How long has Greed moved through the Everfree on his new body until he finally decided to take a break was unknown but, once he decided to finally stop and rest, he started to take a good look around his location to get an idea of where he was moving to, after all, he needed to gather his thoughts now that he was finally free and he had a better idea of how this world worked.
As he looked at the silver moon, he remembered how just a few nights ago he was planning to go out of Ponyville’s library without any knowledge of where he was and how everything worked, an idea that he was very glad of not following through.
“In hindsight, I’m really glad of deciding to stay low and see first where I was. Who knows what would have happened had I tried to go around blind on this world” -. He thought gleefully. – “I probably would have ended up being chewed by those monarchs or got removed by that Chrysalis had I tried to leave that library on my own.”
He then decided to take out some branches and plants he found on his surroundings and started to make a fireplace so he could feel some warmth. It was during this time that he finally started to contemplate and reflect on this new opportunity he was finally getting.
“Who would have thought that a place like this would exist?”
He then decided to take a better look at his body, the scales surrounding it already looked tough, combined with his armor, he probably was untouchable by now but there were some perks from his previous body that he would miss, like how nimble it was, or how it was from an actual prince.
“This body may be tougher than the previous one, but it really lacks speed. I think I’m starting to miss the other kid’s swiftness.”
“Other kid?”
Greed took a moment to listen to Spike’s voice, remembering that he wasn’t alone and, apparently, this kid was probably going to be as energetic as the other one.
“Yeah” -. Responded Greed with his voice. – “You’re not the first one that has hosted me, kid. There was another one.”
“Oh, I see. And, how was he?”
Greed took a moment and started to remember his time with Ling Yao. His determination and understandings of what a king should be and, among many things, how easy it was for him to accept him.
“Well” -. Greed answered as he looked at the moon, reminiscing of those times with the prince of Qing. – “He was a few years older than you. He was very swift and nimble as well as a great sword wielder.”
“Really!?”
Hearing Spike’s surprised voice certainly brought some joy to Greed. The idea of telling his tales to a younger generation may make him feel old, but at least it was a tale to prove what great deeds he has done.
“Oh, yeah kid. He was a great warrior. And a prince as well.”
He started to imagine Spike’s face as he was told about this. He would have probably peeled his eyes as well as getting excited as if a kid was being told the location of a great treasure. To say that Greed was smiling would have been an understatement.
“A prince!? You were hosted by a prince!? That’s amazing!”
GASP
Greed stopped smiling as he heard that. He was certain that Spike didn’t do that noise but he needed to make sure that, whoever was spying on him, if he was being spied, wouldn’t think that its cover was blown. So he decided to keep the facade and continued talking.
“Yeah, there was a competition among him and his brothers and sisters for the succession to the throne, so he decided to make a great journey in the search for something that would earn him the honor of being the next king… journey on which he met me.”
As Spike was gathering his thoughts for the next question, Greed decided to sharpen his senses, searching for the place where the spy was located but, as much as he tried, he couldn’t find it. A sad thing, he was sure Ling would have found it by now.
“So” -. Continued Spike on the conversation, completely unaware of what was going on outside of the body. – “What kind of deal did you offered him to get his body? I mean, if he was searching for something to be king, you had to offer it, right??
“Yes, I did a deal with him. I offered myself.”
“Yourself?” – Now that was something that Spike wasn’t expecting. – “What did you have to offer that he would see as good enough to accept you?”
Greed decided to remember his first encounter with Ling, how brash and determined he was to get the Philosopher’s Stone and obtain immortality. He looked at his draconic body and remembered that there weren’t so many instances where he could actually show what Spike got when he took over the body, so he looked at the fire and decided that if this wasn’t a better moment to show, then he didn’t know when it would be.
“Alright kid, you want to know what I had to offer?”
He then moved to the fire and grabbed one of the wooden branches being burned. He could feel Spike getting nervous.
“Wait, what are you going to do?”
“Just watch and learn.”
He then grabbed the torch with his bare claws only for, to his surprise, not feel much pain or even getting burned.
“Well, I didn’t see that one coming.”
“What the hay were you thinking!?”
Only Spike’s angry tone of voice gave Greed an idea of how his face would be right now and it was a good thing for Greed the fact that Spike couldn’t see Greed’s face of embarrassment at the fact that he knew little to nothing of his new body’s biology.
“Well” -. Spike continued, unaware of what Greed intended to do. – “Good thing my body is fire resistant.”
“Really?” – Greed took that bit of information to himself and decided to put into later thought. – “Well, I suppose I can see what good it offers me later, but it totally ruins what I was planning to show.”
“Show?” – Spike asked as his curiosity was peaked again. – “Wait, are you immortal or something like that?”
“Of course I am kid, don’t you remember how I healed from all those injuries while fighting the changelings?”
