Chapters Spike walked over to the small red plastic train seat and sat down. He put his duffel bag next to him and leaned back in his chair. He wrapped his dark purple jacket around himself and leaned back in the chair. As he relaxed he looked out of the window as the train slowly started to speed up.
Spike was a mix of half human on his mom’s side and half dragon on his dad’s side. He had purple scales all over his body and tail and vertical green scales that ran the length of his body from head to tail, and two large green ears. He was 5’ 11” and was taller than the average pony yet still small for a dragon.
He looked out the window as the only home he had ever known was left behind. He didn’t know where he’d go or what he’d do but for the time being he didn’t care about any of that. All of his “friends” had abandoned him, betrayed him, or ignored him. He didn’t want to think about that now though.
He looked around the train car; there were three other ponies in the car. One was the conductor who was going around collecting tickets, a brown coated pony wearing leather duds, and a magenta pony wearing a t-shirt and jeans. There was nothing special about the ponies and nothing that caught his eye so he looked away from them. He returned his gaze to the rapidly receding train station, there was nothing there for him now. He looked away from the window, the conductor approached and said
“Ticket please” emotionlessly. Spike got out his ticket and handed it to the man.
“Where are we going anyway?” Spike asked
“Appleloosa.”
“Anywhere but there is fine by me.” Spike said relaxing again.
“Twila!” Spike called running down the stairs of their tree home. He jumped the last few steps and ran into the kitchen where twila was making her morning coffee.
“What Spike?” she asked uninterested.
“The new power pony’s comic is coming out in canterlot and you said we would go if I had my chores done.”
“So I did, but Spike I can't take you today.” Twila said, Spike looked crestfallen at this point “I already have plans to go to pinky's party later”
“You said we would go a month ago.” Spike pointed out.
“I’m sorry Spike but I can't take you all the way to canterlot right now. You’ll just have to wait till it gets to the library. ”twila took her coffee and walked out of the room ending the argument.
Spike was saddened by this. It wasn't the first time twila had gone back on her word with him. Spike grabbed one of his gems from his special hiding spot and bit into it with his sharp teeth. It was amazing, he felt a bit better as he ate it but was soon finished with the gem and caught himself when he started reaching for another.
“Can’t eat all my gems now.” Spike said aloud.
Spike was sad again with the lack of gems and twila letting him down. Again. He decided he’d go and talk to applejack to see if she needed any help and to blow off some steam.
He walked down the path to the apple family farm and was surprised to see the large amount of apples sitting by the barn. While this may be normal during harvest time, the pile was unusual due to the fact that it was still growing season. With his interest piqued he walked down to the farm at a faster pace. As he approached he slowed back down to a walk and called out when he saw AJ and big mac working to get the apples in the barn.
“Hi AJ. What’s with all the apples?” Spike asked. AJ and big mac were strongly built from their life on the farm and were dressed in their working clothes.
“Ah shoot, not now Spike we got to get these apples into the barn before the bugs come.”
“Bugs? What bugs?” Spike asked confused.
“Yeah bugs, there’s a swarm of ‘em headin this way. If we don't get these apples in the barn then there gonna be eaten.”
“Well do you need a hand?” Spike asked
“nope.” big mac said.
“What my jug head fer a brother means is that you would just get in the way Spike.” AJ said setting her current bucket of apples down in the barn.
“I can help.” he said defiantly.
“Oh really. Then pick up that bucket of apples.” she said
“That’s a big bucket.” Spike said looking at the bucket in question
“Those are the smallest ones we got sugarcube. Why don't you just be on your way now?”
“Hahahaha” laughter came from the rafters of the barn. “Oh man that is good. Spike can't even lift the smallest basket. Ha ha ha ha!”
“Dash! Whatah yall doin up in the rafters?”
“I was just taking a nap when you two woke me up.” she said flying down. “God Spike if you can't lift the smallest basket how do you mean to help out here?” dash asked?
“I’m sure there’s something I can do.”
“Aww come on there’s nothing for you here.” dash said.
Spike looked at her. He realized something in her words. She didn’t just mean on the farm. She ment in ponyville. Twila might have raised him but now he barely saw her and has had to take care of himself completely and even those who he thought were his friends didn't want him around.
Then it hit him. Even Rarity wouldn’t love him. It would be bad for her image; all he was to her was some form of cheap labor. never had she actually paid him for the long hours he worked with her except for the leftover gems from her projects and even those were far and in between. With Chylene getting her veterans license out in manehatten, Pinky always partying and Dash and AJ flat out telling him he was unwanted there really was nothing for him in ponyville.
