Rarity just stared up at the ceiling, or whatever you should call the dark and cold stone covering the beautiful night sky from her tired eyes. It didn’t make her feel comfortable. She felt captured, uncomfortable and defenseless. As if the entire mountain would collapse upon her any second. Caves were far from her style. She preferred large, open spaces and the shiny night sky above her as she slept, like the previous nights on this journey. Sleeping in a cave didn’t feel right at all.

She wasn’t able to sleep, either. Even though it was in the middle of the night and with both her body and mind tired, she was just lying there with her eyes open wide. It couldn’t be many hours left until the other ponies would wake up, well rested and ready for a new day. Rarity realized that if she wasn’t able to fall asleep, she would be too tired tomorrow to do anything. And the rough, hard cave floor she was laying on didn’t make it any better. Nothing she had brought could make the uncomfortable feeling from lying on the dirty cave floor go away. She moved from side to side, trying to find a comfortable spot. After rolling around the entire room and trying every possible position, she came to the conclusion that keeping this up was pointless. She carefully sat up. Perhaps taking a little walk would calm her down enough to make her fall asleep? She stood up and slowly made her way to the large room where they had put the campfire earlier. As she came closer to her rooms exit, she noticed light coming from the large room. Had they forgot to put out the fire? Rarity shrugged. If that was the case, she could just sit down by the fire and relax. Perhaps the heat from the fireplace would be comfortable enough to make her fall asleep.

Rarity walked out of her dark, little room and into the big, enlightened main room. She saw the fireplace in the middle of the room just where it had been before. It took a couple of moment for her eyes to get used to the light after being in the dark for a few hours, but she could clearly see somepony sitting by the fire, silently looking into the flame.

“Sharpy?” she asked to the green pony sitting by the fire. Sharpy didn’t answer her. He responded simply by raising his eyes from the fireplace. He saw that Rarity was standing there so he gave her a simple nod before looking back into the fire. Rarity saw how his red reptile-like eyes shone from the little fireplace. It was almost like he was bewitched by the fireplace itself. As he looked into the fire, he reminded her of a predator hunting it’s pray. The feeling intrigued her to go closer, sit down beside him and lose herself in his eyes. She would hug him. And he would hug him back. Finally they would fall asleep in each other’s arms. The thought made her blush. She didn’t like when she blushed. Her white coat made it so obvious. She looked away for a second just to realize that Sharpy wasn’t even looking back at her. She looked at him again. She felt how she just wanted to walk up to him and kiss him.

She quickly shook away the thought, though. That would never happen. Fluttershy loved him and he loved Fluttershy. She sighed, prepared to turn around and go back to her room. But she didn’t. She couldn’t resist the urge to spend time with him. It didn’t have to be anything special. If they could have a conversation just the two of them, that would be enough. It would be just like the time in her tent. She really enjoyed that conversation. Even if it wasn’t the most casual of conversations she felt like he really opened up to her. He had some problems on him mind and apparently she was the first one he went to. Now it was her time to go to him.

Rarity walked up to Sharpy and sat down right next to him as close as she could possibly be without touching him. She didn’t want to disturb him too much if he was deep in his thoughts.

“I see you’re still awake, darling”, she said as soft as she possibly could. Sharpy sighed tired and looked at her. Just by looking at his eyes, she saw how tired he really was.

“I couldn’t sleep”, he said with a hoarse voice and pulled a fake smile. Rarity didn’t buy it. She looked at him, trying to get eye contact even if he had turned away to stare into the fire again.

“You really should get some sleep, darling” she said. Sharpy inhaled and looked up into the ceiling. “It’ll help you recover.”

“I wish I could”, Sharpy yawned. “But I really can’t get any sleep”.

“Just close your eyes and…” Rarity began but Sharpy interrupted.

“Don’t forget that you’re awake too, Rarity” Sharpy said a bit faster than usual, even though he was so very hoarse. Sharpy glanced at Rarity and pulled a big, heartwarming smile. This time, it was real. Rarity blushed and looked away, chuckled a little.

