Spike and the girls

“Finally back home,” thought the dragon boy Spike as the train whizzed across the landscape of Equestria. He had spent two whole months with Dragon Lord Ember in the Land of Dragons, partly to act as a direct representative of Equestria but mostly to learn more about himself and his race.

Spike looked at his reflection in the window and absentmindedly ran his hand through his spiky green hair. He wasn't sure if he was satisfied with what he knew.

Dragonmen had an impulsive temperament. They were not made for long conciliatory conversations or compromises, even though there was the possibility of resolving a dispute with the help of a stronger fist.

At the beginning of his visit, the many growling and not particularly sociable dragon people made him very nervous. He was still a little dragon boy, a pimp and, to make matters worse, he had been raised by the effeminate pony people. He had been the butt of a cruel joke often enough that even the presence of his girlfriend Ember couldn't have helped him much. And he was supposed to teach the new dragon lord things like love and tolerance on behalf of the pony-human princess, which sounded to most of the dragon-men as if Spike had brought plague and cholera with him.

Dragonmen weren't exactly known for being open to such changes. Some people even feared an attempt by the pony people to overthrow the place once all the dragon people talked so softly, like this little wretch who was neither a dragon nor a pony.

Yes, the first few days hadn't been easy for Spike. Maybe he had expected too much from himself when he insisted on this trip and after the first day he was already thinking about running away and going back to Equestria.

But Ember quickly got rid of this nonsense, also because she had chained him to her, literally with an iron chain that she had never opened until he left.

“You want us to do things like pony people,” she had said as she closed the cuffs of the chain around his wrist. "Then you first have to understand the dragon people. That’s what you were here for.”

In the end, Spike had been taught more by the dragon people than the other way around.

He had always thought of them as beings who were just mean and brutal because they could, but the truth was much more varied. Dragonmen were brutal for a reason; they loved fighting and were tough. They weren't just mean, it was a kind of crude humor that only they understood. It wasn't that they didn't have friendships, quite the opposite. Dragon people were group-loving people who liked to get together and laugh a lot. Even if the laughter was like a multi-voiced bawl and never equaled the giggles of the pony people.

Over time, Spike's view of his race, which was so alien and uncomprehending to him, had changed.

Dragonmen weren't rude, they were honest.

They weren't uncouth, just boisterous.

They weren't incapable of loving, they just preferred to show it with headbutts and bruises.

But even when Spike understood all of this, he still wasn't a member of their community.

He had asked to stop making fun of him, but that had only made the mockery of him worse.

Ember had said, “You don’t get recognition or respect here for free. You have to earn it, fight for it.”

Spike had taken this to heart and shortly afterwards, when a particularly rude dragon man called Grob launched into a nasty tirade about Spike and, even worse, his pony friends, Spike had jumped up, marched across the stone table and told the guy a bowl full of lava punch smashed over his head.

"Listen," he had then said, grabbing one of the other dragon's horns with one hand and with the other hand sticking the handle of a fork into his nostril and slowly pushing it higher and higher. “You’re welcome to make fun of me for all I care. But if you insult my friends again, I'll pull the tiny lump in your beet that you call your brain out through my nose and eat it."

Grob had turned pale and said, "It's okay, it's okay," and when Spike had pulled the fork out of Grob's nose and turned around, Grob himself had jumped onto the table and grabbed Spike. But not to tear off his head, as he had almost feared, but to throw it into the air and catch it again, cheering and laughing.

From that point on, Spike had truly been a complete dragon man to everyone.

Now, however, he wondered if that would be enough for the princesses and Twilight. Spike had learned more about his origins, but his stay didn't really change anything about the dragon people.

Although... Ember had hugged him when he left, on her own initiative and not the other way around.

It might have been a small thing, but Spike thought it was a pretty big step for someone who was usually so stubborn. They just had to be content with what he had to show. This was an impulse that was fairly new to Spike himself.

A cloud of steam enveloped Spike as he entered the Ponyville train station and he waited for the fog to clear. He had been sitting in the last carriage and didn't want to accidentally bump into anyone. The train started moving again with a puff, dividing the cloud into hazy swaths.

"Isn't he there?"

"Maybe he didn't want to leave again."

"Spike?"

He heard familiar voices and his heart skipped a beat.

Outlines of people stood out behind the haze. Twilight and her friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were waiting for him, along with Starlight Glimmer and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo.

Spike swung his bag over his shoulder and was about to say hello when suddenly someone (unmistakably Pinkie Pie) shouted in a cracking voice, "Twilight! There! There he is!” and pointed at him.

"SPIKE!"

Now his heartbeat almost stopped. He had expected that he would be missed, but he hadn't expected this.

Everyone pounced on him for a massive group hug.

Twilight got to him first, sweeping him off his feet and hugging him with tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad you're back."

Spike himself couldn't respond. He was still a boy, but well, he wasn't that small anymore and the sudden contact with Twilight's soft bust had practically left him speechless.

