The Alchemist's Dream

by L Drkheart

Ponyville Ponders

“I want you to tell me everything about dragons! What is your diet? How long can you live? How many ponies have you met? Where are your wings? Oh, there is just so much unknown knowledge about your kind, maybe I can write a book about dragons and become world-famous!” Twilight shouted with a twinkle in her eyes as she hopped excitedly around Spike. The young dragon pondered for a moment if he should be offended at the treatment but quickly realized that this was just how the pony was about new knowledge.

“Well that was a lot of questions, maybe just make a list of the things you wanna know? I’m staying for a bit so you will have time to ask them all.” Spike said through a mouthful of hay fries.

"Yes! I love lists! I almost forgot that today isn’t a question day, I’m under orders from the princess to find you a place to live while you stay in town. We can go check in with all my friends, I’m positive that they can help us.” Both of them enjoyed their respective meals in relative peace, Spike would find himself glancing at the unicorn as she ate and seemed to be lost in her own little world. She confused the dragon in the very short time since they’ve met, she was undoubtedly smart practically a genius but was so childishly excited about any bit of knowledge she didn’t have. She had an aura of pride around her while at the same time unsure of her own abilities and their limits. She seemed to panic over the littlest of things that didn’t go according to plan but her planning seemed to be near flawless. The last thing was more to do with himself, she was cute in a nerdy kind of way but the way she made him feel at times was unlike anything he could understand.

“Hey Twilight, what was growing up with Shining Armor like? He seemed pretty cool and as much as you wanna learn about my kind I want to learn about yours.” Twilight finished her sandwich and tilted her head as she thought about the question.

“Well… it was fun being with him and my parents. We had our times where we would all get on each other's nerves but all family gets like that and deep down we all have love for each other. My brother was my best friend even if I was a bit clingy back then, you should hear all the stories about him trying to spend time with his crush and my foalsitter only for me to take him away. She was a sweet and kind friend who I still write to when I have the time, her name is Cadance and she is one of the three princesses! The princess of love.” Twilight giggled thinking back to all the time she spent with the two of them. “We were all a family and everyone did their best for me even if I wasn’t there for them…”

Spike placed a hand on her back and rubbed it tenderly. “I never had a real family, my birth was uncommon and I was treated like a freak. Luckily I found a friend and the tribe all helped raise me best they could but they just weren’t enough. I know how it feels to not be enough or had been enough for those we care about but we can only look ahead now.”

“You’re right, it’s just I was always so focused on my studies that I missed time with my family and basically made no friends… but looking ahead I can make things right and so can you.” The two smiled at each other before they ended up at the first place on their list. “Well here is the first stop on Twilight’s Tour of the Majestic Ponyville! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! This place has some of the best sweets I have ever taste, it’s run by Mr. and Mrs. Cake who are just the nicest couple you’ll find here. They rent out the top of their home to my friend Pinkie Pie and have basically raised her while she has been here.”

Spike nearly melted at the scene from the scents around him, it was the donut shop from before but now mixed with new foods that he couldn’t even describe in detail as he didn’t know what these strange pastries were and all the differences made him confused just by looking at them. “Oh look who it is honey, Twilight Sparkle, how are you this fine day? Is this little guy the dragon Pinkie mentioned would be staying in town? He looks like a fine lad.” Spike blushed a bit at the praise from Mr. Cake and rubbed his cheek before he found his vision completely covered in the color pink. Twilight jumped at how quick her friend had appeared and tried to wrestle Spike from her hug of death.

“OOOO! Look at cute he is! So small and squishy! I always heard that dragons were these big monsters like that one that we saw earlier in the year but you are just the most precious thing ever!! Can I keep him Twilight!? PLEEEAAASSSEEE!”

“Nooo! Pinkie let him go, he’s no pet! The princess didn’t want us to kill him while he is here!!” Twilight immediately made sure not to ask if Spike could leave there as he may not survive his visit then. Spike, on the other hand, couldn’t help the blush on his face from being held so close against a girl, the only other ones that ever hugged him was Ember and Sundance and never like this.

“Pinkie could you let the poor boy go before he suffocates in one of your patented super hugs heh.” She let go with a pout but smiled at the dragon who struggled for air and took in the pony in front of him. Pinkie was right as that was everything with her, so much that it nearly hurt to look at, but in her eyes and smile, he felt excitement fill him as if she was the personification of an adventure.

“T-thanks, I’m Spike it’s nice to meet you Pinkie.” Spike held his claw out but Pinkie sniffed it and licked his hand which he pulled back.

