Vive Vapeur

Spike opened his eyes. His first sight was a bookshelf several feet from him. Anatomy of Fish stared back at him from the spine of a book. He rubbed his eyes, turned over onto his back and stared blankly at the white ceiling. His mind was empty until he realized Wait... Twilight doesn't have white ceilings! This realization quickly sobered him as he jumped to his feet in a flash. Spike looked about the room, trying to recall any reason for his being there. Normally when Spike takes long trips, he wakes up in a panic but soon remembers where he is. This time, however, nothing was coming to the dragon. Was he on vacation? Did he sleepwalk here somehow? Was he-Oh! Spike remembered. Last night Twilight said something like: "Get up Spike, we're leaving." Then I fell down the stairs or something. It was all so blurry, like a dream. Twilight must have moved him here while he was asleep. But the question still remained. Where was here? Spike elected to have a look around.

He made a thorough analysis of this room. Without much inspection, spike was surprised to discover that he was sleeping on his own circular floor bed. It laid in the center of the floor on top of a boring, peach rug. To his left was the bookshelf which previously tricked spike into believing this was the library. It stretched across the entire left wall. In front of him was an awkwardly placed black desk, on it, a simple unlit candle. Spike noted that a window would fit perfectly above the desk, proving a view and natural light, yet, there was none. This made spike a bit uneasy. Behind him was the door, opened. Through it, a beige wall.

Spike approached the door and peeked out, first left, then right. Nothing special, just a regular hallway with doors on either side stretching both ways. However, to the left was what spike assumed to be the end of the hallway two doors down, with a slightly grander door finishing it. Two doors to the right was an entrance to another room. From what spike could peek at, it had royal blue coaches and dark oak table. Spike was relieved to see the far wall was entirely glass, however, nothing was visible through the blinding glare of Celestia's sun. He made up his mind to go right and investigate that other room.

As Spike left the hallway and entered the larger room, he got the full sensation of it's scale, roughly three times the size of the room he woke up in. The couches he saw before, looked pristine, as if brand new. Except, on one side of the "L" shaped sofa were seven spots where it looked ponies had sat. The table stood in the center. On it, a book and.... Um...what is that? Spike took the foreign object into his claws and inspected it. It was a shiny brass cone with a small tube extending from the bottom. Having already lost interest, the dragon put back the object and turned his attention to the epic window.

Looking out the massive window, Spike saw snow, snowflakes softly drifting though the air just past the glass. Past the frozen precipitation, Spike could see windows facing him across a massive gap. Down inside the gap was a street with ponies of all types passing each other on both sides, most sporting jackets and hoodies. In the middle, carriages were backed up as far as the eye could see. All around him were other enormous skyscrapers of various size, shape, and color. Spike immediately recognized that iconic skyline. He was In Manehattan. At first, the dragon was in awe of the mesmerizing power and energy which could only happen in this particular city. However, it was short lived. Soon Spike's excitement morphed into concern. The city was great and all, but why had he been taken here? I just didn't make any sense. The dragon pondered for a minute while he gazed upon the chaos below, considering his next move.

Spike's train of thought was cut off, the sound of drawers being opened and paper being shuffled emanated from an additional door. Walking over, the sound stopped and restarted several times before he reached the slightly open entrance. The dragon peeked inside. A stallion with black coat, silver mane, and matching tail, sat at a desk inspecting some cluster of tiny metal pieces. He was so focused on his work that he had not noticed the dragon peeking snooping around. Suddenly, he glanced over. "Ah!" the startled pony said, dropping the object in his hooves. Spike was equally startled by this, jumping backwards out of view. The stallion now turned his full attention to the dragon. "Jeez, don't sneak up on me like that." Relieved by the non-hostile acknowledgement, Spike revealed himself. "You must be Spike." Said the friendly pony.

The dragon was not entirely sure of the situation yet, and he wasn't about to let his guard down. Any number of situations could be transpiring, some good, some bad, but until everything was figured out, Spike was determined to stay vigilant. "Mabye! Who are you!? What's going on?!" He questioned.

"Whoa, calm down. You don't know what's going on?"

"No, I don't!"

"They never told you?"

"I wasn't told anything!"

