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Why Is It That Your First Impression Of Someone Is Sometimes Completely Different From Who They Really Are?

Seated at a table in Ponyville library's basement, a certain orange-yellow pegasus watched with suspicion the human girl walking up and down the stairs helping Spike carry boxes and equipment. It was Saturday, so the library would open at eleven o'clock instead of the usual nine o'clock during weekdays. Meaning they all still had a good two hours before the three or so usual patrons “stampeded” into the place. While still a bit rushed, Spike and this human girl were carefully pacing themselves so they didn't fall and trip down the stairs with their heavy boxes and equipment.

The basement, once used as a storage area for a number of miscellaneous things, was to be converted into what could be considered a cafe. There was even a separate entrance made to enter the basement from outside during the library's closed hours. During the day, the basement would be used as an additional study room and web cafe, while at night, there were plans to make the space more or less a hangout. A bar where food and drinks would be made had already been constructed opposite of the stairs that led up to the library, and like where Scootaloo and Pip were currently sitting and sampling the proposed menu items, several tables with chairs were set up.

The table Scootaloo was seated at had a rounded shape, but was not exactly a proper circle. It was more of a rectangle that had its edges made curved. A number of holes were strategically bored into the tabletop, which was made for cords to run through. Though at this particular table, two plates of food were currently being attended to.

“So who's the chick?” Her question receiving only an arched brow in response, Scootaloo moved closer to Pip and asked again in a hushed tone. “Who's the human chick?”

Pip in turn shifted a few centimeters to his left, as the pegasus pony was practically brushing up against him in order to ask her question. “Someone who Spike hired to help at the web cafe.” The colt said as he moved his plate in front of his new spot at the table. Before continuing however, Pip made sure to take a few bites of food. He wasn't about to let the current situation go to waste—Scootaloo's curiosity overtaking her usual habit of vacuuming up the meager provisions for lunch. “From what Spike's told me, she's apparently a college student back in the human world, who's looking to do her thesis paper on Equestria. Though I don't know the exact circumstances, she's helping out because she's apparently good with computers.”

“You mean 'Earth'.” Scootaloo admonished him.

“What?” Pip blinked. He regarded the pony next to him with the confusion worn on his face.

“Stop calling it the 'human world' like a dweeb. They're from 'Earth'.”

“Even though you lived there, I seem to recall you calling it the human worl-” before his eyes the grilled tomato that Pip was saving for last was nabbed from his plate by the ever quick pegasus. “WAITAMINUTE! NOT FAIR! Stop distracting me!”

“Hehehe, all's fair in food and war!” she haughtily announced with bits of tomato being spat out as she did so. Following this up with a villainous laugh, Scootaloo pushed on with her onslaught to take what Pip had been saving for second-last.

The earth pony engaged in a battle of wits, will, and speed, all of which he was outclassed by the purple maned girl.

“MWA-HAHAHA! Victory!”

“Not...again...” Pip groaned out on the floor. On his noggin, a single, swelling bruise began to grow.

Chapter 5

In the few days that the pegasus started living at the library, Pip had quickly learned that meals had become as much a battle as fighting crime. After nurse the bump on his head, the size of which would probably qualify him for a purple heart, Pip regarded the increasing pile of things in the equipment with half of his attention.

It reminded him of how Scootaloo had brought a surprisingly large amount of stuff when she moved in. Mostly things she had collected on her travels with Rainbow Dash, as well as trophies and ribbons from her days on the racing track.

The things that Spike and this human were bringing down were a bit more technical. Wires, cords, computer monitors, as well as glasses and other items for the recently constructed bar.

“Humans sure have an imagination...” Pip heard Scootaloo mumble under her breath. “Like, who came up with calling the internet 'the web'?” Her eyes continued following Spike and the human enter and leave the basement through the stairs—her gaze more intense for the human in particular

“I don't know.” Pip answered with a shrug. “It can't be a bad thing, considering how it's so popular with everyone these days.”

“Yeah, no question about it. I went online a bunch of times already, but...” she scrunched her face in thought, “why 'web'? Doesn't that involve spiders? I never got that while watching videos and reading stuff online.”

Again Pip could only shrug his shoulders. Unlike Scootaloo, he never had any experience with the internet to speak of, much less been on a computer. Even still, Pip couldn't help but to be a bit perplexed at the sight of the machines that Spike was setting up.

Scootaloo placed her hooves on the table and lazily rested atop of it. “Then again,” she spoke loud enough for the dragon to hear her, “I guess ponies seem to have an even better imagination from the look of those hunks of junk.”

“Hey, peanut gallery! Keep the clamor down, will you?” Spike hollered back at the sneering filly. He threw plastic bottle at her for good measure, which she easily dodged. “Tsk...” Realizing the futility of pursuing any further, Spike returned to the task at hand. “It's just a different model.” the dragon grumbled, currently busying himself with setting up the first computer station.

