>Once again, still day 25 in Equestria
>Your best friend Flizzy has apparently planned a huge day of hanging out with you
>This excited you, mostly because she has not hung out with you ever since your surgery
>Today was going to be a wonderful day for the both of you
>You were practically drooling at the anticipation for the surprise best-friends' day Flizzy had worked an entire week to organize
>This day would be much better if your back wasn't completely destroyed, thanks to a certain "kid" dragon's violent temper tantrum
>"First on the list is some sports. What do ya wanna play, Anon?"
>Flizzy asks you with a tone of semi-stifled excitement
>Oh boy, sports
>Just what your back wants right now
"Y-Yeah.. Whatever you wanna play.."
>The obvious hesitation in your voice at the mention of sports prompts Flizzy to ask
>"Anon, do you not wanna play some sports? We don't have to if you don't want to.."
>She seems a bit bummed by this
>Oh god, now you feel guilty
"No.. I mean, I do want to play some sports, it is just that my back is screwed right now. Sorry.."
>Your sudden apologizing causes Flizzy herself to realize her mistake and become apologetic herself
>"No! Don't apologize, Anon. I should be the one apologizing."
>Well shit, now she is blaming herself
>You try to apologize to her for making her apologize, but you luckily get cut off before you start an infinite loop of apologizing
>Regaining a cheerful composure, Flizzy looks down at you and says with a reassuring smile
>"It's okay, though. I can salvage this. We are gonna go to the second destination I had planned first. Sound good?"
>As much as you want to just agree with her to keep her cheery, your curiosity and recently acquired cautious nature has you asking what this "second destination" is before agreeing to anything
"Where exactly is this 'second destination' you had planned for us? Does it include strenuous physical activity."
>Flizzy gives a hearty chuckle, nods, then replies with a toothy grin
>"There will be a lot of 'physical activity' alright, but not by us. Just trust me Anon, this place will be a slice of Canterlot for you."
>There it is again, her and the "just trust me" stuff
>You can't not trust her, so you just reply in a semi-worried tone
"Okay Flizzy.. I trust you.."
>This response doesn't phase Flizzy at all, though, but instead she continues giving you a huge grin to showcase her confidence in her decision
>...
>*a couple of hours later*
>Flizzy was indeed correct in her decision; this place was absolutely what you needed
>Your body was rejuvenated, feeling better than new, all except your back, which was mostly just numb now
>Still, how the hell did the prison okay a Spa?
>Or a better question would be, how did you not know this prison had a Spa before this?
>A summary of what had happened within the last two hours:
>Flizzy carried you to a part of the prison you had not explored yet
>Once she came to a pair of fogged glass double doors she stopped and said "Reservation for Flizzy and Anonymous"
>The double doors opened up and a pink mare, with a cutie mark of pony hooves rubbing a pony back, invited you two inside
>Once inside, you signed in inside of the waiting room, an extremely clean room with wood floors and light violet ceramic tiled walls
>Flizzy had herself signed up for a simple "dragon special massage", while she had you signed up for the "full course VIP treatment"; adding in a special massage for an injured back as a bonus feature
>You felt kinda guilty accepting this when you saw Flizzy paying for both her and your massage, but you did not speak up about it because you didn't actually have any bits to pay for this yourself
>Instead of making an unnecessary fuss, you just decided to accept Flizzy's goodwill
>Once in the Spa, you tasted the entire divinity that saints must experience in the Heavens above
>The mudbath relaxed every muscle in your body, the pedicure and manicure left your nails looking healthier and more attractive than they ever have been in your entire life, and the full body massage took away the pain in your back almost completely
>Surprisingly, the creature who was the on duty massage therapist was actually Darius; which was a pleasant surprise for him
>Even though you would normally feel a little grossed out by Darius exploring your body as thoroughly as he did during that massage, his natural technique mixed with his extremely investigative hands had him thoroughly smoothing and unknotting every little fiber in your back as he explored each muscle connection to his fullest
>In essence, his massage had him exploring and working on every single muscle in your body without missing a single part
>By the end of your massage, you could barely move your face; your jaw was agape and your tongue was sticking out in pleasure and lazy relaxation
>It was truly heaven on Earth.. or wherever this alien world was
>The spa treatment finished with Darius giving you acupuncture to mostly numb your back for the rest of the day and him also "opening your chakras" with a strange pole, poking your body in certain areas while you layed down
>You are not sure what "opening your chakras" did for you, but you didn't insult his beliefs by questioning the legitimacy of that last part
>After you were done with your spa treatment, you met back up with Flizzy and made your way towards the gymnasium, now full of energy and seemingly healed of all previous aches and pains
>...
