Violet Fire

Chapters

Chapter 2: Wounds and introductions
Chapter 3: Decisions
Chapter 4: The abandoned and the spell
Chapter 5: Names and First Impressions
Chapter 6: Gemstones and Unexpected events
Chapter 7: Diamonds are not forever
Chapter 8: Taking big steps
Chapter 9: Shelter and freaks
Chapter 1: A turbulent storm

Chapter 2: Wounds and introductions

Twilight used her magic to levitate the stallion, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack balanced him on their backs. Sweat ran through their brows and they grimaced at the strain to go up the stairs of the library. Their coat was dotted red from the blood dripping from the stranger’s body.

Fluttershy was the guide, telling them what they should or shouldn’t do. At times like this, everypony was happy to have somepony so well-versed in medicine and animal treating.

“Alright girls, keep at it. We’re just a teensy weensy farther now. This is the final step,” she said as they entered the room. Rarity had rushed in to lay a white sheet on the floor so they could place the stranger.

“Now girls, be careful. He is really heavy, so try to keep him from...”

As they were just reaching the cloth, Twilight lost the strength of her spell. Rainbow Dash and Applejack felt his full weight crashing down on them and quickly raised their backs to drop him on the sheet with a loud thump.

“... dropping,” winced Fluttershy as the stallion let out a grunt, but stayed unconscious.

“Sorry Fluttershy, but this guy is way too heavy.” said Rainbow Dash, stretching her back.

“Um, guys? I don’t think he looks too good,” said Spike pointing a claw at their patient.

Everypony turned and looked at the stallion. His face was turning pale and from under his body there was a pool of…

“BLOOD?! GYAHHHHHHHHH” shrieked Rarity.

“OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh,” said Rainbow Dash with a hoof on her mouth.

Spike looked shocked at the increasing size of the puddle. Is this guy MADE of blood?!

“Fluttershy, what’s going on? Why is he bleeding so much all of a sudden?!” asked Twilight, grabbing her friend by the shoulders.

“Oh, um… I think the wound was not so deep, but…,” she gulped. “The fall just now might have made it worse. Just a tiny bit.”

“Ah’m sorry sugarcube, but this ain’t what Ah’d call ´tiny´!” said Applejack, trying to calm a fainting Rarity down.

“What should we do?” asked Twilight to nopony in particular.

Fluttershy flew in the air, hovering just a few hooves above them. “Right. We’ll need a first aid kit, clean towels and sheets and lots of water. Rarity, you’re in charge of water and bringing the sheets whenever we need. Make sure some of the water is drinkable, he might need some to hydrate himself. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, use our towels to put some pressure on his wound, we need to stop that bleeding. Twilight, you know where the medkit is, bring it to me, stat. Pinkie Pie, gather all the sugar in the kitchen and bring it here,” ordered Fluttershy, pointing to each pony as she gave away their tasks. Everypony looked at her, jaws dropped and eyes opened wide.

Fluttershy blinked a few times before landing on the ground and hiding her eyes behind her mane, embarrassed.

“Tha-that is… if you don’t mind.”

Twilight gave her a determined look, and turned to everypony. “You heard her, move out!”

And they all dashed out to perform their tasks. Fluttershy herself went to the bathroom and started washing her hooves. Which left Spike in the room, while Rainbow Dash and Applejack kept pushing the towels against the wound.

What was he supposed to do? Fluttershy didn’t give him any task to perform. He looked at the two ponies with the towels. There was no room for him to help there. Without anything to do, he approached the dark-blue pony.

Against the bright lights, it was far easier to see him in detail. His coat was blue, but a dark shade, just like the midnight sky on a moonless evening. His mane was very long, ending in a ponytail. It was a shade of blue darker than his coat, with some streaks of bright blue. In all, his color just screamed darkness and Spike felt unsettling that his savior was so nefarious.

His whole body was covered in an amazing amount of scars. There were some small cuts, but Spike noticed that majority of them were either medium sized or large, probably caused by big and sharp objects, like a manticore’s claw or a dragon’s teeth. Part of his skin was deformed due to bad healing and some missing chunks of flesh showed he was bitten by a large animal. Burns and other bruises spread throughout his body. He also had some scars on his face, although not as many as the rest of his body, and not as ugly. Minor cuts and scratches, but not as bad as its predecessors.

And there was the huge chest scar. That was the biggest one of all. It ran from the left of his neck, crossing his chest to the right, and ending near the back. It was nearly two inches wide at the widest point, in the center. But the most astonishing thing was how fresh it seemed All the other scars seemed to be at least a few years old, but that huge one could only be a few weeks old, tops.

This guy is a train-wreck! How in Equestria did he get all these wounds?

All along the stallion’s body, Spike noticed well-toned muscles.They weren’t large, but rather the muscles of a pony that had gone through a lot of tough situations in his life. Spike kept examining the unicorn until he reached his flank and cutie mark. It was covered in mud, preventing anypony from seeing it. Spike reached towards the unicorn’s flank to wipe the mud away.

“HERE’S THE MEDKIT!”

Spike snapped out of his investigation, startled by the sudden yell of the lavender unicorn. She was levitating a white box with a red cross. Following behind her were Pinkie Pie and Rarity, carrying their required items. The white unicorn trotted over to the stranger, carrying fresh towels to take place of the bloody rags Rainbow Dash and Applejack were using.

“Oh, good. I’ll get started, if that’s alright,” said Fluttershy.

“I think this fella here would give you the green light if he wasn’t out like a light.” commented Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, right,” Fluttershy began her work. She opened the medkit and pulled a pair of pliers and a yellow bottle of Marethiolate. The mare picked a cloth with the pliers and poured some of the contents from the bottle on it, staining it with a bright red. The strong alcoholic scent of the antiseptic filled the room instantly, mixing with the smell of the blood.

“Uhm, girls, if you don’t mind...” Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at the yellow pegasus and stepped away.

“Uhm, mister? I’m going to use some medicine to disinfect your wound. It’s going to hurt just a tiny bit, okay? Be a big boy now.”

No response came from the stallion who kept still, barely breathing.

Fluttershy started applying the medicine on the wound. Spike winced as the patient grunted. That was a great medicine to prevent infections, but it stung like hell.

“I’m sorry....” apologized the pegasus, but still applying the disinfectant.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, you’re doing a great job,” comforted Twilight. “I’m sure he’ll be glad when he...,” her words drifted away as she looked at the stallion. Spike looked at her and saw an expression of surprise on her face. Her eyes wide, mouth gapping. Curious, the baby dragon hurried to her side and looked at the stranger. He mimicked Twilight.

The stallion’s eyes were open. Not much, but they could see his pupils looking at them. His eyes were grey, but not a dull, dark color. They were vibrant, alive and shining like a star. And they were pointed at Spike, once again.

“Ugh...” the stranger grunted.

Spike was slightly startled when everypony, except for Fluttershy who kept treating the wounds, ran to where he was but kept a distance.

Twilight stepped up to the stallion. “Sir, can you talk?” she asked.

The stranger shifted his gaze to look at the mare. His eyes piercing her, the young mare took a step back, afraid of his silvery iris.

“Where... am I?” he finally whispered, his voice was low and hoarse.

“You’re in Ponyville. The library, to be exact.”

He looked at Spike once again. The baby dragon felt his entire being judged on the spot by his piercing gaze.

“Why... are you not... healed?” the strange unicorn asked.

Fluttershy had just finished applying all of the medicine and was working on opening the sugar bags. Lucky for her, Pinkie had been smart and brought a bowl to pour it in.

“I’m sorry sir, but um... I have to heal your wounds first...,” said the yellow pegasus.

“No...” he said, raising his head and turning it to look at the pegasus, he’s eyes serious with a hint of anger. “Treat... his... wounds....”

The color in Fluttershy’s face went slightly pale at his rebuke, but her sense as a medical pony was stronger than that. She poured another bag of sugar on the bowl and looked at the patient. “But... your wounds are so bad, I have to--”

“Treat... his... wounds...,” he repeated, more fiercely this time.

“Bu-but... I....”

Suddenly, the dark cerulean pony rose to his feet. He stumbled a little, but finally stood to his full height. Everypony in the room stepped back in sudden fright and Fluttershy fell to her haunches. However, his sudden movement made his wound bleed profusely once again. In a single, swift movement Fluttershy grabbed the sugar and a cloth and resumed her nursing. She wiped the blood from his back and poured the sugar on his back. The unicorn turned his head to the yellow nurse.

“Treat... his... wounds...,” he said.

“Just hold on now, mister. We are treating ya with all of our care and ya’re gonna be that rude?” said Applejack.

Unmoved by the cowmare’s words, he kept looking at Fluttershy. She went to the medkit, but as she reached her hooves to grab it, it was yanked out of the ground, surrounded by a dark indigo mantle.

Twilight jumped back when the stallion levitated the box and slammed it right in front of her. She looked at the box and back at the unicorn. He was serious about getting Spike treated, that was clear to the young mare.

“Mister! Please, I need to treat you! You can’t walk around with an exposed wound like that!” she said. The stranger looked at her angrily. The mare took a few steps back. "I-I-I need to bandage your... cut.”

Panting, the stranger looked at the mound of sheets Rarity had brought in earlier. His horn glowed as he levitated a rather long sheet to his side and wrapped himself around it, improvising a bandage. With skill, he pulled the ends and tied a tight knot, grunting as his wound was pressed. Everypony looked at him, jaws dropped and eyes wide.

“There...,” he grunted. “Now... treat... his... wou...” his sentence was lost as he fainted.

Fluttershy ran towards him and checked his pulse. She looked up and noticed everypony staring at her.

“Uhm... he’s alright. Just a bit of anemia and exhaustion, that’s all.”

“Well, that was... interesting,” said Rainbow.

“Interesting might not be the most appropriate word, darling. Something more like...,” pondered Rarity, spinning a hoof in the air, trying to come up with a better word.

“Creepy. That’s what it was,” said Spike.

“But why did he want you to get treated so badly?” wondered Twilight.

“I don’t know dear, but I must agree with him on the matter: Spike needs treatment right away, just look at him,” said the white unicorn, pointing a hoof at the violet dragon.

“Girls, I’m fine, really,” he said. Spike walked over to the medkit and bend over to lift it “I’ll just get some band-aids here and-- OW!” he dropped the box and quickly grabbed his left shoulder.

“SPIKE! What happened?!” asked Twilight. She turned him towards her and started examining his wounds.

“I don’t know, I just... I can’t move my arm right. It hurts when I try to lift it-- no wait. it hurts, period!” Twilight looked at his arm and lifted with her hoof. “Ow! What was that for?!” he said, grabbing his arm and turning away. The pain was intensifying fast and he sure wasn’t going to give her a second chance to yank it.

“Sorry...” she said, blushing a little at her slip.

Fluttershy approached Spike and took a look at his shoulder and arm. Gently, she lifted the scaly limb with her hoof. Suddenly, Spike winced when a shockwave of pain ran through his body. Fluttershy placed a hoof on his shoulder and pressed it lightly, studying the joint. Suddenly her eyes widened.

“Oh Spike, I’m so sorry. I didn’t notice it,” she apologized, hiding her face behind her mane.

“What do you mean you 'didn't notice'?” he said in a panicking tone. He winced when he felt a new jolt from his injured arm.

“You dislocated your shoulder, that’s why it hurts so bad.” explained the mare.

“That’s dreadful! Whatever shall we do?” asked Rarity in fear.

“Well... I know how to fix it but... it's going to hurt. A lot.”

Spike gulped. He sure didn’t like pain, but it was getting worse by the second. Best to endure it now than to suffer for a long time. At least, that was the logical approach. But still, pain is pain and he would need to be ready to suffer a little. Against his liking, he nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy placed her right hoof on Spike’s armpit. The baby dragon blushed at the soft touch from the mare, but his fear of what was to come was so great the feeling didn’t last long. The mare wrapped her other hoof around his shaky arm and lifted it as much as she could. When she was set, Rainbow popped up besides Spike, carrying a book on her hoof.

“Open up,” she said.

“Why do I need a book?” wondered Spike.

“Just open your mouth and take a nice bite at it. You’re gonna thank me later.”

“Well, I don’t se the po--” whatever Spike was about to say was lost, as Fluttershy quickly sprung his arm up, pulled and snapped his shoulder back into place in one swift, experienced movement.

A giant wave of pain ran through his body numbing all of his other senses, forcing him to focus on his present torture.

“ARRRRRRRGHHHH!!!” screamed Spike. He snapped his jaws shut, his sharp fangs sinking deep into the covers of the book. He felt glad Rainbow did that. He would have bitten his tongue otherwise. Although it was fast, he felt strong, excruciating pain running through his body. After a few seconds, that felt more like years, the pain slowly subsided and he could only feel his exhausted body complaining of the sudden pain. I’m NEVER going through that again.

Twilight walked around the him and looked straight in his eyes.

“Spike, are you alright?” she said with a concerned tone.

He felt wobbly and hurt, but his shoulder wasn’t so bad now. “I’m fine really. Don’t worry, it’s al-- Hey, why are you guys spinning?”

Darkness engulfed his vision.

The birds chirped outside with the sun rising high above Ponyville, providing a beautiful morning for the citizens of the small town, as they began working on their daily chores. Pegasi flew around town dissipating the last remnants of the storm clouds that had so brutally punished the area the night before, while ponies of all sizes and colors helped cleaning some debris that was left around town. However, some curious ponies stopped to look at the group of unicorns working on levitating the fallen tree in front of the library. Many of those bystanders already started to speculate on what had happened that night.

“Was it the wind?”

“Maybe a lightning bolt struck it.”

“Yeah, well, what of the many different hoofprints around the area?”

“Maybe they were an unlucky group of ponies that had, by chance, come across the tree while it fell.”

“Maybe they were just some stranger passing by.”

The sound of the chatter and gossip crossed the air all the way inside the treehouse. Spike was laying on his bed, covered with his blue blanket. He could hear the voices, but they felt more like whispers to him, so busy enjoying his dream.

Spike was at a table in a fancy restaurant, a place he had never expected to be in real life. Everything was posh and elite, from the dishes to the simplest of tablewares, all made of silver, gold and silk of the finest quality. Many famous and powerful ponies were there: politicians, music stars, actors. There was a wall covered in pictures of other famous ponies, some long deceased. There was even a photo of the Princesses and a strange alicorn with them. Who would have thought Goddesses would visit... What was the name of this restaurant, anyway? Spike looked around the room until finally found a sign hanging on a wall: ‘La déesse des Saveurs’. It radiated with a sun and a moon on each side, with many stars in the middle, providing all of its radiance. But no amount of glow and shine could divert his eyes from the beautiful gem in front of him.

Lady Rarity, the fairest unicorn in all of Equestria. And she sat at his table, dining with him.

She wore a blue and purple dress, designed and stitched by the hooves of its owner. It had many layers that covered her body but stopped a few inches from the floor, enough for her shoes to show and sparkle brilliantly. Her tiara made of gold with a diamond in its centre was a masterpiece of jewelry, the most beautiful piece in the room. But what caught his attention was the fact she was staring at him with a gaze as passionate as his own. He felt her eyes piercing him and a sudden thirst came over him. He reached his hoof to grab his glass and--

Wait a minute, hoof? Why did he have a hoof?

Panicking slightly, he looked at his reflection on a giant mirror that was placed on the wall to his left. His jaws dropped instantly at the image before him.

He noticed the purple, gleaming violet coat that covered his entire body. It looked as smooth as silk, and he confirmed it did justice to the description as he placed his hoof on his neck and caressed it. Flowing down his neck was a green mane, the same color as his eyes. Big round eyes, as big as anypony he knew. A horn, a purple horn came out of his forehead, majestically pointed upwards.

There was no doubt. He was a unicorn.

“Anything wrong, my love?” said a sweet voice from across the table.

Spike looked back at Rarity. She called him my love. She never called him that before. Sure, she always used ‘dear’ or ‘darling’, but those were friendly names she used for everypony, but never my love. He closed his eyes and felt a tear rolling down his cheek. The noise of hoofsteps reached his ears and he felt a silky cloth wiping away his tears. The violet unicorn that was Spike opened his eyes to find a worried expression on the face of his companion.

He was with his lov-crush. No. This was right. He was going to say it. There would never be a more perfect time.

“Rarity, I... I...,” he started.

“I do apologize for saying it now of all times, but I do believe you are confusing me with this ‘Rarity’ pony,” said a strange male voice.

Spike opened his eyes in a split second, only to find a dark blue face with shining grey eyes staring at him.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” Spike jumped from his bed, but got caught on his blanket. The tangle of scales and cloth fell on the floor with a loud thump. The baby dragon struggled to free himself from the the cerulean trap, only to roll on the floor and fall down the stairs, hitting each and every step, which caused wave after wave of pain to flow through his body.

“Oof!” he said when he hit the end of stairs. His head was spinning along with his eyes. Spike shook his head to get rid of the dizziness. A shadow projected itself over him and the baby dragon looked up. The stranger was standing in front of him, raising a brow. He had his improvised bandage made out of sheets from last night still wrapped around his back and belly, but he wore brown saddlebags as well.

“Are you hurt?” asked the stranger. His voice was deep and had a very strong presence.

He pointed a claw at the stallion, “You’re the big scary pony from yesterday!”

“Big and scary?” he asked raising an eyebrow. “I suppose I should have expected such adjectives to be used in my description.”

Spike stood up and scratched the back of his head, embarrassed by his slight slip. “Oh, sorry.”

“Do not fret over it dragonling. I am quite aware of the impact my appearance causes on others. It’s rather common, to be honest,” the unicorn said with a sigh.

“Yeah, well--”

“SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!” screamed a mare voice.

All of a sudden, the door burst open and the room was invaded by five young mares. A multitude of colored ponies came crashing through the doorway, all posing in very unique fighting stances. Twilight led the pack with her horn glowing with a menacing purple light, ready to cast her spell at any moment.

“Uhn... Hey guys. What are you doing?” asked Spike while he walked around the injured stallion and stood next to him.

Twilight looked at Spike on the other end of the room, standing by that giant, strong, scary-looking dark blue unicorn. Spike waved at her, while the stranger just looked at the scene, studying the curious sight that was unfolding before his eyes. It suddenly came over Twilight that they were, in fact, making a fool of themselves.The lavender unicorn halted her spell, and blushed slightly at their mistake.

“We, um...,” she was at a loss of what to say.

“We heard some ruckus, so we decided to come up here and check if ya’ll were fine and dandy,” quickly answered Applejack.

“Yes... we were so worried Spike,” said Fluttershy, her head popping out from behind Twilight, but quickly hiding again once she was done talking.

“Yes, I could see your concern for your friend from all the running, shouting and war faces,” said the stranger, a sly smile on his face.

“We were very worried,” replied Rarity.

“Guys, I’m fine, I just fell down the stairs,” Spike thought for a moment. “Okay, maybe that’s not ‘fine’, but it’s not hurting now.”

“I can assure you, ladies, it was only a...” he paused and looked at the dragon with the corner of his eye, giving him a smile, “scare.”

Spike chuckled at his little joke.

“Anyhow, I can see that you treated our scaly friend’s dislocated shoulder. And very well done at that,” he said while inspecting the mentioned joint.

“Well, yes, we-- Wait a minute, you knew about his shoulder?” asked Twilight.

“I did. That was precisely why I was so insistent on you treating his wounds,” said the dark indigo unicorn

“Excuse me, ‘insistent’? You slammed the first aid box in front of Twi here and looked as if you’d choke us to death if we didn’t treat Spike!” replied Rainbow Dash.

“My behaviour last night was... unsightly. For that, I am sorry,” he bowed in apology. “But treating my wounds was not necessary, I am quite robust,”

“Ya gotta be. Ah mean, ya took a tree straight in the back and didn’t flinch. Ah’m mighty impressed,” said Applejack, pushing her hat back and examining the unicorn head to hoof.

Suddenly, they heard a gasp and a yellow blur flashed by them. It came to a halt right above the strange stallion. Fluttershy was examining his bandage very intently. She hovered around him, placing a hoof to touch his wounds.

“May I help you, young mare?”

“Ahn? Oh... I’m sorry,” the pegasus took a few steps back. “But... how exactly are you standing?”

“I’m sorry, I did not understand your question.”

“Your wound... from yesterday,” she explained. “It was bleeding so much and it was so bad. You shouldn’t be even able to talk right now!”

“Like I said,” he turned to face her, casting a shadow on her face. Fluttershy gulped at his sudden approach. “I am far sturdier than I seem.”

There was an awkward silence in the room.

“Which reminds me...,” he said, while opening his saddlebags and removing paper packages from inside them. “These are for all of you, as a token of my appreciation and an apology gift for frightening you all yesterday.”

He placed the bags in front of the girls. Spike hurried to join them, curious at what their guest had brought. Twilight looked at them suspiciously, but the sweet scent coming from them made her open the bag. Inside of them were...

“CUPCAKES!” squeaked Rainbow Dash.

“APPLE FRITTERS!” hollered Applejack.

“SAPPHIRE CUPCAKES?!” screamed Spike.

“I was told those were the best in town. I’m guessing my information was correct?”

“Hell yeah it was! And these are those limited edition ones that Mr. and Mrs. Cake only sell once a month!” Rainbow paused a little to wipe the insane amount of saliva that was coming out of her mouth. “How did you get your hooves on these bad boys?” she asked, already placing one on her mouth and munching in delight.

“A pink mare, Miss Pinkamena, I believe that was her name, recommended this lovely bakery called ‘Sugarcube Corner’.”

“Of course she would, that’s the best place to get cupcakes around here. She works there, in fact,” said Spike swallowing a mouthful of sapphire cupcake.

“I see. I shall extend my gratitude to her later. She seemed to be in a hurry to go to that place, probably because of yesterday’s storm,” said the stallion, touching his chin.

“Oh, that explains why it’s been so quiet here for the past while,” kidded Rarity.

“Well, mister Die Hard, care to do a little explaining?” said Rainbow Dash.

He looked at the cerulean mare. “Certainly. I was caught up in the storm last night and had taken shelter nearby, when I saw light coming out of the door of your library. I decided to approach the dragonling to ask for help when the lightning bolt struck the tree. Realizing he was about to be pulverized by the trunk, I pushed him aside and held it in place. The rest, I believe you know.”

“Well, that’s all fine and all, but what I’m really wondering is: who in the hay are ya? No offense pops, but ya just sorta came out of nowhere,” said Rainbow Dash.

There was silence for a moment, except for the munching of food.

“I did not introduce myself?” he tilted his head.

“No, you didn’t,” answered Twilight.

He facehoofed himself. “Oh, by Celestia, how could I? That was a complete lack of manners, my apologies,” he placed his hoof back on the floor and looked at them, “My name is Argent Prose. I arrived in Ponyville yesterday, which was very untimely of me.”

“Sure was,” said Spike, chuckling at the mockery.

“Anyway, my duty is done here. If you will excuse me, I shall leave for my camp.”

“You’re living in a CAMP? My, how dreadful.” said Rarity, raising her hooves to cover her mouth in an expression of astonishment.

“It’s quite alright miss, I am used to it by now. I actually would rather sleep on the ground than on a fluffy bed,” he said, walking towards the door.

“Well then, I bid you all farewell. And, young Spike, was it?” he looked at the mentioned dragon.

“Yeah?” Spike said.

“Until next time,” and with that, Argent left.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Chapter 2 is finally here! Sorry for the delay everypony, this one’s been a real pain. College sure hasn’t helped. But rejoice! The fact I took so long to post a new chapter is because I wrote SO MUCH it wouldn’t all fit in one chapter. So I split it in 2. That’s right folks. 2 chapters for the price of 1! Chapter 3 will be coming up somewhere this week, just have to edit it and go through it with my Dream Team, Cheesesauce and TheWattsMan. Big shout out to them for all their help so far.

I hope I answered some questions about this OC. Took me a long time to piece him together (nearly 6 months, in fact), but he is done. Who is he? Well, why don’t you keep reading and find out =D

Finally, I want to thank everyone who commented, faved or sent me a message about this story. Also to everyone who started to follow me. Thank you all very much. Every single one of you give me more reason to write this story and the others to come (hint hint). And from now on, I’m going to do something I should’ve done from the beginning: I’ll send everyone who faves this story or follows me a PM. I’m sorry I didn’t started doing this before, I was too shocked with the sudden attention and too busy with college to think straight. For everyone who faved Violet Fire before, I'll post something nice on the comments, just for you all.

Oh, and it's my birthday. Squee!

Chapter 3: Decisions

“Why do I ALWAYS get the short end of the stick?” asked Spike in frustration. The baby dragon stomped down the street carrying a basket and a list, mumbling furiously to himself. Ponies all around looked curious at the strange violet figure puffing along the road, so small it nearly dragged the basket on the floor.

He let his mind drift back to how he got himself on this errand. After Argent left, they began the tedious and obnoxious task of cleaning the library. It was a good thing there were six of them, but Spike felt sore and really tired, which rendered him nearly useless as a helping hoof. Eventually they finished and the girls said their goodbyes, to Spike’s immense relief. He could finally go back to bed and if he was lucky, back to that unicorn-dream version of him. Unlikely, but it never hurts to hope a little. As he made his way up to his bed, he heard Twilight shouting for him.

“What?” he said in a grumpy voice. All the falling and moving around were starting to take its toll on him. He really needed a warm bed.

“Spike, I need you to go to the market square and buy me some supplies. Because of yesterday’s party and the treatment we gave you and Argent, we ran out of a few things,” said the purple unicorn. Her voice came from behind a scroll where a quill was magically scribbling a list.

“Oh, come on Twi! I’m tired, can’t you do this?”

“Sorry, but I promised AJ I would help her clean Sweet Apple Acres. They have lots of trees there, so the place must be a mess,” she said, placing the list on a basket. Twilight levitated a bag.

“Here’s a bag of bits. There should be more than enough for everything we need, so why don’t you buy yourself a treat?” she proposed, smiling kindly at her foster brother.

Spike grabbed the bag and looked at the basket. Shopping was so tedious, but perhaps he could buy some chocolate ice-cream with emerald sprinkles on top. And maybe it would cheer him up a bit and make him forget their unpleasant chat from the day before. His gut froze as the memory returned.

Twilight headed towards the door and opened it with her magic. However, she stopped a moment and gave Spike one final look.

“Don’t drag yourself down too much, okay? You know I’m there for you.”

“I know...,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Now get going, AJ’s probably waiting for you.”

“Got it. Love you, little guy,” she said, closing the door.

Spike sighed. “Love you too, Twi,” and that was the end of his remembrance.

“Give me a chocolate ice-cream. TWO balls, EXTRA emerald sprinkles,” ordered Spike when his turn in line finally came. If I’m shopping, I’ll damn well get a nice treat for all my trouble!

“Here ya go Spike,” said a brown colored pony as he handed over an ice cream cone that had small glitters of emerald sprinkles all over it. “Just don’t eat it too fast or ya gonna get a brain freeze like last time.”

“Urgh, don’t remind me,” said the violet dragon, grabbing his cone and giving it a lick. He smiled as the sweet flavor of chocolate mixed with the freshness of the emerald invaded his taste buds. This combo always makes me feel better. I don’t even remember why I was sad in the first place. He noticed some giggling coming from a table nearby. A couple, a stallion pegasus and a mare earth pony sat there, drinking a glass of milkshake. There were two straws, one for each pony, and they consumed their cold beverage as they looked into each other’s eyes passionately.

Spike looked at his cone and back at the couple. He felt a sudden sting in his chest, but decided to walk it off. It would do no good to dwell on such feelings. He gave his dessert a lick. For some reason, it didn’t taste so sweet anymore.

Spike checked the list once more. He had finished it faster than expected. Twilight was probably still helping Applejack, so that meant he had the rest of the day to himself. What should I do, then? During his spare time, he would visit Carousel Boutique, but now... no, that wasn’t an option. With no clear way of where he should go, the violet dragon kept wandering aimlessly.

Spike’s internal debate about his destination came to a sudden halt when his nose met with a wall of fur.

“Ouch,” Spike rubbed his nostrils to clear away the stinging pain. He looked up and saw a pair of vibrant grey eyes looking down at him. A dark blue face with scars all over smiled at him with all of its teeth.

“WAAAAHH!” Spike jumped back, throwing all of his things in the air.

“I must say, this is getting old rather fast,” answered Argent.

Spike took a few breaths to calm himself down. His heart was beating as if he had just finished the Running of the Leaves. Not fun. “Why do you have to keep scaring me?”

“I am sorry, but I do believe I am not at fault this time. You were the one who bumped into me, after all,” scolded the grey-eyed unicorn.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry about that,” said Spike. He looked down and saw his things scattered about. With a sigh, he began picking them up.

“Here, allow me,” said the scarred unicorn, using his magic to gather all of the items and placing them in an orderly manner inside of the basket.

“Thanks,” said Spike, grabbing the basket. Spike noticed the unicorn still wore the improvised bandages. I wonder why he hasn’t changed them yet. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hold that thought, young dragonling,” the unicorn turned around and trotted towards an old green earth pony with an apple pie for a cutie mark.

“Madam Smith, I believe I have found your lost money,” said the stallion, levitating a small red purse from his saddlebag.

“Why, thank ya young’un. Very kind of ya to go out of your way to help an old pony like mahself.”

“It was no trouble at all, madam. If you ever need more help, do not hesitate to summon me.”

“Ah will. Best be going mah way now. Drop by sometime and Ah’ll make you some apple jam,” said granny Smith as she walked away.

“Will do madam!” replied Argent, waving his hoof. Spike raised a brow at the scene.

“So, your question?” asked the grey eyed unicorn.

“Oh, right. What are you doing here? I thought you had gone back to your camp.”

“Oh, I did. But I noticed I was short of supplies and came back to town to replenish my stock. I found quite some quality goods, even if the salesponies were rather...,” he trailed off, trying to find the proper word.

“Terrified?”

“Not my favorite choice of words, but I suppose it describes them very accurately.”

“Hehehe,” chuckled the violet dragon. Spike raised his hand to give his ice cream a lick, but realized it was nowhere to be seen. He started to look around.

“Per chance you might be looking for this?” asked Argent pointing at an ice cream cone with its contents spilled on the ground.

Spike stomped the floor. “Ah, fooye!” he complained. Now his ‘try-not-to-think-of-how-you-will-never-be-able-to-be-with-Rarity’ ice cream was gone. And no money left either.

“What a shame, it did look rather tasty,” commented the stallion. “I have a proposition to you, young Spike. I will purchase a new dessert for you and, in return, you could keep me company and tell me more about Ponyville. What do you say?”

Spike widened his eyes and grinned with joy.

“Mister, you got yourself a deal!” said the violet dragon offering his hand.

“Yes. It’s a deal,” said Argent, accepting the baby dragon’s hand in a shake.

“And there’s also the Everfree Forest. You should stay clear of that place, seriously,” Spike said, pointing a spoon to Argent, who sat on the other side of the table, listening patiently. “There’s all sorts of stuff there. Manticores, Cockatrices, Timber Wolves. It’s too dangerous,” Spike stopped a moment to think. “I guess that’s it for the big places around here,” he said before taking a spoonful of ice cream and shoving it inside his mouth.

“I understand. I shall try to avoid that area, if at all possible,” said the unicorn with a nod. "But what about that building we passed earlier? The purple and indigo one. I believe I saw miss Rarity in there."

Spike choked on his ice cream. “I-I don’t know...,” he said nervously. “Anyway aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“I had quite the breakfast before. Miss Pinkamena insisted I tried a few treats at Sugarcube Corner this morning. She was very... persuasive,” he said, shivering at the memory.

“Yeah, she normally is. And speak of the devil...,” commented Spike, standing on his stool and waving his hand. “HEEEEEY, PINKIEEEEE!”