“Well, I never actually saw it. I do remember some pain that quickly left but I never saw what exactly happened… wait, you healed all of that?”
Greed rolled his eyes as he remembered that Spike probably never saw his fight against Chrysalis from an outsider’s perspective, so he may not understand how his healing factor worked and, since he was fire resistant now, he may probably need something else to show him. For now though, he would focus on just talking.
“Yeah, kid, I healed all of that, in fact, my regeneration factor is so good that I can even slow down my age progression, so you can bet that your lifespan will increase a lot.”
There was a sudden silence as Spike took all of that in, long enough for Greed to look around, searching for his little spy, but nothing showed up.
“How…?” – Spike continued. – “How long will I… will we live now?”
Greed smiled as he noticed how Spike was now a bit more accepting of the idea for, minimum, sharing the body but that would come for later, for now, he would just keep the conversation.
“Well, while I’m not too sure of specifics, as long as we don’t get into any trouble, have a healthy life and don’t go around getting too much harm, we could probably hit the 1.000 years. Does that sound good?”
GASP
Greed quickly turned around and went quickly to the source of the noise only to find a rock, much to his displeasure.
“Wait, did something happen? What was that noise?”
Greed was about to let it go but he then remembered how he fought a species capable of shape shifting, so he decided to pick up the rock with his right claw.
“Don’t worry kid, nothing wrong happened” -. He then smiled and started to play with the rock, throwing it to the air, just to quickly grab it as he continued talking with Spike. – “Now kid, do you remember how strong you have now become?”
“Hum, I guess, why?”
Greed then added a malicious tone to his voice as he started to fiercely grab the rock.
“Would you like to see me making this rock crumble?”
“Wait… what-“
“Please don’t!”
As he smiled, Greed threw the rock to the ground, which quickly transformed to a changeling who was too shaky to move due to the scare Greed just made him go through. The changeling then turned around and looked at Greed with complete fear as he wondered what kind of mess he was getting into.
“Th-thank you for not destroying me to pieces sir…”
Said the changeling with a male voice but his thankfulness was meaningless to Greed, who put a stern face as he decided to get closer to the changeling, well aware of how dangerous they were, and started to form his shield on his arms, preparing for any strange movement or ambush (on the case this changeling wasn’t alone) and looked at the intruder straight to the face.
“Don’t thank me yet” -. He then started to smile as he showed his right claw to the changeling, making him cringe in the moment. – “You first have to prove that you haven’t come here with bad intentions because I still remember how friendly you and your friends were back at Canterlot and I may decide to be just as friendly to you or any friends you brought here.”
The changeling cringed at that accusation and quickly responded.
“I came here on my own, I swear” -. He then decided to kneel as he begged for his life. – “I am well aware what you did to Chrysalis and how you fought many of my companions back in Caterlot, that is why I decided to defect and follow you.”
Now this was something Greed didn’t see coming. A changeling defector.
“I see” -. Greed responded while keeping his shock under his confident face. – “So you decided to leave your queen for me or am I missing something?” – He then grabbed the changeling, who got stiff as he was grabbed by something capable of destroying his carapace with no problem, and put him besides himself and started to talk to him on a more casual tone. – “Why don’t we first start by talking about yourself? What is your name and why did you decided to leave?”
The changeling looked at Greed with shock, unable to form a coherent thought at what he just said, and did the only thing he was capable of doing: Answering Greed’s question by talking about his own, personal life.
“Well… my name is Thorax… and I…”
The rest of the night consisted on Greed listening to Thorax, how he never quite liked following the changeling way of stealing love and how he never felt adequate with the others, not even his brother, and how he always wanted to live a life where he didn’t have to steal and pretend. How he yearned for a life where he could be himself and get love for being himself and both Spike and Greed listened to his plight, both coming to very similar conclusions.
“I have to say” -. Greed commented once Thorax ended his tale. – “That is quite a tale and, after seeing what Chrysalis did in Canterlot, I don’t blame you for wanting to leave.”
Thorax quickly reacted with a small shock before wanting a confirmation of what he just said.
“Really?” – The lonesome changeling asked. – “You don’t blame me?”
Greed just looked at Thorax with a hopeful surprise as his smile gave him a sense of acceptance that he was searching for so long.
“Of course not” -. Said Greed. – “You did what you had to, the same way that it’s common on a community to leave when they no longer feel at home, you did the same and, even better, not because of some selfish reason but because of something that any good intended being should strive for” -. He then gave a confident smile as he talked to Thorax. – “To be accepted and be who you are. For all I care, you are fine in my book.”
At hearing this, Thorax’s heart started to race. The idea of finally being accepted, it was just too good to be real.
“You mean, you don’t even feel disgusted for how I look?” – Thorax’s face then started to show some disbelief. – “Sorry but, I really can’t believe it, nobody is so open to others.”
Greed simply chuckled and continued.
