Living in Equestria

"Say again, Sugarcube?" Applejack followed us upstairs into the second story of the barn as Apple Bloom and I helped the bandaged Scootaloo along.

"I'm going to Dodge City. To look for dragons... with Twilight." I said over my shoulder.

"Yeah, see... I thought that's what you said, but I wanted ta make darn sure before I knocked ya over tha head n called ya a ninny! Good gravy, Mason! What's Twilight gotten you wrapped up in now?"

As we settled Scootaloo into our bed, I explained to the Apple sisters the situation including the request Twilight had of her and the others while we were gone. Scootaloo, who had already heard it all before, sat quietly next to a giggling Apple Bloom who thought the idea of Spike possibly going around humping things to death was hilariously made up.

"C'mon! You don't really believe that, do ya? Spike is like the nicest dragon I've ever met!"

"He's the only dragon you've ever met..." Scootaloo smacked her on the leg sarcastically. Apple Bloom shot her a look before she continued.

"No, I'm just sayin'! Twilight can't really expect us ta find him and stick him in a cage till ya'll get back with a girl dragon now, can she?"

"That's what she said." I shrugged.

"Poor Spike..." Apple Bloom's ears flattened on her head. "What if the girl dragon you find doesn't like him..."

"And ya'll r just packin up an leaving now? Not even gonna wait a day or two ta see if he turns up?" Applejack asked me.

"Twilight doesn't think he will... not on his own anyways. According to Discord and Doctor Goodhoof, this is only going away once he mates with another dragon so... the last train leaves this afternoon and she wants us to be on it." I rose from the bed and looked around for a suitcase to throw some clothes in

"Discord... psh..." Applejack spat. "That's all ya need ta say to make my skin crawl 'bout this whole thing."

"He's not that bad, AJ. I think he means well... even if he's a drama queen." I said, digging one of Scootaloo's packs out from the pile of girlish things in the closet. It was much bigger than I needed, heck Spike himself could probably fit in here easily, but it was the only one with a long enough strap to not interfere with my wings.

Applejack waved her hoof dismissively at me and rolled her eyes. "I'm just gonna pretend this all came from tha Doc, alright. Anyways... ya'll better be careful down there. Tha Badlands are called that fer a reason, ya know. Nopony goes there cuz there ain't nuthin for a pony ta go there for! Heck, I don't even go that far south ta Dodge City ta sell pies on account of I never wanted ta get that close ta it!"

I threw the small amount of clothes I owned into the large bag, shutting the flap before opening it again to stuff the Daring Do book in. Dash was right... they really were good books. "Twilight hopes we won't have to go that far south. The Doctor said there were a few dragon caves on the north end of the Badland's cliffs so we'll start there."

"And so what are we gonna do with Spike when we find him till ya get back? Just throw some gems inta his cage n hope he doesn't bite?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I guess... Twilight didn't really say." I looked at the two girls and the bed longingly. I had been really looking forward to sleeping here tonight with them in my arms and I couldn't help but give a regretful sigh. "Alright... I gotta get going. Twilight is probably waiting for me at the station already."

Scootaloo's eyes turned down suddenly and I realized this was the first time we were really going to be apart for any length of time since I'd gotten here. I moved to her, carefully pulling her into a gentle hug and holding it for a while, whispering our love for each other before giving her a long kiss. Apple Bloom tugged at my shirt and I scooped her up for some love as well before I left, heading downstairs with Applejack following close behind.

"Tell Twilight she can count on us. I'll round everypony up today and get a move on lookin fer him. Hopefully before he does anything else crazy." she said behind me as we reached the yard outside.

"Thanks, AJ." I slung the strap of Scootaloo's pack around my neck, situating the strap between my wings while I flexed them to get ready for takeoff. Just before I left the ground, Applejack said my name. It was her voice stopped me cold... it was strangely emotional for her.

"Mason..."

I turned and saw anxiety in her green eyes and worry all over her face. "Yeah?"

She suddenly grabbed me in a fierce, standing hug that caught me completely off guard, knocking her hat to the dusty ground as she brought her head tight against mine with her weight landing on my shoulders.

"Come back safe... ya hear? We all need ya. Includin' me..."

I brought my arm up to wrap around her, touched by her unusual display of affection. "I will, AJ."

_________________________________________

"Mason! Over here!" I heard Twilight's voice call out to me on the crowded platform as she hovered over the masses, waving at me.

The train steamed on the tracks to my right, the pink pastel engine whined and hissed blasts of hot air that dried the sweat on my forehead from the quick flight to get here. Ponies crowded around the car entrances in loud groups, talking excitedly and eager to get on the train that was heading south to Appleloosa and points beyond. Sliding through the kaleidoscope of brightly colored manes and tails, I pushed my way through to meet with the purple alicorn who was settling back to the wooden platform.

