Chapter 2

A single ray of early morning light pierced through the window of the guest room, ravaging Spike’s bloodshot eyes. While he certainly wasn’t any stranger to getting up early, rising at such an hour was not pleasant for someone who had slept so little the night before. As he clambered out of bed, Spike noted the clock on the opposite wall only read six in the morning. The first thing he wanted to do was take a nice, hot shower to help clear his mind. It would also help him warm up a bit, considering that he had decided to forgo wearing anything to bed.

After a few moments of searching, he found the robe Rarity had mentioned earlier. Spike practically gagged when he saw the hideous piece of nightwear. It was made from purple dyed silk with black fabric sewn onto the cuffs and outer trimmings. The initials MB were proudly embroidered in gold letters on the left breast pocket. Rarity certainly hadn’t inherited her flair for fashion from her father…that was for sure.

Back in Equestria, Spike enjoyed cranking the heat to its maximum level when taking a shower. This morning was no different. Unfortunately, the former dragon forgot that he no longer possessed the thick scales that allowed him to bask comfortably in such heat. As the scalding hot water hit his skin, he nearly yelped in pain. He hastily turned the nob back to a cooler temperature to prevent any burns to his newly minted flesh. After a few minutes the water became more tolerable, allowing him to simply enjoy its warm embrace. His thoughts started to drift back to Equestria, more specifically the day he bought the necklace…

The day had finally come. He had enough bits to buy that very special necklace for a very special mare. It was almost surreal after all of this waiting. Spike gently opened the door, making the small golden bell chime softly as it shut behind him. A grey coated earth pony stallion sporting a pair of purple spectacles nodded to him as he approached the counter.

“Ah so you’ve returned for your necklace. Give me a moment and I’ll retrieve for you.”

The stallion ducked underneath the counter and pulled out a dazzling white gold necklace with a heart shaped sapphire in the center. He gingerly placed it onto the counter and looked at Spike expectantly.

“That’ll be five hundred bits.”

Spike handed the silversmith a sack of bits. “Heh…you know it’s even more beautiful now that I’ve finally bought it. I really hope Rarity likes it.”

“That is a very special necklace you have there. In Prench it’s called Cœur de Désir, or the heart of desire. The jewel smith I bought it from claimed it was enchanted. What’s funny is I had unicorns look it over and they said they couldn’t find evidence of any kind that it was. Regardless, this necklace’s craftsmanship is without equal. I’m sure your special somepo-err…dragon will love it!”

“I hope so too.”

Realization hit Spike like a sack of bricks. It was the necklace! Was it really so farfetched that it was enchanted? He had spent most of his youth around five mares that possessed some of the most magical necklaces in all of Equestria. What was one more enchanted piece of jewelry? Initially he had been confused as to why he showed up through Rarity’s mirror, instead of the Canterlot High statue.

It was so obvious now. The necklace had granted him his deepest desire: A chance to finally be with the one he most desired. But…one errant thought still lingered in the back of his mind. This world’s Rarity wasn’t the mare he had obsessed over for so long. As far as she was concerned, Spike was practically a complete stranger.

The more Spike thought about it, the more he began to realize a simple truth. Perhaps it was a good thing that this world’s Rarity didn’t know him. What he had was the opportunity for a fresh start. This time he wouldn’t make the same mistake he made with the original fashionista. He had put the alabaster mare on a pedestal, idolizing her to the point that she no longer was a pony but an ideal.

But that was just it…she was only a pony, a pony with needs exactly like his own. Never in all of those long years he spent pursuing her, did he once consider that she might’ve had eyes for another. Yes, it was true that he had been somewhat naïve about the whole ordeal but that didn’t make the pain any less significant.

If Rarity had been involved with some other random pony, he still would have been heartbroken, but he might not have taken such drastic action. However, she wasn’t involved with just some other pony. Rarity had chosen Twilight. It wasn’t the fact that they were lovers that truly upset Spike, it was the fact that his sister chose to hide it from him. For whatever reason, she felt that keeping her relationship a secret would somehow retain the façade of Spike’s quest for affection.

