To say that Spike was just ‘excited’ would have been a criminal understatement. It had taken a lot of convincing and two whole months of saving up his bits to get Twilight to agree to take him to the big Manehattan Comic Convention, but he knew it would be worth every last chore.

And now they weren’t very far at all, mere blocks away from the convention center as they trotted through the streets. He couldn’t help but squirm on Twilight’s back, kicking his heels lightly against her sides. Unfortunately, it only led her to twist her head around and raise an eyebrow in his direction.

“Sorry,” Spike said. “It’s just… can’t we go any faster?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and kept walking, weaving through an increasingly bustling crowd as they drew closer and closer to the convention center. Here and there, ponies dressed in brightly colored costumes stuck out, making their way in the same direction.

At Twilight’s side, Rainbow Dash grinned. “Don’t worry Spike, there’ll be plenty of comic books to go around. It’s not as if they’re gonna run out or anything.”

“That’s what you think,” Spike muttered. “The variant cover edition of Power Ponies #231 is a limited run. And there’s only supposed to be a few hundred of the convention-exclusive vinyl figurines for sale, and this year’s is Radiance. I’m going to get one to bring back to Rarity!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said dryly. “I’m sure she’ll be totally thrilled about that.”

“I hope so,” Spike continued, oblivious to her tone. “It’s really a shame that she couldn’t come with us, but I understand. A pony as important as her has to deal with fashion emergencies now and then.”

“Uh huh. I bet she’s at the spa now, enjoying an emergency— Hey!” Twilight had flicked one wing out to thump against Rainbow’s side. When Rainbow looked up, Twilight was shooting her a dark glare. “I mean, too bad. These things happen.”

Spike fiddled with the clasp of his cape, twisting to make sure it was billowing behind him properly. “At least she had some time to help me with my Humdrum costume.” He twiddled his claws. “I hope Mina likes it.”

“I’m sure she will,” Twilight said. “And let me say, I’m looking forward to meeting this mysterious dragon penpal of yours.”

“I’m still jealous,” Rainbow Dash groused. “Why did Princess Luna have to go and wake you up for a big adventure? I sleep, like, all the time, and she’s never popped into my dreams to whisk me off to solve crimes in Fillydelphia.”

“It wasn’t that big a deal.” Spike flexed one claw. “And you’re not a dragon, so I doubt anyone in the dragon town district would even talk to you.”

“I could be a dragon…”

“Absolutely not,” Twilight said. “No shapechanging magic, we’ve been over this.”

Rainbow groaned. “Boring. So boring. You dorks are lucky I didn’t have anything better to do this weekend.”

Twilight stopped short. “Rainbow Dash, did you not read the itinerary I sent you?”

“Huh? C’mon Twi, I’ll just stick with you and nap through whatever magical algebra egghead lectures you wanted to go to. It’s no big deal.”

“There’s no scientific panels.” Twilight sighed. “I mean, you didn’t see why I asked you, in particular, to come? There’s a whole room with Daring Do panels all day. They’ve got the cast from the movie that’s just started filming, and a fan panel to discuss the series’ best villain, and A.K. Yearling’s even going to be there to read the first chapter of the upcoming book.”

Rainbow blinked. Then her wings flared open and she was off like a shot down the street. A moment later, she had returned. “C’mon Twilight! Can’t we go any faster?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and kept walking.

---

By the time they had arrived in front of the convention center, the crowds were overwhelming, with at least half dressed in some costume or another. Spike locked eyes with another pony dressed as Humdrum across the way and they exchanged a silent nod of mutual appreciation.

He hopped up, awkwardly clambering down off Twilight’s back.

“Maybe you should just stay up until we get inside?” Twilight said. “It’s pretty crazy out here.”

“Mm, yeah,” Rainbow Dash said, distracted by gawking at the ponies around them. “Hey, check out that Ahuizotl. That’s crazy!”

“No way, I’m not a kid.” Spike frowned as he looked around, trying to see through a sea of pony legs. “Besides, Mina’s supposed to meet up with us here.”

“Spike!” a voice called out over the crowd’s chatter. A moment later, a cerise dragoness just a few hooves taller than Spike pushed her way over to them. “You made it! Red rubies!”

Spike’s eyes lit up. “Red rubies!”

