//------------------------------// // New Begginings // Story: Where We Belong // by The Wandering Draconian //------------------------------// Spike's flight home had been bothersome to say the least. Normally he wouldn't have done something like that so quickly, seeing as he tries to avoid violence, but knew that he had to get his point across to any others that would try to assault him. Spike arrived home just before sunset, walking with noticeable pain in his back due to his flight. Moving over into the center of the main room, spike set out to stretch his sore wings before calling it a day. Every fiber of his wings hurt from the strain he put on then during his journey. He usually took two hours longer to make it back home when he made his flight to the ocean, but he pushed himself to go far faster than usual. Food. He needed It badly. flying for several hours usually did this too him, but today was especially taxing. With his stretching complete, spike made his way down the middle hallway towards the kitchen, igniting the wall torches as he went. Spike searched his cupboard, looking for his special bowl of diamonds that he kept for after workouts. Finding what he was looking for, spike pulled the bowl from the cupboard, eyeing the gems that lay before him. He knew that after he finished up these he would need to go down and find more. Gems were far more scarce in the badlands than in Equestria, and it made finding food especially difficult. This was only compounded by the fact that he had a rather selective diet in comparison to other dragons in the area... Spike took one of the gems, biting it in half. He shuddered as an indescribably amazing flavor washed over his tongue. He would describe the gems as juicy... but after some serious debates with twilight about how to describe the taste of a gem, he decided it would be best to not think about it and just enjoy the them while he still had a few left. Popping the last gem in his open maw, spike made his way into his room and gave a content sigh as he curled up on his bed. The next morning spike awoke to a peculiar noise, sounding almost like clacking stone. He rolled out of bed, landing an all fours, and made his way down the hall, following the noise. Upon nearing his kitchen, the noise became clearer, sounding as though dishware was clinking together. When he poked his head around the corner, spike couldn't believe what he saw. A white and light blue dragoness, inspecting the various plates and kitchenware. Her white scales complimented her light blue underbelly, he unbridled beauty surpassing that of Rarity a hundred fold. She seemed to be admiring the craftsmanship of the many items in the room, occasionally mumbling to herself. Spike sat in the open hallway, openly staring at her... until she turned after about a minute, and the sight of a beautiful dragoness was replaced with a marble bowl. Spike reeled back from the sudden bowl to the face, clutching his slightly swollen snout. "What was that for!?" spike said, his face a little sore from the impact. It hurt more than what he made of it, seeing as it the bowl was solid stone, but wasn't about to show that much weakness to the stranger standing in his kitchen. "Why won't you guys stop following me?? Haven't you ever seen a dragoness before? Everywhere I go it's the same!" she spat, venom seeping from every crack in her voice. Spike sat still, confused by the dragoness's words. "What? I haven't been following you. And just who are you to talk like that after breaking into my home, snooping through my kitchen, and breaking my favorite gem bowl over my face!?" he retorted, watching as the dragoness's expression changed from one of hate to one between confusion and guilt. "I-I'm sorry, I just thought that you were one of them... they were chasing me for almost half an hour outside... and then that's when I found this place..." she looked down as she gestured towards the open space. "Wait, wait... who was following you...?" Spike said, with a hint of worry lacing his words. "The dragons from the nearby mountain. they spotted me as I was flying overhead, and chased me over towards the forest. After diving down under the treetops, I managed to lose them." Spike visibly relaxed upon hearing her finish. "Thank Celestia, I thought for a minute there that you lead them straight here... oh that would have been bad." spike clutched his head, unsettled by the thought of them finding where he lived. "So... Mrs... um.. Could I get your name? I don't quite know how to address you. "O-oh, my name is Azura. I actually had a question... That reference, I've never heard it before. Where exactly did you learn it?" Spike mentally slapped himself for using a reference she wouldn't understand, along with giving away the fact he wasn't actually from the Badlands. Spike shook the matter off and gave a warm smile. "Well, my name is Spike, and before I answer that question," he gave a small smirk, "I would like to know where you are from first." Azura tensed at the request, and slowly answered the question. "I-I'm not really from around here either. Heh heh... yea.." she nervously rubbed the back of her neck as she finished. Spike cocked a sideways grin, "Avoiding the question are we? And as for your answer, it's blatantly obvious that you are from no where around here." spike craned his neck forward, eyeing the suspicious dragoness before him. "So I ask again, where are you from? And try not to be so vague in your answer this time..." Azura stood stock still. She had no doubt that he wasn't from the Badlands, but wasn't sure where else he could be from. "N-No... you're right.. I'm not from anywhere near here. I live in the Draconian Republic, about