//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 *edited* // Story: Stray Ardor // by thewaffler //------------------------------// A/N: The library is made bigger in this fic and certain technologies exist in this as well. The sunlight slowly crept into the room from the window and hit Spike's eyelids. He woke up and tried to use his claw to block the sun, but he noticed the blanket was over him and saw Scootaloo peacefully asleep with a smile on her face next to him. Spike looked at her for a moment and remembered what she told him yesterday about her not having a real home. He felt bad and he continued to stare at her, but then he had an idea. He slowly edged out of the bed and tip-toed out of the tree house. Spike jumped from halfway down the ladder into the damp ground, the rain had soaked the ground and he ran off with his feet making squish noises in the orchard soil. Spike entered the library after wiping his feet off on the mat outside and closed the door behind him. Twilight was asleep on the couch and heard the door close, she woke up and shook her head and quickly got up from the couch. She trotted over to Spike with an angry expression. "Spike! Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" She was expressing her usual motherly protection. "Twilight I-" Twilight raised her hooves in the air. "What if you were hurt? Do you think I can handle it if something bad happened to you!?" Spike raised a claw. "But-" "You could at least tell me if you're not coming home! I was completely clueless on where or what you were doing!" "Twilight!" Spike said as she shook her from her shoulders. "What?" Spike released her and spoke. "Twilight, I stayed the night in the clubhouse on Sweet Apple Acres." "Wha...Why would you do that?" "Because Scoots lives there." Spike said as he crossed his arms. "Why does Scootaloo live in a treehouse?" Spike looked down as he remembered her story. "She lives there because she’s an orphan and nobody would take her in and she's been living on her own. I stayed with her because she was really sad and she doesn't have anyone to be with besides me and her friends." "What about Rainbow?" Spike gave her his obvious stare and lifted an eyebrow. "Oh…right." Twilight knew how Rainbow usually ignored Scootaloo because she couldn't fly. Spike returned his expression back to its compassionate state. "Twilight, Scoots needs a good place to live... I really think she should live here with us, she could sleep on the couch, anything is better than that cold tree house." "Spike?" Spike thought that she was about to say no and he got on his knees and begged her. "Please Twilight, I can't stand to see her so sad and we could really help her." Twilight laughed. "Spike I was going to say yes." Twilight picked up the dragon and squeezed him. "Spike that's so nice of you, of course she can stay with us." Spike couldn't contain his smile. "Really?!" She released the dragon and gave him a warm smile. "Mhm, and we have a guest room you know." "Awesome! Now Scoots can have a great home, you're the best Twilight. I'll make us all a great breakfast when I bring Scootaloo back." Spike left the library in a hurry to return to Scootaloo. Scootaloo felt the daze of oversleep wash over her and she lifted her head and rubbed it groggily. She always hated her old thread bare blanket that she used as a bed, but she didn't have any choice. She looked to her side with hope to see her friend asleep, but her smile dropped and her heart sank as she saw that the dragon wasn't there. She touched the spot where he had slept and felt a short wave of anger wash over her but it was quickly doused by anguish as she thought to herself. 'I guess he really didn't care...' Spike was the only one she had ever told her story to, sure she loved her friends and treasured them as they were the most trusted ponies she ever knew... but with Spike it was different… they could relate to each other because they both were orphans. Spike never knew his parents, and she lost hers at a younger age. The more she thought about it the more alone she felt, not when the only other being just like her had left her without saying a word. She had to fight back tears as covered her eyes with her forearm. She let out a deep sigh, 'what would you expect idiot...' and dragged along as she folded her quilt and fixed her bed. She exited her home and went down the ladder with her heart still heavy. She looked at her scooter with a small tinge of happiness that it wasn't harmed in the storm. She then began to walk to her Scooter but then saw in the distance a familiar drake running toward the tree house. Spike was approaching Scootaloo, taking his time to catch his breath. She felt angry at him for leaving, but also felt a tsunami of relief that he had returned and without her consent, and it brought a smile to her face. Spike was still panting as he reached Scootaloo and spoke between each heavy breath of air. "Hey...Scoots...sorry... I...left...” He gulped in a final grasp of air and he regained his posture and smiled. "I have some great news." "News?" "I asked Twilight if you could live at the library with us and she said yes! It would be awesome... I mean, if you want to Scoots..." Scootaloo lit up at the thought of a warm house, a soft place to sleep, a hot bath, and food that wasn't just apples. She wanted to tackle Spike in a flying death hug exclaiming that she’d love too, but restrained herself. "I