“Oooh, so you’re a gem eater? I never knew what dragons ate, I thought they just like gems and gold because it was pretty!”

“Pinkie you can’t just go… wait did you say that Spike eats gems?” Spike smiled a bit as Pinkie listed the gems that she tasted on his hands and Twilight wrote them down. He looked around the shop and Mrs. Cake waved at him, walking over, she held out a box to the boy.

“Consider this a gift from the Cake family and Pinkie, it will be interesting having a dragon in the village but you can’t be any more trouble than those two and their friends.” The couple joked pointing at Twilight and Pinkie. “If you ever need anything son you can come here and we would be happy to help any way we can. That girl is a bit hyper but Pinkie means well and is always up to help her friends.” Spike thanked the couple and promised that he would come back to try his hand at cooking. Twilight began to walk with Spike again as they enjoyed some of the sweets that they were given with Pinkie waving at them and clapped her hooves as she got an idea.

Spike had just finished a small cake when he looked up at a shop that resembled a hat with bells on it. “Oh, that place? It’s the Joke Shop, be careful if you go up against Pinkie or my other friend Rainbow Dash as they are the pranking masters of the town. Next to the Joke Shop, you have the Spa where tired or stressed ponies usually go to enjoy a really hot or steam bath.”

“Over in my home, we don’t usually do the things you call pranks as we are usually serious and if someone is messing with you it’s because they don’t like you but that spa thing sounds like the baths in the Dragon Lands. We are all cold-blooded so we try to keep as hot as possible.”

“Oh well if they prank you then you should know that it just means that they see you as a friend and they always make sure that their pranks are for laughs and not to hurt. Maybe I can get you some spa days set up later.”

“Thanks, Twilight, even if the princess asked you to do all this for me, I really appreciate everything.” Twilight blushed a bit at the thanks and shook her head.

“No problem… it will be nice having a new friend in town. Oh speaking of friends here we are at our next location! This is Carousel Boutique, a dressmaking shop which also doubles as the home of my friend Rarity and her sister Sweetie Belle. Note to yourself, if you see her little sister with two other ponies they can be… a bit much at times. They mean well though. Hey Rari-” Twilight was interrupted as the door slammed open on her face and three fillies rushed out wearing capes. They all stopped once they saw Spike though.

“What the hay is he? A friend of yours Sweetie Belle?” The earth pony that seemed to be leading the three asked her unicorn friend who only tilted her head.

“Nope, I never saw this guy before Applebloom. What about you Scoots?” The third of the group walked up to Spike and poked him in the chest. Touching the scales she seemed to remember something.

“Oh, I know what this guy is! Rainbow told me how she kicked a dragon in the face once and he had hard scales. Hey, you think our cutie marks could be something to do with a dragon? That would a cool one!” Twilight finally came out from behind the door while rubbing her nose.

“Girls this is Spike, he is new to Ponyville and will be staying a while under a special mission from the princess so try not to drive him crazy okay you three?”

“We knoooow!” All three answered in unison as they smiled and halos appeared over their heads. Spike poked at the halos as he was confused as to how they just appeared. Twilight quickly grabbed and dragged Spike with her magic into the store with her, not seeing the devious smirks on the three fillies faces.

“Hey, Rarity are you in here? I have that dragon that is moving into town.”

“I’m in the back room darling!” Spike and Twilight went into the back where they were met by a unicorn who was putting the finishing touches on a few dresses. Spike blushed a bit as the girl was stunning if not flawless in her appearance but he suddenly remembered where he had seen her before and felt guilty. “So you are the dragon? You look like a strapping young dragon, especially for your age.”

“U-umm thank you Ms. Rarity. I’m Spike and I would like to apologize for losing your diamond back on the train. I had managed to find the culprit with some help but in the last moment another thief managed to get it away from me.”

“Oh, you were the one that helped capture that poor pony who had stolen the diamond. I heard they were taking him back to get proper help, as for the diamond I suppose that I didn’t need the piece and I am getting my bits back so don’t worry about it. I should be thanking you for even trying so hard to get back somepony’s property that you didn’t even know. Thank you for the attempt.” Twilight looked at Spike with a curious look at hearing he had tried to stop a jewel thief, a part of her felt worried for the dragon. She didn’t know where this feeling came from but she heard about the injuries he had gotten in Canterlot and now a jewel thief? He seemed to be a magnet for trouble and she didn’t want him to be hurt.

