If Spike wasn’t in foul mood before, the gruesome hangover he woke with soured his state of mind. After getting his heart shattered by Rarity, he ended up finding his way to the bar, where he tried in vain to drink away the memory of that terrible night.

How Spike ended up back in his room was a mystery. One he’ll figure out as soon as his head stops pounding. The sounds of the seagulls outside felt like sledge hammers banging against his skull. Grabbing a pillow, he pulled it over his head to muffle the sounds.

Not bothering to look at the annoying ticking clock on the wall, Spike went to drift back asleep. He wanted nothing more than to sleep through the entire cruise and just go back home.

Three steady knocks against the door pulled a growl from Spike. It was Twilight. He could always recognized the way she knocked.

“Spike, are you up yet?” she asked through the door.

Spike reached for the lamp on the nightstand with his tail. A quick flick yanked the lamp through the air and flung it towards the door. He didn’t care that he missed, or that he left a dent in the cabin wall. He just remained sprawled out on the bed, not bothering to get up.

“I did not drag your butt back up here so you could have a harsh attitude with me,” Twilight said before opening the door and coming inside. She sighed as she contemplated his behavior, considering his attitude concerning his situation. “Spike…”

“Twilight, go away...,” he grumbled, not acknowledging her. Not even looking in her direction.

The princess placed a hand on her hip, her eyes narrowed and her muzzle scrunched up. If Spike had been looking, he would have recognized the pose. Twilight had made a decision. “Spike, I’m not going to let you stay up here. Yes, things went bad last night with Rarity–.” She sighed before dropping her hand. A moment later the soothing hum of her magic filled the room, and her pink aura engulfed the sandalwood dresser. She pulled out a pair of jeans, a simple green t-shirt, and a grey hoodie. Discoloration had taken hold on the knees of the comfortable jeans from years of wear and tear. Twilight ensured they were folded neatly as levitated them to the mattress.

“Yes, things got bad, but you can't let what happened last night affect the rest of the week.”

Spike rolled his eyes, hauling himself upright on the bed as the blanket slid down to his lap. There was a moment of silence as the two looked at each other. Twilight had just parted her lips to speak when a pillow was thrown at her. It collided with her face and sent her to staggering back.

“Wha-what?!” she gawked dumbfoundedly.

The drake lay back on the bed and threw the blanket over his head as he bunched his body into a tight ball.

The left eye of Twilight’s twitched. Her lips curled up with a little snarl. It was a pose that Spike would have recognized instantly had he been looking. “Spike…” the sound of her voice reverberated unnaturally through the room as the muffled hum of her magic caused Spike to snap his eyes open.

“Oh no…,” he whimpered.

Outside Spike’s cabin, a few ponies were leaving their rooms to start the day. They were thinking of what activities they could do when all of a sudden a door was engulfed in bright pink aura. The ponies in the hall felt the floor shake, and the pictures on the walls banged as they fell from their hooks. Sparkling pink smoke seamingly seeped out from under the door.

“Owowowow! Twi! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Spike’s pleading voice could be heard clearly through the door.

“You don’t have to give me such an attitude when I didn’t do anything!” Twilight shouted. The Princess of Friendship may have had other things to say as well, the kind of things that mothers would cover their children’s ears for, but most passengers were kind enough to pretend not to hear.

To the ones who were not so kind and chose to stop at the door and listen, the sounds of wood snapping, glass shattering, and for some reason, the sound of a chicken caw-cawing loudly rang from within the cabin. The sounds of violence coming from the room were made the passengers think strange, and some worrying thoughts on just what was going down in that cabin.

Then it suddenly became quiet. Even the faint sounds of the ship’s machinery could be heard through the walls. The ticking sounds of a clock counting off the seconds were deafening. A moment later, the door knob turned and the door swung open. With a stern look only some pony with high authority would make strides out of the room. though her her hair in a tangled mess, Twilight walks out of the room with her head held high.

Floating in mid-air behind the princess came Spike, fully covered in Twilight’s magical aura and neatly dressed in the clothes that she had picked out for him. His eyes were in a daze and his arms hanging limply as he was being pulled out of the cabin without resistance.

Twilight was in full Princess Mode as she carried Spike to the restaurant area where their friends had mostly gathered. Fluttershy, Rainbow, AJ and Pinkie were waiting at a round white linen cloth table. Starlight and Rarity had yet to arrive for breakfast. The eggs and pancakes smelled exquisite, and assortments of coffee and juice were also offered.

Twilight unceremoniously dropped Spike into a seat. “Now, we are going to sit down and eat,” The Princess said as she took a seat between him and Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie was already face first into the pancakes; syrup, berries, and whipped cream bulging out of her puffy pink cheeks. “Morning guys!” She said with her cheeks full of food.

“Good morning, Twilight. Good morning, Spike,” Fluttershy greeted the two with a smile while feeding Angel Bunny his favorite salad.

“Mornin’,” AJ greeted as well.

“You okay, dude?” Rainbow asked Spike while she fed Tank a slice of tomato. The direct question had Applejack and Twilight glaring at her.

“Where are Rarity and Starlight?” Twilight asked, shaking her head at RD before picking up a glass of cool, frothy orange juice and taking a sip.

“They said they’re coming,” Pinkie said, pausing to lick the whipped cream off her face. “Starlight was having trouble getting Rarity out of bed. At least that’s what she said.”

Spike let out a huff. He did not believe that for a minute. Rarity was probably taking extra time to ensure her makeup was just perfect for all the boys she would be flirting with. The dragon sat back in his chair and let the girls discussion fade into the background. He couldn’t stand the fact he was going to be sitting at the same table, or even be in the same room as Rarity. The pain in his heart was still too fresh, his chest hurt just thinking about it. Twilight scooted a plate of food to him, wordlessly urging him to put something in his stomach.

The dragon used his tail to nudge the plate back towards her as he slumped further into his chair. He pulled the hood over his spikes and horns and avoided eye contact with any of the girls.

Spike didn’t know what he had been drinking the night before, but whatever it was still had his head in a vice. The sunlight found every reflective surface to stab into his eyes, and the dining ponies and human servers was causing his head to feel as if elephants were doing a conga line through his cerebral cortex. His pathetic attempt to drink his problems away was coming back to bite him in the tail. Everything around him was only worsening his mood.

The girls quickly ran out of polite conversation and sat in silence as they contemplated how to go through this situation with him. The events that happened last night were bad. Rarity was going to waltz in any second, and with the dragon’s harsh attitude.... If things didn’t get resolved soon, the friendship between Spike and Rarity could be destroyed.

Moments passed, and the girls looked at each other, egging one or the other to be the first to speak. Away from Spike’s sunken reptilian eyes, two of them had their hands behind the cloth table as they played rock-paper-scissors to see who would go first. After three rounds, it was Applejack the Element of Honesty, who got to speak.

The orange mare looked towards Spike, quietly thinking of what to declare before sighing. “So, uh, Spike, how are you feeling?” she started.

The only result was the dragon turning his head away from Applejack and grunting.

The farmer scratched her golden locks under her leathery stetson and thought of what to say next. When Applejack finally located the precise words, she spoke. “Listen, about last night, things got... out of hand, so to speak.” AJ lowered her hands and braced herself on the table. She tried to distract herself a little by feeling the silky smoothness coming of the fabric between her fingers. “What Rarity did, in terms on how she acted towards yer proposal, it was uncalled for. Ah see why ya acted like that when she said those things to you.”

Spike was slowly straightening in his seat as his head cocked slightly in the farmer’s direction.

“But, then again, Ah can also see it from her perspective.”

“Applejack!” Twilight hissed.

“What is that suppose to mean?” Spike gutturally asked, casting his friend a menacing glare.

“Um, I thought we were meant to talk him down, not stir him up,” RD said to AJ.

“What Ah’m saying is this.” Applejack faced Spike, standing up from her seat and leaning against the table towards him. “Spike, there is a time and place to do these things. Proposing to a girl right after something bad happens to her, like getting her gown ruined by wine being tossed at her, is just plain a bad idea. Rarity wasn’t in the mood to hear you.” Element of Honesty? More like Element of Brutality. “Yeh, she said things in a really bad way, but she wasn't thinking straight. Yer mad, Ah get it. But what you did at the party was uncalled for too. Y–”

“Screw you, Applejack!” Spike spat out as he abruptly stood up, chair screeching back against the floor. A wisp of black smoke seeped out of his flared nostrils. His lips curled up in a snarl. “No one asked for your fuckin’ opinion.” He said as his fists clenched at his sides.

“Okay, okay, calm down everypony.” Twilight stood up as well in hopes to defuse this quickly. “Thank you AJ for that but that’s enough.”