“Oh, if you only you knew the kind of people I was friends with.”
“People?”
“What’s that?”
“And” -. Continued Greed, ignoring their questions for the time being. – “If you think you look ugly, you should see me when I get angry or, even worse, see some of my brothers.”
Hearing that Greed had a family certainly picked both Spike’s and Thorax’s attention but Greed never let them time to ponder on it.
“Trust me, some of them were really ugly, especially Envy. He was so ugly that…” – he then looked at Thorax for a brief moment and quickly changed what he was about to say, - “that he actually needed to change his appearance to be among others, unlike you, who has nothing wrong with how you look.”
Thorax gave Greed a skeptic glare as he wondered how truthful he was being at this right moment.
“Sorry but” -, responded the changeling, - “I don’t believe you. I mean, how ugly must he had been to actually need to change his appearance?”
Greed kept his smile as he factually said:
“He has multiple legs, multiple eyes, a melting face and is taller than a building and I am being nice on the description of that good for nothing abomination.”
Both Spike and Thorax got surprised at his description and tried to bring some sense to it as they wondered if he held the same opinion of the rest of his family. For Thorax though, he could only accept the fact that he, indeed, wasn’t as repulsive as he thought of himself to be.
“Alright then, I suppose he was actually ugly but how can I be accepted after what Chrysalis did?”
Greed took a moment to think about that, after all, if changelings weren’t hated before, they would certainly be hated now and there was little to nothing he could do about it at this moment.
“Well” -, Greed answered with certain doubt on his voice, - “you got me there” -, he then gave a warming smile, - “but that kind of things are fixed over time, not on a single night, so let’s rest on this night while we try to think on what to do.”
“Night?” – Asked Thorax as he indicated up, pointing out how the moon was starting to set down and leave the sky clear for the sun very soon. – “Sorry but, I think we won’t have much of the night to rest, also” -, he then started to look around the forest with huge worry, - “I don’t think it’s a good idea to sleep on the Everfree Forest. It isn’t a very safe place.”
At this Greed showed much interest, so he decided to ask more about it.
“Really? And what makes it so dangerous?”
Thorax quickly looked at Greed with big bafflement and quickly responded.
“Well, the animals in here are very ferocious, the weather works on its own and the plants grow at their own pace and not even counting that some of them can be poisonous. Not even the ponies can control it, so many prefer to avoid it altogether.”
Greed started to think about it. Sure, it sounded dangerous to pony standards albeit very common compared to where used to live. Perhaps the mysterious flora and fauna made it slightly more dangerous but nothing he couldn’t handle. He would later see what he could do about it.
“Well, if you put it that way, I suppose it could be dangerous for the common folk.”
Thorax couldn’t feel anything but curiosity at what he just said but he wasn’t sure how to see more into it, not that it stopped him from trying to ask more about it.
“The common folk? So you’re not afraid?”
Greed looked at Thorax with confidence on his eyes and simply shrugged.
“Me? Of course not, I doubt that there is a single creature in this forest that can stand to me and I’ll be sure to be careful with the plants and as long as you are with me, you have nothing to fear either.”
Thorax was shocked by this; sure, he understood that Greed could have some acceptance of him as a changeling, but allowing to follow him after what was done to Canterlot?
“Wait, being with you? Are you sure of that?”
Greed simply smiled as he assured Thorax that nothing wrong was going on.
“Sure” -, he calmly said, - “I see that you are well intended and I see no reason to not trust you so far.”
Neither Spike nor Thorax knew what Greed was thinking at that very moment. Spike, while he was accepting of the idea to forgive Thorax, since he was more on the side of not judging all the changelings equally and that everybody deserved a second chance, but he was well aware that Greed wasn’t exactly that kind of thinker; Thorax, meanwhile, wasn’t so sure if Greed was someone you could trust but, the hard facts were that, he had nowhere else to go, going to the ponies was dangerous on its own, going back to his old hive was out of the question and he was certain that living alone wasn’t feasible so he had no other choice but to stay with Greed.
“Well, uh” -. Accepted an undecided Thorax. – “Thank you.”
“No problem” -. Said a very calm Greed as he stood up and started to move. – “Well, time to go; as you said, this is no place to rest.”
“Really?” – Asked a worried Thorax who was still anxious for the uncertainty of what was to come very soon. – “Where to?”
Greed put one on his claws on his chin and started to gather his thoughts, not really sure of where to begin his plans but really sure he needed to start somewhere. He looked at the forest as he contemplated his plans, what he wanted, what he truly wanted.
He wanted everything; that was for sure. From gold to gems, from loyal subjects to female companions, from every piece of land this kingdom had to the very sun and moon (something quite possible in this world) and, as he pondered on this desires, he failed to notice how his body slightly grew but, before he could keep on thinking on what his heart ambitioned, he went back to the ground and asked the real question: how was he planning to achieve all of this?
