//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - Opening Doors // Story: Elemental ReSearch // by RadicalDishonesty //------------------------------// 'Does Ponyville even have a lockup?' Spike mused. Spike mostly knew these kinds of things from comic books. Usually the words dingy or dank were used. This cell was pretty clean, however. The walls weren't stone or brick; they were beige concrete . The bars were still metal, although they were thin and had horizontal in addition to vertical bars. There were several cells, and none were currently occupied. Spike was led into the cell on all fours. The guardspony wordlessly loomed over him, the thick visor obscuring the guard’s eyes. It reminded Spike that he wasn't actually any larger than a pony, just taller on two legs. As if getting his flank kicked wasn't enough of a reminder. 'I went six years without rampaging or hoarding. I’ve been a pretty good pony.' Spike flopped down roughly in his cell. ‘But you’re not a pony,’ a rebellious pear colored voice said from inside Spike’s head. ‘You’re just pretending to be one. You’re a dragon and you always will be.’ ‘But I’m a good dragon! I’ve always been a good dragon!’ ‘Except all the times you weren’t,’ the pear voice thought. ‘And it’s only going to get worse the older you get. You already barely fit into pony society. You attacked somepony.’ ‘H-he was a jerk! And it’s not like I hurt him.’ ‘So you’re a pathetic dragon. What if this wasn’t a jerk who wouldn’t leave you alone? What if it was a genuine monster? You can’t even fight an unusually athletic unicorn.’ The cell door slammed shut, startling Spike out of his thoughts. The guard briskly marched away, leaving Spike alone. He curled up on the cell floor, his tail barely scraping across the stallion in the other half of the cell. 'Waitaminute.' Across from Spike lay the same pear colored wiry stallion that he had been fighting, his muzzle beginning to bruise from the impact of Spike’s head. The stallion and Spike’s eyes met. The stallion stared blankly at Spike for a moment, offered a small grin, and laid his head back on the side of the cell, his wild aqua mane following the movement. Spike grabbed the bars of the cell and shouted, “Who the hay thought putting two people who were arrested for fighting each other in the same cell was a good idea?” The stallion chuckled. “It’s standard procedure, actually. I think it’s based on something Twilight Sparkle wrote.” Spike’s mouth fell open. “I always thought it was to make them easier to keep an eye on,” rang a voice from the outside of the cell, and a tan earth mare in uniform walked into view. “And if you two wanted to keep fighting, you can be my guest. Not an awful lot of room in there to fight though.” “What if they seriously hurt each other?!” “It’s never actually been a problem. You’re stuck in the cell: you feel like fighting until either of you are seriously hurt?” Spike looked back at the stallion in the cell with him. The stallion sent him a smirk. Spike could feel his cheeks burn with shame, but he covered it with a groan and an eye roll. ‘I don’t particularly feel like getting my flank kicked again,’ he thought bitterly. The mare gave a wry smile. “That’s what I thought.” She began to pace back and forth in front of the cell. “So it took you less than one day to find yourself arrested, Spike?” Spike’s head dipped further toward the ground, at least until he caught a glimpse of her cutie mark: an eye inside a magnifying glass. “Hey, you’re that mare that stopped me at the gate this morning! Private... Clue?” The mare grimaced and cursed under her breath. “Hold on,” the pear stallion said. “She was on gate duty this morning?” “You shut up,” she spat at him. He threw his head back and laughed heartily. Spike stared at the stallion. “Yeah, let’s just leave me confused, then,” Spike droned. The stallion finished on a chuckle. “If she was working the front gate this morning, then she’s being punished with this shift. If normal guarding bores you to sleep, guarding the jail bores you to death. Nopony wants the jailhouse shift.” Spike shot the mare a nasty smirk. “Private Clue did stop me at the gate, and was busy getting chewed out for it when I left.” “It was a totally reasonable misunderstanding,” she protested. “I’m pretty sure overreacting to a magic ability you haven’t seen in the biggest magical research institute in Equestria does not qualify as reasonable. You should probably expect to see something new every week.” “It’s part of my job to make sure anything suspicious gets due consideration,” she stated. “That sort of thing needs to be double checked.” “Yeah right, you didn’t stop me because I ‘maybe forged a document’, you stopped me because I’m a dragon. If I was a unicorn you wouldn’t have raised any stink at all,” Spike said, raising his voice. “You’re a tall, scaled firebreather. That puts you straight in the ‘suspicious’ category.” “But I was totally on the level. The invitation was good, and I’ve got a job here and everything. It was completely uncalled for, and maybe it deserves a damn apology!” “It took you less than a day to get yourself arrested. This joker is in