How times change

The future.

Over twenty years, to be precise, since the defeat of Queen Chrysalis, Tierek, and Cozy Glow by the gathered nations around Equestria. Many events happened following that, though most jarring was the retirement of the princess sisters, Luna and Celestia, freeing their position in Canterlot to the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. The event was unsettling for the entire nation, requiring six months of preparations, a full month of the actual transfer of powers and legal documentation, and several months afterwards for Twilight and Spike to fall into place into a somewhat daily routine that allowed them to address the duties that they now had before them.

One of the most taxing aspects for Twilight and Spike was the moving from Ponyville back to Canterlot, uprooting where the pair had been for around ten years and leaving behind the friends they had made at that time. It was only some time after the move and things became more settled for the duo that a day was set aside each year for all seven of the friends to meet up and reconnect, but without everyone living in the same town it was otherwise too impractical for regular meetups.

For Twilight, this was not an especially difficult final step as she surprisingly quickly fell into her semi obsessive habits of focusing on work to the exclusion of all else, only this time, work was the governing of Equestria and nothing escaped her meticulous organizational obsession.

Spike had it a bit harder as initially, he tried to break her of such habits as he usually did, but the truth was he didn’t need to. Things such as minor chores were handled by the employed royal maids and guards and Twilight’s need for food and basic necessities were staunched when she was given access to Celestia and Luna’s secret of longevity; the Golden Apple Tree. The tree was merely a simple apple tree in shape and size growing alone in a secluded field inside the castle grounds. It had been discovered in ages past and was notable initially as all tools and spells that attempted to fell it were deflected. As a result, when the nations were established, Canterlot was built around the tree. However it never bore fruit, at least initially, until Celestia and Luna rose to power and began investigating it. The tree only reacted to Alicorn magic and in doing so, would produce a single apple for each Alicorn present, that was completely and utterly golden, inside and out. Consuming the apple paused the effects of aging for a single year and was signified by the mane of the alicorn adopting an otherworldly, magical heft to it, signifying the magical charge running through their body. It also severely dampened the actual bodily needs for food and drink. Ceasing to eat the apples causes no harm other than the effects of aging continuing to proceed as normal. A peculiar effect occurred when one year, Twilight attempted to share the apple she had received with Spike. While Twilight was able to split the apple in half with her magic, when Spike touched the half handed to him, it instantly shot out of his grasp and rejoined with the initial half still in Twilight’s possession. When Twilight attempted to hand the entire apple to him, it vanished and reappeared on the tree, signifying rather clearly that each apple was designated for only one being, and that being was only to be an Alicorn.

As a result of these changes to Twilight and life in general, Spike initially had nothing to do as all of his housework and realist awareness was unneeded. That is, until he was found to be an excellent mediator between species relations, able to re-word accidentally insulting or harsh statements into more flat and generalized statements for the conflicting parties, as well as being an expert on how each race could best compromise on certain topics, leading to him becoming the Official Friendship Ambassador. Said situations kept Spike plenty occupied and he found himself working very hard at it, often travelling around to different nations before returning to Canterlot. This was combined with a rather generous growth spurt, adding a great deal of height to his frame and no shortage of muscle, almost as if his body was making up for the lack he had put on through his years in ponyville, and though his voice shifted slightly, it continued to keep the kind sweetness that most associated with it.

He also found himself occupied when Twilight undertook a rather aspiring and promising unicorn student in Luster Dawn, using his realist skills to try to steer her back onto track when she wavered off of it, but he had a notably difficult time of it as Twilight often undermined his attempts and instead joined her student in many topics, both utterly ignoring Spike. This came to a head shortly after Spike had settled a very difficult meeting between the Abyssinians and Diamond Dogs; Luster Dawn doubted friendship as a whole and refused to listen to anything Spike had to say, even ignoring his title as Official Friendship Ambassador and any experience he may have had. This was done on a day when the yearly friendship gathering with their friends was to take place, dominating the day and turning it into an extended lesson, not concluding until Luster Dawn had moved to Ponyville to emulate a mirror growth of Twilight herself among the populace, leaving essentially no time for the old friends to share little more than passing words before nightfall.