"You're just in time! I was beginning to get worried!" she greeted me when I finally got to her side.

"Sorry..."

"Here's your ticket, lets get on and find a good overnight room before they're all taken!"

I followed her towards the rear of the train where there were fewer ponies milling about and climb aboard a car just before the caboose. Inside the doorway was a narrow hall that ran down one side of the car immediately to my right. Windows along the right side let you see out into the bustling platform while the left side was paneled in wood, broken by sliding doors every few feet or so. Twilight moved down the hall, picking an open door at random and then moving inside the small cabin.

There were two beds set into stacked cavities along one wall while benches and a tiny table occupied the other. A large window directly opposite of the door looked out into Ponyville on the far side of the train station, letting in the view of the surrounding countryside as the late afternoon sun streamed in at a sharp angle, shining on the wood paneling above the bench.

"Well... here we are. It won't be until tomorrow afternoon that we reach Dodge City so,... I hope you brought some books!" she smiled.

"Actually... Dash has me hooked on Daring Do right now. I'll take the top bed." I said, flinging my oversized pack up into the small opening above.

"Oh? I love those!" Twilight's eyes lit up. "I have the whole collection myself! What one are you on?"

"The Crystal Cave."

"Ohhh! That's a good one!" she said as she placed her own pack on the lower bed.

A light rap came from a hoof on our door moments before it slid open to reveal an older pony dressed in a pastel blue suit wearing a bell cap.

"Ticke- Princess Twilight!?" his eyes grew large at the sight of Twilight in the car.

"Yep... hehe. That's me..." she said awkwardly, not meeting his stare.

"I am honored to be taking your ticket! And the human I've heard about as well! This is a special cabin!"

I gave him a quick wave before Twilight and I handed over the two small pieces of paper to him, his eyes lingered on me for a moment before punching them both with a device slung around his neck. "Dodge City is our last stop. We'll be in Appleoosa tonight with arrival around noon tomorrow for you folks. Dinner car opens at sundown. If you need anything at all, Princess... please, don't hesitate to ask!"

"Thank you." Twilight said almost sheepishly, taking our stubs with her horn.

We sat in awkward silence for a while, Twilight's cheeks burned red for some reason and just when I was about to ask her why, we both jumped at the sudden, shrill whistle of the train that signaled it's departure. A gentle jerking motion rattled the window as the car began to slide forward.

"Heh... I always jump when the whistle blows..." she said.

"I've never been on a train before." I commented with a grin. "It's kinda cool!"

"They don't have trains in your world?"

"Yeah, they did... just never rode one before, that's all."

"You make it sound like they aren't there anymore. Did humans stop using them?" she frowned. I didn't even realize I had said it myself until she pointed it out and I had to think for a moment before I knew why.

"I guess I said it that way because it's not my world anymore...?" I shrugged casually.

"Oh..." her gaze dropped, as if the statement effected her for some reason.

"You alright, Twilight?"

"Yeah! I'm fine!" her head came up quickly with a mask of a smile plastered on it. "I'm gonna get some reading in until dinner, kay?"

She used her magic to pull a massive tome out of her bag before moving the brown satchel onto the floor. She crawled into the bed's cavity, quickly focusing on the words scrawled there without another word. Something was definitely bothering her, but if she wasn't willing to talk about it, then I supposed there was nothing I could do. It was probably just Spike on her mind anyways, I thought.

I pulled the Daring Do book out of Scoots's bag and sat on the bench opposite of where Twilight lay, looking at the purple alicon briefly with concern. Her eyes flicked to the side to glance at me for a split second before returning to the text in front of her. Frowning at the weird tension between us, I opened the book and quickly lost myself in the story of the Indiana Jones like pegasus as the train picked up speed.

_________________________________________

Rarity walked alone down a side street of Ponyville with her horn glowing brightly in the gathering gloom of the warm post sunset air, illuminating the walls of the buildings as she scanned every nook and cranny for the little dragon she was looking for. Her hoofsteps thudded dully on the dirt underneath her, echoing slightly in the relative silence of the narrow street. She had sent Sweetie Belle to the farm for the night after Applejack left, figuring Scootaloo could use the company since Mason was well on his way to Dodge City by now and everypony else she knew besides Apple Bloom was out looking right now.

"Spike?" she called out softly, not wanting to disturb the families she heard on the other side of the open windows she walked under. She hoped the others were having better luck than her.