“Ha! 'Different' is an understatement.” Scootaloo quipped. “How do you call a bunch of typewriters with television screens attached to them computers?”

“...Real computers are expensive.” Spike muttered after a long pause.

“Oh, he admitted that what he has aren't computers...”

By this point Spike was staring at the back of the cathode-ray tube television set with a full scowl on his face. “I'm gonna get a drink.” Spike announced with a heavy exhale. Dropping the wires in his claws, he stomped over to the bar to check on the machines over there.

In the meantime, the human walked over to the table that Scootaloo and Pip were seated at, retrieving her bag put on the seat of one of the chairs and placed it atop the table. The white and brown colt didn't know whether to make it seem like he was busy or not. Pip couldn't really say he had the best of experiences with humans as of late, so he was a bit at a loss as to what to do.

“So...Rin...” Pip began, recalling that Spike said that was her name, “what brings you to this library?”

“Yeah, what's up your sleeve, chica?” Scootaloo demanded bluntly, receiving a quick shove to the floor from the pony next to her. “The hay, Pip!?” she yelped as she got back to her hooves.

All the while, Rin waited for the two ponies to settle down before responding. “It's kind of obvious that I'm not wearing sleeves, right?” the woman raised her arms to reinforce that fact.

“Hmph...I'm watching you...” Scootaloo finally said. She raised her hoof to her eyes and pointed the tip toward Rin's direction. Without anything further, she hopped off her chair and trotted to Spike at the bar.

“I'm sorry about that.” Pip offered a weak smile.

“Oh, it's no big.” Rin returned with a smile of her own. “Can't say I blame her, with all the girl's been through.”

'I don't remember telling her about that...did Spike?' Glancing over Rin's shoulder, Pip spotted Scootaloo perched at one of the stools, spinning in place with a smile. As soon as she realized she was spotted however, a scowl returned and she repeated her gesture of pointing her hoof from her eyes toward their direction.

'Watch...ing...you...' she mouthed those words expecting the human to be able to read lips.

It was too absurd a sight for Pip to take seriously.

“As to your question, I'm studying to get my Masters in English. I wanted to write on the allusion of dragons in medieval literature all over the Earth, but who would have thought I'd have the chance to meet with a living, breathing dragon?”

“Oh, that makes sense.” Pip looked back at the short haired woman. If he had to guess she couldn't be any older than her early to mid twenties, from what he knew about how humans aged. From what he gathered, dragons and really, most anything from Equestria was non-existent in the place where humans came from. Call it “Earth” or the “Human World” or whichever, ponies didn't talk and magic didn't exist for them before they came to Equestria.

“And Spike was so nice to offer me a job while I worked on my paper.” the woman shrugged her fair shoulders. “He's really a sweet guy.”

“Spike? 'Sweet'?” Pip aimed a glance to the dragon's direction once more, and spotted him trying to stop Scootaloo from meddling about behind the bar. His sharp teeth were bared while engaged in a tug-of-war with the smaller filly which sent a shiver down the colt's spine.

“Hey! We're out of food...that damn pegasus filly just won't stop...she's just a machine...a food terminator! Over.” Trixie's voice echoed around the basement through the library's speaker system.

As the whiny crackle turned to silence, Spike let go of the drink machine's extended hose, throwing Scootaloo off balance and onto her haunches with a yelp, and walked over to the basement unit. On the nearby counter, a bald and goofy-looking bird was perched in its cage, somehow managing to sleep through the ruckus. When Spike reached the console built into the wooden wall, he pressed a clawed finger on the button, initiating the 'send' function from his end. “This isn't a radio so you don't have to end with 'over', Trixie.”

“Sorry, what was that?” Trixie's voice crackled flatly, “I couldn't understand what you just said. Over.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Ignoring that...Maybe if somepony hadn't brought her here in the first place?”

“I fail to see your point. Over”

“Well, here's an idea. Maybe so there's enough food for everyone I should just start charging rent...oh...wait...” Spike leered at the speaker console as though it could be transferred through the system to the blue unicorn on the ground floor. It was a futile effort however.

“That sounds like a stupid idea. Over.”

“Ugh...” Spike pinched the bridge of his nose between his claws, just about ready to throw the blue pony into a river when the speaker crackled again.

“By the way you have visitors. Over.”

“Huh?” Spike looked at the nearby wall clock to see that it was only ten-thirty. “Visitors?”

What greeted the group when they arrived at the front door of the library was a pair of town watch ponies.

A brown and neon green coat color respectively, they each wore the distinctive town watch band around their front left leg. “Excuse me,” the green one with a brown mane bowed his head politely before stepping into the library. “There's been a number of reports of identity theft. After some investigation we've determined that the source is from this address.”

