//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Mind of the Dragon // by shpoople //------------------------------// While the two of them were down in the well, Angel remembered where the gasoline went. He shot up like a bullet and dashed for the longest thing he could find to hoist Spike out of the trap. Although, he was too late. An enormous column of fire erupted from the well. It was if Satan had just opened the gates of hell in the form of a stone hole in the ground. It lasted a hole twenty seconds, but Angel was still sweating profusely; Either from the intense heat or from worry for his friend. "Spike!" Angel shouted. "Hold on, I'm going to go get help!" He sprinted away from the cliff to their initial distraction for the pink devil. On his way, he only cared if Spike was alive still. He was incredibly quick, even for a rabbit. He was hopped up on adrenaline, sprinting through the field that led to the cliff side. When he reached the ponies just having a normal picnic, chatting away about the most recent stupid things while the inferno charred two creatures in a hole. They looked at Angel, the back of his head was bleeding and blood was also seeping out of his mouth. "Spike needs help!" "What happened to Spike?" Rainbow Dash asked him. "What happened to you? You're covered in blood!" "I'm fine. It's Spike who needs help!" As he told them, the farmer, and the jock had concerned faces. The nerd, the princess, and the shy one just had astonished expressions to the talking rabbit. "Don't look at me like that! Grab some god-damn rope and follow me!" Rainbow Dash quickly complied, her home was floating nearby. She came back with a rope in ten seconds flat. The three took off for the well with the other three a little behind. "He fell down the well." Angel filed them in with all the information they needed to know. "How in tar-nation did he manage that?" Applejack questioned. "He saved me..." Angel sped up. They arrived a few moments later. The rim of the well's walls were black from the fire. "Spike!" Rainbow called down. "Spike! Are you alright?" Angel tried again. They all listened closely for a response. "This isn't fucking Lassie! Throw down a damn rope!" Three of them sighed ine closer and closer to the surface. When he finally achieved that hand hold over the edge, he flopped over the side and lai relief, the other three had looks of confusion plastered on their face. The crew tossed one end of the rope and hoisted Spikd flat in the soft grass. He had swollen bulges all over his body and face. You could tell that he went though a battle. "So... Angel can talk?" Rarity asked. She received warranted angry glances from Rainbow and Applejack. "Go ahead and ignore Spike's broken face." Rainbow sneered. "Nope, not broken thank god. Just a little battered." He grinned. "And when I say battered, I really mean it was played with like it was a punching-bag." "What happened?" Fluttershy whispered, examining the wounds of Angel. "We had to resolve a disputed pony." Angel answered. "You two were fighting with someone?" Rainbow asked, already knowing who they were fighting. She looked around for the pink one. "You know exactly who. And Big Mac might still be alive if all you bitches listened to me when I told you about that demon!" Spike answered, still, eyes closed, lying in the grass. "What." Applejack perked up. "Pinkie kicked Big Mac off the cliff." Angel informed her. "She wasn't very keen that he led her to us." Applejack bolted for the side of the cliff to see her brother. "Big Mac! Talk to me! Are you alright?" She shouted down to him. No one responded. Her voice just echoed through the side of the cliff to the steep bottom. "Yup." A low voice responded. Applejack let out a sigh of relief that would put out every birthday candle in town for a year. Spike looked up at the sound of his voice. Angel and Spike exchanged glances. "Big Mac's invincible." "He's like a god." Angel agreed. "So where is Pinkie now? What have you done with her?" Rarity question, with anger in her voice. "Are you seriously mad right now!" Spike glared at her. "She kicked Big Mac off a cliff, tried to use my face as a bouncy castle and tried to stab Angel. Yet, you're still attempting to defend her." "I don't believe you." Rarity stated. "I think you all did this to yourselves just to get attention." Spike started to boil with rage. It was as if someone had smashed his testicles with a mallet. "Are you fucking serious right now!" "What have you done to our friend!?" She shouted. "She's dead." Angel told her. She stared at him with a dumbfounded look. "We killed her. We burned her, like the witch she was. Now she's burning in hell where she belongs." Without even looking, Spike and Angel tapped knuckles. "How dare you?" Rarity hissed. "You know what... I'm done. I'm fucking done. I'm done with pretending I'm something I'm