//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 What Do They Think Of Him? // Story: Such A New Place // by ILIKEBOOKS //------------------------------// Dim Sum eyes fluttered open and she sat up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. She pulled the covers off of her body and she placed her feet on the floor. Dim Sum walked into her bathroom and stared at the bath tub which looked quite different than she was accustomed to. She pulled the shower curtains out of her way and stepped inside. She saw two knobs and put her hand on one, she twisted and water trickled over her face. She sighed and closed her eyes. The warm water drowned out any thoughts the dragoness could come up with, she allowed it to transport her to relaxation. She lowered herself into the water and leaned back against the tiled wall. "Tiled crystal, I'm not even going to bother to question that," Dim Sum said. She glanced to her right and saw bottles of shampoo, she picked it up with one hand and squirted it out onto her open hand. She lathered the soap over her spines and the rest if her body. The scent smelled familiar, a bit of a mix of honey and jasmine. Deciding to turn her bath into a bubble bath, she poured sone soap in the warm water. She closed her eyes and let nature take it's course. I deserve this Dim Sum thought. After all, girls need some alone time don't they? After a few minutes she stood up and wrapped a towel around her waist. She stepped out of her bath. She put her hand against the mirror and wiped to get rid of the fog. (It's condensation I know that) She stared into her own violet eyes. She smiled and exited the bathroom. She saw her vanity and the makeup it came with. Sure she doesn't want to impress anypony or anydragon, but what girl would want to miss a chance to do a little sprucing up? She sat down on the chair and stared at the makeup. "Maybe a little mascara, nothing big." She opened the little bottle and pulled out the small wand. She held it steady to her eyelash and gently pulled upward. She repeated it once more with her other eye. She fluttered her eyelashes and made a kissy face in the mirror. She giggled and stood up. "I wonder what they got to eat," she said to herself. She opened her door and glanced out the door into the hallway. She walked through admiring the paintings and pictures that dotted the walls. Most of them involved Twilight and her friends, the thing that saddened Dim Sum was that Spike was absent for most of them or a part of him was out of frame. "Why would they do that?" Dim Sum glanced to another, "Happy Birthday Twilight" Dim Sum read aloud, it was the banner which below had all six mares huddled together smiling, but Spike was nowhere to be seen. As she walked down it had a pattern, if there was a picture it had Twilight and her friends without Spike, or half of his body was cut out of the frame. The pictures that had Spike in it fully was him taking pictures of himself while standing in front of something. "Why? I thought they cared for him, even pets get their own pictures. What if they don't even see him as a friend?" Dim Sum could only imagine how Spike felt. "It can't be, right?" She walked down the staircase. She entered the throne room where Twilight and her friends were discussing something. She approached them and as she came into view their conversation ceased. The mares stared at her, one pony in particular smiled at her. "Hiya!" the pink mare said as she quickly moved towards. The pony wrapped her in a hug. "My name's Pinkie Pie and I know that me and you will be the bestest friends ever!" Dim Sum stood still blush covering her cheeks. "Uh, hi" Dim Sum said quietly. "Hello my name is, wait I already said that silly me, so welcome to Ponyville!" The pink mare pulled out some confetti and poured it over Dim Sum's head. "Thank you?" Dim Sum said unsure what to do. "Your welcome!" Pinkie bounced away. "That's Dim Sum?" A white unicorn asked. Twilight nodded. The unicorn walked up to Dim Sum and scanned her body. "I didn't know dragons could have curves," she glanced at her wings. "Interesting" she stared into Dim Sum's eyes. "Well hello my name is Rarity, can't help but notice your mascara, let me say darling you look fantastic." Dim Sum'a cheeks turned dark. "Th-thank you" Dim Sum flinched when Rarity pulled out tape measurer. "Rarity, you might be scaring her" Twilight said. Rarity blinked for a few seconds and blushed. "Oops, sorry Dim Sum. I have never done a dress for a dragon before and I guess instincts took over" she placed the tape somewhere. "So, I was thinking, you can come over and I'll do a dress for you, completely free of course." "Thank you," Dim Sum said, "Where's Spike?" She asked. "Spikey? Oh I believe he's in the kitchen" Rarity said. Dim Sum nodded and walked into the dining room. It had a very large table. "Sixteen chairs? Why would they need that much?" Dim Sum ignored it and walked into the large kitchen where Spike was seen holding a spatula and a pan in hand. "Spike?" Dim Sum began. Spike turned around and smiled. "Hi Dim Sum, good morning," he placed the pancakes he was cooking onto a plate. "What are you cooking?" Dim Sum said as she stared at the unfamiliar food. "Pancakes" answered Spike. "Pancakes?" Dim Sum poked the food. "Hey that's for Fluttershy" Spike said. Dim Sum saw seven plates. "Seven? Spike there's eight of us" Dim Sum said. Spike shrugged his shoulders and grabbed a cart. He placed all seven onto a cart and pushed it into the dinning room. Spike placed the pancakes on the table in front of each chair. "Spike what about you?" Dim Sum asked. "I don't need to eat, besides they're the guests" Spike placed the last of the plates onto the table. "Spike you cooked the food, you deserve to eat it." "It's fine, really," Spike ringed the bell which was near the door. A few seconds later the group if mares entered and sat down at the table. Dim Sum sat down across from Spike. The mares started chatting. Dim Sum didn't pay attention as she was staring at Spike. Why do they treat him like this Dim Sum picked at her pancake which had jewels in it. Don't they care