don't know Spike... it's tempting...” Her attempt to tease him failed when her stomach started to growl loud enough that Spike could hear it. Spike felt that he was talking to himself and how he reacted to others and knew she was teasing, so he decided to play along. He heard her stomach growl and fought back a chuckle and replied. "Well… I'm making waffles if you come stay with us." She was glad that they shared the same sense of humor, but the sound of something as delicious as that she couldn't continue any further. "Sold!" They both laughed with each other and began to walk to the library from the orchard. Scootaloo walked with her scooter trailing beside her and Spike on the other side, leading her to the library. Spike and Scootaloo stepped into the library and Spike closed the door behind them and outstretched his hand to the very well lit out library. "Welcome home." He had a warm smile to match his welcoming gesture. Scootaloo took a step forward and felt a wave of nausea flow over her as she looked at her new home, it felt almost fake. Years of living on her own and now she had a real home and she couldn't think of any word to describe it. Twilight had appeared next to them and outstretched her hoof at Scootaloo. "Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle." Scootaloo took her hoof hesitantly. "But I know who you are, Twilight." Twilight pulled her into a hug. "Yes, but I've never really met you." She released her and gave her the most welcoming smile she could. "Welcome to the family." Scootaloo just stared at her; she felt the wave of nausea roll over her senses again. 'Family?' everything was just too good for her to believe. She fought back tears of joy at the sound of being called family. She looked beside her and saw that Spike was gone, but heard him call out from another room. "I'll have breakfast up soon; I already set a place for you at the table!" He yelled from the kitchen. Twilight lead Scootaloo to where they always ate. Scootaloo looked around her new home and never knew that the library was so big, she normally just stayed in the part that actually was the library when she and her friends came to check out books. Past the library was a beautiful and cozy normal looking house, the walls had shelves filled with antiques and some picture frames of Spike and Twilight. Twilight had sat down at a table and motioned for Scootaloo to sit next to her. "So do you like your new home so far?" Twilight asked with enthusiasm in her voice. "It's awesome!" She replied with even greater enthusiasm. "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay here for awhile." "Awhile?" Twilight looked confused, but then returned to her welcoming smile. "You can stay here for as long as you want to." Twilight saw Scootaloo's expression at her statement and she really felt comfortable with her. Scootaloo had started rubbing the back of her head; she was never one for heavy stuff. Twilight had noticed something, Scootaloo was almost just like Spike and she just knew they would be really close friends very soon. The two had a very pleasant conversation as they waited for Spike. Almost half an hour later, Spike had emerged and set out several platters of food, setting up a small buffet to welcome their new guest. It was a small buffet of foods: eggs, toast, muffins, various jams, oatmeal and of course Spike's famous multi-grain blueberry waffles. Waffles that were so good that the princesses themselves would wage war to get a single bite of their golden crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside goodness. Scootaloo had never tried them before and her taste buds were in for a shock as she took the first bite. She swallowed the mouthful of waffle. "OH, my gosh, this...is...AMAZING." Spike chuckled to himself and took pride in his skills in cooking. The three had enjoyed the breakfast, casually having conversation through bites of the meal. They were all full and not a scrap of food was left. Spike was about to get up to collect the dishes, but Twilight stopped him. "It's okay Spike, I can clean." She began using her magic to levitate the dishes away and into the kitchen, and then trotting after them. Spike turned to Scootaloo. "Hey Scoots, want to hang out?" He asked casually. "Sure thing, that sounds great." Spike began showing her around the library's first floor, the kitchen, the living room, and the guest room where she would be staying. She walked into her new room with admiration. She saw that the bed was an actual bed and wanted to jump into it now, but resisted and wanted to hang out with Spike instead. She had her own closet and a small shower and her heart sang as song of gratitude. "Is this really mine?" "Yep, and both me and Twilight are glad to have a guest here with us." Scootaloo and Spike continued to tour through the library and Spike lead her upstairs and into his room. She trotted into the room and immediately noticed how well organized everything was and that all of his belongings and furniture was well placed and spaced out. Most colts she knew were messy and didn't care to keep anything organized. On one of the walls were several shelves filled with Spike's favorite movies, and the last thing she noticed were his three trophies. "Wow, Spike, trophies?" she asked inquisitively. Spike walked next to them and put his hands on his side's taking pride in his accomplishments. "Go ahead, take a look." He showed her