Reality was that, he first needed to make a name for himself. Preferable, one as far away of Spike‘s as possible and that meant that he couldn’t take credit from helping on Chrysalis’s defeat, at least not for now.
He started to move sideways as his mind started to think on all the ways possible to make himself a name. This wasn’t a conflicting nation, so going to war wasn’t an option, at the same time, he couldn’t try to get close to the government on the risk of getting captured, knowing very well the Equestrians may try to separate him from his body and Spike. That left him with only one option: Starting a business and raise from there.
He then started to look at his appearance and how ‘naked’ he was. This wouldn’t do, he needed to change his looks if he wanted to be among the equestrians and he needed to be as far away from Spike’s friends as possible. That only left him with one route, one that he was certain it was going to carry him more problems on the long run but he saw no other way out so far.
“We’ll go to Ponyville first, gather some stuff from there and then we’ll move somewhere else.”
That was a decision that neither Spike not Thorax saw coming but they were sure that this wasn’t a ride where they could decide where to go so they decided to follow him, especially because Greed needed both of them to move around the treacherous forest and finally get to Ponyville right before dawn and, seeing that Fluttershy’s house was still empty, Twilight and her friends still weren’t here yet.
Seeing the town so peaceful was a something that all of them wanted to look at and enjoy. Compared to the chaos suffered in Canterlot, Ponyville remained peaceful and quiet, as if it were immune to the dangers of the world despite living so close to such dangerous forest capable of lurking the most furious creatures ever known in history.
“Alright then” -. Said Thorax as he broke the silenced brought by the Equestrian town. – “What do we do now?”
Greed then decided to look at his changeling partner with a simple smile and told him with a confidence only held by those who are perfectly aware of how nuts the plan is but that it can still work due to how insane it could actually be.
“You are going to Ponyville, disguised as one of the Elements of Harmony, and you are going to bring me some stuff I need.”
“What!?” – It was the best word that could encapsulate all of Thorax’s thoughts and feelings at that moment. – “Is that why you accepted me? So I could get in there and do some fetch for you?”
“No, trust me; I really believe your word” -. Reassured Greed to the skeptic changeling. – “And, I assure you, that I would have done this anyway but your skills are much more useful than me and, besides, we’re still early so it’s very unlikely that anyone could make some questions to you.”
“Alright then” -. To say that Thorax was really doubtful of this would be an understatement but he saw no other choice for him. – “But why the Elements?”
“Simple: The stuff I need may be easier to get if you take their appearance, more specifically, clothes to hide my looks and some books to now more of Equestria, especially one about the flora and fauna in the Everfree Forest.”
Thorax gave Greed a questioning look, he could easily understand why he wanted to change his looks but he still wasn’t sure of this plan.
“But” -, pressed Thorax, - “what if I get captured? How do I know that you’ll go for me?”
Greed simply made a smug smile, showing his razor-like teeth (slightly scaring Thorax) and he answered in a way that made Thorax wonder what kind of individual Greed actually was.
“Easy, you can be certain that I’ll go for you because I am Greed; I want money, I want women, I want power, I want a privileged position, I want it all. I cannot abandon anything I own because my greed is too big to be controlled and that includes you. Since you are with me, I cannot simply abandon you. Should something happen, I’ll go after you because I cannot accept that anything under my care to be put into harm.”
This was enough for Thorax to, for the time being, put his trust into Greed, so he took Rarity’s appearance and moved (not before Greed reminded him of also getting Spike’s stuff on Ponyville’s library) but for Spike, this was what made him understand that Greed wasn’t going to let the body go.
If he was at least a bit, just a little bit, serious about how greedy he was, then he was never going to let the body go. Sure, Spike was grateful with him for helping into stopping Chrysalis but he wanted the body back, he wanted to move around, he wanted to be back with Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and the precious Rarity.
The thing is that, Spike wasn’t sure of how to get the body back. Sure, he could try to make a deal with Greed but just how much would he allow him to use it? He was certain that Greed wasn’t going to let Spike go back to the library, that was a certainty if he was planning to leave with his stuff as well.
This was something that Spike would be dwelling on as Thorax would come back from time to time with some saddlebags and pieces of clothing that Greed would put on himself, making him look slightly different from before but it wasn’t a perfect fit as the shades weren’t the exact kind he liked and the suit felt more for those refined nobles that used it more for show rather than mobility, which is why he decided to cut off the suit’s sleeves (much to Spike’s dismay) but it would suffice for the moment, all he needed was something to cover him up while he made the funds to get a better look.
Then came all the books Greed was asking for: pony anatomy, equestrian history, laws, botanic research, Spike’s belongings and the latest scientific magazines, no Everfree book or anything related to dragons though. It was all he could ask for except for a few things.
“Well” -, Greed happily said, - “all we need left is a map and probably a huge bag to hold all of this stuff.”