The pink mare was hopping down the street when she stopped mid-air at Spike’s calling. Still afloat, she turned her head to look at the baby dragon waving at her. With a huge smile on her face she switched directions, faced towards their table and resumed her hopping.

"Hey there Spike! You having a chat with Argie here?" she said with a cheerful voice.

"Well, I was-- Wait a sec... Argie?!" he asked giving Argent a shocked look. The unicorn let out a sigh.

"I tried, but no matter what my arguments were, she would not give up on the moniker. Eventually I was convinced it would be easier to just accept my cruel fate," he said shrugging.

Spike kept alternating between looking at Pinkie and Argent, completely dumbfounded at the situation. When all of a sudden...

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA! THAT'S HILARIOUS!" yelled the violet dragon, bursting into laughter. "YOU... ARGIE... I JUST... BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" joined Pinkie. Prose rolled his eyes and stood there, waiting for their outburst to fade. After a few minutes, Spike and the earth pony were finally able to speak full sentences without giggling.

"Oh boy, that was great! I love a good laugh!" said Pinkie, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. "But why were we laughing?"

The other two looked at her in disbelief. Spike looked at the dark blue unicorn and shrugged. "It's just Pinkie, you'll get used to it."

"I see...," he replied, placing a hoof on his chin. He looked at the rose pony. "But I could not help but notice Miss Pinkamena, why are you here and not at the bakery? Were you not supposed to be working at this hour?"

"Oh, today is Mail Day. My family at the rock farm sends me a letter every other week to catch up on stuff. And I send them cupcakes, muffins and all sorts of goodies!" she said, shaking her hips to emphasize her saddlebags, from where a sweet aroma of freshly baked goods could be smelled.

"Man, those sure smell good," said Spike with a watering mouth. "Hey Pinkie, can I...?"

"Sorry Spike, but these are for my parents. So no-no for you mister!"

"Ah, fooye," he said crossing his arms.

Argent chuckled a little. "I do believe you have had your share of sweets today, young Spike. Perhaps it's about time to stop."

"And it's about time for me to get going! My letter's probably already there!" said the pink mare, turning around and materializing a helmet and a bouncy ball out of thin air. She put on the head protection and jumped on the rubber sphere, causing it to bounce up and down and moving forward. She waved a hoof at the other two. "See ya later, alligator!"

"Later Pinks!" replied Spike

She giggled. "Not you silly! I was talking to Gummy!"

"Gummy?" asked Spike. Suddenly, a scaly head with expressionless purple eyes and a party hat popped out from his ice cream bowl. It jumped out of the bowl onto the ground and walked away.

The unicorn and baby dragon looked at the alligator until he was lost in the distance.

"Well, that certainly was... peculiar. Never a dull moment around Miss Pinkamena, correct?"

"You bet," agreed Spike. He looked at his ice cream bowl and pushed it away with a disgusted face. That was enough ice cream for a while.

"Anyway Spike, you have told me a lot about Ponyville, but there's something that caught my attention," he said turning to face Spike again.

"And what's that?" he said as he raised his spoon, contemplating his reflection as he searched for any emerald sprinkles still left on his teeth.

"I thought it was odd that you avoided looking at the excessive passionate couple right behind me throughout our entire conversation," said Argent, pointing a hoof in the general direction where the same couple Spike saw earlier were still snuggling and kissing.

Spike dropped the spoon and gasped. "I-It's just your i-i-imagination," he said trying to fake a smile.

"Right, my imagination. Then explain to me why you have told of every single place in town, but when I mentioned the large, purple and indigo structure you dodged my question?"

“Li-like I said, you’re just imagining things!” Spike felt the same stinging pain from before. The same pain he felt whenever anything about Rarity or romance was mentioned as of late. Was it going to be like this from now on? Spike shuddered at the thought.

“Oh, look who’s here: Miss Rarity in the flesh. Hello!” said Argent with a smile on his face as he waved his hoof to somepony behind Spike. The violet dragon froze in place. Rarity, there, now? Of all possible times, this was the worst. He could make a run for it... And that would help you HOW? He had to be brave, and brave he would be. Spike slowly turned around, his best poker smile on his face.

There was nopony behind him.

Spike kept looking for a moment until sudden enlightenment hit him. He turned around to see a sly grin on the big scary face of Argent Prose. He had played a trick on him. A good one, too.

“So, now I know there IS something amiss between you and miss Rarity and that the issue in question is a very delicate subject to approach.”

He’s good, thought Spike.

“Shall I deduce everything clue by clue or will you give me the honor of being your confidant, young Spike?” said Argent, leaning a bit over the table and staring deep into Spike’s eyes. He turned away. He had been found out. But if the cat was already out of the bag, why not just be done with it?

“Alright, I’ll tell you. But you gotta keep it a secret!” said the baby dragon, slamming his palms on the table to emphasize his seriousness.

Argent only nodded in agreement.

“Okay...,” Spike took a few breaths. “Ever since I came to Ponyville - an year ago, I think - I’ve lov--” he stopped a second to correct himself. “liked, Rarity. She’s beautiful, kind, lovely. I couldn’t stop thinking about her,” his said, feeling his heart flutter at the mere mention of his diva.

“I see. Young love is truly a wonderful thing. You must cherish her very dearly to be so infatuated by her for so long,” he commented. “However, I sense a hint of trouble in your speech. There is more to it than just simple heart sickness, right?”

“Right,” and here it was. The ugly part of the story. He didn’t want to say it, but he had to come to terms with his reality. The sooner he accepted it, the better. “Yesterday, Twilight... you met her. Purple unicorn, very smart, likes books.”

“Yes, I do remember her, specially the part of her horn pointing dangerously in my general direction, but carry on.”

“Well, she came to me yesterday to have a talk. About me and my feelings for Rarity. It wasn’t a surprise, really, she does it all the time. But this time, it was worse. She had information that proved that a dragon and a pony, could never be together. It just wouldn’t work, she said,” Spike looked away, facing the ground. Funny how a pile of dirt seemed so interesting to him when he was on the verge of losing his calm and cry his eyes out.

“Well, it only seems logical. But whatever the complications, you should not give up on your feelings. If you are certain you can make miss Rarity happy, than go after what your heart desires.”

“Yeah, but how can I? After what Twi said... I’m not sure I could make it work.”

The dark cerulean pony raised his head and looked into Spike’s eyes again, his own vibrant, shining grey eyes piercing the dragon’s gaze.

“Young Spike, shall we play a little game?” asked the unicorn.

“A game? Now?”

“Yes, it is a favorite of mine, perfect for such occasions. It allows one to let one’s mind to simply drift off into thoughts and wonders,” he said, a smile creeping on his face. “It’s called ‘Pretend’.”

“Let’s pretend, for a moment you are not yourself, but somepony else,” he continued, waving his hoof to emphasize Spike. “By that I mean you are physically not Spike, but rather a, shall we say, pony?” his smile grew a bit wider, or so Spike thought. “You have your personality and wits, but you are a unicorn.”

“Well, that would be pretty weird,” said Spike scratching his chin in thought. Argent sure was a tough unicorn to follow, as tough as Twilight during one of her rampants.

“Yes, it definitely would,” agreed the unicorn with a nod. “But I have not reached my point yet. If you were a unicorn, but still had your personality, would you have a chance of winning over miss Rarity’s affection?” his smile was definitely growing wider, Spike was sure of it now.

The violet dragon’s face grew warm as he blushed at the thought. He wasn’t one to just go about turning beet red at silly jokes like those, but being asked so upfront a question like that was unusual.

“I’m waiting young Spike, what is your answer?” asked the scarred unicorn with a mocking tone. Spike felt a pinch of anger towards him. He was having a blast, wasn’t he? If he’s having fun, then I’ll give him fun!

Spike jumped on his chair and puffed his chest out. "Yeah, of course I could. I'm sure of it!"

"Oooh, confident, aren't we?" said Prose, chuckling. "All say similar words when I play this little game, but very few could live up up to them."

The baby dragon slammed his palms on the table. "But I mean it! I would definitely make a great coltfriend for her. I'd take her out every chance I got to do fun things and I'd meet her with a flower in hoof. But most importantly..." he stopped to gasp for air. "I'd never make her cry and if she ever did... I'd do everything to make her happy again, no matter what."

Argent looked at the violet dragon intensely. Spike felt the same judging looking as the time the unicorn first opened his eyes.

The baby dragon sat down. "Yeah, but I mean, come on, there's no way I can become a unicorn," he said leaning on his elbow over the table. He just stayed that way, watching the sides of the road where a few couples could be seen walking up and down. He let out a sigh. Pretending was fun while it lasted.

"Says who?" said the dark cerulean unicorn.

Spike's eyes widened as he quickly turned to stare at the stallion. Argent placed his elbows on the table and joined his hooves, staring seriously at Spike. A heavy silence fell over the table as the two stared at each other.

"Come on Argent! Don't try to pull a fast one," he retorted with a wave his hand. "Pinkie's done all sorts of pranks on me, you're not gonna get me so easily."

"You doubt me?" said the unicorn raising a brow.

"Of course. I mean, come on, making me a unicorn? That sounds like something out of an old ponies tale."

"Young Spike, from the time we met until this very moment, I have never been so serious. Just look into my eyes and you will know it to be true."

The violet dragon looked at him. His silvery eyes sparkled as always, but there was something else. There was something behind those shining pupils that simply irradiated... honesty. For all of his mocking remarks, Spike couldn't believe what he was saying now was a lie. Why, he did not know, but he just felt Argent Prose was a pony he could trust, somepony willing to help him anyway he could.

The unicorn leaned back, taking a deep breath. He turned his head and raised his hoof, calling for a waiter, who walked towards their table, pen and paper in hoof.

"A cappuccino, if you would be so kind." The waiter wrote his order and trotted away. "Now that you are convinced that I speak nothing but the honest truth, shall we proceed to more serious issues?" he waited a moment looking at Spike. Snapping back to reality, the baby dragon nodded in agreement.

"As I said before, it is possible for you to become a unicorn. There is one particular spell, unfamiliar to most of the magical community, capable of such a feat."

"But... if it's so easy, why didn't Twilight research it before?" wondered Spike.

"Perhaps she did not consider the possibility. A transformation spell of this magnitude does seem far fetched after all," the waiter returned carrying a platter with a cup of steaming coffee. He placed the order on the table and left. "And even if she did, I highly doubt she would be able to cast it, not with her skills as it is. Magic as her talent or not, she is much too young to be able to perform it properly." answered the scarred unicorn, levitating the hot beverage towards his mouth and drinking a sip. “Ahhh,” he sighed, smacking his lips and savoring the dark brown liquid. “This is heavenly.”

Spike was a storm of emotions. Relief at the unicorns words, fear of the sudden change, but most importantly, confusion. How could such a gem just drop on his lap? it was a miracle knocking on his doorstep. It was too convenient. Prudence told him to tread carefully, but... the offer was a way out of his binds, it was everything he could ever wish for. I can be with Rarity? The possibility sent his heart aflutter. There was no way he could simply say no, but he needed more information.

"So... so it's possible? I can become a unicorn?"

"Yes, young Spike. And with that you could woo miss Rarity and, if you play your part well, perhaps a more intimate relationship."

Spike sunk his claws on the underside of his chair, chipping away the wood. The idea had him so excited, he could just jump around cheering and screaming.

"But there is one worrisome bother," he took another sip and placed the cup on the table.

"What is it? The spell's complicated? Or is it dangerous? Please don’t tell me I’ll turn into a newt if it goes wrong!"

"Oh, no, no. The spell itself is not so complex. Well, for me that is."

"How come?"

"I thought it was already clear?" questioned the unicorn, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, I'm a little slow with this magic stuff."

"Oh, my apologies, I did not realize. This spell I speak of is an old enchantment long forgotten. However, being the excellent traveller I am, I came across it some time ago. It is very exhausting, but apart from that, no need for concern," Argent narrowed his eyes and pierced Spike with a serious gaze. "However, it will cost you, young Spike. It will cost you something you hold very dear and it will impact those around you quite heavily."

Spike felt his brow cold from his sweat. He gulped, but there was no saliva to wet his throat. "What do you mean?" asked the violet dragon.

"I would be turning you into a unicorn from who you are. You would have the body of one while sustaining all of your memories and emotions. Essentially, you would be, for a lack of a proper word, 'ponified'."

"However, it means that, even if you are still yourself in essence, 'Spike the baby dragon' will be gone from Equestria. Although you are not dead, you might as well be."

"But I'd still be me, right? I could just tell everypony and--"

"You must not," interrupted Argent, raising his hoof in objection. "If you do that, everything will be for naught."

"But... why?"

"The essence of this plan is starting a clean slate. You would be a strange pony, new in town. Your chances with her would be fresh and you could work your way into her life as a dashing unicorn. If you unmask yourself, your status will be reset to how you are now: a friendly baby dragon."

Spike leaned on his chair and sank his chin into his chest. That was big, really big. He finally had a chance to be with the lov-crush of his life, but it would cost him... everything. His house, his job, his friends...

His friends. His family. Twilight was all he had, his one true relative. She would be devastated. He could talk it over with her and get her to understand. He shook the thought away. If he tried it, she would start a scene and it would become that much harder to do it. He was already having trouble coming to an answer, that would only add more guilt and sadness to all of this. What if he just went with the plan and came clean with her later? That would never work. Twilight Sparkle is a unicorn of great power and somepony you could trust, but last time she tried to keep a secret, things didn't go as planned.

Spike snapped back at the sound of Argent's hoarse voice.

"I understand this is a lot to digest in very little time. Because of that, I will not demand an answer right away. It is best that you think things over and come to me when you have reached a decision," he levitated the sweet that accompanied the cappuccino and ate it. "After, and only after, you have pondered and weighed all of the elements involved in this complex equation."

Spike mimicked Argent as he rose from his seat. The dark blue unicorn removed a few coins from his saddlebag and placed it on the table. They both started walking and as they passed the waiter who had brought the cappuccino earlier, Argent handed him a few more coins.

"It was delicious, thank you very much."

"Thank you, sir. Please, do come again."

"I shall," The unicorn and baby dragon started walking down the street. They were silent all the way, no one daring to mention their conversation, until they reached an intersection.

"This is where we part ways. My camp is set on the hills out of town," he pointed a hoof to the hills on the right end of town.

"Oh, I gotta go this way. Have to take these back to the library," he said lifting the basket.

"Yes, you must. I apologize for delaying you for so long," the stallion bowed and turned around to walk away, but stopped all of a sudden. He turned his head and looked at Spike over his shoulder with a concerned look on his face.

"Young Spike, be wise. Many have found themselves in a position akin to yours and I can assure you: rash decisions led them to terrible outcomes."

The sun shone a warm red light throughout the land as the almighty ruler of Equestria ended its shift to give way to her sister's bright moon. Shining spots of bright light already dotted the sky, glowing high above Ponyville. The scenario provided a beautiful sunset that lighted Spike's path as he walked back home. The violet dragon carried his basket and remained in deep thought, being his steps the only noise reaching his ears. The words of the strange pony named Argent kept repeating on his head.

He could become a unicorn. A chance of lifetime just, literally, knocked on his door. If he agreed to undergo the spell, he would be able to start anew regarding Rarity. As much as he hated to admit it, she did not see him as a possible coltfriend. A cute, helpful baby dragon, but never a love interest. He could win her heart, he could achieve his dream of being with her.

But he would lose his friends.

"It's not like I'm REALLY losing them," he said to himself. "But I won't be Spike anymore. Guess that's pretty much the same."

There was no easy way out. If he chose the transformation, he had a chance with Rarity, but would lose his friends. However, choosing his friends would deny him his happiness in love.

Let's face it, I'm doomed to like ponies. he let out a sigh. I was raised by ponies, I live in a town of ponies, my whole life I've been surrounded by ponies and my first lov-crush is a unicorn! I'll NEVER find a marefriend-dragon or whatever you call a female dragon you date!

Engrossed in his internal monologue, the violet dragon walked down the dirt path, completely lost in thought. As minutes went by, he found himself on a stalemate. There was no way he could decide. Unless something changed his thoughts, he would never be able to come to a conclusion.

“This is simply DIVINE my dear! I’m a completely new mare!” said a mare voice filled with joy. A voice that Spike knew all too well. He looked up and found himself under the window of a white building with a purple ceiling. The sign of a bright yellow mare with silky mane was hanging on the front. There were a horseshoe and five green flowers adorning the image. He was in front of Ponyville’s famous and only spa. What was he doing there? Was he so focused in his debate he had wandered around town? Most likely. And that voice belonged to...

Rarity! Reflexively, Spike hid himself under the window. What are you DOING?! You should be going away! But even with his self-scolding, he remained still.

“Thank you for bringing me here Rarity. You weren’t kidding when you said this was relaxing,” said a second mare voice. Spike instantly recognized it as the one belonging to his foster sister. Wasn’t she supposed to be helping Applejack?

“Not at all darling, it’s always a pleasure. Besides, did you SEE how your mane looked after tending the fields with Applejack? Why, it was so horrid I just HAD to lend you a hoof.”

“Well, it wasn’t so bad, but this is really good. This bath is doing me some wonders. Especially after the stress from last night,” splashing sound came from inside the building.

“Oh right, which brings to mind a topic I wanted to chat with you: What do you think of that strange unicorn?”

“Argent? I don’t know... he’s sort of weird. I mean, he saved Spike and all, but he’s just so...”

“Nefarious?”

“Kind of, yes,” replied Twilight. Spike had to give an agreeing nod. He was a nice pony, but his looks sure didn’t help him win many friends.

“Well, but you have to admit: he has his charms.”

“What do you mean?” Yeah, what do you mean? thought Spike.

“Come on now, dear, I’m sure a smart pony like yourself MUST have noticed his muscles. Very well-toned I must say.”

“We-well, I guess he is... well built...”

“And I saw you glancing at them from time to time.”

“WHAT?!” yelled Twilight. Spike heard a lot of splashing from the room. “I-I did not!”

“Oh, don’t deny it dear, it proves you have good taste, that’s all.” said Rarity with a teasing tone. Spike took a look at himself. He felt a pinch of jealousy of the grey eyed unicorn.

“Oh yeah? Well, if you think he’s soooo gorgeous, why don’t you go for him?” challenged Twilight. Spike’s eyes went wide. That conversation was taking a very dangerous course.

“No need to tease me to hide your embarrassment, darling. But if you must know, he’s just not my type,” Spike heard the clapping of hooves and the clattering of cups and plates. “Thank you Aloe, the tea smells wonderful. We are going to be here awhile more, is that a problem?”

“Not at all madam, take as long as you like,” replied a strange voice as its owner walked away.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘he’s not your type’? You just said he is good-looking.” wondered Twilight.

“Well, he is, but he's just not my cup of tea. No pun intended,” said the white unicorn, giggling.

“Then what is your kind of stallion?”

“Let me think...,” Spike heard more clattering of china as Rarity raised her cup. Or at least he thought she did. If I was taller I could see what they are doing. Maybe see more than that..., Spike blushed at the thought.

“My perfect stallion, what a topic. Well, I suppose he would need to be kind, gentle, funny, caring. Good with house chores, that’s very important. A good cook wouldn’t hurt either. Trustworthy and romantic. Somepony ready to be there for at the drop of a hat.”

“That’s so weird...” said Twilight.

“What is it dear?”

“It’s just... this ‘perfect stallion’ you described. He sounds a lot like... Um, nevermind"

"Come on, tell me!"

"Um, he reminds me of somepony, but forget about it."

Spike raised his head and perked his ears.

"Oh dear, don't do this to me! If you know somepony who is my perfect stallion, you HAVE to tell me!"

"It's nopony really..."

A lot of splashing came from the room as Rarity (or so Spike believed) seemed to move closer to Twilight.

"Aren't we friends dear? Please, please, please, PLEASE, tell me."

"Um, okay. this stallion of yours sounds an awful lot like... Spike,” the violet dragon’s ears sprung up at the sudden mention of his name. Atta girl, Twilight! He celebrated internally. However, his joy was crushed at the sound of laughter. A high-pitched, joyful, happy laughter.

Rarity had started to laugh.

“Surely you're JOKING dear,” said Rarity in between giggles.

“I’m serious. Look: who else do you know that is kind, gentle, funny and caring? He takes care of most of the housework and you know how good he is in the kitchen."

"Well, his cooking yesterday was unexpectedly delicious, coming from somepony so young," Spike smiled smugly at the compliment.

"And one other thing: who else goes running to your side when you call for help? You say his name, he appears by your side in a split second. And do I have to mention the Diamond Dogs?” asked Twilight as she concluded her explanation. New hope burned inside of Spike as his foster sister defended him. She really WAS on his side after all.

“Well, I... I can see your point dear,” stuttered Rarity. Was she embarrassed? Hard to tell. “But really, Spike? Don’t take this personally, he is a wonderful dragon, probably the best I’ll ever know. But to me, he’s just, well... my Spikey-Wikey.”

Spike felt his heart stop for a moment. Just... Spikey-Wikey? That’s all he was?

“And just because of that there could never be anything between you two?” questioned Twilight.

“I’m afraid so dear. After all, he is a dragon and I’m a unicorn. I’m not sure it could ever work!”

Spike dropped his basket and fell on his knees and hands. He couldn’t believe it. The exact same thing Twilight had said came from Rarity’s mouth just now. She thought they could never be together. He always had the feeling she didn’t look at him the same way he looked at her, but to hear it from her very lips was devastating. He could already feel the lump on his throat building his tears, so he closed his eyes in an attempt to hold them back. He wanted to shout, to cry, but if he did they would find him and that would only make things more awkward.

“But you are right in a sense, Twilight: I do wish for somepony like Spike,” she said. Spike opened his eyes with a gasp. She continued to talk, “If only I met a dashing stallion that had his traits, oh, how wonderful would it be.”

“Well, maybe you’ll find him someday. Equestria is a big place after all.”

“I suppose. Well, and what about Shining Armour and Princess Cadence, any news from them?”

“Oh, they are doing well, sent me a scroll about a week ago. They are enjoying their honeymoon and traveling about. Last week--”

Spike ignored Twilight’s words as he picked himself from the ground and the basket as well. That was enough for him. Straightening his back, the violet dragon resumed his walk back home.

The tears were gone. Simply disappeared. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew why. It was actually very simple. All of this time, his infatuation for the mare had troubled his heart and mind. For nearly twelve months he had spent days wondering how to approach her, start something more. It consumed him, day and night, his mind filled with thoughts of her. But he was always in a stalemate, never moving his relationship forward, always in confusion. However, his mind was now clear, his decision made. And there was no time to waste.

He arrived at the library very quickly. Night had already fallen by then and the sky was filled with glittering stars. Spike dropped the basket in front of the door, grabbed a quill and a bottle of ink from inside of it and started to write on the back of the shopping list. After he was done, he put everything in their right place. Turned around and walked.

His figure disappeared into the night as he made his way to the hills out of town.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

As always, big thank you to Cheesesauce and TheWattsMan. You guys rock.

And to you, my dear readers, for sticking to the story until now. Things will get hairy from here on out and expect the end to be... oh, spoilers!

I would like to extend a note to everyone who's been sending me e-mails and commenting on the story. You guys are the whole reason I keep on writing this story. Or anything for that matter. Your words of encouragement, complements and the occasional joke saying you want MOAR are my fuel, my motivation, my desire to keep going. To some it might not mean much, but every little word counts, even a small "I liked it" works wonders on me. That is why any author writes: to bring joy and strong emotions to the readers.

On a side note, keep an eye out for another story I'm working on. It'll be an oneshot, not based on the universe of Violet Fire. Completely cut off from it. I got the idea a while ago and it's stuck on my head. It'll be a sad, comedy, adventure(?) story. Not gonna say much about it, just that it is based on a song from one of my favorite bands. Not trying to be a hipster here, but if you're not brazilian and/or into rock, you probably never heard of it. *puts on hipster glasses*

And it's advertisement time baby! Big thank you to the people at SALT. Cheesesauce is from there and Ravendagger too. The place works wonders with proofreading and editing. Got a story, but unsure if it's good or not? Give SALT a shot! They do it amazingly fast and are excellent at their job. One warning though: they don't pull any punches. Be prepared to get your story torn to pieces by all sorts of comment. But don't worry: it's not like they are being mean for fun, they are just VERY severe. It's 'tough love', what can you do?

Anyway, until next time! Ta-ta!

Chapter 4: The abandoned and the spell

The crescent moon hung high in the sky as Twilight Sparkle walked her path home. Multiple brilliant stars dotted the heavens, with only the occasional cloud passing by, carried by the wind. A gentle breeze blew in the night, giving the evening a cool temperature. It was a perfect evening and the studious unicorn moved without rushing, enjoying the moment of peace and tranquility. Her saddlebags slipped a little, threatening to fall off her back. The unicorn readjusted the belt and tightened the bags in place.

The afternoon with Rarity at the spa was one she really needed. After helping Applejack tend the fields, her body was spent and her mind exhausted. Not being a pony of great physical strength, Twilight had helped her friend the only way she could: magic. Which is part of the reason why she was so tired. However, the main cause of her mental weariness wasn’t the overuse of magical abilities, but rather...

Spike... , thought the mare to herself. The young baby dragon she dubbed ‘foster brother’ had been constantly on her mind as of late. With good reason; after all, in the past twenty-four hours he had worked himself to the bone, nearly been crushed by a giant tree, dislocated his shoulder, repositioned the mentioned joint, fell down the stairs and had all of his hopes in love smashed to pieces.

“By me, to top it all...,” whispered the lavender unicorn. She felt a twist in her gut. It did not please her to approach the subject, but she could not help herself. She wasn’t as thick as Spike thought her to be. She noticed the signs. They were all over the place: the hunched back, the downed look, the dragged feet. Her foster brother was depressed and it was her fault.

But he needed to be warned. I was doing this for his sake. It’s for the best... right? wondered Twilight. Unfortunately, no matter what argument she used, nothing could shake away the feeling that she had been the one to deal the fatal blow to the baby dragon’s heart. The one to crumble all of his hopes was her and nopony else.

“Positive thinking, Twilight. He’s a big boy, he’ll get over it... I think,” she tried to convince herself, to no avail.

This is getting me nowhere. It’s unproductive thinking, she thought. The mare undid the star-shaped clasp of her left saddlebag and levitated a heavy file in front of her. The document was filled with pages and pages of scrolls and pictures, some of them retrieved from extremely old sources. On the cover, ‘Spike’ was spelled in a neat hoofwriting. She opened the document and began to read it for the umpteenth time.

There’s got to be something here, something I missed, she thought. She knew the contents of that document inside and out. If asked, she could rewrite the whole thing, pictures included. So why was she trying so hard to find an answer from a source she had already spent countless hours studying?

As if answering her question, the face of a white unicorn with a dazzling purple mane emerged on her mind.

The number of times she and Rarity had ever talked about stallions, colts and love affairs was so little it only amounted to a single digit, and a low number at that. So, why did her friend bring up the subject all of a sudden? The unusual timing of the conversation was definitely odd, but it wasn’t what really bugged Twilight. What was it?

Kind, gentle, funny, caring. Good with house chores, that’s very important. A good cook wouldn’t hurt either. Trustworthy and romantic. Somepony ready to be there for me at the drop of a hat, her friend’s description resonated in her head. That was Spike alright, but Rarity didn’t seem to notice it. The resemblance was so great, Twilight couldn’t help but mention it, which caused the conversation to lead to that situation. The laughter.

It was her usual laughter, but something was off. The sound was perfectly normal, but her smile wasn’t the same. It had too many teeth showing. Rarity is a unicorn of poise and grace and as such, her smile is very graceful and ladylike. But that one had poker face written all over it.

I’m overthinking this... we were in that bath for so long, the steam must’ve gotten to my head. But what about the stutter? Twilight was never one to hold back on an argument, so at the time she pointed all of Spike’s qualities, the same ones Rarity had used to depict her dream stallion. And as a reaction to her words, her friend began to stutter and blush.

If I didn’t know Rarity, I could have sworn she was... embarassed. Could that be it? What really bothered her was the fact Rarity had blushed when talking about Spike? It had to be, it was the only thing that made sense. This shed new light on the whole ‘Spike and Rarity’ issue. She needed more data, she needed her books. The unicorn mare increased her pace until she reached a light trotting speed. Already she could see the massive tree that was her home and the town’s library.

That’s funny, the lights are off. Did Spike go to sleep already?

Twilight quickly reached the front of her house and was walking towards the door when she noticed yet another peculiar thing: a basket on her ‘welcome’ mat. Curious, she approached the object.

“How weird... this is the basket I gave Spike to use on his shopping duty. What is it doing here?” she wondered as she examined its contents. It was filled with the items she had asked the baby dragon to buy that day, not a single one missing. She noticed a small piece of parchment poking out of one of the bags. She levitated the parchment and instantly recognized Spike’s quick and clean handwriting, a result of years of taking her messages.

Twilight,
I’m not really sure how to do this. Guess I’ll just say what I gotta say and be done with it.
I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday. You’re right. There’s no way I could ever be with her. It really hurts to admit it, but you were right all along. But worst of all, you made me see something I never noticed before: the way I am now I’ll never be happy in my love life. Just think about it: I was raised by you, a unicorn. I’m always surrounded by ponies. It’s only natural I’d have a crush on one. And it’s only going to get worse down the road. The way things are going, even if I forget about her, I’ll probably fall for some other mare, and where will that get me? Back to square one.
You’ve always been there for me. You’ve done all sorts of things to help me find my happiness. That’s why I’m doing this.
I’ve found a way outta this mess and I’m gonna take it. I can’t tell you what I’m gonna do, where I’m going or who is helping me, but I won’t be coming back. And don’t even try to follow me. By the time you read this, I’ll probably be done with it and I’ll never come back to Ponyville again.
But I can tell you this: I’m not truly gone for good and I’ll be closer than you think. I’m sorry for doing this without telling you, but you would’ve tried to stop me. Remember: I love you, big sis.
Goodbye,
Spike.

Halfway through the letter, Twilight had already fallen on her haunches. The rest of the message only served to remove the color from her face.

She reread the letter one more time. Quite a funny prank, Spike!

And a second time. It’s not so funny now.

A third time, to be certain. He... he can’t be serious... no way!

A fourth time. I... he... what?!

As many times as she read, she could not bring herself to acknowledge the truth of the situation. After the tenth reading, however, the cruel, cold reality fell on her, crushing her heart with a weight unrivaled by any other.

“Spike is... gone?”

For the first time in her entire life, Twilight Sparkle was at a complete loss of what to do. When she tried to think of her next move, her mind drew a blank. There was no plan to follow, no list to check, no instruction to execute. She had absolutely no idea of what to do. The unicorn fell to the ground and wrapped her forehooves around her shoulders, curling into a tiny, lavender ball. Her body shivered on her doorstep and her eyes were open wide in shock. Her lips trembled as she mumbled to herself

“Keep calm... keep calm...”

Go on, let it out, said a sweet voice in the back of her mind.

“I can’t... it’s not like me...” she whispered to herself.

It’s alright to do it once in awhile, you know? continued the voice.

“But it’s late... I would be bothering... everypony...” she felt her voice scratching her throat, as if simply talking would cause her to meltdown.

They’ll understand... just this once, let it out, hummed the seductive voice. Twilight Sparkle shook violently and widened her eyes to their limit, her violet eyes dilated as much as ponyly possible.

“Spi...Spike... SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!!” she bawled, her cry travelling across the peaceful town, as the tears fell and sadness consumed her. Lights from the houses began lighting up and ponies ran out the door to find the source of the sudden disturbance. The lavender unicorn continued crying out loud trying to wipe the tears away, only to have new ones pouring from her eyes. Twilight hugged the note against her chest like the most precious gem in the universe. That was his last message, their last connection. She started to whisper his name to herself. Maybe if she tried hard enough, if she wished for it with every single fiber in her body, he would come back. He would appear in front of her and crack a joke about how much of a mess she is. She could already hear it.