his two trophies from winning the annual Iron Chef competition in Canterlot in the solo division, and his trophy for his piano recital in hosted in Manedrid. She knew he was a great cook and all, breakfast was amazing, but she never expected him to be able to win a competition as difficult at that. "Wow..." She looked at the trophy for his piano recital and never knew he could play piano, her respect for him grew because of his talents. "That’s awesome Spike." "Thanks, Scoots." He always enjoyed when others complimented on his skills. The two had stayed in Spike's room and enjoyed friendly conversation and as Twilight predicted they soon became good friends. Scootaloo had always thought of Spike as a friend but now that she had a chance to get to know him she found out how similar they were to each other. Spike had always though Scootaloo was cool, but now that he had a chance to sit down and talk with her she was cooler than he thought she was. Spike couldn't get over how it felt to be talking to someone who was just like himself. They were exchanging funny stories about their pasts and enjoying a good laugh with a friend. "I mean who does that? I know Snips isn't the smartest but you would think that he was smart enough not to stick his tongue to a pole in the middle of winter!" Spike and Scootaloo laughed and then he continued. "It didn't help that Snails did it too, on the same poll too. He thought that Snips was just joking around and tried it himself. I had to run for help until I found Big Mac around and he had to run off to get some hot water while I kept Snips and Snails from pulling their tongues off of the polls and hurting themselves." Scootaloo couldn't help but giggle. "When Big Mac finally came back and poured the hot water on their tongues they got loose and ran from the pain of the hot water." Scootaloo took a moment to stop giggling. "Well, that reminds me of this time when me and the rest of the cutie mark crusaders were going for our honey gathering cutie marks. Apple Bloom was trying to get some honey really high up without a ladder and she face forward, right into the honey pot." Spike snickered; he never knew Apple Bloom did something so silly. "We had to get the bee keeper, some old guy named Eye Patch, to pull the pot off of her head. It took all three of us to get it off and her face was covered with honey." They both had enjoyed their stories of their times with their friends and as the stories ended they spent the rest of the day watching some of Spike's movies. The day ended and they both had become tightly knit friends. The past week had been the same, as soon as Scootaloo was done with school or playing with the other cutie mark crusaders she would race home on her scooter to her new home and enjoy another day with her good friend Spike. When she was with her friends or in school she couldn't shake the image of the dragon out of her mind and regardless of where she was, she would smile at the image. She couldn't describe the feeling; she never thought this stuff was for her. She just thought about Spike and how they were so alike and she blushed at the thought of them being together. She dreamt about them together, just lying in the wet grass in the starry night, admiring the endless diamond sky. One day Spike and Scootaloo were lazily walking through town, Snips and snails were grounded from a prank that went horribly wrong, and the other cutie mark crusaders were busy this weekend. Spike had his arms propped up on his head and had his eyes closed as he talked with her in the streets. They were both in deep conversation, both giving each other their full attention. Scootaloo had noticed, as they walked, the faces of the other fillies in town. They each had the look of envy as they watched the two stroll down the street, their paces in sync and they were both close together. They were jealous of her, Spike may not have been a colt, but he was the best young male in town. Most of the young males were rash, unkempt, untalented, and some of them on the borderline of stupidity, but Spike was the exact opposite. Scootaloo realized something and finally knew how to describe it. She realized that she was in love with Spike. They both went home later that day and in bed Spike couldn't sleep. He was wide-awake, with the image of two ponies in his mind and he closed his eyes to get a better look at them. On one side was Rarity, her image was dull and boring, on the other side was Scootaloo, her image was bright and she had a smile on her face. He put his claws over his heart and felt it beat and the image of Rarity diminished. Rarity was just a childhood crush in which he felt silly now that he remembered the times he had pointlessly pursued her. Scootaloo, however, he hadn't pursued at all and the thought of her name felt like bells chiming in his heart. The childhood crush felt like a hollow shell now that would break if he would even look back at it again, but with Scootaloo... it felt like something he could touch and hold tight. Scootaloo was someone who was really pleasant to be around, and she never wanted to do anything that normal fillies did. She always wanted to hang out with Spike, even if it wasn't in her normal interest. Spike saw her as a mare who he could connect with on an emotional level, and on top of that Spike thought she was very pretty. He thought about her pale pink hair flowing as they walked through the town, and her