not." Spike announced. "Mostly, I am done with you, Rarity. I'll get a pone that I don't have to prove that I'm not a child to. Also, someone that will actually care if I get a two-by-four shoved through my hand." Rarity stomped off to God-knows-where. "What do you mean you're 'done pretending'?" Twilight asked. "Twilight, I love you like a sister, But, I fucking hate you so much." Spike blurted out his true feelings. "I'm moving out. Today." "Wha- what?" She stuttered. " What about all your things?" "You mean that pillow on my basket? Yeah, that'll be really fucking hard to pack." He said sarcastically. "If I get anything else I'll turn into fucking God-zilla and raped everyone... Remember?" "Spike, watch your language!" She scolded. "Don't have to." Spike just stared into the blue sky. "I don't live with you anymore, therefore, I don't have to follow your rules and actually be myself." "But where will you go? You can't live outside." She informed him. "Not sure... I could pay rent and live in Vinyl's fuck attic, that would be fun." She shuttered every time he dropped an f-bomb. "Thanks for taking care of me for as long as you did... But, I'm good enough now to live on my own." Twilight was stunned, she didn't have the first clue what to say. Instead, she just teared up and lied down next to him. Big Mac walked up a hill that was next to the cliff. "Sup." Angel and Spike very casually rolled over and replied. "Sup!" Applejack rushed over to him to see if he was alright. "So where is Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked, scared of the answer. "She's down there." Angel pointed to the well and snickered. "By the way, Spike, how did you live through the fire?" "I'm a dragon. I swim in motherfucking lava for sport!" Fluttershy looked over the well and couldn't see to the bottom. She decided that she didn't want to either. "What should we do about the well then?" Rainbow asked. "So you're okay with this then?" Spike asked. "I mean she obviously wasn't innocent." She said. "I rather not take a stand on the moral aspects of it, but, I'll side with friends regardless." Spike could feel his heart warm with that notion. "Thanks." "No problem." She responded. Spike was in pain, but he didn't give a damn about it. He would go through it again for this feeling. "I noticed that you develop a more refined vocab when your demonstrating your loyalty." Angel pointed out. "Shut up, you failed abortion!" She reverted back to Rain-bro. "Also, I have an idea for the well." She stood by the stone circle and bucked it. The stone wall then imploded into the hole in the ground. "Yes." Angel approved. "Yes." Spike also approved. "Com'on let's head back to town." They all started for town, then Spike noticed that Twilight had still not moved. "Twilight? Ya okay?" "I'm fine." She grunted. "That's misleading, mainly because it sounded like you just pooped." Spike approached her. "I'm fine." She repeated. "Look, just because I'm moving out of your house does not mean that I'm leaving the town. I can still help you out on things... Some things... It just won't be as often." Spike offered. "I practically raised you." She said. "And I'm very grateful for that, I really am. But Everyone has to move out eventually. No girl wants to go home with a guy that lives with his sister in a tree." He told her. "For god sake's I'm ten years old!" "That's not helping me!" She snapped. "Com'on, let's go back to town, you can forget about me in one of those books you read so much." He tried. She reluctantly forced herself to stand and follow the young dragon back to Ponyville. *** Fluttershy and Angel went back to their cottage, most likely to discuss his vocal-ness. Applejack left with Big Mac to the farm before they left the cliff-side. Rainbow and Spike walked twilight back home; and were now on their way to Vinyl's club to try to see if he could rustle up a living arrangement. The club tends to be slow on a Tuesday, but they still were expecting their regular crowd, such as Spike. The un-ending rapids of a line from a few days ago was now dwindling, trickling stream. Spike gave the bouncer a love-tap and continued inside. "Yo! Vinyl!" Spike greeted his friend at the bar. She doesn't normally DJ when it's slow. "Hey, buddy!" She playfully punched his arm. "Optimus! The normal for Spike." She ordered the barkeep. "Nah, I'm good." He declined the offer. She was shocked that he turned down a drink. "What's wrong? You're in here pretty early." "I actually came here to ask you something." Spike admitted. "Would it be okay if I paid rented out the attic?" She inhaled sharply his hesitance. "I... Can't." She said. "Why?" Spike was a little angry, but curious of the reason. "I already rented it out to my alcoholic cousin." Vinyl told him. "He was kicked out of Canterlot and needed a place to stay." "You're keeping your alcoholic cousin