>Flizzy let you choose the sport you two were going to play
>There were only two options that interested you, but one of them was impossible due to this anti-violence spell around the prison, so you just decided on Basketball
>Flizzy seemed more than happy to play some B-Ball with you
>You started off with a simple 1v1, using streetball rules
>Needless to say, you destroyed her; she fell for feints way too easily
>After that you played "Horse", which you had to rename to "Magic" after a few pony inmates in the gym overheard you saying that word and got offended
>The match between you and her was actually really close; she was terrible at dribbling and doing layups, but she had a special talent for shooting
>You got her to "M" "A" "G" "I", but couldn't get her to "C" before she got you
>Her three point shooting was too ridiculously accurate, the only reason you nearly won is because you decided to do trick shots, like spinning and shooting the ball, which she found difficult to do, as she was so large and long
>"You play dirty, Anon."
>She complained whenever you made a trick shot, but you took the insult as a compliment to your ingenuity to create equal footing in such an unequal matchup
>When she won, she was actually pretty humble about it; which actually annoyed you more than losing to a creature that just barely learned the game as it seemed like bragging
>"It's okay, Anon. I am sure you will beat me next time, it was probably beginner's luck."
>God you hate being a sore loser, but that is just who you are
>Though you didn't let it show too well
"Naw. You won fair and square, because you are.. better.. than me.."
>You had to choke out those painful words, which you hoped Flizzy didn't notice
>She did.. and she actually looked really guilty about winning, which made you feel guilty for spoiling her win with your bad sportmanship
>Instead of letting either of you dwell on it, you just patted her on her side and complimented her, trying to change the bad direction this had taken a turn
"Flizzy, you are really cool. You deserved that win. Next time you won't get a win, though. Heh heh."
>This actually worked and Flizzy took the bait to taunt you back
>"Once I learn how to do those spins while shooting, you won't even stand a chance."
"Oh please, you will never master my patented 'Anonymous Spin-a-roo'."
>".."
>She stared at you unsmiling, with a raised brow, after that "Anonymous Spin-a-roo" comment
>You responded to her silent staring by mimicking her unamused looking face over-dramatically; full chin rub and forcefully stuck out chin, for comedic affect, included
>After a few seconds of your silent staring contest, the both of you broke out into a hysterical laugh, pushing each other jokingly
>Flizzy pushed you much more gently than you pushed her, because of obvious size differences
>She really did treat you delicately which, after all of the punishment your body had taken recently, you really appreciated
>The rest of the time, she and you did some simple layup and shooting exercises for fun
>...
>After you two are done shooting hoops, you head off to clean yourselves in the gymnasium shower room
>It was a mixed shower room, meaning that both males and females showered in the same open-air room
>Thinking about it, you never actually used this shower room while hanging around Flizzy, never had a chance
>You wonder if this could count as a bonding activity between friends
>She, and most of the other creatures in the prison, were always nude already so you wondered if they even considered nudity anything special
>Probably not, this world was full of odd creatures with odd practices after all
>Now that you think of it, you may be the only creature in the entire prison that always wore clothes; maybe you were the oddity
>So what is normal? What is not normal?