Thorax sighed and started to move back but not before Greed told him.
“Look, don’t worry, this is the last I’ll ask for you and then we’ll head somewhere else, I promise. Now, if you excuse me, I’ll go to the farm to check what do they have in there and then come back here.”
Thorax simply shrugged and went back to Ponyville, this time disguised as Twilight Sparkle and started to move while Greed went to Sweet Apple Acres. To make it short, this was the moment where Twilight and her friends got back to Ponyville and while Applejack wouldn’t see the fake Twilight, both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy would and they, along an angry Rarity and Rainbow Dash, would begin a chase around Ponyville trying to capture the changeling which would lead to Thorax getting back to the Library (searching for a place to hide) and he would find the book related to the Everfree Greed asked for as well for a map. He would then change his looks for Lyra and claim that she asked for the book and Twilight allowed her to take it.
It would be between this time and the other Elements getting to the library, thanks to Owloiscious’s work, and seeing that Twilight wasn’t there that they would go after Applejack in the hopes of finding their two friends, not aware that the changeling they were searching for took a very different direction.
Meanwhile, when Greed finally got to Sweet Apple Acres, he couldn’t stop himself from taking a good look at the sweet red apples on those trees and remembered that he now had a body that needed sustenance.
“Well” -, he thought, - “not as much needing sustenance and more making sure of not wasting my Philosopher’s Stone on replacing the necessary energy that I could simply get by eating.”
So, after searching for a big enough bag that could hold all the stuff he found, he started to pick the apples that would sate the hunger that was invading his stomach. And it was during this moment that he was interrupted by a very familiar voice.
“Hold it right there, you vermin!”
Greed turned around and saw, to his surprise, none other than Applejack, the Element of Honesty, and realized that, if she was here, then the other Elements were in Ponyville as well and that meant that Thorax was in danger but, before he could go back and search for him, he first needed to deal with the farmer.
“Vermin?” – Started to answer Greed on a confident tone of voice, well aware that he wasn’t on the best position to be found. – “Is that how you call the one who fought Chrysalis while you stood there and did nothing?”
Applejack visibly flinched at this accusation, still feeling awful for not being able to help much on the invasion but that wouldn’t stop her from doing what she had to.
“Now don’t change the subject there, fella’” -, she responded with determination, - “You may have helped with Chrysalis but that doesn’t excuse you from taking Spike’s body, knocking down Rainbow Dash and stealing from mah’ farm.”
Greed looked at her seriously for a brief moment, but he then started to give a smug smile and decided to clarify what Applejack said.
“Alright, on the first place, I knocked her down because she was chasing me and, as amazing as I may be, I’m not the type who likes stalkers; on the second place, as strong and powerful as I may be, this body still needs care and sustenance and I’m not too sure of what is edible on the Everfree, so you can look at this as a loan with a promise to a back payment with interest” -. And, once he said this, his smile started to turn malicious in nature, making Applejack shudder and remember that she was talking to the one who decided to take on a changeling queen while she was a simple earth pony. – “And, on the third place, I already made a deal with Spike, so this body is now mine” -. His claws then started to turn black, something that Applejack still remembered what it entailed, and dared her. – “If you really think you can do something about it, then come and take it.”
Applejack stood there, motionless, as she saw Greed taking a fighting posture, ready to face her should she decide to fight him but, what could she do? She may be strong, sure, but she wasn’t sure that she would be able to fight him on her own and Greed knew this.
“Just as I thought.”
And with his answer given, he decided to leave the farm, apples in tow, to get back with Thorax.
Now, while he was leaving, Applejack’s mind quickly started to think on what to do. She was certain that she couldn’t win a fight but, as the situation got more desperate, she tried to rationalize that she didn’t actually have to win the fight. No, all she needed to do was to immobilize Greed long enough for her friends to get there and everything would smoothen from there onward.
It was under that rationale that she decided to take her lasso, tie Greed’s neck and bring him down. From there, she was going to try and tie him up but, to her surprise, Greed’s claws not only were strong, but also sharp, for he simply cut the rope with little effort thanks to his black scales.
He then looked at Applejack with a face that only told her of how much she screwed up. She felt as if she opened The Gates of Tartarus and it was about to unleash all of its fury on her. His eyes were shining with pulse, making it feel as if he was now asking for her body while his smile was peeling his razor-like teeth, making Applejack wonder just how strong his bite may be as well. His muscles started to flex and his black scales started to grow to the point that they now covered his whole arms.
“Just how far can you make those scales grow?”
It was the only question Applejack’s mind could make up as she saw how Greed was now getting closer to her with what, it looked like to be, pure anger.
- “So” -. Greed said as his voice almost spitted venom towards Applejack. – “You can complain and accuse me of being a bandit all you want but it is fine for you to make a cowardly attack on my back, right?”