in a club with a bar?" Rainbow chirped up. "I don't see this ending well." "I'll admit, I'll be a little hard. But challenges are fun." She pointed out. "What?" Rainbow said, confused. "That won't be fun at all! Are you insane?" "He'll be a party starter." She re-assured Rainbow. "It'll be great." "No! It won't!" Before Rainbow tried to argue more, Spike pulled out of the club. "She's a little strange sometimes, but she means the best." Spike told her. "It's fine." He said, sadly. "But she still denied you." She reminded him of his homeless problem. "Do you have a plan B?" "No, I don't." He realized. He was always an idea dragon, but, right now, he had no idea what to do. "I wasn't really thinking when I said that stuff, it was all on the spot. I could have at least tried to patch up things with Rarity so that I could sleep on her couch or something." "You were thinking, though. You got the balls to actually SAY what you were thinking!" Rainbow said to her friend. "You can stay with me." Spike looked up to his taller friend. He open his mouth to say something, but then just gave her a hug instead. "Thank you." "Tell you what, let's get drunk, then we can sneak into Rarity's house and you can eat the necklace that you gave her." She proposed. "Fuck yeah!" He bro hoofed her and they both ran inside to drink. Everything. *** "Shhhh." Rainbow and Spike shushed each other as they tip-toed through Rarity's house. "Dude, dude... We're just too fucking sneaky..." Rainbow whispered loudly as they walked away from the broken window. "I know, ah know," Spike snickered. "It's my fire dragon soul of fucking cats...." "Cats?" Rainbow parroted. "When was the last time you heard a cat?" He stopped to ask her. "What's a cat?" Rainbow slurred. "Exactly!" He said, enthusiastically. Opal spotted them from the bottom of the stairs and hissed. "What the fuck is that!!" Rainbow shouted in fear. "Kill it!" "Get out of here, stupid fur-ball." Spike then snickered because cats cough up fur-balls. The cat raced up the stairs behind Sweetie Bell at the top of the stairs. "You two are really loud." "You can't hear us!" Rainbow shouted. "We're muted." She then whispered very softly. "You're not, though. Also, you're not going to wake up Rarity either. She is a very heavy sleeper." Sweetie commented. "I don't care what you're doing, as long as it's fast." Spike then wobbled quickly up the stairs to Rarity's room. Rainbow was close behind. They opened her door and Sweetie Bell turned on the lights. "What are you doing!" Spike cursed the lights. "I don't think you realize just HOW heavy she really is at sleeping." She trotted over and touched her eye. She didn't move an inch. "Cool." Rainbow commented. "There it is!" She pointed to the necklace hanging on the wall and Spike ran over and swiped it. Spike looked up to his friend and looked straight into her eyes. "Thanks." "For what?" She asked. "Never mind." He said while popping the whole thing in his mouth. It was three times better then that dead bitch's cupcakes. The necklace instantly started to dissolve in his mouth. He downed it before it could digest in his mouth and they ran for the door. *** The two of them were standing underneath Rainbow's floating estate. "Get on my back and I'll fly you up." She told him. He was too drunk to feel awkward about it, he complied. While he was on her back, straddling her, her could feel her heartbeat with his whole body. It was fast. Faster then it normally should be.It's cause she's flying. "You alright back there?" She asked as she landed. "Peechy-keen." He reported while he climbed down onto the soft cloud. "You're so damn soft..." He whispered. "I know, right!" They walked to the porch. "Head and shoulders." They busted through the door and instantly collapsed onto the couches in her living room. They laid their in silence for a while. "Why the hell don't ponies have television." "What's that?" Rainbow asked. "Dragon tech." He answered. "It's... Beautiful." "So you're alright?" Rainbow asked, making sure that her attempt at cheering him up succeeded. "I'm better than alright. I'm ecstatic right now. I shackled off all my chains and now I'm free to do whatever I want." He grinned. "I seriously can't thank you enough for letting me stay here." "When I say don't mention it. I mean it. Stop. It's really no trouble, at all. I have like five empty rooms that I have just random shit in." She told him. "I have four personal gym rooms..." "Nice." He smiled. "So now that you can do whatever you want... What do you want to do?" She asked. She was laying face-down on the couch with her face going into the couch. Spike saw her gloriously toned plot. The fastest pony in Equestria is also the most in-shape pony. He instantly felt very awkward. "I still have no ideas." She quickly got up and leaned over Spike. "I do." Rainbow placed her lips over Spike's