//------------------------------// // To sin for love // Story: I don't belong here // by Clawder //------------------------------// Spike was almost ready to depart, but he had no provisions left. “Shut… I could’ve taken some at the castle” he was trying to think of something he could get for free Let’s see; ponies here are selfish, I have no money, I can’t return to the castle… he was running out of ideas Ugh, come on! There has to be a way; why is anything free here? Applejack would spare some apples for me but these ponies are unbelievably egoist. Suddenly, he knew what to do. He wide opened his eyes when he saw a fruit store “Free” Why didn’t I think of that? He covered himself again with the hood and approached the store. He saw the tasty-looking apples which reminded him of Sweet Apple Acres. “Good evening. How can I help you, foal?” said the owner friendly. She was a lilac coated mare with a black mane. Spike smiled under the hood. Walking on four legs had worked to fool the pony in charge. He ignored the question and untied the blankets, turning around so the mare behind the stand couldn’t see his face. “Ummm, who are you, little one?” the mare tried to make him speak, but Spike remained silent. He began to put various fruits inside the blankets, making sure he was completely covered. Children… the mare thought. No pony had ever stolen from her, so she didn’t stop Spike Maybe he or she just doesn’t want to talk. When he fully restocked himself, he breathed deeply and sprinted out of the store as fast as he could. “THIEF! THIEF!” the owner screamed at the same time she pointed at the hooded figure. Some ponies outside heard her, two guards among them. As soon as they saw the running figure, they took their spears and pursued him. Spike didn’t have time to think, he just kept running in an attempt to escape. The ponies were faster, but Spike was more agile and took advantage of his size to evade obstacles or crawl under tables and other ponies. He lost the guards eventually; there were many places to sneak in Canterlot. Spike caught his breathe in a back alley, where he decided to finally eat something. He opened the untied the blankets again and saw the stolen fruit What have I done? he thought, shaking his head and closing his eyes I’m not supposed to do this… he was just about to return the fruit when he remembered the purpose of doing that. He glanced again at the backpack and smiled Free… there’s nothing better than free… it’s all mine now Spike was trying to fight back both the greed and the feeling for doing the right thing. It was difficult. He felt his limbs growing after a short time of considering his previous action. “That foal must be somewhere around here!” One of the guards said, approaching the back alley. Spike didn’t pay much attention to that. Instead, he calmly hid the stash with a claw and stood up. Right before the guards arrived, he threw away the poorly-made hood. “Were you chasing someone?” Spike said with confidence, pointing at the hood “I was taking a nap when somepony tripped with me, and he just kept running!” Both guards stared at him suspecting, but discarded the idea of the dragon being the thief. Even though Spike wasn’t big enough, with his back straightened he could be face to face with a pony. “Where did he go?” one of the guards asked quickly. “I don’t know, I’m still kind of asleep… He must have kept going that way,” he pointed at the other side of the alley. The first guard immediately stormed out to find the thief; while the other stayed with Spike. “So… A dragon just came by, huh?” the guard didn’t think he was the thief but there was something suspicious about him anyway. “Errr… Yeah, actually I’m from Ponyville, I’m Princess Twilight’s assistant,” he knew he shouldn’t be saying the truth about where he came from; but it wouldn’t matter if he could leave Canterlot before they sent a letter to confirm this. “Princess Twilight Sparkle? Oh, then you must be Spike.” “Indeed I am!” “And why in Equestria is a royal assistant having a nap in a back alley?” Spike’s mouth opened trying to reply, but the guard had caught him already “Ugh, alright, it’s just that I don’t want to be around the castle right now. Maybe you know how girly the princesses can be.” “Right, now tell me something, if you are Princess Twilight’s assistant, she’s in the castle right now, isn’t she?” the guard raised an eyebrow. “Actually no… I was escorting a friend of hers, Rarity. You can go to the castle and ask for her…” Spike felt a lot of pressure and was almost sure this would turn out badly. “I will,” the guard turned around and began to trot to the castle “See you around I guess...” “Phewwwww” That was a close one; now I have to get out of here! Spike ran again, realizing he was a little bit faster due to his larger legs. The guard was probably asking for Rarity by now and to wait for a train to arrive would be like surrendering in front of the castle. After pondering the situation, Spike headed for Canterlot’s