>Thinking about this starts to make your head hurt and you just decide to stop pondering such a trivial thing
>Not like it even mattered, after all
"Hey Flizzy, you slowpoke, are you coming?"
>You say as you enter the shower room
>"Yeah, I am coming. Hold on. Geez."
>Even though you were the one making fun of her being slow, she ends up starting her shower before you
>She walked past you when you were unbuttoning your shirt and entered without having to do crap, no undressing or anything
>Of course she is gonna beat you to the shower when you actually need to get your prison uniform off and she has nothing she needs to remove
>Flizzy makes fun of you from across rooms as you are removing your pants in the changing room
>"Hey Anon, what was that about me being a slowpoke? If a slowpoke is faster than you, what does that make you?"
>As you continue to strip down to your birthday suit, you try to retaliate, but get immediately shut down
"You are only faster than me because you don't have any clothes to remove."
>"Excuses don't make you any faster, super slowpoke."
>This childish back and forth between you two gets some of the creatures overhearing it to join in and make fun of you with Flizzy
>"'Hyooman'? Never heard of that species. Probably just a mutant from the slowpoke species."
>"Slowpoke's slowpoke is a slowpoke."
>"Better get in the shower soon; it would be sad if the salt from your sweat shriveled you up, snailboy."
>The insults are juvenile at best, but you are too easily baited
"Yeah yeah yeah. I am sooooo slow. I'm a slowpoke snail hybrid. Look at Anonymous, the newly discovered slowest creature on this planet. Blah blah blah."
>The entire room is laughing at your expense
>Flizzy, who is also chuckling with the group, tries to calm you down before you get too rustled
>"It's okay, Anon. We are just playing with ya. Don't get too mad."
>The fact she says this while still laughing doesn't give much credibility to her position as a peace-seeker
>You are totally gonna get her back for this later
"Yeah yeah. Whatever. I'm not even bothered by it."
>You are obviously bothered by it, which the whole room easily picks up by the slight edge in your voice
>Flizzy continues to try and keep herself from laughing, but can't hold back from smiling and snickering, as the rest of the room continues to laugh
>"Heh. Sorry Anon. Please don't be mad at me. I'm just playing with y--"
>As you enter the room, finally fully undressed, everyone in the room looks at you for a second, then faces forwards and go silent
>You try to laugh with them at yourself instead of being a party pooper, saying in the best light-hearted tone as you can
"Don't worry Flizzy, I know you are just playing with me. I can handle some teasing, I am just playing too. I know I was a hypocrite; there is good comedy in that."
>But laughing with them is hard when all of them are completely silent now, just looking forward and washing themselves
"Huh?"
>That was weird, did you miss something?
"Hey, I said I was just joking around. I am not really angry. Sorry if I killed the mood."
>You are kinda nervous, you didn't really overreact did you? You were just trying to play the fun victim..
>Well okay, some of the annoyance with them was real, but for the most part you were just joking
>Even Flizzy is looking away from you
"Uhh.. Okay. Sorry, I guess?"
>You decide it best to just apologize for whatever you probably did
>It wouldn't be the first time you destroyed the mood on accident
>You place down your basket of cleaning supplies next to you, hang your towel on the wall rack just between your shower's head and the one next to you
>The pony that was under the shower next to you, a small red mare with green hair, stares at you for a few seconds, then looks away, picks up her cleaning supplies, and slowly walks out the door with her backside in the complete opposite direction of you at all times
>You just shook your head and gave the mare a confused look as you watched her leave the room randomly
>What the hell was that about?
>After rescanning the now silent room, full of ponies and other creatures completely focused on cleaning themselves instead of enjoying the jolly atmosphere there previously was, you slowly turn around towards your shower, confused as all Hell, and turn it on
>If you can't understand them, join them
>You start to clean yourself, trying not to focus on anyone other than yourself, lest you apparently commit another social faux pas
"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."