“What? Let me finish, he needs to hear this!” AJ said, gesturing at Spike.

“Now, now, there’s no need to get all worked up.” Fluttershy said, reaching out for Spike, placing a hand on his shoulder before the dragon shrugged her off. She quickly pulled her hand back and held it against her chest. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” She squeaked, her ears drooping.

Fluttershy’s action brought the argument to a screeching halt. A server took advantage of the quiet moment to approach the table. “Is there a problem?” he asked, visibly nervous about addressing the angry party. Especially the agitated dragon towering over everyone..

“I certainly hope there isn’t.” a new voice chimed in. One that reignited Spike’s anger and frustration, which Fluttershy had so recently begun to calm. Rarity and Starlight had finally made their way to the table.

“Sorry we’re late,” Starlight said.“We had a bit of a hold up with the hot water situation,” she gave the white mare a look.

“What? I need to look my best,,” Rarity said, giving the unicorn a smirk in return. She looked to Spike. “Good morning, darling.”

Spike let out a snarl before leaving the table without a word.

Starlight sighed and looked to the other girls. “Bad?” She asked.

“Very.” Pinkie Pie replied.

“All I said was a good morning,” Rarity shook her head before looking at the human server. Since most of the serving staff were humans, she might as well make them useful. “Well since you’re here, fetch me a fresh yolk-free spinach omelette, hold the tomato.”

“Right away.” The server said before taking off to fulfill her order.

The other ponies at the table looked to each other before looking back at Rarity. “What?” she asked them.

“I think you need to apologize to Spike,” Fluttershy spoke up immediately.

“For what, exactly?” Rarity asked as she checked her complection in a compact mirror.

“For being so mean to him last night.” Flutters said.

“Fluttershy, darling, I stand by what I said. I’m not going to marry him.” Rarity said, continuing to touch up her appearance.

“Ugh, not the marrying him thing! Apologize for how you said it,” Rainbow said, “No offense, Rare, but you were a total bitch last night.”

“Well I never!” Rarity put the mirror down on the table. “I may have been a bit harsh, but what’s done is done. I can’t believe he put me on the spot like that! There is a time and a place to do such thing and that was neither the time nor the place for a proposal.”

“That’s what Ah just said.” AJ muttered.

“He’s feeling as if he was being used all these years,” Twilight said. “Just apologize to him.”

“You remember the last time he was in this sort of a foul mood? When you told him he couldn’t go to that rowdy mosh pit or whatever it was called at Crue Fest? He was angry for weeks before he let it go. Give Spike time and he’ll come back to his senses.” Rarity pointed out to Twilight.

“I think this is different.” Starlight chimed in.

“This is much different than the music festival.” Pinkie Pie said. “He would’ve sat with us to eat his pancakes back then. You gotta say sorry before we lose him forever!” The pink pony reached over the table, getting into Rarity’s face. “WE CAN’T LOSE HIM FOREVER!! SAY YOU’RE SORRY!”

Rarity scoffed, pushing Pinkie gently back. “You girls are making such a big deal out of this. Fine, I’ll go apologize to him.”

The server chose that time to return with Rarity’s order. The white mare looked at her plate and sighed. “I asked for a spinach and yolk-free omelette. This omelette has barley and herb and I can see the yolk clear as day.”

“I-I’m so sorry, Ma’am. I’ll get this corrected right away!” he said.

She lay a hand on her head and shook it. “When I get back, I want my omelette made as I requested, understand?”

The server nodded and retreated back to the kitchen.

Rarity turned to the girls. “I’m off now. I shall return shortly,” she said before her heels clicked away.

Not far away, Spike leaned against the airship railing. The morning rays of the sun reflected off his scales. A faint haze of steam rose could be seen in the sunlight. It was warm outside, but it was his boiling anger that kept him hot enough to evaporate the humidity out of the air.

He just stared over the rail as he tried to calm himself. The Zeppelin was now flying over the sea. Spike could make out the entrance to the sea ponies/hippogriff kingdom. It wouldn’t be long until they arrived at their destination.

Grunting, Spike tugged off his hoodie and tied it around his waist. Ember had warned him about getting too angry. Dragons heat up when angered, and more of their primal instincts come out. If he didn’t do something to cool him off, he’ll burn up. Or worse, act out. Dammit to Tartarus, it was hot.

Hearing water splashing behind him, Spike looks over his shoulder and saw some ponies playing in a pool just ten meters from where he was standing.

Maybe a swim would be enough to cool~

“Ah, there you are!”

Shit.

Rarity was walking towards him, her chest rising and falling heavily. “You sure are a tough one to track down in this ship, darling.” She fixed her hair with her hand, smoothing out the strays.

Pushing himself off of the rail, Spike briskly walked away from Rarity. Any thought of going to the pool was gone.

“Spike, I’m trying to talk to you,” Rarity called out, following in pursuit. “You can’t avoid me forever.”

‘I can sure as hell try,’ he thought as he kept on walking.

Huffing in frustration, Rarity grabbed for his arm. “Now, honestly, you’re acting like such a foal with this attitude of yours.”

Spike snapped around, ripping his arms out of her reach. “What the Hell do you want, Rarity? Haven’t you said enough already?”

“Look, I’m sorry for declining your offer for marriage, Spikey, but I am simply not ready to settle down. With my Fillydelphia store opening soon and the fashion show coming in a matter of days, my career is at the cusp of truely taking off. I have more important things to do than plan a wedding.”

Spike blinked at what she said. Hearing it echoing in his ears before he let out a dark humorless laugh, causing Rarity to narrow her eyes at the drake. “And what, pray tell, is so funny? I am trying to apologize.”

He shook his head as he continued laughing, rubbing his eyes with his hand. “Y-you think that’s what this is about? You think that’s the problem? You rejecting me?” His body trembled as he laughed at that statement of hers. Spike pulled his hand away from his face and glared at Rarity. The look was enough to make the her stagger back. “Element of Generosity my ass.”

“Spike, there is no need to be crass.”

“Crass? HAH!” He barked at that. “Crass is not telling me how you felt years ago. Being crass is you just thinking I’ll just fucking grow out of loving you. Crass is fucking using me all these years,” Spike snarled out. “If you’re so generous, then why weren’t you being generous with my feelings? Huh?!”

“Spi-spike.” Rarity stutters, seeing smoke rising from his shoulders. Holes were being burned through his shirt.

“If you had told me that you didn’t want me a long time ago, I would’ve been cool about it. Sure, I’d be hurt, but I would have gotten over it.” He said. “Instead you made me a fool for all these years.”

“Spike, I gave you plenty of indications that I was declining your advances. You choose not to see them.” Rarity said, crossing her arms against her chest. “You’re acting worse than a child right about now. You’re acting like–” She stopped herself.

Spike’s head tingled and his chest puffed up as he squarely faced the white mare. “Acting like what?” He could guess what Rarity was about to say, but he wanted her to actually say it. “Spit it out, Rarity.”

Straightening up, she glared at Spike. “You want to hear it? Fine. Spike, you’re acting like a huge dumb dragon.”

He chuckled darkly at that, turning away from her. “Rarity, for your sake, stay away from the big dumb dragon.” The dragon snarled as he walked off.

Normally, dragons are always angry, cruel and most of the time dumb. What she had said hurt. It didn’t compare to her rejection yesterday, but still, it stung. Spike knew he wasn’t like the others. It was probably best if he didn’t see Rarity for the rest of the cruise. And probably for a while after.

“Stupid cunt,” He grumbled to himself, shoving his hands in his pockets, his muscles tensed. “I don’t need this right now.”

By now, his shirt had more burn holes than he could count. Making his way down to the lower decks, Spike began fidgeting, clawing at his neck. He was getting really hot. Rarity had pissed him off even more. If he hadn’t turned and left, something would have happened. Something that would send him to a world of trouble.

As he got halfway down the stairs, he heard a shout. “Hey, watch it!” Spike looked up just in time to catch a basketball with his face. He fell back with he ears ringing and eyesight blurry.

“Spike!” a female voice called. He felt soft hands on his face, but couldn’t make out who it was. He recognised the scent though. A sweet and familiar scent.

“Spike? Geez he’s burning up,” the voice said again. He knew who it was now. “Go get some ice. Now you freaking chickens,” Rachel snarled, as Spike’s vision cleared.

Rachel’s skin was glistening in the sun’s rays, and she wore a black tank top that was tied to show her whole stomach. It may not have been as well muscled as AJ’s or as toned as Rainbow’s, but it showed off just the right shape and tone to attract wandering eyes. Her hair, instead boasting blue streaks like yesterday, had black and red stripes that traveled along the tight french braid hair she was sporting. Grinning, she leaned back. “Good, you’re not dead,” she said. Behind her was a unicorn stallion..

