The Sides We Choose

by Frost Bear

Always Sunny in Fillydelphia

Spike clawed at the sheets. He snored under the warm blankets and soft pillows.

Then he rolled over.

He groggily stirred up. Blanket still around him. He walked down stairs to his friend’s place of business.

“Oh hi, Spike,” Mina called, “We just got a fresh shipment of Power Ponies. Can you set them up on the new release table?”

“Sure thing,” Spike gladly ran over to a small box.

It had been a long time since the mess with Twilight’s cult started. Rarity was kept under guard, Rainbow joined the military, Sweetie and Scootaloo developed a crush on him, and the rest of his friends were in the Republic. With little to no options he decided to go to one last friend he was sure would understand him.

“Hey, is that the new issue of Power Ponies?” a young dragon asked.

“Yeah, you looking for a copy?” Spike grabbed a comic, “Here you go!”

“Thanks,” the dragon took the comic and walked to Mina to pay for it.

Thanks to Luna, Spike found a friend in Dragon Town over in Manehatten. They were having problems with arson and the unicorn police officers suspected a dragon was the culprit. Turned out to be a fire snail, a common occurring creature found where magical waste was. Bigger and more fire snails there were, the bigger the magical waste problem was. That wouldn’t be much of a problem if the Breezies came around to scrub off excessive waste. Unfortunately they refused to leave their home due to Equestria being beyond dangerous in its current state.

Those fire snail are just starting to become a major problem. When Spike came with Luna the ponies of Manehattan expressed severe discrimination against dragons. Enough to issue curfew for Dragon Town over suspicion of arson. Mina was one of the few who did their best to close the gap between the two races. It was going so well when Spike left. According to Mina, the discrimination grew ten times worse in the past month.

Ponies in red robes would burn down dragon stores and houses. Police would arrest dragons for doing nothing. Some knew better and tried to release the dragons from custody but it proved difficult to do. Then came the Solar guards. Once a week, the Solar guards would travel through dragon town and demand certain shops to pay insurance tax. Those that refused were escorted somewhere. No one knew where they went. The Solar guard gave them bad news everytime they arrive.

Spike continued to stock the shop with various comics while Mina tended to customers. It was a few hours before lunch.

“Where you want to go today?” Mina asked.

“Hmm… I heard there’s a jewelry store that has rubies nearby,” Spike frowned, “That’s assuming they know about a dragon’s diet.”

Mina chuckled, “They’re right near Dragon Town. If they don’t know now they’re about to find out.”

The two dragons walked to the store just outside Dragon Town. It was ran by a grey stallion with white mane. He glared at the dragons.

“Oh no, you’re not welcome here,” he pushed the two away, “I know how your kind are. You can’t afford all my jewels. There are far more important PONIES that are willing to buy these gems.”

Mina narrowed her eyes at him, “You know you’re right next to Dragon Town, right?”

“Yes, I managed to get a low price on this place because of that,” the jeweler sighed, “That is also why I got extra security to the place.”

Mina growled at him, “Come on, Spike, I don’t want to waste time with his kind.”

Spike nodded while the jeweler gapped, “How dare you speak like that!”

Spike kicked him in the shine, “Hypocrite!” he roared before walking away.

Mina and Spike wondered the streets looking for a decent place to eat. Seemed like every place they tried rejected them. It felt like hours before they finally found a place to eat. They found a small building ran by a donkey. They mainly served typical pony food but had several options for non ponies. Their foreign menu was colorful with yellows and greens. Spike had little difficulty reading the strange language on the chalkboard.

“Wow… you’re from outside Equestria?” Mina asked.

“Yeah,” he moaned in a scratchy voice, “Me and my family just crossed the border not long ago but we’re still having problems getting along with ponies.”

“Have they never seen a donkey before?” Spike chimed in, “My friends in Ponyville freaked out when a zebra came to town. They never seen a zebra so they didn’t know what to think of her.”