With Luster Dawn away and Twilight’s teachings reduced to roughly once a week letters, life reached a more routine pattern for the two as Twilight continued her royal duties while Spike would be called to do various other Ambassador meetings. While some called him to other lands, most of those issues had been quelled and as time marched on, he was soon only doing such travelling perhaps once a month, if even that. Most meetings were scheduled to meet him at the castle and were summarized within a few minutes, though he started to notice that some of the folks who arranged to have a meeting with him were fans offering support from the hearsay and somewhat embellished stories that had been passed down over the years, usually crystal ponies.

This was all well and good, but his time for actual recreation had fallen apart and not been addressed for quite some time. It was fine when he first moved back to Canterlot, was adjusting to the new role, and even in helping with Luster Dawn and various political squabbles, but there was no real playing or interaction with anyone beyond Twilight and the palace staff. Spike was able to amuse himself in his hobby of comic books and collecting some Ogres and Oubliettes figurines and spending his time painting them, but the charm of all those things started to wear thin when it was the only thing he was doing in his time off and had no one to share them with.

This was tolerable for a week, even tolerable for a month, but when it turned into several months, and then over a year, it tended to become incredibly oppressive.

It was during such a time that Spike had just returned from royal peace treaty talks and was a bit winded, but satisfied with the progress that had been made between the Changelings and Griffons. The main problem stemmed from finances as Griffons are notably stingy with their money, often wanting to haggle to get the lowest price possible to the point of negative profit for the seller. Changelings were innately friendly and had only limited experience in finances with commerce and shopping only becoming a part of daily life a little over twenty years ago, thus were naive when the otherwise harshly money savvy Griffons wanted to make any sort of deal with them. Griffonstone had been undergoing a slow but steady rebuilding effort and Changelings were remarkable in such a craft, but the Griffons were harshly underpaying the Changelings for the time and effort being done, such as making overly lavish homes with many accessories that took a week of work but only paying them a day’s worth of wages. Spike had eventually taught the Changelings the value of a standard home at a standard pricing and that anything more than that would require the Griffons to pay more money. The Griffons were of course unhappy, but Spike leveraged that every Griffon would get an equal home, unless they were going to put their bits where their beaks were to pay for the extra added flourishes to one-up their fellow Griffons. Times may have focused on friendship and cooperation, but some species have a drive to compete, and Spike never fought that, he just assisted in ensuring the fight was friendly and harmless in the end.

His thoughts changed as he entered the main hall of the Canterlot throne room and found Princess Twilight was absent. Spike shrugged as she was likely off doing various royal duties and likely making various public appearances, nothing unusual.

He had made a formal check-in with the Canterlot officials and received a scroll listing a schedule of his upcoming meetings and duties and proceeded to sit on his co-throne to look it over:

Official Friendship Ambassador schedule:

• 3:00pm throne meeting

Spike blinked and flipped the parchment over, then over again, the sparse amount of text on it being almost frustrating to him as this was becoming more commonplace; a day of only one or two meetings in the throne room, then the day to himself. He glanced out the window to see the sun, noting it’s position to be around one thirty in the afternoon, leaving him a while to wait. He sighed and slumped in his throne. The time period was too long to just sit and wait, but it was also too short for him to go and attend a hobby and actually get invested in it. He had no way of knowing how long this meeting would be and who it would be with or even what it was about, but the lack of information on the scroll told him it would be a single person likely over some minor matter.

