had harder to accept was the fact that he thought the blood of another living creature was tasty. It just seemed so unreal for her. She almost couldn’t believe it. Sharpy, who were such a nice pony, or dragon, actually was a predator. She had to make sure.

“So, you actually eat meat?” Rarity asked carefully. Sharpy looked at her for a second before answering.

“Yes… yes I do”, Sharpy said. He was very straightforward. He didn’t want to hide anything. “But it’s not necessary. I can survive on vegetarian food”. Rarity nodded. That was good. But she had a hard time letting her eyes from Sharpy’s sharp teeth. But then she remembered what he told her before. He didn’t want to live as a dragon. He wanted to live as a pony. Rarity gathered her thoughts. She had to come up with something to say. When she did, she opened her eyes and looked straight into Sharpy’s with determination.

“Sharpy!” she said. “You may be a destructive dragon inside. But looking even deeper I can see somepony who wants to be happy. Somepony who wants to love and to be loved. You are not a mad killer, darling. You are a nice dragon who had discovered where you want to be. With us ponies”.

“A leopard never loses its spots…” Sharpy said doubtful.

“But it can learn how to love and tolerate”, Rarity said knowingly. “It can change its habits. One  just need to believe”.

Next Chapter: Chapter 18: Officially Trusted Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 27 Minutes