Rainbow glanced at Twilight, only to get a shrug in response.

Mina darted over to Spike and they pounded their claws together in greeting. “Wow, great costume!” Spike said.

She did a quick twirl in place, highlighting the black paint splotch on her hips. In the center of the mark was a white crescent moon. Between the clear attempt at the cutie mark, the tiara at the top of her dyed-blue hair, and the silvery boots and gloves she wore, it was clear that she was meant to be Princess Luna. “Awesome, isn’t it? Yours is great, too! They’re having a costume contest later and everything and I’m going to—”

She cut off mid-breath, staring at Twilight.

“Hello there,” Twilight said. “You must be Mina. I’ve heard so much—”

“Eeeeee!” Before Twilight could react, Mina was hopping in circles around her. “Spike said you were coming but I still can’t believe it! You know, I wasn’t that big a fan at first, but that Tirek fight? Ah-may-zing! You could see the flashes on the horizon all the way in Fillydelphia. You’re definitely number two princess now – and that’s no knock against you because Luna is like all-time top tier, you know what I mean? You totally do.”

“Um—”

“You have got to sign my copy of Princess Pals #1. You can’t leave until you do!”

“Uh. Yes, sure.” Twilight blinked. “Wait, there’s a comic book about the Princesses? I... don’t know how I feel about that.”

Mina’s eyes sparkled. “It’s so good, too. There’s this whole arc about the early days of Princess Celestia’s reign where she’s having to figure everything out and singlehoofedly come up with all of Equestria’s laws as she goes.”

Twilight’s eyes grew round. “They— They have this comic here? I must buy it. To make sure it treats its subjects accurately. Of course.”

“Ahem.” Rainbow Dash took a step forward, tossing her head casually. “I’m here too, you know. I’d be glad to autograph any depictions of my daring exploits.”

Mina’s head tilted. “Oh. You’re… the athlete one?”

“The Rainbow Dash.”

“Right. Hi!” She tapped a claw against her chin. “You look pretty scrawny for hoofball. But s’all rubies, I guess.”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a hoofball player. I’m a racer. Familiar with the Equestrian Games? What about the Wonderbolts?”

Mina shrugged. “I only follow hoofball. Hey, do you know anypony on the Fillydelphia Falcons?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Seriously? Sorry, no. I’m more of a Cloudsdale Crushers girl anyways. I mean, I met an outside wingback from the Canterlot Nobles at a party once, but Canterlot Nobles?”

“Yuck,” her and Mina said in unison. Mina raised a closed claw and Rainbow met it with a hoofbump.

“Cool.”

“Cool.”

“Hey, we probably need to head in before it gets too crazy,” Spike chimed in.

“Oh, right!” Mina whirled around to him. “I’ve got a surprise for you, too. I want you to meet me at table 113 in Hall F later this afternoon, okay? Promise me!”

“No problem!”

“Thanks Spike!” Mina bounced forward to squeeze him in a sudden hug. “I’ve already got my badge so I’m going to go in and find out where to register for the costume contest. I’ll see you later!”

“Y-yeah, later!” Spike called out as she dashed back into the crowd. He turned, and the big smile on his face vanished as he saw Twilight and Rainbow’s expressions.

“Soooomeone’s got a girlfriend,” Rainbow sang out.

“Knock it off,” Spike grumbled. “We’re just friends. Besides, she’s like a year or two older than me, and probably not even interested.”

Rainbow snrked, trying to hold back a full guffaw. “Yes, those totally sound like convincing reasons right there.”

Spike crossed his arms. Twilight was giving him that little grin she always got when she had just realized she knew something that no one else did. “What?”

“Nothing,” Twilight said. “We should get going.”

“Right.” Spike rubbed a claw against the back of his head. “About that. You know, I think I’ll be just fine on my own. I don’t want to keep you guys from whatever you were going to do.”

Twilight bit her lip. “Oh, I don’t know, Spike. I don’t want you to get lost or in trouble or anything. It’s an awfully big convention.”

“Oh come on, don’t treat me like a baby.” Spike stood up straight, putting on his responsible face. “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s probably better if we find the Daring Do room and drop Rainbow off, and then I stick around. It’s not that I don’t trust you—”

“Hey Twilight!” Rainbow called out. “Look over there. I think somepony’s dressed as Starswirl the Bearded. He’s even got the silver bells on the hat.”