But no matter what she did, she knew it would never work. Spike would not return.

She felt a pair of hooves grabbing her and turning her body on the floor. Twilight’s blurry gaze met with the face of an orange pony, her green eyes filled with concern. Her lips moved up and down, but Twilight couldn’t understand a word she was saying. The whole world around her was completely quiet. Nothing mattered anymore. Her heart was filled with sorrow and her mind could only think of her foster brother. His voice, his face, his scales, his laugh. Everything else that was not related to Spike wasn’t important. And every bit of memory increased the flow of her tears, a single thought overpowering her senses.

Spike was gone. And there was nothing she could do about it. She could only cry.

Cry until she could not produce a single tear. Cry until her hide was soaked. Cry until her mind gave away and slipped into naught. But most importantly, cry, because that was the only thing she could think of doing.

“Just... a little... more...,” said Spike under his heavy breathing. Why did this guy have to choose somewhere so out of town to set up camp?

The young dragon climbed the tall hill where a orange illumination could be seen shining on the top. Because of his short legs, and the fact that he was quite sedentary, the exercise proved itself to be an arduous task. Fortunately he was carrying no extra weight, but walking up the hill was still a workout.

After a few more minutes of heavy breathing, burning muscles and the occasional swearing, Spike finally reached the summit of the hill and, consequently, his final destination: Argent Prose’s camp.

The camp was a humble site: a tent, a campfire and some peculiar hoofcrafted tools set on a cloth that laid on the ground. The barrack was a dark, lime green, neatly arranged on the hill with a campfire burning a few hooflengths in front of it. Placed above the flames, a small cauldron boiled in the heat, a sweet fragrance flowing out of it and dominating the air of the night.Spike looked at the tools. There were a variation of wooden cups, bowls, spoons, forks and a few bottles that contained what appeared to be some spices. However, some of the instruments were completely alien to the baby dragon. These strange tools varied in size, shape and material and were, in all, simply odd.

This has gotta be the place. So... where is he?

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t young Spike,” said a husky voice from behind the baby dragon. He turned around quickly and found a pair of shining grey eyes staring at him. Argent Prose stared at him, “What? No scream?”

“Not this time,” replied Spike in a very serious tone. Argent raised an eyebrow as he kept looking at the violet dragon’s straight face.

“Already?” he said, walking past the dragonling.

“You bet.”

Argent waited a few seconds before turning around and looking at the dragonling. His grey eyes were shimmering under the pale moonlight and his lips formed what seemed to be the beginning of a grin. This dude is can be seriously creepy sometimes... Spike thought, a shiver going through his spine.

“As you wish, young Spike,” said Argent with a bow. He pointed a hoof towards a patch of grass clear of any items. “If you could please stand over there, we can begin.”

Spike walked towards the appointed area. As he passed Argent, Spike noticed something from the corner of his eye. The scarred unicorn seemed to be grinning, his white teeth forming a victory smile. The dragonling felt a cold draft dancing along his back, like the touch of a cold, bony finger. Tonight is... really cold, right? thought Spike to himself. He had come that far, there was no way he would back down because of some stupid shiver, probably caused by the low temperature in the environment.

When he was set on his place, Spike turned to look at Argent. The scarred unicorn looked at him from a few hooves away, his massive body outlined by the light of the campfire behind him. He cast a shadow along the ground and his eyes glowed menacingly and, for the first time since he had arrived to his decision, Spike thought that maybe this was a bad idea.

“If you have no objections, young Spike, we shall begin at once.”

“Ri-right then. What do I do?”

Argent leaned down his head and gave Spike a piercing glare with his grey eyes. He smiled wickedly as he spoke: “Try not to scream too much...”

“What?” asked the young dragon. However, his question fell on deaf ears, as Argent Prose pointed his horn towards the dragonling’s tiny body and shot a dark blue ray. The magical beam crackled through the air with its nefarious light glowing in the dark night. Spike felt the full impact of the spell. For a split second, nothing seemed to happen, but then...

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” yelled Spike, his body shaking with the agony running through every inch of his being. Still engulfed in the light of Argent’s spell, he felt as if thousand of hands were grabbing him by his limbs and pulling him in all directions, in the hopes of tearing him apart. Spike fell on the ground and started convulsing in pain, his tiny shape dancing with the cracking sound of the spell. Unconsciously, his claws dug the earth beneath him, ripping blades of grass and crushing them in his clenched fists. He looked at his hand and horror spread throughout his face.

His fingers were being crushed. They bent in a unusual way, one that was clearly not natural and could only mean something terribly painful was happening to his hand. To add to his already terrified state was the fact they did not stay still. They shifted their angle very quickly, snapping every time they turned. The sound of bones breaking joined with the cracks and thunders of Argent’s beam. Spike opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t, the words turned into cries of desperation and terror. The pain was unbearable. It made relocating his shoulder seem like a walk in the park under the bright sun. His fingers kept bending and shaking and shrinking...

Shrinking? he thought in complete panic.

Spike noticed that his fingers were half their usual length. Not as if they were cut, but rather as if they were crushed. They kept on crushing more and more, until they completely disappeared. Then, there was his nose. His nostrils were grabbed by some invisible force and pulled. The ‘touch’ was fiery and it burned his face in a way that even the lava pool could not. It stretched his muzzle and made his eyes water in pain. His whole body was being stretched as well, as if a sadistic puppeteer was pulling him by the strings just to see him suffer. He screamed even more, the agony already settling in as a permanent resident.

What’s going on with me?! Oh, Celestia, it hurts too much! I can’t take it anymore! Make. It.

“STOOOOOOOP!!!!” Spike cried out the last word on his mind, his head raised towards the moon. Just as he finished his yelling, the cracking symphony from the spell halted. As silence fell over the camping site, Spike followed suit and fell as well, his mind going completely blank.

Spike opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room, with the only source of illumination coming down from a lamp on the ceiling. It shone down a cone of cold white light that surrounded the dragonling. Suddenly, the click of a switch was heard somewhere in the distance and a new source of light appeared. It was a warm, orange light that shone down on a white pony with a beautiful blue dress. The mare wore a tiara adorned with diamonds and shoes of gold and sapphire. Her horn pointed out of her forehead and was surrounded by the purple coloration of a beautifully stylized mane. The mare gracefully turned around and looked in Spike’s direction. The baby dragon felt his heart pound with expectation. He raised his hand and started waving excitedly at her. The white unicorn glanced back and waved her hoof in return. Spike waved with reinvigorated fervor, when he heard a new click from behind him. He turned around just in time to see a slight green cone of light shining down on a pony.

The mysterious pony was a violet unicorn stallion with a green mane. His manestyle covered his face, but Spike could see a smile coming from his lips. The dashing stallion also waved his hoof towards the beautiful mare behind Spike. The baby dragon turned around to look at her and back at the stallion. She didn’t notice him. She only had eyes for that handsome violet unicorn. The strange pony started walking towards Spike, his hooves causing a clopping sound to echo around the room. When he approached the dragonling, he stopped beside him. Time seemed to simply halt as the two stared at each other. Spike noticed that he could see his eyes for the first time. They were green as emeralds and they were looking down on him. The stallion’s smile faded and turned into an expression of discontent. He moved his lips up and down, but no sound came from them. However, Spike understood what he meant.

You are not worthy of her.

The mysterious pony resumed his walk and time flowed once more. He approached the mare and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She leaned on his neck, nuzzling and smiling happily. Spike felt his heart break and shatter, his eyes filled with tears. He tried to walk towards her, but felt a weight on his feet. He looked down and saw that the floor had gone from its trustworthy solidness to a more liquid form, causing his tiny form to sink. Desperate, the baby dragon started to pull himself from the quicksand, but found it even harder to move. He kept on sinking and trying to move towards the mare. The green light around the violet stallion became more saturated and cleared as the mysterious pony looked at the dragonling and gave him a smug smile. Spike raised his hands, trying to reach his beloved white unicorn.

His vision was engulfed by the quicksand and his mind slipped away into naught.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Howdy, mates! First off, the usual thank you section. A brohoof to my editors and proofreaders, Cheesesauce, TheWattsMan and the newcomers, Aburi Alberto and Frederick the Saiyan. Your grammar nazi ways and advice are priceless and are what makes this story truly shine.

The readers! Man, is this story growing or what? Okay, it might not be anything like Chickendagger’s (or is it Ravendagger now?) Of Challenges and Kisses, but hey, we reached the 1000 count! And I forgot to make a fuss about it! Silly, silly Nagagon.

So, about this chapter. First up, Twilight’s scene. This one was a challenge to write. When I wrote the draft, Cheesesauce and the gang were all saying I should focus 100% on it to make it shine. “It’s pure gold”, they said. So, I went all out. I wanted you to cry. I wanted you, the reader, to feel Twilight’s sorrow, her grief, but most importantly, I wanted you to feel her helplessness. How a incredibly organized and collected pony like Twilight Sparkle could simply lose it in a situation like this. If you shed even the smallest of tears, bottle it up and send it to me. They make great coffee, better than regular tap water.

And what about Argent? Do you like him? Do you hate him? Do you fear him? Or do you simply have no idea what’s he playing at?

Lastly, Spike’s dream. It was a spur of the moment thing that I wanted to write and man, was it a good idea to follow that hunch. It was great to write that last scene and I’m going to do it even MOAR! So here’s a challenge to all of you psychos-- I mean, psychiatrists wannabes out there:

Analyze Spike’s dream. Go nuts, answer in the comments. I’ll give a moustache Spike for every correct answer and a trollestia for every wrong answer. I foresee a great spamming of trollestia emoticons.

Chapter 5: Names and First Impressions

Numbing. Excruciating. Hellish. Devastating. Agonizing.

Spike had spent the last half hour (he had counted) trying to find a way to describe the level of pain he felt at the moment, which was no easy task, considering his latest endeavours had turned his brain into a mush, slowing his processing capabilities. After searching every corner of his mind for every adjective he knew, the result of his efforts proved that one simple word could not describe what he was feeling. The pain was far too great to be explained so simply. His whole body ached and his muscles burned as if he had pulled all of them at once. And they all felt weird and misplaced, like they weren’t in their proper place or as if they belonged to somepony else. His body was sore and felt like it was made of lead. Overall, not the best way to wake up in the morning.

Looking at the bright side..., thought Spike. It’s not as bad as the pain I felt last night.

Spike felt his empty stomach grumbling. I know I can’t stay here pretending to be asleep forever and that I’ll have to get up some time. The question is: can I get up?

A sweet and delicious smell invaded Spike’s nostrils, causing his ears to stand in attention. The fragrance was familiar, but foreign to him. Curious (and famished), he decided to open his eyes slightly. The morning sun flooded his pupils, burning his retinas with the sudden brightness. He raised his forelimb to block out the blinding light.

“At last, he awakens,” said a husky voice not too far from him. Argent’s voice was unusually cheerful and playful that morning. “How did you find your beauty sleep, young Spike? Reinvigorating, I presume?”

“I feel like I was used as target dummy for the royal guards’ combat training,” Spike replied in a hoarse voice. He grunted. “Why does it hurt so much? And last night too, it was terrible! Like I was being pulled apart or something...”

“Might as well,” Argent walked up to Spike, blocking the sunlight with his massive body. Spike noticed the dirty bandages the unicorn had been wearing until the day before had been replaced by fresh ones. “Yesterday’s procedure required that I pull your muscles, crush and reshape your bones, stretch your tendons, rearrange your internal organs. In other words, I molded your entire self from the lump of flesh and scales you were. It is actually more of a wonder you awoke so fast. I was expecting you to be asleep for countless more hours,” he said, staring at Spike with his grey eyes.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the dark blue unicorn. “You never told me it was going to hurt,” he said in an accusing tone.

“You never asked,” replied Argent, a mocking smile on his face.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time I ask a stranger to magically change my body...” Spike sarcastically said, rolling his eyes.

“Indeed you should. Would you care for some breakfast?” asked Argent, pointing a hoof to a wooden bowl of steaming food and a metal spoon. “However, I am afraid I am running on a very strict schedule. If you would kindly eat quickly, I would appreciate it,” said the unicorn, walking away to a rucksack on the ground.

“Thank Celestia, I’m starving!” Spike exclaimed, rolling on the floor and standing on his legs. “I’ll get right on--aaaaah!!!” suddenly, he started wobbling and lost his balance, falling head first on the ground, which resulted in his first bite of the morning to be a mouthful of dirt. Spitting the disgusting earth from his mouth, his eyes widened at the realization. “Ar-Argent... What did you do to me?!”

The scarred stallion curiously raised his eyebrow. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I CAN’T WALK!!!” yelled Spike desperately.

“Well, of course. In your current state, it is advised that you have all four hooves on the ground to walk. Using only your hind legs is a technique far too advanced for beginners like yourself,” mocked Argent.

“My... hooves?” Spike wondered, raising his hand to scratch his back. However, instead of the usual sharp, cold claws he felt a blunt object touching his skull. Surprised, he brought his hands to his eyes to examine what was happening.

His hands weren’t there. Instead, a pair of violet-colored hooves had taken their place.

Bewildered, he raised his now-transformed hooves to his face and started frantically touching it. His old round head had been elongated and his nose was gone, with a long, slightly square muzzle in its place. Now that he looked properly, he could actually see the snout beneath his eyes. Instead of his usual hard, sharp scales, Spike found that a violet coat had taken their place. The fur was soft and tickled at the touch. It was well-trimmed, like he had just recently cut it. But his violet scales weren’t the only changes. Spike noticed some green strands of mane poking out from the upper part of his eyes. He grabbed them and stroke down on it. A long, spiked and rather messy mane flowed down his neck. It had a medium length and was green as emeralds. He found that his ears were rotating on the spot due to his confusion, something his former anatomy could not perform. As he felt around his mane, his hoof touched long and pointy object on his forehead. Spike touched it and confirmed his suspicions: it was a horn. A unicorn’s horn. On his forehead.

The violet unicorn rose to his hooves with difficulty, but after a few wobbles, he balanced himself. He stood on his four limbs, the grass crushed beneath his hooves and his eyes widened in shock. Spike raised his head and looked at Argent who simply stood there, staring at him.

“I’m a... I’m a...” mumbled the stallion-Spike.

“Yes, you are,” said the Argent, a smile on his face.

The young stallion that was Spike stood still, processing the words. It took a few moments before the truth settled in. He was a unicorn now. A real pony unicorn. Not a fire-breathing baby dragon with scales and claws, but a full-fledged violet unicorn with a mane and hooves. It had worked.

“YAHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” cheered Spike, bouncing around the place in a state of overflowing joy. “I’M A UNICORN! I’M A UNICORN!”

“As I have stated before, yes you are,” Argent calmly said.

“Just look at me! I’m a unicorn pony! Hooves, mane, horn and all!” he started wagging his tail around. “Look, look! I even have a tail! It’s green! Like my mane! I have a green mane! This is AWESOME!” He said, screaming to the skies in pure happiness. Spike started trotting around the place, his hooves producing wet sounds as they hammered the moist earth. He was running way faster than his old short legs could ever have hoped to. So fast that his legs tumbled upon themselves, sending the transformed Spike flying through the air and falling down to the ground, causing a loud thud. He grunted in pain, but didn’t cease smiling.

“I see you that you are pleased with the results of my work,” commented Argent, walking closer to the fallen unicorn.

“Pleased? Argent, you’re a freaking miracle worker! I’m a unicorn! I’m a stallion!” exclaimed Spike, throwing his hooves in the air.

“Marvelous. Now, if you could kindly have your meal, we should discuss a few details whilst you feed,” said the big stallion, the bowl full of food from before levitating beside him, shrouded in a dark blue aura.

“Got it,” said Spike in a husky voice. He sat on his haunches and grabbed the wooden bowl with his hoof. The unicorn struggled to keep the item from falling and struggled even more to hold the spoon with his other hoof. After a few failed attempts, he shrugged and poured the contents of the dish down his throat. It was a lukewarm, sweet stew with chunks of apples in them. Spike felt his teeth crushing the food and was amazed to discover that his usual sharp fangs were replaced by flattened molars, apart from two canines. Guess I’m all pony now, huh? he thought. Spike cleared his throat before speaking again.

“Hey Argent...” he said in a husky voice. Surprised at his tone, he cleared it again and resumed. “So, now...” Spike continued, but his voice did not change. Clearing it once more, he tried another time. “You have-- Alright, this is getting annoying!”

“I beg your pardon?” asked Argent, raising his eyebrow.

“My voice sounds weird. Was it supposed to be like this?” wondered the violet unicorn, clearing his throat for a third time.

“Oh yes, your voice. My apologies, I forgot to mention it,” he answered with a bow. “You see, it came over me yesterday that we had completely overlooked a humongous flaw in our plan.”

“What flaw?” asked Spike as he raised the bowl to his mouth once more.

“You see, we were so focused on the changing you into a unicorn that we forgot about one detail: your age,” answered the scarred pony, walking to a bucket on the ground.

“Sorry, you lost me there.” said Spike, scratching the back of his head with his hoof. The bowl on his other hoof was surrounded by a magical blue aura and levitated towards Argent, who placed it inside the bucket causing a splash. As he washed the bowl, the stallion continued.

“Well, you were raised by miss Sparkle. Assuming miss Rarity is just as old as your foster sister, that would make you eight to nine years younger than her,” he explained. After he finished washing the bowl, Argent magically opened his rucksack and levitated a white cotton cloth towards him. He kept on explaining as he dried the bowl. “The transformation spell I used on you yesterday would, under normal circumstances, turn you into a pony of the same age as you are. In other words, you would become a colt. A pre-adolescent colt, yes, but a colt nonetheless and not a stallion, which should be more to miss Rarity’s taste, I presume. On that thought, I took the liberty of altering the spell ever so slightly and aged you,” Argent placed the bowl inside his bag and turned to Spike, a cunning smile on his face. “Your current pony body is that of a unicorn stallion two years older than miss Rarity.”

“Well, I guess that explains why voice sounds so... stallionly. But why did you make me older than Rarity?”

“Well...” Argent strapped the leather belt of his rucksack around his shoulders and placed his saddlebags on his back, over the white bandage. He let out a small grunt, but continued talking. “The mares do tend to fancy the older stallions, after all,” He gave Spike a sly smile, moving his eyebrows up and down. “Consider it a boost to your chances with miss Rarity.”

Spike blushed slightly at the comment. Somehow, he felt that Argent wasn’t talking about dates.

“However, I could not help but notice something peculiar about your transformation, young Spike,” said the scarred stallion, walking around Spike. He pointed a dark blue hoof to his violet flank. “Would you care to explain this to me? I must say I have absolutely no idea about its meaning.”

Spike turned his head and looked at the place Argent was talking about. He widened his eyes at the unexpected sight. On both sides of his flank was the picture of a bright red Fire Ruby in the shape of a heart, surrounded by emerald flames. The red and green colours contrasted with his violet coat and, to his surprise, were engraved to it. The pictures were not drawn or glued to his hide, but rather were part of it. He tried to think of a possible explanation to the image, but every evidence pointed to the answer.

That’s a cutie mark, no doubt about it, Spike thought to himself. But... how?

Spike gave Argent a questioning look. “Did you make this?” he asked, pointed his hoof to the heart-shaped Fire Ruby.

“I did not, that is precisely why I am asking you for its meaning. I suppose it should have something gem related, but having a Fire Ruby is quite peculiar...” answered Argent, rubbing his chin with his hoof.

“That’s not the problem, Argent! What I want to know is how did I get a cutie mark? I mean, only ponies are supposed to have one and that’s only when they find their special talent. How can I have one after being a pony for fifteen minutes?”

“Do not be daft, young Spike,” said Prose with a wave of his hoof. “Every sentient creature in Equestria has a special talent or two, that is not exclusive to ponies. It just so happens that we are the only ones who develop a mark to prove it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, now, care to explain to me the meaning behind your mysterious Fire Ruby cutie mark?”

Spike gave his cutie mark a second look. The Fire Ruby was exactly the same as the one from his birthday. The one he had given Rarity, the one she wore as a necklace and... the one that had stopped his rampage around town. He shook away the memory and resumed his studying of the mark. The fire was of the same emerald color as his fire breath from his time as a dragon, but apart from those remarks, he couldn’t make out what did his cutie mark mean. Was it something to do with gems because of his former draconic nature? But why would it be the Fire Ruby from that day specifically? Spike noticed Argent’s eyes gazing at him, expecting an answer.

“Sorry, I got nothing on it,” answered the young unicorn, shrugging.

“I see... very well then, we shall leave the analysis of your special trait for another time. For now, I need to depart immediately,” said Argent as he turned and started walking away. Spike rose to his hooves and trotted until he was beside the big unicorn. As he slowed to a normal pace, the violet unicorn noted for the first time that he was bigger now, since he could look at Argent’s shoulder without having to lift his head. He still felt small beside the dark cerulean pony’s massive body, but at least he wasn’t a dwarf anymore. Even walking was faster now. Argent pulled the leather straps of his rucksack to tighten the knot and that’s when Spike caught up.

“Wait, where are we going?”

“To the train station. I have a ticket that is about to be rendered useless in one hour, lest I board.”

“Hang on a sec, you’re leaving?!” exclaimed Spike as he halted. Argent stopped as well and turned his head to look at the gasping unicorn. After a few moments, the scarred stallion laughed and shook his head.

“Oh no, my apologies. I did not make myself clear. I am not departing permanently. I merely have business to attend to up north. I do not know when I shall return, but you do not have to worry yourself, for return I shall. I still have... pending issues in Ponyville,” he said, smiling cunningly. Spike had already lost count of how many times Argent had caused shivers to run down his spine. Noticing that the stallion had resumed his walk, the violet unicorn ran to his side once more.

“But what am I supposed to do while you’re gone?”

“Why not return to Ponyville and seek out miss Rarity yourself?”

“Se-se-seek out? You mean, find her?” stuttered Spike, his cheeks turning a bright magenta due to his blushing.

“Not simply ‘find her’. ‘Engage in conversation and attempt to become her acquaintance’ is what I had in mind.”

“Bu-but how? I mean, I never had the guts to do it before and I’m not sure what I’d say and--”

“I shall interrupt you right there, to avoid any further extension of this conversation,” said Argent as he gave the other unicorn a cold, piercing glare. Spike closed his mouth and stayed quiet. “Now, I have executed my end of the bargain. I have, rather successfully, transmuted you into a unicorn. You have a different body, voice and identity, just as I had promised. Now it is your turn. You are going to walk into town, track miss Rarity down and engage in a lovely tète-à-tète with her, do I make myself clear?” He asked, emphasizing the last word with an accusatory glare toward Spike. Cowed, the violet unicorn simply gulped and nodded, incapable of doing anything else.

The sound of a train’s whistle rang through the air as the two stallions approached the station near the entrance of the town.

“This is where we part ways. For the time being, that is,” Argent said.

“Yeah...” Spike replied. He lowered his head and started lightly kicking up the dust from the ground. “Um, Argent?” He asked.

“Yes?”

“Thank you. For everything.”

“That is what I am here for, my good friend,” the grey-eyed unicorn replied.

“Come on, you say it like you had to cast that spell on me!”

Argent remained quiet to that remark. He simply raised his head and walked towards the platform. Suddenly, he stopped midway and turned around to look at Spike.

“Oh yes, there is another thing we must to discuss before I depart.”

“What is it?”

“How should I address you from this moment forward? We can’t very well have me referring to you by your former name now, can we?”

“Oh, right,” Spike looked down in thought. He suddenly lifted his head, excited with his idea. “What about Purple Ruby?!”

“Rubies are red.”

“Oh yeah, forgot that. How about Purple Dragon?”

“Last time I checked, you were a unicorn.”

“Aw, nuts! Oh, what about Jewel?”

“Are you a stallion or a mare?”

“Right. How about ‘The Poniator’? Pretty cool, right?”

“By saying I shall not comment on that idea, I hope to make my point clear.”

“The Unibat?”

“No.”

“Great and Powerful Super Draconic Unicorn?”

“Just... no.”

“Goddess, you’re picky! Let’s see...” Spike started walking in back and forth, deep in thought. Argent stood on his spot, following the pacing of the violet unicorn with his eyes.

His name needed to sound cool. Something easy to pronounce and remember. Also, somehow everypony seemed to have a name that matched their physical description, special talents and cutie marks. Spike looked at himself once more. If he had one word to describe him, it would be violet. Sure, his green mane and tail contrasted with the rest of the body, but he was mostly colored in that tone of light purple. What about his talents? He wasn’t even sure if he had any and if he did it was probably hidden away in some deep, dark part of his brain. Lastly, Spike looked at his cutie mark. The Fire Ruby adorning his flank brought back the unwanted memories of his past form, from the day his greed had led him into nearly destroying the whole town and everypony he loved in it.

His past form. He used to be a dragon not too long ago. Even if he was a unicorn now, he could never deny that part of him. It was engraved in his memories, days of being Spike the baby dragon. It felt only right that he should relate to that in some way. But how?

Suddenly, the violet unicorn felt his stomach grumbling and something going up his throat.

“Buuuuuurp!” he belched, but unlike before, no parchment magically appeared in front of him. Nor did emerald flames came flowing out of his mouth. He blinked when something finally came over him. Of course, it was so simple. That was perfect. Spike turned around, a wide smile on his face. With his head held up high, he walked over to where Argent stood and gave him a confident look, while the other stallion remained unfazed by the younger unicorn’s sudden approach.

“Call me... Violet Fire.”

Slowly, a smile creeped up on the dark cerulean pony’s face and he bowed slightly. “A fitting name. Well chosen, mister Fire.”

A second whistle sounded from the train and bells rang from the platform, accompanied by the voice of one of the station’s employees. “ALL THE PASSENGERS OF TRAIN TO THE OUTSKIRTS OF STALLIONGRAD! DEPARTURE IN TEN MINUTES!”

“It appears we have run out of time,” Argent said, turning around and walking towards the platform a second time. “I bid you farewell, mister Fire, and I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours.”

“Thanks! To you too!” replied Violet Fire, waving his hoof.

“Oh, and mister Fire?”

“Yeah?”

“Do be careful with how you present yourself. First impressions have quite the power over mares. It is vital that you do not make a fool of yourself or say anything insensitive, or it could turn all our hard work into naught.”

“Don’t worry Argent! Violet Fire is on the case!” saying that, the young stallion turned around and looked at the entrance to Ponyville. He felt great. He was confident, happy and completely sure he could make things work out this time. He wouldn’t mess it up. He couldn’t mess it up. There’s no way he could mess it up.

Right? thought Violet Fire as he placed his hoof forward.

Ponyville was a town filled with humble and rustic houses, raised with wood and concrete, some with wooden roofs, others with straw ones. The rural air gave it the pleasant and calm feeling that caused so many ponies to move in after just one quick visit and the constant chatter and liveliness of the town’s residents made everypony love the place. So it was to Violet Fire’s immense surprise to see the usual clean and proper village filled from top to bottom with posters and pamphlets as the citizens ran all over the place, saddlebags in tow, slamming the pieces of paper everywhere that was still bare.

“What the... what’s going on?” asked Violet Fire as he walked down the dirt path, looking at the ponies scrambling around, a multitude of colorful blurs darting in every direction before his very eyes. A very fast and worried Cheerilee rushed by him, nearly knocking the violet unicorn to the ground.

“SORRY!” yelled the mare over her shoulder without stopping.

Has everypony gone bonkers?! wondered Violet Fire. He hadn’t been gone for long, but the town seemed to have become completely mad overnight. Fire remembered the day when he and Twilight had arrived a year ago her comment that all the ponies were crazy. Maybe her words at the time were a prediction?

The mayor is gonna throw a fit when she sees the town like this, thought the stallion. He noticed a beige blot dashing by from the corner of his eye and looked towards it. Violet Fire’s eyes widened when he saw Ponyville’s mayor running and stamping the posters onto a particularly large house nearby.

“Okay... this is officially weird!” he said, walking away. The unicorn saw a grey pegasus with a mailmare’s hat glueing the poster upside down on a tree. “I’m gonna find somepony who can explain to me--Oof!” Suddenly, he was hit by a something large and white. Albeit soft, the object was going at a speed high enough to send both the violet stallion and the unidentified mass to the ground.

Ouch, what was that?! Wincing in pain, Violet Fire rubbed his muzzle and rose to his hooves. He rotated on the spot to look at whatever it was that had knocked him down. His jaw dropped at the sight. In front of him, rubbing her nose, with weeping eyes, was a white unicorn with a dazzling purple mane. Before his very eyes was the one he had been longing for. It was...

“Rarity!” exclaimed Violet Fire. I got the best luck ever! Finding her so quickly like that, this must be my day! mentally celebrated the stallion. The fashionista looked up at the stranger and lifted a delicate eyebrow at him.

“Excuse me sir, but do we know each other?” she asked him.

Violet Fire eyes widened in horror. In his bliss of finding the mare he had been looking for, he had forgotten about his disguise and made a huge faux pas. Quick, thinkthinkthinkTHINK! thought the stallion in panic as he looked around and cold sweat ran through his brow. An idea came to mind. It’s a long shot, but here goes!

“Um... your designs! Who hasn’t heard of Ponyville’s Rarity’s dress designs? Hahahaha!” Violet Fire said, lying through his teeth and giving his best fake smile. It wasn’t very effective.

“Reeeeeally?” asked Rarity in a doubtful tone.

“Ye-yeah! You’re all the rage in Canterlot!” Facts, work with facts! “Made clothes for Hoity Toity, designed the dresses for the Elements of Harmony for the Grand Galloping Gala last year and Princess Cadance’s wedding gown!” He continued, smiling as much as possible. Did that do it? he hoped. To his immense relief, Rarity’s eyes sparkled at the honorable mentions and she smiled back at him. His heart melted like butter and his tense muscles relaxed.

“Why, thank you most kindly, good sir,” she said, extending a hoof towards the violet stallion. Fire looked at the ivory hoof and back at its owner before realizing what she was doing. He grabbed the limb and helped the mare to her hooves, her saddlebags rustling as she rose. He felt a small pain in his gut for lying to her, but the happiness of being able to hold her hoof banished all bad feelings away.

“I do apologize for bumping into you like that. I was in a hurry.”

“Yeah, so is everypony else. What’s up with them?” asked Violet Fire as he pointed a hoof to a particularly cheerful trio of fillies climbing on each other’s back. They placed a poster on a rather high area that had miraculously survived the onslaught of pamphlet posting.

Before Rarity could respond, a hoarse, powerful voice sounded out from a group of pegasi that hovered above town a few meters away. Its owner, a cyan pegasus with a multi-colored mane, was pacing back and forth in front of the battalion, wearing a green soldier helmet.

“ALRIGHT EVERYPONY, FINAL ORDERS!” She yelled with a great passion and a very loud tone. The mare pointed her hooves at couple at the front of the crowd as she spoke. “Thunderlane, Blossom Forth, you’ve got G sector. NO HORSING AROUND, YOU TWO! I MEAN IT!” Roared the pegasus, glaring at the couple. The grey stallion gave her a yellow smile and laughed awkwardly while his marefriend whistled and avoided eye contact. The polychromed captain continued on. “Flitter, Cloudchaser, you’re in charge of sectors A and B.”

“Who takes care of which?” asked the lilac pegasus with the spiked mane.

“I don’t know, just check those sections, okay?!” She said, placing her hoof on her face in frustration. She turned to the grey mailmare Violet Fire saw earlier. “Derpy!” The cross-eyed mare smiled, eagerly awaiting her assignment. The cyan pegasus started scratching the back of her head, unsure of what to say. “Um...why don’t you... I mean you could... oh, I know! We need muffins! Can you get us muffins from that weird-talking pal of yours?”