“Ahh don’t worry about it, I’m always happy to help where I can. I’m a bit of a problem solver as long as I didn’t cause the problem heh.” Spike thought back to all the trouble he managed to get into back in the Dragon Lands and the times he needed Ember to help him out of it. His attention was drawn away when a small cat stared at him and he bent down to look at her, yelping when she jumped on his face.

“Well Rarity, I was trying to find Spike a place where he could stay if you had any spare room?” Twilight asked with a hopeful expression but it changed when she saw Rarity bite her lower lip. She then saw Spike struggling with Rarity’s cat Opal as she attacked his face, holding a laugh back, she used her magic to help him out.

“I’d love to help you two and while Spike certainly seems to be a gentledrake, I’m a bit stripped of space at the moment with Sweetie Belle and me living under the same roof. I often find myself needing to send her out of the house when I get new supplies in and have nowhere to put them. I can’t take another pony or dragon in… I’m sorry Spike.”

“Don’t worry about Rarity, Twilight here will find the perfect place and I understand that your livelihood and that one of your sister is important. Thanks for hearing us out.”

“Anytime darling and if you ever need a new outfit, I would be glad to come up with one. I never had a dragon as a customer and the thought gets my muses all started up.” Twilight smiled seeing her friend all happy and waved as they left the building.

“Thanks again Rare and we’ll try to visit soon!” The two walked again through town in a comfortable silence, something that Twilight found that she enjoyed. Her friends were all amazing and outgoing in their own ways but when she was walking with Spike there was no awkwardness if she felt she didn’t have something to say. He let her think and the smile on his face made her feel content in their silence. “So what do you think of your first pony small town?”

“Hmm, I find it sweet and colorful with a homey aura that I haven’t felt even at my home. I think you all have something special here and if I do stay then maybe I can help somehow make it even better. You all play your parts and I hope there is a part for me to play too…”

“I know how that feels but I learned that everyone has a part to play and that we should stick with what we like and what we are good at.”

“And what would you say I’m good with?”

“Other than being just the sweetest animal sitter I ever saw back there, you seem to be a kind and smart dragon. From what I heard and you told me, you fancy yourself as an alchemist and want to learn from us. Maybe you can help me and I could help you in return? I run the local library with my nighttime assistant, an owl named Owlicious.”

“What’s an Owl?” Twilight laughed and began to explain her friend to him as they wandered over to Sweet Apple Acres. “Well I tried to study magic but dragons don’t have much need for knowledge like that so we never wrote any down but we all have been around gems and the earth all our lives so Alchemy was an ancient science that we created. In my studies, I discovered the tale of a dragon who created a philosopher’s stone and turned a worthless mountain of bronze into gold! He had discovered that the stone had a secondary power to grant eternal life or cure any disease. Just imagine if I was able to recreate it! I would go down in hist-”

Spike had stars in his eyes as he talked about his dream but was cut off as he was bucked in the chest by a pony wearing a hat. Twilight jumped and rushed over to the fallen dragon, checking him for any wounds. “Applejack! Why did you do that?!”

“Oh ah mighty sorry about that! I don’t know what came ova me, I just felt like I had to do that for some reason.” Applejack held out a hoof and Spike grabbed it, feeling that this pony was strong and he made a mental note to never piss her off. “I’m Applejack, nice to meet ya dragon boy. Twilight here has been going on for days about the dragon that would be comin, nice to see ya here so she can think about somethin else now heh.” Applejack smiled and laughed as Spike and Twilight both blushed and the unicorn questioned if making her friend vanish would be harmful against their friendship.

“T-thanks, I’m Spike and I like the farm you have going on here. There are no farms back home so I never saw one working.”

“Well, you found the best one in all of Equestria! The Apple family is famous everywhere for our skills.”

“And humility…”

“Ahh, Twilight if it’s the truth then there is no problem in a bit of braggin.” Twilight shook her head as Applejack took Spike around the farm and let him try his luck at helping but the dragon soon found that all the jobs they were doing or how they were doing them were completely unique to them. He tried his hand at bucking trees but when he kicked the tree nothing fell and he tried to tackle the tree and only hurt his arm. His claws made it that milking the cow a risk and the chickens were all scared of the dragon. He apologized for not being able to help any but Applejack shook her head.