>You sigh as you pick up your soap
>The culture of this world is too tricky, it is causing you to start feeling insecure about the way you conduct yourself
>You just wish you knew what you did to cause the sudden break in atmosphere
>..
>Once you are finished washing yourself with soap, you reach for your shampoo
>You bend over, water in your eyes, and search inside your basket for a bottle of shampoo
>Where is it?
>You continue to stay bent over for a few seconds as you rummage through your shower basket for the shampoo you were sure you packed
>But it seems that you may be wrong, you can't find your shampoo anywhere
>You really feel awkward asking another inmate to borrow their shampoo, but you can't NOT wash your hair
>You don't have too many things you are OCD about, but you HAVE to finish washing yourself properly or else you will feel disgusting for the rest of the day, in more than just one way
>Well.. at the very least you have Flizzy here to help
>Even if you are breaking another basic rule of this culture's etiquette, Flizzy would not hate you too bad for doing something they would consider terrible
>..you hope
"Hey Flizzy.."
>Still bent over, you look over to Flizzy
>As you turn around, you see the whole room of creatures looking at you
>Uh oh.. please don't say you did it again..
"W-What?"
>Everyone in the room immediately turns back around and stares straight ahead of them again upon realizing you are now talking to them
>Everyone, except Flizzy
>She is staring at your bent over form, hand still in your basket, hoping to find a non-existent shampoo bottle
>You are not completely sure, but you think she is drooling?
>Maybe that is just water??
>But a large amount of bubbly clear liquid is coming from her mouth and dribbling down her chin, as if she were a dog that was extremely hungry seeing food for the first time in a week
"F-Flizzy?"
>Her scales are the same shade of blackish-pink that they were earlier, when she was carrying you, also
>This is kinda scaring you, but you shouldn't worry; you are probably just seeing incorrectly due to the steam or the water.. or something..
"Flizzy!"
>You stand straight up and saying your unresponsive friend's name loudly
>This time it seems to work, Flizzy snaps out of whatever trance she was in and responds, wiping her mouth
>"O-Oh? Yes?"
>Thank god, she is back
"You seemed kinda out of it.. Are you okay?"
>Flizzy scratches the back of her head and laughs
>"Yeah, I am alright. Don't worry about me. So.. did you need something?"
>She asks this while she seemingly stares at your abdomen
>Oh.. she was probably worried about the scar on your abdomen
>Crap, now you can fathom a guess why all of the inmates went silent once you entered the room; it is probably the fact you have a large gross scar
>As you start to think of how all of the inmates reacted to your scar, how one of them actually left because of it, you start to feel extremely self-conscious about it
>You turn around, facing your back towards Flizzy, trying to hide your scar, looking at the wall in embarrassment
"H-Hey.. I am sorry for asking, but mind if I borrow your shampoo? I seem to have forgotten mine."
>"Oh. Yeah. Just wait a second."
>Behind you, you hear a loud sound of rustling and items clacking together
>Soon, the sound of something sliding across the wet floor comes towards you
>You look down to where the sound ended and a GIGANTIC shampoo bottle, about the length of your arm, with the words "For the cleanest of scales" imprinted on the front of it, is laying beside you
>"There you are Anonymous."
>WHOA!
>That is a massive fricken shampoo bottle
>You lean over and try to pick up the massive bottle of shampoo, but instead of picking it up you instead slip and fall on your ass
>The slippery as fuck floor makes picking up this heavy shampoo bottle harder than it should be
>"You okay Anon?"
>Flizzy calls out in concern behind you, but you just wave it off with a laugh
"No problem.. Just a little butt bump. Heh heh."
>You stand back up and bend back over, trying to pick up the massive bottle as slowly as possible so to avoid slipping again
>But it fails, as the bottle itself is also slippery, causing it to slip into an awkward position in your arms, then causing you to fall over when you try to catch it
"I-I got it! I'm okay!"