The unicorn's mind was filled with worry for the poor little guy. She had no idea dragons could suffer something so horrendous and regretted all the times she had laughed at him when he behaved foolishly around her. She knew very well that Spike had something of a crush on her, everypony did, but Rarity always thought of Spike as a silly coltish dragon... nothing more. Until recently, the very idea of anypony having that kind of affection for her brought up old memories that she'd rather forget about instead.

Until Wilson had come to her stall at the Summer Sun Festival.

For the first time in ages, a stirring in her heart that longed to be kindled again had awoken. She had seen him around town over the years but had never bothered to speak with the sporting goods shopkeeper until Mason had brought him along that day. His eyes... his coat... they had captivated her imagination in a way that she hadn't felt since her days in Manehatten and it had initially scared her to death. It had taken all of her courage to ask Mason to bring him over to help out with some repairs and fortunately for her, they simply never got around to it otherwise she would have been a nervous wreck.

But ever since he had stood by her in the fight at Sugarcube corner, Rarity's feelings had changed. They had been to dinner twice now and she had only grown more fond of him. Last night, he had actually leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving. Rarity had stood blushing on the doorstep of the boutique while Sweetie Belle had watched from the window with a large grin plastered on her silly little face. It was with these thoughts of Wilson that she turned left into the next alleyway, not really seeing where she was going and only stopped when she heard a small, miserable voice call her name from a dirt hole dug out under the foundation of the building next to her.

"Rarity?" it rasped dryly.

Her horn flared brighter at the sudden shock the voice gave her. Whirling towards it's source, she shone her light into the dark hole at her hooves.

"Spike? Is that you?" her voice wavered.

The tip of her horn reflected back at her from two shiny orbs deep inside the hole. When they slid forward suddenly, Rarity took a step back in horror at the apparition that emerged.

"How could you..." Spike croaked.

Rarity shook her head in denial, wide eyed and struggling with what had become of the little purple dragon. His scales had taken on a sickly greenish tint, caked with dirt and gunk from whatever he had been laying in down there. The normally clean, bright green eyes of his were yellowed now, shot with red veins that spider webbed out from the vertical slit of his pupils that shrank from the light of her horn. His little mouth hung open in a sneer to show his fangs to her in a way she'd never seen before. But what made her sick to her stomach most of all was that red, pulsing tube of flesh that stuck out from his lower body that looked raw and on the verge of bleeding in spots.

"S- Spike?" she recoiled. She understood that something was going on with him, but she wasn't prepared for this. He looked ghastly.

"You... never loved me... did you." saliva dripped off his forked tongue as he panted. It was a statement, not a question.

"What are you talking about, Spike? What's wrong with you?!" she backed away from him until she felt her rump pressing against the far wall of the alley. Her eyes couldn't leave that pulsing, twitching rod on his belly. It disgusted her even as it held her attention firmly.

"I saw you... kiss him, Rarity!" Spike began to cry, his dry voice cracking with tears. "All I ever wanted to do... was make you happy!"

"Spike... I..." she stammered.

"You never wanted me!!" he screamed and charged her with outstretched and grasping claws. Insanity shone in his eyes that shot a river of fear through the unicorn's body.

Rarity's horn flashed from white to red, bathing the alley in a pool of blood light as her magic streaked out to slam against Spike's chest at the last second. He collapsed in a heap beneath her, breathing deep, ragged breaths.

"Oh my poor little Spike... what has happened to you?" Rarity moaned.

_______________________________________

Twilight hadn't spoken since dinner and I was starting to get really irritated that she was being so quiet. I'd tried to ask her a couple of times about Dodge City or what she had in mind to do once we got there, but both times I was met with a shrug of indifference. Now it was well into the night, Appleoosa was sliding by our window after unloading passengers as I stood up to go to bed.

"I'm going to sleep, Twilight." I said flatly, closing the book with a sudden, annoyed pop. Her eyes only flicked up to meet my own in that hesitant, non committal way they had ever since we boarded the train. No other acknowledgement came from her.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a hold of the single rung to pull myself into the long hole in the wall that held a thin mattress with a single pillow. I didn't know how a pony could fit in here, but there had been an endless list of things ponies could do in this place that I'd never thought possible before.

The light went out and Twilight's horn gave off a dim but steady glow beneath me that I could see casting shadows on the far wall above the bench. Closing my eyes, I tried to calm my body but found my mind just wouldn't turn off. I was annoyed by the fact that she wouldn't talk about Spike when it was obvious I was just as concerned as she was for the little guy. If anything, we should be talking more and I decided I was done pretending nothing was wrong, dammit! If we were going to be doing this together, then she'd have to open up to me.

"Twilight?" I said to the ceiling.

"Mm?" her voice was flat an monotonous.

"Why aren't you talking to me?"

