WIth Greed He's Lost, With Kindness He'll Gain

The technically treehouse was large and complicated in theory, but when he was actually given a tour, it was a pretty simple layout.

The house was constructed on three layers, the top layer, with an enchanted ceiling designed to always show the sky, which was mainly the living quarters. With the main bedroom, two smaller bedrooms, and a large main room, with an enchanted rock that showed a number of programs.

Wow, that’s smart. He said that Spike could have one of the other two bedrooms, which Spike graciously accepted. Still though, the idea of staying here was grating at him. Staying for a couple of days was fine, but for any longer, and he was pushing it. He didn’t dare voice these opinions to Rhel, who had taken the time to get rid of his coat and scarf, and switched into a long sleeve shirt, which he pulled the sleeves up to his elbows Considering the fur on his arms ended right about there, he assumed it was just to prevent the fur from getting stuck in the cloth and getting ripped off. All of his fur seemed extra curly, almost closer to sheep wool than goat fur. Except for the extremely short fur on his face.

The next floor was the kitchen and work area. Nothing too special there, a kitchen is a kitchen after all. There was a table in front of a window, which switched between scenery every couple of minutes. The only thing that really stood out was the entire potions lab crammed in the corner. Efficiency first I suppose. There was a ring of glowing crystals above the small area, softly giving that area a permanent light source. Probably for some sort of work in the dark. He seemed to be going for an absolute efficiency setup. That at least seemed to be Rhel’s mindset, or maybe just a satyr thing in general. But there were a couple of times when Spike got some mixed messages. Like with the bathroom.

“And here’s the bath.” Wow. It was… Wow. Rather than what Spike was expecting, something simple designed just to get clean, he was greeted with a giant basin, covered in heavily smoothed granite, with a number of pipes on each side, designed for water to flow in from some unseen source. There were a number of vents at the bottom that acted like a hot tub, sending bubbling jets into the pool. “Showers are pretty ineffective on my… let's say scruffy fur. It just leaves soap stuck in too often, and that dries it out. I’d rather just get a big bathtub designed to jet stream it.” So somewhere in between efficiency and comfort. That makes sense. There was also a room full of plants, similar to Venus fly traps, but with lots of variations, which Rhel dodged when the topic was addressed.

“It’s nothing. Just some potion ingredients.” He made an effort to drag the topic somewhere else, even resorting to just moving on to the next floor. When Spike pressed the issue, he led him back to the room, and threw a stick in.

Imagine Spike’s surprise when one of the plants jumped in their pot to grab it and stretched to return it.

“What are those things?” Rhel sighed.

“An experiment that I’m working on. Pet plants. You don’t have to feed them, just give them water and sunlight. Y’know like a plant. The problem is their pretty frickin hostile, and grossly territorial, and I don’t want any problems. It took six days just to get them not to attack each other.” Ah.

“If and when you manage to get it right, can I have a fireproof one? I think they’re pretty cool.” Rhel’s face was unreadable for a moment, before it spread to a full fledged smile.

“Sure! I never even thought about making them fireproof. I’ll get to work on it once I get the chance.” Now, with less urgency, Rhel led Spike to the stairwell to the third floor. It was quite a bit longer than the last two, and Spike didn’t understand why until the stone walls surrounding the staircase gave way to open air. Holy Celestia this place was huge.

High ceilings, and a room large enough to host the Equestria Games in, covered in dense foliage with a river, a rushing waterfall off to one side, and a large altar in the middle of the room. The stairwell was severely offset to one side, almost against the wall of the large cavern, leaving the vast majority of the room open. When they finally made it down, Rhel took a deep breath, and straightened himself out.

“Satyrs all serve their own patron gods and goddesses, ranging from the living embodiments of the sun and moon, to the King of the Underworld, and Ruler of Tartarus. I personally serve two, the goddess Demeter, who allows for growth and prosperity, and the lost god Pan, who protects the wild areas of the world. My job is to defend the natural world, from the smallest of insects, to the greatest of forests. This room is my true sanctuary, and where my power is greatest.” He turned to Spike, projecting a powerful aura that outclassed just about anybody he’d ever met, besides that brief second where he’d felt the impact of Discord’s power. “How’d you like to meet your own patron god, Spike?”