>You pre-emptively answer Flizzy for any concern that she may have
>Standing up once again, this time you try a new way to pick up the bottle
>You spread your legs as wide as you can to increase stability, bend down with only your legs, and then try to grab the bottle to slowly lift it with your legs
>As you begin to pick it up, you actually get a grip on it and successfully begin to hoist it up towards your chest
>See? You could do it
>You look towards your best friend to brag
"See Flizzy? I told you I had it."
>When you look at her, you see her trying to look away, barely peeking over at you with one of her eyes, and licking her lips for some reason
>What the heck?
"Flizzy?"
>Your twisting to look at Flizzy, mixed with the lack of concentration on holding the gigantic bottle, causes you to lose grip of the bottle once again
>This time, the weight of the bottle falling into you, causing you to slip backwards onto your back, hitting your head against the tile HARD
>*CRACK*
>The tile under your head actually cracks from the impact
"Fffff..."
>The impact hurts, but honestly not as badly as you were expecting; it seems that the tile either absorbed the majority of the force of the impact, or was just old/extremely fragile and you didn't actually hit your head that hard
>Either way, you are gripping your head, letting the bottle slip from your grip to fall off of you and onto the floor
"Owwhahahaha!"
>You are both in pain and am laughing
"I am seriously cursed for injuries, aren't I? Hahahaha!"
>You can't stop laughing at the pure crazy bad luck you have with getting hurt
>"Yeah you are. You okay, Anon? Hahaha."
>Flizzy is now above you, looking down at you, laughing along with you
>She is so close to you that you can actually feel her body heat through the air
>Instead of laughing, you go silent as your brain registers the fact she is right above you
>"Heh.. Heh.. ..Anon, you alright? Anon?!"
>Your sudden silence and blank stare up at Flizzy cause her to slowly go from laughing lightly to being extremely worried
>"Anon?!"
>She puts her claw above you, about to grab you, when you finally realize why you froze as soon as you saw her
"No!"
>You curl up, hiding your scar from Flizzy, now blushing profusely
>This scares Flizzy and causes her to flinch backwards, withdrawing her hand
"Please don't look.."
>You plead at her to not look at the disgusting and embarrassing scar that you didn't even realize was so terrible until just recently
>She studies your words and your curled up, blushing form, for a few seconds in silence, extremely confused
>Then she starts to react, seemingly understanding why you just yelled at her and hid yourself
>She immediately backs up and looks extremely scared, looking from side to side at the now empty room, the other inmates either done showering or gone to get medical help for Anon after seeing him smashing his head on the tile
>"A-Anon! I-It's not what you were thinking!"
>She begins to panic as she tries to explain herself, confusing you as much as she seems to be confused
>"I mean, yeah! I-I did look a little.. But I would never do anything you didn't want! I was just making sure you were alright! I swear!"
>She starts speaking faster and faster as she tries to explain herself to you
>"I am so sorry, Anon! I couldn't help myself. Please forgive me."
>Your best friend is seemingly on the verge of tears, extremely scared, and for some reason apologizing to you for your scar
>This scar really is disgusting, isn't it?
>Oh god, you feel sick with how guilty you are feeling right now
>You can't believe that just showing your scar could bring such negative feelings to your best friend; on the day she worked so hard to make special for the both of you
"You shouldn't be apologizing, it is my fault for being so inconsiderate and not even noticing that I was showing everyone the ugliest part of me. I am so sorry for making you see something so repulsive and terrible. I am sorry.. Because I didn't even think about it, I acted so stupid and accidentally showed you something you detested so much."
>The more you talk about the scar on your stomach, the more embarrassed and ashamed you get for even having it in the first place
>Whether it was avoidable or not, the reason you got into such a terrible situation is because of your gullibility
>Flizzy has even gone on a rampage because of your stupidity; of course she would absolutely hate seeing your scar
>Your feelings of guilt and shame are at an all time high
"I am sorry."
>And there it was; today was ruined, thanks to you..
>..
>..
>"I could never detest any part of you!"
>Huh?