Thus, with no real option, he let his mind begin to wander. He enjoyed thinking over his past as his memory was rather sharp for the most part, allowing him to relive those very moments, even briefly. He recalled the adventures he went on with Twilight and the other Elements, but he did wonder what he contributed to those events. He was at most a bit part, if not a reason the team nearly failed. He recalled when victory over Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow was nearly obtained, only for Chrysalis to threaten to tear his wings off. He told Twilight to let Chrysalis do it and finish the fight. In his mind, wings were something he’d lived most of his life without, so having them torn off would hurt a great deal, but it wouldn’t be fatal. Still, Twilight buckled, nearly dooming Equestria due to a brief moment of compassion. While they still won the battle in the end, Spike didn’t like how close it came. Still, what other good things did he contribute?

His mind jumped back to when he got the call from the Dragon Lord to compete in the Gauntlet of Fire. He really did not feel comfortable being around other dragons; their harsh lifestyle and grating attitudes being the reverse of his pony lifestyle. Garble was terrible, but Spike couldn’t help but think he felt betrayed by Spike rejecting him. Garble accepting Spike’s bumbling nature and his praising of him got the other dragons to appreciate Spike and treat him fairly and when Spike balked, that seemed to snap something in him. Regardless, he was the favored dragon to win the gauntlet and his intention was a full on war with ponies, and a single adult dragon was a great danger. Even with Twilight and Rarity telling him he could go home and Ember convincing the dragon lord Torch that he could go, he knew he had to win it. He would be stuck in the dragon lands as Lord, but he would ensure his friends and loved ones were safe. That led to him saving Princess Ember’s life, with whom he forged a very important friendship with and handed over the leadership of the dragons to. That is, after the two of them worked together to defeat Garble.

His mind then skipped forward to when word went out of a changeling slinking around the Crystal Empire. Spike clearly remembered how he met Thorax and how he learned how much the changeling’s honest affection and desire for a friend in Spike was worth so much more than the mindless appreciation of the crystal ponies, to the point Spike risked being labeled a enemy of all equestria to stand up for him. A decision wisely made as it was only through Thorax’s abilities that Queen Chrysalis’ next takeover bid was stopped and the changelings were freed from both her rule and their perpetual starvation.

He recalled that both Ember and Thorax loved his company, but when he wondered why he hadn’t seen them for years, he got a harsh reminder.

That fateful day he accidentally invited Thorax over to Ponyville for a talk on the same day Ember was scheduled to visit to learn about ponies. He knew Ember was kind for a dragon, but she was much more abrasive than any pony and he didn’t want Thorax to feel threatened by her, and Ember was critical about weakness and didn’t want her to needlessly rip into Thorax or think ponies were weak because they had made friends with someone so kind and soft spoken. He was certain it’d lead to a war, or so his worst thoughts insisted.

The problem, he only learned later, was that Twilight and Starlight agreed with keeping the two apart all day instead of telling him he was overreacting. As a result, Thorax and Ember nearly attacked each other, thinking the other was intending to harm Spike, only for them to realize they were both fond of the little dragon and defending him, but the blame for keeping the two leaders apart fell on Spike and it broke his heart.

Spike recalled that they did come back, admitted that they were not happy with what Spike thought of them, but forgave him in the end with a group hug…

At least, that is what he initially thought. The truth of the matter was that he never saw Thorax or Ember again outside of legal and business events. Thorax never spoke to Spike again other than to introduce Ocellus to the school of friendship, he didn’t even ask for his help with his brother Pharynx.

Ember basically acted like Spike no longer existed. Smolder was given carte blanche to abuse him every which way and verbally and emotionally harass him, which she did under the guise of being a “friend”.

No, Spike lost both of his fire forged friends in one day because of a mistake he made, and Twilight and Starlight helped him make it but took none of the blame for it.

This memory burned with a painful fury in his heart as at times, he wished he could make Twilight suffer the sensation of permanently losing her forged friends, but Spike realized that such a desire only bred conflict. Besides, it would only be a matter of time before the longevity of the golden apples would enable Twilight to see exactly what it felt like… Days Spike was not looking forward to.

