Where You Belong

The two flew to the nearby castle at Spike's request so he could grab a few things from his room. The pair landed on the small balcony outside his window and Spike pulled a small card out of his hoodie pocket to undo the latch; once open, the two entered.

"So, what are you good at? There's cooking, dancing, maybe you can play an instrument, maybe teaching others how to do things, maybe you could help others and make a real difference in the world."

"In that order: I can cook anything that isn't apple related, I can’t dance, the piano: no thanks I'm good, and I'm the reason the world is the way it is today."

"I'm sorry?"

"I can cook anything that..."

"No, the last one, I got the rest."

"I helped stop King Sombra from taking over the Crystal Empire. I'm the reason that Ember is Dragon Lord, and she's the reason there's peace between dragons and other races. I'm the reason Thorax was accepted into the Crystal Empire, which let him learn about love, which helped him become ruler of the changelings and declare peace between changelings and the other races."

Gabby looked at him in silence for a moment, "And you don't even get paid," She scoffed with a shake of her head, "Talk about making a difference! Alright, I'll cross that off the list."

"You don't have to make a list."

"But then how will we know what you haven't tried? It's more for me to remember, so..."

"No, I mean you don't have to make a list because I already have one," Spike tossed her a book.

Gabby looked at it and read its name out loud, "Spike's List" She opened it and found every page having a single thing on it, ranging from archeologist to a page with a red X on it labeled pianist. She looked at it in silence as she flipped through it. "Wow," she said, "This is a lot of stuff."

"Yup."

"But I can think of a few more things," she said deviously; meanwhile Spike had found what he had come for: a bag full of bits.

He held it up in victory, "Oh yeah!"

"I thought you didn't get paid."

"I don't, but that hasn't stopped Applejack and Rarity from giving me the occasional gift for my hard work." He jangled his bag. "Got about 367 bits in here, should help us with our endeavors," he said as he pocketed them and made his way over to the window, before turning around and giving her a bow. "After you m'lady." She flew out the window and hovered in the air as Spike climbed out and used his card to relatch his window.

"Is it really necessary to lock it?" Gabby asked.

"I didn't think so at first, then some Crystal ponies used it to steal my bed."

"What?"

"That's what I said! I still have no idea what they wanted with it", Spike took the air and the two made their way down to Ponyville. "So what are we doing first?"

"Mhh," Gabby thought as she flipped through the pages of the book. "Ah! Let's start with this one: Gem Hunter! What's that?"

"Smolder told me about it, in the Dragon Lands there are dragons whose job is to find a multitude of gems for the rest of their packs."

"How many dragons are usually in a pack"

"Oh...Twenty or some, not counting children."

"How many children do dragons usually have?"

"Dragon's are horn-dogs, they tend to have a lot of children," Spike said bluntly, then blinked. "Not that...I'm one mind you."

Gabby looked down at him and smiled.
"Sure you’re not," She said happily as they landed on the outskirts of Town "Alright, so all we need to do is go on a gem hunt, and if you find extreme joy in it, you can be the official gem hunter of The School of Friendship."

"And I bet they still won't pay me," Spike muttered as he got on all fours and began sniffing at the ground; Gabby watched as he moved around and dug a little into the earth. After a few minutes he managed to find a small number of gems; as he began to dig deeper he ended up with only his rear still above ground, Gabby snorted and called out.

"Hey Spike, nice ass!" This got the desired effect and she watched as he fell into the hole. She waited for a second before his head popped out.

"Was that really necessary?" He asked, his face glowing red.

"Yes," Gabby called back laughing, "I needed to get your attention, and it worked, are you enjoying this at all?"

"Not even a little." Spike called back. "I'm covered in dirt, and now I'm in a hole," He grumbled as he went to pull himself out but asked for a helping hand, "A little help here?"

Gabby sighed. "I'm coming," She called as she made her way over and offered him her hand; then without warning, she was dragged into it too.

"There, now we're both terrible people." Spike declared as she fell on top of him.

"Oh, very funny," Gabby said with a giggle, "now let's get out." They both tried to get out and ended up fumbling over each other in the process. Gabby blinked and looked around as Spike tried to get them untangled. Spike tried to pull himself out, but all this did was make Gabby squawk.

"Hey careful, you're squashing me into the rocks! My feathers weren't exactly made for this, if you know what I mean!"

"Sorry, any idea on how to get out?" Spike asked as Gabby looked around.

"Can you move your hands?"

"Yeah," Spike said as he slowly moved them, they were around Gabby's waist.

"Alright, I need you to slowly lean into me, and wrap them around my rear." There was silence for a moment.

"Explain," Spike demanded.

"Wrap your hands around my rear and then pull me up, this should also pull me out, and once I'm out, you can get out."

Spike nodded.

"Alright, next time explain everything, don't just tell me to grab your ass," Spike said as he leaned forward to get into position; after some moving and awkward silence Spike's hands got where they had to go. Gabby had laid her head on Spike's shoulder.

"Alright now lift me," She said, making Spike shiver a little since she was right next to his ear. And with that, he started pulling Gabby up, after a moment her wings were freed and she left the hole.

"Thank Celestia" Spike muttered, he stopped and looked up at Gabby, whose face was red. "Was that worth the joke of pulling me in?" She asked.

"Hey you started it," Spike said as he pulled himself out and dusted off his sleeves.

"Alright, if you agree not to pull me into more holes, I'll agree not to embarrass you and make you stumble into them."

"Sounds like a plan," Spike responded as she walked over to where she had left the book she leaned over to pick it up; not missing a beat Spike called out. "You have a soft ass by the way."

Gabby's face turned red as she picked up the book. "Should have seen that one coming," She sighed as she marked off Gem Hunter and looked at the next page.

"Alright Spike, let's get to the next thing on your list," She took off into the air, Spike flying behind her to their next destination.