>Flizzy's scales are once again pinkish-black, but are not upturned in the slightest
>She moves closer to you, her large crimson eyes looking into your own, a visage of embarrassed determination
>"It's not ugly or terrible. I think it is.. cute, just like you."
"It's.. cute? What?"
>She keeps going, likely also spilling invisible plates of spaghetti all over the room
>"I-If anything, I was happy to see it. I got to see the real you, the most lovely part of you."
"Lovely? Really?"
>Your comprehension of what is going on is even further destroyed, just when you thought you finally understood
>"Yes, lovely. I-I wanted to do this in a better place and at a better time, but now I don't even care. I just want you to know.. Anon.. I--"
"You think my scar is cute and lovely?"
>Without even thinking, you interrupt Flizzy in a desperate need to make sense of this extremely confusing situation
>"Y-Your scar? What?"
>Flizzy is taken aback, literally backing up in surprise, completely derailed by your sudden question
"Yeah.. You are not disgusted by my scar? You think it looks 'cute'?"
>And just like you, she is now searching for answers
>"Your scar? I find it cute? What?"
"Yeah.. Isn't that what you just said? The scar that everyone in the room hated so much, the ugliest part of me that disgusted you all so much that you couldn't even stand to look at me.. You just said it was.. cute and lovely?"
>"What?!"
>Instead of being confused, it seems that she is finally beginning to understand what you were talking about
>"The scar? You mean, ya think I was lookin' at your scar? That all of us were?"
>Why is she asking what she was looking at?
>While she gains clarity, it seems that your understanding of what is going on continues to get less and less clear
"Yeah. Isn't that why you all went silent when I entered the room? I saw the other inmates look at my abdomen, then immediately look away. You looked like you were getting sick when you were staring at me; that is why when you were suddenly so close, looking at my disgusting scar, I tried to hide it.."
>Upon you saying that, Flizzy falls on her ass, mouth agape, and just mutters
>"No buckin' way.."
>Everything is going over your head
"I am sorry Flizzy."
>While things are constantly getting more and more confusing, you are starting to understand that your assumptions is likely the cause of the confusion, or at least a large contributor towards it
>Silence..
>For an uncountable amount of seconds, the silence between Flizzy and you persists
>Until..
>"Anon.."
>Oh?
"Yes?"
>Flizzy gets up off her butt and walks over to you slowly
>"Turn around."
"Pardon?"
>Why does she want you to turn around?
>You should trust Flizzy, but for some reason, your body is scared to
>"Turn around, Anon. Face towards the wall."
"Uh.. Okay?"
>Hesitantly, you slowly turn towards the wall
>Confusion stacks upon confusion, fear building up from all of the uncertainty
>"Good. Sit down and lean forward, towards the wall."
"Umm.. Flizzy?"
>Flizzy's nose breaths into your ear as she speaks quietly to you
>"Just trust me, Anon."
>You gulp, as your entire body gets goosebumps from the ash that had been blown onto the top of your ear canal
>While you are feeling very insecure, confused, and afraid due to all of the constant unknowns you are encountering, you listen to Flizzy and place your trust into her
"Okay, I trust you. I will always trust you."
>You sit in a comfortable position and lean forward towards the shower wall
>More quietly, with a slight growl in her voice, she whispers again into your ear
>"Now close your eyes.."
>You think to yourself over and over
"I trust Flizzy.."
>You close your eyes
>Next to you, you a the sound of a dull scratch against some sort of hard material, then you hear a 'squish'
>Also behind you, you hear the sound of scraping claws; the sounds of Flizzy's claws grinding together slowly
"I trust Flizzy.."
>Flizzy begins growling in an erratic, constantly self-interrupted, fashion; her bass snarling reverberating in your right ear, where her snout is
"I trust Flizzy.."
>A massive, slow moving, force brushes past your shoulder, the feel of hard scales rubbing against your shoulder's skin
>While Flizzy continues to growl extremely bass, erratically, you also hear her lips open and her teeth grind up against each other
>"Grr.. Grrr.. Grrr.."