“Sure thing, Rainbow Dash! I’ll get right to it!” She said, saluting to the cyan mare and flying away. As she turned the corner, they heard a loud crashing noise, followed by cats screaming in anger and some glass shattering. “Oops... my bad!” shouted the clumsy mare from a distance. Rainbow Dash winced a bit before turning back to the crowd.

“Alright, lastly... ROID RAGE!!!” She yelled. A bulky white pegasus with tiny wings and humongous muscles lifted a hoof.

“YEAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” he howled.

“You got sectors C, D and E. Think you can handle it?”

“YEAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” was his answer.

“That’s the spirit!” Said Rainbow Dash, pointing a hoof towards him and winking with a huge grin on her face. She turned to the rest of the group and flew higher than them. “Everypony knows their assignment! NOW SCRAMBLE, PRONTO!” At her last order, the flock of pegasi flew off in every direction.

“Rainboooooow! Over here, darling!” shouted Rarity, waving a hoof to get the pegasus’ attention. As the cyan mare noticed her friend’s call, she dashed towards her and Violet Fire, who stood there, dumbfounded at the spectacle he had just witnessed.

“‘Sup Rarity,” the polychromed noticed the stallion at the white unicorn’s side. “How’s it hanging, stranger?”

“It’s cool, Dash...” Violet Fire began, but suddenly noticed his imminent slip of tongue once more. “...ing mare?” He said in a clumsy attempt to hide the fact he already knew the tomboy pegasus.

“HEY!” said Rainbow Dash in an angry voice as she narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she widened them and gave Rarity a glance. “Wait, dashing means ‘awesome’, right?”

“In a way, yes,” answered the white unicorn.

“Then yes, I am!” Exclaimed the pegasus, puffing her chest and placing her hooves on her hips in a proud stance.

“Anyway, how are things on your end, Rainbow Dash? Any news?” Asked Rarity in a pleading tone. Violet Fire couldn’t help but notice her misty eyes full of hope as she waited for her friend’s answer. The pegasus merely sighed and shook her head negatively.

“So far nothing...” she said solemnly, but soon raised her head with a confident expression. “But we got eyes in every inch of the sky. If he’s still around, we’ll know. As for me, I’m off to Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale?” Inquired Rarity. “How in Equestria would he be able to get there?”

“He wouldn’t,” answered Rainbow Dash. “But Cloudsdale’s a city filled with pegasi from all over Equestria. There’s bound to be somepony who saw or heard something, anything that we can use.”

“I see... great plan Rainbow.”

“Thanks,” she said, grinning with pride. Her green military helmet slid over her eyes and she pushed it back. “And how about your friend here? Have you asked him?”

“Oh my, I completely forgot. I was going to, but we got distracted by your little performance,” said the white unicorn.

“Ask me what?” wondered Violet Fire, tilting his head slightly.

“We’re looking for a friend of ours,” said Rarity.

“Yeah, he disappeared and we have no idea of where he is or why he even left!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, throwing her hooves in the air. “Can you lend us a hoof?”

Violet Fire rejoiced inside. This is my chance! If I help them find this friend of theirs, I’ll be able to spend time with Rarity and maybe get on her good side! “Sure, I’ll help,” he answered. “Do you have a picture of this friend or something?”

“We do,” said the blue eyed unicorn. She unstrapped her saddlebag and magically opened one of the poster Violet Fire had seen around town. “We’ve been placing this all over Ponyville since yesterday. It has his picture.”

Violet Fire fell to his haunches, his jaw dropping and eyes widening in shock at the sight before him. On the piece of paper his eyes met two similar emerald eyes. His own eyes. His dragon eyes. The poster had a picture of him as Spike, the baby dragon, waving his hand at the camera. He stood in the library’s first floor, surrounded by paper wrapping and covered in colorful confetti. Violet Fire remembered that day. It was his birthday party. Above the picture, in bold, capital letters was the word ‘LOST’ printed in black ink on the paper. Violet Fire read the message right below the dragon:

Have you seen this baby dragon? He goes by the name ‘Spike’ and has gone missing. Possibly a runaway. Any information should be directed to Ponyville’s Library located at the treehouse. His family and friends miss him very much. Twilight misses him very much. Please, come home.

Violet Fire read the message as many times as he could. He held the poster just a few inches from his nose, his eyes so wide it felt like they would pop out at any moment. He blinked multiple times, hoping that it was all a dream and that he would wake up soon. To his discontent, he remained awake.

Had he dealt such a blow to Twilight? He thought his letter had made it clear he had no choice. And Twilight was a reasonable, practical mare. But then, what was this? ‘Lost’? ‘Gone missing’? It was clear she was being everything but reasonable and practical. This was unlike her. Did he really mean that much to her? Violet Fire’s chest tightened and he fought back the urge to cry. What had he done? In his pursuit of happiness he had hurt one of the most important ponies in his life. The one responsible for his life, for his upbringing. His sister and best friend. And he had just abandoned her.

You didn’t learn anything at all. In the end, you still hurt somepony important to you. Spike... you’re a monster, thought the stallion. He felt a strong urge to run away at that moment, to hide and cry until his eyes dried out. But he couldn’t return now, not after putting everypony through so much sorrow and grief. His sacrifice needed to mean something. He would go to the end of it.

“Sir, are you alright?” asked a sweet, delicate voice.

Violet Fire quickly lifted his head, startled by the sudden question. The two mares were looking at him, their faces curious and worried at the same time. How long had he been looking at the poster? He noticed he was crumbling the pamphlet in his shaking hooves and that he was drenched in sweat. Oh no, they’re onto me! Quick, poker face! Come on, Spi--Violet, you can do it!

“I-I-I’m fine! Really!” exclaimed the stallion, grinning from ear to ear in an attempt to dodge their worry. “Sorry, but I’ve never seen this guy before. No ma’am, I haven’t. Not me, no. Never before in my entire, normal pony life. Looks a lot like somepony I saw some years ago, but that’s all. Definitely not somepony I saw recently, because I haven’t seen anypony new recently, really. I’m quite a lonely guy. Yep, that’s me.” Did they buy it? Please tell me they did!

“Okaaaay, if you say so,” said Rainbow Dash. The pegasus turned to Rarity. “I’m off then. I should be able to fly to Cloudsdale and back by tonight. Meet you at Twilight’s?”

“Yes, of course, dear. I shall continue asking around. Too bad Pinkie isn’t here to lend us a hoof, though,” commented the white unicorn.

“Yeah, Pinks is great at finding somepony that doesn’t want to be found,” said the cyan mare, shivering at some creepy far-off memory. “Helluva time for her to go visit her parents,” she said, crossing her forehooves and narrowing her eyes in frustration.

“This is Pinkie we’re talking about, sweetie. I’m sure there’s an explanation,” said the unicorn, trying to convince her heated friend.

“Yeah, it probably involves parties and extreme amounts of sugar. Anyway, gotta go. Later Rarity, strange guy!” And with that the rainbow mare dashed through the air, turning into a tiny dot in the distance in a matter of seconds.

Rarity and Violet Fire stood in front of each other in silence. Unsure of what to do, Fire kept observing the surroundings. He watched as the mare that Rainbow called Derpy trotted back, drifting around the corner of the street, followed closely behind by a chestnut-colored stallion. The two carried beige saddlebags strapped to their backs, as well as huge rucksacks. As they dashed past him and Rarity with incredible speed, Violet Fire and the chestnut stallion exchanged looks. The stranger’s eyes widened for a moment with sudden realization and his mouth turned into a wide grin. Violet Fire shot his head back in surprise at the unexpected smile. Who the hay is he? he wondered.

“I’m terribly sorry, but I don’t recall asking your name, mister...?” Rarity began. Violet Fire snapped of his thoughts at her sudden words.

“Oh, I’m called Fire. Violet Fire,” he answered, bearing a huge grin on his face. Saying those words brought him unexplainable joy, as if they were the first steps towards his new life.

“Well, mister Fire, thank you so much for your help.”

“No problem. I’m sorry I couldn’t be... of much help,” said the stallion, looking away in shame. This is going to be harder than I imagined.

“Why, it’s no problem at all,” she answered with a smile. Violet Fire blushed slightly at the mare’s beauty, but felt something was off. Her usual perfectly applied eyeshadow was blurred and he noticed small bags under her eyes. Suddenly he noticed that her pupils were faintly red. Has she been... crying? thought the unicorn. Guilt struck his heart like a piercing arrow.

“You look worried...” said Violet Fire.

Rarity shot her head back in shock at his remark, but didn’t deny it. She simply turned her head away.

“It’s just... Spike is a very good friend of ours. He might be a dragon, but he is the sweetest, most caring and gentle dragon I’ve had the pleasure to meet,” said the mare. Violet Fire gave a quick embarrassed smile at his beloved’s words. “But he is so weak, helpless and chubby.”

Hey! I’m not chubby! Violet Fire protested mentally. He lowered his head and gave his stomach a quick check. I think...

“That’s why I weep for him,” she said, walking over to one of the posters on a nearby wall. She gently placed a hoof over Spike’s picture. “What if he came across a manticore on his way? Or some awful, evil dragon? Or what if some strange stallion tries to take advantage of him! Oh, my sweet Spiky-wikey!” lamented Rarity, her tears beginning to welling up. She blinked a few times to shake away the sadness and lowered her head, a tear running down her cheek.

Violet Fire felt that whatever little of his sanity and self-control was left was dangerously crumbling to bits. Rarity cares that much about me? Everypony does? What... what have I done? he thought, fighting back the lump on the back of his throat. Fire remembered Argent’s words from the day before.

Many have found themselves in a position akin to yours and I can assure you: rash decisions led them to terrible outcomes.

He tried to ignore the thoughts, but it was futile; they were overwhelming. He had caused panic and sorrow to his dearest friends for what? A fool’s hope. Perhaps if he talked with them, explained why he had done it...

No, you can’t, thought the stallion. Remember: you’re starting from scratch here. Coming clean won’t help. It’d probably just make things worse. He looked at the grieving mare, who had remained still and silent for awhile now. And here’s where you start. Spike can’t come back, but Violet Fire can fix his mistakes!

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you cared for him so much,” he said, walking closer to Rarity.

“We’re just so worried... and I don’t know what to do,” she said, sobbing slightly.

“I think... it’d be better if you try to calm down. You know, clear your head, think of something else,” suggested the stallion as he attempted to give her a comforting smile. It worked, to some degree.

“Perhaps so...”

“Yeah, so...,” he said scratching the back of his head. Come on, Spi--Fire! You can do it! “Um, I know I just met you, and this is gonna sound a little crazy, but... would you like to have some tea? Maybe?”

Rarity snapped her head towards the stallion, looking deeply into his eyes. Fire felt a little embarrassed at the mare’s intense glare and only smiled, hopeful. I think I did it!

“Are you... asking me out?”

“Um... yes?” he asked.

Suddenly, Rarity’s sapphire eyes narrowed menacingly, her glare filled with intense hatred as she formed the words in her lips.

“How DARE you?!” she yelled, gritting her teeth in anger.

“Huh?!” exclaimed the stallion, eyes widening in surprise at the mare’s sudden outburst.

“Here I am, grieving for my lost friend, pouring my feelings out and you have the GALL to take advantage of me?!” shouted the enraged unicorn, stomping her hoof on the ground loudly. Their argument had already began drawing the attention of passersby.

“But I... I mean, it wasn’t... I was just...” stuttered Fire, cold sweat running through his brow.

Rarity did not stop her assault of accusations. The mare glared at the violet unicorn with disgust and anger as she marched towards him, hammering her hooves with each step. Fire backpedaled in fear of the angered pony.

“You, sir, are the most horrible, uncouth, disgusting stallion I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet!” As she reached the end of her sentence, Violet Fire found himself pressed against a wall, her face as close as possible to his. Her eyes shot daggers at him, burning with a rage beyond anything he had seen. He had never seen her so... offended.

“I don’t want to see your outrageous face ever again, so do not bother to even say ‘hello’ to me in this, or any lifetime!” Rarity shouted, before violently slapping his cheek, knocking the stallion to the ground. Surprised, Violet Fire raised a hoof to his face and felt it sting with pain.

“GOOD. DAY!” yelled the mare, turning and walking away with her head held up high. The circle of curious ponies that had gathered around them gave passage to the puffing white menace and turned their puzzled eyes to the target of her hatred.

The violet unicorn laid on the ground, rubbing his aching cheek. He was perplexed at what had just happened. Had he done something wrong? He had only wanted to cheer her up. Maybe he said it wrong? Or maybe... maybe she really hated him. But why would she? They had just met. No matter how much he tried to understand the situation, only one answer came to mind.

“Mares are crazy,” he concluded to himself.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Howdy, mates! First off, thank you for reading the chapter all the way to the end. This time around my awesome team of editors was greatly reduced, since most of them were too busy to work my humble fiction. Even so, I still would like to thank Frederick the Saiyan for his assistance, both in editing and proofreading. You were the lone soldier this time, mate! Give yourself a cookie, you deserve it.

I’m really sorry the chapter was delayed. I had a small slump at the beginning of Violet Fire’s scene in Ponyville. I just had no idea what to write down. It took me a while, but I found a solution. It was a pretty good one too, at least I think so.

Not much happening this chapter. It’s very light emotion wise. So, to even it out I decided to add more ponies to Ponyville. It felt like it was rather empty, without our usual cast of background characters. So, I increased it a bit. Writing Derpy was a true delight and I had to add Roid Rage. I love his style and I see he doesn’t get a lot of attention. So, two-in-one.

Lastly, Violet Fire’s cutie mark! Any thoughts on its meaning? What do you think it is? Write down in the comments section your thoughts and theories. I’ll use the same trollestia/moustache Spike system from last time’s game. And once again, I emphasize the fact that I read all your comments. Because I love you all.

Edit: TheWattsMan is back and better than ever! Mates, you have no idea how much good this guy does to Violet Fire. Seriously, it’s like his special talent is find my grammar mistakes or something. A round of applause to this wonderful person, if you’d be so kind!

Chapter 6: Gemstones and Unexpected events

The Ponyville Park had always been a place where Spike, the baby dragon, would go with his friends to gather and to have fun. They would play games, munch on snacks and sweets, talk about their lives. It was a site of joyful memories that Violet Fire still held very dear; which only worsened the fact that the stallion’s first visit to the park since his transformation had been to brood and mope over his depression. The unicorn had made the white bench in front of the fountain his nest and had remained still for the past couple of hours, his eyes as lifeless as those of a dead fish. Rarity’s infuriated insults still echoed in his head.

You, sir, are the most horrible, uncouth, disgusting stallion I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet!

She hates me, he concluded. I have been a unicorn for half a day and already she hates my guts.

But what had gone wrong? Fire allowed his mind to drift back to the beginning of their conversation, before his request. After realising the damage his disappearance had caused, he had attempted to make things right. Twilight had mentioned something awhile ago about doing other things to get your mind away from the problem. Things like reading books, going for a walk, having a meal. That’s precisely why he had suggested having tea. To clear her head. It was helpful advice, right?

Here I am, grieving for my lost friend, pouring my feelings out and you have the GALL to take advantage of me?! rang the mare’s poisonous words through his mind, each insult crushing his already pulverized heart.

He wasn’t taking advantage of her! At least, he didn’t mean for it to sound like that. He wanted to tag along because it was a great opportunity to mingle and get on her good side, which in turn would increase his chances of... of...

Violet Fire’s eyes widened with his sudden realization. He might not have been aware of it at the time, but the fact was he was taking advantage of her. She was shaken and emotional; easy prey for any Don Juan to play the part of the caring hero. It was such an obvious move that it should be part of a book on how to play mares.

“I know I didn’t mean to,” the stallion whispered to himself, “but I was a selfish jerk. I mean, not only have I hurt her by running away, but I also tried to use her. Oh my Goddess, I’m an IDIOT!” He facehoofed, embarrassed by his own stupidity.

After remaining in that position for a few moments, Violet Fire slowly lowered his hoof. No. He wasn’t an idiot. He just didn’t think things through, that’s all. And that’s manageable. He could still fix things. It wasn’t over yet. All he had to do was come up with a plan to apologize to Rarity. The stallion crossed his forelegs and looked down, the gears in his brain slowly turning as he thought about his next move.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew strongly, forcing the stallion to narrow his eyes to prevent the dust from blinding him. However, his vision went dark when a piece of paper glued itself to his face.

“Gah!” he yelled in surprise, struggling with the blinding object as he fought to remove it from his eyes. He tried to grab it, but holding things with hooves was proving to be a very hard task. Eventually the unicorn defeated his opponent and light was brought back to his world. Curious, he inspected the piece of paper. It was one of the posters that had been stamped around town. The smiling baby dragon stared back at him, his emerald eyes meeting Violet’s. The stallion’s gaze fell upon the small text. One part in particular caught his attention.

Twilight misses him very much.

Guilt hit him harder than ever. He had caused his foster sister so much trouble. Someone so dear to him. He closed his eyes, fighting back the tears. After a few moments, the stallion lifted his eyelids, his eyes burning with determination.

Rarity’s apology would have to wait. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

“This is a bad idea,” said Violet Fire to himself as he walked down the dirt road, the sun . “I mean, it’s good, but bad. Really bad.”

Coming up with a good plan was, to the stallion’s immense relief, surprisingly easy. It might have been a side effect of living under the same roof as Twilight or it might have been dumb luck; he couldn’t tell. However, his plan involved something he didn’t want to do, not yet at least. He had spent half an hour trying to come up with a backup, but his brainstorm did not produce anything as effective as Plan A. Unable to find a replacement, he had gathered his courage and walked down the path towards his destination.

The Ponyville Library.

As he arrived at the door, Violet Fire felt fear and regret overcoming him. His plan was bold, hence the stupidity factor. It could go wrong, very wrong. It could mean having to deal with the hatred of not one, but two of his dearest friends and he wasn’t sure his heart could take any more of it.

On the other hoof, if he played his cards right, it would be a smashing success. Twilight was the center of the current chaos around Ponyville. His disappearance was the trigger, but the lavender mare must have gone crazy and put everypony after him. Being the Princess’ student and the Element of Magic had its perks, after all. If he managed to calm Twilight down, she would call off the rescue team. Better yet, she might become the bridge between him and Rarity and maybe he could even...

Gurlllllll, interrupted his stomach.

“Urgh, I’m starving...” commented the stallion. It was no wonder; after all, it was well past lunchtime and all he had to eat all day was a bowl of apple stew in the morning. That factor played a big role in his decision to go through with his plan. He realised he had nothing: no saddlebags, no clothes, no home, no money. He could get a job, but he needed some bits first. If his plan worked, he could get just enough to get back on his hooves.

“Well, here goes nothing... hope I don’t screw up too much... again,” Violet Fire said as he raised a hoof and moved it towards the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

He waited for the door to open, but there was no reply. The stallion shrugged and raised his hoof one more time.

Knock, knock, knock.

No answer. Maybe she’s not home? thought Violet Fire. However, as he turned around to walk away, fast, anxious trotting came from inside the library, followed by loud thumps and a few grunts of pain. Suddenly, the door swung violently open, revealing the face of a lavender unicorn with a tangled mane. Her eyes widened in expectation as she looked outside, eager to find something.

“SPIKE?!” she shouted. Startled, Violet Fire jumped back, his eyes widening at his former-foster sister’s yell. Oh no, she’s onto me! How did she found out?! he thought, cold sweat running through his brow as he tried to think a way out of the situation. Suddenly, Twilight’s expectant expression turned into one of sadness as her eyes dilated and her head lowered sadly.

“Sorry... I thought it was... somepony else,” she said in a depressed tone.

“Umm... it’s fine, really,” So she only thought it was me- I mean Spike. You still have hope, big guy! “I, um... read about your friend. The baby dragon. I think I have some info that you could--Waaahhh!!!” Before he could finish his sentence, a pair of lavender hooves grabbed him by his hooves and dragged him inside the tree-residence with unbelievable force. As the stallion was brought into the library without ceremony, Twilight quickly pivoted around her body, kicking the door shut and throwing Fire on the floor. Stomping her hooves, she positioned herself above the stunned stallion, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him. Violet was surprised at the amazing strength his former foster-sister displayed. It was also unlike her to be so... assertive. His shocked emerald eyes met with Twilight’s amethyst gaze and that’s when he noticed:

She was a complete mess.

Twilight wasn’t one to really care about her appearance, but she normally at least tried to look presentable. Her usually-combed mane was completely tangled, strands poking out everywhere, as if she had just woken up. Her eyes were reddened and she had heavy bags under her eyes. For the hundredth time that day, Violet Fire felt guilt striking his heart with incredible force, his thoughts turning towards running and hiding his head under a rock until the end of times. I gotta finish this, I have to set things right!

“Spit it out! What do you know?!” Twilight demanded, her eyes blazing with a fearsome determination.

“Wow there, easy now!” Violet nervously pleaded, cold sweat running across his brow.

“Where is Spike? What is he doing? Is he hurt? Is he alright? WHAT DO YOU KNOW?!” asked the mare, her face a few inches from his. For the first time since the late friendship report ordeal, Twilight looked like she had lost her head.

And that scared the living daylights out of Violet Fire.

“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you! But can I please have my private space back? You’re suffocating me!”

“What?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow. She examined their positions and stood still for a few moments, processing the information. “Oh, right...” she finally said, walking back to give the stallion enough room to stand up.

“Thank you,” Violet Fire mumbled. As he rose to his hooves, he noticed Twilight hiccup and blink lazily. “Um... you alright?”

“Yeah I’m,” hiccup! “Fine... sorry about being so aggressive, it’s just... ever since Spike ran away I... haven’t been quite myself,” said the mare, looking down with a depressed look in her eyes. She shook her head violently and raised it back up. “Anyway, you said you had information on Spike?”

“Um... yeah, I have,” said Violet Fire, awkwardly scratching the back of his right foreleg. Getting Twilight’s attention was the easy part, now came the tricky bit.

“Oh, thank Celestia! I’ve been waiting all day for some news!” Twilight cheerfully said, a smile forming on her face.

“Right, about that, I--” began the stallion, but before he could complete his sentence, she interrupted him.

“The pamphlets were quick to make and it was even quicker to get them around town, with everypony helping and all!” she continued, swaying slightly as she walked past him towards a desk.

“I noticed,” he commented, turning around to follow the mare. “Anyway, about Spike, he--”

“But nopony has seen him since yesterday,” Twilight said, stopping abruptly and turning towards Fire. The violet pony’s head shot back in surprise. “Nopony! It’s like he... he... POOFED!” Twilight shouted, throwing her hooves in the air. “Like smoke!”

What’s with her today? “And that’s what I came here to say, he wants--”

“I’m so relieved to finally get some light shed upon this whole situation! I’ve been looking everywhere for him!” Twilight continued, completely disregarding the stranger’s attempts to speak. She turned around and resumed her walk towards the table, where many pamphlets were scattered across it. Using her magic, she levitated one towards her and affectionately looked at the baby dragon’s face on the picture, a gentle smile on her lips. A tear rolled over her right cheek.

“That’s just it, he wants you to--”

“But it will all be better now, because you know where he is! I’m so happy! I was so worried for him before, I could barely--”

“HE WANTS YOU TO LET HIM GO!!!” Violet Fire finally shouted. Twilight gasped and quickly turned her head to look at the stallion, her amethyst eyes widening in shock. A heavy, disturbing silence fell over the room, neither of its denizens daring to break it. The sun was long gone, replaced by the moon and the bright stars in the night sky. The darkness brought upon by the evening seemed to somehow make the silence between the two unicorns even more awkward.

Nice going, genius… Violet Fire thought to himself, looking to the right to avoid Twilight’s gaping mouth and incredulous eyes. Well, I had to say it and she wouldn’t shut up. Guess it could’ve gone worse...

“I don’t believe you...” Twilight whispered.

Dumbfounded, Fire turned his eyes towards the mare. “What?” he wondered.

“I said: I. Don’t. Believe. YOU!” she repeated, violently stomping her hooves with each word as she walked towards the stallion. Violet Fire backpedaled slightly as the infuriated mare approached, eyes glaring daggers as she walked menacingly forward, forcing him to retreat even more. Rarity’s earlier insults might have hurt him, but Fire could swear he saw a desire for blood on Twilight’s eyes.

“You waltz into MY house saying Spike wants me to FORGET him and you expect me to fall for THAT?!” Twilight yelled, her horn beginning to glow with a purple light. For some reason, Fire didn’t think that particular spell would give him a moustache, but rather leave a very nasty mark.

“Bu-bu-bu-but I’m telling the truth! I swear!” he pleaded, the tension drenching him in cold sweat.

“Oh yeah? And who exactly are you?! I’ve never met you in my life! What makes you think I’m just going to believe anything you say to me, HUH?!” As Twilight shouted at Violet Fire, the stallion jumped back in fear, slamming his body against a door. The impact slammed it open and, without the wooden surface to support his weight, Fire fell down on the cold floor. Wincing in pain, he noticed that their little argument had led them to the kitchen. A spark of hope shone deep inside of Violet Fire’s soul. Following his crash, Twilight positioned herself over him, her horn glowing even more ominously than before.

“You’re going to pay for trying to trick me, you little--”

“THIRD TILE FROM THE FRIDGE, FIFTH FROM THE BACK DOOR!” he yelled, covering his face with his hooves as the purple light reached its peak. Startled by her victim’s sudden shout, the mare halted her spell and raised an eyebrow, puzzled by his strange words.

“What did you say?” she asked.

“The-there’s a loose tile on the floor. Third one from the fridge, fifth from the back door,” he said. His explanation only served to further confuse his assailant.

“What does that have to do with.. well, anything?!”

“ I lef-- I mean, Spike left something there! Something only he knew about!” exclaimed the stallion. Twilight alternated between looking at the specified area and at Violet Fire. He remained still, trembling in fear, his eyes pleading for mercy. Please go check, please go check, please go check, he prayed in silence. After a few moments, the mare landed her rageful glare on him once more.

“Stay. Put,” she growled between teeth. Terrified at what might happen to him should he disobey the mare, Violet Fire gulped and nodded in agreement.

Leaving the stallion shaking on the floor, Twilight walked towards the coordinates given to her. She gave the tile a quick look; there didn’t seem to be anything special about it. It was a white, square tile like the many of its kind that covered the floor. Wrapping the object with her magical aura, Twilight tried to move it. To her surprise, it was slightly loose. She yanked the tile off the ground and found a small hole underneath it, where a glass jar was stored in the secret compartment.

And inside the jar were gemstones of all kinds and sizes.

Twilight placed the tile on the side and stretched her hooves to grab the jar. She raised the object to her eyes and gave it a detailed examination. It wasn’t very large, just big enough to fit inside its hiding spot. It was filled with many jewels: sapphires, emeralds, rubies, amethysts. There were even a few she couldn’t name, but was sure were just as precious. Besides those, another gem caught her eye. It was a big, clear diamond, like none she had ever seen before. Moving past the diamond, Twilight noticed a piece of parchment glued to the jar. She turned it around and gasped in surprise. On the note, written in a very familiar handwriting, were the words...

“Spike’s Secret Stash,” said a husky voice behind her. Startled, Twilight turned her head around and found Violet Fire sitting just out of the reach of her hooves. Her eyes alternated between the jar and the stallion, dumbfounded.

“But... but you couldn’t have read it! You couldn’t have known! How did... and... I mean, you...” stammered the mare.

“I know because he told me. I wasn’t lying when I said I had a message from him,” he explained. Well, thought the stallion to himself, I was lying, but I that’s beside the point. Noticing the mare had remained still with her mouth agape, Fire decided to continue. “I... I met Spike just as he was... leaving,” said the stallion. His guilt rushed to his throat and his voice croaked a bit. “He... he knows he screwed up. Big time. And he knows how much... just how much you love him...”

“But why?” Twilight asked, failing to fight back the tears. “Why did he leave? Why did he abandon me like that?!”

“Because it was hard... so hard, for him to leave,” Violet Fire said. He felt like adding Even if he didn’t see it at the time. Even if he was a selfish idiot who only saw the end of his own muzzle, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. If he did, she might notice something was wrong and ruin everything. “So... he left that message... but when we met, he noticed you might want to go after him, so... so he sent me here. To tell you not to look for him.”

“I can’t, I just... can’t!” she cried, shaking her head in denial. “He’s my Spike! My baby brother! He’s family! I can’t just give up!”

“But you have to let him go!” Violet Fire replied, exasperated. “It wasn’t easy for him to go, believe me, but he had to! You read his letter; you know it’s true!”

“Even so, I... I...” Twilight tried to speak, but the sadness in her heart hindered her ability to form coherent sentences. Her body slumped to the floor like a rag doll and she covered her face with her hooves, weeping and sobbing. Fire waited a few moments, pondering what to say. It wasn’t easy to comfort the mare when he felt he himself was on the brink of tears. An idea came to his mind.

“You asked me who I was,” he began. Twilight moved one of her hooves just enough so that a purple eye had enough room to see the stallion. “Spike he... he’s not coming back. He had to go after his happiness, to find his own way. So he sent me here, to take his place,” As Fire continued, the sobbing mare lifted her head from her hiding place, her lips quivering slightly. “I know... just how much he meant to you, but I’m here to set things right. So, please, just let him go--Oooff!” Before he could finish another sentence, Twilight tackled him and brought the two down on the floor. Her hooves wrapped around him, bringing the stallion into a tight hug as she sunk her head on his chest, trapping him in her embrace. With his head laying on the cold floor, his eyes widened in shock at the unexpected hug.

What do I do?! I’m not good at this sorta thing! he thought, panic running through his mind. Wracked with nerves after the sudden change of atmosphere, Violet spent a few uncertain moments before gathering Twilight in, gently providing all the comfort he could muster.

“It’s not fair... It’s not fair... It’s just not fair...” Twilight’s voice came muffled by Violet’s chest. The stallion remained silent, just giving her the care she needed. He knew she was right, but he had no reply. Also, he felt that actions would speak louder than words.

For a few minutes, the only sound in the kitchen was the sobbing and weeping of the mare’s sadness, accompanied by a few hiccups. Unsure of what to do, Violet Fire began observing the kitchen. It was quite odd to be in that same place now that he was a pony. Everything was the same, yet different in a way. The room didn’t seem so big as it was before. Due to his transformation, he had grown quite a bit, so he was expecting that some things would feel smaller, but to see it for himself was an entirely different thing. He cast a glance to the sink, now clean and devoid of the dishes he had left the other day.

She must’ve cleaned it while I was gone. She does that when she gets anxious, he silently commented. As he continued to look around, his eyes fell upon a rather large bottle bearing the Sweet Apple Acres logo. The recipient had a golden liquid that sparkled under the kitchen’s artificial light, but only enough left for one final cup. Violet raised an eyebrow.

That’s weird... he thought. I didn’t know we had cider. Twilight must’ve gotten it today, but why would she...

Wait a sec. When did it get so quiet? the stallion asked himself. Violet Fire turned his worried eyes towards Twilight. The mare had stopped her sobbing and was just resting her head on his chest, breathing softly.

“Are... are you alright?” he asked. Startled by his sudden question, Twilight quickly lifted her head and looked at the other unicorn. Her amethyst pupils were even redder and more puffed than before and her face, as well as Fire’s coat, was wet with tears.

“Ye-yes. Yes I am,” she answered, her cheeks blushing lightly. “Thank you for... um...” she began, but lost herself in her words.

“Hey, don’t worry; you needed it. I know you’ve been through a lot, but it’ll be fine. I promise,” he said in a confident tone. Twilight simply smiled and blushed a little more.

“This is so weird,” she commented. “I mean, I don’t even know your name and here I am, relying so much on you.”

“That’s easy to solve. Name’s Violet Fire.”