“Would you rather I was?” Spike muttered, hand reaching up and rubbing his aching face. “What happened?”

A female pegasus, who Spike recognized as Night Glider from having met her a long time ago at Starlight Glimmer’s old village, trotted up with an ice pack. “You just got knocked on your ass by a rogue basketball,” she said. With a flaw of her wings, she floated above them to hand Spike the ice pack, which he waived off.

The stallion raised a hand to that. “My fault, we were kind of rough housing. Sorry.”

Spike groaned and slowly pushed himself to his feet. His back ached with the motion. He looked back to the staircase behind him. He hadn’t even realized he had fallen down to the bottom. He hissed and jerked his hand away from where he had unconsciously touched the forming bruise.

“Easy, big guy, you took a nasty tumble,” Rachel said, moving at the same time he did. “Three stories to be precise.”

“Do you need to go to the infirmary?” Night Glider asked him. “That’s gonna bruise your face.”

Spike sighed before taking a step. He stumbled a moment for balance, but was quick to regain it. His face hurt and his ears were still ringing. Not like they were before but still. Not shaping to be a good day. “I’ll be fine,” he said to them before he began walking off.

“Hey,” Rachel then called out. Spike looked down to see her walking next to him. “You just took a big hit, you need to sit for a moment,” she said.

“I said I’m fine,” Spike snapped. Even though he didn’t mean to, he wasn’t in the mood for any social activity.

Rachel let out a huff before bouncing around Spike to face him. “Hey, I didn’t do anything, watch the attitude will ya?” Her tone didn’t match her words. Normally people who say this kind of thing were annoyed and getting angry themselves. Rachel was cool and collected. “I can see you’re pissed.”

Spike sighed, the human girl not leaving him when clearly he wanted to be alone. He stopped walking and looked down at her. “That obvious?”

“Buddy, I can recognize someone out for blood anywhere.” Rachel said, grinning up at him, looking him in the eyes.

“What do you want?” He then asked.

Rachel held the ice bag up to him. “What I want is for you to sit your scaly butt down, put this on your face before you get a black eye, and hang out a bit.” She insisted. “And plus, get that busted rubber off of your horn thingy,” she said with a gesture towards his head. There was no way in any shape or form that sentence sounded remotely right. It caused the ponies that were on the court behind them to snicker.

“That's what she said,” the stallion said with a laugh.

Rachel glared at them. “To Spike maybe. Doubt you’ve ever heard it!” Her face was flushing a deep red even though she was chuckling along.

Spike was flabbergasted by the whole situation. When he reached up to one of his horns and felt around, his fingers felt rough ridges from something hanging off his left horn. “Oh crud.” He ripped the deflated basketball off while blushing. “Sorry.” He had no idea how the basketball got impaled like that.

Rachel chuckled before grabbing it from him and tossed it in the garbage, making it in with a flick of her wrist. “Don’t sweat it, dude. We got more.” She pointed at the ball rack across the courtyard. “Care to join?”

Spike looked towards the rack before shaking his head. “I’m seriously not in the mood right now. Sorry.” He said before walking off.

“Huh,” Rachel said, shuffling her feet. “I guess I’ll have to give these pretty, delicious looking fire rubies to some other dragon that wants to hang out,” she singsonged.

Spike came to a screeching halt. He looked over his shoulder, certain she was bullshitting. Rachel walked over to a black gym bag with paint splattered all over it. She dug around for a moment, and sure enough, she pulled out a clear gallon size ziplock baggie filled to the brim with rubies. They shimmered as if they were on fire under the light.

His mouth watered in sight. “Well...I guess I can hang out for a little bit.” the dragon zipped all the way to her and sat down on the metal bench. Just as he reached for the bag, Rachel pulled it away and instead hands him the ice bag.

“At least till the ice melts, then you can have them,” Rachel grinned. “No cheating either, I’ll know.” She said as she stuffs the rubies back into her bag and zips it up.

Seriously?

“Can you handle that, big guy?” She asked.

The dragon huffed. He was still pissed off by Rarity, it didn’t help that he just got a face full of basketball. He should just get up and walk away. Those gems just might well be fake. “How do I know that isn't’ costume jewelry?” he asked skeptically.

“Lie to a dragon? I may be human, Spike, but I’m not dumb. Besides, I don’t use fake gems for my art. Those are just leftovers.” Rachel said, glancing up at him before standing up straight.

“Yo! Rachel, we gonna play ball or what?” Night Glider called out.

“Gimme a sec!” Rachel called back before looking at Spike. “You have my word.”

Spike sighed softly, what did he have to lose? It’s not like I’ve got anything better to do, he thought before taking the ice bag and placing it on his face. Besides, he’ll do pretty much anything if it meant he could eat some rubies. Especially fire rubies. They were quite rare and were very hard to come by.

How in Equestria did she manage to get a whole crap load of them? What kind of craft project uses fire rubies and leaves enough left over to fill a gallon bag?

“You promise?” he asked.

“I promise,” she smiled before making a cross over her heart and put a hand over her eye. “May a cupcake fly into my eye if I dare to tell a lie.”

He chuckled slightly, looking up at her with his good eye. “Fine, I’ll stick around...only for the rubies.”

Flashing him the same roguish grin she gave Rarity yesterday, Rachel nodded before running back to the other players.

“Okay, bitches, same rules as before,” Night Glider said as the human returned. “And Bouncer, no stray balls this time,” she said with a grin to her partner.

“Hey, it wouldn’t happen if I used my magic,” he chuckled sheepishly, scratching his mangy orange mane.

“Not everyone has magic,” Rachel chuckled with confidence. “Now, grab a ball and let me resume kicking y'all's flanks.”

Night Glider flew towards the ball rack to grab one and toss it across the court. Rachel jumped to snatch it out of the air before setting it in center court.

Spike watched from the sidelines. He saw the three rapidly make hand gestures, determining who would handle the ball first. By the victorious shout of Bouncer, he had the first play.

“Two ponies against one human? That’s unfair…” He muttered softly to himself as he watched the game start. Bouncer started off dribbling the ball down the court, his long stride eating up the limited distance across the small play area. He passed the ball to Night Glider, who caught it while showing off with a spin and made a run to the other side. Though Rachel was the tallest human Spike had ever encountered before, these guys were both far taller and just plain bigger than her. It put her at a disadvantage while she was trying to catch up to a pegasus after just reaching the unicorn.

Night Glider made her way to the basket, making a huge leap for the net. To Spike’s surprise, on her way to making a slam dunk, Rachel managed to jump right from under the pegasus, pulling the ball right out of Night Glider’s hand.

Rachel landing with a crouch, the ball now in the her dainty hands. She slowly began to dribble the ball in one hand, eyeing her opponents. The two slowly approached, moving carefully so they wouldn’t leave her an opening.

Her grin unfaltering, Rachel moved, and Spike watched in awe. Rachel was basically flying across the court. Her footwork was amazing as she slipped and dodged her opponents. She moved as if the whole game was choreographed, dancing across a stage. When Bouncer tried to block her, she bounced the ball through the gap between his legs. He fumbled a grab at it while Rachel spun around him without a missing a beat to catch it and continue her way down the court. She took her shot as if she had all the time in the world.

The ball flew through the air, hit the fiberglass headboard, and passed through the net with a soft swish.

“Whoo!” Spike jumped, startled by the sudden cheering. “Go Rach!” One of the unicorn twins was sitting beside him. Ruby he thinks it was. The teal one.

“Kick their asses!” Spike whipped his head to the left of him and saw the other. That one actually was holding a foam finger and eating popcorn.

“Where did you two come from?” Spike asked after his heart moved out of his throat.

“We’ve been here since before this round started, duh!” The purple unicorn tells him with a grin.

“Now you sluts make your way back!” Rachel called out to them. “Ya’ll left me!”

“We got hungry, bitch!” Ruby laughs. “We told you we’d be back.”

“That was an hour ago!” She snapped back.

The twins laughed at seeing her worked up before getting back into the game. “Gem, is it me or is she mad at us for forcing her outside?” Ruby asked her twin.

“She’ll get over it,” Gem giggled. She turned to look at Spike. “Whoa, you’re face is bruised.”

“Don’t remind me,” Spike sighed, shaking his head. “What do you mean by you guys making her go out?”

Ruby turned to him as well. “Rachel is an artist. For the past seven months, she’s done nothing but go to work or stay cooped up in our apartment to paint and draw. She’d more than likely do the same while on vacation.”

