Finding Your Family

Scootaloo barely recognized Ponyville as she walked through it. Everything seemed to be both bigger and smaller than she remembered it. All of the infrastructure seemed smaller, such as the town square, which was aglow with the rumblings of the open market that had set up for today. But at the same time, individual places seemed to have grown significantly. Sugarcube Corner, for example, had a large addition added to the side, something that, when Scootaloo pointed it out, Dash had clarified that it was actually two additions stacked on top of each other, and if you went upstairs, you could still see the seams.

As they came into their neighborhood, Scootaloo was quick to look at Fluttershy's old place, and it'd been sold to an elderly couple of yaks, and their grandson, who was attending Twilight's School of Friendship. All of this was laid out by Soarin as they walked past, eventually stopping a block away, where no buildings had been when Scootaloo left.

The house was fairly large at two stories. Unlike most of the other houses nearby, which were primarily constructed of wood, this one had a stone base that was not coated in a façade. The upper levels were, in fact, made from wood, but coated in lime and painted orange. What was most odd, though, was the roof. While every other house in the area had thatched rooves, as was fairly common in Ponyville, this one had dark blue terra cotta half-rounds.

"This is it," smiled Dash, backing the cart up to the entrance. "Let's unload."

"This is our cave?" asked Cudgel. "Why does it look so weird?"

"It's not a cave," answered Scootaloo. "This is a house. It does look a bit strange, but it's ours."

There was a small pit in Scootaloo's stomach. She had to wonder if this was what it felt like when one spouse made a major decision without the input of the other. Scootaloo had no say in which house to purchase, as she had been out of the country when this had been decided, but her other option was to live nowhere for awhile as they shopped around. She knew that Spike had made the right decisions, but that didn't stop her from feeling left out. She shook the thought from her head as Spike opened the door and invited them in.

"Let us handle the heavy lifting," said Soarin. "You four go take the tour. Dash, Smolder, Garble and I will handle this."

With a nod, Scootaloo went inside, pulling Spike into a kiss. "The place looks great."

You've only seen the outside," kissed Spike back. "You know the real beauty is what's on the inside."

Scootaloo couldn't help but laugh at the cheesiness of the line. "Alright, let's look around."

The foyer was a rather long hallway, with two stairwells on the right side, stacked on top of each other. The one going down was made of stone, while the one going up was wooden, but with metal balustrades. From the hallway, six openings branched off, two of them with doors. The floor was hardwood, with a rug running its length on the left side, opposite the stairs.

"So, let's start with the least interesting room in the house," said Spike, opening one of the doors. Behind it was a large closet. "Very uninteresting. But that's okay. It's just a closet."

"What's it for?" asked Slash.

Spike pulled out his raincoat and hat, leaving them on the hanger. "Boots, jackets, umbrellas, sports equipment... It's storage by the front door." He hung his gear back on the rack and picked up his galoshes. "You know, for when you need it."

He put down the boots and moved to the next room, the other closed door. Inside was a half bathroom, with just a toilet and a sink.

"No Shower?" asked Scootaloo.

"Two upstairs," answered Spike. "This one's for guests, especially at parties or those who can't climb stairs."

Scootaloo nodded. She knew what it was like to be disabled, as she'd only found her wings with a bit of magic from Spike. She'd known a few ponies unable to climb stairs, and how difficult that could be. It was unlikely that Spike was thinking about them in selecting this bathroom design, but it was at least nice that he had considered the option.

Through a large archway, they entered into a living room, with a couch, loveseat and armchair, enough seating for six. The floor was covered in a very large area rug, and another archway led into a separate room. "This is our main living area. I've ordered a coffee table for in here, but it's still being worked on."

Through the archway, they walked into a study where the entire north wall was nothing but bookshelf. "Twilight insisted that we have this installed," blushed Spike. "That piano was my decision, though." He pointed to the corner, where an upright piano sat next to another armchair.

Through the next archway, they went into the hall, and from there, another few steps brought them into the kitchen. The countertops were all stone, with a deep metal sink with two compartments and a spray nozzle. "Let me show you my favourite part," grinned Spike.

Opening a cabinet door, he grabbed one of the shelves and pulled. On wheels, the entire rack came out and rolled across the floor. "I made it so that it's really easy to move stuff around the kitchen!" he gushed. "With normal cabinets, it's going to be hard to clean if we grow any larger, but with this, we just pull it out and clean it that way! Plus, if we want to rearrange stuff, it's as easy as pulling the whole rack out and putting it in another cabinet, instead of taking everything out piece by piece and then putting it back piece by piece." As he put the rack back, he pulled out another one. "And this one is pretty cool, too." He pulled on the top handle, and with a scissor lift action, all of the drawers separated vertically. "No more will a lopsided spatula hold the drawers closed."

After putting everything away, he moved to the dining room through the archway. A large dining table was surrounded by six chairs. It was a simple design, but it was a dining room. The only thing that made it different from normal was that the tabletop was made of stone slabs. Still, they were fire-breathing dragons. Fireproof fixtures were a must.