“Aww don’t go and worry about all this Sugarcube, we all have things we’re good at and the farm life isn’t for all ponies. Look at your friend over there for example.” Applejack smiled and pointed over at Twilight as she studied a tree to find the best place to buck it, once she thought she had it she aimed and kicked it as hard as she could. A few apples fell with one landing on her horn and she shook trying to get it off. “See we all have things we like to do and places we are meant to be. You two just aren’t meant to live in this kind of place.” Spike agreed and smiled before walking to Twilight and pulling the apple off her horn, taking a bite and making a small noise at the sweet fruit.

“Now that is an apple!” Applejack sent the two off again with two apples as a gift. “Sooo… not much for fieldwork like that are ya?” Spike asked with a small smirk which only made Twilight blush a bit as she stuck her nose up.

“Oh I don’t know, I thought I did fine for my first time and at least I got an apple down!”

“I’m smaller!” The two playfully argued who was worse before arriving at a small cottage. “Hey this is a pretty cozy little hole, I smell a lot of animals here.”

“Yeah, Fluttershy is always taking care of dozens of animals in her house I bet she’ll just love you.” Twilight knocked on the door and the door cracked open as an eye could be seen looking out shyly. “Hey, Fluttershy! I brought-”

“A BABY DRAGON!” Fluttershy was out in a moment and left her friend spinning as she examined Spike. “He’s so cute! Does he talk? What do dragons talk about?”

“Yep and we can talk about anything and everything! Twilight and I have been talking a lot to each other. I can also blow fire, two different kinds now after meeting the princess.”

“Oh, that is just so ridiculously amazing! Twilight you are so lucky.” Twilight finally managed to stop the world from turning and she shook her head before rolling her eyes and smiling.

“Yeah because talking with this little guy has been the highlight of my day.”

“Don’t have much else going on huh smart girl?” Spike asked with a smile of his own.

“I could have been catching up on my reading!”

“To catch up I think you need to fall back first.” Fluttershy giggled sweetly at their bickering and both turned to her. “What’s so funny?”

“You two are like old friends.” They looked at each other before laughing and a bunny came hopping out of the house, taking one look at Spike and kicking at his foot before running back into the cottage. Spike gave chase and slammed into a wall after being tricked by the bunny.

“Hey, Fluttershy do you think Spike would be able to stay with you?”

“I’m sorry Twilight but the other animals here may not like the idea of a dragon being so close to them and their young, I mean look now.” She pointed to the hiding animals as they looked down at the dragon.

“Oh well thanks anyway, I just don’t know where else to take him. He can’t go with Rainbow because the clouds won’t carry him and everyone else is busy.”

“Twilight I think you already have the perfect place for him to stay at, just try thinking with your heart instead of your head.” Twilight wanted to ask what that meant but Fluttershy was already back in her cottage and told Spike that she would love to talk to him over a meal sometime. He agreed and they separated at the door. They began back on the way to Ponyville as Twilight turned to him and asked a question she was curious about.

“So you said back there that you can blow two kinds of fire? I only ever read of a dragon knowing standard fire, what is the other one you know?”

“Well I was only able to blow regular fire but before coming over to Ponyville, Princess Celestia granted another power that she said I could learn because of the magic in my heart.” To demonstrate his power he blew a lungful of fire before taking another one in and this time what came out was green and sparkled.

“Wow! This could be a whole new form of magic from mixing dragon fire and pony magic! What does it do?” Twilight began to hop in excitement.

“Well from what she explained, this green fire is directly tied to the princess herself so anything that I burn with it will be sent to her directly also.” Twilight began to list a thousand things she could have used that power for if she had it and Spike could only smile as he calmly listened to her talk. Eventually, Twilight relaxed and rubbed her neck at getting so excited. They were coming back up to town as the sun was setting, another apple tree was on their path and Spike wanted to fix an earlier mistake. He ran ahead and aimed himself at the tree, Twilight stopping and watching him as she knew what he was doing. He rushed the tree and slammed into it as something blue fell out and landed on him.

“Hey who is hitting my napping tree?! Applejack if that is you again I swear to Celestia- huh? You aren’t Applejack.” Spike’s eyes spun as he rubbed his head and found a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane on top of him.

“Rainbow Dash! I told you a hundred times that I would be giving the dragon that would be staying in Ponyville a tour of the town today. Don’t tell me that you forgot!”

“Nah actually it was why I was sleeping in the tree, so there would be no possible way that I could do something to mess up the tour. Then again, it was you two that ruined my nap so ha! So you are the new guy huh? I expected someone taller honestly but whatever, I’m Rainbow Dash! The coolest, fastest, awesomest pony in all of Equestria with the exception of the awesomer Wonderbolts of course.”