“So we threatened to throw all of her artwork overboard if she doesn’t go out and enjoy herself.” Gem grinned evilly. “Boy, when she gets out, she’s so much fun! And we get to see her be all badass too!”

“I see,” Spike said with interest before turning back to the game just in time to see Bouncer shove Rachel to the ground and Night Glider grab the ball to make a point.

“Hey! Foul!” Ruby snapped at them.

Spike snarled. This was unfair. Settling the ice pack down, he got up and jogged across the court to her. “Hey, you alright?” Spike asked.

“I’m good,” she replied, pushing herself on her feet and glaring at the ponies. “That’s foul, guys.”

“Sorry!” The two called out. But from what Spike could tell, one of them didn’t mean it.

He looked to Rachel and sighed. Might as well work out some of this anger. “Two against one. Seems unfair, don’cha think?”

The ponies and Rachel looked up at him. “You gonna join in?” Night Glider asked him.

Spike shrugged before taking the hoodie off from around his waist and tossing it off court. “Seems like I am.” he said as he popped his knuckles. “Two against two seems about right.” He turns to Rachel. “Well?”

Rachel grinned. “Let’s kick some butt.” She looked toward the ponies. “First team to ten points wins the game.”

“Oh, you two are on!” Night Glider and Bouncer fist bumped. “Same rules?”

“Right.” Rachel nods. “No flying, no magic,” she then looked up at Spike. “No spitting fireballs.”

“Whatever,” he scuffed before both of them got to the center. The dragon ripped the burnt shirt off and tossed it aside. The mares on the sidelines, Night Glider, and any other female who happened to be around couldn’t help but enjoy the view of the dragon.

The girls still thought of Spike as immature. The little kid that always followed them around. Twilight's little assistant. Rarity had just confirmed this to him. They wouldn't think this if they ever actually looked at him. Spike had spent his recent years doing manual labor and dedicating time every week specifically to work out. With his efforts and draconic heritage, he had sculpted his body into his own work of art. From horn to tail he was a prime specimen of a mature dragon, with sculpted abs, broad shoulders, and well toned muscles.

With his wings now free, he gave them a stretch and a single quick flap which sent dirt flying away from him before furling them back into place.

Loud wolf whistles came from the twins.

“Yo, Rachel!” Ruby called out to her. “Since sexy here is on your team, you take your shirt off too!” She laughed.

“You shittin’ me, right?!” Rachel shouted back.

“Yeah, take it off!” Gem cackled. “Shirts vs skins, Rach! You taught us that rule.”

You fuckin’ kiddin’ me? Spike just looked at those two and snarled.

After a palm to the face, Rachel grumbled. “Fine, okay, if it shuts you two up!” She growls before grabbing her top and pulling it off and tosses it somewhere off court. Her grey sports bra staying. “Now stop heckling me.”

“No promises.” The twins giggled evilly in unison.

Spike growled at the twins before he saw what was on the girl’s back. Though the top part was covered by her sports bra, he could make out a pair of tattered black and grey wings extending from her shoulders and trailed down till it disappeared into her pink yoga pants. The tattoo wings were covered with burns and scars, and the feathers where either tattered or outright missing. Written in white cursive down the center of her spine was the phrase: “Tattered and Broken, but Free”.

“Now can we play?” The midnight pegasus asked, blowing her white stray mane out of her eyes.

“Waiting for you, princess,” Rachel said, her words snapping Spike back to the game.

Bouncer took a bit out of his pocket. “Heads,” he called as he flipped it. The coin spun in the air before he caught it and slapped it on the back of his hand. He let out a growl when he saw it was tails.

“What's wrong? Lost to your own coin toss?” Spike taunted, chuckling at the Bouncer’s reaction.

He dribbled the ball before passing it to Spike. “Quit yappin’ and play.”

If you say so, Spike growled internally before he took off down the court. The ball became a blur in his hand as he moved.

Bouncer and Night Glider took off after Spike as he ran. Now that Spike was the tallest in the group, he had the advantage. But that doesn’t mean he was any good.

The dragon took a huge leap in the air and slammed the ball in the basket.

Being able to do that meant he was good.

“Holy shit!” Rachel gawked.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Bouncer groans.

Spike turned back to the ponies and grinned. “That was just a taste.”

Rachel giggled as he made his way back. “Nice moves, but dude, team effort.” she playfully punched his arm.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” He said.

As the four played, more ponies were gathering around the court to watch the game.

“Thinking what I’m thinking?” Ruby asked her twin.

Gemcity grinned. “Always.” She looked over to the pool area and saw Vinyl Scratch was watching from her DJ Stand. “Yo! Pon-3! Give us a beat!” She shouts at the white mare.

Vinyl lifted up her glasses to look before giving a grin. Immediately lively dance music started playing loudly through the speakers. The type of music that could make any pony shake their tails to the beat.

It was time for the real game to begin.

The two teams squared off. Spike had finished showing off, and it was time to be serious in the face of these chumps.

The ball bounced around the court. It was in Night Glider’s hands before being passing to Bouncer. Bouncer dribbled across the floor before Spike slipped past him on his left, grabbing the ball from his hand and making his way to the other side.

Rachel was near the net. Spike moved, shuffling across the ground before throwing the ball overhand. Rachel jumped to pick it out of the air and make a shot in the same motion. Spike and Rachel make the first point.

The two teams squared off again. This time, Spike was the first with the ball. Moving across the court, adrenaline and rage coursing through his veins. The sounds of shoes squeaked from one end to another.

As he ran, he felt someone stomp on his tail, causing him to shout as he was flung to the ground. He lost his grip on the ball and it bounced off. Right into Bouncer’s hands. He gave Spike a cocky grin before going to the midline and making a net.

“Watch where you put your tail down, man, I nearly tripped.” The stallion smirked before trotting back to Night Glider and high fiving her.

Spike snarled, pulling himself up and glanced at his tail. Though it wasn’t bad, he could make out a scuff mark.

That bastard.

He took a step towards Bouncer to punch that smirk off of his face before Rachel tugged at his arm. “Easy, big guy,” she muttered, glaring at the two ponies. “If you want payback, beat these chumps.” She handed him a bottle of water to drink before heading back to the center to square off.

He downed the water. That tail stomp was still on his mind, but he shook it off and continued the game.

The teams showed off some impressive skill each time they had the ball, both fiercely competing to win a game with nothing on the line but pride. The ponies around them cheered and applauded on the sidelines as interest in the dragon/human pair grew. Despite the obvious differences between the two of them, each one amplified the other’s own moves. They complemented each other’s play style perfectly.

Though Rachel was the smallest of the four players, she brought speed and almost a grace, while Spike’s size and draconic need to compete was a sight to see.

The music pumping into the speakers took the game to a whole other level. Ruby and Gem were having a blast acting like cheerleaders. They were doing everything from waving their makeshift pom poms in the air to chanting made-on-the-spot cheers. One of them even started dancing for the audience.

The game was tied as they approached the end, with both teams at nine points each. The last round had begun.

“Got one more play in ya?” Rachel asked Spike as she stretched her back.

Spike chuckled softly, wiping the sweat off of his snout with a towel. “I was about to ask the same thing as you.” He tossed the cloth onto the bench and grinned at her.

Rachel shook her head with a smirk before they got to the center once more, facing off against the two ponies.

The ball was thrown in the air and Night Glider intercepted it. Rachel followed in pursuit while the boys tried to block each other. With Spike taller than Bouncer by seven or eight inches, it was a hysterical sight.

The pegasus bounced the ball until it was swiped out of her hand. Rachel had snatched the ball and was making her way down the side. She saw how close Spike was to the net and dashed towards him.

Bouncer kept stepping in front of Spike, blocking his path to Rachel. He saw how close she was, noting the clear path she had to a final goal.

His horn sputtered in cobalt blue. Spike snarled as he noticed this. He was going to use magic on the game. Cheater!

Before the horn was completely engulfed in magic, the dragon slips his tail around the stallion’s leg. Just as whatever spell was about to be cast, he tugged Bouncer’s leg, stepping back so Bouncer could fall flat on the ground. He pulled his tail back before any of the others noticed, making it look like Bouncer tripped over his own feet.

Bouncer growled and looked up at Spike.

“Sorry, I have to be careful where I put my tail down.” The dragon grinned mischievously before running towards the net. He saw Rachel with Night Glider hot on her tail.

‘Heh, this could be pretty awesome’ Spike thought to himself as he saw an opportunity. “Rachel!” Spike called out to her.