He sighed and shifted in his seat as he shook his head to rattle the negative thoughts out of his brain, his thoughts falling on the other Elements of Harmony. He was friends with them still, sure, but the move back to Canterlot and the great business each pony was wrapped up in made interactions difficult for long distance trips. This resulted in everything being boiled down to a single day each year where all of them would group together and basically recap what had happened over the past year. Spike knew it was important to do so, but it also wasn’t nearly the same as having them nearby as he couldn’t do something like spend a day helping AJ on the farm, lend a hand to Fluttershy at her reserve, assist Rainbow Dash with some new trainees, watch Lil’ Cheese for Pinkie, or Celestia forbid, accompany Rarity to her various boutiques. No, that wouldn’t happen, much less any of the lesser things, such as playing a few games with Discord and Big Mac. Well, feasibly Discord COULD still do those things, but he was much more preoccupied with spending as much time as possible in Fluttershy’s presence and, considering how he was immortal, it made sense that he’d want to make as many memories with her as he could.

Another sigh left Spike as he accepted that Rarity was never going to happen for him. Despite his impressive physique that put all of his dragon peers to shame, he still wasn’t capturing her attention, not that it mattered anymore with the distance between them.

As he thought of the distance between friends, he was wracked with emotional pain as he thought of Gabby, the griffon. Such a sweet girl, and she thought the world of Spike and did anything she could to make him happy, a drastic change from his attempts to get Rarity to notice him. So it hurt the most that the day Spike had to move back to Canterlot with Twilight, it was also the day that Gabby revealed she’d saved up for years to move into a home in Ponyville specifically to be closer to Spike. Spike tried to look strong that day but he wept like a faucet when he revealed he was also moving, but to the much more expensive Canterlot. Even he was only moving there because he was the assistant of the new Princess of Equestria and housing there was over double of Ponyville, and Gabby had spent a few years saving bits to make such a move. Gabby, bless her soul, put on a brave face and wished Spike all the luck she could.

Spike covered his eyes as the memory of her hugging him tightly played back in his head, her talons digging into his scales as she didn’t want to let go of him. But most painful of all was as she pulled back, she kissed him right on the lips. It was firm, but brief, as she let go of him and gave him a bit of a shove to get going, wearing a smile the entire time, but her eyes were extremely glossy. She really did love him. The yearly visits to Ponyville didn’t help much, as despite her being affectionate and always happy to see him, it was still only one day a year, and he could tell that the more passionate love she had was no longer there and any remnants were fading every passing year.

This snapped him back to the present and woke him out of his thoughts, making him look around the throne room and realize… he was alone. Not just in person, but in his heart. He was champion of the changelings, champion of the dragons, champion of the crystal empire (though he knew that was because Twilight fibbed about her contributions), and now Royal Adviser and Official Friendship Ambassador.

But he was completely alone without a real friend in the world.

The weight of that hit him all at once and the empty throne room felt all the more empty as his chest grew cold and ached painfully. He really had just been living life day to day with only his focus on his job and thus, being blind to any personal life he could have had. Perhaps it was intentional from some part of his brain to remain safe and oblivious, but it was imperfect as this very moment now showcased.

Dark thoughts stormed his mind as he bowed his head; what did his accomplishments matter, no one was there to see them. What did his large muscles matter, there was no one to appreciate them. What was the point of his job, no one ever considered that he was the crux of it, placing all praise on Twilight. He closed his eyes and shivered as he began to weep, hot tears running down his cheeks and dripping off onto the floor, gritting his teeth as he wanted to cry a horrible, ugly bout of sobbing, but other than some hushed uneasy breathing and a few strained groans, he didn't make much noise. This was because he did not want to attract…

There was a knock at the royal door. He sucked in a deep breath, held it, and let it out in a slow sigh before swallowing, rubbing his face free of the tears and blinking his eyes. He had to become skillful at hiding his sorrow in the throne room, lest a guard intrude to suddenly spin the rest of the royal staff into a tizzy over what “horrible thing” could have sent him into such a state, which was a much bigger headache than he was willing to deal with at the moment. He cleared his throat before speaking out.