"I trust Flizzy.."
>You unconsciously move your hand to your scar and grab the surround area, now shivering
"I trust Flizzy.."
"I trust Flizzy.."
>You keep repeating that to yourself in your head
>And you honestly trust Flizzy with a 99.9% certainty, but your body reacts in its own ways
>Every fiber in your body screams for you to run away, but you trust Flizzy; your mind ultimately gets the final say in what you do
>"I-I'm s-sorry, Anon.."
>Flizzy's choked voice, snarling in between each pause, speaks this into your ear
>As she says that, she places her left hand's claws at the back of your neck and squeezes down lightly
"I TRUST FLIZZY."
>Your whole body tenses up as Flizzy flips her right arm upwards in a quick motion, and your entire body drenched in a warm liquid
>Flizzy's claw grasping the back of your neck pulls your head out of the warm liquid coming from above, then goes up your scalp, as her right claw finds its way into your hair also
>She gently scratches your scalp, as a foam envelops your entire head
>After gently scratching the foam into your scalp for about 30 seconds, she takes your head and puts it back in the flowing warm liquid
>She then takes about another 30 seconds to gently scratch the foam out of your scalp
>After finishing that, she once again reaches out in front of you with her right arm and flicks it downwards, causing the warm liquid to stop flowing
>"Grrr.. Grrr.. D-Done.. Grrr.."
>With that, your body relaxes and stops shivering
>She has not stopped growling erratically yet, her low snarls are still coming from beside you
>Her claws are now resting on the outside of each of your arms
>You slowly open your eyes to see yourself staring at the shower control being right in front of you, your body completely drenched in water, a lightly dripping shower head above you, Flizzy's shampoo bottle sitting a few feet away, Flizzy's claws by your arms, and remnants of shampoo foam sitting by the drain
>A few seconds pass since you have opened your eyes; Flizzy still continues to erratically snarl behind you, her arms and claws shaking
>..
>You reach your hand out and gently grasp Flizzy's arm
>Are you still confused? Yes.
>Is there a lot of unanswered questions over what had just happened? Eeyup.
>Was this entire thing a huge misunderstanding that got blown way too out of proportion? Absolutely!
>But in this scenario of constant uncertainties, there is one certainty that prevails above all confusion and misunderstanding, a certainty that you trust to stay true 'till the day you die; the certainty that--
"I trust you, Flizzy."
>You grab onto Flizzy's shaking arm once again and gently rub it
"I trust you."
>"..."
>Out of nowhere, Flizzy moves her arms and claws out of your grasp, placing them around your body
>"Anon, I am sorry. I am so sorry."
>From behind you, large tear droplets fall down your shoulder
>Flizzy's growls have turned more into gasps as she stops restraining herself from crying, and cries on your shoulder from behind
>"I am s-so sorry."
>You grab onto her arms, as they wrap around you and her claws gently feel the scar on your abdomen
"Flizzy.."
>Not knowing what to say, you only are able to speak her name as she feels around your abdomen, tracing the scar you had received with her claws
>"I'm so sorry, Anon. I'm so sorry."
>She won't stop constantly repeating that over and over, as she cries onto your shoulder
"Please Flizzy.. You have nothing to be sorry about."
>She disagrees, speaking between her muffled sobs, trying to still hold it in some
>"Your scar.. I'm terrible. You were feelin' so alone.. so insecure.. hidin' yourself because of me.. afraid of how I saw you.. while I acted selfish and indulged in my desires.. feeding your fears by treating you like a piece of meat.. not like something that's so precious to me.."
>It's not her fault, why is she saying these things? You were the one that messed up, she did nothing wrong
"Please Flizzy, I am the one who fed my own fears and delusions. Please don't blame yourself for anything, you have been nothing but wonderful to me."
