The four bandmates walked back to the exit out of Ponyville, where Spike had told Twilight to meet him. The three stallions and one dragon walked back in silence, until Blueblood spoke up:
"Are you sure you really want to talk to the girls again, Spike?" Blueblood asked, his voice filled with worry. He was afraid of what might happen if Spike was to confront the Mane 6 again. Would he go into another fit of rage and fly off again? He didn't know. And frankly, he didn't want to find out.
Spike turned his head towards his cousin. "I have to do this, Blueblood. I need to get this out and in the open once and for all. I can't keep all this shit bottled up. I need to confront them without having a meltdown and let them know why I'm doing this. Once we do that, it's 'Goodbye, Ponyville' and "Hello, open road.'
Blueblood, deciding that it would be best to get off the subject for the time being, turned to Cheese Sandwich. His hair still laid flat against his head, and he wore a black, leather vest over a dark yellow polo shirt with a pair of stone-washed jeans and a pair of black sneakers. Blueblood didn't even bother to ask how he had managed to change his clothes so quickly. "Hey, Cheese, "he started, "I've been meaning to ask you, since when did you play drums?"
Cheese Sandwich grinned. "I'm a master of many instruments, Blueblood. When you're in the business I'm in, you have to know how to play the way I do." Blueblood made no further inquiry, afraid that any more questions might tempt Cheese to start breaking the laws of physics. That kind of crap gave him a headache every time. So much that he always made sure to carry around a bottle of aspirin with him whenever he was around Pinkie Pie.
They arrived at the meeting place, which also happened to be where Blueblood had parked his jeep, to find that Blueblood's car was gone. Instead, in its place, was a large bus. The structure of the bus was that of your typical double-decker. The bus was black, with green flames painted over the sides. On one side of the bus, the word "GREENFIRE" was written in large letters styled to match the flames painted on the sides.
"What the fuck is this?" Blueblood exclaimed, growing angry at the idea that someone may have stolen his beloved jeep.
Spike walked over to the bus, and he ran a hand over the lettering on the side. a note written on a piece of notebook paper was taped to the side of the bus, along with a set of keys. Spike pulled off the note and read it:
Spike,
This is for you and your band. Use it well.
A friend
"I think it was meant for us, guys." Spike said he showed the note to Blueblood, Cheese, and Big Mac. They each read the note and passed it back to Spike when they had finished.
"Well, its free shit, so who am I to argue?" Blueblood said. Spike took the keys and walked over to the bus door. he inserted the key into the lock and twisted. A small click was heard as the tumblers inside the lock shifted. Spike removed the key and opened the door. He began to take a step, but faltered for a moment when he suddenly began to worry about what could possibly be inside the bus. For a moment, he thought about how Twilight would most likely do the same thing, if it had been her that the bus had been left for instead of Spike. The amethyst dragon shook these thoughts from his head and entered the bus.
The inside was even larger than the outside made it look. Spike guessed that the room had to measure at least 50 feet by 50 feet. The walls were made of stained oak. The floor was covered in carpeting that was black as night. Two couches made of black leather were placed next to each other, facing a wall adjourned with a 32-inch plasma screen TV. The TV was flanked by a door on either side. On the right was a large window facing the exit out of Ponyville. The asphalt road leading out of Ponyville that cut through the grassy plains could be seen on the other side of the glass. A doorway next to the window led into what Spike guessed to be a kitchen. A wooden table sat behind the two couches, along with 4 chairs. Next to the table was a spiral staircase leading to the second floor of the bus.
"Holy shit!" Spike exclaimed, his eyes widened in astonishment. "Guys, get in here! You gotta check this out!"
Blueblood, Big Macintosh, and Cheese Sandwich entered the vehicle, marveling at the sheer size of the interior of the bus. Except for Blueblood, none of them had ever seen a bus, or any motorized vehicle, for that matter, with an interior quite like this.
"How can it be this big inside?" Big Mac asked aloud.
Blueblood ran his hand along the top of one of the couches, feeling the leather material underneath his fingers. "It's probably enchanted." he explained, "I've seen a lot of socialites up in Canterlot use these kinds of spells for their carriages, so that they can have more room without their servants collapsing from trying to pull the extra weight of a bigger carriage."
"Why do they need carriages?" Big Mac questioned, slightly angered by the fact that upper-class citizens forced others they deemed beneath them to cart them around. "Why don't they just use cars?" Blueblood removed his hand from the couch to pinch the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger.
"To them, it's a sign of wealth, and how they are above any who they consider part of the working class." Blueblood answered, earning a growl from Big Macintosh.