“Violet Fire huh? You’re kind of my knight in shining armour,” she said, giggling.

“Except for the ‘knight’ and ‘shining armour’ part, that is,” he replied sarcastically.

“Well, yes, but you’ve done a lot for me. I should repay you somehow...”

“Now that you mention it, I was wondering... if it’s not too much trouble... would you mind if I took those with me?” he asked, gesturing towards the jar of gemstones that was lying on the ground. Twilight looked at the recipient and back at the stallion, an eyebrow raised.

“Spike’s snacks? What for?” she wondered.

“Well, you see... it’s embarrassing to admit, but... I’m flat broke,” he answered. “I got nothing on me. Literally. I... um... left my stuff where I came from and I can’t get it back. Also, I spent all the bits I had with me before I left, so I have no money. If I sold those gems I could get enough to get back on my hooves.” And technically, those gems are mine, but I can’t say it, he thought.

Twilight glanced at the jar and bit her lower lip, struggling with the decision. After a few moments of pondering over his request, she closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “Yes... you can have them,” she answered.

“Really?!” Violet Fire exclaimed.

“Yes... you’ve done so much for me and, as you said before, I... I have to let him go...” she replied, sadly. Fire, however, was oblivious to her change of tone. His plan had, to his immense surprise, worked perfectly. Maybe Twilight was still feeling depressed, but he had accomplished quite a few feats: he had managed to convince the stubborn mare to call off all search parties, she was determined to move on and he finally had a way to get some money to get his new life in Ponyville started.

You did good, Spi-- I mean, Fire. Okay, so there’re still some screw-ups that need fixing, but look at yourself! Acting all grown-up and reliable. Maybe when Argent made me older I got more mature? That’d explain it, Violet Fire noticed Twilight’s shimmering amethyst eyes staring at him. He smiled happily at her. Just look at her warm smile. If she’s not happy, then I don’t know what she’s feeling right now! Realizing they had been just staring at each other for a while, Violet decided to break the silence.

“Thanks. That’s going to be a huge help.”

“No.. thank you for everything,” she replied.

“Aw, phooey, you’re making me blush,” Violet said, his cheeks turning a light red at her words. Suddenly, he felt her hooves climbing his back and hugging him tighter, bringing his body closer to her. Before he could say anything, he felt a soft, wet sensation on his lips. His emerald eyes turned the size of pinheads, his mind going into overdrive trying to rapidly piece together the flood of information. His heart beat a mile per second as he realized just what was happening.

Twilight Sparkle was kissing him.

Not a gentle kiss from a sister. Not a parting kiss from a mare or a filly at the end of a conversation. Not a goodnight kiss from a mother. It was a lover’s kiss. A deep, passionate, lover’s kiss.

Violet Fire’s mind was working at full capacity trying to understand what was going on. He felt slightly sick, his eyes screaming out terror and disgust. Twilight’s hooves moved up until they reached the back of his neck and held his head in place. Whatever the reason behind the mare’s sudden infatuation, she wasn’t joking around. Fire’s brain began to melt a bit as something twirled inside his mouth, wrapping itself around a tongue that was refusing to move under the shock. The stallion suddenly felt a strong flavor stimulating his taste buds. It tasted like apples, but much stronger, more like...

Cider? he thought. Wait, this is no time to be guessing what she tastes like! With a sudden burst of energy, Violet Fire pushed Twilight away and leaped back as far as he could. The stallion was shaking violently in shock and horror, his face devoid of the brightness of his purple color. His mane stood on its edge as he desperately fought back the urge to barf. A difficult task, seeing as his system was intent on showing what his breakfast looked like after being processed. Desperate to get out, Violet Fire made a dashing escape towards the door, grabbing the jar with his mouth on his way out. The stallion stormed out of the treehouse, his hooves stomping the ground as he trotted madly away into the night.

“So-so-so-so-so co-co-co-cold!!!!” Violet Fire stuttered as he shoved his body under the cascade of freezing water provided by the fountain of the park. In a split second he was drenched from head to tail, his spiked mane straightening under the weight of the cold liquid. Like most ponies, Fire wasn’t very inclined towards cool showers. However, in light of the current situation, the low temperature was perfect for him. He would dive into a pool of ice if needed. Whatever it would take to get that sensation out of his head. But no matter how much he tried, how long he kept his body under the cascade, the truth still haunted him, repeating over and over like an ominous mantra.

Twilight kissed me. Twilight kissed me. Twilight kissed me.

Fire shuddered at the thought. It wasn’t so much the kissing, but who he had kissed. Twilight Sparkle had practically given birth to him. After all, she was the one who had hatched him from his egg. She had raised him, fed him, looked after him. Due to her youth, Fire saw her more as a sister rather a mother. A loving, caring sister. They may not be related by blood, but that didn’t change the way he saw her.

And that is exactly why he was trying to drown the thought away. The idea of kissing his own sister made him feel sick and nauseated. It didn’t help the fact that it was his first kiss. But that wasn’t the worst part. What had him so disgusted, so confused, so angry was...

“Why can’t you just... SETTLE DOWN?!” he yelled furiously at his nether regions. It was embarrassing how worked up he was at Twilight’s kiss. His body was far too honest for his own good, and if had he taken just a second longer to leave...

He shuddered once again.

But why was Twilight Sparkle, the pony who up until a year ago could not even conceiveof the idea of having friends, suddenly acting so... bold? It wasn’t like her at all. She wasn’t as quiet as Fluttershy, sure, but she wasn’t so daring either. She was acting completely different than usual. Her seductive stare. Her soft lips. Her tongue, gently wrapping around his...

“AHHHHH!!!!” he yelled, shaking his head fiercely. “Come on Spi--Fire. Get your mind away from those thoughts!!! Calm down... calm down...” he whispered to himself. The stallion sat on his haunches and closed his eyes, trying to breathe slowly. “Breathe in... breath out... breathe in... breathe out...” he murmured, almost as if chanting a magical formula. After a few moments of repeating the same words, Violet Fire was finally able to ‘settle down’.

“Good. That takes care of one problem,” said the stallion as he walked out of the fountain. He looked around, searching for something that he could use to dry himself. Unable to find anything suitable for the task, the unicorn shook his body like a wet dog. When he was done, he examined the results. His coat was still damp and his mane didn’t return to its spiked form, but he had succeeded in getting most of it out. Fire sat on his haunches and placed his hooves on his head, shaking his mane vigorously to dry it a bit more.

Now that I think about it, Twilight was acting pretty weird today, he thought, remembering the mare’s earlier behaviour. Her tardiness at opening the door, her hiccups, the swaying. And what about her mood swings? She was happy one minute, violent the other; sad one moment and seductive the other?

“I don’t get it, it’s like... like she was under a spell or something. What could’ve caused her to.. change...” Violet Fire’s words trailed off as his brain relived the turmoiling events of that evening. His mind fell upon a particular item that he hadn’t given much consideration to at the time.

The cider bottle. The nearly empty cider bottle.

“Urgh, of course! How can I be so dumb?!” he exclaimed throwing his hooves in the air. “Last time she had a cup of cider she could barely keep her lunch down and she had to go and drink nearly a whole bottle!! That explains a lot, but...” Fire crossed his forehooves in deep thought. “it doesn’t explain why she... urgh, kissed me. Even if she was drunk, Twilight wouldn’t go around ma-ma-making out with strangers,” he said, blushing slightly. As he pondered over the issue, Violet Fire turned his head to water in the fountain and saw his own reflection. It suddenly came to him that it was the first time he had actually seen what he looked like after the transformation. The stallion brought his face closer to the water mirror and that’s when he realized.

He was one good-looking stallion.

His spiky emerald mane was beautifully cared for, even after being trashed earlier by his hooves. His eyes, the same amazing color as his hair and tail, sparkled under the pale moonlight. They were vivid, strong and mesmerizing. He felt like he could dive into those pools of green and be swept off his hooves. He was also unbelievably well-built. He was aware that the spell had changed his muscles so they could withstand his new body, but just now was he realizing they were actually adorning his form, giving him the appearance of a mature and reliable unicorn. Overall, he could describe himself as...

“Handsome...” he murmured. “Was I... was I this good-looking since this morning?” The newfound discovery astonished him. Argent had done more than he promised. Maybe his hopes weren’t as dead as he had believed. Maybe he still had a chance. If he worked harder...

Suddenly, Fire noticed how exhausted he felt. The whole day was so full of turmoil and unpleasant events, one right after the other. Due to the rapid sequentiality of everything, it was no wonder he didn’t realize his own weariness before. The stallion broke eye contact with his reflection. Letting out a yawn, he grabbed the jar of gemstones and walked towards a nearby bench where an abundance of newspapers had been gathered to form a nest. Carefully placing his only possession on the ground, the unicorn climbed the bench and laid down as best as he could. Wrapping his hooves over each other, Violet Fire rested his head over his limbs and allowed his mind to slip away into the land of dreams. At least there he could find some quiescence to his weary soul.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Well, well, well... the plot thickens, doesn’t it? For all of you wondering: yes, I do like to cause conflict. I mean, you guys didn’t really expect me to write a sappy story about how Spike would turn into a unicorn and win over Rarity without a few bumps on the road, did you? Now, where’s the fun in that?

Alright, enough joking around. Firstly, I want to thank my editors who always help me out. Frederick the Saiyan, TheWattsMan and Aquillo for their fantastic work on this chapter! Secondly, I want to apologize for the tardiness. This chapter had one part where I simply... blocked. If it wasn’t for the amazing help from Firebirdbtops, this would’ve probably taken an extra day. Maybe two. So go give him some love. Us writers are kinda like changelings: our main fuel is love, except that we also work on caffeine. Well, cookies help as well.

Also, Violet Fire has achieved over 2000 total views! HUZZAH! The views have been doubled! It’s kinda scary to see so many people liking this story so much. And it’s even scarier the amount of work that I still have ahead of me. May Luna have mercy on my soul.

A little about this chapter! Yes, it has alcohol. Yes, it has sexual mentions. But trust me when I say that it is crucial to the story. Really. Not gonna enter into a lot of detail here, but... do know things will get complicated.

Now, I’ve realized I haven’t really been... well, nice to Spike from the get-go. So I’ll give you guys a heads up: Fire is going to shine next chapter. Like big time hero kind of shine. I gotta give him a break every now and then, right?

Chapter 7: Diamonds are not forever

Plip, the droplet fell. But where was it coming from? From the right? Plip. No, from the left. Plip. Above? Plip. Behind? No, it was everywhere. The water-drops came from every direction in the lightless space. He didn’t know what to do, where to go: but he had to find that droplet. Its echo reverberated in his ears, touching his heart with its vibrations.

It was so... sad.

With his claws scratching the surface of the floor, the dragonling walked aimlessly, searching for the source of such sadness. First went the seconds, then the minutes. Hours passed by and his quest was still fruitless, but never for a moment did the thought of yielding cross his mind. He couldn’t tell why or even how, but his feet kept on moving without ever stopping or tiring. Right... left... right... left...

The sweet fragrance of spring flowers invaded his nostrils as the scenery around him shifted into a meadow. Surrounded by the immense variety of flora, the dragonling continued his indifferent search, but as he walked across the field he found a beautiful multi-colored flower bed. It was composed of many majestic flowers: jasmines, gardenias, hyacinths and a large variety of others. However breathtaking the sight was, something else caught the dragonling’s attention. It was a round, green gemstone; perfectly cut in every angle. He reached his hand out to grab it...

As soon as his claws touched the gem, a scalding heat-wave came over him. Holding the stone in his palm, he felt his feet sink a few inches into the sand. The fresh sea breeze brushed across his scales, cooling down his body as he squinted his eyes to look into the distance. Holding the green gem, the dragonling resumed his walk, each step leaving a print on the soft sand of the beach. After a few minutes of hiking under the blazing sun, he felt his foot touching an unexpected hard surface. Looking down, his emerald eyes fell upon a triangular shaped gemstone. Its igneous color shone bright with the light provided by the fiery star in the sky. Entranced by such beauty, the dragonling crouched and grabbed the red stone...

In the blink of an eye the scorching sun was gone, and the beach was replaced by the clearing of a forest. The trees surrounding him bore yellow and orange leaves. Said foliage also adorned the ground, painting the scenery with an array of bright colors, illuminated by the setting sun. The dragonling noticed an amber spark from out the corner of his eye. Rotating his head towards it, he found a rectangular gemstone sitting on top of a rock, its yellow brilliancy bringing shame to the leaves surrounding it. Without so much as a second thought, the dragonling grabbed the gem.

The freezing blizzard emerged with great force; the howling wind striking like razor-sharp blades against his scales. The cold snow rose up to his waist as he made his way across the mountain’s trail, his body shivering under the low temperature. His vision went out of focus as his body succumbed to the punishing weather. As the snow began to cover him, his eyes caught the glimpse of a drop-shaped form. The object was a crystal of incredible transparency, its white color as beautiful as the sparkling arctic ice. Unconsciously, the dragonling reached his claws towards it. Suddenly, silence took over the environment, until...

Plip.

His ears shot up, searching for the source of that familiar sound.

Plip.

With the weight of the snow gone from his shoulders, he rose to his feet.

Plip.

He eyes wandered around the space. He was there: so close that he could feel it in his bones. The sadness... the loneliness... touching his heart with icy fingers...

Plip.

And there he found it. The source. A white unicorn. Entranced by the mare’s beauty, the dragonling’s eyes registered every detail about the diva: her beautiful purple mane, the magenta and violet dress, her golden tiara... but something was amiss. However dazzling she was, her splendor was tainted by the sound... the sound of her tears falling.

Plip.

Something or somepony had done harmed her, he could tell. The mare was struck with such sorrow and grief that it was almost tangible, and he could feel it like it was his own. It wasn’t right: the whole world was wrong because of her sadness.

Plip.

The dragonling approached the weeping lady. Stopping in front of her, he extended his arms and offered her his gems. That would cheer her up, wouldn’t it? He was making her happier, right?

Plip.

Yet it was to no avail, for her weeping continued. No, that wasn’t it... it wasn’t enough. Such simple presents wouldn’t suffice. He had to go farther for her, to bring back her smile.

Plip.

Placing the stones by her side, the dragonling placed his claws over his chest and pushed sideways, like a sliding door.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

From inside his breast poured a radiant scarlet light. Every beat increased the glow momentarily. The mare lifted her eyelids, revealing deep blue eyes that stared stunned at the sight unraveling before her. The dragonling reached his hand inside the compartment and retrieved yet another gemstone: a Fire Ruby. A heart-shaped, fully-ripened Fire Ruby. Once again, he offered her the gem. Mouth agape, the unicorn accepted the gift with a smile on her face.

And no more tears were heard.

I’ll take it from here... whispered a husky voice into his ear. His eyes widened as his body froze in place. A hoof slowly lowered itself beside the dragonling as the whisperer brought himself into view. Coming out of the shadows was a unicorn.

A violet unicorn.

The stallion gave the small dragonling a sideways glance. His lips curled up into an evil grin as his emerald eyes narrowed down. The little dragon tried to voice a protest: to raise a claw and scratch him, to burn that snob smile off his face.

But he couldn’t. His body refused to move an inch. He was utterly and completely petrified with fear.

The violet stallion walked calmly towards the mare before them. Her eyes gazed dreamily at the stranger, completely disregarding the presence of the small dragon in front of her. The mare let out a passionate sigh as he nuzzled her neck, the stallion keeping his stare on the little one the entire time. The dragonling simply stood there, boiling hatred building up inside of him. Who did that guy think he was? Coming in after the storm had cleared and taking the laurels of victory? It wasn’t right. He didn’t deserve her. The stallion raised an eyebrow as he moved his lips.

And do you? they read.

The couple began walking away, their heads resting on each other. The dragonling tried to run to them, but tripped and tumbled over. He turned his head to see what had made him stumble, and that’s when he saw it.

His feet had vanished and, to his despair, his legs were being erased as naught steadily climbed his body. Panicking, he tried to call out to the couple, now far from him. Yet, they did not give him any attention, not even a simple glance. He shouted once more, but was ignored again. For the third time he yelled and for the third they paid him no mind. It was no use, they did not care about his existence. He was nothing, a faded memory long gone.

Plip. And then he was nil, sent to oblivion forever.

“No... don’t go... don’t forget me... Rarity, no...” Violet Fire mumbled.

“Um... sir? Are you okay?” whispered a sweet, gentle mare’s voice in his ear. “I really think he’s having a nightmare.”

You’re not Rarity... he groggily thought to himself

“Gee, what gave it away, Shy? The wincing, the grunting or the shaking?”a hoarse voice asked sarcastically.

You’re definitely not Rarity, he concluded flatly.

“Ah’m more worried about why in Celestia’s holy name he’d be sleeping on a bench in the middle of the park. It ain’t what ya’d call comfortable”

You’re not even close!

“Hang on, I got an idea,” said the hoarse voice, followed by the sound of beating wings.

And off she goes, thought the stallion. I don’t care what she does, I can’t face them now. I’m just going to pretend I’m sleeping until they--

Chuaaaaa

His thoughts were interrupted by a wave of icy water. “HOLY GUACAMOLE!” Violet Fire shouted as he lunged into the air, shivering from head to hoof. His eyes now open wide, he looked at a yellow pegasus and a tangerine cowmare that stared worriedly at him.

“Rise and shine, partner!” Applejack exclaimed, pushing her stetson hat back.

“Is that a-a-a-any way to wake so-so-somepony up?!” the stallion asked between chattering teeth.

“BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” cracked-up the hoarse voice from above. Violet Fire tilted his head backwards and found a cyan pegasus laying on a cloud, slamming her hooves on the fluffy surface as tears rolled down her cheeks from the uncontrollable laughter. He gave the chuckling hyena an accusing glare.

“To-to-top of the morning to you too, Ra-ra-rainbow,” he said in a sarcastic tone.

“Bwahaha — sorry pal,” Dash said as she jumped off the cloud and onto the ground. “but —hahaha— it’s tough to take you seriously when —hahaha— you’re shaking like that!” Dash replied between giggles.

“What did you expect?! I’m freezing over he– Aaa...Aaa...atchim!”

The laughing stopped. Rainbow and Applejack looked at Violet with incredulous eyes, their mouths slightly open. They gave each other a sideways glance and...

“BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” the laughing resumed, now reinforced by the cowmare’s laughter.

“Would you two quit it?!”

Applejack bit her lower lip to prevent the chuckling.“Ah’m sorry partner, but... ya sneeze like a kitten,” she said before resuming her unrestrainable laughing.

“Girls, that’s not very nice! No matter how adorable his sneeze is, you should not laugh at it!” Fluttershy said, stomping her hoof on the ground as she reprimanded the other two ponies.

“That’s right, you shouldn’t– Did you say ‘adorable’?” Violet Fire asked, looking at the meek pegasus. The laughter increased tenfold. After a few moments of more chuckling and giggling, the two mares managed to stand up straight without bursting into laughter.

“Ahh, man, that made my day,” Rainbow commented.

“You done?” Violet Fire asked, giving her a disapproving stare.

“Awww, look, he’s pouting!” she replied as she walked towards him and pinched his cheeks with her hooves. “Who’s the cutsy, wootsy wittle kitten with the adowable sneeze? That’s right, you are!” she said mockingly.

“Cut it out, Rainbow!” ordered the stallion slapping her hooves away. Rubbing his right cheek, he gave the trio a inquiring look. “Why are you three here anyway?”

“We heard ya moaning in yer sleep and got a tad worried,” Applejack answered.

Violet Fire’s eyes widened as he remembered his dream. That was a nasty nightmare. I hope I don’t get more of them. He shuddered at the thought. He noticed a pile of posters neatly stacked and tied with a string next to Fluttershy.

“You putting up more of those?” he asked, pointing a hoof at the pamphlets.

Fluttershy gave the pile a quick glance. “Oh no, far from that. We’re actually removing them.”

“Removing? How come?” Fire wondered, tilting his head to the side.

“You tell us, mister Violet Fire,” demanded Rainbow.

“How do you know my name?” the stallion asked, looking at the cyan pegasus with a raised eyebrow.

“From Twilight, of course. She rounded us up this morning and told everything about yer little... talk, last night,” Applejack answered.

Violet Fire felt his heart stop for a second.

“Yeah, I can hardly believe it myself. Who knew an egghead like Twilight was so bold like that?” Dash commented with a nod of her head.

His pupils shrank to the size of pinheads.

“I feel embarrassed just remembering it. It was so... embarrassing,” said Fluttershy with a flushed face.

The stallion’s violet coat faded into a paler shade.

“But we really gotta thank ya for yer help. Ya were the hero, after all,” said Applejack.

“Aww yeah! Shining armour and all!” Rainbow added.

Then, he snapped.

“IDIDN’TMEANFORITTOHAPPENITWASANACCIDENTSHEFORCEDMEIWASCAUGHTBYSURPRISEITHAPPENEDALLOFASUDDENSHEWASN’TFEELINGWELLANDSHEHADDRUNKALOTITMEANSNOTHING!!!” Violet Fire desperately cried out in a single breath, sliding on the floor and grabbing Applejack by her forelegs in a pleading fit. Suddenly, a terrifying possibility came to him. “Tell me Rarity didn’t hear about it...” he said in a weak voice, looking up to the mare with a anxiety in his eyes.

“Why, of course she did. Twilight called everypony in town for the rally,” she answered.

“Everypony... in town?” he asked, the already pale color on his face fading even more.

“Eeyup.”

“Oh Goddess, oh Goddess, oh Goddess!” Violet Fire chanted. He threw his hooves over his eyes, his ears splaying back as he trembled in fear. “I’m doomed, doomed! Everything I’ve done went down the drain! Oh Celestia, if Rarity hated me before, she’s definitely gonna kill me now!”

“Um... excuse me, but why would Rarity hate you?” Fluttershy asked, laying next to him on the ground.

“Because of what happened at the library last night!” Violet Fire answered with a squeaky voice.

“Now, why in tarnation would Rarity hate ya fer dropping a message from Spike?”

“Of course she’d hate me for that, I–” he cried out desperately, stopping abruptly. “Wait, did you say ‘dropping a message’?” he asked, removing a hoof from over his incredulous eyes.

“Duuuh, yeah! What else could it be?” Rainbow said. “Twilight called a meeting this morning to talk about your message and to call off all patrols.”

“Ah personally think this might be a tad early to quit, but Twilight seems to trust ya,” Applejack spoke as she looked down at the stallion, whose coat returning to its original bright violet. “Besides, this is Twilight’s business and we’re gonna respect her decisions.”

The other two mares nodded in agreement. Violet Fire rose to his hooves, scratching the back of his head in utter confusion. So Twilight didn’t tell them about the... thing? I don’t get it, he thought. His eyes widened when a sudden realization came to mind. Wait, if Twilight didn’t say anything about... that at the rally, than that means Rarity doesn’t know it either! I still have a shot!

Guuuuurllllll... complained his stomach.

But first: breakfast. I’m starving, he thought as he turned towards the glass jar with gems that he had acquired the night before. Grabbing it with his hoof, he looked at the trio of mares behind him. “Well girls, I gotta go. Have to sell these if I want to eat before I pass out.” Biting the lid with his teeth, he waved his hoof in the air to say goodbye. “Gatchia rader!” he said and parted ways with them.

The three stood in the middle of that park, staring at the dot that was now the violet stallion from before.

“He seems like a nice fella,” Applejack said. “A bit weird, but good-hearted.”

“A ‘bit’ weird? AJ, the way he was acting, you’d think he and Twilight slept together or something,” Rainbow commented as she hovered towards the cloud from before and pushed it away.

“Well, yes, but I think it’s a reasonable reaction, considering the way Twilight described their encounter yesterday,” Fluttershy commented, walking towards the pile of posters. “Remember how badly she was blushing as she spoke? It was really embarrassing.” Suddenly, the meek mare’s cheeks flushed a bright red, mimicking her magician friend’s description perfectly. Her face remained rosy as she bent down to hold the string with her mouth.

“Yeah, I still can’t believe Twilight would threaten somepony like that! And she only drank a bottle of cider. One bottle! How much of a lightweight is she?”

“Hehehehe, ah agree with ya,” Applejack said with a chuckle. She placed a hoof on her chin, tapping it in thought. “But now that ah think about it... that Violet fella seemed awfully familiar...”

“Fow fo?” Fluttershy mumbled with the string on her mouth.

“Well... that ‘Holy Guacamole’ of his reminded me of... Spike.”

Silence fell over the trio before Rainbow Dash broke it with a snicker.

“Ha, good one AJ! ‘Violet looks like Spike’... Next up you’ll be saying Fluttershy looks like Pinkie!” she mocked.

“Hehehehe, yer right. Ah must be going outta my mind.”

Unbeknownst to most ponies in Equestria, the Ponyville Market was actually one of the best places to shop, be it for duty or leisure. Anypony needed to could find just about anything there: from Sweet Apple Acres’ trademark fruits and Carrot Top’s unparalleled vegetables, to all sorts of wonders and trinkets sold by the travelling merchants from all over the land.

The marketplace was filled to the brim with ponies of all shapes and colors. As Violet Fire walked around the place, he could discern some fragments of the conversations between vendors and customers.

“Fanfics for only 2 cents, folks. I’m literally giving them away”

“I’ll give 3 bits for those and that’s my final offer!”

“Gather round Ponyville, for my sister and I have a great opportunity for all of you ladies and gentlecolts!”

“I didn’t put those in my bag!”

Quite busy, as always, the stallion thought. Violet trotted down the street looking for a vendor, when a sweet, citrus fragrance stopped him on his tracks. Eyes closed and mouth watering, the stallion raised his muzzle and sniffed the air, trying to pinpoint the location of the delicious scent. With his sense of smell heightened by his hunger, it took but a few moments to locate the stall responsible for the fragrance: a fruit pie stand.

Oh boy! That looks soooo good, Violet thought to himself, licking his lips before his delicious find. He started walking towards the delicacies, his mind going into a complete daze as his stomach agreed quite vehemently with his actions. With his eyes closed, the stallion approached one of the freshly baked pies and opened his mouth, ready to take a generous bite out of its crunchy, juicy form.

Crunch! The stallion cringed at the ringing noise as his teeth closed on air?

Ouch! That hurts!he complained internally. Beside the stand, a caramel colored earth pony looked at the unicorn with her delicate eyebrow raised. She held in her hooves the pie that Violet had tried to eat and if the white apron with a pie logo was any indication, he presumed that the mare was the baker responsible for the cart.

“Can I help you?” she asked with a tone of confusion. The two maintained the position, eyes engaged in a deep gaze. Considering the awkward nature of the situation, Violet Fire did the only thing expected of somepony in his position

He fled in a purple blur.

“Weirdo...” she whispered. The salespony turned to look at the customer she had been attending to.

“Lassie, would ya -hiccup- mind not wastin’ mah time?” asked the dark brown unicorn. The mare twisted her muzzle at the stranger’s breath. Sweet Celestia, you could smell the booze a mile away!

“Al-cough-right sir! Here you go!” she said, covering her nostrils with a hoof as she hoofed over the pie.

“Much obliged,” the stallion said. With his horn, he levitated the pastry towards his mouth and took a sizeable bite out of it, covering his mutton chops in purple jam. Suddenly, he turned his head and spat the food on the ground. “Why in tarnation is there no booze in this thing?!”

“It’s a blueberry pie... of course there’d be no alcohol in it,” answered the confused mare.

“Pie?! Don’t ya have any rum?!”

“Sir, this is a pie stand. What do you think I sell?!”

“Easy there, lassie. If ya don’t want to sell me anythin’, just say so...” he said as he rolled his eyes. He turned around and wobbled away.

“But... but... URGH!!!”

Meanwhile, Violet Fire was trying to breath normally again. After his rushed gallop, the stallion stopped by the wall of a house to rest a bit. He placed the jar on the side and stuck his tongue out as he gasped for air, his body burning from the heat of the exercise.

That... was close, he thought. My hunger is greater than I thought. Never expected to try dining and dashing. The stallion gave the glass jar next to him a quick glance. I better hurry up and sell these gems. The sooner I do that, the sooner I’ll eat.

Gurlllllll, his stomach chastised.

“Oh, shush you!” Violet grumbled to his belly. Suddenly, a sheen caught his attention. The stallion raised his head and turned his eyes toward the source of the glow. A few meters away, in front of a very busy beige barrack there was a wooden table covered in a lime green cloth. Scattered across it, Violet saw beautiful jewelry of all kinds: golden bracelets, sapphire rings, diamond tiaras, silver necklaces. An immense variety of precious accessories could be found for all sorts of tastes, but what caught the stallion’s attention was the sign standing next to the table.

Want gemstones? I’m selling! Got gemstones? I’m buying!

Violet Fire’s eyes shone brightly as his lips curled into an expression of pure joy. This is perfect! he thought as he grabbed his glass jar with his teeth and walked over to the barrack. I can sell the gems and finally get some food! Mumbling a few apologies as he made his way through the crowd, Violet slowly approached the front. Almost... there... he thought as he reached the last row of ponies.

“Excuse me, kind sir. Could you be a gentlecolt and help a damsel in distress?” asked a beautiful and very familiar voice. Violet Fire stopped on his tracks, turning his head towards the owner of that charming tone. His eyes widened in terror as he saw a white unicorn batting her eyelashes at the jeweler.

“RARITY?!” he yelled, surprised. At the mention of her name the mare turned her head around, missing the violet stallion by a fraction. Ducking behind a light green unicorn and a cream-colored earth pony, Fire hid from her searching eyes. Not finding the one who had called out her name, Rarity turned towards the vendor once more. Violet raised his head high enough to look over the couple’s shoulders.

Rarity?! Here? But... why would she-- hang on, of course she’d be here, you idiot. This guy’s selling gemstones, for Celestia’s sake! The hunger must be making me dumber or something... he thought. The couple of mares that were currently acting as his cover looked at the odd unicorn with raised eyebrows. In the meantime, Rarity began giggling at something the vendor had said. Fire frowned and growled at the situation as a tight knot of jealousy formed in his stomach, which also resulted in the two mares in front of him moving a few inches away.

The stallion closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “Calm down, Fire. She’s just bargaining, that’s all. You’ve seen her do it hundreds of times before...” he said between gritted teeth, trying to comfort himself. And you felt like making pony barbecue with every single guy she ever bargained with, but that’s not the point. Still, however mature he tried to act, the knot kept getting even tighter as he observed the unicorn throwing her hair back and batting her eyelashes one more time. That settled it.

Lowering himself as close to the ground as equinely possible, Violet Fire crawled towards the fashionista, causing a few gasps of surprise on his way.

“Hey!”

“What are you...?”

“He-hey! Do-don’t touch me there!”

The stallion blushed slightly at the last remark.

His sneaking successfully completed, Violet Fire finally got close enough to discern the conversation between the two. The jeweler was a grey-coated earth pony with yellow eyes. He wore a monocle and a midnight blue vest. His purple mane was curly and cut short. Overall, a charming and charismatic stallion. However, what really unsettled Violet Fire was the fact that, adorning the vendor’s face was a fine, slim and gentlecoltly moustache. The violet stallion touched his own muzzle unconsciously.

“Anyhow, my good sir, I can see from your display that you have quite the variety of gems available. Would you, per chance, happen to have any diamonds in stock?”

The grey stallion gave her a mischievous wink as his lips curled into a roguish grin. “For you toots, anythin’,” he said before entering the barrack and rummaging through his things. Violet Fire felt his muscles tensing up as he fought the nigh-uncontrollable urge to jump on the jeweler and choke him.

“Oh, you flatter me,” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof. Her words had the effect of throwing fuel to the fire of his jealousy. Violet Fire violently shook his head, trying to calm himself. He suddenly noticed he had been pressing his hooves on the ground under him and that they had sunk quite a bit due to his enraged strength. The stallion slightly raised his hoof and examined the groove he had carved. Comparing his limb to the impression reminded him of something unpleasant.

