//------------------------------// // The Part of a Day He Looked for a House // Story: The Days Passed // by SilverEyedWolf //------------------------------// Spike scowled at his list, blinking in the morning's light. “Pinkie, please,” he begged, to no avail. “It's too early for this.” Pinkie pretended not to hear, as she loaded up his table with sweet confectioneries and strong coffee, no milk soiling its pure depths. Reaching forward, he lifted the mug and breathed in the vapors rising, scenting the sugar hidden beneath even this black lake. Sighing, he downed half the cup, the near boiling liquid pleasant in his throat, then got to work munching on a doughnut. “Diabetes is thing, Pinkie, even for Dragons,” he muttered, smoothing out the map he'd grabbed from the Mayor's office this morning and using the cup to hold down the top of it. Confirming his list with her secretary, Spike had been able to mark three off of his list right away, one of them the one Twilight had mentioned could possibly be talked into renting. Maybe. He'd also given him a key, which Spike had looked askance at. “We can trust the Princess's assistant with our so called 'Skeleton' key,” he'd said as Spike picked it up. “With that you can go into the rentals, who've had their locks temporarily enchanted to open to that key, and that one alone. Feel free to wander in and check out how they look.” Still didn't explain why it looked like vertebra, or why the top was shaped into a pony's skull. Looking between the list and the map a few times, he crossed one of the outright rentals off the list, and one of the talking to the owner ones as well. “This one's right next to the markets, never be quiet,” he muttered. “And this one...” That one was just a little too close to the Carrousel Boutique, honestly. “Leaves seven I need to see, by today hopefully,” he sighed. Grabbing his coffee, he gulped the rest of it, then looked at the map for the nearest of the houses. Rolling up the page, he checked his neck for the strange key, then looked at his table. Stacked there were five boxes, along with a set of delivery bags. “Oh, Spike~...” With a sigh, he started loading the boxed pastries into the bags. “That's why you were loading up my table, wasn't it?” he half-growled at the pink pony beside him, beaming brightly. “The names are printed on the boxes, it's just for our friends,” she said, nudging him gently. “I know you'll see Twilight and Fluttershy today, and you can give Rainbow the other three, so it's not a big deal, right?” Huffing, he put on a frown and slowly shook his head. Laughing, Pinkie leapt up and grabbed onto his neck, hugging him gently until he chuckled and wrapped a foreleg around her. “Alright, alright, you'll turn my scales pink.” “Thanks, Spikey,” she said, dropping the hug and hurrying towards the counter. “Good luck with the house hunt!” Waving at her and Mrs. Cake at the counter, he ducked through the door and turned left, heading towards the first place for rent. Walking up to the building, he noted it was one of the few actual apartment buildings in town, though nowhere as large as some of the ones in Manehattan could be. He guessed maybe eight ponies in all could live in the building, based on the doors. Walking around the structure, he moved towards one door that had a sign over it, marked only as “Office.” Knocking first, he turned the knob and opened the door into what reminded him of Twilight's office, just with more benches and less books. There was only one pony in the room, currently staring guiltily at the door with a hayburger clasped in his hooves. “Ah,” he said through his mouthful, dropping the both the look and the burger, the later onto some waxed paper on the desk. He swallowed, taking a drink from a cup on his desk. “I thought you might have been my wife. Been getting onto me about the grease and fat recently… But come in, come in! What can I do for you, Mister...” he thought for a moment, “Spire?” “Ah, thank you, though it's just Spike,” the drake said, entering the room and carefully closing the door with his tail. “I've been sort of tossed out, so to say, and I've been told that this building was renting out.” The pony took a long look over him, several times moving his eyes over Spike's head to his tail. “I do indeed have two rooms, both of them fundamentally the same,” he said, slowly. “However, and I do not mean to offend, they are pony size. We can go look them over, but...” He trailed off, leaving Spike to wonder how exactly he meant. “If it's no bother, could I please see one?” Spike asked, scratching his head. The pony nodded, wrapping up his burger and taking a drink from his cup before taking a key from his desk. “Through this door, please,” he said, walking through a door and down a hallway that seemingly led past every room. He stopped at the third door, marked simply with an '18'. Unlocking the door, the pony stepped aside and beckoned to Spike, who moved forward and entered cautiously. There was a small closet directly in front of him, presumably for winter clothes, with a small turn and a hallway leading towards… “Ah, I see.” He turned his head, wiggling his hips as they brushed one side of the frame as he tried to move further into the room. Arching his back, he managed to move his rear legs inside, and get his forelegs into the hallway, but his tail remained out in the main hallway. “The rest of the living space would be much the same, I am afraid, sir,” the manager said, poking his head into the doorframe, above Spike's tail. “A bit small, I think.” “No, no, more than fair enough,” Spike said, starting to back out of the tiny room. The stallion made room, and they left the tiny room behind. “They're all are set up the same?” Spike asked as they headed to the front room. “All except for mine, which is a bit bigger,” The stallion said, returning the key and himself to the desk. “Anything else, Mr. Spike?” “Nothing I can think of. Thanks for letting me look, at least,” he said, bowing his head slightly. The pony returned the gesture, before tearing back into his food. Closing the door, Spike looked down at the remaining eight locations. “One of these have to be decent, right?” he muttered, looking over the other eight listings. “At least one, right?” ææææææææææææææææææææææææææææææ Spike nearly slammed into the chair, making Fluttershy jump. He let out a loud groan, stretching the noise out until he received a flying pastry to the mouth. “That bad?” Fluttershy asked, nodding to Pinkie behind the counter. They'd agreed to meet at Sugarcube Corner for lunch, with a possibility of moving to a cafe for lunch. Spike had been planning on telling her some good news, but… “Six down, three left,” he muttered, placing the blotted list on the table. “Too