Twilight’s head shot up, craning around to get a view. “Starswirl’s hat had golden bells. The historical literature is very clear on the point. In fact I wrote an essay last year examining…”

Spike looked up to see Rainbow give him a wink and mouth, “You’re welcome.” He gave her a grin and salute in response before slipping off into the crowd.

---

Getting his badge meant waiting in line – hardly difficult, once he managed to find the right end, but not exactly fun either. But Spike was so close, and Manehattan’s Con was the biggest comics-and-entertainment event in all of Equestria. He only got more and more excited as he drew closer to the front. He was having to fight the urge to jump and down by the time the pony at registration hoofed over the badge to get inside. She even gave him a free tote bag – and the one that had the Power Ponies on it, after seeing his costume.

He was finally going inside! He ran through his plans again in his head – get the limited-edition Radiance figurine first, because it was the most likely to sell out fast, then find out where the Power Ponies panel would be? Oh, and go see Mina! He wondered when her costume contest was. It would be fun to cheer for her there too.

It turned out he had plenty of time to think about those plans. Thirty minutes later, after discovering that there was another, separate line to get inside the convention center, he finally found himself walking through the big doors and into his paradise.

The experience was properly momentous. The convention center was huge – looking to his left and right he couldn’t even see where the halls ended. The ceilings went up and up, with a few pegasi winging back and forth between banners and displays hanging above. Thin aisles trailed between booths set up to look like any number of famous landmarks: the Power Ponies’ Tower of Justice, a miniature skyscraper of the Manehattan Bugle where Spider-Mule’s alter ego worked, even an entire mecha-pony towering over a booth in the back, something from one of those Neighponese series that Apple Bloom was big into.

Spike stood in place with his mouth hanging open, momentarily overwhelmed by the entire experience. At least until a pony pushed him in the back. “Get a move on!”

He stumbled forward, muttering an apology, and found himself swept away in the tide of ponies, bouncing from one to another as they pushed and shoved, all eager to get to their own destinations. Spike kept muttering apologies as he tried to stay upright, not helped by ponies that kept stepping on his cape.

Finally he stumbled out into some open space against the back wall and looked around to get his bearings. He hadn’t quite expected all the fans to be so… pushy, but upon reflection it wasn’t really like they were meaning to be rude. It was easy to get swept away in the excitement of everything to see and do.

Plus, luck was on his side. He could see the big Marevel booth just a few aisles down, and visions of Radiance figurines danced in his mind. Spike steeled his courage and stepped forward into the crowd again, pushing his own way through.

It was a short line to get to the front, so it wasn’t any more than a minor annoyance when they informed him all the figurines were sold by a different company on the other side of the big hall. He was starting to get the hang of navigating the crowds too, which meant holding his cape up and darting from place to place without being distracted by all the neat costumes or booths, so it didn’t take long to get to the right place.

And the line there was fairly short too. The problem came when he made it all the way to the front.

“One Radiance, please!” he called out, standing on his tiptoes to look over the counter at the neat row of boxes perched on the shelf.

The pony behind the counter looked him over. “Nice costume. Sure thing. Just let me have your ticket?”

“Ticket?”

It turned out the reason the line was so short was because there was a second line to get tickets, way back next to where he had originally been at the Marevel booth. A somewhat frustrated Spike started questioning the purpose of standing in a line to get a ticket to stand in a line, but the ponies waiting behind him started giving him dirty looks so he sighed and stepped away.

After making the long trek all the way back to the other side of the exhibit floor, he managed to find the right area. That line was rather more formidable than the rest, but he took his place at the end behind a big earth pony in an Iron Mare t-shirt.

“Maybe they shoulda called it the Manehattan Standing-in-Line Convention, eh?” Spike said. The earth pony ignored him, but he heard a snicker from behind and turned to see a colt that had to be no older than Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom.

“Good one!” the colt chirped as he stuck out a hoof. “And great Humdrum outfit! I’m Walnut Crunch, but you can just call me Wally cause that’s what everypony else does.”

“Spike,” he said as he shook hooves with Wally. He took another look at the colt, noting his navy jumpsuit with plastic gems glued on haphazardly. “Oh, you’re Radiance, right?”

