Spike walked through the Ponyville market, his feet dragging behind him as he hung his head down low. He honestly had no idea what to do now. He was cold, slightly hungry, and, most of all, afraid. Perhaps he made the wrong decision. Perhaps he should go back and apologize...

No. That mare is nothing but trouble. Being homeless with no where to go would be a better fate than being that crazy unicorns slave for eternity.

Still... he needed a plan.

Maybe he could get the princess to help him out... no... she'd probably just call up Twilight, babble on about the magic of friendship, and send him back with her, where he'd continue to serve as her number one slave. The other Elements of Harmony were out of the question as well... and returning to his own kind likely wouldn't work out so well.

Maybe-

"Spike? Is that you?" an elegant voice that gave the young dragon butterflies in his stomach asked. Spike glanced around for the source of the voice, spotting the mare of his dreams approaching him.

"O-oh... hello Rarity." he greeted.

"Spike, what on Equestria are you doing out here so late?" she asked, "Does Twilight know you're out? Please tell me she didn't send you out looking for quills in the middle of the night again."

"No... it's not like that. Me and Twilight had a fight."

The mares eyes lit up with realization. "Oh, I see."

The dragon smiled awkwardly at the alabaster mare. "You have a good night, Rarity." he said, turning away from the mare and continuing his aimless walk.

"Wait! Spike?" she asked, walking up to the young dragon. He glanced over his shoulder at her and signaled her to continue. "I believe you should stay at the boutique tonight. You know, to think things through. I'm sure Sweetie Belle would enjoy the company."

"I don't know..." the dragon began to protest, only to find himself lifted off the ground by a light blue magical aura.

"Pish posh! I insist you stay the night." she said, carrying the purple dragon behind her as she continued her walk.

Sweetie Belle stood a top of tall stool, balanced delicately on a single hindhoof. Her goal was in her sight, a jar of cookies sitting on top of the fridge just barely out of her reach. She wished dearly that she knew how to use telekinesis well enough to not drop and shatter the jar as she leaned forward, reaching for the jar.

A little more...

A little more...

The front door opened, causing Sweetie Belle to jump and lose her balance. The stool tipped over and the filly crashed on the floor. She rubbed her head, fighting off the pain as she looked up, spotting Rarity standing over her.

"Sweetie Belle, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Umm..." her mind pulled a blank as she tried desperately to come up with some sort of excuse.

Rarity rolled her eyes, levitating the dragon she was carrying in front of her and dropping him beside her. "You and your shenanigans... you can't force a cutie mark, darling... anyways... do me a favor and look after Spike. I need to go out and finish my walk."

"Oh... um... okay, Rarity." the filly responded, internally breathing a sigh of relief.

Rarity flashed her a grateful smile, before turning to Spike. She was about to say something, but hesitated, and decided to just smile at him before she turned away and walked back outside, leaving the two alone in the boutique.

Sweetie Belle grinned cheekily to herself before turning to her new companion. "Hungry?" she asked.

A loud grumble from Spike's stomach answered the question for her.

"There's a jar on top of fridge that I can't reach filled with Pinkie Pie's chocolate chip cookies. Think you can reach it?" she inquired.

Spike glanced up at the cookie jar on top of the fridge and examined the height.

"Yeah... I think I can." he responded.

The dragon placed the tipped over stool upright and leaned it against the fridge. He quickly scaled the stool and stood on tip toes, reaching for the cookie jar.

"Be careful..." the filly below warned.

Spike's forked tongue stuck out of his mouth as his fingertips rubbed along the sides of the jar. Satisfied he had a good grip, he carefully lifted the jar off the fridge. Sweetie Belle stood up and hindhooves, reaching up at the dragon. Spike lowered the cookie jar into her hooves, which she accepted and hugged to her chest, before he climbed down off the stool. A smug, satisfied smile spread the young dragons face at his accomplishment.

Sweetie Belle popped the top off of the jar and clumsily tried to levitate a cookie out of the jar. On her first try, her magic faltered and the cookie fell back into the jar. On the second try, however, she successfully managed to levitate a cookie out of the jar, before taking a bite out of it.

"Thanks, Spike." she said gratefully through a full mouth.

"No problem." he responded, reaching into the cookie jar and pulling out a treat for himself.

The two sat there together, eating their sweets in complete silence.

"Spike... can I ask you a question...?" Sweetie Belle asked cautiously.

"Sure. Why not?" Spike answered, knowing full what she was going to ask.

"Why did Rarity bring you here?" she asked.

The young dragon bit his tongue as he hesitated to answer. After a few moment, he decided to stow it and answer. "Me and Twilight got in a fight. And... well... I decided to run away."

"Why though? She seems... nice." Sweetie Belle said with a forced smile, remembered the one incident when she turned her and her friends, along with the rest of Ponyville against each other over a doll just because she needed a lesson in friendship.