Rachel looked to him as she ran. Spike had turned his back to her and knelt down, forming a ramp straight to the net. Hopefully she can take the hint, Spike thought.

Rachel blinked for the moment as she tried to keep the ball away from Night Glider. When she caught on to what Spike was hinting doing, she nodded with a toothy grin.

With a fake to the left before taking off to the right, Rachel ran as fast and as hard as she could. Her shoes squeaked loudly with each heavy step. Night Glider caught back up, and kept trying to smack the ball out of Rachel’s hands, but Rachel didn’t give her an opening.

Just as the pegasus made one more reach for the ball, Rachel grabbed the ball and lept. With one step on the dragon’s back and another on his shoulder, the human jumped. With ball in hand, she flew higher than she ever had.

The ball slammed down through the net and Rachel hung onto the rim with a victorious cry. “YEAH!!”

“Hell yeah!” Spike shouts triumphantly, jumping up with joy. The crowd goes nuts at the winning duo.

“Coming down!” Rachel warned him before letting go of the rim.

Spike swiftly caught her bridal style with a laugh, before letting her down. Thankfully humans - like her - were very light.

Rachel wrapped her arms around the dragon’s waist.

Spike jumped slightly by the sudden hug he was having. He wasn’t expecting it, but he went along and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, returning the hug.

“You were awesome!” She squealed in joy.

For the first time today, the dragon actually smiled. “We were both awesome.” He chuckled before realizing that they were still holding each other and pulled away. Awkward…. Spike thought, scratching at his neck.

The spectators dispersed now that the game was over, leaving only their opponents and the twins on the court.

Night Glider and Bouncer walked over to them. “Good game, for a couple nonpony folk.” The pegasus grinned, holding a hand out.

Rachel extended hers and they shook. “Not bad for a pair of pastel ponies,” She returned the grin.

“Gotta hand it to you, Rachel, I underestimated you.” Bouncer said as he held his hand out for her to shake. “Good game.”

Rachel grabbed his, her hand shaking his. “Same to you..” She looked up at Spike with a smirk.

The ponies left after a round of polite hand shakes.

“Ooh Rachel!” Gem shrieked as the twins ran up to the human. Thought they did have to bend down slightly to give their friend a huge bear hug.

Ruby pulls back quickly and groans. “Ooh, you stinky!”

“You spend an hour or two playing basketball and see if you don’t get stinky.” Rachel said annoyed but ends up smiling as well.

As they talked, Spike stepped off of the court to pick up his hoodie with a much lighter mood than before the game. He still had some residual anger but thanks to the workout -- even though he didn’t plan on being a part of it -- he didn’t feel like he was going to kick some pony’s ass. Nothing like sports soothes the raging beast within.

Spike felt good. He’ll probably feel awesome with those tasty rubies in his now hungry tummy. He had worked up a huge appetite, not to mention that he ran out before eating a bite of his breakfast.

Grabbing a towel from the towel rack and patting the sweat from his face - minding his eye - he threw his hoodie over his shoulder and went back to the girls. He then noticed Rachel’s top hung on a chair and chuckled as he changed course to grab it before he went over to her to return it. “Here.”

The twins snickered before leaving the two alone suddenly.

“Oookay….” Spike mutters, seeing them just leaving when he shown up.

“Ignore them as best as you can and you’ll be fine.” Rachel sighed before grabbing her shirt from him. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” He said before he softly smiled. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Rachel asked as she pulls the top over her head and tugging it into place, though it clung to her sweaty skin.

“Having me staying around, I needed it.” He said honestly. Spike followed Rachel towards the bench where her gym bag lie. “I worked out some of my anger.”

“Nothing like close contact, sweaty sports to work the pent up stress out of everyone. That’s what I say.” She said, digging into her bag and pulling out a dark purple water canister and took a drink before sharing it with Spike, who took a drink as well.

“Now, about those rubies you promised?” Spike then smirked, not letting those babies go.

“Oh, so partnering with me on the court was just a way to cozy up to me for the gems?” She laughs, shaking her head. “Man, dragons and their gems.”

“Keep us away from those things and it’s not going to be pretty.” He grinned, eyeing at her gym bag.

Rachel slung the bag over her shoulder and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. “Shower first, then you can have them.”

“Seriously?” Spike groans, his stomach rumbling. He was starving. “Not even one?”

“It’s not a good idea to eat right after you worked up a sweat,” The human said. “I swear on my roommates’ life, I’ll hand you the rubies after you shower. Maybe we can even listen to some Skullen Fangs while we chow down.” She walks off with a wave.

Spike groans again, shaking his head and rubbing his face. “The things I do for gems,” he sighed. When his hand went over his injured eye, he hissed and snatched it away.

“Rachie likie,” He then heard Rachel speak. It was a faint of a whisper though. Spike looked over his shoulder and caught her looking at his backside.

She gave him a fake ass smile, trying to look innocent before running off towards the women's locker room.

He snickered before watching her go before he made his own way to the men’s locker room.

Inside was empty, not a soul in sight or heard inside. Spike sighed softly before going in. He staggered back though, when we saw his reflection.

Sheesh Louise! His right eye was freaking black! Thankfully, he was still able to see out of it despite the swelling around his eyelid and brow.

“I guess that basketball did more damage than I thought,” Spike said to himself, examining himself to see what other damages he suffered through. “Nothing else visible. Shit, Twilight is going to go fucking nuts when she sees this...The girls might think I got into a fight or something…”

The girls….

The dragon shook those thoughts away as he fumbled about the buttons of his jeans. Just as he was about pull his pants off, Spike heard a collection of booming voices entering the locker room.

At instinct, the dragon slipped around a corner where he wouldn’t be seen..

“Sheesh, what a fuckin day,” one of the stallions grunted as he entered. It was Bouncer.

“I still can’t believe you got your ass kicked by a punie human.” a second voice echoed, following behind Bouncer. “That itty bitty doll handed your own flank to you on a silver platter!”

“It wasn’t fair, she had a dragon backing her up, you saw the game.” A third voice spoke up, stating the obvious. “Bounce, you had magic, why didn’t you do anything?”

“I was trying to be nice to the human. She is the only human passenger, why not make her feel welcome.” Bouncer said before his fist collided by a metal surface. “ I didn’t expect that little bitch to make me look like a fucking idiot.”

Spike clamped his hands over his snout to keep from snarling. He didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping on this conversation.

“I mean seriously! A unicorn and a pegasus, we should’ve won. But nope! To be fair, we leveled the playing field to those guys.” Bouncer continued. “I know it’s just a game but come the fuck on!”

“It only made worse when that dragon just showed up out of nowhere.” The second stallion laughed. “He totally spanked you!”

“Fuck off!” Bouncer snarled. “That bastard is the reason why I lost! I oughta give him and that hairless ape what they deserve!”

This asshole! Spike was having trouble keeping his snarling muffled.

“Oh calm down,” The third stallion said. “It’s just Spike. That lapdog will probably forget it after he stuffs some gems in his face.”

It was quiet for a moment before the second stallion let out a laugh. “That’s right! That lizard will let you walk all over him. Just like those girls.”

Bouncer laughed as well. “Servant to the ‘Princess Of Friendship’, the most laughable alicorn in Equestria. He’s just an oversized gecko.”

“Hah! How about we make use of that faithful assistant? Shouldn’t he do everything you ask? Maybe he can send one of those women he’s friends to us? I always want to fuck a princess.” One of the three suggested and they all had a huge laugh about it.

“He’s not even a real dragon!” Bouncer laughs loudly.

Veins were now bulging out from his temple. Smoke seeping out of the nostrils and mouth from the dragon. No one…

No one talks about Twilight and the others like that! Spike could handle being told that he wasn’t a real dragon. He was hatched in a classroom by magic, raised to be Twilight’s companion. Her little “pet”. He could handle the bullying, he can handle the name calling.

But no one fucking talks shit about his sister and his friends!

With a snarl, Spike rams his fist into the nearest locker, unintentionally tearing the whole line from the wall and sending them to the floor like a set of dominos.

“Shit!” one of the stallions shouted out as they jumped out the way. Bouncer has rolled onto the floor as the lockers fell to the ground with a loud screeching thud.

So much for working his anger out during the game.

“Instead of talking with each other, why don’t you ask The Princess’s faithful assistant yourself,” Spike snarled baring his teeth at the three. There were three ponies in front of him, two earth ponies and Bouncer.

Bouncer wipes something off of his jaw as he stood up. “Hey there man, we were just talking.” He said, his eyes cutting down at the dragon. “How long were you there?”

“Long enough,” Spike’s hands curled up into a pair of fists and snarled, knuckles popping.