The enormous pawprint he had seen during his birthday. His pawprint. The one left by his greedy, monstrous self.

I... I have to leave, he thought to himself. If I stay here, I might end up doing something stupid. Violet Fire stood up and started making his way out of the crowd. Besides, I bet I can find somewhere else to sell my gems, it’s not like there’s any real reason for me to talk to this guy--

“Here you go, toots: Volcanic Drake Diamonds! The finest in all the land,” said the jeweler. Violet Fire suddenly stopped on his tracks as the words reached his perked up ears.

Wait, how in Equestria did he get his hooves on Volcanic Drake Diamonds? wondered the stallion in silence. Curiosity struck him hard. On one hoof he feared that staying any longer increased the odds of him being spotted by Rarity or of his jealousy getting the better of him. On the other hoof, he had only seen a Volcanic Drake Diamond once in all his life. The transparency and brilliance of the gem were unrivaled by the majority of gems. It was also quite rare and hard to acquire for most ponies, so it could prove to be the chance of a lifetime. The stallion nervously bit his lower lip.

“Only a quick peek... then I’ll scramble,” he whispered to himself. Violet Fire pivoted around and rested his eyes upon the table, where the grey-coated vendor had placed a small wooden chest with a brass padlock. Rarity and a few other ponies looked at the recipient with eagerness, wondering what amazing beauties lay within.

“Ladies, gentlecolts,”– the stallion gave the beautiful fashionista a foxish grin. –“toots: I bring thee the most marvelous of all gemstone-related wonders. Of all the gems in Equestria, diamonds have always been a mare’s best friend and, of all the diamonds that ever existed, the Volcanic Drake is ranked amongst the top three. It is so rare that some say even Princess Celestia herself does not possess a piece of jewelry with the precious rock.” The salespony paused momentarily for dramatic effect. He looked to the sides a few times before motioning to the crowd to lean closer. “But today is your lucky day, folks, for I happen to have a few of the gems in stock for just such an occasion.” The jeweler placed a key on the padlock and gave it a twist until it clicked open. After removing the restraints, the grey earth pony placed a hoof over the lid. “BEHOLD! The Volcanic Drake Diamonds!” he announced in an exaggerated manner as he opened the chest in one quick swing. The eyes of the crowd widened as far as equinely possible, threatening to pop out of their sockets.

“Ooooooo! Aaaaaaaa!” they exclaimed, completely taken by the beauty of the innards of the chest. Within the recipient were gemstones of different shapes, but all possessing the same dazzling brilliance and luster. There were probably fifty or so gems being displayed. The crowd was speechless at the the impressive sight before them. Violet Fire was speechless as well.

Speechless at how big of a sham those rocks were.

Unbelievable! I’m not sure if I should be impressed by how bold this guy is to try and pull such a stupid plan, or be impressed by how stupid he actually is to believe anypony’d fall for it. However, the ponies around him were of a different opinion. Some were already checking if they had enough bits to make their purchase. We-well, they don’t know the first thing about diamonds, but Rarity won’t fall for that trick! She works with gems every day! She’ll see see right through his little--

“My word, they are absolutely fantastic!” exclaimed the fashionista.

WHAT?! Violet Fire protested in his mind. How could it be? Rarity falling for that scam, so easily? Who are you and what have you done with my beautiful Rarity?!

“I knew you had a good eye on you, toots. So, how many will you take?”

“The whole box, if you don’t mind,” Rarity answered, already levitating her bag of bits. Violet Fire’s jaw dropped instantly.

“Right away, toots. That’ll be 1,000 bits,” the vendor said, reaching for his customer’s money bag.

“WHAT?!” Rarity and Violet Fire exclaimed in unison. The mare’s eyes widened as she noticed the second, huskier voice coming from the back. She turned her head around and, for the second time, missed the stallion by a fraction of a second. Shaking the thought away from her head, the mare turned towards the jeweler once more. “I-I mean... surely you must be joking, dear.”

He’s not joking, but that’s way too much for those fake rocks! At least that’s what Violet wanted to say, yet he remained silent.

“Sorry toots, I ain’t. Volcanic Drake Diamonds are usually 50 bits for every 100 grams. I’m actually makin’ it for 10 bits. If you do the math, you can see I’m bein’ quite generous, now, aren’t I?” asked the vendor with a smile on his face.

“Putting it like that... I suppose so,” Rarity answered.

No, you don’t suppose so! He’s lying! Well, technically he just told the truth, but those are fakes! Real fakes! Crouching on the ground, Violet Fire was already pulling his ears as he was consumed by anxiety. The mare from his dreams was about to make an enormous professional mistake and she had no idea. He had to do something, anything.

“Well, what will it be, toots? If you’re not buyin’, I’ll just sell it to some other pony in the crowd,” the vendor said, slowly turning towards a mare with a curly, orange mane who was eagerly awaiting her turn, a heavy bag of bits jingling on her mouth.

“Wait!” Rarity called out. With a heavy sigh, the mare levitated her bag of bits in the vendor’s direction. “You drive a hard bargain, sir.”

No he doesn’t!

“Hehehe, what can I say, toots? It’s just business...” responded the stallion, lifting his hoof towards the cash.

Uhh, it’s called FRAUD, you little son of a--

“Agreed,” said the mare with a nod as the bag steadily approached the jeweler.

No, don’t agree! He’s... I... you... ARGH!

I give up, Violet Fire thought. Raising to his hooves, he hung his head low and let a weary sigh escape from his mouth. It was over. He had to come to terms with that. There was nothing he could do to change what was about to happen. The dice had been thrown, and it was now time to accept the cruel reality of fate.

“HOLD IT, BUDDY!!” Violet Fire roared with a husky, confident voice. The shout startled both vendor and customer as they stumbled from surprise due to the sudden yell. With his chest puffed out and a fierce determination burning in his eyes, the stallion made his way towards the two ponies, his hooves striking the ground with each stomp. Throwing caution completely out the window, he had to do what he had to do; there was not a snowball’s chance in Tartarus that he would let harm of any kind befall the mare of his dreams. Of course, it meant having to face her after being verbally slashed the day before, but he was ready to suffer a small amount of torture in order to save her.

When Violet Fire reached the table, he realized everypony in the crowd had their eyes set on him. A few individuals whispered and mumbled to others next to them, buzzing like a beehive. The stallion’s limbs shook nervously from suddenly being in the spotlights, but his expression remained still and serious, unfazed by his fear.

Rarity gasped when she noticed exactly who was standing next to her. Her surprise, however, was short-lived. In an instant her eyes glared daggers at him, her teeth gritting with pure anger as the rage from the day before returning stronger than ever.

“You...” she growled. “I thought I was very clear yesterday when I said I didn’t want to see your face again!”

“Look Rarity, believe me when I say this, but I didn’t want to face you either,” Violet said looking at the mare with an apologetic sigh. “I screwed up big time yesterday, but my apology is gonna have to wait,” He turned his head back to the vendor, frowning at him, his emerald eyes staring at the grey stallion with an angered look. “First I gotta deal with this chump!”

“Oi! Who’re you callin’ a chump, lad?!”

“Oh, I’m sorry: I didn’t know there was another big fat liar around here,” Violet rebuked sarcastically.

“What gives you the right to call me a liar, eh?” the vendor asked, shooting his head towards the accuser. Their faces were so close their muzzles were touching each other, their stares fighting off a battle of wills.

Violet pointed a hoof at the chest beside him. “These are not Volcanic Drake Diamonds!” The crowd gasped in horror at the sudden revelation. Some voices of disbelief could be discerned from the buzzing.

“Celestia’s mane, this is terrible!”

“We were being tricked?”

“This guy is a swindler!”

“And to think I almost spent a month worth of grocery shopping on a fake!”

The grey-coated jeweler, however, looked unfazed. Hopping on the table, he clamored to the unsettled ponies. “Calm down, ladies and gentlecolts, there’s no need for panic. I’m not a swindler, and this lad over here is clearly a jealous competitor tryin’ to ruin my business.”

“This is too precious... a fake calling me a liar! Now that’s something you don’t see every day,” Violet retorted as he rolled his eyes.

The jeweler turned towards him. Still on top of the table, he sat on his haunches and crossed his arms, defiantly. “Oh yeah? Do you have any proof, lad?”

“I was expecting you’d say that.” A sly smile curled up on Violet’s lips. Calmly, he raised his glass jar and placed it on the green cloth. With a twist of his mouth, he opened it and reached inside with his hoof, removing a dazzling, sparkling gem from within. The jaws of the crowd slammed the ground in a synchronized movement.

The stone was round and quite large. It was just slightly bigger than your average ruby or sapphire found while digging around. However, what truly caught their attention (and, consequently, their admiration) was its brilliance. Unlike any other gem on the table, the round stone shone brightly, sparkling with incredible brilliance, as if it had a source of light in itself. The ponies closest to it could see their reflections perfectly on the smooth surface of the gem. It was grander and more majestic than the jeweler’s diamonds.

“This is what a real Volcanic Drake Diamond should look like, mister ‘chump’,” Violet Fire said. Seeing the look of shock on the vendor’s face brought a satisfied grin to the unicorn’s face. “These gems aren’t called Volcanic Drake for kicks. They can only be found in caves of Volcanic Drakes, creatures that live under the hottest temperatures in all of Equestria: inside a volcano.”

Silence replied.

“Shocking right? Oh, but that’s just how you find them. The reason why your little rocks here are fakes goes even further,” Violet Fire grabbed the biggest gem in the chest and aligned with his own diamond. “The Drakes love the stones, so they take really good care of them. By using their claws they cut the rough diamonds in veeeeeeeery slow motions, throughout years of careful work, and that’s how the diamonds get their brilliance. Cut, not shape and polish, is what gives a diamond its brilliance.” He pointed a hoof at the vendor’s gem. “Your rocks don’t have as much luster because their cut is wrong. I mean, come on, the light is not even reflecting right! It’s not going 90-90, it’s more like 60-30,” Violet explained, motioning with his hooves to show the angles of reflection. “Let’s keep score. Volcanic Drakes: one. Fakes: zero.”

Silence replied yet again.

“Tough crowd huh? Well, that was cut. Normally I’d do a ‘by-the-book’ analysis of the clarity, color and carat weight, but hey, that’s boring. Let’s take a look at it from a professional POV, shall we?” Violet Fire said, sitting on his haunches and picking both gems with each hoof.

Taking a closer look at both diamonds, Violet Fire rubbed them on his cheek, one at a time. “Because the Drakes have such sharp claws, not to mention years of experience, the cuts are very clean and precise.The Volcanic Drake Diamond has a smooth surface that should feel as slippery as butter when rubbed against your cheeks. These fakes, on the other hoof, are smooth, but more like a clean glass kinda smooth. Volcanic Drakes: two. Fakes: zero,” he announced, proudly. “Also...” he said as stretched his hooves. Without hesitating for a split second, the stallion dropped the two gems. The crowd gasped in shock as they watched the precious stones falling on the hard ground. Nonchalantly, Violet Fire picked them up and showed it to the ground. While the Volcanic Drake was perfectly fine, the fake gem had a few small scratches, barely visible to the naked eye. “Volcanic Drakes: three. Fakes: zero.”

Looking at the table, Violet saw that amidst the trinkets was a silver tuning fork. Grabbing it with his teeth, he gave his diamond a quick bang. An angelic, harmonic sound rang from the precious gem. A green unicorn and a pony with a long black mane sighed, enamored by the beautiful note. With another swift strike, Violet hit the other stone with the tuning fork. The sound produced by it made the two mares from before cringe and agonize at the tune, hitting the ground with a loud thump as they fainted. “Thank you Lyra, Octavia. Volcanic Drakes: four. Fakes: zero.”

And now... for the final blow, he stallion thought as he brought the two stones closer to his muzzle. The crowd looked in awe as Violet closed his eyes, took a deep breath and...

Sluuuuuurp, licked the gems all over.

“Ewwww,” the other ponies complained in unison, a few of them twisting their muzzles while others stuck their tongue out in an expression of utter disgust. Rarity’s left eye twitched a few times.

Savoring the taste, Violet Fire looked up, contemplative. “Eeyup, like I thought: the real deal is warm and spicy, but it’s perfectly seasoned and cared for. The fake one, on the other hoof, is rough, cold and tastes bitter. Yuck!” The stallion turned around to the vendor, who by then had curled into a ball and had his ears splayed back, fearing whatever destiny might befall him. Violet Fire puffed out his chest and looked into the swindler’s eyes with a fierce determination and fiery rage in his own emerald pupils.

“Volcanic Drakes: five: Fakes: zero,” he said, pushing his head as close as possible to the cowering stallion. “Now, as a good friend of mine usually says to no gooders like yourself... Git!” he growled between teeth.

It took him less than five seconds to grab all of his things and flee. In no time the swindler was a spot in the distance.

Now that the show had finished, the crowd began to fade, each pony going about their daily business. The cream-colored earth pony from before threw her fainted unicorn friend on her back and carried her away, muttering complaints at every step. In the meantime, a shade-wearing unicorn rose from the ground with a yawn. Stretching her back, she looked around groggily, apparently surprised by the sudden lack of a crowd. Noticing her friend drooling and twitching by her side, the mare shrugged and magically gripped the brunette pony by her tail and dragged her away, while mumbling something about along the lines of ‘wild party’ and ‘hangover’.

Violet Fire stood stood in complete elation over the situation. He was not used to being in the spotlight. If Twilight and the others’ prior adventures had showed him, it was that he was never a hero or a protagonist. He was always on the sidelines, being the secondary. Of course, he had his moments of grandeur, but even at those times he was either a victim in need of help or a giant monstrosity tearing the town apart. For the first time he had his own ‘hero moment’. The first time he did something good, something right.

And he loved every second of it. However, something was amiss. Something on the back of his mind that he had forgotten in the adrenaline of the situation. What could it be?

“Ahem,” somepony harrumphed.

Oh, right... Violet Fire turned towards Rarity who stood next to him, completely still. The image of the mare of his dreams giving him an ice-cold stare with an indifferent expression somehow reminded him of an old saying Princess Celestia used to tell him when he was younger.

Tartarus hath no fury like a mare scorned.

He could see why.

The stallion sighed. He expected to be able to postpone their talk a while longer, just enough for him to sell the gems and get back on his hooves, maybe even enough to buy her an apology present. Yet, it seems the fashionista had an agenda of her own.

Well, Fire, at least you helped her, right? Now you just gonna have to suck it in and get on with it...

“Guess there’s no way around it huh?” he asked, scratching the back of his head. Rarity did not flinch.

“Yes,” she answered coldly.

“Alright, this is as good a time as any.” Not really, this is the worst time, but I let’s pretend it isn’t. “I’m sorry by the way I acted yesterday. I had every bit of good intention in me, I really did. I wasn’t really trying to take advantage of you. Well, I actually kinda was, but I didn’t plan it. I’m not one of the greatest masterminds of the world, you know.”

“That is clear, darling.”

“Ouch, no need to--” Wait, did she just say ‘darling’? He looked at her dumbfounded. Was it working, in a twisted, unexplainable sort of way? Rarity merely crossed her forelegs, as if trying to telepathically say ‘carry on’. Unable to maintain eye contact with her icy stare, the stallion lowered his head, splaying back his ears.

“Ri-right... um... I... I don’t want us to start on the wrong hoof here. I’m new in town and I really wanted to us to, you know... be friends. So, will... will you forgive me?” he asked in a meek tone as he raised his head with pleading eyes.

Heavy silence fell over the two, making the atmosphere more tense than it already was. For a while, she said nothing, until...

“No,” she answered dryly.

Violet Fire’s eyes widened in complete shock. He was expecting that answer. After all, what he had done wasn’t a small screw up, it was a rather large one, but to finally hear it coming from her mouth was still a pain in his heart.

“W-w-why?”

“Did you really think I would forgive that easily? Darling, I am a lady and ladies don’t forgive scumbags like yourself in one single day.”

“But... but I’m being honest here! I’m not scheming or anything!”

“Granted, you did just save me from falling into a cunning trap. For that, I am grateful, but it doesn’t prove that you feel sorry for messing with my feelings yesterday,” she said. Rarity stood up and looked at the stallion straight in the eye with a judging stare. “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for your little rescue, but that’s all you get. Good day.” She turned around and being walking away, her head held high in a snobbish manner.

Violet Fire merely froze, unable to give any rebuke strong enough. Meanwhile, his mind worked at full-speed, a million thoughts and ideas rushing through his head.

She... she called me ‘darling’. She didn’t call me that before. So, there is some progress. Also, she gave me the ‘benefit’ of... whatever. That’s... that’s something, but it’s not enough! If I leave it as it is, it’ll take me forever to get her to forgive me. Think, Fire, think! His eyes shot all over the place, scavenging his surroundings with a stare for anything that could give him a solution to his problem. His search, unfortunately, proved fruitless. Rarity was already quite far from him. Maybe the direct approach would work better? He could try to apologize a second time, this time with more begging and pleading. Violet Fire moved towards the mare, when his hoof bumped into something. Curious, he looked down and saw his glass jar from before, neglected ever since he removed the Volcanic Drake Diamond from its innards.

A spark of hope flickered in his heart.

“RARITY, WAIT!” Throwing the Volcanic Drake Diamond into the jar and grabbing it with his mouth, Violet Fire broke out in full gallop in the direction of the white unicorn who had turned around at his call. When he got close enough to her, the stallion shoved his hooves on the dirt, braking until he came to a full stop before her. Rarity raised an eyebrow, confused at this sudden shouting and running.

“What is it?” she asked

Violet Fire sat on his haunches and held the jar with his forehooves. He extended it to her.

“I want you to have this,” he responded. His answer, however, did not lower her confusion, but rather increased it even more.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Uh... I want you to take these gems with you?” he asked, not particularly expecting an answer. “Sorry, I don’t really know how to explain it any better than I already have...”

Dumbfounded, Rarity unconsciously grabbed the jar as she glanced back and forth between the the object and its former owner.

“But I don’t understand... why would you give me these?”

“Some time ago, I did something... bad to somepony I really liked. I thought she’d hate me forever because of that. But she forgave me. I still don’t know why she did it. I mean, I screwed up pretty bad back then,” he said, looking down. He shook his head violently “Sorry, I’m sidetracking. The point is, I made a promise that I’d never hurt somepony that I care for again and that I’d do anything to set things right... does that make sense? Sorry, I’m not very good with explanations,” he said meekly, scratching the back of his hoof. Rarity remained shocked, her mouth agape.

“Well, darling, it’s.. it’s a very noble and... sweet act, but let’s be reasonable: I can’t accept this.”

“Why not?” he asked, tilting his head to the side

“Twilight has told me of your situation, dear. You need to sell these to get money, correct? I bet you haven’t even eaten properly since you arrived.”

Gurllllll, his stomach grumbled in agreement.

“We-well, that’s true, but it’s no big deal, really. I can manage for a few days,” he said with his cheeks flushed from the embarrassment. He looked away and started fidgeting with his hooves. “Besides... I’d rather not have you mad at me than to have all the money in Equestria.”

Rarity’s eyes widened a little at the stallion’s confession.

“But even so, I--”

“Look Rarity, please accept my feel-- I mean, my gift!” he exclaimed, startled at his near faux pas. “It’s the least I can do. As for money, don’t sweat over it. I can probably find a few odd jobs to do around here,” he comforted her, waving his hoof. “I’m a big pony, so relax, okay?”

Rarity looked at the stallion and back at jar. The sincere, warm smile that Violet Fire displayed seemed to unsettle her somehow. She looked down at the ground, completely immersed in thought.

“It can’t be... this is just like...” she muttered.

“Sorry, what was that?” Violet Fire asked, leaning over to hear better.

Violet’s sudden question startled her, making the mare shoot her head back up as she snapped back into reality.

“Oh sorry! No, it’s nothing, just... something personal, that’s all,” she answered. Rarity looked at the jar and hugged it. “Thank you, Violet. This is a lovely gift,” she said, her lips curling into a beautiful, charming smile. Her sapphire eyes glimmered in joy at the thoughtful and selfless present she had just received. Violet Fire felt his heart melt away as he looked into her eyes, the hunger being completely forgotten as he enjoyed every bit of that beautiful smile. His own face had a dumb, happy expression plastered on it.

Oops, not good, I’m gawking again! Focus, Fire, focus!

“Anyway, I better get going. You know, job hunting and all.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry, I’m keeping you here.”

“Nah, it’s alright. Well, see you later?” he asked, hopeful. A few moments passed before Rarity answered.

“Yes.”

Violet Fire tried to contain his joy. Although he was able to hold back the hopping and the cheering, the goofy smile returned ten times stronger. The stallion reluctantly made his way across the dirt path.

You did it Fire! You finally got in her good books! Well, more like you made it out of the bad ones, but that’s a great start! Sure, it cost you your only source of money, but you can find another way. Maybe Mr. and Ms. Cake need some help? With Pinkie travelling and all. Or maybe--

“Violet?” an elegant voice inquired from his back. He halted and turned his head over his shoulder to see who was calling him. Rarity was making her way towards him, the glass jar already packed on her saddlebags. As the mare stopped next to him, her lips forming a dazzling smile on her face, Violet’s heart melted once more. With a bit of struggling, he managed to keep a puzzled face.

“Yes?”

The mare looked into the stallion’s emerald eyes with her own sapphire pupils. Leaning over towards him, she opened her mouth slightly. Violet’s heart beat furiously at the unexpected turn of events. Wowowowowowow, what’s going on?! he thought, his mind going into overdrive.

Then she spoke.

“I have a proposition I wish to discuss with you. Would you like to join me for brunch?”

Caught by surprise by the sudden request, Violet Fire answered with the only plausible answer for such a question. One single powerful word, developed in the early years of ponykind, that had survived through eons of changes. One expression, known by all creatures in all languages and that perfectly conveyed the feelings of a stallion in his situation like no other response could even dream of.

“Huh?”

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Howdy, mates! First of all, the usual cookie offering goes to my lovely editors: Frederick the Saiyan, TheWattsMan and Aquillo. They are the ones responsible for picking all of my grammar mistakes and making sure I’m not screwing up too badly. Also, dashes. Pesky little things.

Weird chapter, huh? This is the third dream sequence we had so far and they will keep coming. Why? One, I like writing them. Takes some time, but it’s well worth it. Two, they are challenging. Four... no, three, they have an important part in something that will remain a secret for now. Yes, I’m that evil.

This chapter was very tough to write. First was the dream sequence, which is always very challenging. Then there was the waking up scene. I was initially going to do a quick scene with only Fluttershy and Violet Fire there, but I had a sudden craving to toss in RD and AJ, which caused the scene to be replanned. Finally we have the biggest time consumer: research for this chapter. I can safely assure you that if I ever find a woman crazy enough to want to marry me, I’ll know how to buy a diamond ring. From the gems of the dream sequence to the Volcanic Drake Diamonds, it took an awful lot of time to find everything I needed.

Look forward to the next chapter. Given this ending, I’m sure you all have a pretty good idea of what will happen next, but I still got a few tricks up my sleeve.

As a final word, I posted a blog about this chapter and something important that’s happening this week. For those of you who did not see the post (which is most likely everybody), here’s what’s new: I’m going on a 2-week trip to Italy this sunday. What does that have to do with Violet Fire, you ask? Well, since I’ll be plenty busy there, chances are I won’t be able to write as much as I’d like. I’ll be taking my notebook with me and I’ll write every chance I get, but understand that this is a family trip that’s been planned for over a year.

I know I might be overreacting, but I’ll put it in big, capitalized letters just to be sure: VIOLET FIRE IS NOT GOING INTO HIATUS!!! I’ll be writing as always, mates, but the biggest problem is that I have no guarantee that I’ll find an internet connection or if I’ll be able to stop long enough to do anything productive. As far as updating and editing goes, I’m not sure how it will go, but don’t worry, for I shall be writing as much as possible!

I sure hope those lightning speed italian lessons come in handy. Otherwise, me and my family are screwed.

Chapter 8: Taking big steps

Okay Fire, you can do this! You just gotta be cool, smooth. Mares like those kinda guys. All you have to do is answer her in a very relaxed way, can’t be too hard, right?

“Have you decided yet?” asked a unicorn with a red bow-tie.

“What?” Violet Fire wondered as the question issued to him brought his mind back into reality. The stallion’s eyes widened as he took in his surroundings: small, white tables, waiters wearing the same red bow-ties as the stranger, ponies sitting on haystacks as they enjoyed all sorts of food, from simple snacks to more sophisticated dishes.

When in Equestria did I get to a café?! he thought in panic.

“Your order, monsieur? What will you be having?” the camarier asked once more.

“What will I be having? Um….” Violet Fire fidgeted in his place. “I don’t… have any money…” he whispered in a guilty tone.

“Oh, don’t worry dear. I’ll be paying, so order whatever you want. You must be starving!” said an elegant voice on the other side of the table. Violet Fire turned his head towards the source of those words. His eyes nearly came out of their sockets in sheer surprise as he noticed who sat on the other side.

The mare of his dreams: Rarity the unicorn.

He was stunned. Completely dumbfounded. When did that happen? Last thing he remembered was exposing the swindler, and then he apologized to Rarity, which didn’t end very well, so he gave her his jar of gems. To his great relief, she had accepted his gift. Then, she proceeded to invite him for… brunch, was it? So she invited him and then…

Nothing. His mind was drawing a blank. How did he get there? As a matter of fact what did he say when she asked him if he wanted to eat? He couldn’t remember anything after her invitation to the café.

“Is something the matter, dear?” she asked, bringing Violet’s wandering mind back to reality. “If you’re having doubts about what to eat, I suggest the daffodil sandwich with the hay fries on the side. It’s a bit much for a lady such as I, but a big stallion like yourself would probably enjoy the meal,” she said.

“Oh, nonono, that’s not it!” Violet said, waving his hooves from side to side. “It’s just… I can’t let you pay for my food, especially after I caused so much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all, Violet,” she responded. “Consider this a reward for helping me with that swindler from before. Besides, there’s something I want to discuss with you,”

“There is?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Rarity answered. Suddenly, Violet’s stomach grumbled loudly, drawing the eyes from the other tables. The unicorn smiled sheepishly as his cheeks flushed slightly.

“But first, I do believe we should order,” the mare said. Levitating the menu in front of her for a few moments, she turned her head towards the waiter. “Well, Escargot, I for one will be having your vegetable crème, please.”

“An excellent choice, mademoiselle, as always,” Escargot answered. “And you, monsieur?”

Violet Fire raised a hoof to try and refuse Rarity’s offer once more, but the mare’s intense glare made him think otherwise. Sighing in defeat, the unicorn swallowed his pride and went along with the fashionista’s offer. He knew just how headstrong she could be at times, and when that happened it was best to just go with flow. Besides, he hadn’t eaten a good meal in a while, so he might as well accept it.

“The double daffodil salad sandwich with fried hay on the side, extra crispy,” he answered. Escargot quickly wrote the orders on a notepad before walking inside the café, leaving the couple of unicorns at their table.

Good thing that waiter is gone. I was starting to get nervous with this whole situation. Now it’s just me and Rarity. Alone… just the two of us… sitting… looking at each other... Violet’s heartbeat increased tenfold as his brow became drenched in cold sweat.

Luna’s mane, I’m sitting ata table with Rarity! WHAT DO I DO?! Calm down Fire, CALM DOWN! Yeah, like yelling at yourself will help you chill out. She just wants to ta—OH MY CELESTIA SHE WANTS TO TALK WITH ME! Violet’s eyes darted nervously around as he forced his facial muscles to come up with something close to a smile. Looking for anything that wasn’t Rarity, he noticed a glass of water close to him, the ice cubes inside it conveying to him the coldness of the beverage. Giving the waiter a mental ‘thank you’, he grabbed the cup with his hooves and brought it to his muzzle, making sure to drink it as slowly as equinely possible to stretch out how long he could go without having to talk. Meanwhile, Rarity merely looked at the stallion from head to hoof, as if judging his very existence, which only caused the flow of sweat on him to increase. Finally, she spoke:

“I must say, you are a very peculiar unicorn.”

Betrayed by his own clumsiness, Violet tried to speak while still drinking his cold mineral water, allowing an ice cube to slide down his throat which caused a fit of coughing. After placing the glass on the table, the stallion began punching his chest with great force while still wincing and trying to gasp for air. With one powerful strike to his thorax, Violet coughed the ice cube out of his throat, bringing blissful normality to his breathing. However, the spit-covered frozen chunk flew across the café, landing perfectly on the cappuccino of a pegasus with a goatee, splashing the beverage on his face. Narrowing his eyes, he angrily put on a fedora hat that was sitting at his side and walked out of the café, mumbling something along the lines of ‘uncalled for, mate’. Violet’s eyes accompanied the stallion’s walk for a while before going back to Rarity, who merely stared at him with a cocked eyebrow. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

“How –cough– how so?” he asked, bringing a hoof to his muzzle to block his coughing.

“Well, you look like a dashing, gentle young stallion,” she answered. Violet blushed slightly as he grinned at her complements. “But then you shatter that image with your clumsiness, lack of forethought and uncouth manners,” At the last item of her list, she looked at the waiter removing the pegasus’ ruined cappuccino. Violet blushed and cowered slightly behind the table. “However,” she said, looking back at the stallion. “While you do have a few, shall we say, flaws, you also have a few surprises to yourself. The way you handled the swindler was most unexpected,” she said, levitating her own glass of water and taking a delicate sip from it. Violet’s ears perked as his head shot up.

“It was?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Why, yes, dear. You see, I’m quite proud of my ability to pick the most fabulous of gems, so imagine how perplexed I was to see you walking up to me and declaring that I was about to buy fakes. My, I nearly slapped you again, then and there,” she playfully added. Violet laughed along. He had a feeling there was more truth to that joke than she was showing, but decided to play it safe and not touch on the subject.

“But I must say I’m quite intrigued: however did you acquire such refined knowledge of gemstones?” the mare asked as she looked intently at the stallion. Violet’s eyes widened. Without knowing, she had asked the only question that could blow his cover and she didn’t even know there was a cover to begin with.

His knowledge of gemstones and their proper treatment came from his diet from before he was a unicorn. Gems are a delicacy for dragons, something they eat as a treat. It was more of a luxury than real necessity, since they could find nourishment from other sources. Because of that, they strived to make those gems tastier than they already were. It was pretty much the only thing in Spike that he could definitely say was draconic, so he worked himself to the bone, studying and experimenting with gems, aiming to become better with each passing day. It was knowledge that came with the instincts and nature of a dragon. It was something that nopony would know; no matter how well-versed they were in the art of finding and treating gems.

At least, no… ordinary… pony. An idea began to form in his mind.

“You see, I’m… um… a gem treater,” he answered. Rarity looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“A gem treater?” she wondered.

“Yeah. Basically, I find gems and make them better and tast– I mean, shinier!” he exclaimed, saving himself from a near faux paus.

“Fascinating… but your technique is rather, shall we say, peculiar,” she said. “Wherever did you learn such skills?”

Violet Fire shifted awkwardly in his seat. “It’s… um… kinda hard to believe.”

“Even so, I’m dying to find out,” she said, eyes glimmering with expectation. Fire had hoped to avoid delving into his explanation, but how could he refuse those entrancing sapphire eyes? He took a deep breath. He was going to have to make this one count, for it was the only way to end the insistent probing of his past, one which he had yet to build.

“I learned it from dragons,” he finally said as he closed his eyes shut, waiting for a burst of laughter or words of disbelief. However, his expectations were met with silence. There was no laughing, no discrediting of his claims. He slowly opened one eye to inspect the damage he had caused and only found Rarity, still sitting at the other end of the table, but with a confused look on her face.