small, too small, too small,” he chanted, tapping three names. “This one was literally just a pile of tinder nailed into a house shape, and the owner wanted me to convince him to rent...” “I'm sorry,” Fluttershy said soothingly, rubbing a hoof over Spike's back as he planted his face into the table. “I don't really have much left to do back home, if you'd like me to come along…?” He smiled up at her, still shaking his head. “Nah, I've got this. And besides, Twilight wants me to adult. Finding my own place is probably part of that.” “Well, alright,” she said, stroking his back gently. “Let me know if you need help anyways.” Laughing, he wrapped a leg around her and pulled her close, sharing a gentle hug. “I'll be fine, 'Shy, I promise. I've only got three more, and I might just go ahead and mark one off based on the other two. As a matter of fact…” He looked over the map again, nodded, then marked off a name. “That leaves two, one here,” he pointed to one near one of the edges of town, near where Twilight's tower had sprouted. “And one here,” he continued, pointing near a different edge, this one close to where the Everfree encroached on the town. “One near Twilight, and my possible job; one near your house, where I'll likely spend…” He blushed, looking at her. “However much time you'll let me, probably.” Blushing, Fluttershy swat at him with her tail, but made no move to get away from his hug. “So, lunch?” She nodded, and the two of them made their way to the small cafe nearby; one that made more capital by selling savory foods and sending their customers Pinkie's way for their after-dinner deserts and delights. That's what the hoof-carved sign said anyways, “Deserts and Delights”. ææææææææææææææææææææææææææææææ After a short walks towards Twilight’s tower, Spike made a left onto a small street he barely recognized. Looking around, he realized why. Completely residential street. Nodding to himself, he wandered down the street, checking street numbers against the one on his map once, then twice when he reached the building he thought was right. A small sign reaffirmed his suspicions, and he walked up to the door. He couldn't remember whether this was one of the owned houses or not, so he pressed the weird key into the doorknob. With a click, he was inside. The door opened into a large, hardwood floored room. It was the living room, judging by the slight scuff marks on the floor and white wallpaper. Two doors exited on either side of the room. Moving through the doorway, Spike closed the door with his tail as he stretched around the room. He almost touched the walls if he stood along the width of the room, but there was more space along the length. Nodding to himself with a smile, he moved through the door on the right side of the room. All in all, while a bit tight in certain hallways, this could be a wonderful little place for him. It even had a tub made for larger ponies, so it would fit him relatively well. And if he ever really wanted to soak, Twilight's castle was about four minutes away. Sitting down in the tiled kitchen, he unrolled the map and checked the distances, nodding absently to himself. While this house was about five minutes from Twilight, walking, the other house was about seven minutes to Fluttershy's. This one was about twenty minutes from Fluttershy's, while the other was maybe fifteen from Twilight's… But then again, his wings… But winter… He shook his head soundly, scratching his head and looking over the map for another second and shrugging. Rolling up the papers, he left the house and locked the door, spreading his wings and flying towards the mayor's office. Landing on the round porch, he opened the door and wandered through the hallways inside, moving back to the secretary's desk. “Oh, hello Spike,” he said, smiling around the top of a stack of papers. Spike remembered the same stack from this morning, and it hadn't seemed to have moved. “Can I help you with the housing situation?” “I hope so,” the dragon said, spreading the map and tapping the house closest to Twilight. “How much is this house a month to rent?” Surprised, the aide started digging through some of the drawers on the side of the desk. While he was doing so, Spike pulled out a spare piece of parchment and a quill, and wrote Twilight a quick question. At the same time the secretary held up a piece of parchment victoriously, Spike turned his head and coughed up the reply. He'd learned to be considerably less flashy than he used to be. Looking at the number on the reply, he smiled and looked at the aide, who quoted him the price. “Per month?” He nodded. “Perfect, I'll take it.” The secretary blinked, his face working. “No haggling? No arguing about the price?” “Well,” Spike started, slowly, “I happen to know that one of two people set this price. Either the Mayor herself, who would have looked around and found a house of this worth and set the price; or Twilight, who would have done that and much, much more. So, yes, I will take this fair price,” he chuckled. “Well, I'll need the first month's payment ahead of time,” the stallion said slowly, picking up speed as he spoke, “as well as a deposit towards repairs, in case something happens and you're unable or unwilling to pay for them, and...” “Oh, would you be able to point me towards somewhere that insures against monsters, and other supernatural disaster?” Spike interrupted, half raising a claw. Taking a breath, the secretary nodded, and they talked together over the next half-hour; discussing various ins and outs of home rental and insurance and a myriad of other things involved. At the end, the secretary was digging in the same drawer he pulled the list of prices out of, finally pulling out a thankfully normally shaped key. “And this is yours. Remember to bring by the first payment tomorrow, or the Mayor'll be after me, then you,” he cautioned, looking over at the closed door. “I mean, I'll be here, but you sort of know where I live,” Spike chuckled. The stallion did not. Spike stopped, and nodded gravely. After another half-minute of chit-chat, Spike was on the porch again, mentally torn between two prospects. “Twilight first, or Fluttershy...” he muttered, looking between the castle and the Everfree. Spreading his wings, he took off to the forest, mentally noting to go get Twilight before actually heading to the empty house. Counting to himself, he made sure to note how long it took to reach Fluttershy's from the Mayor's office. Four minutes, and likely not more than two extra from my... my own house. Landing in the front yard, he smiled over at the mare, and several of her animals, in the process of tending some of the flower beds in front of her house. “Hey, 'Shy, I've got something to show you. Want some help finishing up?”