As he started to get closer to Applejack, the farmer could only but shrink on fear, knowing full well that she started something she couldn’t finish.
“St-stop right there” -. She tried to vocalize with her fearful voice. – “Or I’ll buck you hard enough to send you flying back to the Everfree.”
Seeing Greed’s smile widening wasn’t the effect Applejack was hoping for.
“Oh, really?” – Greed started to challenge as, for a brief moment to Applejack’s ear, it felt like his voice was starting to change. – “Is that something you’re actually going to do? or will you do that while I’m not looking?”
Seeing Greed getting closer (and faster) forced Applejack to quickly turn around and prepare the strongest buck she ever did on her life, not seeing how Greed’s black scales were now expanding even more and they were now covering his whole body except for the head so, when Applejack made the buck of her life, she ended up hitting the strongest material in existence.
Suffice to say that Greed didn’t suffer any type of damage but he did fly quite a few meters, much to his surprise.
“Ugh” -. It was the first thing Greed could say after going through the shock of being flung away from a single kick. – “So that’s what she meant with ‘bucking me’” -. He then started to regain himself, trying to see where he landed and where his stuff was located. – “I’ll have to give her credit though, she did send me flying” -. He passed his claw through his stomach, well aware of how much strength is needed to pull out something like that. – “Good thing I raised my shield, otherwise, she may have actually hurt me.”
He then saw her on the ground, crying, wondering for a brief moment what was she doing until he remembered what happened to the last thing that punched him hard while he was wearing his full armor. If he was capable of breaking an automail made of full metal, then he was certain that bones were going to brake.
Seeing Applejack crying in pain for her broken legs made Greed wonder if it would have been better to receive the full blow, but he also wasn’t keen on getting that kind of pain, as short as it may have been felt.
“What have you done!?” – Asked an angry Spike. – “You hurt one of my friends!”
“Sorry kid” -, said Greed on his most truthful voice, ignoring if Applejack was listening or not, - “my intention was scaring her, not breaking her bones.”
“Really!? What did you think she meant when she said, ‘I’ll buck you hard enough to send you flying back to the Everfree’!?”
“I don’t know! How was I supposed to know that what I know as ‘kicks’ you know it as ‘buck’!? Now I have to see how I can fix this!”
“Fix!? You actually think you can fix this… wait… you can pass her your healing abilities in some way?”
“Sorry kid, but no. Only I can use it and the only way they can be used by anyone else is by someone who knows healing alchemy and is skillful enough to use my… powers… to cure her.”
“Sis’! Are you alri…”
When Greed turned around, he saw, to his dismay, the little Applebloom in shock at what was going on to her big sister. Greed was trying to say something but the little filly quickly went back to the house, probably to get some help from her family, leaving Greed alone with Applejack once again, who was still in pain for her broken legs. In the end, Greed only saw one possible option; knocking Applejack down with a strong enough hit and hope for some medical pony to treat her while she was still unconscious.
“Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”
“Sorry kid” -. Responded Greed with a tone of voice that showed no emotion. – “She is in a lot of pain and this is the best I could come up with. Hopefully, she’ll get medical attention before her senses come back. For us, though, we are getting late. We must return to the rendezvous point and meet back with Thorax, he must be getting worried for us not being there when we were supposed to... if they haven’t captured him yet. If they did, then we have to make an escape plan.”
And so, they left Sweet Apple Acres with the big bag and a lot of apples and, when they got back to the meeting point, started to put all the stuff they got so far on the bag, thinking that this day couldn’t get any worse.
“Stop right there!”
Or so he thought.
By this point, Greed wasn’t on the mood to see anyone else but it would be a lie if he said that he didn’t expect Twilight to be the exact one to find him there so, even though he wasn’t on the mood to talk anymore, he decided to respond in the best way he could come up with:
“Well, what do we have here? If it is Spike’s mom.”
Seeing Twilight unaffected by his comment didn’t give Greed any confidence but he needed to ease the tension right now if he wanted things to smooth up.
- “Why the icy glare? Is it because of your friends I left unconscious?” – He then started to look up as he scratched his head with his right claw, trying to think of the best way to let clear that he didn’t actually want to hurt them, far from it. – “Look, I’m sorry for that, in fact, I really don’t like hitting girls but the blue pegasus didn’t stop from following me and your farm friend decided to pick up a fight with me” -. He then looked back at Twilight, who looked even angrier now, and quickly tried to calm her. – “Ok, I’ll admit that I challenged her to stop me but, when I saw how much hurting she was going through for her legs, I had to knock her down so she stopped feeling the pain, I swear it was done with the best intentions!”
Seeing Twilight getting angrier didn’t give Greed much confidence but, he hoped, that maybe talking he could solve this situation, so he let her talk now.
“Really?” – She started responding with a tone of voice that showed how much she was trying to remain calm, much to Greed’s relief. – “You really think saying sorry will fix up everything?”