The four continued to explore the inside of the bus. Upstairs, they found a hallway with seven doors; three on each wall, and and the seventh at he end of the hall. Behind each of the six doors adjacent to each other were a bedroom, fitted with king-sized beds, a plasma-screen TV, and a private bathroom.
"Dude, this is some seriously deluxe shit!" Cheese exclaimed while sticking his head inside the seventh and final door at the end of the hallway.
Spike gave Cheese a questioning look. "What are you talking about, Cheese?"
"Come take a look for yourself, Spike!" Cheese replied enthusiastically.
Spike walked over to where Cheese Sandwich stood and looked inside the last door. Inside was recording studio, complete with a sound room and a number of instruments. Once Blueblood and Big Mac had caught up with Spike and Cheese Sandwich, the group of four began to look around the studio. They entered the sound room and began examining the instruments. The instruments consisted of a 9-piece drum set, a dark red Fender Precision bass guitar, a white Gibson Flying V electric guitar, and a Jet black Dean Razorblade with green flames painted in the bottom edge of the guitar
"Who do you think left these?" Big Mac asked, picking up the bass guitar and examining it.
Cheese answered, "I don't know, Mac, but whoever it is, we owe them big time."
Spike picked up the Razorblade and looked at it closely. He had never played an instrument before in his life, yet for some reason he felt drawn to the guitar. Just holding it in his hands felt right, like it was meant to be in his possession.
Suddenly, a series of loud knocks came from downstairs. Spike, rather than putting the guitar down, took the shoulder strap and positioned it on his back; the strap running diagonally from his left shoulder to under his right arm. The dragon left the studio and descended down the stairs to answer the door. When Spike opened the door, he found himself face to face with Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements of Harmony.
"You showed up." Spike said, "So what do you want to talk about?" He stepped out of the bus while Blueblood, Big Mac, and Cheese Sandwich listened from he doorway.
As the rest of the Mane 6 stared silently at the new and improved Spike, Twilight began to speak.
"Spike..."she began, "We're all really sorry about how we've treated you for these last few years. It shouldn't have taken you blowing up the way you did for us to realize that. Whether you know it or not, Spike, you mean a lot to us, even if we don't always act like it. We promise that things will be different from now on. We don't want you to have to feel the way you did ever again. We just want you to come home." Twilight's voice was quavering, like she was on the edge of tears. "Will you please come home?" she pleaded. The Mane Six looked at Spike with hopeful eyes; except for Rarity, who kept her head down; unable to look Spike in the eye after all she put him through.
Spike closed his eyes and rubbed his mouth, taking a second to think about what Twilight had said. After a couple of seconds, Spike gave his answer:
"No."
The Mane Six looked at him with shock.
"Aw, come on!" Rainbow Dash started, "You gotta give us a second chance, man! You can't stay mad at us forever!"
"That's not why I'm leaving, Dash." Spike shot back. "I don't care anymore about what happened in the past. This is about me living my own life. I've spent my entire life in Twilight's shadow as her assistant. I've never been on my own before. Now I know what I want to do with my life, and I can finally be happy."
"Ah think that yer bein' a little ridiculous, Sugarcube." Applejack stated.
"Good!" Spike retorted. "Because if being ridiculous means that I can be free from playing second banana to you six, then that's how it's going to be! I'm going to be in a rock band, and I'm gonna make a name for myself, and I'm gonna spend my life making damn good music, because it's my fucking life, and if you don't like it, I don't care! Now if you excuse me, I have music to record!" With that, Spike stepped back on the bus and closed the door behind them.
Blueblood enchanted the bus to drive them to Celestia's castle. The bus took off, leaving the Mane Six staring at where the bus once stood. Blueblood and Spike took a seat on one of the living room couches.
"Are you alright, Spike?" he asked his cousin.
"Spike looked at Blueblood and smiled. "I'm great, Blue." he responded, using the nickname that he had come up with for his cousin when they were children. He got up off the couch. "Come on. I got a shit ton of songs written down, and I want to see how they sound with me on guitar as well." He pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Blueblood. Blueblood looked it over, then magically made three other copies so that each of them had one.
"Let's get moving, then." Big Mac said. They all went back up to the recording studio.
"I gotta say, Spike..." Blueblood said, "This looks pretty good, but the title's a little strange."
Spike looked back at his cousin. "What's wrong with the title 'Enter Sandman'?" Spike asked, "It fits the lyrics."
Blueblood shrugged as they entered the recording studio, unaware of the pair of yellow eyes watching them.