Part of him wanted to hate Twilight, to punish her for her insolence. But in the end…he just couldn’t bring himself to do so. She was still his sister and he loved her, no matter how many mistakes she made. If he ever saw her again, he would embrace her like he always did and forgive her like any good sibling would. For now, he vowed to handle his new circumstances with more of an open mind. This world’s Rarity deserved that much.

Spike dried himself off once he was finished, slipping into the ugly robe. While it was hideous, he couldn’t deny that it was outrageously comfortable. A quick glance at the clock told him that only twenty minutes had passed. With nothing better to do, he decided that he should start making breakfast. Not only would it give him something to do, but it would also serve to repay Rarity’s kindness for allowing him to stay.

Much to Spike’s relief, the kitchen wasn’t too difficult to locate. It was set up very similarly to most of the kitchen’s he’d seen in Equestria, albeit there were a few extra gizmos he didn’t recognize. After rummaging through the cupboards for a few minutes, he managed to scrounge up enough supplies to make pancakes. While the pancakes were cooking, he heard the sound of shuffling footsteps.

He turned around to see Rarity dumping a few scoops of coffee into the coffee maker on the counter. She was dressed in the same stylish pink-colored pajamas when they first met, but her hair was an absolute mess. He couldn’t help but giggle, noticing that she wasn’t wearing any make-up either. The fashionista turned around and scowled at him.

“What? You can’t possibly expect me to look my best at this hour of the morning! It takes time and preparation for a lady to look her best. Besides...you have very little room to talk, wearing that hideously tacky robe.”

Spike shrugged. “Yeah but at least it’s comfy.”

“I suppose so. At any rate, thank you for making breakfast. It’s been ages since I’ve had pancakes!”

“Good, I was worried that you might not like them.”

“Why would you ever think that?”

“Err…well you seem like you’d have really refined tastes. I thought you might not want to eat them because they were commoner food.”

Rarity put her hands on her hips. “What? That’s utter nonsense! I might have refined tastes but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy regular food. My parents used to make pancakes for my sister and I all the time when we were younger, so of course I like them.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you or anything. I’ll just shut up now…”

“No, I should be the one apologizing. You had no way of knowing what kind of food I like to eat. I’m sorry Spike, but a lot of people judge me solely by the way I present myself. My temper got the best of me, I’m afraid.”

“So…we’re cool right?”

“Yes, we are most assuredly cool darling.”

Rarity sat down at the table and took a few generous swigs of coffee. Almost immediately, her expression seemed to brighten several shades from before. With a deft flick of the skillet, Spike tossed a few pancakes onto the plate in front of her and grabbed some coffee of his own. Rarity slathered her stack of flapjacks with a generous coating of butter and began to devour them like some starved maniac. Spike set down his mug and stared at her slack jawed.

Rarity let out a soft moan. “Oh my heavens, these pancakes are to DIE FOR! They’re so light and fluffy and have just the right amount of crispiness to the edges. Wherever did you learn how to cook like that?”

“I’ve had a lot of practice over the years.”

“Practice? How on earth could you have even been capable of cooking? I realize that you’re a human now but you were a dog earlier. It simply doesn’t make any sense…”

Spike scratched his head. “That’s because I wasn’t always a dog…or a human for that matter.”

“I’m still not sure that I follow.”

“Like Twilight, I came from another world called Equestria. For some reason, when we went through the mirror, it changed the both of us from our natural forms to forms that better suited this world. Back home, I was actually a dragon.”

Rarity stared at Spike with a deadpan look, as a smile slowly crept onto her lips. A few seconds later she started howling with laughter and very nearly choked on her coffee as a result. Spike blushed hard as Rarity continued to laugh. She must think I’m a total nut-case now. Maybe I should have waited to tell her the truth. I guess I can’t really blame her, since it does sound pretty far-fetched. His musings were cut short when he felt Rarity place her hand on top of his.