“That's a bit surprising to hear.” Spike scratched the back of his ear in surprise. “But you have nothing to worry about, officers. No one I can think of would ever-”

The shriek of tires caught everyone's attention.

A blur rushed by the open doorway. Hurrying to see what was going on, the ponies and dragon rushed outside to see Rin riding away on a scooter with a stack of the “computers” piled on the rear basket.

“Damn it, my scooter!” Spike bellowed.

“H-hold on,” Scootaloo said mid-chuckle. She failed to hold back the smirk grown on her face. “You have a scooter?”

“Only when I'm not flying around.” Spike deadpanned with an accompanying leer.

“Heh. I'd get mad at you if you weren't a crippled dragon.” Scootaloo shot back, fluttering her wings to point out what most dragons had that Spike didn't.

“Caaw?”

“Peewee!?” He screamed even louder. The sight of a befuddled and wide-eyed featherless bird perched in a cage hanging in the pile of stuff was a strange thing to behold.

“Hold on, buddy! I'm gonna-” Before Spike could give chase, Trixie had already bounded after the scooter.

Too stunned at the moment, Pip as well as the other males simply watched as Scootaloo then flared her wings and ran after Trixie. “Right behind you, boss!”

The first of the guys to break out of the stupor, Pip stumbled for a moment but managed to run past the two other ponies after the girls. “Scootaloo, what are you doing!? You don't have a flight license, remember!?”

“Don't care!” she said while galloping at full speed. With a jump and a flap of her wings, Scootaloo was airborne. She flew upwards well above the roofs of the town, then dove, using the force of gravity to boost her speed as she gained ahead of her earth pony. From her vantage point, she easily bolted toward the direction of the escaping scooter.

Looking ahead, Pip spotted Trixie and sped his legs as best he could, eventually catching up with her but found it strenuous to run alongside her. “Are you going to just completely ignore the magic ban!?” Pip cried out a gasp as he saw Trixie's horn glow.

“What are you talking about? Magic?” She answered in-between pants of breath. She was looking ahead, eyes furrowed. “It's all just smoke and mirrors! You should grow up, already!” Without stopping, Trixie grabbed a coil of rope hanging off of a storefront display with her teeth. As the glow engulfed her body, the pony instantaneously blinked from sight.

Pip slid to a stop in the dirt road, startled by her sudden disappearance. Panting, he sat on his haunches, breathing haggardly. “You don't...even know...where she's...going...” Pip shook his head and sighed.

The shrill buzz of the motor fluctuated and strained to traverse the dirt roads. Each bump was felt from the wheels through the suspension into the light chassis of the eggshell-white scooter. Especially as Rin drove through the alleyways, it took effort for her to handle the scooter. Nonethless her focus was no less a distraction as her green eyes darted to look at the scooter's rear view mirror, noticing movement.

Above the roofs of Ponyville, a pegasus appeared from the sky and was approaching close.

She drove around the corner, swerving to make her path too complicated to follow, but to no avail. In fact, this only seemed to have given the pony the chance to close the distance, as her hooves were just out of reach of the scooter's rear bumper.

Scootaloo wasn't about to let the woman get away, nor was she about to do anything as immature as spouting off some witty one-liner. No, that could wait as soon as she grabbed hold of the scoo-“WHA!?”

Because of her close distance, she barely managed to pull to the left of the scooter that suddenly screeched to a halt. Her momentum too great, the pegasus was victim to her inertia that sent her tangling into a clothesline.

“HA!” Rin smiled at the sight and drove on down a connecting alleway, seeing the bridge that led out of Ponyville. But to her surprise, there a large purple dragon blocking the way. She slowed to a stop at the mouth of the bridge, leaving it on idle.

“You of all people should know how bad an idea it is to pilfer a dragon's hoard.” he said simply.

“Heh.” Rin shot him a dirty look. It dawned on her now that a resident like him would know the most likely ways out of Ponyville. Was she simply being corralled by those ponies? “It's not everyday that a dragon just welcomes me into his den. You're too nice to strangers.”

“It's a result of my upbringing.” Spike shrugged. “...I really took you for a nice girl, too.” Spike gave the woman a tired look. “Would have been nice for the kids if you were a different kind of human. Too bad that I fell for your acting.”

“That's right. It's your fault, since you're too trusting, Spike. You should stick to your instincts, instead of taking in whoever asks for it.”

“Where would I be if I did something like that?” Spike countered. “If I were as cold and heartless as everyone thinks dragons are, then I'd never have realized...”

“I'm sorry...” The blue pony sniffled, delirious from fatigue and shivering from the cold harsh wind that carried snow onto the both of them. “I...I couldn't...” Her voice wavered for a moment. She made a trembling gasp of air. “...Twilight...she...”