here every few weeks, and even he didn’t get arrested his first day. It’s an institute record, for Luna’s sake! I’d say my suspicion was totally called for!” Spike grimaced. “It was his fault we got into the fight. He started it,” he said lamely. “A witness put you as the one that threw the first blow.” “He tied up my muzzle with magic!” “So then you’d what, burn him to a crisp?” “He didn’t use his fire breath,” the stallion across from Spike suddenly spoke. Spike turned his head to him, surprised. “He didn’t claw at me, or go for the bite, either,” the stallion explained. “Hay, he didn’t even try to smack me around with his tail, which would have done much more damage than his arms.” The guardsmare stared at the stallion incredulously. “He threatened you. He attacked you. You’re okay with this?” The stallion shrugged. “I walked away from that fight with nothin’ more than a bruise. Ain’t much to be angry about. It was just a little scuffle. Had ‘em all the time back home.” Private Clue stared at the stallion, blinking. “I think I just solved the mystery of why you’re here monthly.” The stallion chuckled. “Yeah, probably.” The mare groaned and put her hoof to her forehead in frustration. She then turned around and briskly trotted back to a desk at the other end of the cells. She sat down at it, and began shuffling papers around. Spike laid back down in his cell in silence. He idly picked at a flake of paint on the wall. “So,” the stallion said. “What do you do here at the institute?” Spike shot him a glare, before softening his gaze. “Leave me alone,” he said despondently, laying his head down. “I could uh... tell you about my job? We could talk about dragons?” the stallion offered. Spike said, “No.” The stallion walked up to the cell bars. “What about you Bright? Fancy a chat about uh... evidence? I haven’t read the latest Sherclop Holmes but I heard it’s pretty good. What was it… The Mare With the Twisted Lip? Have you read it?” Private Clue ignored him in favor of paperwork. The stallion slumped himself down in the cell, pouting. “Jail is boring.” Spike turned inward once more. ‘First day, and I get arrested for violence. I’m gonna lose my job and have to live in a cave. Then again...’ Spike glanced at his cellmate. ‘If he’s here that often and not fired maybe it’s not such a big deal. Of course, he also doesn’t get ‘automatically suspicious’ like I do does he?’ Spike sighed and lay down, closing his eyes. There was only so much sulking Spike could do before he was overwhelmed by boredom. Eventually boredom gave way to the pleasant null state that was sleep. Spike awoke to a loud clang and flinched. “Awuh?” the stallion across from him in his cell moaned. A pumpkin-shaded unicorn guard, in full visor armor, stood in front of the cell. “Spike, it’s time to let you out.” Spike stared blankly. “Um... what?” “You’re being vouched for. Again,” Private Clue spat. “Private Bright Clue,” the orange unicorn said. “I think that attitude is what landed you down here in the first place.” Bright Clue groaned, but remained silent otherwise. The stallion opened the door with a red glow, and Spike stepped out. “So... that’s it? I’m out now? No strings attached?” “Thats it,” the stallion said. “Although your benefactor requests a meeting, they said to inform you it was optional.” “So who was it?” “Your benefactor also requested to remain anonymous.” “So... If I meet with them I’ll know?” “Presumably.” Spike groaned. “I guess I’ll go, then. So, if I don’t know who this is how am I supposed to meet with them? Am I supposed to follow you?” The stallion levitated a sheet of paper to Spike. “Directions. You are expected.” The stallion trotted out, leaving Spike with Bright Clue and his former cellmate. Spike stared, bewildered, at the paper in his claw. “So,” the pear unicorn said. “You’ve got a friend in the institute higher-ups, huh?” Spike furrowed his brow, ignoring Bright Clue’s sharp look. “This is in the central tower?” The unicorn whistled. “Impressive.” Spike cast a quick glare at the stallion, who looked back innocently. Spike breathed a burst of green flame at the paper in his hand, and it became a greenish dust that swirled and disappeared. Bright Clue scowled and snorted. “Hang on... what was that for?” the stallion asked. “Well, I’ll be off,” Spike said, ignoring the stallion behind him. Bright Clue huffed, returning to her paperwork. “Yeah, sure.” Spike scanned the skies, looking for a tiny spark of orange flying around. It was all the dull gray of morning. Then he saw a tiny speck of orange. Spike squinted, attempting to peer closer at the speck, but that just made it harder to see. It flew up in the sky, and came crashing down on a cloud, which split in half and dissipated. ‘Oh.’ Spike produced the mysterious benefactor’s note in a puff of flame. It said he was expected in less than an hour. He wrinkled his nose. ‘If I want to meet with this pony it has to be now. I hope Peewee is okay without me and not freaking out. Its already been a night, I hope another hour is okay.’ Spike looked up at the huge tower, and back to his note. It listed an awfully high floor number. ‘Okay, maybe a couple hours.’ When he entered the tower, he saw books. Shelves and shelves and wings and reading desks and ponies organizing books. Spike leaned back, amazed by the size of it all. ‘This is massive! It’s probably the size of the Canterlot library. If it doesn’t contain most of the Canterlot library.’ Spike chuckled and shook his head. ‘Of course the biggest building in here would be the library; it was designed by Twilight,’ He looked up at the interior of the tower walls, at the network of arches that formed walkways and supported the tower, and the walls of books all the way up. At the core of the tower there were six rails, clearly lined with crystals and faintly glowing, with suspended platforms moving up and down them. Spike got some stares from ponies, but he barely noticed and cared even less. He stepped onto the magical elevator, directing it upward. Spike marveled at the huge library around him, with ponies bustling around to access all the knowledge. As he ascended the tower the archways became less frequent, and the shelves of books gave way to suspended rooms and exits to the outside for pegasi, with more magical elevators to the outside where the cloud buildings resided. Eventually he came to a ceiling of sorts, where the walls closed in on the central elevators, with open doorways on each floor labeled with numbers. Spike stopped at the number in the note. There was no receptionist in this office. A few ponies bustled about, paying no attention to Spike. ‘I guess anyone who comes here has to know where they’re going. I wonder how new appointments get scheduled, then?’ Spike followed the directions to the office he was meeting in. Unhelpfully, there was a place for a name on the door but the name was replaced with the words “Come in.” Spike rolled his eyes and opened the door. The office had a huge window to the outside overlooking the institute proper and Manehattan. Standing with his back to the door, looking out of the window, was a white unicorn. “It’s not on the top floor, but the view is still breathtaking,” the stallion said. “And I don’t even get the glare from the sun in the morning,” he said, turning to face Spike with a smirk. Spike’s eyes widened. “Blueblood?” “It’s good to see you again, Spike.” Blueblood gave Spike a reassuring nod. Spike stared at Blueblood silently. Recovering after a few seconds, he said, “Uh, likewise?” Blueblood chuckled. “I wanted to surprise you with the anonymous note, but I think I did too good a job.” Spike scratched the back of his head and furrowed his brow. “No offense, but this is pretty far out of left field for me.” Blueblood frowned in disapproval. “It shouldn’t be. I worked on a ‘secret project’ with Twilight starting several months before she announced her plans to start the institute?” Spike’s brow cleared up, realization dawning on him. “And was the first to urge the continuation of the project after her disappearance?” Spike tilted his head. “I thought Luna was the big royal sponsor for the institute.” Blueblood grunted, and trotted up to his desk. “I have had a larger effect on this project’s success than she did. I rallied private donors and investors. Even the royal coffers are not bottomless. I also acquired property, aided in the design of the institute, attracted research talent, and now I am the working every day here. I put a great deal into this project before Luna even knew about it, second only to Twilight herself. Luna came on after Twilight’s disappearance as the ‘official royal sponsor’ to help her rocky reputation.” “I’m pretty sure it was to honor Twilight’s dream. I even asked her myself, before–” Spike stopped himself short. Blueblood waited only a moment for Spike to finish, then scoffed. “Nopony does something for just one reason, and the most important ones are usually the ones they don’t readily share.” Spike frowned. “So what, you think she was just using Twilight’s legacy to boost her own reputation?” “I’m not sure if using is the correct word, but I’m sure that was part of her decision. She swayed public opinion very far in her favor between that and taking Twilight’s place as Magic several times with the other element bearers.” Spike wrinkled his snout in disgust. “I don’t think Luna sees herself as a replacement for Twilight.” “Neither do I, but I believe part of the affection the public reserved for Twilight carried over to her. She doesn’t have Celestia’s untouchable reputation.” Blueblood sighed. “I didn’t invite you here to have a discussion about royalty. I wanted to see how you were doing.” Spike sat down in front of the desk in the office. “How do you think? I had a terrified car on the train whispering about me, and a filly asking me if I’m going to eat her. Then I was denied a cab because I was a dragon after I waited patiently in line. Then I woke up to someone angry at me for staying in her kitchen, despite the fact that I was offered to stay there by her partner.” Spike began to raise his voice. “Then I was confronted by a crowd in the village outside the instituted who were accusing me of pushing around some important institute donor when I was being ignored to get a cab in Manehattan. Then I was stopped