Purple Batteries

by Xutiepops

Old Passtimes

In the multiple storied, book home Twilight called a study were many things. There was the first floor, made of read books built and towered up to ensure that it wasn't a big, empty room. Hallways and a few rooms were made from books. Three rooms and multiple hallways, many that were unfinished and just looped into other ones, hence why Spike referred to it as 'the labyrinth'.

Then, there was the second that was maybe one of the only organized spaces. On the edge near the railings were four, identical round tables, two chairs at each. Made to be like a café. Then, behind those were towering book shelves full of neatly organized books that were intended to be read. It maybe went back twenty or so shelves. It looked like a café in the front and a huge library in the back. It was spooky, as no light hit most of the in-betweens of the shelves. Spike only assumed there were spider webs and ghosts that lived in those in-betweens, so he ran right past them with a shaky mind.

Up a flight of stairs sat the third floor, Spikes haven from the towers that sat below the floor. In the kingdom of Equestria, was the capital, Canterlot. Where the two lived, of course. So, whenever they went out, Spike mapped out the capital in relation to their home, a forbidden -and honestly, unknown- wing of the castle. He enjoyed building a replica of the castle on the floor Twilight had given him. He even had a book fort in the corner of the room for his own delight. So this floor was 'The Kingdom'. He ran over the bakery, skipped over the park, jumped over the shopping center, and slid by the library and school, to get to his cave in the corner.

He smiled at his little home, or room. It was small, certainly wouldn't fit him in a years time. But there was a box of jewels in the corner, a small wooden box hidden under a pillow and a light blue blanket. Of course, the ceiling was simply a shelves under side, by he found it cozy. At least his floor made sense to him and that made him smile -and it made him stop criticizing Twilight for her wacky floor design. He snuggled against the pillow and finally started his own research.

He had a big, white covered book. A picture of a dragon breathing fire on the cover. He pulled out two notebooks, one half filled and the other never touched. He pulled out an old ink holder and pen he was given by Twilight -he used it since he loved seeing how happy Twilight was at her writing cabinet, so he dared not touch its contents. The pen and ink holder were years old and were beat up from being jostled around without care, though neither was used that much, maybe once or twice.

He opened the big white book and flipped to the table of contents, reading through the titles of chapters and subsections quickly.

The truth teller. The shape shifters. The pillars-subsection: The strength. The bravery. The sorcery. The healing. The beauty. The hope.
He flipped the page and saw at the top in bold ink, The one worshipped by all. He hastily turned the books pages to page three hundred. He paused and stared at the bold words. As he read her story, his heart fluttered with hope and excitement.

"A mare with a bewitching voice and enchanting eyes that lure any pony -stallion or mare- into her trap. Based off of evidence of creatures existing like this, it's assumed she's either a seductress, enchantress, or siren. Since she has never been seen, I conclude she's a siren, since a seductress or enchantress are either pony -the former- or can make themselves look like a pony -the latter. Siren's are usually given or born with features that many find appealing, so I think her eyes would be a bright blue, as many find that an attractive color. Her mane and coat are indeterminable, as ponies have different preferences. Though... "

Spike read the poorly thought through text, well he couldn't blame her, she had no intention of making it a book for every pony to read. Still, he read through the text, constantly seeing the words 'siren', 'enchantress', and 'bewitching'. Well, whoever this mare was, she surely was bewitching him.

She was wrote to use her voice and eyes to lure her victims in, yet he didn't need to see her or hear her voice. She had simply took over his mind. He couldn't stop reading about her, even if he contradicted most of what was written, he wanted to know as much as he could about his mysterious mare. All he saw was her blue eyes, as if he had seen her before.

Too soon for his liking, the chapter came to an end and he just stared in disappointment. Then, he pushed it away and grabbed the two notebooks, flipping one open to a page with a sloppy ink drawing of a sitting mare who was confident and had her eyes piercing the viewer. He stared at it for a while, imagining her bright blue eyes, her deep purple mane, her milky white coat. He could almost see her walk off the page and kiss him on the cheek and strut off, expecting him to follow. He shook his head and turned back to the other notebook.