“Well I couldn’t sleep either”, she sighed. “I don’t like caves very much. It feels like you’re trapped”. Sharpy laughed a little, but couldn’t continue due to his sore throat.

“I guess the dragon in me still enjoy caves”, he said and smiled so that you could see his sharp teeth. If any other creature would show her big, sharp teeth like that, she could have been terrified. But knowing that Sharpy had sharp teeth actually made her feel safe. She smiled back to him. They looked into each other’s eyes. Rarity saw how the fire made his eyes shine like nothing else. Sharpy was the one to break the eye contact that actually lasted for a little while. He looked back into the fire and got that sad look he got when something was bothering him. Rarity looked at him. She wanted to keep the eye contact, but guessed that wouldn’t happen. She looked at his face and instantly recognized that look from before. He usually had that look during the late hours. It really made her feel sad to see him this way. She nudged him gently with her muzzle. He slowly turned to her, wondered what she wanted.

“What’s on your mind, darling?” she asked in the sweetest way possible. Sharpy looked very troubled when he got the question. He hesitated for a second before answering.

“I… It’s nothing. I just… it’s noting”, Sharpy said and looked away. Rarity got a little impatient and nudged him again.

“Don’t lie to me”, Rarity waited until she regained eye contact with Sharpy. She leaned forward. “What’s on your mind?” Sharpy looked extremely embarrassed and almost had to fight his inner self to keep up the eye contact. After a long while, or so it seemed, he finally gave in. He sighed deeply and prepared himself to tell Rarity what was going on in his mind.

“Ever since I woke up…” Sharpy whispered as if he didn’t want anypony else to hear what he was about to say. “… There has been… a battle inside of me”. Rarity nodded, encouraging Sharpy to continue.

“A battle? Feelings fighting other feelings?” Rarity asked. Sharpy looked at her and nodded slowly.

“Yes… feelings fighting…” Sharpy was still talking very quiet, even if he wasn’t whispering anymore. “A battle between love… and hate”. Sharpy got that look in his eye. He was hungering for blood. The hate flowed through his body. “I am so close right now. I want to kill… Huffy”, he almost spit out his name. He was so frustrated that Rarity actually leaned backwards in surprise. Sharpy was breathing heavily. He was staring, once again, into the fire. But this time he imagined Huffy was in that fire. All the scales ripped off, screaming in pain as the fire slowly burned him alive. But as quickly as the anger came to him, it disappeared. He saw Fluttershy’s face in the fire. She wasn’t screaming and crying. Nor was she laughing and smiling. She was just standing there. Looking at him with disappointment. Sharpy started to look all devastated. He was still breathing very heavily, but this time it wasn’t because of rage, but because of anxiety.

“And then there is love…” he said leaned backwards. Rarity was the look on his face and leaned forward to comfort him. She shuffled towards him and held him tight. She half-expected Sharpy to reject her, but he didn’t. Instead he pushed himself closer to her, but didn’t return the hug.

“What if something goes wrong?” he said anxiously. “What if… if… somepony dies? What if Fluttershy… or any of you…?” Rarity hushed him. She placed a hoof on his muzzle, but Sharpy just shoved it away.

“Is it worth the risk?” he asked himself more than Rarity. “Is it worth the risk just for some… stupid revenge?” Rarity understood completely. She has had second thought about this whole going out for revenge idea. Huffy had to pay for his crimes, yes. But going out on a quest to kill him didn’t really seem like a thing she would normally accept. But this whole situation wasn’t anything normal. She looked at Sharpy, trying to figure out exactly what was going on in his mind. Was he leaning more towards going back or continue. She wasn’t sure how great his love for Fluttershy, her or anypony was right now. But she did know that his hate for Huffy was as great as it could be. She couldn’t even imagine the sorrow, and later on hate, she would feel if she ever lost Sweetie Belle. And if somepony, or someone, were responsible, no sea would be to deep and no mountain would be too tall. She would hunt down the one responsible and put him to justice. She realized how she was getting more and more aggressive as she thought about it, so she stopped. A part of her wanted to go home, but another part of her wanted Huffy to suffer for what he did to Sharpy.