waterfalls. There were some tourists there, either admiring the majestic nature of the waterfalls or diving into the allowed areas. Spike didn’t have time to do that though, he needed to get out of Canterlot as soon as possible. Everypony looked at the sprinting dragon. Some even thought he was going to attack them. Spike leaped into the pond and swam towards the cliff, ignoring the complaints of the ponies in his way. At the edge, he could feel the current dragging him. He hesitated a couple of times before jumping, greeting his fangs and closing his eyes. Ok, this is going to hurt He fell for about a whole minute, in which he remained tense and tried not to think about the impact. It wasn’t that bad: Spike hit the bottom of the river harshly, but the water slowed him down and his scales worked as a light armor. He swam to the surface and breathed deeply. “Seriously,” he coughed “Who had the awful idea of building an entire city in a mountain?” he inspected his body and saw nothing was broken or too injured. He was relieved of being out of Canterlot already. When he got out of the lake, he shook Well, I better keep goin- “NO!” he said aloud when he saw his provisions floating away on the river. He tried to reach them but the current was faster than him. After a couple of minutes, Spike gave up on the cause; the blankets were not even in sight anymore. “Darn it!” he kneeled and hit the ground with a claw That was mine! he gritted his fangs. Soon analyzing what he thought Well… It wasn’t actually mine he still felt guilty and couldn’t help but imagining himself as the big, menacing dragon he once turned into. As the memories of the damage he caused to Ponyville and his friends flooded his mind, his limbs began to shrink again. When he finally turned into the baby-size Spike he looked at his claws “Oh great… I lost it.” Spike stood up and walked aside the river. Maybe somepony built a town or something near a water source like this after a couple of hours, he checked his suspicions were correct: There was a small village settled around the river. By that time, the sun was setting and Spike was starving. He entered the village, which was smaller than Ponyville. “Hello?” he asked out loud so anypony could notice him. Some did, and when they saw him, they ran away. “A dragon!” Screamed a grey pegasus mare. This called the attention of the ones who heard her. “Where?! Oh, dear Celestia, we are doomed!” said another peasant. “Hey! There’s nothing to fear! I’m a friendly baby dragon, see?” he announced rising his arms so they could notice his size. “Oh… Yes… But you’re still a dragon, I mean, we’ve never seen a dragon before…” an earth pony approached him while speaking “They always talk about your kind as creatures of destruction and chaos,” she ended, keeping some distance from Spike and staring curiously at him. “Nah, not all of us are like that,” At least I expect so. The villagers quickly gathered around Spike and whispered between them. It was clear that some considered him dangerous while others were thinking he was cute and wanted to hug him. I shouldn’t be calling this much attention… “Ummm, I was thinking if I could stay with anypony tonight. I need to keep going tomorrow.” An awkward silence filled the crowd. They looked at each other insecurely. It was true that some thought he was cute but they didn’t want to run any unnecessary risks. The silence continued until the same earth pony that approached him at first spoke “Don’t-don’t worry, you can stay with me little one,” she smiled warmly. “What?!” said a stallion next to her “Merry, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he was an olive stallion with a carefully combed, green mane. “Don’t be so selfish Code! He’s just a baby dragon. I’m starting to think everything we hear about them was wrong,” Merrylife trotted forward to Spike, she had a dark pink coat and a turquoise mane which reminded Spike of Sweetie Belle’s. “You’re welcome to stay with us tonight, what’s your name?” “I’m Spike,” he extended a claw to the mare. “Well, what are you all looking at?” Code said, addressing the villagers. Some ponies turned around and ignored the dragon had been there. Others moved away to discuss if it was ok to have a dragon with them. And another one, which completely disagreed to have the creature around, spoke up “No way we’re going to have a vile dragon among us!” Merrylife frowned and stepped between Spike and the unicorn who threatened him “Says who? We will be the ones to take care of this fella, not you.” “Bah! It won’t matter after elder dragons come and eat us trying to find their hatchling!” Spike groaned and advanced to meet the unicorn stallion’s gaze. His coat was red and had a dark blue mane “How dare you talk like that about us dragons?! I bet you had never seen one in your entire life.” “Hey, let’s just calm down,” Code pushed them back “Merry will do whatever she wants, period.” “Fine! It’ll be you who he eats at night!” raged the unicorn. Spike almost set the unicorn’s tail on fire. The only reason he held himself was that it would prove he was dangerous. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just an old man trying to get attention,” Merry smiled. The three of them went then to Merry and Code’s house. None of the buildings were more than a floor high. The house wasn’t spacious but it felt warm and welcoming. It was dinner time, the two ponies and Spike sat. There was mixture of hay and vegetables in front of them. “So, Spike, let me introduce myself: My name is Merrylife, but you can just call me Merry. I’m in charge of the agriculture here in the village.” “It doesn’t have a name?” Spike asked. “No, not really. We rarely keep contact with other places; we’re not even connected to railways” she answered. “Nice to meet you, young dragon. I am Sly Decoder, but everyone calls me Code. I used to visit ancient ruins and pyramids with a team of archeologists. We would investigate diverse hieroglyphs after Daring Do cleared the path. Really good times. Now I’m here with my wife to enjoy a life of retirement. But enough about us, where are you from?” “Actually, I’m from Ponyville, but I left in order to get some answers about my past.” The talk continued and Spike explained everything that happened since he left his home; excluding some details like the chat with the princesses. “I don’t want to cause trouble, so I’ll leave in the morning,” Spike concluded. The two ponies stared at each other for a moment “W-well, you could stay with us anytime you want,” said Code. “Yes! There’s no problem with us,” added Merry. “I… Well… I don’t know” he lowered his head “I mean, it’s cool to know I count on you but I don’t know if this is the right place for me to look out for what I want.” “Why don’t you try? If you think there’s nothing here for you, then you can leave.” “Hmmm… Very well. Thanks a lot!” After a finishing dinner, they went to sleep. Both husband and wife to their room and Spike to a carpet in the living room he found pretty comfortable. Spike spent the first two days in the village getting to know the ponies there and trying to convince everyone he was not a threat. And he succeeded. After socializing with the purple dragon, everypony was convinced he was a good guy. It was until the third day, that things changed for Spike. The old unicorn ran the fanciest business of the village: He sold antiques and relics found by Code and his expedition group. Along with others contributed by travelers of different places. Spike stumbled at the place and decided to give it a try, ignoring the fact that the unicorn owned the place. He glanced at the interesting and often weird objects This looks like a good place to start… No! no no no, I must find a way to grow avoiding that… Spike was tempted to steal many times, but his will was stronger than before. Nopony was in the counter, it only had a bell to ring in case a customer wanted to buy something. After wandering around the store, Spike saw a few items that could work as gifts for his friends in Ponyville: A silver statue that appeared in one of the books of Daring Do; An ancient tome for Twilight; A carved sapphire for Rarity; A black Stetson for Applejack, said to have been worn by a legendary cowpony; A butterfly lamp for Fluttershy; And a pyramid with pinwheels on the top for Pinkie. He didn’t take them, but memorized where they were. Spike rang the bell in the counter and waited. No more than thirty seconds passed and the unicorn appeared behind it. “Welcome to Collector’s antiques, how can I-” he paused and looked around “Anypony there?” “Down here” Spike raised an arm. “Oh, of course… Oh… It’s you…” Collector’s ears flattened. “Listen, I know we didn’t like each other at first but maybe we can get over that. What do you say?” Spike smiled. “I dunno kid, I feel strange having you around,” he turned left and looked away from Spike “Well…” Collector sighed “I guess a costumer is a costumer anyway.” “Great!” Spike described the items he was interested in. Collector had a blank expression and was writing down on a sheet of paper as the dragon described. “Anything else?” “Nope, just that, thanks.” “let me see… Aja… Mmmmm… Ok, I’ll give you those for a total of a hundred bits.” “What?! That much?” “That’s the price; it was you who picked the expensive items, not me! I even discounted six bits from the real total.” “Argh… Thanks anyway, I may come back for those.” “’Til' then,” the unicorn teleported away. Spike got out of the store and tried to fight back the persistent thought: Take it, just take it, he won’t even notice and he was right. Ponies trusted each other in such a way they could leave something in the middle of a plaza and no one would take it. “Who am I kidding? I’ll eventually have to do it, this is what the whole thing is for, right?” he returned to Merry’s house crestfallen. He entered and saw the two ponies in the kitchen. “Hey there,” he said, rubbing the nape of his neck. “Hello Spike! Are you in the mood for some work? I