The drawing was full of construction lines marked in dark black ink. Two eyes that had only sparkles, boisterous curls that sat over the shoulder and around her body, framing the picture. The body was slender and curved much to any ponies appeal, even mare. Her eyes and expression showed confidence, yet also showed the conniving siren underneath that Spike didn't want to see. He told himself she was not a siren, she was just gorgeous. That solid statement started wavering in confidence as he thought about himself in the equation.

He swallowed and opened the other notebook, full of freshly cut down trees processed into fine paper. He tried not to think of the hardships of the world, though, staring at a blank page only told a pony two things to think about. Either to name the tree that was sacrificed for your use or to think about what to put on the page. He didn't want to think about either, he just simply didn't have an answer for the former and the latter made him sick to his stomach.

He turned to a random page and dipped the pen in ink, trying to copy what Twilight had drawn. He actually succeeded, though he assumed he took way more time on it than her. As she probably didn't care and was simply getting ideas down, while he longed to see a more real image of the mare. Also the fact that she probably used her magic to move the pen in such movements that she made, he constantly had to let go and stretch out his hand.

Once he finished he stared in awe at his skill. He guessed it was a dragon thing, they got whatever they wanted if they were greedy enough for it, even if it meant copying something in its entirety. Though, his drawing was less sloppy and the face was so detailed and her eyes stared and pierced a lot more than Twilights did.

He stared at the drawing, now with much less construction lines. The eyes held lines for every separate color and sparkle. In Twilights, her eyes spun to a sharp nib on either end, like a cats. His had a big pupil that stared at you, making it a lot nicer and her face was just a confident mare with a sense of class and style. Not a conniving beast underneath ready to steal your soul. Her curves were more realistic, her hair had even more voluminous and was even more boisterous. Her position seemed less forced and more just her posture. Her eyes didn't bare into you, looking for something to take, they stared in a cheerful lure, as if asking for a walk.

As a smile plastered itself on his face, he picked up the used notebook, the ink holder, and the book. He returned each to their respective spots and then rushed to a book house in his little kingdom. It was modeled after the store Twilight went too -way to often- to retrieve her inks. He pulled the book off the top to reveal multiple ink holders. All with colors of the rainbow. There was red -which he grabbed-, orange, yellow, green, blue -also grabbed-, purple -snatched-, and a black and white set he clawed into his arms as well. He dashed back to his little hut, way to fast for safety, though he was too excited to realize, much less care.

When he was inside he got a piece of free paper from the notebook, pulling it out and laying it to the side. He got up and came back with multiple empty ink holders and a random stick that seemed clean enough to use -he didn't question why it was even in the book ridden study he survived under. He started mixing the inks, a method he taught himself, even if it wasted much of the ink. He poured a small amount of black in an empty holder, adding a lot of purple and then mixing it. Once he was done he dipped the pen in the mixture and tested it out on the paper he tore out.

Wonderful. It was the exact color, though it was definitely needed a lighter purple to accent it and make the drawing pop.

He then poured a white with the blue, doing this around three more times, adding different levels of white. Once done he tested them and reveled in his accomplishment. He tested the red and found it sufficient, he would use a small amount of white to make the dress seem like silk mixed with the reflective properties of sequins in the end anyways.

He started coloring the piece, though it used a lot of ink, he declared that this was important. And he sucked up most of his time, he didn't care. As he added the last bit of white to make her eyes sparkle and redid the last bit of outline to the piece he pulled away to get a full look at it. It was... marvelous.

He stared in awe, white filling her body, covering any lines that would've been there. A deep, dark purple covered her curls, making it darker in the shadows and casting a base color on the rest. A lighter purple sat on top to make it look lit up by a light source. Her eyes were now simply the outline of the whole iris and then the black that filled her pupil. They were made up of a light blue that only got lighter near the bottom and darker near the top, a few white shines sat over it all. Her eyes seemed like an ocean, no .... jewels! Bright blue sapphires, no... a lighter jewel ... a diamond! Yes, they were just like diamonds! Darker when the sun didn't reach and lighter where the sun reflected off! Such a perfect comparison!

He smiled and started cleaning up so that the ink could dry. He hummed a tune as he returned the inks to the shop, assuming he'd do this again very soon. He returned the nib and pen to a small end table near the writing cabinet and started back up the journey to his little cave at the edge of town. He always thought of himself as the big dragon who would eat them all one day, though it was a small joke, he sometimes hoped and seriously begged he wouldn't end up that way. Besides, with the logic behind it and based on how much he has grown already, by the time he was two years older he'd literally need to be growing over night.