Spike shook his head. "She can be... but really, I can't stand living with her. She just uses me for slave labor and sending mail. I mean, who does that to a kid? Force them to work all day long. Shouldn't I be in school or something? Or spending time with you guys? The only time I get a break is when I sleep and when she goes off to save Equestria. And after all I do for her, she treats me like dirt. She puts more value in her friendship letters and her books than she does in my life."

"Oh..." was all the unicorn filly could say. "So you'd prefer living on the streets to going back to live with Twilight?"

Spike nodded.

Sweetie Belle remained silent for a few moments, unsure of what to say next. Suddenly, a large smile crossed her face as she struck gold. "You could stay with me!" she said.

The young dragon smiled. "Thanks... but I'm sure Twilight would come by and drag me back because she can't cook for herself."

A small giggle escaped from the filly. "Do you want to go watch a movie or something, Spike?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Okay, that sounds nice." he responded.

As Rarity approached the Golden Oaks library door, she became aware of the sound of low sobbing on the other side. She went to knock on the door, but found that the door was, in fact, slightly ajar.

"Twilight...?" the alabaster unicorn inquired as she pushed the door open. The door opened to reveal a broken Twilight Sparkle, lying on a damp floor, sobbing lightly. As Rarity started to walk towards her, the purple unicorn became aware of the other presence in the room.

"R-rarity?" she managed to ask.

"Shhhh..." Rarity cooed softly, magicking up a handkerchief and wiping away the mares tears. A small, grateful smile showed up on Twilight's face.

"Thank you..."

"It's nothing, darling. Generosity is my element, after all. Mind telling me what happened?" Rarity asked.

"I-I had Spike dust off the book cases... but he knocked over one of the bookcases. So I told to clean it up, and... I guess there was some dust, and when he sneezed, he ended up burning one of the oldest books in the library... which then activated the sprinkler system... so I came down and yelled at him for it, and he yelled back, and stormed out. Rarity... it's all my fault, I should have-"

"Shhhhhh... relax... these things happen." Rarity said softly.

"No! It's all my fault, Rarity. He told me how I treat him like a slave... and you know what... he's right. All I have him do is work, work, work... and now he's gone... he's not just an assistant, he's the closest thing to a son I'll likely ever have. And I messed it up..." Twilight said, slapping herself in the forehead repeatedly.

"Twilight! Get a hold of yourself!" Rarity ordered, "this behavior is most unbecoming of the princesses protege. Spike is just going through a rebellious phase. Certainly, you could lay off the chores... a lot, maybe put him in school and let him have a life, but darling... really... it's not over. You can fix things."

Twilight took Rarity's handkerchief and wiped away her fresh tears. "You really think so?"

"I know so... Sweetie Belle tried to run away to live with Applejack and Applebloom after we had a petty squabble, but I managed to fix it and we're closer than ever." the alabaster unicorn said, helping Twilight off the floor.

"Yeah... I guess you're right... thanks, Rarity." she said, wrapping hooves around her friend and embracing her, a gesture she happily returned.

"It's not a problem, darling." Twilight's friend assured her.

"Wait... I need to find him first... dear Celestia, how could I let him go? He's not even ten yet, and he's out on the streets. He's probably alone and afraid and-"

"Calm down, Twilight. I ran into him on my walk and I brought him to my boutique. Come with me, you can talk with him there." Rarity said.

Spike and Sweetie Belle lay side by side on the fillies bed, watching Batmane Begins intently on the television.

The young dragon heard the front door downstairs open and close, and heard two sets of hoofsteps walk inside. Curious, he sat up and crawled over the filly and made his way out of the room. He slowly made his way downstairs and spotted both Rarity and Twilight sitting on a couch.

They noticed the young dragon standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"S-spike, I-I'm-"

"Don't even bother. I was just leaving." Spike said, making his way towards the exit.

"Wait! Spike, please!? At least hear me out..." Twilight begged.

The young dragon turned around and faced the mare. "You have five minutes."

The purple unicorn nodded. "Spike... I-I'm sorry... okay? For everything. I've treated you like a servant for years, instead of actually giving you the childhood you deserve. I promise that I'll cut down on your tasks. I'll even enroll you in Ponyville's school. Please... just give me another chance, I'm begging you. I'm so sorry, Spike..."

Spike considered this for a few seconds. "Listen... I'll tell you my decision tomorrow... okay? I need to clear my head... it's been a long night."

"Okay.. I understand." Twilight said, a small smile crossing her lips. After a moments hesitation, the young dragon walked up to her and gave her a small hug, before fleeing back upstairs.

After he was gone, Rarity turned to her friend. "Are you going to be alright, darling?" she asked.

"I think I'll live... this has been a long night... but it needed to happen. No child should have to live like Spike has... it's time for that to change."

"I'm proud of you, Twilight." Rarity said, patting her friend on the back. "Do you want to stay here tonight?"

"I don't want to intrude... but that'd be nice." the purple unicorn said.

Rarity nodded. "I'll go set up the guest bed. Why don't you take a bath and clear your head?"

"Thanks Rarity, I think I'll do just that." Twilight said with a grateful smile.

It was nice to have such good friends.

Author's Notes:

Two alternate endings will be released shortly.