a five day flight Southeast of here..." She bit her tongue, remembering her direct orders. "so yea.. that's where I am from. Now then, how about you? You don't seem to fit in around here either, seeing as you actually have a nice home?" Now it was spikes turn to be shocked by what he heard. He already had over a million questions to ask here about her homeland, and now opted to question her. "You mean that there is an entire Republic... with other dragons in it?" Spike leaned forward, hopefully awaiting her answer. "Well, yes." she answered lamely, "and I'll tell you more about it after you tell me a little bit more about yourself." she finished, smiling slyly. Spike was confused by the mixed signals he was receiving from her, and was about to question, but chose to tell her his past, as per request. "You probably are going to laugh at me when I tell you where I grew up..." he started, fiddling with his claws as he spoke and occasionally looking back up at her. "There's this place called Equestria, full of... well... ponies. It's a really great place. Nice ponies, a few friends in a small town called Ponyville... and um..." Azura noticed that he was becoming more uncomfortable the more he spoke, but mustered the courage to ask, hoping not to strike a bad memory. "So... why did you leave? Your home at least. And what are you talking about when you say ponies?" her last question was laced with doubt. "Your not lying to me are you...?" Spike was taken aback by her last sentence, and shifted his attention from his claws to the dragoness's face. "N-No! I'm not lying to you! This place called Equestria, it's rather far away from here. It's filled with, well, multi-colored ponies. And as for why I left... well..." Spike could feel his composure breaking as the topic he tried to ignore for the past year and a half reared its head once more. "w-well, my adoptive sister... she, well, changed... Literally and figuratively." Azura nodded, though still extremely confused, and walked towards the middle of the kitchen and laid on the ground, curling her tail around to the front of her form, resting her head on her arms. Looking back up, she motioned for him to do the same... Spike was hesitant at first, seeing as he was about to get a free mental therapy session from the dragoness he had known for literally five minutes, but gave into the offer. Lying down next to her, he nervously averted his gaze from the beautiful creature two feet in front of his face. "Could you tell me what happened? I realize that it must have pretty bad, seeing as you left." Azura looked at him, noticing that he was practically chocking on his words. "S-she.. changed after she became a princess. The pony who had hatched me started out as nice and sincere, and I was given to her when she passed her entrance exams, the final test being to hatch a dragon egg. I became her assistant, but she treated me as a little brother up until she became a princess." He looked down at the ground, tears welling in his eyes as he remembered what had happened. "When she became a princess, she started to treat me different. When I would ask her to spend time with me, or just do something... she would rub me off. At first it was just her saying she was too busy with princess stuff, but then she started to push me away in a different way." Spike was about to continue, but was stopped when Azura spoke up, clearly angry about something. "So you were just given away as a pet!? I thought you said where you grew up was great! What I've heard so far screams the opposite of good to me. It's no wonder why you left..." Azura looked away, still scowling while she contemplated what she heard. "N-No! It wasn't bad at first. She taught me a lot as I grew up! It was only after she became a princess that it became bad. And as I was saying before, she began to find other things to keep me away from her... She started to find more for me to do, especially after my growth spurt a few years back. I would be out helping ponies in town, and whenever I came back to the castle early, she would have some kind of huge mess for me to clean up!" Spike sat up a bit, spreading his arms to emphasize his point. "And the messes she made weren't just like a messy room, or dusting a bunch of things. She made messes that took hours to clean." Azura visibly winced at the statement, sympathizing with the creature in front of her. "So she made you work for hours just so you couldn't talk to her?" She asked, a small frown of sympathy adorning her maw. "Y-yea... and she did the same thing the day before I left. Had some meeting with the Griffon Kingdom the next day and didn't want to be disturbed. Trashed the study, books spread left and right from random sections of the shelves... but it was obvious it was on purpose. Books from irrelevant categories were lying about, and each one was neatly closed, to prevent damage." Spike sighed, remembering unchanging traits of the lavender mare. "Faithful student of Celestia, bearer of the element of magic, and would kill herself before harming a book for any reason. But yea, she trashed the study and tasked me to cleaning it up, which a little over six hours." Azura looked up at spike, meeting his forlorn gaze. "Well, I think you made the right choice in leaving, but why did you come out here?" she asked, confused by his past decisions. "Well... she wasn't the only reason I left." Spike was suddenly extremely uncomfortable with what he was about to tell her. "The other reason I left was... well... love." His voice became so quiet in the small room that even Azura couldn't hear him. "What? I didn't quite catch that last part, you know... the important part." Spike couldn't take it