As he walked back inside and stared at the gorgeous maiden on the paper, a thought occurred to him.

Why did he care so much about her?

Sure, she was pretty and all, but a pretty girl wouldn't make him dedicate hours of time to her. He'd seen pretty girls all the time and never drew them to try and capture his imagination on paper. And she'd been a myth! An old mare tales! He'd have more chance with one of the pretty ones he saw outside his window every day. But that was just it.

This wasn't an everyday mare he could seduce and make his. This wasn't a mare he could continue to try and wow on days end until his dedication made her swoon for him. Those everyday mares didn't stop his heart every time they were caught in the center of his vision. Those everyday mares didn't leave him speechless and extremely happy the second he saw them. Those everyday mares didn't bewitch and control him to only think of her.

This mare was special. A mare who would have him, gifting her him as his prize. No, this was a mare that wasn't going to let anyone see her as a 'theirs'. This was a mare that would control someone, making them hers. She had all control. And as her image flew off the paper, he knew he couldn't match. She'd never have him, but damn it all if he wasn't going to love her.

Her bright blue eyes disappeared into the paper and reappeared slowly, her eyelashes marking where they were. Once her eyes opened they softened and a smile -more caring and less seductive- appeared on her face. Her red dress followed as her white hoof moved forward, taking a reassuring look at Spike to see if it was allowed. Her head shook, shooting her purple curls to a different position that soon fell back to place with a bounce, as if she was in slow motion.

A hoof of a void gray color vaporized in front of him, as if rain clouds came flying in through the window and whisked up a picture. Soon that hoof became a whole foreleg, as if came from the paper. A piece of white silk flew by him, covering her hoof that was exposed and wrapped around it, morphing into fur

That foreleg became two, those two became a chest and neck, that chest and neck became a head with piercing blue eyes that only came to color through two sapphires flying out of the bucket and placing themselves in her eyes, only to fade a lighter set of shades. A slippery slide of purple pulled into the perfect curls, only coming to life as purple ink flew past him, dumping it on her as it didn't touch her fur, only fled into those curls.

Those curls and front body became a lower body draped in a red silky dress, that held the reflective properties of sequins, the red showed itself through red covers of books -flying by- and placing themselves on the form, actually turning to fabric.

Soon, she was standing before him in a ghostly body, her eyes smiled along with her smirk as she walked past him, brushing the soft fur of her shoulder against his tough scales. His knees buckled and he fell. He turned to see her smiling at him, her shoulders bounced and her hoof raised to her mouth as her eyes shut. No sound was made though.

She turned away, swaying in rhythm with his breaths. Until she was standing before a book house. He soon stood up and looked at where she was looking.

He forgot it even existed, he pulled off the top book to reveal a gracious necklace with a red ruby shaped into a heart at the end of the sparkling gold chain. He noticed her jump and her eyes sparkle.

The ruby sparkled in the light, the form of the ruby thicker at the center and thinned out at the edges. It turned to form sharp, clean edges. It reminded him of her eyes, the center was the base, the right side was engulfed in darker shades and the left was brightened by the sun that shown in through the window.

He dared not speak, too scared to ruin this beautiful dream of his. He swallowed the fear in his throat. She turned to him, eyes sparkling until she saw his disappointment, she turned away, now saddened.

Of course, he recognized this about her. So, he got an idea. He pulled the necklace out of the book fort and held it in his claws. It's a dream, so what would it hurt?

He turned to her and saw her whole body turned away. He smiled at the idea in his mind. He pulled the necklace around her neck and started latching it in the back when she perked up to see what he was doing. She turned to him with wide eyes and a small straight line on her face. He smiled up at her and resisted the urge to tell her how beautiful she looked.

She looked down at the ruby, her eyes welling with tears. A huge smile plastered on her face as she engulfed him in a hug. It felt so... dream like, but also real. He could feel her soft fur as it grazed every scale on his back, and he certainly felt her cheek snuggling up to his in her tight embrace. And he definitely felt her cold tears against his cheek. Yet there was this cloud like feel to her, as if it was all just a cloud.