at the damn gate by some wannabe detective who thought I was ‘suspicious’, just because I was a dragon.” Spike threw his arms into the air. “And then I get accosted by some animal expert who insults me and ties up my snout, get in a stupid fight with him and get arrested. And now I’m a hundred stories up in a town where I don’t know anypony, I don’t know where my phoenix is, and I don’t even know if I still have a job after this!” Spike breathed heavily after his outburst, and sat back down. Blueblood gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry your experience has been so poor so far.” Spike groaned. “I just wish everypony would treat me like anypony else.” “I’m sure they’ll come around. You are a fine gentlecolt by all reports.” “Except the police reports,” Spike deadpanned. Blueblood snorted and coughed, putting his hoof to his mouth. His lips pursed and twisted and he inhaled deeply with his eyes closed, before resuming his calm posture, a bland smile appearing on his face. Spike spoke up. “Did... you just stifle a–” “No,” Blueblood stated. Spike stared at Blueblood’s eyes. Blueblood stared back. “No, I think–” “I wouldn’t worry too much about the police report,” Blueblood interrupted. “Your arrest has been stricken from the record.” “It... stricken? Like gone?” “Yes.” “By you?” Spike pointed at Blueblood, his eyes wide in shock. “Yyyes,” Blueblood said slowly. “How... what exactly do you do here?” “Well,”– Blueblood smiled smugly –“I am the head of the History department.” “That gives you clout over the royal guard?” Blueblood stared at Spike, blinking. “You may remember I am a prince. That gives me clout over the royal guard. Not to mention most of these ponies would not have their jobs if it was not for my work.” Spike raised his eyebrow. “Isn’t this an abuse of power?” Blueblood matched his eyebrow. “So you’re saying this wasn’t a case of self-defense which ended with you unfairly arrested?” “Well... only sorta. He started it but... I kinda lost my temper and got violent,” Spike said, his ear frills drooping. Then his eyes widened. “No. No, I didn’t just say that. I-it-it was an accident,” Spike stammered. Blueblood chuckled. “Please, don’t worry. I’m not going to judge you. And don’t consider it an abuse; it wasn’t a major violation after all. There are a few worried voices in the upper echelons, however. None of them know you personally, so I made sure they knew you were not the type to cause trouble normally.” “I...” Spike hesitated.         “I can also make sure that more of the institute knows there is a friendly dragon here, and to treat him with respect. Your job will take you quite a ways around the institute afterall.” “That’s great. Thanks,” Spike said hastily. “I...” Spike looked for an excuse. “I still have to find my phoenix.” He started to back out of the room. “So, uh... I’ll see you around, eh?” “Wait, there was something else I wanted to talk about!” Spike did not wait. Instead he quickly made his way to the lift and sent himself down on it, staring up to see if Blueblood was in pursuit. After several seconds he was satisfied that Blueblood was not, and sighed in relief. ‘That was... weird. He’s probably one of the last ponies I thought I would find here. I haven’t seen him since... before Twilight disappeared. ‘I guess it was pretty rude of me to run off like that. It feels like he was buttering me up again. Of course I felt like he was buttering me up years ago too, ready to betray Twilight, or court her, or something. Except he never wound up actually doing anything. And now I know what his ‘nefarious plan’ was, and he’s bailed me out of jail and offered to help me and I wouldn’t even listen to him. Did I misjudge him?’ Spike watched the patrons of the library as his lift floated down. ‘I guess I sorta owe it to him to hear whatever he wanted to say. It’s weird to suddenly get royal favors again. Although I do still need to find Peewee. I’ll hear him out later, once I get some time to get over that he’s actually here and one of the heads of the institute.’ He reached the bottom and exited the library. He began to scan the skies again. No sign of Peewee, and no real clue on where to look. The sun peeked out above the forest, signaling that morning had definitely begun. There was something about the morning that irked Spike, though. Something in the back of his mind was vying for his attention, but he couldn't exactly recall... Spike's eyes snapped wide open. 'Aw horseapples, my job starts today!' he thought, and he took off toward the Office of Interdepartmental Research on all fours. ‘Sorry Peewee, you’re going to have to wait. You’ve taken care of yourself before, so you’ll be fine… probably.’ Spike groaned as he ran. ‘This is such a mess.’ Spike entered the Office of Interdepartmental Research out of breath. ‘I swear, it wasn’t that far to the office. I should have gotten out of the library more often.’ “I’m here,” he huffed with shallow breaths. Starscribe was waiting for him, along with the receptionist. “Spike. Where have you been?” she said. “We were about to give up,” the receptionist added. “I–” he exhaled loudly “–didn’t know when I needed to be in. And–” Spike paused. “Yeah. I’m sorry.” ‘Best not to tell them I was in jail last night. Maybe they won’t hear about it?’ Starscribe blinked for a moment. “Well, if you don’t have an assignment typically you need to be here by eight, not by ten. Fortunately, the assignment we had for you started later. I was going to run a short orientation but now there’s no time for that.” “S-sorry.” Starscribe sighed and produced a folder. “The assignment is with the Arcane Department. Report to Xenon Shine.” “Arcanists?” Spike said. “Unicorn magic, essentially,” she said. “They needed somepony to operate fairly complicated tools and Dr. Gaze reasoned that would either have to be a unicorn or you.” She passed the folder to Spike. Spike peeked inside. Apparently Xenon Shine was working with the Technology department on a limited replication device. “You should get going, unless you were planning on running across the Institute again.” Spike sighed. “Right.” Spike arrived at the Arcane Department’s building. Well at one of its buildings. It wasn’t an ugly or plain building—a multi-storied soft blue building with purple trim—but it was pretty underwhelming for a department headquarters. ‘I’m pretty sure the main office would be a bit more opulent than this. Well… except the Office of Interdepartmental Research is in a pretty crummy building. But the History Department is in the tower, and that’s the most opulent place here. That might have been Blueblood’s doing.’ Spike rolled his eyes and strode inside, searching for his destination room. ‘It doesn’t matter what it looks like,’ he chastised himself. ‘Inside is Xenon Shine, a unicorn who wants my help with research.’– Spike began to bounce slightly through the hallways –’And I’m gonna show her what I’m made of. Nopony’s gonna care about some lame trouble first day after I impress the buck outta them. I’m the Number One Assistant, after all.’ Spike grinned to himself, then shook his head. ‘But I’m not gonna get any of that done waiting out here hopping around like a schoolfilly. Calm yourself, Spike.’ Spike inhaled slowly and exhaled. It only made him feel out of breath. ‘This isn’t Ponyville, Xenon Shine will be expecting a professional attitude.’ Finding the room with his new temporary boss, he steeled himself and opened the door. The room had… crates. Lots of crates. There was also a desk, of a fashion, and a cool gray unicorn staring at the door. “It’s about time, I’ve been–” the unicorn’s mouth fell open. Spike glanced around, and smiled timidly. ‘Oh no, the dragon thing. No, don’t show teeth!–’ Spike pursed his lips together ‘–down on all fours–’ he fell on his forelimbs ‘–aaand damage control.’ Spike stepped forward and addressed the unicorn cordially. “Hello I am–” “I need a unicorn for this job!” the unicorn whined. “I was specific. You will need to be using delicate tools. It is too delicate for hoof work.” She stamped the ground. Spike blinked, and held up a claw. “I don’t have hooves; I’ve got digits,” he said, wiggling his claws. The unicorn narrowed her eyes and her horn glowed. There was a spark and orb of blue light where she was, and a corresponding orb next to Spike, as the unicorn teleported to Spike’s side. She surrounded Spike’s claw with her blue levitation aura, and began to examine Spike’s digits, murmuring to herself. Spike’s heart leapt. ‘A unicorn that knows how to teleport! I haven’t met a unicorn that talented for years now!’ Spike leaned over to inspect Xenon’s cutie mark. It was an orb with rays of light shining off of it. Spike nodded. ‘Definitely for magic. I knew coming here was the right move. I wish I had some paper to write her name down. Oh! A list of potential candidates for all the Elements! I need to remember that.’ “Well?” a sharp voice rang out from the other side of the room. Spike glanced up, Xenon had moved back across the room. He was still holding his claw out. He put it down, laughing nervously, and joined her across the room. “So… I’m sorry, I missed that. What are we doing?” he asked. Xenon groaned. “Measuring these parts. I’m going to show you what to measure, then you demonstrate, so I can make sure this is in good uh… claws.” Spike looked at the desk. There was a metal set of measuring calipers that Spike recognized from… somewhere. He knew what they were, anyway. “And I see you didn’t bring any writing utensils or paper at all. Fantastic.” Spike opened his mouth to explain. “No. I’ve got spares, but they’re my personal spares so if you snap them in half there will be Tartarus to pay.” Spike gave his most confident grin. “Don’t worry about it. I know my way around a quill.” She rolled her eyes. Spike squeed a little inside. ‘Ohhh, that brings me back! Twilight’– Spike’s ear frills fell and his brow knitted –’would roll her eyes when I turned on my bravado, too...’ “Hey!” Xenon said. “Pay attention!” Her horn lit up, and she levitated a… thing onto the table. Spike couldn’t quite describe it. It was made of metal, and a very complicated piece. There were shafts hanging out of it, and grooves etched into the sides, and slots where probably some sort of enchanted gem would fit. It was very detailed, almost beautiful, but Spike had no idea what it was for. “So,” Xenon said. “There are twelve separate measurements we need. Each needs to be marked down to the millimeter.” She demonstrated each of the measurements and where to mark them down. “Do you have it?” Spike nodded. “Show me.” Spike went through the motions, measuring and marking twelve times. It was simple, but stopping to write after each measurement was time consuming in a way it was not for Xenon. He couldn’t hold three things with his claws after all. Xenon sighed. “I guess it could be worse. And I can’t do anything about this anyway.” She trotted out of the room. “I’ll be back here to see you tomorrow morning.” “Right.” The door to the room closed, and Spike was left alone with his work. He surveyed the crates. He glanced into the crate opened by Xenon. There must have been a hundred doohickeys in this single crate. He gazed over the room, filled with crates. ‘Just one day to finish it… Fine. It’s not like I haven’t done a lot of work like this before! Let’s do this!’ Spike sighed. He had gotten through his first crate, and it wasn’t going so well. At this rate he would never get done on time. He only had one day! ‘I had forgotten how much I hated this stuff. And that’s how much I didn’t like this when Twilight was there to talk to, to roll her eyes at my behavior and… it was just a lot more fun with Twilight. ‘Urgh, and how pointless is this? The measurements are either the exact same size or a few millimeters off. Sometimes there’s an outlier, but I keep seeing the same damn numbers.’ He put his head down on the desk, staring at one of the pieces. ‘I should probably just measure a whole piece and mark it all down at once, but then I’d have to memorize all those numbers…’ Spike tilted his head, an idea coming. ‘But the numbers are mostly the same ones. I just need to memorize the differences, and have a master sheet to reference… yeah!’ He got to work again. Crate two went faster. Much, much faster. ‘Hah! Take THAT, terrible measuring job. I am smarter than you.’ He lifted the finished crate with some difficulty and moved it over with his other finished crate. He put his hands on his hips, grinned, and turned back to his working desk. There were still many crates waiting. Spike sighed. Spike pried open the fourth box. All the previous boxes had pretty consistent sizes… but even at first glance this box did not. Not every piece was marked, either. Spike growled, and it turned into an anguished yell. “How the hay am I supposed to record these!?” Spike’s head hit the table in front of him and he groaned. He looked outside to see the setting sun. ‘I should be off by now. I should be done. Xenon probably even expects me to be done now.’ He looked over at the crates that had yet to be done. They were outnumbered by the crates that were. ‘Well. At least there’s that.’ Spike stared at the stars outside. ‘I wonder if that Starscribe mare is looking up at the stars now. She has an astronomy cutie mark… Is there an astronomy department? Is it part of History? Arcane? Why is she part of Interdepartmental Research? Maybe there isn’t a dedicated astronomy department and there’s no place for astronomers? No, Luna was involved in the institute, it would be silly for her not to include it at least somewhere. I bet there’s a big telescope somewhere on that tower.’ Spike looked down at the doodad he was working on. Well, the doodad he was supposed to be working on. How long had it been since he last wrote down a measurement? Five minutes? Ten? Spike groaned. ‘It’s getting really hard to concentrate… I wish I could take a break. Or the job was less… mind-numbing. That would be great.’ He leaned down and forced himself to resume working. Spike mechanically placed the last piece of this crate neatly back into it. He closed it up and dragged it over to the other finished crates, then turned around and trudged back to his waiting crates. There were no crates on the opposite side of the room anymore. ‘Oh. That was the last one,’ Spike thought. ‘I’m done.’ Spike stood in his room staring at the blank wall. ‘I am done. I don’t have to do any of these anymore, tonight. I can leave!’ Spike burst out of the Arcane department’s doors, sliding on his knees. “AWWW YEAAAAH.” He hopped up and spun around on his heels, dancing in the middle of the street. A guardsmare trotted up to him and held up a hoof authoritatively. “Sir, you need to quiet down. It is getting late and some ponies are trying to sleep.” Spike grabbed her outstretched hoof and whipped her around him, twirling her elegantly on her back two hooves, before pulling her closer and dipping her low to the ground. “My apologies, my good guardsmare,” Spike spoke with a dignified accent. “I was so excited I quite lost myself in glee. I will endeavour to keep myself quiet at this late hour.” He twirled her once more for good measure before depositing her back on all fours. Spinning himself, he faced her with eyes closed, and her mouth fell open as he was seemingly pulled away from her, gliding backwards on his feet in a bizarre shuffle. Spike cracked an eye open, watching her gape. ‘Took me a while to figure this one out.’ He smiled to himself. ‘But I still got it!’ She straightened her armor and grunted. “J-just don’t do it again,” she grumbled. Spike’s smile waned when he opened the door to his apartment. More boxes loomed for him, this time filled with his own unpacked stuff, and the bare walls were sobering. At least he knew there was a bed already in the apartment, so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. But something nagged at Spike. Something he forgot. ‘Peewee! I still don’t know where he is! He could be anywhere! He could have been picked up by another pony, or  be hungry and alone!’ Spike thought in a panic. ‘And I have no idea where I could find him.’  ‘Or... I guess he could be fine?’ he rationalized. 'I don’t know if he took care of himself in the forest or not. Critters grow up really fast, after all. ‘But phoenixes also can live an awful long time; what if they grow up slowly? Don’t I have a book on this…’ Spike’s thoughts trailed off as he started to dig through his unpacked boxes. As he rummaged in his foyer, he became aware of a light tapping. Spike’s ears perked up and he went to the door, opening it. There was nopony at the door. Spike stared out confused until he heard the tapping again, this time clearly from behind him. Spike turned around and saw a familiar yellow-orange flare at his balcony door window. Spike darted across the room and threw the door open. “Peewee!” he shouted, and wrapped his arms around the phoenix. Peewee squawked in surprise, and struggled to free himself from Spike’s grip. Spike looked down at the phoenix squirming in his group, and let him go. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Er, sorry.” Peewee landed on the balcony railing and fluffed his chest feathers, shooting Spike an annoyed glance. He began to preen and smooth his ruffled feathers. “Uh... Peewee, are you okay?” Peewee glanced back at Spike and tilted his head. “I just mean, I got all dragged off to jail and you were alone for a while and the past two days we had been entirely with each other so... I was worried.” Peewee’s eyes fell to half-mast, and he chirped. “Yeah, I guess you’re not stupid and can find your way here, huh?” Spike said, closing the door, “And you’ve spent a lot of time alone in the forest? I’ll try to leave a window open if I’m gone. In fact, why don’t I just do that anyway? It worked in Ponyville with Owloicious.” Peewee flitted into his cage. “Oh man, today was terrible, Peewee. I woke up in jail and my job is awful. And Blueblood was there. And I don’t know anypony here except him. A stuck up jerk is the pony in town I know best! All my friends are in Ponyville. I left… I left everything to come here.’ Spike roughly flopped down on his rump. “My home is half a country away now… My job is the most mind-numbing thing I have ever done. I got arrested and half the ponies I meet are jerks because I’m a dragon, and the other half are just regular jerks. Then tomorrow I get to look forward to working for the mare that just asked me to write ten-thousand numbers on paper today!” He put his head into his claws. “W-what in Tartarus was I thinking?” He looked over at his companion, who was now sleeping in his cage. Spike blinked for a minute, then flopped down on his back. “You’re a fantastic conversationalist,” he grumbled. Spike’s stomach grumbled too. “And I haven’t eaten all day.” He chuckled wryly. “Wonderful. What am I supposed to do for food at this time of–” Spike’s wry grin fell, and a genuine grin replaced it. Of course he knew what he could do for food late at night. Spike didn’t even hesitate to open the door to Delicious Dishes. The restaurant wasn’t empty today; there was a couple making kissy faces. There were no staff to be found, but unless those customers cake brought their cake themselves then somepony was working. Spike took a seat at one of the tables and waited. In a few minutes, Nightcap trotted out, head held just a smidge lower than snooty, floating a tray with a fresh bottle of wine on it. After she attended to the young lovers, she finally took note of Spike. She frowned for only a moment, before raising her head high and trotting back into the kitchen. Spike frowned, too, and went back to waiting. The door to the kitchen swung open, and a coral pink mare stepped out, wearing a scarf on her head and a notepad clipped to a saddle. Spike smiled and waved at Cayenne. She trotted up to Spike’s table, and flipped out the notepad. “Hello, welcome to Delicious Dishes. What can I get you?” she droned. Spike’s smile fell. “Um… di–” “The chef recommends her lasagna,” she interrupted monotonously. “It’s especially fresh.” “I’ll… have the lasagna?” “Alright,” she said then promptly turned around and trotted back into the kitchen. Spike stared at the door. ‘That was… confusing. Maybe I misread thi–’ This time the door burst open as a coral pink blur flew into the room and landed next to the table, not wearing a scarf. Spike finally got a good look at her red and violet mane, which didn’t fall so much as stand. “Spike!” Cayenne exclaimed. Spike gaped at her. “What the hay was that?!” She shrugged. “Just gettin’ the business side