“Eh, maybe, I don’t really care. I came here to run my own restaurant,” he sighed in depression, “Too bad I don’t have anyone to serve…”

“Why don’t you have anyone to serve?” Spike innocently asked.

“No pony wants to go to a restaurant ran by a donkey,” he sighed, “They don’t trust anything that isn’t a pony. There’s strong discrimination against us non-ponies.”

“Well, you got us,” Mina tried to cheer him up.

He smiled and stretched his legs, “And I’m am very happy for that! Now what can I get you? We have…” He glanced at the menu trying to think of what dragons would like to eat.

“Can we try some food from your home country?” Spike innocently asked.

The donkey blinked before grinning ear to ear. He dove into the kitchen shouting some words Spike did not know. Mina smiled and sat at a table. Spike sat across from her, a little confused. The donkey returned with a basket of chips and salsa. Spike eagerly munched on them while Mina delicately dipped her chip in the salsa. After they finished their chips, the donkey returned with a bowl of soup?

“What’s that?” Spike asked.

“Menudo,” the donkey answered with a smile.

Mina pushed the bowl away, “I… think we would like something else if that’s ok…”

The donkey laughed, “So you had menudo before? Ah well… can’t say I tried.”

The donkey went away to get a new dish.

“What’s menudo?” Spike whispered.

“You don’t want to know…”

The donkey returned with two plate that held something wrapped in what looked like doughy paper. Mina licked her lips as he set the dishes down. Spike noticed a hot smell coming off of the meal. Mina picked up her fork and dug into it. Spike decided to mimic her actions. Brownish red liquid leaked out of the wounds Spike inflicted. The thing was filled with many beans as well as some mixed greens and rice. Spike took one bite and felt an explosion in his mouth.

The meal was spicy! Very spicy, even for a dragon. Mina had no troubles eating hers but Spike needed a drink for each bite he took. The donkey laughed while Mina snickered. The look on Spike’s face was cute and funny.

“Sorry, little one, I suppose you don’t have much experience with donkey levels of spice,” the donkey said.

“It had lava in my mouth one time,” Spike grumbled, “but that thing hurts!”

“Wait till it comes out the other end.”

“Gross!” Mina smacked the donkey who laughed hysterically at her.

“So what’s that thing called?”

“Enchilada!” The donkey and Mina answered.

“I think Pinkie made that once… only hers didn’t burn my tongue.”

“Ponies like donkey style food,” The donkey stated proudly, “too bad only donkeys can make REAL donkey food.”

“Well she did burn Twilight,” Spike frowned, “I miss her…”

“Twilight, eh? She your friend?”

“Yeah…”

“What’s happened to her?”

“She went crazy… well crazier than usual. She started this sun worshiping cult and started forcing it on other ponies. She forced me to read that poorly written book she made.”

“Poorly written?” Mina questioned, “From what you told me about Twilight, she should have a well written book.”

“The Twilight I told you about is gone,” Spike sniffed, “All that’s left is this crazy sun worshiping unicorn that looks like her.”

“You mean Saint Sparkle?” the donkey gasped, “I didn’t think I’d ever serve the friend of someone so famous.”

“Don’t worry about it, how much do we owe you?”

“The chips and salsa are free but the enchiladas are eight bits.”

Mina took out out several bits to give to the donkey.

“Thanks, what’s you’re name?”

“Burro,” the donkey smiled.

“Does that mean anything in your language?” Spike curiously wondered.

“It means donkey.”

“You’re name is donkey?”

“Yeah…”

“You’re a donkey… named donkey?” Mina asked in disbelief.

“Yeah… my parents weren’t very creative with names.”

“Sorry… it’s just… a very odd coincidence,” Spike muttered.

“I understand. It’d be like meeting a dragon named draco.”

Spike laughed while Mina raised her eyebrow at Spike, “Draco is old Equestrian for dragon.”

“oh,” Mina realized, “That’s embarrassing since one of my friends is named Draco…”

“For real?” Spike giggled uncontrollably.