His breath vaporized and was taken away by the wind. Stoic, calm, slow breaths. But shallow. Spike stroked his claw through the once silky pure-silver mane, now grimy and caked by sweat and dirt. He gently used the sharp tips of his claws to tear and break the knots that had formed, as each finger combed through the once lustrous mane.

“There, there...” Spike cooed. His words almost in danger of being carried off by the strong wind like the puffs of vapor from his mouth. He swallowed. “It's alright...”

Spike found himself lying. What he thought, what he really felt...they were completely at odds with what he was telling this pathetic pony, dirtied and bloody, scratched up and bruised, resting her head heavily in his lap. Despite being a warm blooded creature, it was as though the pony was struggling to survive by drawing upon some of his body warmth.

“N-n-no....” she started with a haggard breath. Her head's harried shake turned rapid like that of her body's shiver. “I know I said...but I...promise...”

The wind howled.

“I know you did, Trixie...” The dragon whispered. “But...please...don't just...”

“...I pro-promise...” she repeated herself, as though not hearing his words. “...pro...mise...”

Spike felt a drop of warmth against his leg. So unlike the cold wetness fluttering heavily from the sky that brushed against his scales, uncaring to the emptiness he currently felt. Ignorant to the waning heat that emanated from the curled figure on his lap. “...so...sorry, Spike...”

“Shhh...” he clenched his jaw tightly. Spike stared at his clawed hand brushing her mane, urging it not to betray his deceit. To not tremble. To stay strong. Because he had to be.

“I...I promise...you....that...”

“...even after I forgave her...” Spike looked ahead, unsurprised by the sudden materialization of the silver-maned unicorn atop a nearby rooftop. “...to think she'd still...” His lips curled upward as his brows furrowed. “...promise to never let me feel betrayed again...”

“Well...okay...” Rin scoffed and looked around, spotting another nearby bridge. “Good luck with all that.” Flicking back the kickstand with her heel, she began driving along the river to continue her escape. Trixie ran parallel, keeping up with the speed of the human on the scooter. Jumping down from the roof, Trixie easily threw a coil of rope around the woman's legs, pulling her off the scooter and sending her tumbling to the ground.

It didn't take long for the police to arrive. Even though the were in hot pursuit of a certain orange-yellow pegasus flying without a license. Of course because it was her first offense, and it was done while aiding them, the town watch let Scootaloo off with a warning. It also helped that Trixie had performed at their children's birthday parties, but that reason was unofficial.

Rin however wasn't as lucky as she was negotiated into the vehicle by a much shorter pony standing on its hind legs. The “computers” that were used in an apparent identity theft ring to spam all the surrounding networks with trojans were taken for evidence, placed tetris-style into the trunk of the police cruiser.

Casually leaning back on the bridge railings, Trixie and Spike watched in silence as Rin was escorted into the black and white cruiser.

Pip finally caught up as well, gasping desperately as his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. “I...i...I....here...” While he had been galloping as fast as he could, it was obvious that his endurance was all but spent and he collapsed to the ground just short of stepping onto the bridge.

“Bout time you showed up, slowpoke!” Scootaloo trotted over to him with a laugh. “You're never gonna believe how close I was to stopping her! So close!” She playfully kicked at the colt, which only succeeded in making him roll over onto his back, still panting and wheezing. “Hey, listen up already! Pipsqueak!” Nudging the disoriented pony, Scootaloo let out a frustrated growl.

With a quick sharp chirp of his siren, the town watch police cruiser began heading to the Ponyville detachment to process their newly apprehended criminal.

“She said she'd cooperate with the town watch and give back the money she'd managed to take from the people and ponies' accounts she gained access to. In return for giving her a place to stay”

“That's nice of her.” Trixie replied in a bored manner. It was apparently less interesting than inspecting her hooves.

After a moment, the sirens of the police vehicle had disappeared. The creak of metal attracted Spike's eyes down to the cage set at his feet, where a featherless bird returned a blank stare at him. “Thanks. For saving Peewee and all.” The “computers” if he could call them that, were the farthest thing to worry about in his mind. Stealing Peewee, that had been resting in its cage in the basement was apparently to prevent a witness that could track her down, though that didn't seem to help her situation. “I guess I'll accept that as this month's rent.”

“That's nice of you.” she replied again in a bored voice. After tending to an itch at the back of her head, the unicorn let out a soft sigh. “Spike.”

“Yeah?”

“I'll be sure to get you that happy meal next time.”

“Forget the happy meal. Although I'd be happy with the toy, I just want the rent paid when it's due from now on.”

“Sure, sure, next next month's rent is a given.”

“Why are you skipping next month's!?”

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