“Ok dash.” Spike said in a daze “I’ll go then.” Spike walked off away from the farm.
“Now look at what ya done.” AJ “said you got me behind schedule. You’re gonna have to make up for it by helping me.”
“Are you just trying to rope me into helping you.” dash asked
“Of course sugarcube now start moving crates.”
Spike walked in and around ponyville. After wandering in a daze for what seemed like hours he walked home and started to back a duffel bag full of his few possessions in the world. he packed some spare clothes, spare shoes, a multi-tool he had earned from big mac in a bet and seeing as he had earned the tool he didn’t inadvertently set off his dragon greed, he also packed a picture of twila, Chylene, dash, AJ, rarity, pinky, and himself, his gems, and his bits.
With that Spike walked out of the home one last time never to look back. He walked over to the train station and bought a ticket to the first train out of town.
To top it all off, for the next week nopony would even notice he was gone.
Author's Note
if you like it please leave a comment even if its to say how much this story sucked. just tell me what you didn't like or did like.
The door slides open and an earth pony walks into the train car bringing a trolley filled with baked goods. She walks in and announces
“BAKED GOODS! BAKED GOOD FOR SALE, GOOD FOR YOUR HEAD, BAD FOR YOUR TAIL!” she shouted waking Spike up.
Spike wakes up startled by the earth pony mare. The earth pony hybrid looks over to the now wake Spike and says.
“You there! How abouta cupcake?” she leans over to the new potential client.
“Wha- what? No.” Spike says confused. the girl looks disappointed but looks over to the magenta coated passenger with who has her legs crossed.
The trolley girl blinks waiting for a further reply. When none is given she droops a little and walks on down the aisle way. Along the way she knocks over Spike’s bag as she turns and struggles to push the cart down the aisle. the man in the leather duds gets up his ‘duds’ look like a jean jacket made out of leather and he has a broken compass around his neck. He walks over to the trolley to get some food.
“I’ll take a cupcake ma’am.” he says blocking her path.
“That’ll be three bits.” she said regaining some of her energy.
“Three bits?! That’s robbery! I’ll give you two.” he retorts
“Three bits and I can't go lower than three.” she states
“Fine, you win. Three bits.” he says handing over the money. As he walks by her with his cupcake, he bumps into her.
“Sorry ma’am.” he says. She turns back around
“No problem.” with a smile a bit more real.
The man walks over and sits down next to Spike. The man looks around and says
“Heeeeey, chuck.” looking around for Celestia only knows what.
“What?” Spike says dumbfounded
“So chuck been a long time.” the man bites into his cupcake.
“I don't know who you are.” Spike says the man chokes on his cupcake and starts coughing.
“You know it’s me. Carter.” he leans in real close and says “ya know leather duds.” He emphasizes the last two words with an eyebrow wiggle.
“Ummm, I think you have the wrong drake here. my names Spike, not chuck.”
“Ahhh good. Well then Spike, you're the first dragon I’ve ever met.” Spike looks extremely confused at the man’s contradiction.
“Do you need something?” asks Spike
“Only to give you your bits back.” he whispers
“Back? What do you mean back?” Spike says confused.
The man passes the bits back to Spike and says.
“You should really keep your bits on the inside of your bag there. The times are tough and the trolleys don’t make much money.”
“Thanks. Why did you help me?” he asks
“You look new.”
“New?” Spike asks
“New.” the strange man says.
“New to what?” Spike asks putting his bits in his bag
“Trains.” he says flatly.
“I’ve been on trains before. Just never alone.” he says looking down
Leather duds leans back in his seat next to Spike and lets out a knowing “ahhh”
“Ahhh? What do you mean ahhh?” Spike says
“Ahhh is a sound of understanding. Like mmhm, but unlike mmm which is a lovely dessert.”
Spike squints at the man and nods hesitantly.
“So where are you from stranger?” Carter asks
“I'm from … Nowhere.” Spike says
“Well I hear Nowhere is a lovely place this time of year, I hear that Nothing is in bloom. Where are you headed?” Carter asks
“Nowhere.” Spike says
“Homesick?”
“No, it’s the opposite. I’m trying to get away. Go somewhere new.”
“Then wouldn’t you want to know where you're going to avoid going where you’ve been?” Spike slumps in his seat, defeated.
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll head to Canterlot to find out where I’ve been.” Spike says
“Why Canterlot?” Carter asks. Spike begins with a long explanation that would take at least two full episodes to complete as to his mysterious origins. Spike feels better about saying this to someone, even if they were just a loon on a train.