He didn't want to let go, yet he couldn't hug her back, too scared she'd run at the touch of his claws, too scared that she'd vanish under his touch.

She pulled away with her mouth open, as if she wanted to say something. Then, she looked around, panicked.

She unlatched her hooves from his shoulders and continued to look from left to right. She turned to Spike and nodded towards the door as she got up and trotted in that direction, careful not to trip on her dress. Spike followed with haste.

She trotted down to the towers, looking into the in-betweens every time she stopped between the shelves. She finally turned down one and stood at the end. Spike stood at the opening to it, fear consuming his amazement. It was the one that hadn't been touched since the books were put up, it was the one that was never touched. It was the one with the most spiders and held a ghost-witch coven -to his explanation. He could physically see the cob webs and dust that former a giant monster behind her-.

She stood at the end and nodded her head down to her end. Her big blue eyes pleading him to move, bewitching.

That was this mares trick, her bewitching eyes. Even without the bewitching, he moved forward. And with every step he took, he saw her eyes widen and stare in shock until he finally stood next to her. She shook her head, tears streaming out of her eyes.

"W-what's wrong?" Spike blurted, he instantly covered his mouth and saw her head slowly perk up at his question of concern. Once he saw she didn't disappear, he continued and took a step towards her.

"H-hey, whenever you're sad, j-j-just remember this," he grabbed the ruby and pointed at it, worry and panic grasping at his voice, giving it every push that he was nervous around her. "Remember it and you'll know you always have someone out there for you." He could see the fear in her eyes. And something inside him bewitched him to say these next words, yet he knew it came from inside him, and not her.

"This ruby will keep you safe," he said and his mind was too worried and running too fast to recognize: he had no idea what he was saying.

She stared at him, his claw, his nice smile, and the ruby. She shook her head as tears streamed from her eyes as the end of her body started fading away. He panicked again, blurting out something he already had his answer to.

"Will I ever see you again?" He asked and saw her expression change in an instant. Boredom that she was leaving, and then sadness that she was leaving.

She shrugged and mouthed the words, 'I hope'.

Her body dissipated, and the last thing he saw were her teary blue eyes that begged to stay. He sat in the scariest corner of the study, sat in disbelief of what he just saw. He turned away and saw the entrance to the in-between that was these two shelves. He turned his attention away.

He didn't want to leave. Now leaving the previously scary corner was the scary thing. He slumped down the wall and broke into a cry that he didn't usually do. Though he did at times, he was still a 'child', even if he was around six years younger than Twilight. He had a feeling that age didn't matter to the white silk that made itself a mare. For all her youth could beat time, and now he had a feeling as if he knew her. This was all a dream. He knew it had to be. There was no other explanation.

He was so confused. Why had he cared so much for this mare? Even without her obvious bewitching, he still felt compelled to her. He still wanted to see her and do nothing but hear her talk about herself. This 'why' that was this mare made him sick to his stomach.

He had a why before, and got an answer for it by reading Twilights books. This mare couldn't be read, he knew the answer to her question would have to come from seeing her more than just this once. He sighed and wiped his eyes. He hated crying, what he hated most is what he as crying about.

A silly mare! No, she wasn't a silly mare. She was a enchanting, bewitching, gracious creature that made every thing stand on end wherever she walked. She was a creature to be messed with, that's for sure. She wasn't a mare on the streets. No, she wasn't the silly one. He was.

He was obsessing over a mare and for what? To one day see her and sweep her off her hooves? To one day approach her castle and steal her away like the dragon he was? Only to have her fall in love because he tries to be nice? Please, even a baby dragon like himself could see the foolishness behind those ideas. Then again, they were made to sound foolish.

He was the silly one. He knew nothing about her, yet he claimed it was love. Love? Really makes him sound like a pig since all he's seen is her looks. But that was it, he wanted to get to know her. He wanted to learn all about her and gift her all the right things that she's always wanted and subtly mentioned in one of their many conversation.

He wanted to see and do the puzzle that was this mares personality, yet the pieces laid in her voice, her conversation. Something a dream, and she, obviously didn't have.

He wanted so much from an old mares tale.

Though, whose to say it isn't love and couldn't be love?