“I’m sorry darling. I didn’t mean to make sound like I was making fun of you. It’s just that this whole business with magic, portals and pony princesses makes me feel like I’m living in some fantasy novel. I guess you could say that I don’t find it the least bit unusual that you were once a dragon.”

“Y-you believe me?!”

Rarity shrugged. “Spike, my friends and I recently defeated a demon with a rainbow beam of friendship. If such a thing like that can happen, then who am I to say that dragons don’t exist?”

Before Spike could respond, there was a loud banging noise coming from the front door. When Rarity didn’t respond immediately the pounding continued, until whoever was behind it got fed up with waiting and decided to open the door.

Through the door marched Rainbow Dash, clad in a black sport’s bra and a matching set of spats. Her hair was tied back in a tight ponytail, so as not to get in the way of her face. Just like her Equestrian counterpart, she completely disregarded the concept of “personal space” by wedging herself in-between Spike and Rarity. In fact, she was so close that Spike caught a whiff of her scent. It was a not-quite unpleasant mixture of sweat and multi-purpose sport’s body wash.

Rainbow glared at Rarity. “C’mon Rares, it’s already seven in the morning! Why aren’t you dressed yet?”

“Well I…”

“I know, I know. You’re a proper ‘lady’ and you need time to prepare in the morning. But we’re going out for a jog, not some fancy meal. I’ll give ya ten minutes to freshen up, not a second more!”

As Rarity gave RD a sheepish grin, the young athlete’s eyes widened in surprise when she finally noticed Spike sitting at the table. Her surprise slowly turned into a smug grin as she moved closer to Rarity. Without any tact whatsoever, she elbowed Rarity in the ribs and waggled her eyebrows.

“Oohhh I get it. You don’t need to jog this morning ‘cause you already got plenty of exercise last night huh? Well I gotta hand it to ya Rares, he’s pretty hot. He looks like he’d be a monster in the sack, if those pecs of his are any indication.”

Rarity blushed furiously. “RAINBOW! T-that is an entirely inappropriate thing to say.”

“What? Everybody’s got needs. There’s nothing wrong with having a quick morning fu…”

“Enough! Spike is my guest, so please treat him with more respect. Furthermore, I can assure you that nothing untoward happened between us last night.”

Rainbow licked her lips. “Wait a second…that means he’s still up for grabs?”

“Oh for heaven’s sake Rainbow! Would you please stop thinking with your genitals for a moment and listen?”

“Fine. You aren’t fucking him, so why’s he here?”

“It’s a rather long and complicated story.”

Spike slowly raised his hand. “To make a long story short, I used to be Twilight’s dog. We both went back to our own world after you guys defeated Sunset. After a while I decided to come back here and wound up becoming a human. But when I came through from the other side, I appeared in Rarity’s room…naked. So now she’s letting me stay with her since I don’t even have a stich of clothing to my name.”

“Oh, so you’re that little purple dog from the statue mirror thingy? Eh, I can dig that. I mean we did just fight a horde of zombies and a psycho demon bitch. Compared to that, a dog turning into a human isn’t even worth picking my nose over.”

Rarity quickly finished the remainder of her coffee and started heading towards her bedroom. She poked her head out the door and said that it would only take a few minutes to retrieve her athletic attire. Rarity’s absence left Rainbow and Spike all alone together, which only led to awkward silence between them. Spike began to idly play with his coffee mug, drawing small circles in the bottom with his finger…until Rainbow rested her hands on his shoulders.

“I can tell when somebody’s in good shape. It comes with years of experience from being such an awesome athlete. You’ve got some pretty well defined shoulder muscles. So…do you lift?”

Spike blushed, feeling slightly uncomfortable. “Well, kind of I guess. I used to work on a farm back in Equestria.”

“Mhmm, that sounds about right. You’d be surprised how much muscle definition someone can get just from hard work alone. Heh…sorry I’ve got kind of a thing for sexy farm boys.”