purple eyes gleaming in the sunlight through her bright smile. The image of Rarity crumbled to nothing and the image of Scootaloo took its dominance in his mind and he finally found rest. That night Spike dreamt of Scootaloo and himself running through the waves of a distant beach in the sunlight. They clashed with the waves together allowing themselves to be pushed back into the sandy beach to where they collapsed in the sand together. Laying side by-side and hoof in claw, lying in the sand that caressed their backs as they closed their eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sunlight. Spike had never remembered sleeping so well, and with the memory of the dream etched into his mind he felt completely at peace. The next day Scootaloo didn't have to go to school and they spent another day together. They were watching some of Spike's movies side-by-side and Spike looked beside him, she was enjoying the movie and her hoof was lazing out to her side. Spike had to resist the urge to grab her hoof and tried to focus his attention on the movie. Scootaloo tried to focus on the movie, but she kept glancing back at Spike. She hopefully moved her hoof away from her side during the movie, just hoping that Spike would notice and hope that he would take her hoof in his claws. The movie had ended and they began chatting together. Scootaloo had casually mentioned that her birthday was next week. Spike was hit with an idea; he thought that her birthday would be the perfect time to confess his feelings. Scootaloo thought that on her birthday that she would tell Spike how she felt, just hoping that he would feel the same way. They continued their day like normal, but both with a plan in mind for each other. That night, Spike found himself sleepless again as he thought about his plan. He jumped out of bed and left the library to prepare. He thought about her wanting to be able to fly and his mind was set. He began to work on his plan, calling in favors, and plotting with inspiration. The day of the party arrived, it wasn't one of Ponyville's normal Pinkie Pie parties, it was a party Twilight and Spike threw together themselves for Scootaloo. It was just Scootaloo, her friends, and her new caretaker. Rainbow Dash was also invited, but she had to be on the weather patrol today. Scootaloo would have been disappointed but the past two weeks she hadn't even given her a thought, her mind was on her new home, and Spike. They began to play party games and Snips and Snails began their normal behavior at parties, which was to make complete fools out of themselves. They wanted to see who could run up and down the stairs the fastest on their hind legs and everyone laughed at how silly they looked. Scootaloo looked over to Spike; he was the only one that hadn't wished her a happy birthday yet. She felt weird and a little angry because she had hoped that Spike would be paying more attention to her, but it was almost as if he was ignoring her. She tried to catch his eye but he was busy laughing at the nonsense of Snips and snails, who were now trying to go up the stairs balancing only on their front hooves. They continued to play more party games like the classic pin the tail on the pony, she didn't let Spike's seemingly oblivious state ruin her day and she started to become enveloped into the games with everyone else and the time flew by quickly. Later in the party everyone had given Scootaloo her presents. Snips and Snails pitched in all they could and bought Scootaloo board wax and a flame sticker for her scooter. She thanked them and wondered how she would use the board wax, she could put it on her scooter, but it wouldn't help much considering it ran on the wheels. She was given a forty bit gift card from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle to which she gave her best friends a big hug and thanked them; she had never been given so much money before. Twilight gave her one of her favorite books; Scootaloo never liked reading but was overwhelmed at the gesture. She hugged Twilight. "You didn't have to give me anything, staying here is all I could ever want." Twilight gave her a warm smile. "I wanted to, you're a part of this family and everyone deserves a good gift." Spike hadn't given anything to Scootaloo, but he was now watching her and gave her a large smile. She sheepishly returned the smile but was still disappointed that he hadn't even tried to talk with her yet. She really just wished he would speak to her, but she put on her brave face and wouldn't let some hurt feelings ruin anything. Twilight brought out a cake and they all ate some together and enjoyed chatting with each other for awhile. It was starting to turn dark outside and the party had ended and everypony was leaving. They all wished her a happy birthday again as they left. Scootaloo was stretching and popping her joints after they left, the party was fun and she was tired. Spike had snuck up behind her. "Hi Scoots." She turned around to face him and with slit bitterness in her voice. "Hey, Spike." Spike grabbed her hoof and had an excited smile. "C'mon, I wanna show you something." "What?" She was confused, he had practically ignored her the whole time and now he wants to show her something. Spike lead Scootaloo up the stairs and onto the balcony that overlooked Ponyville. She didn't see anything at first. "What did you want to show me?" Spike walked over to a bundle of branches and pushed them