The unnamed pony on the left was scrawny looking and the other was round, looking like a huge pink donut hole. They were all taken aback by the sight of a raging dragon. “Easy there, big guy,” the round stallion said nervously. “We were just talking. We don’t want to really do all that stuff.”

“Y-yeah, what he said.” The scrawny one chimed in. The one who had talked about screwing his friends. Spike’s eyes shifted to him.

Spike took a step towards him before Bouncer regained his attention.

“So, the little dragon had a growth spurt. Doesn’t mean shit.” Bouncer arrogantly snarled at the dragon. “You’re still just a pet. No pony takes you seriously.”

Spike felt the familiar tingling sensation rumbling in his stomach. A familiar feeling he gets when he felt his fire stirring, getting ready to burn this prick to Tartarus. But then a thought came to his mind and he just snorted.

“No pony takes me seriously, but I have a prince’s standing with the five Princesses of Equestria and the Dragon Ambassador.” Spike grinned with self righteous pride behind each word he spoke. “Not to mention saving the Crystal Empire so many times I can’t keep track of it.” He walks over to the bench to get his hoodie, slipping it on and zipping it closed. “I don’t need to stoop down to lowlifes like you.”

Though he really wanted to bash this bastard’s face in, he had some small hold on his dignity. “I’ll let this talk stay here, but if I hear you guys talk like that again, it’s not going to be pretty.” Spike said, pushing Bouncer out of the way as he walked past.

The fallen lockers groaned loudly and the familiar chime of magic sounded from behind him. The lockers lifted into the air by Bouncer’s magic and were thrown at Spike.

Spike whirled around, his mouth opening as a heavy stream of green fire shot out at the metal. His fire burned brightly, reducing the metal into slag that spattered across the floor.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Bouncer - living up to his name - bounced through the hole as the fire gave out and gave Spike a hard punch across his jaw before elbowing him in the stomach with all his might.

Spike staggered back from the punch, grunting when his stomach got hit. His eyes dialated to slits and he gave out an animalistic roar. He brought his right hook down across the stallion’s muzzle, his left hand shot out and grabbed the pony’s neck to hoist him up off of the ground.

Scrawny pony slammed a piece of scrap metal into the back of Spike’s head. It seemed to just bend into the shape of the dragon’s skull, but it did get his attention.

Spike tightened his hold onto Bouncer before hurling him at the Scrawny pony. The two collided and ended up in a pile on the ground.

The fat one, not having joined the fight, ran around the corner.

While Spike was distracted by the fatty running away, he was whacked in the face by a bench. Bouncer, using his magic, started slamming the dragon with everything he could grab around the locker room. Unable to get his bearings, Spike was caught in a flurry of lockers, wooden benches, even tiles that had been knocked off the walls.

Each new impact pulled a grunt or a shout out of Spike. He felt scratches and cuts across his snout, his horns and everywhere else.

Bouncer was laughing maniacally as he and Scrawny stood up. “Did you forget I’m a fucking unicorn you stupid shit?!” He cackled as he kept slamming things into Spike with his levitation spell.

With one last slam, Bouncer pulled the dragon up to his feet, only to let him fall back down.

Anger and seething rage boiling through Spike, he got back up to his feet and charged haphazardly at the ponies before him.

Bouncer sidesteps the clumsy swing and struck back, hitting Spike in the back of the head.

Spike snarled. His tail shot out, scoring across Bouncer’s chest like a whip. Bouncer let out a painful shout as the tail recoiled. The edges of his spade tip had a fine line of pony blood on it.

Scrawny had picked up another piece of debris and rammed it into the dragon’s gut.

Fatty had also picked up a piece and started slamming it against Spike.

Spike grunts at the brute attacks before managing to push them back with fists and tail, he spun around and knocked the two out of reach before he let out a cry of pain. Being blasted by a magical energy blast right on the center of his back.

The blast took him for surprised and had him crumbled to the floor. Another figure had joined in. Spike was about to continue the fight before another blast hits him. Another and another till he was consumed in total darkness once more. Twice in one day he was knocked out.

***

What the actual fuck just happened? was the first thing that came to Spike’s mind as he came into consciousness. His eyes fluttered opened to see a slab of concrete staring back at him from the ceiling.

A dim light from a port hole that offsets the midafternoon sun

Mid Afternoon?! Just how long was he out cold? It took Spike a moment to remember what happened in the locker room and he let out a snarl.

He sat up, the bed underneath him creaked in the motion. Boy he was going to beat the living pulp out of those ponies. He scrambled out and then stopped. In front of the dragon were crisscrossed rows of iron facing him. The room we incredibly cramped due to his large stature and wings.

Spike was in a jail cell.

“What the hell?” Spike walked up to the bars, gripping one and made a pull on them. The bars let out a small hum before giving him a minor shock. “Shit!” He cried out, taking his hand back and held it close to his chest.

“H-hello! Is any pony there?” Spike asked out loudly then.

“Calm down, Spike,” Twilight’s voice echoed. He looked up and saw the princess standing outside. Her back to the wall. Her voice...it wasn’t what he was used to. This look was sad, almost grim. “Don't make this any worse…”

“Twily, I-” Spike venture towards the bars, minding not to touch them. “You gotta get me out. There’s got to be a mistake.”

“A mistake?” She barely looks up at him. Tears threatened to come out, his ears drooped in sight of her. “Spike...you got into a fight… one of those ponies had to get stitches.”

“Twilight, I didn’t start that fight,” Spike quickly protested. “Those guys started it. I tried to leave before-They were talking bad about you-”

“I don’t care!” Twilight shouted at him, causing him to flinch. “Just because you’re mad at Rarity doesn’t mean you can take your anger out on others! ”

“Twily, y-you don’t understand. Please, let me out.” Spike pleaded. Rarity had nothing to do with it. He was defending Twilight’s honor, not that skank.

“Like I told your guardian,” one of the zeppelin's security guards said as he approached. “Unless someone pays the fine, you are to stay in there for the next twenty-four hours….you got about seventeen left.”

T-twenty four hours?! “Twilight, please, I’m sorry. I really am.”

Tears filler her eyes and the princess turned away. “You’re staying in there, Spike. You can think of what you had done and what you can do to apologize to those three.” She muttered. “I’m very disappointed in you, Spike…”

“Twilight!” He reached for her through the bars, but they shocked him again, causing him to stagger back. Then, the princess was gone.

Spike balled up his fists before before slamming one into a wall. He didn’t even dent the hard surface. “Unbelievable!” He snapped.

“Hey!” The guard called out. “Settle down!” he barked.

Shaking his head, Spike flopped onto the hard bed with a grunt. “This sucks... way to go, Spike. locked up in a jail cell on your cruise.” He props his elbows on his knees and covers his face with his hands. His wings wrapping themselves around his body, hiding himself from the world.

For a long time the dragon sat in his little cocoon, counting down the hours. He had let those assholes get to him. They started the fight by chunking that locker at him. He was just defending himself…

Not that anyone would ever believe him. He was taller, stronger, and had Bouncer’s blood on him. Who would be foolish enough to believe that ponies would start a fight with a ‘big dumb dragon’.

Just as he was dozing off for the night, the sounds of the cell door slides open. Spike unwraps himself and looked towards the guard. “Alright, kid. Get out.” He tells him.

Rubbing his eyes, the dragon looks up to the guard. “Come again?” He asked.

“The fine’s been paid. Get out of here unless you want to spend the night in that crappy bed.” He told the dragon.

Paid off? By who? The dragon wandered as he stood up. Curiously, he walked out.

“Now kid, you get three strikes on this cruise liner. First strike, you’re confined for twenty four hours or until someone pays for it. Second strike, you are confined in a windowless-doorless cell for another twenty four hours, except with no getting out. Strike three, we restrain you until we reach the next port, where we drop you off with the local law enforcement.. Do you understand?”

“Yeah... I get it.” Spike sighed with a nod, scratching the back of his neck.

“You already have one strike. Try not to fuck up any more and enjoy your time.” The guard said before going back to his desk.

“Did Princess Twilight pay the fine?” Spike asked. She must of had a change of heart.

Before he the guard responded, Spike got his answer by the sweet, ambrosial smell entering his nose.

“I did, big guy.” Spike turned towards the exit to see Rachel was leaning against the archway.

Dressed in a dark blue one sleeved crop top and black jean shorts with converses, her hair parted to the side in a sidetail underneath her beanie. The black and red streaks faded out since she had taken a shower. She gave the dragon a small wave with a smirk.

“Rachel?” Spike muttered out her name as he approached the human. “You did?” He was rather confused at this situation.