“Wow,” says Carter “quite a story. This train is going the wrong way for you then.”
“So this train isn’t going to Appleoosa?” Spike nearly shouts.
“No, it is. But you're going to Canterlot.”
“No I’m not.” Spike says
“You should be.” Carter says
Spike sits in silence for so long that the train arrives at the connecting station to Appleoosa, Ponyville, Manehatten, Glascow, and canterlot. Carter stands brushing his jeans and leather jacket.
“Well I’m going to canterlot myself if you want to join me.” he says
Time to make a choice Spike thinks, do I go to canterlot with him, or do I go to Appleoosa.
“There’s nothing for me in Appleoosa, I’m with you.” Spike says
“Well alright then. Let’s go get some new tickets.” Carter smiles
They get off the train and walk toward the large one story building that holds the ticket booths. The building is run down and in need of restoration. There is a food court on the inside and upon seeing this Spike realizes just how hungry he is.
“Here” Spike says handing Carter the bits for a ticket. “You buy the tickets and I’ll get some food. Do you want anything?”
“Nah I’m good. Meet back out front in ten.”
Spike returns with a muffin and a banana and waits on a bench for Carter to show. He shows up hurriedly rushing onto the train.
“What’s wrong Carter?” Spike asks
“The train is leaving. soon.” Carter says dragging Spike onto the train.
Once on the train Carter takes Spike to an empty train car and sits him down.
“Try and get some sleep.” Carter says.
Spike takes the duffel bag off of his shoulder and sets it down on one of the few benches in the train car. He lies down against it and uses it as a pillow. Spike lies down on his side and lets his tail stick out into the open.
“So Carter, where are you from?” Spike asks.
“I….. Lived in a lot of places.” he asks dodging the question
“Fine let’s not talk then.” Spike says
“Fine” Carter says looking out of the window.
Spike fell asleep and when he woke up the train had stopped. He got off the train with Carter and looked up at the tall buildings around him.
“Carter. Where are we?” Spike asked
“Manehatten.” he says
“I wanted to go to canterlot.” Spike states
“Yes.” he says
“Can we go to Canterlot?” he asks
“Yes.” he says
“When can we go?” Spike asks impatiently.
“Next train leaves in two days.” Carter says as he starts to walk off.
“What should I do for two days.” Spike asks
“Beats me.” he says “meet you here in exactly 48 hours. I’ll even buy you the ticket.”
With that Carter rounds the corner of the train building and walks off leaving Spike very much so alone.
Spike stumbled off of the train station platform and began to wander around the city aimlessly. Tall grey buildings became taller and more monotone as he walked deeper into the unfamiliar. Soon bicycle traffic overtook the streets and Spike took to the sidewalk instead. Ponies pushed past as he looked up to the tips of the buildings. He wondered to himself why the buildings were so big.
Spike decided that he would need somewhere to sleep in the large city and that he would go and talk to Fluttershy who was in the university. Spike continued to wander the city looking for the university building when he asked for directions he was ignored by the passing ponies. He saw a white sign with a blue U on it and an arrow pointing down further into the city. He followed the signs to a large brick wall. After he walked around it he found a gate door and on top of it was a sign that read “Manehatten University”
Inside the brick wall that lined the perimeter there was a green field with trees at random intervals throughout and a maze of crisscrossing sidewalks. Around the interior there were other large brick buildings.
Spike walked toward a large pole that had signs in the shape of arrows pointing in different directions. He saw the sign that pointed to offices and followed it. He walked into the offices and saw a pony sitting behind a counter; he walked up to desk and asked the pony a question.
“I’m looking for a pony called Fluttershy.” he said
“And what do you want me to do?” the pony asks pointedly
“Do you know where I can find her?” Spike asked
“Try her dorm.” The pony said looking back to her paperwork. Spike stood waiting for her to elaborate further on where the dorm would be. When no answer is forthcoming he asks the mare.
“Where is the dorm building?” the mare looked up questioningly before she answered.
“Are you new?”
“New?” Spike answered
“New.”
“New to what?” Spike asked
“Collage.” She responded flatly
“Do you know Carter?” Spike asked
“Who?” the mare responded
“Never mind” Spike said
“Well the dorms are out the door and to the left.” the mare said once again looking down to her work.
Spike left the office building and walked over toward the building that the mare had pointed out. He walked in the doors and saw another drake walking out the doors. Both drakes froze and locked eyes. The drake coming from the building was black with blue accents as opposed to Spike who was purple with green accents. The drake wore ragged jeans, a white T-shirt, and a gray jacket.