aside revealing a green tarp. "This." She looked at the covered object and gave Spike an awkward smile that turned into a questioning expression. "Thanks, but why did you ignore me during the whole party?" "I wanted to wait till the party was over to give you your gift." He grabbed he edges of the tarp and with a quick flick of his wrists the secret was revealed in all its glory. Looking out on to the Library's balcony was an odd sight to say the least. "Pinkie's helicopter?! I mean wo --." "Hop in." Spike interrupted. Scootaloo looked at Spike awkwardly but got in the choppa. "Okay…" Spike joined her and as he sat down he pulled a few levers that released a set of controls in front of the baby dragon and without even pumping the pedals the aircraft take to the air. "Uh... Spike, what’s this about...SPIKE, WHOA!" The copter took off at full speed into the night sky. The pegasus grabbed her seat and shrieked as she felt the adrenaline coursing within her veins. Spike stared forward, but turned his head slightly. "How about a trip to my home town of Canterlot?" He put his claw on the yoke and punched the throttle causing it to cruise over the country side. Scootaloo was scared, but as she looked out at the fast moving trees below them she began to feel a thrill. She was flying, and it felt amazing, she continued to stare out below them at all of Equestria. All she could hear was the sounds of rushing wind and the soft sound of helicopter's blades. They quickly made it to Canterlot and Spike had positioned the carpet above the castle. "Take a look Scoots." He motioned below them. She saw all of Canterlot and all of its buildings and could make out a few specks of the ponies walking in the glow of the street lights. "Spike…this is incredible…" Spike had a satisfied smile, but he reached his hand outwards again and the craft began to fly through Canterlot, above the streets, over buildings and under bridges. Spike took both of her hooves in his hands and starred into her eyes. "Thanks for letting me share this with you, Scootaloo." She couldn't react; she was so surprised at what was happening. They continued to fly through Canterlot, now both sitting next to each other with their shoulders rubbing against each other, hand in hoof. Spike was pointing out buildings with his other hand. She had rested her head on his shoulder. There was nothing more she could ever want or need ever again. It was around midnight and Spike had reached the top of the castle again and they looked at the full moon above the castle for a moment. Scootaloo yawned and stretched slightly, it was late and they were both still young. Spike was also tired, but endlessly happy that his present to her went so well. He piloted the helicopter to head back to Ponyville and they went down into a steep dive and pulled up several feet before the ground and began their way back to their home. She felt her stomach rise at the descent and she gripped Spike's hand harder at the thrill. Princess Luna had awoken and walked out into her balcony to admire her full moon. A quick blur had zoomed past her balcony that made her jump and she quickly ran to the edge. "What the...was that a dragon and a pegasus on a flying candy cane?!" she shook her head and slowly walked back to her bedroom with a slight headache. 'We need to lay off the moon sugar.' The library tree was in view and Spike had his hand on the controls steering the light aircraft. "Um…" Spike said nervously and his claw began to shake slightly. "What?" She asked, slightly worried. "I uh... I don't know how to land this..." He motioned his hand downward and the copter went into another dive straight for the tree. "Stop! Stop!" Spike was trying to in some last ditch effort to reason with the descending craft but it kept diving at the tree. "AHH!" They both screamed in unison as they started to spiral at the tree. Spike was only able to slow down the helicopter before they impacted the tree. They both rolled, dazed, out of their seats, Spike missed his mark of the balcony and they landed in front of the library. They were both covered in tree sap and were trying to scrape some of it off of themselves. "Ugh..." Spike said as he tried to separate his claws with the sap in between them. Scootaloo started to giggle. "This is like the time when you told us zip lining was fun and we tried to do it but crashed into a tree." Spike nervously laughed with her, he was unsure how to end the night and began to think of how to. "Spike… " He snapped out of his frantic thinking. "I had a great time tonight… that was just... amazing!" She moved a little closer to Spike. "I was never someone for mushy stuff... but for you Spike, I want to make an exception... I love you Spike." She began to blush and look down at her hooves, waiting for his reply. Spike's heart jumped. "I feel the same way Scoots." He put his arms behind his back and began to grind his foot into the grass while staring down at his grinding foot. She looked back up, happier than she had ever been at his reply. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Spike hadn't seen it coming and as she kissed him, his face turned from purple to deep crimson and he began to snort smoke from his nostrils. She trotted into the library, giggling from what she just did and left the drake standing outside. Spike just watched her trot off, standing there dumbfounded in the cold night air with a goofy smile on his face.