“Right!” Wally grinned widely. “She’s the best, isn’t she! I know it’s not the greatest costume, but I made it myself. That’s what I’m waiting in line for, to get—”

“The limited-edition convention-exclusive Radiance figurine.” Spike chuckled. “Me too.”

“I knew you looked like a good dragon! Us Power Ponies fans have to stick together, because—” Wally took a breath, eyes rolling back as he enunciated in a loud reedy voice “—friendship is the most important superpower of all!”

Spike nodded. “Issue 178, right? Where all the villains team up and almost beat the Power Ponies because they’re fighting with one another.”

“That one is so good!” Wally gushed.

It turned out that it was a lot more fun to wait in line along with a friend, and Wally had an even greater knowledge of Power Ponies minutiae than Spike did. They chattered away about their favorite issues and characters as the line crawled forward, and even after they had gotten their tickets, they found themselves walking together on their way back to the merchandise booth at the other end of the hall.

“See…” Wally said as they drew closer to the front of the shorter line, “I live in the Broncs and it’s pretty great. I’ve got some good friends who I normally play Power Ponies with at recess, and I always get to be Radiance. But they all have the official action figures and my parents… well, they don’t have a lot of bits to spare.” He waved a hoof in the air. “It’s not like it’s a problem or anything! But my friends all decided to chip in for my birthday and arranged to get me a ticket to the convention and the bits for this super special Radiance figure.”

“Wow,” Spike said. “Those really do sound like great friends.”

Wally blushed slightly. “Yeah, I’m pretty lucky. But I bet you have awesome friends, too!”

Spike rubbed a claw across his chin. “You know what? I really do.”

“Oh, oh! I think you’re next!”

Spike looked up to see the pony at the counter waiting for him, and skipped over. “Hi again!”

“Hey Humdrum. Got a ticket now?”

“Sure do!” Spike stood on his tiptoes again to set the ticket on the counter, and noticed something strange. The shelves on the wall behind the counter were practically empty now.

“You sure are one lucky little dragon,” the salespony said. “We’ve only got one Radiance figurine left for the entire show. Seems like everypony wanted one.”

Spike felt something cold settle in his gut. He turned around slowly, looking at Wally waiting at the head of the line behind him. The colt was too far away and the hum of the convention too loud for him to really hear what they were talking about, but upon seeing Spike, he waved one hoof cheerfully.

Spike turned to the counter. “Actually,” he said scuffing a foot against the floor, “I think I’ll just take a copy of the variant edition of Power Ponies #231.”

The salespony frowned. “We have those, but… you waited in line just for that? You know you could just get a copy from any of the big comic sellers elsewhere in the hall, right?”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “I guess it just felt more official getting one from here?”

“Oh...kay?”

Spike set a few bits on the counter and forced a smile.

---

Spike tried not to look at the clock hanging in the center of the hall. It was pretty depressing to get a reminder of how much time he had spent so far this morning in a futile quest of wandering from one queue to another.

Instead he looked up at the menu of a food stand, which was only a little depressing. Seriously, twenty-five bits for a carrot dog? He could buy a whole bushel of carrots back in Ponyville for that much.

He sighed, but his stomach rumbled in a reminder that he really should spend the bits he had saved for the Radiance figure on something. He was just about to get in line for the stand – ugh – when he noticed the trio of ponies loudly gossiping over at a nearby table.

Two of the three were dressed as Power Ponies, Zapp and Saddle Rager, while the third was a unicorn with her mane dyed a bright green and teased out crazily – the Mane-iac.

“Look at that one!” The Mane-iac raised a hoof to point as she talked, loud enough for even Spike to hear. “Wonder where he got that costume, in a museum?” The other two snickered.

She had been pointing at a big pony in black spandex and helmet who was slowly walking along the aisle. Spike vaguely recognized the getup as The Dark Deceiver, one of the oldest, if not the first, supervillains. He had been Supermare’s greatest nemesis, and even if ponies these days weren’t that big into Supermare anymore, it was still plenty iconic.

“Ohmigod,” Zapp said. “Maybe he fell through a temporal rift from twenty years ago. That sounds like The Dork Deceiver alright.”

“More like—” Saddle Rager interrupted herself with giggling. “More like The Pork Deceiver!”