He nodded dumbly, following Rhel through the thick underbrush, all the way to the stone altar he’d seen when he initially descended the stairs. Surrounding the altar was a circular arrangement of stones, with the obelisk on a raised podium in the center. With every step Spike took towards the obelisk another wave of energy crashed over him. When he was finally close enough to touch it, he reached out…

And the world went white.

He woke up in the middle of a circular room, surrounded by several figures. Various assortments of bipedal and quadrupedal beings of different heights and builds, shapes and sizes, and… even tangibility. Each one radiated a new, unfamiliar energy, he scrambled to his feet and stood, waiting. He could hear voices, murmuring, blending into each other. One of the figures stepped forward, and the smell of ozone filled the air. The smell just before a thunderstorm. Ancient and powerful, the god’s aura overwhelmed his senses. The silhouette became clearer, and a crackle of raw energy shot through Spike’s entire body.

“Well this is a surprise… A fellow dragon, worshiping the old gods.” The dragon in front of him was built different from the dragons he’d encountered during his brief stay. Rather than the top heavy build that the dragons he’d met before had, this one was pretty evenly distributed in terms of weight. He was built like a slim oval, with large wings, and bad posture, like, seriously awful posture, but he absolutely radiated confidence, like a high school bully, yet still there was an underlying air of fatherly kindness. The god shifted his weight into a position that seemed less likely to destroy his spine, and Spike saw his eyes.

They were a violent electric blue, that ebbed into a bright yellow as it reached his pupils. It somehow complemented his gray scales and white spines.

“Tell me, who do I have the pleasure of meeting.” Spike stepped back, but stood rigid.

“I’m Spike the dragon. Well, I guess you can already see that I’m a dragon… I’m sorry, I don’t have any other way to introduce myself.” The god hummed.

“Have you no clan, no family?” Spike shook his head. The god sighed and clicked his tongue. “So many dragons abandoned in the modern age. If the same had been done in my time…”

“I’ve come here to find my patron.” That drove the god away from his thoughts.

“... So very few of us dragons serve the gods. They’d rather serve their ‘Dragon Lord’. What makes you different?”

“... I grew up outside the dragon lands. I was hatched and raised by ponies, right up until an… incident occurred. Now I don’t really live anywhere. I’m staying with a friendly satyr that I met, but I can’t stay with him forever.” The god’s face morphed into a curious expression.

“I see. I’m guessing that he’s teaching you the way of the gods. Very well. The few of our kind that follow the path of the gods end up following Vulcan, or Notus. It is simply their nature. However, you seem to be different. So considering that, and our similar backstories, you might be suited to a different god. Myself.” Spike’s eyes widened as clouds swirled overhead and lightning arced. The dragon in front of him was struck, and a javelin of pure electricity appeared in his hand. He flipped it to the opposite end, though to Spike it looked exactly the same. “I am Jupiter. Lord of the Sky, God of Thunder. I am requesting to be your patron god. You will follow my path of magic, and bring about your own ascension. Do you accept?” The answer was instantaneous.

“Yes! I- I mean, I accept your offer.” The handle of the electric javelin became clearer, and Jupiter offered it to Spike. He grabbed hold, and took it.

When he returned to the mortal realm, he took notice of a few things.

Number 1, his claws looked like they’d been painted blue. Number 2, he felt the crackling of electricity running up and down his body, as though it were running though his very veins. And number 3, he was a lot taller. Like tall enough to be eye level with Rhel. Which he currently was, since the satyr seemed to be examining his eyes.

“Your eyes have gotten darker. More blueish. That, combined with the fact that you now have wings, means you’ve been claimed by one of the wind gods. Or…”

Rhel smiled, wider than Spike had ever seen him smile so far.

“You’ve been claimed by Jupiter himself.”