“Come in.” He said firmly.

The doors opened and Captain Gallus walked in. Spike was internally amused that he was able to attain such a high position, but it was due to his resourceful skills and quick wit that gave him such an opening to do so.

“Friendship Ambassador Spike?” he spoke formally.

“Just Spike is fine.” he said, though he knew Gallus would still defer to traditional royal terms once this conversation was over. Gallus nodded.

“It is time for your three o'clock meeting.” Spike blinked and looked at the placement of the sun and realized he’d blanked out for nearly an hour and a half. Still, he shook his head to come back and looked at Gallus as he continued. “They filed their request to see you before you left for your last friendship summit.” Spike blinked at that. They had been waiting since he left for his last duty? He was gone for a solid two weeks, yet they waited that long for him? If it was business, they would have seen Twilight, not him. It was either a very persistent fanboy from the crystal empire or…

"Are they a crystal pony?" he asked. He may have felt alone in his heart, but hollow praise from the crystal empire inhabitants would not make him feel any better right now, thus he would rather politely turn them down. Gallus shook his head before speaking.

"No, she is a changeling." Spike blinked at that. A changeling? He didn't know what to make of it.

"Okay, send them in." he said, unsure of what this meeting could be about. Gallus bowed before he stepped away from the door.

There was a moment or two of silence before a mostly crimson colored changeling walked into the room. She walked in with her head held rather low, as if she was ashamed, as the throne room doors were shut behind her.

Spike didn't recognize her.

"Friendship Ambassador Spike?" she said in a soft voice that sounded a slight bit deeper and mature than he expected. He struggled to not roll his eyes at her usage of his full title and instead simply raised his hand and shook his head.

"Just Spike is fine," he said. "I'm sorry but... do I know you?" he asked. Her eyes widened slightly before they returned to their downcast appearance, gaining an additional layer of gloss as she looked to be holding back tears.

"Well... I mean, you did, but... I guess you've been busy and I'm not very remarkable." she said, kicking at the floor lightly with a front hoof. Spike felt bad for not knowing who she was. "My name is Sinuous." Nope, still didn't ring any bells. He scratched the back of his head and sighed.

"I'm sorry, but I think you'll need to remind me." he said, flushing slightly at how embarrassing this all was. Sinuous didn't seem much better but her crimson coloration hid her blushing better. Still, she swallowed and began her story.

"Years back, I was cast out of Canterlot when Chrysalis attempted her invasion and I landed alone on the outskirts of Ponyville. I felt that how she attempted to use love energy was wrong and so I remained in ponyville, in disguise. I didn't impersonate anypony because I believed that love energy, rightfully earned, would be much more powerful and not prone to backfiring as it was honestly given." she recounted, gently swaying her head side to side and avoiding making eye contact with Spike.

"Go on." he encouraged, gently moving his hand. She nodded in response.

"Since I was not apart of the hive, I didn't know of the planned takeover when Chrysalis returned and was as oblivious as everypony else until word came out of a decisive victory over the changelings and that we had been lied to, that if we gave love, we would find our true form and no longer starve. I admitted I loved ponyville, I loved being a part of the lives of everypony there, and it was true, I changed and was no longer starving... but... not... everypony appreciated me admitting the truth." she was extremely downcast as she recounted this part. "I was mostly shunned, despised for lying and not being honest, even though they all would have turned me in for being a horrible monster if I did. I was an invader in the very town I'd been in for years..."

"Sounds like you'd been there for a long time." Spike said, offhandedly as he noted her use of "everypony" instead of "everyling" or "everycreature".