Greed kept looking at her, really understanding what she was meaning by that but, as hard as he thought, he really couldn’t think of a way to apologize for what he did except, probably, paying up the medical expenses on a later future.
“Well” -. He said with a tone of voice that, he hoped, would convey how awful he felt for that. – “No, actually, I don’t think that saying sorry will be enough, but I do promise to pay back all the expenses they may go through.”
Seeing Twilight’s eyebrows rising with curiosity gave Greed some hope.
“Pay back all the expenses?”
Greed started to gain some confidence as he saw how Twilight was probably open to what he said.
“All of them. From the medical expenses to everything I just took from your friends and with interest. I promise.”
After saying this, Twilight started to give Greed a second look and, much to his displeasure, she only looked even angrier.
“Really!?” – Twilight started yelling with complete anger at him. – “You really think that we are all going to forgive you for stealing from us just because you have just promised to pay us back!? Not only that but you have even done it by using Spike’s body. Do you really think nobody will ignore how Spike has been stealing from others? You are ruining Spike’s life and all you can say about it is an apology and promise that you’ll pay us back!? How do you even plan to pay back Spike for ruining his life!?”
Greed gave Twilight a hard stare before sitting back and started to give the situation a bigger thought, at which, he simply answered.
“I know that an apology isn’t enough, but it was hard to make up a plan on the short term. I need stuff to start my true plans and, to make it a reality; I had to do something that could create the platform needed to start it all. Again, sorry, but this was the best I could come up with.”
Greed noticed how she was about to shout again, so he decided to quickly continue talking before she had any chance of keeping on accusing him of doing wrong.
“Besides, what makes you think that I’m ruining Spike’s image?” – He then started to smile, showing his sharp teeth while he started to show his right hand, the one containing the snake eating itself up. – “For all they’ll know soon, Spike helped defeating Chrysalis and the changeling invasion and, very soon, they’ll start to hear about Greed and how great he is.”
Granted, he couldn’t say what those plans were, but he could at least give some clarifications where he could.
“Besides, it wasn’t an actual theft. Let’s call it an ‘unilateral loan with a promise to pay back the interest’ at a monthly 1% interest rate. It’s not a bad deal” -. He then looked with a smug smile as he simply stated. – “And, even still, if you really want to call it theft, well, it wasn’t me who stole it. I have done nothing wrong so far accusations go.”
And then Twilight said the words that ruined Greed’s mood once more.
“Really? What about Spike? You stole his body!”
Greed simply looked at her in a boring way, already getting fed up of that accusation and answered back with the patience of a teacher trying to explain as carefully as he could to a student that had a hard time understanding a simple fact.
“This again? Look, I already said it back in Canterlot, so I’ll say it again. It was a deal between Spike and me, he gave me the body and, in exchange, I would help on getting rid of the changelings. I did my part and now I own the body, this is legitimately mine and I’m not giving it back.”
He hoped that she would at least try to understand but he certainly didn’t expect her to start breaking up in tears.
“If that’s so, then why he didn’t tell me anything?” – Seeing how she was tearing up, Greed started to wonder if her case wasn’t as much as her not understanding and more being on denial. – “Why he didn’t tell me that you were there? Why acted as if everything was fine…? I need to hear it from him…. Please.”
Greed was going to answer but he then heard Spike trying to say something about it, forcing Greed to stop the conversation with Twilight to first listen at what Spike was saying.
“Hold on”.
“Look” -, Spike started saying, - “When I woke up that day, I wasn’t aware of you. In fact, I didn’t even remember meeting you until you started to talk but, by that point, I wasn’t sure of what to say, all I thought was that she would probably scold me for lying and that scared me a bit.”
As he heard Spike, Greed decided to turn around to listen better as well as hoping that Twilight wouldn’t attack him on his back.
“Look, if you really are going to keep the body, could you please give me a moment to tell her sorry and to explain how I was afraid of her?”
“Are you sure?”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Look, I was there when she was reprimanding you and the way you acted doesn’t, exactly, fit with what you just said right now.”
Greed was going to explain how he noticed Spike being angrier than scared but, before he could elaborate, they were interrupted.
“Spike? Is that you?”
Greed turned and saw Twilight with a face that only spelled how heartbroken she was. It was quite clear to him that she was probably missing him a lot and made him wonder if there was something he could do to ease the tensions. Perhaps he could let him talk to her from time to time or maybe just loan Spike the body for a few hours so he could enjoy some moment with her.
“Please” -. She begged, really making Greed considering what he could do about this situation at hand. – “Tell me what happened.”
It was here that Greed decided to let Spike get the body for enough time to, at the very least, make amends with Twilight and have a conversation that could allow then to patch things up, situation that Spike wasn’t expecting at all.
