//------------------------------//
// Chapter 39: Returns 
// Story: Spike of All Trades 
// by Ariamaki 
//------------------------------//

The dirt roads were harder now, the softness from the overnight rain well and truly gone. All that water had been sent back to the sky to become more clouds again. It lent a pleasant click and clack to Spike's claws as he walked, and a soft familiar clunk and thump to the Crusaders' hooves. He focused on the sounds as they moved, which only threw him off pace a little when Apple Bloom spoke up.

"So ah... We tellin' mah brother an' sister 'bout this?"

"About..."

She gestured at Spike.
"This."

"Oh! Um. Hrm. I had planned to eventually, yeah: I think it would be a bad idea to keep Twilight and her friends in the dark about it. They'd just find out anyways and stuff would get complicated."

"Right, eventually. But right away? Ah know you've got a schedule ta keep."

That was a fair point. He could tell Applejack about it and then make an excuse to bolt, but that somehow felt like it would be worse than not telling her at all. So it'd eat into his remaining time, maybe by a lot. But dealing with a sudden Interrupting Applejack from behind would probably take even more time, and failing that, then the issues of catching her up on the entire thing later...

"I think I'll tell her, but I'll keep it simple. I can wait to spill the whole mess again when we've got everypony we want to tell together at once, right? I mean, I told Rarity and Pinkie the schpiel earlier, and Twilight's going to hear it all later, but... The idea of explaining the whole thing six or seven more times is exhausting just to think about. So I'll give the others the short version"

"What's your 'short version' gonna sound like?"

"Um... Lemme figure that out on the way."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes but didn't press him any further, so he got to work... He was a dragon of his word after all, and he had every intention of being prepared when they got to Sweet Apple Acres. Eventually the short version boiled down to: "I think I woke up this morning with the dragon equivalent of a Cutie Mark, and it made me into a living video game character."

Sure half of that was only theory, but it was both his leading theory and the shortest way to phrase the situation. And it wasn't like he had a lot of time to come up with anything else: They were already at the gates and Applejack was closer than he expected, bucking some of the trees at the edge of the property. She turned to look as soon as the four of them got close, a smile lighting up her face once she realized who had arrived. Out of a newly-growing instinct, Spike looked up to check the words above her hat.


[Steadfast Farmpony]
Applejack
LV 27


"Well hay there! I wondered if ye'd be makin' it back fer dinner, Bloom."

"Ah'd have told you if ah wasn't gonna, AJ!"

"Sure, sure. Not like ah don't know that: Just ribbin' ya a bit."

Apple Bloom stepped away from the rest of the group and made her way over to the tree her sister had just finished, grabbing a loose apple and flipping it up into the basket. Meanwhile, Applejack took another look over the rest of their group.

"Ya'll headin' home too?"

Scootaloo nodded vigorously, her wings fluttering a bit.
"Yup! Spike's accompanying us."

"Oh, now who's the dictionary?"

"That's a normal word and you know it, Sweetie."

"Yeah, yeah, tell it to the other books when you get back to the library."

Just like earlier, both of them were smiling despite their tone.
"If you make a joke about Spike 'shelfing' me I am going to-"

Spike felt the need to interject there.
"Nope! Technical foul: Bringing in a bystander as part of a rebuttal. Match goes to Ms. Belle."

"Aw come on!"

"...I'll re- your -buttal?"

"Nevermind, the point goes to nobody. Everypony loses. We all lose. Equestria has lost just for being the stage of this conversation."

Applejack cleared her throat, looking off to one side as she tried not to laugh.
"Ah'm most definit'ly still here."

"Right! Sorry. Reflex."

"Yeah, force of habit."

"Ah swear ah can't tell if makin' up with Diamond an' Silver was good fer you girls, or plum awful."

It was times like these that Spike wished he had some kind of outfit with pockets: It seemed like a good opportunity to stick his hands in them and shrug. Instead he settled for just the shrug.
"I dunno how they all feel, but to me everypony seemed a lot more... well-rounded, after that? I think they balance each other pretty well, and either way it's nice having more friends and fewer enemies."

"True enough, that's fer sure. Anyway, what brings ya'll over with 'em today? I figured you and Twilight would be workin' up a storm, this time of year."

"Oh! Nope, the official Sparkle Household Spring Cleaning and Organization Festival (Ponyville Regional Edition) is on hold. Twilight had business in Canterlot."

Applejack raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment any further.

"Buuuut, I did want to tell you why I'm out and about today, even before you asked."

"Well go'on, Ah'm all ears!"

OK, here was where it got tricky... Actually saying any of the things he came up with.
"Well, uh, you know how dragons don't have Cutie Marks?"

He resisted the urge to facepalm at himself. Great job, Spike. Top score! The crowd goes wild.

"Eeeeyup. Ah'm well aware dragons aint' ponies... Not intendin' offense, mind ya."

"Nah, I getcha. I'm just beating around the bush anyways. What I'm saying is... When I woke up this morning, I think I had a bit of a magical growth spurt. So the dragon equivalent."

Applejack looked him over again before nodding.
"And a phys'cal one ta match, huh?"

"It was definitely related, yes."

"Well congrat'lations! But..."

It was Spike's turn to look at his friend for answers.
"But?"

"Whole reason Ah was buckin' the front field this early was all the work needs doin' inside the house tonight. Wouldn't bother ya too much if'n we talk about this later, right?"