“Dash your sentence there had a lot of grammar errors.” Rainbow Dash sighed as Twilight began to go on about proper grammar and the rules she had to follow. Spike began to push Twilight away while looking back at Dash. “I’m Spike, I really want to hear about all the awesome stuff you can do but maybe you should go while I get her away.”

“I’ll owe you one squirt!” Dash smirked and zoomed off into the sky, leaving an awed Spike behind. Twilight saw the sunset with Spike and couldn’t help but feel like a failure, she had failed to find Spike a home and now where was he supposed to stay?!

“Thank you Twi, you don’t know how much I needed a day like today. Ever since I started my journey a calm day where I hang out with a good friend was only a dream but today you made that all come true!”

“B-but we didn’t even find you a place to live! With it being this late I don’t know where to take you and I can’t let you sleep outside in the cold!”

“Twilight, how about here?” Spike pointed at the large tree that she had stopped in front of. She looked at her home and opened her mouth to say no when it clicked in her head and she thought back to Fluttershy.

“Think with your heart instead of your head” A blush appeared on her cheeks but she smiled and looked at Spike.
“Umm, Spike would you like to stay here at the library with me? Maybe as my daytime assistant if that is okay?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” The two looked at each other as the moonlight shined down on them and their eyes met as they walked closer, getting closer strangely until a pink blob opened the door next to them.

“SURPRISE!!! We got you two pretty good huh?!” Spike and Twilight jumped away from each other as they found Pinkie Pie standing in the doorway with a mouthful of balloons. Behind her was all their friends, the Cakes, the CMC, and Sundance. Spike felt Pinkie put a hoof over his shoulders and pulled him into the library with Twilight smiling and taking a glance up at the moon wistfully.

“Maybe we’ll get a chance to finish that? This will stranger than I first thought but maybe some of the more exciting aspects of life are those that we don’t count on? As much as I would like an answer to this feeling, I think it’s one that I should discover on my own. Hey, you all better be saving me some cake!” She shouted as she ran into the tree and they partied long into the night.

. . .

Luna smiled to herself as she finished listening to Twilight, walking through her castle and sparing a moment to glance into her sister’s room. She seemed so peaceful and Luna wondered how many times this must have been reversed. She shut the door before walking to the throne room, stopping in front of one of the old tapestries that were around. She cried a single tear before wiping her eyes and smiling softly. The tapestry showed a red-maned unicorn holding two alicorn fillies close to her chest in a hug...

Author's Note:

Well, it took a bit longer than I wished but I got this done and I like to think it turned out okay but the one that it matters to if it was good or not is to you all. I hope you all enjoyed! I was thinking maybe later I will get a commission done for cover art, what do you all think? I have some other plans coming up soon so thanks for reading! It really means a whole lot!

Comments

[Comickook]

LOVED seeing Twilight giving Spike the tour of Ponyville. Spike's thoughts on Twilight and her friends are a GREAT detail and I immensely enjoyed the little stories of some of the things that have happened already as Twilight introduced her to the rest of the Mane Six and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And, yeah, it makes sense that Twilight and Spike could bond so much so quickly (especially since Twi is, for all intents and purposes, his long-lost big sister). I especially liked the touch at the end with Luna looking at that picture (I'm guessing it's a picture of herself and Celestia as fillies with one of their parents but I will admit that I could be wrong).

Anyway, excellent work on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places.

[L Drkheart]

9563332
Nope you are correct about that at the end, it is supposed to be Celestia and Luna with their mother. The big idea is that they know (Or that Celestia does and she told Luna) who Spike is and remembers the dragon that she sent away only to see it find its way back. That is why she sent him to live near Twilight and Luna was doing a bit of thinking about her family. Also, I am trying to get down a time frame near exact as the story works as if Spike is coming in late season one where everyone has already had adventures of their own and now with a newcomer, they will have more with new villains and some they have already dealt with.

[Equestrian Defender]

Spike had stars in his eyes as he talked about his dream but was cut off as he was bucked in the chest by a pony wearing a hat. Twilight jumped and rushed over to the fallen dragon, checking him for any wounds. “Applejack! Why did you do that?!”

Note to self: never bad-mouth apples or else Applejack will pull a Sandy Cheeks on me.

[L Drkheart]

9677957
Justice has been served! Yeah poor Spike, bet that hurt

[Unkown101]

OH MAY HEART 💗

[L Drkheart]

9895143
Yeah this was one of my more feels chapters