"I was... and I considered leaving or… something worse... but... then there was one day." her mood brightened. "I am not sure of the details, but it had something to do with Dragon Lady Ember arriving... but Good King Thorax also arrived. I'm not sure what was so special about this day, but without a disguise on... I was met by a little purple dragon." she said, looking him in the eyes for once. "This little dragon approached me without hesitation. He saw my downcast expression and talked to me. He wondered why I was sad, why I was dejected, and so I told him the same story I'm telling you right now." Spike's memory started to get jostled... he met her during the mayhem of when Twilight and Starlight basically sabotaged his friendships so badly, the map called on him to solve a problem? No wonder his memory was foggy.

"I think I'm starting to remember... Please, what did he... what did I tell you?" he asked, looking into her crimson eyes.

"You said that not everypony did hate me, that not everypony could. That there would be a friend for me if I continued living my life happily. I said that couldn't be true as it couldn't fix my heart right now... Then you hugged me." she said, tears budding in her eyes. "You hugged me... then... then I hugged you, and I cried, and you held onto me while I cried, and then, when I stopped and sniffled, you just gave me a happy grin and said goodbye and ran off." she said, a bit of a chuckle slipping through her speech.

"Wait... I think I remember..." he said. It was a mayhem day for sure, but someone hugging him and crying was not easily forgotten, he just didn't remember who it was until this moment. He looked at her, noting the three gem-like structures on her chest, which reminded him of food, hence his dashing to the lunch meeting with Thorax. "I DO remember you!" he said, suddenly standing up. “The changeling standing on ponyville bridge, looking like she was about to throw herself off of it…” He stepped off his throne and walked up to her. She smiled as she reared up and Spike didn't hesitate to give her a hug, which she tried to return, although his considerable bulk made it difficult. "Goodness, how long has it been?" he said as he set her down, the changeling still smiling.

"Close to twenty years since then." she said, her smile turning into an uneasy grin. Spike blinked and couldn't fathom that event happening that long ago. It felt much more recent.

"Wow... uh... guess that's why two weeks waiting was no problem for you..." he said, chuckling. "What took so long to reconnect with me?" he asked. She kicked the floor bashfully.

"Well, I lived in ponyville and it was so much farther to canterlot and much more expensive to live there. When I found you and Princess Twilight moved there after Celestia and Luna retired, I tried to visit, but your long wait periods between tasks meant that I'd have to either rent housing or buy housing on any given visit, and I just didn't have the money..." she scuffed the ground again. "It took all that time for me to save up money and get some very generous donations from ponyville folks to help me move to canterlot, which I only just finished doing." Spike smiled at her.

"I'm sorry it took so long." Spike said, shaking his head. "But you're here now." He said, giving her a comforting smile.

She nodded and smiled in return. "Are you able to make house visits? I mean... Could you visit a commoner's home? Is that something you can do?" She asked, somewhat nervously. Spike just chuckled and nodded.

“Yes, it's no big deal. I don't have the royal hangups Twi does." Sinuous had to giggle for a moment.

"Goodness, "Twi"..." she echoed, finally making him realize she likely never heard her referred to in that manner and chuckled with her.

"You think that's something, you should have heard her nickname when she got hit with poison joke." Sinuous giggled and looked at him with expecting eyes and suddenly, Spike realized just how easy he had fallen into reconnecting with someone he only briefly met years ago. She must have realized the same thing as her ruby eyes met his and soon, his pause gave her time to speak.

"Uh, um... would you like to tell me more during lunch? At my place?" she asked, fidgeting on the spot. A lunch time date sounded pretty appetizing to him, especially as his belly gurgled. That said, he was about to turn her down on the account of being ready for his work, before he looked at his throne, the parchment he left there, and the otherwise empty throne room and frowned before he looked at her.

"You know what, I'd like that a lot. You just lead the way." he said. Sinuous seemed to brighten up as she pranced in place briefly, her wings quickly buzzing before she regained her composure as he opened the doors to the main hall and invited her out past the guards, which she did so at a skipping pace.