"Well, I think it was suppose to be a surprise or something, so I don't want to spoil anymore than needed." The black stallion sighed. "Well, my name's Ed. It's a pleasure to meet you, Spike." Said the pony, extending a hoof to shake Spike's claw. Spike was hesitant to shake Ed's hoof, visually examining it before getting close. Eventually, the dragon extended his claw and- SLAM! The front door opened, fallowed by exuberant mare voices.

"Marvelous, darling! The city is even better than I remember!"

"I'll say! What with all them newfangled contraptions for moving ponies. What were they called again?"

"Auto Carriages."

"Oh yeah!"

"Eh, I still like flying better..."

"Well not all of us can fly, Dash! Us Earth ponies need to get around quick too ya' know."

"What are you talking about, silly? I can get around just as quick, maybe even quicker!"

"I um... they were... cool."

"I agree with Fluttershy, despite the lack of practicality, they were very cool. I just hope- *gasp*" A purple unicorn dressed in thick clothing and scarf turned the corner to make direct eye contact with Spike. "Spike! You're awake!"

Spike was quick to respond, ticked off. "Yes I am! Why didn't you tell me we were going on vacation?!" The rest of the mane 6 also turned the corner to see Spike.

"Now calm down, Spike, Let me explain." Twilight levitated her saddle pack and scarf to the couch. "First of all, this was supposed to be a surprise gift for Hearth Warming Eve, which is why I never told you. Second, this is partially a vacation, and partially work related. It's possible that we could be moving here, Spike."

Spike was in shock, he understood the reasons for him never being told. But, "What are you talking about, Twilight? Moving? Here? Why?" The rest of the mane six stood watching the confrontation in awkward silence, trying to occupy themselves but couldn't help but listen to the argument. Ed peeked through the door at the commotion.

"Alright..." Twilight did that breathing thing to calm down. "It's like this. The pony who lives here is a scientist, his name is Ed." Twilight looked up at Ed, who was watching. She then quickly looked back at Spike. "Ed requested my knowledge of magic to assist his research into the nature of Xyphorium. In return, we get to stay in his magnificent apartment in the center of Manehattan."

"Then why are they here?" Spike motioned to the ponies behind Twilight.

Applejack trotted forth. "We're here because a pony always needs a friend." She said.

"And Twilight demanded us to come." Rarity chimed in.

"Yeah." Pinkie Pie added.

"Does that all make sense, Spike?" Asked Twilight.

"I guess so..."

"Good enough." She Concluded. One the conversation ended, all the ponies split up and went their separate ways. Rainbow Dash softly flew to her room, Applejack jumped onto the couch and stretched herself out, Rarity began admiring all the clothes she had purchased in the city, Pinkie Pie sprinted to the restroom, Fluttershy was speaking with Angel Bunny, whom Spike had not noticed earlier, and Twilight began speaking with Ed.

"Hey, Ed."

"Yes, Mrs. Sparkle?"

"We stumbled upon a copy of the Manehattan Times, you're brother is on the front page." Said Twilight while she levitated the newspaper in front of Ed.

"Well whatta ya' know, he's the cause of that time shift ruckus. That crazy bastard actually did it."

"Did what?" Spike Asked

"My brother used Harmonium to change day to night."

"What's Harmonium?"

"Well, Spike, It's actually a very rare crystal found only is the remotest locations of Equestria. It's the same crystal that the Elements of Harmony are made of. Not only that, but when used a certain way, it can generate an incredibly powerful magical aura." Ed explained.

"Wow, that's awesome! But, aren't you doing something with.. 'Ziforus' or something?"

"Ah, you mean Xyphorium. Yes, well, Xyphorium and Harmonium are actually the reasons why he and I are not working together. About a year ago, me and my brother, Veil, were working on a means of extracting the magical properties from certain substances, we discovered that both Harmonium and Xyphorium possessed raw aura. The difference, however, is that Harmonium was very powerful but rare, while Xyphorium was less rare but weak. My brother became obsessed with the notion of being able to overpower the Royal Princesses and insisted we continue our study of Harmonium. I would not fallow in his villainous quest for power, I was in it for the science."

"So.. now you need Twilight's help to study Xypirium, Sizypiu-"

"Xyphorium."

"Yeah, That."

"Precisely."