for him? "So Dim Sum" these words dragged her out her thoughts. "Huh, yes?" "I was wondering, what is Haysia like?" Rarity asked. Dim Sum sat up and thought about the question for a moment. "Well it's big, there is a lot of ponies and dragons there," the mares seemed to listen at the word dragon. "Dragons, with ponies? How scary," the yellow pegasus blushed. "Um I mean not all dragons are scary but I.." She hid behind her mane as she trailed off. "What Fluttershy means to say sugarcube, we've never heard of ponies and dragons living together." The orange mare with a brown stetson said. "Ah don't reckon that the dragons are big, are they?" she asked. "The dragons that I'm from grow at a much slower pace than traditional drakes. The reason is we ignore our primal urges to hoard, most of us embraced the pony lifestyle, some even went as far as to develop feelings for ponies." Rarity sat up at this statement. "Darling did you say a dragon and a pony?" Dim Sum nodded. Rarity glanced at Spike whom was busy reading a comic book. Can it actually happen? Rarity felt her cheeks get hot. Can me and Spike work? "Well enough about that mushy stuff, do they have races between the fastest dragons?" A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane said. "Um every two years we held a tournament for all sorts of skills, ranging from martial arts, sword play, archery, track and field, and of course aerial relay," Dim Sum took a bit of her meal. The pegasus pumped her right forleg. "Awesome! Do they allow ponies to compete?" The mare said leaning forward. "Well as long as your physically capable anything can enter, dragons, ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and goats" "Amazing," Twilight wrote it down on a notebook, "I had no idea the culture in Haysia was so varied." "What about animals?" Fluttershy asked. "Animals? Well in Haysia we have multiple sanctuaries for animals, my personal favorite is the panda bear." "Ooh I've never spoke to a panda bear before" "Technically speaking a panda is more closely related to the raccoon family than actual bears," Twilight said. All the mares glanced at her. "Heh what I mean to say is, uh I ruined the moment didn't I?" "Eeyup" Applejack said in a deep voice. The mares all giggled except Dim Sum whom raised her brow. "So what about academics?" Twilight asked. "Education? Well most ponies and dragons study until adulthood, but since dragons live so long they can study for a couple centuries." "Fascinating!" Twilight teleported the notebook away. "Well girls that was a great breakfast, Spike take our dishes to the kitchen" "Yes ma'am!" Spike picked up the plates and placed them on the cart. He walked back into the kitchen. Dim Sum watched him as he left. She didn't even say please Dim Sum turned towards the mares who where talking about something. Spike returned and smiled. "The plates are all clean Twilight," Spike said. "Good now could you go to the library and sort out the shelves?" Twilight asked. "Of course," he walked through the door. "Excuse me," Dim Sum said as she walked away from the dining room. She caught up with him as he walked. "Spike what was that?" "What was what?" "Twilight, she didn't even thank you," Dim Sum said. "Oh Twi? She doesn't need to thank me, after all it is my job" "Do you get paid?" "Um no" "Spike you can't be treated this way" "It's fine" "No it's not" Dim Sum stopped in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Spike, you're being treated wrong" Spike shook his head. "What are you talking about my friends take care of me" "Really? So why do they boss you around?" Dim Sum asked. "They do not boss me around." "Spike what do you think of Twilight?" "What do I think? She's my sister, she's smart, talented, and skilled." "What kind of sister makes her brother do labor without even a thank you, or even payment?" Dim Sum asked. "Uh" "A bad sister" Dim Sum said "How about the rest of those mares?" "The girls? They're great I spend a lot of time with them." "What do you do for them?" "I help them," "What do they do for you?" "Not-thing, Spike sat down against wall. "Are they even my friends?" Spike never thought about it. "Pinkie Pie, she's my friend but she's everypony's friend" he placed his hands on his knees. "Applejack? I help her around the farm when she saved my life, but the entire time she was... trying to get rid of me, she went so far as to fake a attack just to make me leave." Dim Sum sat next to him. "Spike?" "Rainbow Dash? We have a lot of fun at parties but only when the rest of the mares are around. We've never even hanged out alone together." Spike felt a pain in his chest. "Fluttershy? She was always nice to me" Spike stopped. "She takes care of me when ever I'm around, like she does with... animals" "Spike it's" "Does she think I'm just another animal, that needs to be cared for!" Spike punched the ground next him. "Rarity? I lo-" Spike stopped himself. "I spent hours apon hours helping her, and what to I get? A lousy kiss on the cheek!" Spike felt his anger rise. "She doesn't care about me! All she cares about is my work!" Spike huffed out smoke. His anger then turned to sadness. Tears streamed down his face. "They don't care about me" he covered his face with his hands. "They never cared about me" he sobbed. "All I am is the useless sidekick" "Spike you're not" "Yes I am!" He yelled "I'm worthless! None of my so called friends even care for me" he punched the wall and the crystal cracked. "I hate them" Spike huffed out flames. "I want this stupid castle to burn!" Spike grabbed a picture of the group of mares. He blew fire onto it and the picture was sent aflame. It burned out as it fell to the ground. Dim Sum stared wide eyed. Spike grew taller, his claws sharper, his scales turned dark. "They hate me." "Spike stop!" "Why should I? All the years I spent being the servent, the slave!" He yelled and red fire came out. "These stupid, inconsiderate ponies treat me like dirt!" He snarled. "I won't take it anymore!" Spike ran down the corridor. A few seconds later a scream could be heard. "What have I done?" Dim Sum fell to her knees. "What have I done?"