But he didn't even have time to answer. Other arms were already clinging around him and his face sank into Fluttershy's voluptuous breasts. He only heard her whisper softly, "It's good to see you again," when AJ grabbed him and squeezed him so hard that his bones cracked.

So it went on, from one to the other, or rather from breast to breast, like on an assembly line and without Spike being able to hear a single one of the hundred questions they had because his ears were ringing.

»How was it in Dragon Land? You have to tell me everything.”

“Were the other dragon people mean to you?”

“We’re throwing a party!”

“Did you eat properly?”

“Did you have to kick one of their asses?”

"A party!!"

"Did Amber treat you well too? If not, she can experience something!”

"You look good. But you haven’t grown a bit.”

“A PARTY!” Confetti and streamers flew through the air.

The Cutiemark Crusaders wrapped him in a group hug, Pinkie Pie almost smothered him in her caramel-smelling breasts, Rainbow Dash and Starlight luckily just put their arms around his shoulders but it wasn't until Rarity that his heart started beating again.

This, for him, the most beautiful girl of all time, got down on one knee to be level with him, placed her slim hands on his shoulders and gently but firmly pulled him to her. Her stem pressed against his chest and Spike could feel her heartbeat as his own suddenly rushed from one side of his ribcage to the other.

"Spikey," she said in his ear, rubbing her head against his. Then she placed a kiss on his forehead and Spike finally froze into a pillar of salt.

He stood there stock still, his stunned face bright red and his ears smoking.

"Great, Rarity," Rainbow Dash said accusingly. "Now you've broken it."

Rarity didn't pay any attention to her, but instead adjusted Spike's jacket, which drowned motionlessly in the depths of her blue eyes.

“Oh Spike, what you look like.”

None of Spike's clothing had survived the trip unscathed. Spike had been forced by the chain to take part in Princess Ember's fights and so a number of abrasions and scratches had appeared on him and his clothing.

“Was that Amber?” Rarity asked, her eyes suddenly glowing with anger. “When I get my hands on her!”

"No, it wasn't Amber." Spike finally found his speech again and raised his hands placatingly. “They were other dragon people. But it’s only half as bad.”

"Did you kick one of their asses?" Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

“And how,” Spike said, sticking his thumb up and squinting slyly up at her. “Pulled a bowl over someone’s head.”

Rainbow giggled.

»But honestly, guys, the dragon people are really okay. They just have different views than us. They’re actually quite nice.”

"Then what is this?" Rarity snorted, pulling Spike's shirt up to his chin. There was an amicable hiccup in the group.

Bruises covered his entire body like a mosaic, interspersed with lines of scratches and abrasions.

"These are farewell greetings," Spike tried to explain quickly. »This is how we show that we care about someone and are thinking about them. Bruises are like souvenirs.”

Ember herself had given him a huge punch on the left shoulder after she had hugged him, which he could still feel now.

But when Spike cast a searching glance around, all he saw was a row of doubtful faces.

This made Spike a little angry. What did they expect? That he would come back with flowers and bathed in baby powder? He had been to Dragon Land! Either you were tough or you could disappear straight away. He also felt like he made really good new friends there.

“Honestly, guys,” Spike said, sullenly pulling his shirt back down. "Dragon people are nice. They just show it in a different way."

"Yeah, I can see that," Rarity said, wrinkling her nose. »Beating others black and blue. Something brutal like that.”

"I knocked out Ember's tooth," Spike replied dryly, pulling out a sharp canine that hung from a ribbon around his neck. Ember had had to tease and annoy him for three whole days and nights without giving him a second of sleep until Spike eventually lost his patience and lashed out with his fist. She had been very proud of him.

Rarity looked at him dumbfounded. "Spike," she stuttered, as if she didn't recognize him. "That...that's so..."

"Normal," Spike said clearly. “For dragon people.” And I am one of them.

Suddenly he felt as if he were standing alone on the wrong side of a deep ditch that separated him from the others. His visit to Dragon Land had probably changed him more than he had imagined.

"Okay," Twilight finally broke the silence and tried to put on a cheerful expression to bring the mood back into a more pleasant mood. »I think we can totally trust Spike on that. If he says the dragon people are nice, then they are. I mean, who better to judge than him? But now it's time for us to go home. You've had a long drive and you're probably very tired."

"And you need to be rested," Pinkie Pie came to her aid. “There’s a big welcome back party for you tonight.”

"And we still have a lot to prepare," Twilight said in agreement and she and the others started moving.

Spike wanted to follow them, but Rarity held him back for a moment until the others were out of earshot.

He looked at her questioningly.

"It's okay, Rarity," Spike said, hands raised in embarrassment at the wet glint in her eyes. "I'm doing well."

She hugged him again, this time tighter, as if she didn't want to let him go."Okay," he gasped, glad he could even form words because his raised hands were filled with Rarity's soft breasts. She didn't seem to notice it herself. “Now I can’t be mad at you.”

Rarity let go of him and kissed him on the cheek again. It was melting.

“Where are you guys?” Applejack called to the two of them.

"We're coming, darling."

Rarity took Spike's hand and led him along, not letting him go for a second.