“But Huffy… he did…” Rarity couldn’t help herself. Sharpy was filled with hate and a desire for revenge. He wouldn’t feel at ease until the thirst for desire was quenched. Despite how much she hated and despised herself for believing so, she thought that Huffy should die. That he should pay the same prize Sharpy’s sister did. And who knows how many more lives he’s destroyed or will destroy if he isn’t dealt with.

“… He did kill my sister, yes”, Sharpy continued. Bringing that up again made him shake of anger and sorrow. But he quickly calmed himself down. Only the sorrow remained in his eyes. “Getting my revenge won’t bring her back. But I might lose one of you. And I am not ready to take that hit. And I doubt you are either”. Rarity looked down. That was true. Nopony here would ever be ready for such a tragedy. But somepony still had to put an end to Huffy, one way or another. At this point, she was tired and most of all wanted to go to sleep. But she still wanted one more question answered before she left Sharpy.

“But what about Huffy?” Rarity asked. “If we don’t do anything he’ll destroy more lives”.

“But we have done something”, Sharpy said and leaned forward. “We know where he hides. We’ll tell your princess and she’ll send a group to hunt him down”.

“Ok, then”, Rarity yawned. She started to get really tired and figured she’d try to find a quick, yet a nice way to end the conversation. “You’ve convinced me. Let’s tell the others tomorrow”.

“Well, that wasn’t too hard”, Sharpy giggled, amused by how easy it was to make Rarity understand. He’d suspected something about how close they were and that this whole trip would have been a waste. “But I don’t think it’ll be so easy to make the oth…” Sharpy stopped, noticing something heavy leaning towards his side. He looked to the side and couldn’t help but to smile. Rarity had fallen asleep on the spot and was leaning towards him. He felt warm inside when the sleeping Rarity started to snuggle with his front leg. At this moment he felt happy. He felt loved. He’d never felt this good when he was a dragon. These ponies really cared for him. They were his friends. And he cared for them. Friendship like this was hard to find in the dragon society. And true love was even harder. That’s why his sister meant so much for him. But she’s not here anymore and he will never see her again. But now he’s found both true friendship and true love. Was this something he would put at risk because he couldn’t control his anger and thirst for vengeance?

He looked at Rarity. He thought he heard Fluttershy talk in her sleep from their room. He remembered the short time they’ve spent with each other. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Spike.

Rarity.

Fluttershy…

“No…” she whispered to himself. “No, I don’t want to lose this”. He used his large wings to put Rarity on his back. He walked with her to her room and put her down on her small mattress. Then he gently covered her body under her blanket so that she wouldn’t get cold.

“Good night, Rarity”, he said and walked out of the little room. He walked up to the fireplace. He didn’t know how he would put out the fire, so he decided to leave it like it was. They were in a cave, so nothing would set on fire and the smoke got out nicely. There was nothing to worry about.

He left the fireplace and walked into his and Fluttershy’s room. He saw Fluttershy sleeping deeply. She was so peaceful and beautiful when she slept. At first he walked to the other end of the room to lie down on the ground. But he stopped halfway there and looked back at Fluttershy. He hesitated for a second, but walked back and laid himself down beside her. Neither of them had mattresses like Rarity, so they slept of Fluttershy’s blanket. But Sharpy did the next best thing. He covered Fluttershy and himself under his wings. Perhaps they weren’t as soft as you could’ve hope for, but they kept them warm better than any blanket.

Sharpy kissed Fluttershy gently on her cheek.

“Good night, Fluttershy”, he whispered in her ear. “I love you”. Then he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

…

“Good night, Sharpy” Next Chapter: Chapter 26: Dragons do Care Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 2 Minutes