The fly and walk to her place was not long, though her home was very modest in its size, which spoke truth of how limited her funds had been to buy it. It seemed similar to Moondancer’s home in that it was a single story building without much of a yard, but it seemed large enough that it could possibly comfortably house two ponies in it. She unlocked the door and invited him in. He only had to slightly duck past the door frame. Inside was a spotless living room, a rather decent couch, and a corner which had multiple shelves, books, and he spied several figurines. Sinuous closed the door behind them and trotted past him and around a corner into her kitchen.

"I hope you like what I make, but it's okay if you don't. I've never cooked for a dragon." she said, just out of sight.

"Don't worry, just having a home made meal served to me is going to make me feel much better." he said.

"Feel free to get comfortable while I do this!" she said and Spike gave a brief "k" in response. The home was very neat, likely a result of her having recently moved in, but it was tidy and no clothing or objects seemed to be out of place. His attention was drawn to the books, most being about various creatures and some basic accounts of the details of the exploits that he and his old friends went on. The figurines, however, suddenly made his eyes widen. It was a collection of Ogres and Oubliettes figurines, and expertly crafted. Was this part of the reason it took her so long to get the funds to move to canterlot, she was buying expensive figurines? He certainly hoped not. He was brought out of his thoughts by a pleasant smell.

"Smells fantastic, whatever it is." he said as he moved himself to the table and seated himself at it, though his torso height was already a fair bit tall, so he neglected a chair and sat on the soft floor carpet.

"I hope it tastes as good as it smells." she said as she came back into the room, levitating two bowls and glasses of water before setting a glass and bowl in front of him. "Opals and lesser gems heated on a sauce mix. I know dragons prefer gemstones of higher quality but... money and all." she said as she set a peculiar bowl of a jelly-like substance in front of herself. Spike just smiled.

"Aww you didn't have to go out of your way like that." he said as he picked up a single gem and popped it into his mouth, the flavor being quite the explosion. It reminded him of the more wild and rustic meals he ate back in ponyville and how he actually missed such meals as nowadays he usually had meals prepped for him of specific quality, however said quality often was for more snooty pallets where something was meant to look good instead of taste good. "Wow... this is fantastic!" he said as he soon set to work eating more. She smiled at him and began eating her own meal.

"I'm glad you think so!" she said between mouthfuls. Spike swallowed down what was in his mouth before he gave her a bit of a concerned look.

“So, those Ogres and Oubliettes figures on your shelf…” he said. Sinuous stopped what she was doing and dropped her levitating fork.

“Omigosh I’m so sorry I left those out, I must look like such an embarrassing nerd…” she said as she covered her face.

“Oh, uh, no, that’s not what I was going to say.” Spike hurried to comment. “I was just thinking that those must have cost a lot.” he said.

“Cost a lot?” she echoed, removing her hooves from her face and peeking at him.

“Yeah, I mean, they are very highly detailed and they are expertly painted.” Spike noted that Sinuous was getting uncomfortable as she wiggled in place, but she suddenly smiled.

“No, they didn’t cost me anything since I carved and painted them myself.” she said, still a bit bashful. Spike’s eyes widened and he looked over at them again.

“You… YOU made these?!” he said, his jaw practically on the floor. “I’ve really not seen figures like this boasting so much detail that don’t cost a fortune.” he said.

“You really think so?” she said. “I was selling some of them to try and make some money, but I never knew how much to sell them for. Artist problem of not valuing your own work, I suppose.” she said, smiling.

“Oh I know so. I’ve been playing O&O for years… well I was but after I moved here I no longer had anyone to play with, but I do still have my pieces.” he said. Sinuous had brightened up.

“Oh we should play some day! I lost all my partners a while ago and would love to have some adventures. We could even make campaigns based off of your real adventures!” she said, getting more and more giddy, which Spike could only join in on. “By the way, just how much of those stories are true and what’s made up? I know the books can’t possibly be completely right.”

“Oh I’ll be happy to show you photos of the real events where we took them and a few we never told anypony.” he said, smiling, eager to spend time with his new friend.