was just about to arrange some old scrolls,” Marry beamed. “In fact, I was here to kind of say goodbye…” “You’re leaving already?” Code didn’t seem disappointed or down, he already knew the dragon wouldn’t stay for long. “Yes. I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I need to return to Ponyville now.” “Are you sure? We don’t have any problem if you want to stay,” Merry tried to convince Spike. “Yes, but don’t worry! I’ll come back to visit you guys. I promise,” Spike hugged the couple and then walked away. Before he reached the door, Code called him “Hey buddy, take this,” he threw a bag filled with vegetables at Spike. “Wha-what’s this?” “Just a gift for our guest,” Code blinked “You deserve it.” I was afraid you said that… “This is very generous of you but I-I just can’t accept it…” his eyes were locked in the bag. He remembered the last time he received a ‘gift’ didn’t go precisely well. “It’s nothing, really, I think that will be enough to get to Ponyville,” Merry nodded. “O… Ok…” Spike’s arm was trembling. He got out of the house still wanting to return the bag. All right. Let’s give it another try he released the temptation and looked at the contents inside the bag. Nothing special, just food. Here I come he got back to Collector’s antiques and checked the counter. The unicorn wasn’t there. Perfect Spike quickly glanced at the many objects and spotted the silver statue first. His eyes glowed “A hundred bits huh? I don’t think so” he took the statue and looked around him. Still nopony there. Spike put the statue in the bag and ran out smiling. The village was already familiarized with Spike, so no one paid attention to him when he left the store. Spike walked away from the village and delved into the forest near it. Being sufficiently far, he held the silver statue in his claws and kept his gaze on it One down, five to go. His body began to grow again, slightly more than the last time Maybe I could go back and… No! Of course not… I have to wait, at least until tomorrow. Otherwise I’ll need more afterwards. Spike spent the rest of the day admiring the statue and getting used to his larger body. When the night came, he slept serenely under a treetop. Spike was awakened by bird chirps all over the forest. Unlike the Everfree, this one was peaceful. He stretched and took some vegetables in his bag to have breakfast. After a quiet and relaxing morning, it was time to ‘work’. He dug a hole in the tree he slept under and buried the silver statue there. Then he went to the village but kept some distance. After spotting the antiques store, he noiselessly approached it. The store was conveniently placed in the border of the village. Spike got behind it and crawled slowly to the entrance, bag in hand, glancing side to side to make sure nopony saw him. If they had already found out an item was missing, it was pretty obvious Spike was the thief; and he couldn’t afford the chance of being caught. The pathways were clear. As it was a small place, the ponies were usually on their houses. “Perfect,” he grinned and, as fast as he could, he entered the store again. He expected to find Collector in the counter, but it was empty as always. Spike hurried to the nearest of the items he wanted, which were the tome and the lamp “Hmmm… Which should I take?” he rubbed his chin and think Ugh, there’s no time… Wait a minute… I can take both! Oh but, maybe I’ll overgrow… his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of a certain couple he recognized: Merry and Code. “And this one is from the jungle of the eastern island! Oh, such great memories.” Spike couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed they were in the store as well Darn it! he put both gifts in the bag and carefully sneaked out. Wow, these guys need more security or something. He returned to the place where his treasure was hidden and added the other two items to his hoard. “Yes! Piece of cake,” he grew again, getting a little larger than the regular pony size “Oops. Looks like one per day’s the limit for me,” he only felt he was big now, not dragon-big but this worked for him. Another three days passed and Spike repeated the process without complications. There was something suspicious about this. Either Collector didn’t check his inventory frequently or he was waiting for the right time to catch Spike and do something to him. The idea sent shivers to the dragon. When he finally had everything he wanted, he decided to depart. He carried four of the gifts in his bag and the other two in his back. Spike was now walking on four legs. He followed the trail of the river This river began on Canterlot… It definitely passes through Ponyville, I just need to follow it. In his way, he limited himself to eat fish from the river. He really hated to eat vegetables and fruits, and didn’t dare to eat other animals Fluttershy would feel disappointed and angry. The very day before Spike got to Ponyville, he took a moment to look at his reflection in the water. “Perfect.”