over with first.” She slid into the seat across from Spike. “So. It did not take you long to get back to me.” She smirked. “That good huh?” “Ahh well–” Spike’s stomach grumbled. “–I sorta got caught up in work today and haven’t really eaten at all.” “So, I’m your last resort?” She glowered at Spike. “We’re the last darn place open in town and so you were unfortunately driven here?” “A… uh… ahm…” Spike stammered. “Relax.” Cayenne disarmed Spike with her smile. “I am teasing. You get flustered easily.” “I… It’s been a pretty intense couple of days. Sorry.” Cayenne waved her hoof. “Don’t be. Seriously, that’s the weirdest thing to apologize for.” “If you’re here… who’s cooking the lasagna?” “It was already in the oven when you came in. Nighty can–” The kitchen door opened. “–speak of the devil.” Nightcap stood in the kitchen doorway and levitated two plates of lasagna across the room. “What about ‘dining’?!” Cayenne called out, but the door was already closed. “What’s her problem?” “We argued about you after you left for a while. She made me promise to keep you—all non-employees, actually—out of the kitchen.” Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry.” “Quit with the apologies!” Cayenne lightly punched Spike’s shoulder. “S–” “If you say that one more time I swear I’m turning this diner around right now,” Cayenne said, pointing her hoof at Spike. He held his claws up in surrender. “Fine. No apologies, but I can’t be held responsible for any and all offenses for the rest of tonight.” “Good. So, how’s the institute treatin ya?” “Pretty awful. The ponies at the institute are mostly pretty big jerks. And today I just spent like twelve hours measuring nearly identical parts.” “Sheesh, twelve hours?” “Yep. Took me forever to get it done.” “At least you did  get it done, right?” Spike smirked. “Of course! I’m not Equestria’s Number One Assistant for nothing.” “Number one?” Cayenne raised her eyebrow. “Pretty high claim.” “You’ve seen it first hoof. Best assistant in all of Equestria. None greater.” “I haven’t had a lot of assistants, Spike. I’ll take your word for it though.” “Good. Equestria’s Number One Assistant wouldn’t steer you wrong.” Cayenne snickered. “Alright, big guy,” she said. “We should get to eating, this lasagna is nowhere near as good when it’s room temperature.” Spike dug in with gusto. Spike dragged himself into the room he had become so acquainted with the previous day. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sight that he had arrived first, and sat down in his seat. His maw opened up and a huge yawn escaped. ‘I’m not used to this kind of sleeping schedule, and traveling and staying up too late with Cayenne did not help. I shouldn’ta listened to her when she said I’d just put on pounds if I went to sleep too soon after a big meal.’ Finally his yawn subsided, and in front of him stood Xenon Shine. She was staring. ‘Aw, me and my huge gaping maw filled with pointy teeth.’ She closed her eyes. Her eyebrow twitched. “I notice you did not bring your own papers or writing utensil today.” Spike winced. “Sorry, I uh–” She held up a hoof, silencing him. “I sincerely hope you made sure to get plenty of rest. I did not ask you here to laze about.” “O-of course. I’m good to go. What am I doin’ today?” She gave him a flat look. “Finishing the measurements.” “Finishing them? Today?” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well, no. I have you for another two days, so it needs to be done by the end of tomorrow. Did you expect to be able to leave it half-finished? You’re measuring all these parts. Even without magic it shouldn’t be beyond your reach.” “No I mean… I already finished them all.” Her eyebrow raised up. “All of them? I find that hard to believe.” Spike presented her the papers. “Here.” The papers were yanked out of his hand in a blue aura. “We’ll see,” she said. Sliding out a paper from the center, she opened the crate with the corresponding piece, and measured it. She stared at the paper and the piece for a moment, before quickly sliding out another paper and piece. “Another match?” she muttered. Four more pieces were measured from four different boxes. “It’s true… it’s already done,” she whispered. “I thought I only had one day to do it. So I did it in one day,” Spike stated. She gazed at him with astonishment for a moment, before closing her eyes and shaking her head very slightly. Her gaze returned to her usual critical glower. “Hmph. Good job. “I don’t have anything else for you. I’ll report the results to your department myself later, so feel free to take today off.” Spike blinked. “That’s it?” She turned away from him, and trotted out of the room. “Yes.” “Hang on! What were these pieces for?!” She turned back for a moment. “The pieces were just to test the duplication device. We’re going to melt them down for material next week,” she said, and trotted away. Spike’s maw fell open. ‘Just to test it? The parts had no purpose at all?!’ “I just spent twelve hours depriving myself of sleep for a bunch of pointless doohickeys?!” he shouted. He punched the air impotently and growled. He let his arms fall to his side and sighed. “I’m gonna get breakfast.”