Both drakes stepped forward with their right foot simultaneously and both stopped when the other mimicked their action. Spike stepped left and the other drake matched him exactly the whole time neither broke eye contact. Spike brought his right hand up and waved it and still the other drake matched him perfectly. Spike stopped circling when he had gotten half way around and both drakes were now standing on the short staircase.
“What are you doing?” Spike asked
“I dunno.” Said the other drake “What are you doing?”
“Wondering how you are mimicking me exactly.” Spike said hesitantly
“Not hard. You are very predictable.” The other drake said
“What’s your name?” Spike queried
“Slick”, Slick replied, “and you?”
“Spike”, Spike said, “Why don’t you have shoes on?”
“Why don’t you?” Slick responded
“Well my feet are covered in scales unlike ponies and my feet don’t get cold.”
“Ah, so other drakes are like that too. I believe that it’s because we have higher body temperatures than ponies.” Slick said matter of factly.
“You think that’s why we have scales?”
“Partially, but no I ment the feet thing.” Slick said
“Well Ok then” Spike said
“Well Spike, it’s been weird.” Slick said as he turned to leave.
“Wait! Where are you going?” Spike called out
“Class, man. This is a school after all.” With that slick walked off backpack attached securely to his back.
Spike still slightly confused walked into the dorm building. He came upon a large directory to the dorm building. It seemed as though the left half of the building was the men’s dorms and the right half was the women’s dorms and in the center as a divider were public rooms available to all. The dorms were all numbered and on the back of the standing display were names and numbers to show which students were in which dorms. After finding Chylene’s name and identifying where her room was he started off into the maze of dorm rooms to find her.
After many minutes of wondering in what he thought was the right direction Spike found the number that he was looking for. He knocked on the door and a rustle could be heard from behind the door. He heard murmured voices behind the door and soon the door was answered by a pony Spike did not know. She was yellow and had thick glasses on with a black frame, a grey hoodie that looked to have the school logo upon it and grey sweatpants to match.
“Who the buck are you?” The pony said.
“Spike, is-“
“What are you doing here?” She said with a touch of disgust crossing her face as she leaned against the door frame, bringing one leg up behind her and placing it on the frame.
“Looking for someone” Spike said impatiently
“Oh? Well how about a name then? I’ll see if there here.” The mare responded sarcastically
“Would you? I’m looking for Chylene” Spike asked
“Oh my Celestia, your dense as a brick wall.” The mare said bringing a hand to her face slowly “Just come in. Chy! You got a visitor!” The mare stepped aside and the two walked into the room
“Who is it? Is it somepony from Ponyville?” Chylene called from what spike assumed was a bathroom door.
“You from Ponyville?” The mare asked him
“Technically” Spike said after a moment’s thought
“You got the Ponyville part right!” The mare responded to Chylene as she returned to her desk.
“Who is it?” Chylene asked as she walked out of the restroom
“Hi Chy.” Spike said weakly suddenly unsure of why he was here.
The mare wore a yellow tank top with green jeans. She stopped suddenly upon seeing spike.
“Spike! What are you doing in Manehatten?” Chylene said her wings fluttering slightly as they had been put through holes in her shirt.
This is it. I’ve been found out, why did I go to Chylene? Now Twila is gonna know right where I am and she’s gonna come get me and then I’m never gonna get out of town.
“Oh ya know. Just visiting my friend in Manehatten.”
“Oh, are you with Rarity for one of her shows or with Twila for her to do some studying?” Chylene asked with a small voice.
“Neither, I’m here on my own.” Spike said proudly.
“So Twila knows you’re here? Here take a seat." Chylene said while gesturing to a small table with two chairs.
“Well not exactly.” Spike said as he took his duffle bag of his back.
“So she doesn’t know?” Chylene said worriedly.
Suddenly Angel bunny ran out from a pile of blankets, hopped up onto the table and started squeaking at Chylene.
“But Angel… I know I know… Honey but he’s so young! ... Hmm I’m still not quite sure…Wow you have been watching that closely? … Well… Fine you made your point Angel. Spike Angel made a good case and I don’t think you should go back to Ponyville.” Chylene said
“What?! Really?” Spike exclaimed while looking at a smug Angel bunny
“Yes. That is what I think.” Chylene said.
“What did he say?” Asked Spike
“I can’t tell you. Have you met Slick yet?” Chylene asked Spike
“Yeah, he seemed strange.” Spike said
“You get used to it.” Chylene said “Come on. Let’s get some lunch.”
Author's Note
give me your feed back please!