“It wasn’t the mail pony.” She said with the smirk unfaltering before patting his arm and jerked her head towards the other side of the entrance. “Let’s go for a walk.” She said before she began walking.

Rachel got a few feet before she stopped and looked at him behind her shoulder. “Well? Aren’t you gonna come or what?”

“O-oh…” Spike said before he followed the human out.

The two walked in silence. Spike with his hands in his hoodie pockets, lost in deep thoughts.

Twilight was really going to leave him in there? The look she gave him. Sheer disappointment. This day had really sucked.

Bouncer and those other two started it first. First talking shit about his friends and then started the fight by throwing a locker at him. Rarity wasn’t even fuckin’ brought in and yet Twilight accused him. Yes, he was mad at her. He’s mad for a lot of reasons. She used him for years and didn’t appreciate him. But she has nothing to do with the fight. Was locked up and those guys left scott free!

He then turned towards the human walking beside him. Rachel, a human whom he doesn’t even know ‘cept for their shared love of the same band, had gotten him out of that cell. Why would this stranger do something like that.

If Spike recalled from learning some of the Human’s mythology, dragons eat humans. They killed knights and princesses to get their gold… Not much different from this world’s mythology on the lore but still. Even now, ponies are afraid of dragons, though they are working out the kinks. The girl had no look of fear on her face, she didn’t even flinch when he first growled at her yesterday. And no it wasn’t because they played basketball today either. There was something about Rachel and Spike didn’t know what that was.

“You know,” Rachel starts, finally speaking after they’ve walked for five minutes going through a hallway leading outside where Luna’s moon shone high in the night sky. The zeppelin among the tiny diamonds twinkling all above them. “When I didn’t see you waiting outside earlier, I had to admit, I felt stood up.” She then looked up at him. “Until I saw fireballs spurting out of the guys room.”

The dragon sighed, his shoulders slouching as he walked. “Not my fault…” He grumbled. Now great, she thinks he started the fight too.

“Didn’t say it was.” She said. “I went to the infirmary to see if you were alright when I overheard the three stooges talking about what happened to the nurse and the ship’s security.”

Spike scuffed, shaking his head. “Now thanks to them, I probably have a rumor spread about how dangerous I am.” He grunted.

“Well, what did you expect, you are a dragon after all.” She smirked. “Breathing fire, gem eating greedy bastards the lot of you.”

He looked to her with annoyance. “If that’s what you think of all dragons, why the hell did you bail me out?” He glares at her.

With a skip, she steps in front of the dragon and walked backwards. “Because you’re different from the rest of the meatheads. Trust me, I know some dragons, they are all assholes. My landlady back in Filly is a dragon. She raises the rent every few months, it’s insane!” She chuckles.

“How’s that? Because I was raised by ponies?” He raised a brow but still had that glare to her.

“No, though that’s a good thing to know.” Rachel said. “I can tell you’re different. You’re nice, sweet. A big heart you got.”

Well, when you put it that way…

“Why do you even bother with me? We don’t know each other. Strangers at most. Yet you’re here saying those things.” Spike said to her. “For all you know, I can be the biggest, baddest bastard there is.”

She let out a chuckle. “That’s bullshit and you know it.” She said. “I can tell. Just by talking to you.”

“You’re insane.” He sighed, shaking his head.

“Insane? Maybe. A little bit weird? Appsolutely.” Rachel grinned before going towards his right and walked correctly as they came about towards the deck. “This big ol’ tough guy you’re pulling now and back at the court, so not you. Something or someone peed on your cheerios.”

“You’re right, you are weird.”

“Thank you very kindly.” She takes a bow as if she was given a complement.

Spike sighed again, scratching the back of his head. She was right, the dragon with the bad attitude wasn’t him. “You’re right, usually I’m a decent guy. I help out others who need it.”

She nods but didn’t say anything, instead let him continue.

“When you spend your whole life trying to please someone in hopes they may do something in return like your feelings, and when you find out they were just using you, it’s the worst feeling ever.”

“I hear that.” Rachel says, looking up at the sky and listening to him. “Been there, done that.”

“I just feel...like I’m living out a lie all my life.” He then perks up. What the hell? He turned his head towards her as they entered the pool and bar area. No one was out this late at night. “Why the heck am I telling you all this?” Spike then asked Rachel.

Rachel let out a mischievous smirk. “I’m just that type of person that you can talk to easily.” She says. “You have no idea how many strangers come up to me and confide in me things that they don’t normally talk about to their friends and family.” She goes over to the bar, hops over the top and ends up on the other side. “Sheesh, for a cruise liner, these guys are short on the good stuff.” She said, looking at the selection of alcohol.

“Um, I don’t think you’re allowed to do that.” Spike said, watching her rammaged the bottles from the other side of the bar.

“Oh relax, Spike. No pony’s around.” Rachel said as she grabbed a couple of shot glasses and settled them down on the bar. “I know what I’m doing. C’mon, sit and chat with me.” She grinned.

With a groan. He didn’t need to get in trouble again. He just literally got out moments ago. Spike looked to her then and gulps. Seeing the baggie of Fire Rubies at her hand again, waving them around, bringing Spike towards the bag in a hypnotic state.

Crap….

“You’re wicked, did you know that?” Spike mutters as he joins her at the bar, taking a squat on the stool. The wood groans at his weight.

“All the damn time.” She said cheeky, setting the bag down and sliding it towards him.

Spike’s hand automatically shot out to the bag, ripping it open. He reached down and grabbed one of the large rubies and taking a bite. His eyes widened with the familiar sweet tasting of the gem. These things were real! He starts devouring the bag.

“Where in all of Equestria did you find this lot?!” The dragon asked as he stuffed three or four gems in his mouth and chewing them to tiny bits. “Last time I seen a fire ruby I gave it to Rarity because she liked it. I wasn’t even going to give it to her, I was saving it to eat it for my birthday!”

He halts his eating. Why was he telling Rachel this?! Spike looked up to her as he swallowed the gems he ate.

Rachel just sat there and smirk. She knew just by looking at him that he was asking the question to himself. “Spike, when you look at priests, hair stylists, barbers, and bartenders, what do you see of them?” She asked as she grabbed a few bottles, expertly pouring them into each shot glass little by little. The colors of the rainbow appeared in the glass.

“Two of them deal with hair, one works at the bar and the other deal with religious things.” Spike answered, wondering where she was going with this.

Rachel clicked her tongue three times before sliding him the poured drink. “Those four have all one thing in common, if you really think about it. We all are just...bargain guidance counselors.” She nodded to him before taking her a shot of what she poured and placed it on the table, turning the glass upside down. “You tell us what’s in your mind, and we give you advice as best as we can. Some of the time, it works.”

“Huh...I didn’t think of them that way,” he said in response to that, looking at the concoction she made. Setting the rubies down, he reaches for the glass, expect it for a bit before hesitantly down it whole.

SWEET BABY CELESTIA OF ALL THINGS CHAOTIC! The shot burned into his stomach, a stream of sweet, savory, salty and spicy liquid had just infiltrated in his gullet. Before he could give out any warning, he let out a fiery burp.

The fiery belch was iridescent with blues, greens, reds, yellows, purples and oranges. Rachel didn’t even have time to blink before she was engulfed in the rainbow flames.

Even as the surprised look on her face was still registering to him, Spike was already on his feet and tackling Rachel to the ground, frantically trying to smother the flames with wings and hands. He was only stopped by the sound of laughter coming from underneath him.

“Spike! Spike! Stop, it’s okay!” Rachel laughed as she swatted him. She wasn’t screaming in pain. There was no smell of burnt flesh. She was laughing her ass off. “I’m fine! See?”

Rachel patted out the last of the flames. The fire had not burnt her at all. She looked up at the dragon who had a massively confused look on his face.

“Like I’m actually going to give a dragon some alcohol? Sorry man, even though you’re different from the others, I can’t have you running around burning stuff while intoxicated.”

Like he did last night…. Spike remembered having some drinks and nearly burning the bar and patrons to ash the previous night. Spike dejectedly looked down at the memory. Right at Rachel’s chest. Spike realized that he was still laying on top of her from his futile attempt to smother illusionary flames. Red-faced, he jumped to his feet.

“Then what was that you just had me drink?” He asked her as he helped her up, his heart still pumping in his throat.

“My own recipe.” Rachel said simply. “It still give the patron’s a buzz feel but it doesn’t get them drunk.” she explains. “You can drink a thousand of these and yet you can’t get fucked up. And an added bonus.” She lets out a fiery rainbow burp herself on the bar. It wasn’t a huge fire like Spike just did but it was enough to show him. “I call it Rainbow Fire. Since well, it makes the drinkers breath fire. It doesn’t burn, it just tickles the hell out everyone.”