Huh. A built-in out!
"Oh, no! Not a problem at all. I'd actually rather explain it to the whole crew instead of explaining it, what, six or seven times all told?"

"Swell! Sounds like that'd be best fer us both then. Just keep me in tha loop, ya hear?"

He nodded and stepped back from the front gate, letting it close and separate their groups.
"Sounds like a plan, Applejack: You all have a good one!"

Apple Bloom shot him a curious expression and Spike shook his head. If they were going to put off explaining things, they might as well put it all the way off. In the end, there was no sense in her telling her folks about what all they did today. Certainly not now, anyways. Either way, that meant she was safely home and he was free to take Sweetie and Scootaloo back to their places.

"Oh yeah, Scootaloo, I'm dropping you off at Dash's place, right?"

"Yup! Folks are out of town again, and my aunts are still on vacation in Neighpon."

Well, that simplified things... If he remembered where Rainbow Dash had parked her cloud house today, the path home would actually be a straight shot across town: From here to the Boutique, from there to Dash's place, back to Sugar Cube Corner to pick up their share of the tamale (zacahuil, he corrected himself in the back of his head), drop that off at home, pick up the last fine near Fluttershy's, visit her to (hopefully) round off that quest... And then back home in time to meet Twilight and complete all of his quest objectives.

The walk from Sweet Apple Acres to the Carousel Boutique had never seemed quite so long... But it was also oddly quiet. None of them really spoke or acted, simply walking and soaking in the events of the day. The birds were as active as ever, the trees flourishing to their full glory, the roads dried brittle-hard after a night of rain and a warm day. As they covered the last stretch of road, Spike wracked his brain for things he could, or should, say...

"Oh! Before I forget: Rarity already knows everything, I told her earlier. And I met your aunt and uncle Ammo, Sweetie, but I didn't tell them the details. Just in case it comes up."

"Right. OK, that seems pretty easy to keep track of: We know and Sis knows, but nopony else."

"And Pinkie, remember? I think I mentioned that."

Scootaloo buzzed up from the surface for a moment, gliding to get a better angle to speak to Spike.
"Yeah you did, but what's up with that? I can get you telling Rarity, but... why Pinkie?"

"Um... She's Pinkie."

Scootaloo blinked and dropped back to her hooves.
"No, you know what? Fair enough."

"Yeah, I know if I woke up with weird powers and was seeing things, I'd talk to her first."

"I mean, it was either that or get Discord back out of the statue."

They all went quiet for a moment. Spike stopped and looked between then two of them.
"You don't think I should ha-"

"NOPE!"

"Oh pony no. No. Just lost my train of thought. I second the 'nope'."

"Then we're all agreed! And here. We are also all here."

"Hey, that's my gag!"

Rarity was unspooling her clotheslines from the poles outside of the Boutique, bringing everything back inside now that the fabric she had hung in the morning was all dry. Well to be more accurate, her magic was doing that. Rarity the pony was kicking back on a delicate pink lounge chair, a glass of lemonade in one hoof and a romance novel in the other. She nodded over the top of the book to the approaching group, her magic still working away across the yard.

"Hello girls! Hello Spike."

For maybe the first time, Spike didn't feel any hesitation or nervousness when he heard that greeting. Instead he just nodded back, with a side of extra-wide smile.
"Hey Rarity. Everything go well after lunch?"

"Oh, yes! I've gotten quite a lot done, if I do say so myself. And you?"

He raised one claw and gave it a slight wiggle.
"Eh, so-so. We had a ton of fun and it helped a lot, but I do think we ran a bit over time."

Rarity's expression was slightly wistful, although he couldn't place why.
"Aaah, isn't that always the way... I suppose you'll be off in a hurry, then?"

Before he could reply, Sweetie looked between the two of them several times before throwing her hooves up in the air and trotting her way over to the Boutique.
"You two being normal around each other for once is weird."

A moment later they all burst into chuckles and giggles, while Rarity set her drink and book aside before walking over to the front of the yard. She looked back towards her sister and sighed.
"Don't let me keep you any longer: I'll just roast my dear sister for the details, hmm?"

Sweetie shouted back from the front door with a frown.
"Hey! I'd have told you without any roasting at all."

"Really?"

"...Bargaining at most. I sure could use a big dessert tonight, hint hint."

"Well that remains to be seen. As for you, Spike... I'm sorry again, about earlier."

He rubbed the spines along the back of his head bashfully, not wanting to meet her gaze.
"No, that's... Well. We can both be sorry, right? I shouldn't have blown up so bad."

"Does that mean I shouldn't have 'blown you up'?"

"...See, I want to blame you for that pun? But I totally walked into that."

"Like a rake in a Vaudeville act, darling. But in all seriousness do come back to visit soon! We should think about making some outfits for your... new situation."

He nodded before he even really thought about it. It was, after all, a generous offer. Even moreso considering the pony herself. Learning clothesmaking from Rarity had... potential.
"Sure! Maybe I could try to pick up some new skills from you? We can talk more about it later, obviously."

"That would be lovely, Spike! And I will see you two again soon: Be good at Rainbow Dash's, Scootaloo."

The filly rolled her eyes, but it was clearly exaggerated.
"Sure thing, Mom. Not like I could mess her place up any worse than she does."

"...Valid point. Ahem, well I... I should probably get started on that dessert. Tata!"