Once upon a time there lived a dragon. She was a very young, very small, little dragon, all pink and soft. The little dragon lived in a world full of big, hard dragons with long tails and sharp claws.
She wanted to play with the big dragons and be their friend. There was so much they could do together. Why, they could run through the fields and gather all the beautiful flowers. They could roll in the grass. They could bury each other in the sand and then jump out and surprise whoever happened to be walking by. They could chase each other through the sky and play hide-and-seek in the clouds. Sometimes they could just lay at the edge of the beach and let the waves wash over them. They could tell each other their dreams.
This is what she wanted. But she was small and soft and they were big and hard and whenever the little dragon got too close she would get hurt. One of the big dragons would turn around too quickly and their long tail would strike the little dragon. One of the big dragons would reach for her and because they had sharp claws and she was so soft they would cut her. And, sometimes, because they were so big and she was so little, they just wouldn't see her at all. Some of the big dragons were just plain mean and they picked on the little dragon just because they could. Life was hard for the little dragon.
Then the little dragon noticed something. Every time she got hurt, every time she got cut, a scale would grow, a hard, purple scale, like iron. Pretty soon the little dragon wasn't soft and pink anymore. She was growing bigger and harder, just like the big dragons. Soon Amethyst was just as big and just as hard as they were. Life was a little easier then. With all her metal scales in place things didn't hurt so much. In fact, she hardly felt anything at all.
One day Amethyst met a kind old dragon that didn't have any scales. He wasn't at all like the other dragons. He was so beautiful and so white and he appeared to glow from a light deep within him. He asked Amethyst if he could be her friend. He told her stories and took walks with her. He told her he loved her. Sometimes they would just sit together and listen to each other think. They became the best of friends. He was always there whenever she needed him and he never hurt her.
One day, when Amethyst was standing in front of the mirror making sure all her scales were polished to a perfect shine, she discovered that one was missing. It was the one right over her heart. Of course, she could cover it up with her wing and if she were very careful no one would realize that it was gone.
Amethyst was out walking one day when she saw a dragon she had never seen before. The new dragon was a beautiful, dark green dragon and she seemed to be walking in the same direction that Amethyst was going.
Amethyst was very curious about this beautiful, dark green dragon and she hurried to catch up to her. When she did she saw that this dragon was not as hard as all the other dragons she knew.
As Emerald and Amethyst walked and talked together Amethyst felt so good. Emerald really seemed to be interested in Amethyst. Emerald asked Amethyst questions and actually listened to the answers. Amethyst began to think that maybe she had made another friend. Another friend who was like she was and liked to do the same things she did. Finally, Amethyst has someone to share all the things she had dreamed of when she was a very young, very little dragon.
They soared through the air and played tag in the clouds. They sat on the beach talked for hours while they listened to the waves. Sometimes they didn't even talk. They would just be.
Then it happened again. Amethyst found that she had lost another scale. Oh no! She had been so careful. One missing scale she could hide, but could she hide two? Two missing scales left a pretty big hole. Something might get in the hole. Something might hurt her again.
One day Emerald brought another dragon with her when she came to play. "Another dragon", thought Amethyst. Then they started playing and talking and Amethyst soon found that what was fun with two became even more fun with three. And Ruby was so good at the games. She slid the farthest when they were sliding down the rainbows. And when she hid in the clouds you couldn't even see her until you flew past and she jumped out behind you and yelled, "Boo!”
The next time Amethyst polished her scales there was one less scale to polish. What was happening? Amethyst was losing her scales. She had lost three already. Three scales. Hey! She had three new friends. She had lost three scales. Oh no! Was she going to lose a scale every time she made a new friend? She couldn't do that. Her scales were what protected her. What would keep her safe if she lost her scales? She needed her scales.
What about her friends? Didn't she need her friends too? She remembered how lonely it was before she met the kind, old dragon. Life was a lot more fun now that she had friends to share it with. Did she really want it to be the way it was before? No, not really. But it was so scary now. She started feeling little and soft again. She started feeling again.
Amethyst started thinking about all the other dragons she knew. There were lots of them. So how come she had always felt so alone? Amethyst thought about this for a long, long time. She knew that she stopped feeling so alone when she met the kind, old dragon and she knew that that was when she had started losing her scales. It was all tied together somehow, friendship, losing her scales, and not feeling so alone.
Amethyst had spent a lot of time growing those scales. They were very important to her. The scales kept her safe. But the same scales that protected her and kept out the pain also kept out the friends and the love.
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