He could describe her for hours, describing her silky, cloud, milk-like coat. Her deep purple curls that gave her class and respect. Her blue eyes, oh those blue eyes! That's what he couldn't stop think about, no, that's a lie. He couldn't stop thinking about the personality that lied beneath the white silk, beneath that deep purple, beneath that bewitching.

He saw a mare that wanted some company, a mare that'd gave everything and got nothing in return, a mare with a curse. A curse he so badly wanted to free her from, even if it meant giving her away to another stallion or to death itself.

He sighed and stared at the entrance.

'If you love it, set it free,' was the common phrase. But he didn't want to let go. He truly wanted to free her of her hell. A mare that caught his eye, a mare that caught his time, a mare that caught his voice and function, a mare that gave him purpose. That was a rarity.

He smirked to himself. Rarity. That was her name. He would call her Rarity.

---

When he woke the next morning in his own bed, he was sure it was a dream. Especially when he saw the notebook still open to that page. He smiled and shut it and climbed out of the dragon ridden cave.

Once he looked around though, he was surprised to see the room so light. Then he shook his head and remembered he fell asleep earlier than when he usually does. He looked down at the little book kingdom.

The smirk on his face and the way he kept his eyes on the kingdom, really told him he was a growing dragon. He steered his eyes awake and suppressed the urge to destroy his creation. Then he got interested and concluded a little discovery of what was what wouldn't be to bad. It wasn't like he was scavenging through the remains of his fire, or stealing whatever he pleased from the innocent.

He opened a book house he knew well, the bakery. He pulled open the lid and revealed nothing. He rolled his eyes and ran back to his cave, only to run back and place a gem in place of the emptiness. He smiled and moved onto something else.

The shopping mall just contained a spare bit that Twilight forced him to keep because it was a bit from before they redesigned it.

The school building of four books built together held a set of comic books. Of course, Twilight knew about these and that he has many more stashed around the study, she had looked for them for weeks, then she gave up and he would walk past her every night with a defiant smirk.

The dress maker just had a set of old fabrics from things Twilight either tore out of rage, or he burnt from a sneeze, or something he accidently torn while his claws were growing.

He shook off the idea of growing, he just knew that meant pain. Pain from wings sprouting from his back and his whole body and mouth growing at rates that would for sure hurt. He didn't want to grow up, but at the same time he did. He wanted to be a dragon, yet he didn't want every pony he came to know in Canterlot to fear he would bust through the study door and roar and burn down the capital.

Sometimes, he'd think the study would always be his home. And with Twilight dying in a year, he'd be on his own to deal with his dragon tendencies. That Doctor that fixed Twilight up could handle time and realties, but there was no way he could handle a dragon that would only want to bite his head off.

The unknown study that they lived in would become the dragons den in Canterlot. Those dragons that hate ponies would see him as a god, able to petrify everything and anything in Equestria all because he lived there. When all he wanted was to be Spike. Just Spike. The purple and green dragon that follows the purple unicorn around. A few would know his name, only a few while every pony knew Twilight. Even when Twilight mentioned him in her book, he burned them and pinned it as a sneeze or tore them or throw them away when she wasn't looking. All because he didn't want to get to know ponies. He didn't want to see memories of ponies laughing while he stood over them and seeing their scared faces.

He shook his head and rid himself of the thoughts -and the want to crawl around on all fours like he was a really big dragon that would take over Equestria.

Besides.

He didn't think ponies would trust him enough to blame it on the dragon and not him. He expected ponies to say that Spike is the dragon. Not that dragon isn't Spike.

He sighed and wanted a gem to eat and drown in his thoughtless sorrows. As he picked up the bakery book lid, his heart stopped.

Nothing.

Nothing was there.
He stared in confusion before looking to the inside of the book cover and seeing the words, 'Jeweler Store,' was written there. Then, he heart froze and stopped beating and his breath stopped. He looked inside the book fort and saw the dust outline a small line formed into a circle and at the bottom was a heart.

The ruby necklace should've been there. It should've been, it was a dream, right?

He smirked and rolled his eyes, of course it wasn't there. He slept walk and ate it, like the dragon he was. His dreams led him there and he simply ate what was there. Simple as that.

Then why didn't he want to believe the truth?

Author's Note:

Hope you got the references from Twilights book of myths.