>"Anon.. When I said I'd prove how much ya meant to me, I did mean it.."
>She begins to wipe her tears away as you continue to hold onto her arm
>This massive dragon sitting behind, who is slowly caressing your scar, is not anyone you should EVER fear
>To you, she is your savior from insanity in the crazy world you have been chucked into; the first good thing that happened since being taken from everything you knew and loved
>You really don't want her to feel so depressed, especially on such a day she worked so hard to make a happy day
>Something.. you have to do something to fix this for her; fix it for your absolute best friend in this world
"Flizzy, this entire thing was an accident, a misunderstanding. I have been through worse than my own naivety and assumption born fears. I will admit, I am extremely afraid of being hated by you, but there is something I forgot today, that I should never ever forget, even if I lost every memory I ever had; to always 'trust Flizzy'."
>You smile up at your best friend, surprised that you could ever have such stupid fears of her hating you for something so trivial
>She is Flizzy, a one of a kind best friend that is deserves that title for damn good reason
>The trust you feel for her is one of a kind; the only kind that matters
"Flizzy, I am sorry I ever doubted you. I don't know what you feel sorry for, but me needlessly doubting you is a worse crime than anything you could have ever done. From what I have seen, you have been completely selfless all day, not a single selfish thing done; so truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you Flizzy."
>Flizzy finishes wiping her eyes, trying to completely seal up all of the 'unnecessary emotions' for the moment, then replies to you with a semi-guilty feeling tone, giving half-hearted chuckles out of nervousness
>"Well.. I definitely was a lot more selfish than 'selfless' with a lot of what I had done in this room."
>You look up at Flizzy's face and realize she is doing something also with her claw
>For the next few seconds, Flizzy seems to be looking upwards, either daydreaming or recalling a memory
>She starts salivating slightly as she unknowingly does a small motion with her arm that makes her look as if she was throwing something large across the ground; then starts salivating more as her daydreaming eyes look down near the ground where she may have thrown the imaginary thing, as she gives a small smile
>Huh.. I wonder she is thinking about
>After a few more seconds, she snaps out of her day dream and wipes the saliva off of her chin
>"S-So yeah. I really have lots of things I need to apologize for. So please, don't deny me my apology, Anon. I very much am sorry for the selfish things I have done in here that have led to this terrible confusion. The thought that what I'd done made ya insecure and afraid of what I thought of ya is the exact opposite of what I wanted to do today. I really hope ya can forgive me.."
>You smile at Flizzy, who is looking back with pleading eyes, extremely serious about her apology; apparently she knows things she did that you don't, so denying her an apology wouldn't be right at all, but it wouldn't be right to let her apologize alone
"Fine. Then let's have it like this, because it's over and done with, all a stupid misunderstanding, and we are still best friends; I will accept your apology if you accept mine."
>You stand up, getting out of the grip of Flizzy's claws, and put out your hand
>She sits there for a few seconds, thinking about what you had said, before losing her depressed look and replacing it with a confident look and a half smile, her razor pearly whites showing
>"That sounds like a deal, Anon. I accept your apology in exchange for you acceptin' mine."
>She takes your hand in her gigantic dulled claws, and you two shake a strong gripped shake
"To friendship."
>Flizzy smiles a sweet grin and shakes her head
>"No.. To us."
>Sounds good to you
>As you complete your hand/clawshake, Flizzy says something before letting go
>"Anon."
"Hm?"
>"I haven't done as good of a job at keepin' my promise as I wanted to. I know that, but I'm learnin' thanks to you. On my pride as a dragon, I promise you I will do better from now on. I WILL keep my promise to you."
>That catches you by surprise, but after a second of thought, you just reply with a heartfelt smile
"I anticipate it with excitement."
>You have absolutely no idea what "promise" she is talking about, but you have had enough sleuthing, misunderstandings, and confusion for one day; you will let this one stay her own secret
>Because you trust Flizzy
>and Flizzy trusts you

- END PART IX -