Rainbow just dug her own grave with that statement. Spike stood up; feeling a grin that would put a Cheshire cat to shame, stretch across his lips. So this world’s Rainbow thought she was safe from a friendly bit of teasing? NOPE! Not if he had anything to say about it. Rainbow let out a surprised squeak, when Spike suddenly cupped her chin in his left hand. The young man was grateful that his readings into amateur psychology would finally serve a purpose.

“I see how it is. Flirting is your way of masking your true feelings. Sure, you might think I’m attractive and for that I’m flattered. But…let’s not kid ourselves Rainbow. You don’t really want me. You want…BIG MAC!”

Rainbow bit her lip as crimson heat filled her cheeks. “H-how do you know about that?”

“Let’s just say that your Equestrian counterpart acts very similar to you. Of course, I can’t really assume that all of you are going to be exactly the same but it seems that my hypothesis has some credibility to it.”

Rainbow looked around anxiously, making sure that Rarity wasn’t around. Once she was satisfied that her friend wouldn’t overhear, she grabbed the collar of Spike’s robe and pulled him close to her.

“Look, you can’t mention a word about this to either Rarity or AJ! Knowing them, they’d try to set me up with Mac before I’m ready. Trust me, it would be all kinds of awkward and that isn’t awesome at all!”

“I won’t tell them because it’s none of my business. Frankly, I don’t really want to get involved anyway.”

Rainbow cocked her eyebrow. “Huh? Why’s that? Is this some kind of trick?”

“No, I’m completely serious. One time, some of my friends back in Equestria took it upon themselves to try and get a couple together. Needless to say, it ended…poorly. If you want to get Mac’s attention, you need to do it yourself.”

Rainbow stood silently for a few moments, trying to collect her thoughts. She let out a heavy sigh and let go of Spike’s robe, frowning slightly as she did. She paced around the kitchen a few times before sitting in the chair across from Spike.

“Man, I acted like an inconsiderate bitch didn’t I? My friends are always telling me I gotta be a bit more considerate of other people’s feelings…but I guess I still suck at it. Ughhh damn it! This is so hard! I…I’m s-sorry Spike. I shouldn’t have started hitting on you like that.”

“It’s alright, I forgive you. But more importantly, I think you owe someone else an apology as well.”

“Oh shit! Rarity’s probably still pissed at me for what I said earlier.”

Rarity chose that very moment to waltz into the kitchen. She too was dressed in jogging attire, but it was far more conservative than Rainbow’s outfit. The fashionista wore a stylish purple windbreaker and matching set of track pants. Her hair was tied in a neat bun, instead of ponytail. With a single motion, she whipped out a pair of sunglasses from her pocket and placed them upon her brow.

“You are quite correct Rainbow. I’m still angry with you for insinuating that I would immediately throw myself at Spike. But…I know how often you commit social faux pas, so I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Rainbow wrapped Rarity in an awkward hug. “Rares, I’m sooooo sorry! You’re totally not a slut and Spike’s a really nice guy. He just…kinda needed to tell me I was being a blockhead. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”

“Ummm…alright, I forgive you darling. Just try to think before you act more often, okay? Would you mind letting me go? It’s getting very difficult to breath.”

“Heh, sorry I got a bit carried away. So…are we still up for the jog?”

“We are and I’ve decided to shower when we return. There’s no point in getting clean, just to get sweaty all over again. One caveat though, I’d like to stop at a clothing store on the way back. Spike’s going to need clothes of his own at some point and I’d rather purchase them sooner than later.”

Rainbow merely nodded, heading out the door with Rarity in tow. The both of them waved to Spike and headed down the street. The young man headed back into kitchen and poured himself another cup of coffee, contemplating the morning’s events. While he was no longer in Equestria, this place still felt familiar to him...if Rainbow and Rarity’s behavior was anything to go on. That fact alone slightly alleviated his feeling of melancholy. But it was still going to take some time before he felt completely comfortable with them and this world.

Author's Note

Here's chapter two. My editor hasn't gone through it yet so there still might be a few mistakes floating around. Hope everybody enjoys it.

-Enc.