“Twilight…” – Spike tried to formulate any kind of words to the one that has been there for him since he was hatched but they just wouldn’t come up. – “I…”
He knew he had to say something, but he wasn’t sure of what. Sure, he wanted to patch things up but, only for Greed to keep the body for the rest of eternity and never see her back? What could he say if this was the last conversation he could have with her?
“Spike, talk to me” -. Her words were starting to get to him. – “Is there something I did wrong for you to stay away from me? Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”
She doing something wrong? No, if there was something Spike was certain of, was that Twilight didn’t do anything wrong and he had to clarify that.
“No, Twilight, you didn’t do anything wrong” -. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand while he was regretting never being honest about this situation on the first place. – “It was me who…” -. Then Spike remembered that moment he asked Greed how they could be separated and an epiphany came to him. – “Twilight! Quick!” – There was no time; he had to say it before Greed took over once more. – “He told me once that, in order to separate us, you need to know alchemy!”
“You clever little snake.”
Spike’s mind then saw how he no longer was controlling the body and was sent back to the corners of his mind as Greed took over once more as his tone of voice sounded angry and it scared him how cheery he was behaving on the outside.
“Sorry, but it looks like your number one assistant needs to gather his thoughts better. You can make an appointment for a next time and he, hopefully, will have something to actually say to you that is actually related to what you asked him.”
As Greed was starting to leave, quite certain that Twilight wasn’t going to leave him and he no longer felt safe around her, he then felt a lavender aura started to surround his body and it raised him up from the ground.
“No” -. Said a defiant Twilight. – “I will not give up Spike yet and certainly not when I know there is a way to get him back.”
Greed tried to free himself up from being levitated but, to his frustration, all his attempts were for naught. He was captured by Twilight Sparkle, who wasn’t wasting her time in telling him what he was really tired of hearing.
“Look, I understand that you may not like this, but that body doesn’t belong to you, it belongs to Spike, and I am going to recover him, no matter what” -. She then mentioned something that quite picked his interest. – “And, if you are so worried about having a body, well, I-“
She was then interrupted as something struck her on her back, quickly releasing Greed, who reincorporated himself and started to clean his suit as he saw a mint green unicorn getting close to him.
“Sorry for taking so long” -. Responded the mare with a serious tone of voice but it was enough for Greed to understand who it actually was. – “But I ran into a few troubles in Ponyville and was forced to lose the Elements of Harmony from tracking me as well as searching for a moment to get back all the stuff you asked me for.”
‘She’ then moved ‘her’ head back towards ‘her’ saddlebags and brought out a book.
“I also decided to stop by the library once more and picked another book that’s related to the things we may find in the Everfree Forest, since you seemed too keen on the flora and fauna surrounding this place.”
Greed the decided to look at the book Thorax brought and it eliminated the anger he got from what just happened.
“Alright then, I suppose that I can forgive you if that is why you took so long” -. He then looked back at Twilight, who was starting to lose her consciousness as he noticed how she looked around everywhere with her eyes. – “And what will happen to her?”
Thorax simply shrugged and continued as if nothing wrong happened.
“I used a special spell on her that’ll first paralyze her body and then start to knock her down. The pain and speed of the process depends on the will of the spell’s victim” – Greed then looked at Twilight and she looked back at him. Greed was really wondering if nothing wrong would happen to Twilight but Thorax reassured him of it. – “She won’t die, if that is what worries you, but it’s more likely that the creatures of the Everfree will kill her if we leave her alone.”
It was then that they all heard Rainbow Dash’s voice not too long from where they were located.
“Well” -. Said a calm Greed. – “I suppose that means she won’t be alone very soon. Shoot a flare to indicate that cocky pegasus where we are so she can find her friend.”
As they were starting to move, Greed decided that he really needed some time to properly talk with Spike. Something like this should never repeat itself again and he was going to make sure that Spike never tried to pull out something like this. He then looked back at Thorax, who was being surprisingly loyal despite being put into so much danger and Greed decided to make the obvious question:
“Also, why are you keeping up that appearance? You do know that you don’t need to look like that anymore, right?”
Thorax looked back and saw how Twilight was finally knocked down and decided to remove his disguise, certain that his true appearance wasn’t going to be seen and continued his way as Greed started to look at the book Thorax brought.
“Oh yeah” -. Greed said in a cheery tone. – “You did a fine job Thorax, with this; we can finally start doing something more responsible and ethical than being simple thieves. Very soon, we’ll start to gain funds by doing a very well earning and respectable job.”
This brought some curiosity to the changeling. His plan to rise to fame was through actual work? Well, that would explain why he needed all of this stuff but, regardless, that was a conversation for later. Right now, there was only one thing he wanted to know.
“A job, ok, it doesn’t sound so bad. What kind of job are we going to make?”
The answer certainly wasn’t what Thorax expected from someone like Greed although it did make sense when you thought about it.
“A bar!”