“Are… are you not gonna call me a liar?” he wondered.

“No,” she simply answered, levitating her glass of water towards her mouth and taking another sip.

“So, you believe me?”

Rarity did not answer immediately. Instead, she lowered her cup on the table and looked the stallion in the eye, a warm, caring smile on her face.

“I believe you know so much from past experiences you lived through. I don’t find it odd for you to have walked among dragons.” She looked at her reflection on the surface of the water, her sapphire eyes meeting her own distant, sad gaze. “I walked alongside a dragon once. A gentle, sweet dragon.” She raised her head and looked at Violet once again. “So if the pack you traveled with was remotely similar to him, you should consider yourself lucky, dear.”

Violet stared at her, head tilted to the side, unsure of what to say. He hadn’t expected the conversation to take such a course. Was she sad? Of course she was, but what was the cause of her sadness?

You know it, don’t you? You’re just choosing not to see it, he thought, scolding himself. There was no doubt, she was sad because of him. Because of ‘Spike’. But he couldn’t go over that. Spike was gone. He was Violet Fire now.

And as such, he was going to set things right.

Before he could raise his voice to say anything, Escargot came back, carrying a platter with their order on it. He quickly placed the correct dishes in front of their respective owners and left as silently as he arrived. Violet grabbed his daffodil sandwich and gave it a large, blissful bite. His stomach rejoiced as its master shoved a bunch of hay fries inside his mouth, munching on the nourishment with great delight. Rarity watched with wide eyes as the stallion devoured the dish like a starving dog. Suddenly, a thought occurred to Violet, something that he hadn’t considered due to the excitement of the past events. He swallowed his meal before wiping a smudge of ketchup and bread crumbs off his muzzle, and then spoke.

“But why did you want to know that?” he asked.

Rarity opened her eyes, pausing her appreciation of the light green cream she was savoring. The mare gently lowered her spoon as she magically levitated a napkin towards her muzzle and wiped it clean. Violet watched her careful, fluid motions in complete awe. His admiration for her grew even more, but so did his uneasiness, as he realized that, although he had succeeded in become so similar to his beloved, they were still worlds apart. He shook the thought away, trying to focus on Rarity’s words.

“Well, dear, as you may know, I’m a fashion designer. Not only that, I run the local clothing store, Carrousel Boutique, where–”

“Where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique,” Violet Fire completed. Rarity looked at him as her eyes widened in surprise.

“Why, yes. How did you know my catchphrase?” she asked. Violet shifted awkwardly as he tried to come up with an excuse to dodge the question.

“That’s, um… your slogan! I heard it from somepony in… Canterlot! Yes, Canterlot. That’s actually how I knew of your beautiful and original designs,” he answered as he tried to distort his lips into a convincing smile. He sighed with relief as Rarity giggled lightly.

“Oh you,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “But as I was saying, my store thrives on fabulous and precious designs, and by precious I mean gemstones, of course,” she said. Violet simply nodded in agreement; he had seen plenty of her designs before to know of her passion for flamboyant gems in every single dress she made.

“Your unique talents impressed me quite a bit. So much, in fact, that I would like to request your assistance in my shop,” she said as her lips curled up into the best business smile possible. Violet, however, merely raised an eyebrow.

“Excuse me?” he said in a tone of genuine ignorance.

“I meant that I wish for you to place your knowledge to a better purpose by assisting me.”

Violet responded by tilting his head to side and blinking vaguely.

“To aid my business?” Rarity tried.

“Um... sorry, I don’t get it,” the stallion answered as he shook his head in denial. Rarity facehoofed as she snarled in frustration, until she finally snapped.

“I WANT YOU TO WORK FOR ME!” she yelled, throwing her hooves in the air.

“Ohhhhh, now I get it!” he said as he nodded slowly, but after a few moments, his eyes widened in utter surprise. “Wait, WHAT?!”

“Why so shocked? You are certainly fit for the job,” said the mare as she drank a spoonful of her soup. Placing the empty cutlery on the table, she continued. “You see, although I normally manage the shop all by myself, I’ve been trying to find an assistant for a while now,” she explained. “Not that I truly need one, mind you, but having another pair of hooves helping at the store would ease my burden, giving me more time to work on my designs. Also, your fantastic skills as a gem treater could increase the value of my pieces quite a bit...” she said as her her eyes began sparkling with avarice.

Violet looked at the mare with increased worry. She was incredibly gentle and kind, but add gems and profit in the conversation and she could be somewhat... difficult to handle. However, there were more pressing matters to worry about than Rarity's delusions of fortune and fame.

Violet Fire was shocked. Not in the negative way, just surprised at the sudden change of events. He hadn't planned so far. He intended to clear the misunderstanding between him and Rarity, maybe start off as friends or simple acquaintances. Slow steps, no rushing.

And lo and behold, he was a getting a job offer from her.

Not that the idea didn't have its perks. He was completely and utterly broke. He couldn't even buy himself a loaf of stale bread, let alone all of his other basic necessities, such as water, lodging and food. So Rarity's offer was a gift on a silver platter. But that wasn't the proposal’s most appealing feature. Should he accept it, he'd be able to spend most of his day by her side. That alone was reason enough to jump at the offer. However, wasn't it too fast? He would be leaping, not walking, towards his ultimate goal: being with her.

And leaps have a nasty tendency of turning into straight meetings with the hard, cold ground, a prospect that he wasn't too fond of.

Then again... he thought. Isn't this why you transformed in the first place? Spike would take it easy, but where did that get him? Heartbroken and alone, And was that what he wanted? To play it safe and be friendzoned by her? Suddenly, he remembered something Twilight said about an ancient empire that had lived long ago.

'Facta non verba' was one of their mottos. It’s something along the lines of 'don't talk, do'.

The stallion raised his head confidently and looked at the mare sitting across the table, who had kept on talking about sales and profits during his internal meditation. One simple word came out of his mouth:

"Deal."

"-and then I'll show that snob prince just–" Rarity lifted her gaze and looked at Violet, her eyes wide in surprise. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said 'deal'. I'll take your offer," he answered. To his surprise, Rarity grabbed his hoof, holding his violet limb across her white ones. His heart skipped a beat as he felt her soft, warm hooves around his own.

"Oh, thank you so much, dear, you don't know how relieved I am!" Rarity said as she smiled kindly at him, her eyes shimmering with happiness. Violet felt his mane stand on its end as his face turned a deep red from the rush of emotions. With some struggle, he held back most of his grin and gingerly scratched the back of his head. Suddenly, Rarity gasped.

“Oh my, look at me! Here I am, jabbering on and our food has gone cold,” she said looking down at her bowl. Violet mimicked her, looking at his own plate. He touched the hay fries and realized they had lost their warmth from before. He shrugged and grabbed a handful of them, shoving them into his mouth, chewing gladly.

“They are still good to eat,” he said between bites. Rarity giggled as she levitated another spoonful to her mouth and drank the cream.

“Agreed,” she said. Violet continued enjoying his meal when he noticed Rarity looking at him intently. Uncomfortable with the gaze, his ears splayed back as he blushed slightly from embarrassment.

“Um... what is it?” he asked. Rarity blinked, surprised.

“What? Oh, I was just... thinking about some details of our arrangement, you see” she explained, but her actions betrayed her words: the way she avoided his eyes, the faint, but existing blush on her cheeks. What in Equestria is she thinking about?

“Details?” he wondered as he gave his sandwich another generous bite.

“Well, given that you have no money and no place to stay, I was thinking I should pay you by the working day.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

“Yes, I am full of them,” Rarity said, proudly pointing her nose upwards. Suddenly, she gasped and reached a hoof to her mouth before her lips turned into a wide smile and her eyes sparkled with joy. “Ideeeea!” she said in a singing tone. Violet looked at the mare with both worry and expectation. “I will make a uniform for you to wear at the shop!”

“A uniform?” he wondered.

“Why, yes! I simply cannot allow an employee of mine to look anything less than dazzling and fabulous! Besides, you’d look smashingly handsome in a suit, dear,” Violet Fire paused momentarily as he imagined himself wearing a black tuxedo with a white silk shirt, while Rarity wore a daring red dress besides him. That... actually wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. Noticing he was almost drooling over the image of a femme fatale Rarity, Violet shook the thought away and dragged his head out of the gutter and back into reality.

“Thanks Rarity, but there’s no need for–” he began, but was quickly cut off by Rarity’s hoof.

“No use trying to talk me out of it now, my artistic switch has been flipped, so you better nod and do as I say, darling,” Rarity said as she leaned over slightly, giving the stallion at the other end of the table a judging look, one he was very familiar with: Do as I say or no emeralds after dinner. Violet gulped and nodded.

“Perfect!” she exclaimed. “Come by tomorrow and I’ll take your measurements. Oh, I can already imagine the designs for your outfit, they are going to be fabulous!” she sung. Violet winced. It was bad enough that he was being dragged to play dress-up by the pony who thinks makeovers are the answer to every problem, but it was more alarming that she used plural to refer to his outfit. This is Rarity we’re talking about. There’s no way she’d settle for making only one simple suit. Suddenly, Rarity gasped, bringing his thoughts to a quick end.

“My, is it already this late?” she asked. Violet looked around them and finally noticed that the scenario had changed slightly: the sun had moved quite a bit from its high point, shining over the café with a completely different light. Most of the customers from before had already left to go about their business, being replaced by other ponies. Must’ve been, what, an hour? Two?

“Oh dear, I’m late!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Late? For what?” Violet asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

“Oh, just an... appointment, that’s all,” Rarity suspiciously looked away, averting her eyes as she answered. That didn’t answer my question, Violet kept his thoughts to himself; whatever it was, Rarity clearly didn’t want to talk about it. The mare raised a hoof to call for their waiter. Escargot walked towards them, the same serious and professional patience from prior still unshaken by the long hours they had spent simply talking.

“Was the meal to your liking, mademoiselle?” he asked.

“Oh, just delightful Escargot. You have the best vegetable créme I’ve ever had.”

“Thank you, mademoiselle,” the camarier said with a short bow. “Will you be having your usual after-meal tea?” Escargot asked. Violet then noticed that he hadn’t drank anything for a while now and that the continuous talking had left his mouth slightly dry. He eyed his glass. The ice had long since melted, but there was still some water left, enough for swig or two.

“Oh, not today, darling, I’m running on a tight schedule,” Rarity answered. Violet reaching his hoof to the glass and with a quick sweep brought it to his mouth, letting the blissful liquid wet his parched tongue and lips.

“Very well,” Escargot shifted his eyes to look at Violet. “And what about your date?” Violet’s eyes widened as he turned and accidentally spat the water all over Escargot’s face. The waiter remained unfazed and merely dried his face with a napkin. Violet quickly wiped his muzzle with the back of his hoof, but before he could answer in any way, Rarity did something completely unexpected. Something that sent chills down his spine and brought a lump to his throat. Something he heard her do before not long ago and expected to never have to experience ever again.

She laughed. But unlike her usual joyful way of laughing, it was one filled with awkwardness and discomfort. The sort of laughter you would expect from somepony in a very unwanted situation. It was the same way Violet had heard her laugh when he was still Spike, the baby dragon. Back when he accidentally eavesdropped on Rarity and Twilight talking at the spa. When she had been asked about Spike being a possible love interest and she laughed it off. Violet felt as if his heart had suddenly decided to stop beating. A reasonable decision, in his opinion. He was done, after all. The way she laughed at Escargot’s remark of him being her date proved where he stood: outside the zone of her affection. Everything he had done: transforming, facing the swindler, giving his gems. It had all been for naught. Violet wanted to cry, to bawl like a foal who had just learned that his mother died. The feeling was similar after all. Yet, something stopped him on his tracks. One tiny, nearly invisible element of his situation.

Rarity’s body language.

Her muscles were tensed and stiff, the complete opposite of her usual gracefulness and agility. There was a small twitch in her eye, very subtle, but persistent, not to mention the unnecessarily huge grin with the absurd amount of white teeth showing. Finally, the way she shifted her eyes left and right seemed as if...

As if she’s... faking it? Violet thought. He couldn’t understand it. Was she trying to hide something? Was it because she felt awkward about Escargot’s implying on them being a couple? It would definitely be weird if he was mistaken as her coltfriend when they weren’t in that relationship (much to his unhappiness), but was such a reaction really necessary? And most importantly, was this how she usually reacted? So, it could mean... no, he could not let his mind drift now. Observing was a better way to figure it out. He swallowed the lump on his throat and ponied up. Rarity finally spoke.

“Hahahaha... Escargot, dear, you are such a kidder! ‘And what about your date’, priceless,” she said while carefully wiping a tear from the corner of her eye as not to smudge her make up. “No, Escargot, my ‘date’ wouldn’t like some coffee. My ‘employee’, however, might have something different to say, right, darling?” she turned her head towards Violet Fire, directing the question to the unicorn.

“Um... no thanks?” he said in a tone of doubt. Suddenly, Violet noticed that the waiter, for the first time, had changed his facial expression and had his eyebrow raised, while his head had moved back slightly, with an skeptical air around him.

“My apologies, mademoiselle Rarity, but I did not know coworkers could have such close physical contact,” he said as he looked down at the table and pointed at something with his hoof. Violet and Rarity turned their heads simultaneously to look at the object of Escargot’s interest. Violet’s eyes turned the size of pinheads as he fought back the urge to jump a hundred feet back over the fact that his hoof was being tightly held by Rarity’s right hoof. He gave her a quick glance and saw that the mare was as shocked as he was, but did not let go of her grasp. The stallion felt his head turn and spin in confusion. Since when were they... why did she... how could he...

Oh, thank you so much, dear, you don't know how relieved I am! Could it be? Since Rarity said that, had she...

The white mare let go of her grasp from the stallion’s hoof, pulling her own away from him. Was that blushing he saw on her cheeks?

“We-we-well, look at the time! I have to go, or I will be really late for my appointment!” Rarity stuttered. The mare quickly levitated a jiggling bag of bits out of her saddlebag and dropped a few coins on the table, fleeing from the premises as soon as they hit the tablecloth and leaving a very confused Violet Fire behind. The stallion blinked at the mare’s escape, still trying to piece together exactly what had just happened, when he heard the scratching noise of a throat being cleared. Turning towards the source, Escargot looked at him, apparently waiting for something. The stallion paused for a few moments, before responding to the question that had remained unanswered.

“Yes, a latte, with lots of sugar.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Well, this was fun to do. Chapter 8 was, unfortunately, shorter than planned. You have no idea what happens in my mind when I’m writing. Then again, neither do I!

This was supposed to end more down the lines of “Gasp!” but the “Hahahaha” ending worked out pretty well, assuming you all enjoyed the little latte thing.

And you are all VERY welcome for the cappuccino gag, mates. Getting foamed milk and espresso all over my face was not a pleasant experience. What a waste of a good cup of caffeine drink. Keep an eye out for that handsome pegasus, for I shall try to make more cameos. I love cameos. They are so much fun to write.

Butche- I mean, editing, was done by my good friends Frederick the Saiyan and TheWattsMan.

Chapter 9: Shelter and freaks

The birds chirped happily under the warm afternoon sun. A gentle breeze blew, softly brushing the coats and manes of the many ponies around the park. It was an ideal time for a picnic, to gather all of your friends and relatives and merely lie upon the grass, eating a couple of pastries and basking under the warmth of the rays of the sun.

Yaaaaaawn...

However, to Violet Fire, the yawning unicorn, it was the epitome of boredom.

The stallion was laying on his back, attempting to enjoy the sunbathing like everypony else, but no matter how much he shifted and squirmed, he was unable to find a comfortable position in which to relax. Under normal circumstances, Violet would have fallen asleep the moment his body touched the grass and would have napped throughout the rest of the day, rejoicing in the rare moment of peace and tranquility. However, considering what he had been through the last couple of days, a bit of restlessness was to be expected.

So much had happened in so little time: the transformation, the posters, Rarity's scolding, the gems. It had been one strong emotion after the other, situations that demanded quick wits and delicate approaches, subjects which he had no experience with. So the sudden peace was somewhat foreign to his active mind.

And the fact he couldn't stop thinking about Rarity's hoof and their meeting the next day had absolutely nothing to do with it, of course.

Violet Fire accepted the fact that sleep would not come to such a bustling mind and decided to open his eyes as to observe his surroundings. There was a group of children not far from him, playing under the watchful eye of a magenta mare. His gaze fell upon two colts who were playing with a big, bouncy ball: a chubby, short unicorn and a skinny, tall one, who was also a unicorn. Snips and Snails had been his friends in his past form. They were so slow and completely oblivious to their surroundings, which often caused more trouble than needed, but were ponies of good heart, regardless of their shortcomings. Suddenly, Snips, who he assumed was playing the role of goalkeeper, failed to block the ball and it rolled towards Violet. The stallion stopped the ball with a hoof and stood up, just before the two colts reached him.

"Thanks for getting the ball for us, mister!" Snips said in hoarse, childish tone.

"Yeah... thanks a lot" Snails added in his usual slow way.

"Not a problem guys, but you should be careful; this ball could've hit somepony. You have a mean buck, Sna-- buddy," Violet answered, warning them in a playful, yet responsible tone.

"Keep going like that and you might become the next hoofball king!" Violet said, giving the colts their ball back. Snails eyes began sparkling.

"Like Neighmar?" he queried.

"Um..." Violet winced; although skilled, Neighmar was still far from the title of 'king'. Suddenly, Snips interjected.

"Neighmar isn’t the hoofball king, you slowpoke!" he exclaimed.

"He's not?" Snails asked, crossing his eyes in confusion.

"Of course not." Violet nodded, a satisfied smile on his face. "That title goes to Dogba," the chubby colt proudly said. Violet shook his head, startled at Snips' claim.

"That diamond dog full of fleas is nothing compared to Neighmar!" Snails retorted in an angry tone.

"Oh yeah? Well, Dogba scored the winning goal in the Champions League final!" Snips growled, moving his head towards Snails as if challenging him.

"Well, Neighmar comes from the country where hoofball was created, so, HA!" the skinny one yelled, accepting his friend's challenge by glueing his face to his.

That's not really true... Violet thought to himself, but dared not saying anything; their eyes were locked together in anger, sparks nearly flying from the daggers they glared at each other.

"Yeah? Well, Neighmar's got an ugly haircut!"

"Oh yeah? Well, Dogba's just as ugly!"

That's not a very good argument and you're not even talking about hoofball anymore!

“Oh yeah? Well--”

“Enough!” Violet Fire exclaimed, interrupting the colt. The two children turned their heads at him. “You two are best friends, so stop fighting.”

“But…” Snips began.

“‘But’ nothing! You too are friends, you like the same stuff, you’re always together, so why are you two fighting?” he asked, looking at them with a serious glare. The two friends looked at each other for a few moments and looked down, ashamed.

“We’re sorry…” they answered in unison. The stallion smiled kindly as he patted their heads.

“It’s okay. Now, go back to your group, your teacher will get worried.”

“Sure thing mister!” Snips said excitedly before running back to the other children.

“Yeah, thanks a lot…” Snails added as he hurried after his friend. Violet Fire remained in his place, his lips forming one of the most satisfied smiles since he transformed. It was good to know his lecture…

Lecture? Did he just... Lecture somepony? The reality of the situation hit him. He was the same age as those two colts just now, yet they saw him as an older and wiser stallion. A respectable grown-up. He had felt those changes before: the way he faced his problems, how he accept responsibilities without hesitating. In one word, he had become...

Mature, he thought. Yes, that was the word. The old Spike was a baby, one who lied to cover up his messes and depended on his foster sister to do everything for him. But this new one... no, he wasn't the new Spike. He was Violet Fire, gem treater and employee of Carousel Boutique. He liked the sound of that, but one question remained: he was different, but just how much had he changed? Suddenly, Violet felt an intense glare on him. He began looking around for its source when he noticed the magenta mare from before staring at him.

Why is she looking at my tail? he thought. She was biting her bottom lip and had her eyes half-closed, staring intently when she noticed the object of her admiration was looking back. Unsure of what to do, Violet smiled politely at her. The mare responded by blowing a seductive kiss in his direction. The stallion backpedaled a bit, startled by her strange response. The mare smiled playfully and gave him a wink, before walking away.

Okay, I did not see that coming, he thought, cocking an eyebrow as he tried to process what had just happened. He heard some giggling from behind him and turned his head to find two pegasi twins not so far from him. One was a medium blue mare with a spiked royal blue and white mane, while her sister had a combed hair held together by a pink bow on her head. As the mares noticed Violet’s inquiring eyes, their wings sprung open as they blushed a bright red. They covered their mouths and resumed their giggling, but this time without breaking eye contact with the stallion.

I said it once and it still counts: mares are crazy, Violet thought as a shiver ran down his spine. He turned around and began to walk away, while keeping his gaze on the twins for a moment longer. I better get outta here before-- whatever he was about to say was completely forgotten as his muzzle painfully collided something ticklish and a slightly soft surface as well. The surprise from the impact caused him to backpedal a little as he closed his watering eyes.

"Ow! What the..." Violet sad as he rubbed his nose with a hoof, in an attempt to ease the stinging pain. The stallion opened an eye to get a better look at the object of his discomfort. His jaw dropped as he realized that in front of him was a pony's tail; a purple one with magenta highlights, to be exact. Violet’s face paled. He traced the tail's roots back to a slim lavender body, which was followed by a head with a tail-matching mane and two big violet eyes, a pair he was awfully familiar with and that he had hoped not to encounter again so soon. Yet again, however, fate seemed to have other, more awkward interests in mind. It was clear the situation required a delicate approach in order to be resolved in a mature and responsible way by both ponies. So Violet responded in the only manner befitting a stallion like himself in such an awkward situation:

He took off in the opposite direction.

"WAIT!" he heard Twilight scream behind him, but the plea did nothing but increase his speed.

There's no way I'm dealing with her after... After that! I'm bigger than her now, so she'll never catch up. But his hopes were short-lived, as a purple ball of light burst brightly a few meters in front of him, revealing a shaken Twilight at its core. The stallion pressed his hooves on the ground and screeched to a halt. He stopped right in front of the mare and they both stared at each other.

"Good, now we can--" Twilight began, but was cut off by Violet trying to dodge around her. However, the mare quickly caught on to his plan and stepped to the right, trapping him. Violet bit his lower lip in frustration while his frightened green eyes darted from side to side, looking for a way out.

"If you're done, I--" Violet tried once more, this time to the left, only to have his plans thwarted by the young librarian. For a bookworm, she was proving to be quite agile.

I need a better evasive maneuver. Maybe if I feint to the right I could--

"If you lift that hoof as much as one inch from the ground, I swear I'll bury you neck-deep and zip your mouth shut so you won't be able to cry for help," Twilight said in a low, threatening tone. Violet's eyes widened in terror, his brow drenched in cold sweat. Years of living under the same roof as the mare taught him a valuable lesson: if Twilight goes the extra mile and starts threatening, you better listen to her. The stallion obediently sat down.

"Good boy," she answered, harrumphing proudly. Twilight sat down herself, but avoided making eye contact with the pony before her. Clearly she found the situation as awkward as Violet himself, but he held his tongue; saying anything that might upset a walking magical powerhouse was not the wisest of plans.

"Why were you looking for me?" he asked. In response, the mare lifted her head and looked at him.

"I wasn't looking for you! Well, not at the moment, that is."

"Oh really? You just happened to be walking around where I was resting?" he asked sarcastically.

"Hey, I didn't want to see you this soon either! You were the one who rubbed your muzzle on my... my..." she trailed off, blushing at the memory. She lowered her head slightly before timidly continuing in a whisper. "My flank."

Violet eyed her skeptically. When had he done that? Suddenly, his attention was caught by the flickering of Twilight's tail and that's when he figured it out; her tail was the tickling sensation from before. But if that was her tail, then that means the soft object that was located underneath it was...

Violet felt the bitter taste of his digested brunch rising from his throat, but heroically managed to stop the flow of spew from reaching its destination. He shook his head to clear it of the unwanted image of Twilight’s flank.

"But... we need to talk," Twilight said. Violet felt a chunk of ice slide down his back with those words. This can't be happening... he whined as his ears splayed back in fear. He was done for; Twilight was going to force him to date her or to openly assume his fault for being too damn nice and allowing her to kiss him. What if she wanted marriage? He couldn't get married, he wasn't even old enough yet! Well, technically he was, but that wasn’t the point! What if--

"Sorry," she said. Her apology brought Violet's wandering mind to a screeching halt. The stallion looked at the mare with an expression of complete shock on his face.

“Excuse me?” he wondered. Twilight lowered her head while shifting awkwardly in her place.

“I’m sorry for what I did last night,” she said. “I... I wasn’t quite myself at the time.”

That much I figured out, Violet thought.

“You see, when Spike disappeared I... I lost my mind. It was so sudden that I had no time to get ready, mentally that is. I felt lonely, abandoned even, and I just wanted to... to forget,” she explained. Violet bit his tongue to distract himself from the rising guilt. “I asked Applejack if she had any cider left from the last time and she brought me a bottle. It was unsightly of me to do that; I was running away from my own problems, seeking the easy way out.” Twilight lifted her head and looked at the stallion, her eyes glistening with tears. “And then you came along, being so nice and sweet with me, so in the heat of the moment I... I...” She sighed. “I was wrong to force myself on you. I was just really lonely and really drunk at the time. Can... can you forgive me?” the mare asked at the end.

Violet blinked for a few moments, processing the informations the unicorn had just provided him. She felt sorry for she had done to him? He had realized before that she was not acting normally the day they ‘met’, but now he knew the extent of his harm; it had driven his former-foster sister to drinking to avoid the pain. Given she did not drink that much, but she wasn’t used to it. Violet felt disgusted at himself. It was the first time he wished he could buck himself in the face out of pure hatred. He looked at Twilight, who merely sat there, waiting for his reply.

“No problem, Twilight,” he answered. The mare’s eyes grew as wide as her smile, happiness overflowing her, but Violet cut it short with a raised hoof. “There’s a catch, though.” Twilight tilted her head to the side.

“Catch? What would it be?” she asked. Violet smiled kindly at her, something that made the cheeks of the librarian burn intensively.

“You have to let me be your friend.” Twilight was taken back, startled by the unexpected request, but happily nodded.

“Sure, I’d love to!” she said, clopping her hooves together. “Oh, that reminds me: I have someone you have to meet! You’re gonna love him!” she said as she stood up and began to walk.

“Really? Who is that? I might have met him somewhere,” Violet said as he went after her, following just by her side.

“His name is Caramel. He’s an earth pony that helps Big Mac and the Apple family from time to time. Nice, gentle, sweet, caring, good-looking too, if you don’t mind me saying.” She gave Violet a light nudge on the shoulder. “I’m sure you two will be great together,” she explained excitedly.

“Um... sure, I like to have nice friends,” Violet said, but couldn’t exactly understand what part Caramel’s looks had in this conversation.

“Oh, and the best part?” She turned around to look at Violet. She glanced left and right to make sure nopony was nearby before whispering. “I heard he just left a bad relationship, meaning he’s single.”

“Um... good for him?” Violet said in a tone of question. Twilight was being even weirder than the day before.

“Come on, Violet, you could at least try to sound happy!” the mare said, frowning at her friend’s lack of excitement, only confusing the stallion even more.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but I don’t see how Caramel being single should be reason for me to throw confetti in the air.” Twilight suddenly stopped and looked at Violet with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe because I’m trying to set you two up as an apology for what I did yesterday?” Violet kept staring at the mare, processing the question in the gears of his mind.

Cleck, cleck, cleck, cleck, cleck, cleck, cleck... TING!

“I’M NOT GAY!!!” he shouted at the top of his lungs, much to the surprise of the park’s residents. His ‘coming out’, so to speak, caught the attention of the ponies around them, as well as creating a few reactions: some stallions sighed, while mares whispered ‘yes!’ to themselves, obviously glad of the good news. There was even a stallion who burst into tears while his female friend patted his shoulder, consoling him while failing to hide her huge grin. Twilight was just as shocked as the other ponies.

“You’re not?” she asked, tilting her head to side as she looked at the stallion skeptically.

“YEAH! I MEAN, NO! I’M NOT GAY!” he yelled, his intense blush only making Twilight even more suspicious.

“You sure?”

“I think I’d know if I wanted to get it on with a guy!” he declared. The bawling stallion’s crying increased tenfold as he ran away. What in Celestia’s name made her think I was gay?!

“Well, if you’re not into stallions, then why did you run away last night?” Twilight asked. She blinked, slowly coming to realization. “You didn’t like my kiss? I never got any complaints from the others!”

“No! It wasn’t-- wait, what others?” he asked. Twilight began twirling her hooves around awkwardly. The stallion sighed. “Forget it, I don’t think I wanna know. As for the reason I ran, well, you did sorta jump on me. Plus...” he looked around. Since he had stopped shouting, ponies were not staring so much, except for a few mares who eyed him hungrily. He lowered his voice until it became a whisper, forcing Twilight to lean over to listen better “I... have a crush on somepony else.” The mare threw her hooves over her mouth as her eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry! If I had known, I wouldn’t...”

“It’s okay, it wasn’t your fault.” Well, technically it was, but let’s keep that to ourselves, right? “I was in hot waters with her before either way, but now things are cool between us.”

“That’s good to hear,” Twilight said. “Well, there goes my plan to get on your good side by hooking you up. Guess I’ll go for the rest of the plan, then.”

“Plan? What plan?” Violet wondered.

“Well, I was thinking, you’re stranded in Ponyville right? As in, you have no place to stay.” Violet nodded; he was thinking of going back to his nest in the bench near the fountain, but he wasn’t sure how long that improvised shelter would last.

“So, here’s my idea: I have an extra bed at the library and a big need of another pair of hooves. You help me run the place and in exchange, you get food, water, shelter and maybe a few extra bits. How does that sound?” she asked. Violet’s jaw dropped.

“Me? Be your roommate? For real?” the stallion incredulously inquired.

“Of course. It would be really helpful to have you there. I mean, I did just lose an assistant and...” she lowered her head sadly. “The tree feels a little... empty.” There was no need for any more; Violet knew what he had to do.

“I’ll do it.” Twilight lifted her head hopeful.

“Really?”

“Of course! I mean, it’s either that or going back to sleeping on a bench in the open air using newspapers as blankets. A warm bed sounds much better, if you ask me.” Twilight giggled at the comparison. “Just have to warn you, though.”

“What is it? You snore?” she asked playfully.

“A little, but that’s not it. Just earlier I had a talk with Rarity and she offered me a job at the boutique and I took it. So if I’m gonna be your assistant and hers, we’re gonna have to work a schedule out.”

“Oh, no worries, scheduling is right up my alley,” said the mare, pointing a hoof at her chest proudly. “Besides, I don’t need you there all the time, just for cleaning, re-shelving and on my days off. I’m sure we can work something out.”

“Great!” Violet exclaimed gladly; he had been able to solve all of his problems and needs in one day. He really was turning into a mature, dependable stallion. Twilight levitated a bunch of keys from her tail and magically removed a silver key from the group.

“I have to get some things from Quills and Sofas. I won’t take long so you can go ahead and take a shower; you look like you could use one.” Violet sniffed his hoof and realized she was right; he smelled like something had crawled up into a skunk’s hole and died there. He looked at the key levitating in front of him and grabbed it with his mouth.

“Got it,” Violet said cheerfully. Twilight, on the other hand, looked at him oddly. He tilted his head to the side. “What? Is there something on my teeth?”

“Oh, no it’s not, it’s just... why didn’t you use your magic?” she asked him.

“Magic?”

“Yeah. You’re a unicorn, right?” Twilight said, pointing a hoof at Violet’s horn. The stallion looked up and that’s when he realized: he was a unicorn. He had a horn. Ergo...