anymore, almost yelling at her. "Love! Ok!? The other grand reason is because nopony loved me! I was an outcast and a novelty of sorts. I wasn't even given the time of day by anypony, not even by my sister! What mare in their right mind would date a dragon? I almost wish that I had realized it sooner! Would have at least saved me self-loathing for my lack of having a special someone, after twenty-six years... I mean, I chased this one mare for like years, and the best I ever got was peck on the check for being a 'gentledrake' and helping her around her store." spike looked down, having only one thing left to say. "almost twenty years of chasing her... and she never had the heart to just put me down..." Spike slumped onto the ground and rolled over on his side, facing away from Azura. He felt broken from his own confession, not even wanting the dragoness's company anymore, preferring to wallow in lonely sadness for a time. Though he was about to do just that, something happened that changed his mind. Azura stood up and slinked closer to the purple drake before her. lying back down next to him, she wrapped her arms around his form, pulling herself against the green spikes adorning his back. Pushing them aside a little bit, she pressed herself tight against his back, earning a confused look from the drake. Giggling softly, she craned her neck forward until she could rest her head over his neck. "Spike, I have to ask, how would you feel about coming to the Republics... with me?" Spike was still. An indescribable joy welling within chest after hearing her speak, and after realizing what else she was implying. "Y-you want me come with you back to the republics? I-I... ok." Spikes voice started out as one of joy, but then fell a bit when he realized he would have to leave everything behind. He contemplated the situation for a moment, then spoke. "And... thank you. For everything. I don't think I can describe it with words, or anything else for that matter." Azura smiled, happy to have spike be so accepting of the situation. She had only known the drake for about half an hour, but had grown found of his words the more he spoke. Then a thought came to her. With a sly smirk adorning her maw, she shifted a bit to get more comfortable. Then, gently lifting spike's, head, looked over his face before closing her eyes. Spike didn't know what was happening at first, but soon figured it out. With a forceful lunge, Azura pressed her lips against his, pulling his head deeper into the kiss. Spike froze. not only was this his first actual kiss, but from the first dragoness he's ever seen no less. After only a moment, he melted into it, fully accepting her advances. He felt as though he finally had purpose, being held by the creature before him. After a few seconds of this, Azura attempted to step it up, forcing her serpentine tongue into his mouth, mixing salvia as they battled for dominance. Not wanting to be outdone on his first kiss, spike pressed for dominance. Pressing his tongue into her mouth, spike made headway with his advances as she backed off. Azura was in bliss. Never before had she been kissed with such passion. Unable to restrain herself, a few elicit moans escaped her breath as he took control. This continued until they had to come up for air, parting their lips to gaze at one another. Spike blushed, having experienced his first kiss of many. After a moment silence, spike spoke. "So when do we leave? I mean, I still have some stuff to pack along. You know, things of sentimental value." When spike said this he was specifically referring to one of his most treasured memories and possessions. A picture him, twilight, and her friends; taken a month prior to Twilight's ascension. Azura looked back at him, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before answering. "Tomorrow, spike. I think we still have some 'unfinished business' to attend to..." she finished, shooting a sly smirk spike's way. Spike returned the gesture full force. "Right. Tomorrow." Their throes of passion could be heard throughout the home and out into the wilds that night. Ponyville Carousel Boutique Rarity lay on her bed, sniffling softly in her shame from the nights events. How could he do that? and during dinner too? Do I really come off as desperate for such things? Rarity continued to go over what had happened that night. The stallion had been a perfect gentlecolt when they met, so where did she go wrong? Clearly it wasn't her fault given what he asked. The nerve of him, asking during the middle of the dinner if their date would include various 'night activities' after when they returned home. Rarity couldn't get it out of head, the feeling of constant dread. As she laid in the middle of the bed, mascara from the night's outing smearing down her face from her reddened eyes, she felt a sudden, emptiness. Sitting up she looked out the window towards the South. Unable to shake the feeling, slowly trotted to her dresser, each step being muffled by the carpet beneath. Pulling open the topmost drawer, she searched for the keepsake she hadn't seen in over a year. After a moment of rummaging, she found it. A heart shaped fire ruby, held by a 'claw' crafted gold necklace. She picked it up, staring at it's crimson center. It almost seemed dull, the ruby not catching the light of the room like it once had. She carried it back over to her bed, and held it close to her chest in an attempt to fill the newfound emptiness within. Though it did little to ease the pain, she held it close as she drifted off into the dreamscape, memories of old dancing back and forth in her mind. She laid on her side and muttered one last thing before she drifted off. I will wait for you...