“Look, I didn’t know! I thought it was a cool name.”

“Yeah, the name of our species! HAHAHAhahaha…”

“Ok, settle down little one. I’m willing to serve you guys all day but I can’t have you here if you’re not going to do business.”

“We have to get back to the comic store anyhow,” Mina picked up Spike, “If you’re ever in dragon town, look us up. We might get you a good deal on the latest issues.”

“My kid’s will love that, adios. Hasta mañana!”

The two dragons left the restaurant satisfied. They made a new friend in a xenophobic town. The ponies in the city were hostile and they needed any friend they could get. With their new friend running a restaurant they’d be able to get a good meal any time. They wondered down the street until they came across a crime scene where they met a familiar face.

“Ride Along,” Spike groaned.

The unicorn was wailing like a siren loudly. The dragons covered their ears in annoyance. Thankfully Hard Case came along to shut him up.

“Boop boop.”

“Ugh… I swear, Ride Along, you’re a disappointment to the force.”

“Hey! Hard Case!” Spike called.

Hard Case perked up and smiled, “Oh hey Spike! Wait… the Empress isn’t here is she?”

“Naw, I don’t hang with my old friends anymore…” Spike frowned.

“Well that would good for me… If those damn Solar guard didn’t peer through everything we do.”

“What’s going on over here?” Mina asked a little worried.

“Just some petty thief,” Hard Case dismissed.

“That sure doesn’t look petty to me,” Mina pointed to the scorched door.

“Oh that? That’s just from last night’s fire snail incident.”

“LAST night? The one before happened three days ago!”

“They’re becoming more active and no one knows why. I’ve heard there have been a couple cases in Dragon Town but no one’s investigating that area seriously.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it’s a dragon case,” Mina furrowed her eyebrows, “Police refuse to help dragons with fire troubles because fire doesn’t bother us. They’re most likely claiming it was the dragon’s fault and leaving it at that.”

Hard Case nodded, “Hit the nail on the head.”

“That’s not right… how could these ponies become so… racist.”

“I blame those Solar guards,” Hard Case growled, “Ever since they showed up they’ve been causing trouble for us! They arrest anyone who looks like they’d support the Republic. That means anyone who wears blue.”

Spike looked at him in shock, “Did they arrest you?”

“Several times! Imagine what that looks like on my record!”

“Hopefully this war blows over fast. With what happened to Cloudsdale recently, being in a coastal city is dangerous.”

“Alright, I gotta get back to work. You two stay behind that line or go home. Only interesting thing here is me yelling at this thief.”

Spike was about to leave before Mina pulled him over.

“I kinda want to see him yell at the poor guy,” she admitted with a blush.

Spike noticed the blush, “Do you have a crush on him?”

“What? No!” Mina looked over to Hard Case screaming his lungs out, “I just always wanted to be on the force dealing with crooked ponies. It’s kinda my dream to be a hero to ponies.”

“Why can’t you?”

“Because they don’t hire dragons on the force,” Mina sighed.

Spike frowned as they watched Hard Case work. Mina might’ve been taking mental notes. After he was done, they took the thief away in cuffs. Then the Solar guards came to interrogate everyone there. They held onto the dragons for a long while before letting them go.

Mina and Spike tiredly returned to Dragon Town. The comic shop remained untouched for now. They got through the door and looked at the time.

“Wow… It’s already five? Didn’t feel that long,” Mina whispered.

“We still got two hours till closing time. Want to close up early?” Spike suggested.

“I am tired… but no, we should stick to the schedule. Someone might want a book later.”

“Hehe, Ok… I’m going to make some tea.”

“Thanks, Spike. You’re an excellent helper.”

“Anytime Twi- Mina… Anytime…”

Comments

[Frost Bear]

6420784 I am REALLY starting to hate how the autocorrect corrects things without my knowing it. First it started making Scootaloo 'socialize' now this. Thanks for pointing it out. Going to have to re-read the stories 3 times before publishing now.