I can use magic! he thought. Why hadn’t that possibility occurred to him before? He had been transformed for quite a while now, he should have thought about levitating things around. Perhaps the lack of such powers for most of his life had something to do with it. He then thought how ridiculous he must have looked; a perfectly healthy unicorn running around carrying a jar in his mouth and hooves. Violet noticed that Twilight kept looking at him, as if he were some sort of weird creature. He had to think of something, and fast.

“It’s, um... a habit! I was taught not to use magic for something unless you have to. You know, moving rocks, fixing broken glasses, that sorta thing,” he lied as he smiled sheepishly, hoping the ruse would work.

“That does sound logical...” Twilight said, tapping a hoof against her chin. “Well, I’ll see you later, then. You can find towels and shampoo in the bathroom if you need them,” she said as she walked away.

“Alright. See you later!” Violet said, waving goodbye. The mare replied in the same manner and off she went, leaving the stallion to his own accord. He spun around and made a beeline towards the huge oak tree that contained the public library, wanting to get there as fast as possible. Not because of the shower, although he really wanted to clean himself, but because he had something he wanted to try:

Magic.

So focused Violet was on getting to the library that he failed to notice the pegasi couple he passed by. The mare, a blue pony with a two-toned cyan mane, sprung her wings as soon as she saw the unicorn dashing by. The white, well-built pony next to her frowned at the stiff limbs of his companion.

“Fancy going for a little ‘wrestling’ with him, huh?” he asked.

“Oh, come on, you bumbling idiot, you know my eyes are only for you,” she responded in a sultry voice, eyeing the stallion with her pink pupils. However, the bright color turned into an eerie green for a split second, which would have caused the stallion to recoil, if not for the fact he had grown used to that.

“And your punches, don’t forget your punches.” As if putting on a demonstration, the mare gave him a playful hit on the face.

Meanwhile, Violet’s fast-paced gallop quickly brought him to his destination. Holding the key with his mouth, he inserted it in the keyhole and gave it a twist, unlocking the door with a click. After he had closed the door, Violet began searching the books on the shelves.

“Where is it... where did she put it...” he muttered to himself as he went from shelf to shelf. “Oh, COME ON!” he yelled, frustrated. “I was gone for two days and she already re-shelved the place? Jeez, talk about OCD.” There was no time to waste; Violet had searched the most obvious places, but to no avail. It was time to think like Twilight.

“Let’s see...” Violet said as he looked up and tapped his chin in thought. “I’m Twilight. I’m a bookworm and very smart. I love studying, it’s basically what I do all the time. I’ve done it since I was just yay high. Where would I put Introduction to Basic Unicorn Magic Volume 1?” Violet turned his head to the section on the shelves with the plate ‘Classics’ written on it. Lo and behold, the purple book was there, the aforementioned title engraved on its spine. He sighed.

“When Twilight gets back, I’m gonna have a talk with her about the meaning of classic.” He went to the shelf and grabbed the book, along with a random one that was next to it, and layed down on the floor. He opened Introduction to Basic Unicorn Magic on the first chapter and began his study:

“Welp, here goes.”

Welcome, young unicorn, to the very first chapter of ‘Introduction to Basic Unicorn Magic’. We are very excited that you are very excited about learning incredible magic, such as teleporting and conjuring objects, but let’s not hurry ourselves. Lesson #1: a troubled mind will only brew trouble.

“What is this? Mare Wars?”

All our lessons are not the product of any sci-fi or fantasy blockbuster movie.

“Wow, that’s a very specific disclaimer...” Violet commented. He shook the distraction away. “Focus, Fire!” Violet scanned the pages of the book, looking for anything related to the most basic of all unicorn magic: telekinesis. If he was going to act like a normal unicorn he had to use magic and the first step was being able to move objects with his mind.

“AH-HA!” he shouted in triumph. “Here it is!”

Now that you went through Lesson #502 of the magic, you are ready for your first spell: telekinesis! First, find an object to practice with, something small, light and, preferably, of no monetary or emotional value. Place the object just out of your reach.

He looked at the random book he had picked up and stretched a hoof to try and touch it, confirming that it was just a few inches away from his touch.

Now, telekinesis is a very simple and helpful spell, but it requires a cool temper and creativity. Imagine a tiny string attached from the end of your horn all the way to your object. The tighter you imagine it, the better the hold you will have over the object. Now, the string is an extension of you. Feel the string, see the string, smell the string, lick the string,be the string.

If you can do all of those, then congratulations! All you have to do now is imagine the string moving the object in any desirable direction and presto! You are levitating things. Next, we will learn how to properly set things on fire with your horn and remember Lesson #354: never set something ablaze that you cannot easily fix, replace or blame on somepony else.

Violet recoiled. “Okay... that last bit was weird,” he commented as he closed the book, slightly disturbed by the instructions. He gave his target a look.

“Well, here goes nothing...” He closed his eyes, bringing darkness to his world. He still remembered where the book was, so he made a mental image of it. Then, he proceeded as instructed: he imagined a string connecting the end of his horn and the book. He could practically see the string there. It was small, thin, but it was there, in his mind that is.

The book was a little strange, but the instructions were spot on! He was ready. The string was tightly wrapped around both horn and target and the time had come for him to perform his first act of magic as a unicorn. He could feel a burst of excitement flowing through his body, but managed to keep it at bay; he couldn’t afford to lose his concentration. Violet opened his eyes, a fierce look of determination burning in his irises. He focused on the book and imagined the string pulling it up. He watched in awe as the book...

… remained exactly where it was.

Violet looked at the object, confused. He had followed the instructions exactly as written. He could almost feel the string wrapped around his horn. So, why hadn’t the book budged an inch? Violet tried again. Eyes closed, the string, the book, pull. He opened his eyes once more and still nothing had changed. Panic started to grow.

“No... i-it’s the book! It’s too heavy! I mean, Twilight only could barely move a page when she first tried it,” he murmured to himself. Violet got up and ran to kitchen. He grabbed a wooden spoon and returned to his spot on the floor. “Eyes, string, pull... check!” he exclaimed as he opened his eyes once more. Yet, the result was the same. He touched his horn with his hoof and discovered that his brow was drenched with sweat, but chose to ignore it. “Lighter... I need something lighter...” He saw a quill sitting on a desk from the corner of his eye. With a quick motion, he jumped from the floor and positioned himself in front of the feather, a maniacal expression on his face.

“Eyes... string... pull... check!”

Nothing happened.

“Eyes... string... pull... check!”

Nothing.

“EYES STRING PULL CHECK!”

At that point Violet wasn’t even bothering with closing his eyes, imagining the string or pulling the object. Now the words were not instructions, but a mantra he sang in the hopes that, if he wished really hard, the quill would be engulfed by a cloud of magic and levitate. However, no matter how much he wished, how many times he repeated the sentence, how much he screamed and ordered the quill to move, it might as well have been a boulder he was trying to push with his bare hooves. Time went by as Violet lost himself in his yelling and shouting at the feathered object, frustration rising as his throat became sore and the quill remained unmoved. The stallion let his sweaty body slide down to floor, panting and gasping for air. Yet he did not feel the heat of exercise overcoming him, but rather the cold blanket of reality wrapping itself around his very heart and soul. Maybe he knew it all along and his subconscious was trying to spare him the pain and suffering knowing the truth would bring. Maybe he had chosen to be oblivious to his condition, after all, ‘ignorance is bliss’ as they say. But there was no denying it; no matter how much he swore, he kicked, he cried, reality was one rock solid fact:

“I... I can’t use magic...” Violet whispered to himself. He shuddered; saying it was the final blow. It was like he was acknowledging the fact that he was not a normal unicorn, as he had thought he was. He was a freak. He had always been one, even before his transformation. He was a dragon raised by ponies and now that he was one himself, he couldn’t even do something as simple as levitate a quill. He could never run away from that; it did not matter what he did, fate would always find a way to bring his happiness down, to crush his hopes by giving him some sort of problem or disability. It was the shame of his life: Violet Fire, the unicorn who could not use magic. If the others found out about this, what would they think? What Twilight think? Even worse...

What would Rarity think?

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Credits, as always, goes to my good friend Frederick the Saiyan and TheWattsMan. We have loads of fun while editing chapters..

Finally! I got to the conflict part! Hurray! Ladies and gentlemen, this is where chapter 8 would have ended if not for my tardiness. My apologies, once more. Also, you might notice that this chapter did not get released on schedule. Well, that’s because I was very busy writing something else. I had an idea for another story and began typing it, which resulted in 5k words in less than a day. Then, a friend of mine got sick and I wrote him a little ‘get well soon’ story. Turns out the ‘little’ part got overwhelmed when the rest of our little group wanted in on the action. The result of my 2 days sprint writing was almost 10k worth. I’m getting better at this. Now, if only I could spend this 10k on writing Violet Fire, I’d be pretty much set for writing anything.

Game: can anybody tell me from where was that pegasi couple? Post it in the comments!

Also, Ravensdagger has inspired me to do a little ~~begging~~ something with you guys. If you're talented with a pen, pencil, quill, charcoal, paint, ink, blood or some other form of drawing, here's a request: draw a picture of Violet Fire wearing the most dashing suit or vest. He needs to look handsome, but slightly timid too. Message me the links and the best one gets posted on the story.

Chapter 1: A turbulent storm

Krakabum!

The storm outside was mercilessly striking the houses in Ponyville. Trees shook violently on the verge of being ripped from the ground. The hail pieces were so big, every window faced the prospect of shattering into pieces. The only reason benches were glued to the ground was because they were ACTUALLY glued to the ground.

But across the howling wind and the cracking thunder, a few voices could be made out from the chaos. Inside a huge tree, six friends were having the time of their lives, despite the ugly weather outside. The six of them were playing games, chatting and munching away on delicious snacks. Muffins, cupcakes, cookies, hot cocoa. All of those treats provided their nourishment and made everything all better.

However, a face, a rather common face, is not seen amidst the fun and games. While all of them were having a great time, this one was busy as could be. After all, somepony had to provide all of the food. And that was this one’s task. Down below, in the kitchen, a purple figure wearing a pink apron with a heart stitched in the center was busy with a bowl, mixing some batter.

The little baby dragon was covered in chocolate and vanilla cream, muffin dough and all-purpose flour. His cheeks were flushed from placing his face in front of the oven to retrieve old trays of baked goods and placing new ones to prepare for the next round. While he mixed the batter he heard a sudden burst of giggling from upstairs. He chuckled a little. Twilight wasn’t one to plan slumber parties. Actually, before moving to Ponyville, she wasn’t keen on common entertainment at all.

“Guess we got Pinkie to thank for that, huh?” Spike said as he added some milk to the batter.

When the storm was announced, everything happened really fast. The girls went off each to do their own tasks, cancelling the picnic that was planned earlier, which was then changed into a small party, and then it became a slumber party. Lucky for Twilight, she had her number one assistant on the job. As soon as he heard about the storm, he was already mixing the batter to make his world famous homemade triple decorated coconut, vanilla and cream cookies. He knew Pinkie wouldn’t let a party simply be cancelled, so he foresaw all of that was going to happen. And he expected the party to be extended. After all, who would want to go back home in this weather?

But as tiring as his work was, he wasn’t the least bit exhausted. He felt as if he had all the energy in Equestria. After all, when motivated, even a tiny baby dragon could move mountains. And the reason behind all of his hard work is only one:

Rarity.

Was there really any need for another motivational subject? Having the one you lov-like, being there and doing some small, but nice things for her, that was his true bliss. Every moment he could spare to spend with her was joy like none other he had felt before. Those few minutes were priceless. And what else could he even ask for?

A date, for starters, Spike thought. Surprised with himself, he shook his head and resumed to beating the batter furiously. Don’t be greedy Spike, you know what happened last time you acted like that. Just be happy you get to cook for her today.

“Now then, just need some chocolate chips... where did I put them?”

A sudden beat of wings was heard and a small owl flew in front of Spike, holding a bag of chocolate chips with its claws.

“Oh, thanks Owlowiscious,” Spike grabbed the bag and poured its contents into the bowl.

Ting!

Spike turned his head with glowing eyes to that sound. The sharp ring from the alarm clock was everything he had been waiting for. It meant his latest batch of cookies was finally done and that he could take them up to everypony upstairs. He rushed to the oven and opened it, grabbing the tray with his bare hands. Being a dragon gave him hard scales that could sustain a great amount of heat. If he could jump into a pool of hot lava, a hot tray of cookies wasn’t much of challenge.

He quickly put all of the cookies on a plate and poured the hot cocoa in six cups. Then, he placed three marshmallows in each of the cups. However, the baby dragon looked at one of the cups and started scratching his chin, pondering for a moment. He decided to add a couple extra marshmallows to one of them.

“It’s the small details that stand out, as Rarity said. Well, her definition of ‘small’ is a little different from the rest,” he chuckled a little at his joke. He noticed Owlowiscious looking straight at him

Spike narrowed his eyes as he looked to the small owl and pointed a claw at him. “This joke stays between us, okay buddy?”

“Whoo,” Owlowiscious said

“Us, of course!”

“Whoo,” repeated the pet owl.

“Riiiiight...,” Spike said while he picked up a platter and placed the plate with cookies and cups on it. Even if they had made up after the incident with the Dragon, Owlowiscious was still hard to understand. After all, what did he mean by “who”? That was just weird. Just as he was picking up the platter, he heard the door opening behind him.

“But really Twilight, you MUST consider going to the Spa more often! Aloe and Lotus are simply the best in the business. Their massages are simply divine!”

“Maybe some other time. I’m always so busy with my studies.”

“You always say that, dear, but you never stop studying!”

Spike nearly dropped his items in shock. He wasn’t expectingRARITY to simply waltz into the kitchen. He wasn’t prepared, but he had to talk with them. He placed the platter on the counter and turned around, trying to put a smile on his face that did not show his nervousness.

“He-hey there Twilight, Rarity,” his whole body shook when he looked at the white colored unicorn. Her gorgeous blue eyes looked at him, her eyelashes batting slowly. Spike was lost, sinking into those deep, deep eyes…

“SPIKE!” screamed Twilight.

Pain ran throughout his body when he felt the hard floor hit his chin as he fell. In his daze he had been leaning towards them, but he forgot he was on a stool. Nice going genius, you were gawking at her.

“Spike are you alright?” asked Twilight.

Blushing slightly, the baby dragon picked himself up from the ground. “Hehehe, I’m alright now.”

“You simply must be careful Spike. Whatever would we do without you?” said Rarity as she walked to see if he hadn’t hurt himself. Needless to say, Spike’s face turned even redder. Through the corner of his eye he could swear he saw Twilight letting out a sigh, but when he looked she was simply staring at the platter of cookies.

“Oh right, I was about to bring that last batch up. I even prepared some hot cocoa with marshmallows, since it’s getting chilly.”

“Why, thank you Spike, you are a gem.”

“Yes, thank you, but we came down to tell you that we don’t need any more snacks for now,” said Twilight.

Spike looked at her, surprised. Did they not enjoy his cooking? No, that wasn’t it. He gave up on guessing. It’s always faster to ask anyway. “But why? I thought Pinkie was stuffing herself with the food.”

“Well, she still is, and she will be more than happy with these cookies, but the rest of us have eaten our fill and are quite tired. Also, it’s rather late now.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. Late? How late could it be? That was only his... Well, he lost track of time as he cooked, so he couldn’t remember what number that batch of cookies was, but he was sure it hasn’t been THAT long. He looked up to check the clock hanging on the wall, his eyes popping out when he saw the time.

2:40 AM? He completely lost track of time. He looked down, disappointed. That meant he would not have any more opportunities to strike up conversation with Rarity. As that thought struck home, he suddenly became aware that the other two ponies were looking worriedly at him. He raised his head, trying to not look disheartened.

“Really? Well, guess I’ll just put everything away. After I wash the dishes, that is.”

“Would you like any help?” asked Rarity.

Spike felt excited with the idea. That way he could spent a few more minutes with her. Alone, to boot. And it wouldn’t seem rude, she was offering help after all. But as he was about to accept her offer, Twilight intervened.

“Oh don’t worry Rarity, I’ll help him. Why don’t you go ahead and help the girls get ready to sleep? You are better at preparing the beds than I am,” Twilight smiled as she spoke, but it was a disturbing smile. Too many teeth, and her eyes were too wide. But Rarity didn’t seem to notice any of that.

“Well, if you insist. Then, goodnight, my little Spikey-Wikey,” she put a hoof on top of his head and patted it a little as she levitated the platter with the cookies and cocoa with her magic. But before turning to head out, she looked at him and gave a quick kiss on his cheek. She blushed ever so slightly. At least, Spike thought she did. He was too busy trying to keep his whole face from turning into a bright red color.

When the door closed, Spike was still a little flushed. He also noticed he was grinning like a complete idiot. Twilight looked at him, a serious look on her face. Was he doing something to upset her?

Oh, right, the dishes! He suddenly remembered. “Well, I’m gonna start cleaning now. So, I wash and you dry, or do you want to switch?”

“Spike, we need to talk.”

“Well, okay, but I don’t see why do you need to talk about dishes. It’s not that hard, really.”

Twilight lightly facehoofed herself. “It’s not about the dishes Spike. It’s about Rarity. More specifically, about Rarity AND you.”

Spike grimaced and looked at his adoptive sister. He had been hoping they could avoid that again. The Talk. Ignoring her, he grabbed a dirty bowl with some utensils in it and started walking towards the sink on the far left, close to the windows.

“Look Twilight. I know what you’re gonna say: I’m not her type, I don’t have a shot, you don’t want to see me hurt and all that, but who I lov-like, is none of your--”

“I support you, Spike.”

The baby dragon came to a halt, halfway across the room. He turned back to look at the pony, surprised at her answer. She was always against him going after Rarity, saying he had a better chance of wooing Luna than their fashionista friend.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“That I support you. Spike, you are a brother to me. Your happiness is mine as well.”

“I don’t get it. You were always trying to make me give up.”

“Because of... your birthday....” said Twilight, as softly as she could.

Spike looked away, biting his lower lip and clenching his fists. He HATED being reminded of that event. The day he turned into a huge, monstrous, greedy dragon. The day he rampaged around Ponyville, trying to take everything and anything he could get his scaly hands on. But worst of all, the day he put Rarity in danger and hurt her with his greed.

“I noticed that your feelings for Rarity were far greater than I expected. I mean, I knew you had a crush on her, but I didn’t know you actually lov--”

“Liked.” Spike interrupted her.

“Ahn, yes. Liked her that much. So, I thought it was only proper that I helped you, any way I can.”

Spike was happy his sister decided to support him, but something was amiss. “Well, why did you say we needed to talk? This is good, right?”

“I’m getting there. As I said, I decided to help any way I can, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

Spike looked at her blankly, waiting for her to continue. Twilight looked at him, unsure if he understood what she was saying. After a while, she let out a sigh.

“Spike, what am I good at?”

“Magic?” he guessed as he walked the rest of the way to the sink.

“Yes, but that doesn’t help you.”

“Ahm... making lists?” he said as he placed the bowl inside the sink to be washed.

“No,” Twilight said with an angered tone.

“Lecturing others?” Spike tried as he turned around to look at the unicorn.

“No...”

“Writing letters?”

“NO! RESEARCHING!” yelled the purple unicorn standing on her hind legs and shaking the fore legs in the air.

“Ohhhh, right.” He bumped his fist on his palm on an act of realization.

“Anyway, I started researching about dragons and ponies. I’ve been doing so ever since that day, as I have told you, but only recently have I decided to tell you about it,” she walked towards him, getting closer. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, before looking straight in Spike’s eyes and saying with a serious tone. “Spike, you have no chance with her.”

Spike raised and eyebrow. “I don’t get it, you JUST said you were supporting me. Why are you telling me to give up?”

“Because of my research, Spike. I was trying to find any information on dragons and ponies ever being together as a couple. I read everything, from ancient and obscure history up to literature and pony folklore. No mention of dragon-pony couples anywhere, not even in fictions. Then, I decided to study biology and anatomy to see if... Well, if this was even PHYSIOLOGICALLY possible,” the purple unicorn turned slightly red with the confession. “I researched using the books in this library, Fluttershy’s house, Zecora’s, our old quarters in Canterlot, even the royal archives! Nopony has ever heard of, seen or registered anything about dragons and ponies as a couple.”

Spike heard everything Twilight said, trying to deny it all. It couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. He sat on his stool and braced his knees, the color on his face turning pale.

“And... Well...,” Twilight said nervously, as she scratched the back of her hind leg with the other one. “I thought I needed some field research, so I asked the Princesses and Zecora about it and--”

“You did WHAT?!” Spike rose from the stool and grabbed her front legs. Twilight gossiped about his secret to the Princesses and Zecora?

“Spike, relax: I doubt the Princesses are interested in gossiping about your love life, and Zecora lives far away from the village, so you can rest at ease that she will not go blabbering about it in broad daylight. Besides, their advice helped to reinforce my fears: They don’t have any knowledge of dragons and ponies being together as a couple.” Twilight looked at the her adoptive brother, as his arms went limp and he stared at her, disheartened “They did say sometimes, a rare couple would appear,” she said, as a way to cheer him up, but then she remembered “But, ahn... those didn’t last too long.”

“Great...”

“I know this hurts Spike. I don’t enjoy being the bearer of bad news. But, if you keep going after Rarity, it’s not going to end well. For either of you.”

Spike felt his eyes filled with water. Just perfect, now he was about to cry in front of Twilight. But he kept it cool. He was sad, but he would hold it in. If he knew Twilight, she would feel guilty for making him cry. But she still noticed something, because she sat on her hind legs and wrapped her front hooves around him, embracing her baby brother, trying to comfort him.

“Don’t worry Spike. No matter what, I’m here for you. Always.”

Spike felt a little embarrassed, but her hug was really comforting. The smell of lavender coming from her mane was something he was quite used to, but it always soothed him. However, he felt his heart tighten when he thought how would Rarity smell like if she ever hugged him like this.

Suddenly realizing that she might be a little too close, Twilight let got of Spike, blushing slightly as she did so.

“Well, I guess I should help you with these dishes, right?” she said as she turned to see the mess the kitchen was. It wasn’t going to be easy.

“Don’t worry, I got this. You can go upstairs to stay with the girls.” Spike’s voice sounded shallow and lifeless. Twilight turned to see him looking down. She couldn’t exactly see his eyes, but she knew they weren’t sparkling with joy.

“Are... are you sure? With me, this could go a lot--”

“Just... go....” he said while pointing to the door. Twilight was perhaps one of the most brilliant ponies to have ever lived, but she sure could be thick as a brick when it came to others’ feelings. Specially in the matters of the heart.

“Ahn... ri-right. Call me if you need help, okay?” and she dashed towards the door, leaving Spike to his thoughts.

As the door closed, Spike felt the tears rolling down his cheeks. Finally. He wasn’t sure if he could hold it in for much longer. He wanted to scream, shout out to the world his sorrow and sadness. He wanted to claw and gnaw something, set the whole kitchen on fire, let out his frustration. But he couldn’t do any of that, not without alarming everypony else and having to explain WHY he was causing such a turmoil. So, he did what he could. He knelt on the floor and put his hands on his shoulders, shuddering as he cried his eyes out.

“Whooo”

What would he do now? It’s not like his life was completely over, but Rarity had been his one true lov-crush. What was left to do?

“Whooo”

Well, he had to do the dishes before anything else. Maybe putting his brain to work on something simple that required him to do manual labor would make him forget. Perhaps Big Mac needed some help in the farm? That’s the last place he would see Rarity, so no risk of bumping into her.

“Whooo!” screamed Owlowiscious as he pulled Spike by the green scales on the back of his head.

“OUCH! What the hay are you doing?! Can’t you see I’m busy feeling sorry for myself?!” Spike tried to punch the pet owl, but he escaped his attack, heading for the door that led outside. Owlowiscious started scratching the window panel. Irritated, Spike stood up from his corner of self-pity and walked to the door, dragging his stool with him as he did. He placed the stool in front of the door and climbed to look through the window.

The storm was severely punishing the town outside. Leaves, twigs and branches could be seen passing by as the harsh wind dragged them away. But aside from the heavy hail falling outside and the ugly weather, there was nothing strange. Besides, Owlowiscious had been with him since the beginning of the storm and just now was he making a fuss about it. Did he see something outside? But there’s nothing there, thought Spike to himself. Even so, Owlowiscious kept scratching the window in panic. Spike let out an angered groan.

“Of all the... Ok, ok! I’ll go outside and check, just calm down! Geez!” Spike removed the stool from the door and opened it. He was nearly sent flying back by the wind. This was one of the problems of being small, but still he walked a bit more towards the dirt road. He stopped by a tree on the side, pressing his eyes to see better, only to find the darkness and the occasional branch. He turned around towards the windows, where Owlowiscious rested, looking at him. Was he playing a prank? Spike wasn’t even sure the owl was capable of such humor. Then again, he barely understood him at all.

“SEE?! THERE IS NOTHING HERE!” Spike yelled as loud as he could, to make sure his voice reached Owlowiscious. I’m talking to a bird. I’ve gone bonkers. Spike thought it was better to head back indoors before he caught a col--

Krakabum!

Spike heard the thunder at the same time the white flash of the lightning blinded him. He felt a sudden burst of heat and looked to the right, to its source. He found the tree beside him to be burning with red hot flames. The lighting had struck it, and it was getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Wait, it was growing? Spike’s eyes grew wide at his sudden realization.

The tree wasn’t getting bigger.

The tree was falling towards him. That’s why it seemed like it was growing.

Spike felt helpless. The tree was going to hit a very large area and his legs were too short for any escape to be possible. Maybe he could try burning it? Not likely. He felt as if he was running out of options and running out of time.

So this is it? It’s cliche, but I’m too young to die! Fate was really evil. In less than an hour, Spike had his hopes and heart crushed and now HE was going to be crushed. He decided to brace himself for impact, by crouching and looking down. Spike felt something rubbing on his knees and looked down. He was still wearing his apron. Great. Squashed by a tree and my body will be found wearing a pink apron with a heart stitched on it. Talk about tough luck.

As he thought that, incredible pain ran through his body, shocking his muscles. He thought he heard something snap, which was likely a bone. His mouth met the mud on the ground, as did his whole being. It tasted really bad, so he stood on his four limbs and started spitting--

Wait, he was spitting? He stood on his four limbs? How can somepony stand when they are squashed by a tree a million times your weight? He decided to open his eyes, and that’s when it hit him.

He was alive.

As he finally decided to stand on his feet, he felt his back ache and some sore muscles, but in all, alive and well. He looked back at the tree. The fire was subsiding due to the rain, but some flames still lived on. But more surprisingly, the tree was tilted, forming an angle caused by a blur underneath it that Spike couldn’t quite make out what it was. Suddenly, he heard trotting from the library. He turned his head and saw that all six of his friends were just outside.

“What in da hay?!” said a southerner accent.

“Oh my! This is... Terrible!” exclaimed a caring voice.

“Did I miss something AWESOME?!” questioned somepony with a raunchy tone.

“More importantly, is anypony hurt?” Twilight’s voice sounded out of the group.

“Hey girls, isn’t that Spike?” said a cheerful voice, coming from the pink pony closest to Spike. Pinkie Pie raised a hoof pointing in his direction.

He raised his hand, his shoulder aching as he did. “Hi there everypo--” he was interrupted by a worried Twilight’s hug.

“Oh Spike, I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“Hey, I’m fine!” Somehow, he was still having a hard time understanding how he was alive.

“Spike! Look at yourself! You are anything BUT fine, my dear! You have cuts all over your body! You need proper care, right away.” Spike suddenly took notice of an itchy sensation from different spots on his body. He looked down to see that not only was he covered in mud, but he had cuts and scratches all over his body, and they were beginning to burn. Some even bled slightly.

“What in tarnation happened here Spike? We heard a mighty loud noise and came rushin’ down ta check it out.” Applejack said, as loud as she could, while holding her hat down with her hoof.

Spike looked at everyone as he spoke. “Well, a tree was hit by lightning and it nearly fell on me.”

“And what, may I ask, were you doing out here in this awful storm?” nice. Rarity was scolding him.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell everypony to stay indoors?” said Rainbow Dash, referencing the talk the whole group had just a few hours earlier.

“Well...” and it came back to him. Owlowiscious was making a ruckus about something outside, but he didn’t find anything, except for a tree trying to kill him.

No, wait. He had found something. How else did he survive?

Suddenly, a very loud thump was heard as the deadly tree fell to the ground. Everypony turned around to look at it. Something was moving in the shadows. They could see its silhouette but couldn't make out what it was. The six ponies assumed a defensive position, between them and the shadow. Twilight in the front, started a magical spell that glowed dangerously at whatever that thing was. Spike had a feeling that the spell wasn’t going to grow a moustache on its target.

The shadow started wobbling towards them. It was massive, bigger than anypony present. If it wanted a fight, it would be a tough opponent to face, but maybe the combined strength of the Elements of Harmony could even the odds. When it approached, the glow from Twilight’s horn shed some light on the creature. They all gasped as they looked at it.

It was a stallion. A unicorn, to be precise.

The ponies shivered with fear as they looked at the stranger. His body was covered in scars, many of them tiny, but some were massive, especially one extending across his chest, from the right side of his neck going down, crossing his chest to the left. His coat was blue, but a dark, gloomy blue, unlike Rainbow Dash’s cheerful cyan. He looked at them menacingly, his eyes sending off an evil glare as he gazed down at them. As everypony else waited for their opponent’s first move, Spike heard a soft voice beside him.

“...it”

Rainbow Dash opened her wings, ready to fly towards him and strike him down. Applejack tilted her hat forward as she readied herself to spin and give that big stallion a taste of the famous Apple family buck. Pinkie Pie was already set with her party cannon and Rarity was standing on her hind legs, front hooves raised in front of her face, ready to brawl.

“..wait.”

The strange stallion blinked slowly. The glow in Twilight’s horn grew even more as if signalizing everypony else to launch their attack. As they charged at their mysterious foe, Fluttershy yelled.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!”.

All five of her friends stopped in their tracks, startled by her sudden outburst. They all turned around to look at her with the same expression on their faces: What in the name of Celestia was thatfor?

Fluttershy pointed towards the strange pony. “Look at him.”

They did as she told them, but this time Twilight increased the light of her spell. The dark-blue pony was covered with cuts and bruises, some twigs and branches poking out of his mane. Tree bark clung to his coat. A long trail of blood came from his back and ran across his stomach. He was, without a doubt, badly hurt. Suddenly, his eyes changed targets, as he looked past the ponies and stared at what was behind them.

He was looking at Spike.

The purple dragon felt his immense eyes looking at him, as if trying to see his whole being, not only his outer self. Worst of all, he felt as if the assailant was SUCCEEDING. But why was he looking at him? Maybe, he wasn’t interested in mares? He felt a cold shiver running down his spine. Nothing against it, but he didn’t play for that team. Another flash from the lightning drew Spike’s eyes to the tree and he finally understood.

And for the first time since they saw the strange pony creeping up on them, they heard him speak.

“Take care... of those cuts.”

And the stallion collapsed to the ground.

Author’s Notes

What to say...

Well, first off credits where credit is deserved.

To Cheezesauce Pony: Your proofreading and advices shaped this bad boy up. Your help with my punctuation was priceless.

To Preston Watts: Heil Watts! You're Grammar Nazi skills were all I needed. You helped me on my worst side, which is grammar (and I bet you'll find 2 or 3 errors along this note, but I can live with that).

To RavensDagger: Your stories, advice and encouragement were my kick-off. Without you, I wouldn't be here on this website or even had the strength to revive this story. Basically, thanks for everything, mate, you earned yourself a die-hard fan.

And to you, the reader of course. After all, it's our duty as writers to come up with good stories for you to read. If you enjoyed Violet Fire so far, I'll tell you this: It's far from over!

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