“I seriously thought I burned you.” Spike said, his ears drooped a bit.

“I’m okay. Really.” Rachel assured him, patting her little fire patch out with her hand.

He sat back on a stool and looking at her. Making sure if she was truly alright. “Drink’s got a kick to it...that’s for sure.” He said softly.

“Heck yeah it is.” Rachel chuckles before she grabs a bigger glass. Does some more bottle tricks with three bottles, creating a sort of a pink concoction, adding a bendy straw, she slides the drink to him. “Try this one.”

She’s trying to kill me? Spike thought as he took the glass and took a sip. His eyes snapped wide, in a good way. The taste of pomegranate, cherry and something tangy danced around his taste buds. It was delicious! he sipped a huge amount of the drink before Rachel taps him on the snout to stop.

“That drink requires to take sips. Trust me.” She warns him. “Take it all in one go and it just doesn’t taste right. It can mess up your stomach too. Iron Will’s Special, Virgin, though I seriously think the name should change to something else.”

“It’s awesome tasting.” Spike said, loving the drink before taking now a tiny sip of it. “Thanks for the warning.” He smirks.

“No problem.” She said, reaching under the bar and pulls out a brown beer bottle. Spike reached over the bar and used a claw to pop the lid open for her. “Classy.” She took a long swig of her drink before turning to him. “Now, tell me a bit about you.”

“What would you like to know?” The dragon asked her.

“Anything. Tell me, Spike. Where did you come from, where do you go to lay your head? Where did you come from, cotton-eye joe?”

“I’m from AAAAAAAAAAppleoosa!” a pony by the literal name of Cotton Eye Joe shouts out from somewhere above them.

“Not you! But that’s goooood to know!” Rachel hooted back, her accent now similar to country twang before busted out laughing. Spike laughed as well.

“You’re unbelievable!” He chuckles.

“It helps to talk like the citizens in different places. Makes me feel like I’m part of the family.” Rachel giggled, wiping a tear away from her eyes. “In all seriousness though, tell me a bit about you.”

Spike chuckled a bit before sighing softly. “Well...if you must know, I’m from Canterlot.”

The human looks at him with raised brows. “Canterlot? Where the two princesses live and all the high rich ponies live too?” She asked.

“Yeah. From what I was told, it was during a school entrance exam for Celestia’s School of Magic.” Spike said, taking another sip of his delicious drink. “Twilight hatched me.”

“So...she sat on you till you hatched?” She asked confusing, bringing about another chuckle from the dragon.

“No, silly… The entrance exam was for a unicorn to magically hatch a creature, bringing it about to life. Not only I was hatched, but after a mishap with magic, I grew to the size of an adult baby dragon.”

“Oh shit!”

Spike nodded. “Yeah. Kinda funny now I think about it.”

“And this Twilight...do I get a sense that it’s the Alicorn that cruised up on the boat with you and the other girls?” She asked him.

Again, the dragon nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much since that day, I stayed with Twilight. She’s been a sister to me. I... after a while I became her assistant. Taking notes for her, sending them to Celestia, keeping her cooled down to prevent her from freaking the hell out - which by the way is just the funniest thing to see.”

Rachel giggled, taking another swig of her drink. “She seems like the caring sister. Fierce loyalty, I can see that in you. Good quality.”

“Thanks...what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Where do you come from? Not in this world, I mean.” Spike said.

“If you wanna know? My world’s version of Manehattan.” There was something bitter in her voice when she mentioned it. Like she didn’t want to talk about it. “Not the glitz and glamour part.”

“Oh…” He detected that. The bitterness and sadness from it. “Do you miss it?”

“Hells no,” She said that way too quickly to lie. She takes another swig of her drink. “Best damn decision in my life to migrate here in Equestria. Just wore the clothes I had on my back and went to the office to fill in the applications.”

“Applications? The two hundred trial applications?” Spike asked. In the beginning during the peace treaty between realms. The humans and the pony leaders agreed that two hundred participants can try out living in Equestria for a year. As a controlled experiment to see how ponies, humans and all other creatures interact with each other. It was almost a bust because all creatures couldn’t get along at first.

“Applications, thorough body examinations, and I mean they did everything to ensure I wouldn’t bring disease into Equestria. Inserted those little tracker chips into my head to keep track of me.” She pulled her hair to the side to show him the faint scar just behind her ear. “Though, it was deactivated and pulled out years ago.”

“Didn’t they sent the humans to that Settlement place?” Spike asked. He heard about them but didn’t fully grasp it.

“Yeah, but I didn’t go there.” She said in reply.

“How come?”

Rachel let out a laugh. “In a land filled of magic, talking animals and creatures I only thought were in minds of the imagination. I took the money they gave me to use for the whole year and just traveled around. I went all over till I broke down in Filly. For a fifteen year old, that was awesome!”

“F-fifteen!?” He gawked. “So you’ve been here for seven years? Since you were a kid?” Spike was surprised. Most of the participants were over eighteen. How did a fifteen year old slip through the cracks?

Rachel smirked when seeing the look on his face. “Dude, I’m roughly 6’5. Thanks to some genetics in my family, with the attire I was wearing then and attitude, I pulled off it.” She chuckled.

Spike looked up at her. “So...you ran away from your home? Your family?”

“Kinda had no choice… I was going to leave... one way or another.” She trailed off, taking one more swig of her drink before shaking her head, pushing away whatever sad thoughts came to mind before smiling. “Past is in the past. I’m here now, living out the life I always wanted. Never looking back.”

Spike took another drink. He looked to her and smiled softly. “Thank you….”

“For what?” Rachel asked, tossing the bottle in the garbage bin.

“For bailing me out, and listening.” Spike said to her.

“Feeling better now?”

Spike nodded. “Much.”

“Then you’re welcome.” She smiled at him, hopping on the bartop to sit upon it. “Don’t worry about paying me back. You helped me clean up yesterday, makes us even Steven.” she winked at him.

“At least let me do something. It’s part of the Code.” Spike smirked.

Rachel pursed her lips, thinking a moment before returning his smirk. “The Noble Dragon Code?”

Spike blinked at that. “Yeah, how did you know?”

She giggled, shaking her head. “I didn’t. I guessed it.”

This girl….

“Tell you what.” She then reached over to the pocket of his jeans.

“H-hey!” He jumped, feeling her hands going into the pocket of his pants, pulling out his cell phone from his right rear pocket.

She starts messing with the buttons on it. “If you want to pay me back, we hang out tomorrow. Even if it’s just five minutes. It doesn’t have to be anything grand. Just a moment of your time. That should settle it.” She hands him his phone back.

Spike glanced down on the screen and saw her eleven digit number staring back at him. She hands Spike hers so he did the same to hers.

After the numbers were surprisingly exchanged, Rachel leans closer to him. “One last thing before we retire for the evening. since we’ll be at Bahoofmas in the morning. I want a picture of us.”

“A picture?” He raised a brow on that.

“Yeah, a picture of a start of a new friendship.” she smiled at him. “C’mon, one photo.”

He chew on the inside of his cheek. Might as well. He nodded the okay to Rachel.

She grinned, getting close to the dragon, her phone extended out in camera mode. “Say cheese!”

Spike smiled softly as the flash went off. It blinded him a bit but it quickly passed. The human looked at the photo on her phone and smiled. “Good one.” She turns it to the dragon and he chuckled.

“If only I didn’t look like I was in a brawl.”

“But still good looking.”

The dragon blushed then at her comment. She slid off of the bar to his side and stretched her arms. “Well, big guy, this is where we part ways for the evening. I’m beat.”

“Y-yeah, it’s late.” He said, scratching his neck. “See you in the morning?”

“Most definitely.” She flashed him a peace sign before walking off.

Spike sighed as she left, swiveling around on the stool. His phone then chimed, telling him he has a text message.

Already it was from Rachel. She sent him an attachment photo of what she just took. With some words of advice.

big guy, to the woman who broke ur <3, screw her. U’R an amazing guy. Dnt 4get that. Any girl will die 2 b with u. Just need 2 find the right door :)

He smiled at her words before stuffing his phone back in his pocket. He took one more drink of his before getting up and leaving for his cabin.

Author's Note

Sorry it took me a bit. I'm working on the other chapters as fast as I can

I do apologize if you guys don't like Spike's attitude, it's a way for me to show how still immature he was. Spike will improve I promise in the later chapters.

I do apologize if my sports and fight scene is off. It's the first time I wrote something like this lol

Basketball song used Ya'll don't have to listen to this but it's the song I had in mind while I was writing the scene.