"Don't be silly, Mason. Of course I'm talking to you. I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?"

"You know what I mean. You've been weird ever since we got on the train."

"Oh, really? Heh heh... I didn't know! I'm sorry." her reply was broken and sounded forced.

"I'm worried about Spike too, you know... You're not alone here."

"I know..." her voice was softer now. I could picture with perfect clarity the way her ears sagged when she said it.

"Then why don't you want to talk about it? We don't even know what we're doing yet!"

"Oh... I just wanted to read up on it first, that's all!" she said quickly.

"On what, Feractiy?"

"Y- Yeah!"

I sighed loudly, making sure she could hear it. "Bullshit, Twilight. You've said over and over again there's nothing written about it."

Silence came from under me that stretched out for a long time. Her horn's light slowly dimmed and then winked out just before I heard the unmistakable sound of a sniff from her. Was she crying?

I rolled over and hung my head over the side of the bed's opening to look down into the dim bunk where Twilight lay. She was on her stomach, her chin resting flat on the bed in front of her with both hooves over her eyes. I could barely make out the sound of her ragged intake of breath.

"Twilight?" I asked quietly.

"I'm a terrible ruler, a horrible unicorn... and worse still... a crummy friend!" she moaned, broken by a sob.

"What!?" I slid off the bunk to my feet before sitting beside her midsection on her bed, putting a hand on her mane. "What are you talking about?"

"All of this is because I'm so bad at everything! Scootaloo wouldn't be hurt if I was the Princess I was supposed to be and stopped that fight from ever happening! And the only reason Spike is lost and miserable is because I was too proud to admit Discord knew something I didn't!"

She pulled her hooves off her eyes and turned her head towards me. "Even you! You wouldn't be here if I had half a brain and knew better than to mess with magic I knew nothing about! I know you hate me for it!"

"That's... that's crazy Twilight. You can't blame yourself for everything like that..."

"Even if it's true?" she pouted.

"Why do you think I hate you?"

"Because! I ripped you away from your world and now you're stuck here! I'd hate me too if it happened to me!"

"But I don't. If you hadn't gotten me here then I never would have met any of you guys... I never would have fallen in love with Scootaloo. And... and I never would have known I could love all of you, too."

She turned her face towards the wall again. "Love... I don't even know what that means. That's how much of a loser I am..." she said miserably.

I had a wild thought. A thought that had no business being in my head right now but seemed like the only thing natural to say at this point. She was in our circle, after all....

"Let me show you then..."

Her face came slowly around again to look at me. The train gently rocked us both in the silent pause that followed. "You... you're not serious..." she said incredulously.

"What if I am...?"

"Mason... I..."

I leaned down and gently placed my lips against the end of her purple muzzle, cutting her off. She sucked in a huge breath through her nose, her eyes going wide at the sudden kiss. Twilight held perfectly still but her body began to tremble under my hand that still rested on her mane. When I pulled back and sat up, she blinked at me.

"Y- you kissed me." her voice came distant and detached.

"Would I kiss somepony I hated?"

"It was so... soft! I never thought it would be that soft!" her eyes sparkled again with the newly found knowledge.

"You want to do it again?" I gave her a small smile.

"Yes please! Oh! But do it slower this time so I can remember the details better. I'll need to write this down later."

The usual Twilight was coming back already as I leaned down one more time. She brought her head up to mine to meet me half way and we pressed our lips together again. I held still and let her feel it for a moment before I opened my mouth, resisting the urge to pull away as the soft, fine hairs on her muzzle tickled my nose. She timidly followed my lead and seconds later, I felt her tongue shyly touch and then rub one time against my own in the warm, moist space our mouths had created. She tasted like the smell of fresh hay and already her breath was coming in fast, quick draws that I could feel sucking past my own nostrils. I had to break off the kiss because the weird angle was hurting my neck.

"There... now do you believe me?" I stroked her mane, feeling how she was trembling with nervousness under the soft hair that ran through my fingers.

"That...was my first real kiss." she breathed with disbelief.

"Really?"

One of her hooves came up and felt the end of her muzzle while she looked thoughtful and far away. "I had my first kiss..." she said quietly and smiled.

"I'm going to sleep, Twilight. Let's figure out what we're gonna do tomorrow morning, alright?"

She didn't look at me, instead she continued to stare off with that dazed smile on her face, her hoof tracing the edges of her lips. Figuring that was as good as it was going to get, I hopped back up into the platform above.

Moments later, I heard her pack open followed by the scratching sound of a quill against rough paper. Curious, I peeked my head over the side and saw she was madly scribbling something in a different book now, her horn glowing brightly and illuminating the reddened cheeks that framed a happy smile.