The other two pounded the table as they laughed. It was all the more cruel a jab for its accuracy – the costumed pony looked to be well on the overweight side and his belly was straining against the fabric of his costume. Spike frowned and took a step in their direction.

“Watch this!” Mane-iac said, and her horn lit up. An empty soda can from their table sailed over to clang against The Dark Deceiver’s helmet and he staggered back in alarm, only to trip over his own hooves and run right into a pair of garbage cans.

The trio found this to be exceptionally hilarious, hooting with laughter. Spike marched right over.

“What is wrong with you?” he said.

Their laughter cut off sharply, but Mane-iac didn’t seem fazed. “What? We’re just having a little fun.”

“You’re being mean and awful.” Spike planted his claws on his hips. “Is that the way a hero would act?”

Zapp and Saddle Rager shared a somewhat chagrined look, but Mane-iac just smirked. “I’m not a hero, now am I? And neither is that dork.”

“That’s not what I mean. We’re all fans here, we should all treat one another with respect.”

Mane-iac rolled her eyes. “Blah blah blah. Whatever, I’m not going to sit around and be lectured by Humdrum. Particularly not shrimpy dragon Humdrum. C’mon girls.” She tossed her mane and marched off, the other two mares in tow. Zapp at least had the decency to look back at him and mouth a quick "Sorry!" in response.

Spike growled to himself, but trotted over to where The Dark Deceiver was still lying on the floor. He offered a claw and grunted with effort as he tried to help the pony up. “You— You okay?”

“Mmmph mmmph mmph mmmph,” the pony said, muffled by the thick helmet.

“Uhm. Right. I’m Spike?” Spike extended a claw.

“Mmmph mmph.” The pony shook hooves firmly.

“Don’t let them get you down. I think you look great!”

“Mmmph.” Spike had no way to really tell, but it seemed like a happy mmmph at any rate. The pony reached out with one hoof to jovially pat him on the back, but almost knocked the smaller dragon over.

“Mmmmph,” The Dark Deceiver said contritely.

“Er, yeah.” Spike’s eyes drifted up and they finally made contact with the clock above him. It was then he realized the Power Ponies panel started in only fifteen minutes. “Ah! I have to run, but have a good convention!”

“Mmph mmmph,” the pony said, waving as Spike dashed off again.

---

There wasn’t space in the room for him.

It’s not as if Spike was a large dragon. This was something that he had often and bitterly complained about in the past, most often only to himself in the mirror, but occasionally enough to Twilight that she had specifically ordered him a book called The Littlest Caterpillar for his birthday several years back. It told the story about a caterpillar that was sad because it was tiny, but then when all the other caterpillars turned into butterflies, the littlest one turned into a big beautiful moth instead. Spike found it to be less than encouraging, because what caterpillar would rather be a moth than a butterfly?

The pony preventing him from entering the room didn’t seem particularly receptive to the moral either. Particularly not as it came across in Spike’s frenzied rambling about how it wasn’t fair and moths deserve love too even baby ones he guessed and he wouldn’t take up that much room and he could just stand in the back he didn’t mind at all.

“Fire code,” the pony grunted, and went back to staring straight forward.

A couple of ponies walked up to the door and hoofed him a ticket. The door swung open, and light and laughter spilled out. Spike caught a snatch of the conversation – they were talking about Humdrum! And then the door swung shut.

“You can let me in,” Spike pleaded. “They went in. Why did they get to go in?”

“VIPs,” the pony said.

“I’m a pretty important dragon. That’s like a VIP.”

“What’s your badge say?”

Spike glanced down. “General admission.”

“Exactly.”

Spike bounced up and down in agony. “Can you just like… prop the door open, and maybe I can look in from out here?”

“Nope.”

“Well, what if somepony leaves, then there will be room and I can go in, right?”

“Sure.”

Spike’s eyes lit up.

The pony sighed. “Look, kid. Do you think anypony’s going to leave now that the panel has started?”

“They might,” Spike said. “I’ll just wait and see.”

“Suit yourself.”

It didn’t come as any particular surprise that nopony did. Spike paced back and forth in front of the door for the first ten minutes, then he stood against the wall. By the time the panel ended, he was sitting in the floor, head in his claws.

The door banged open and he leapt to his feet, only to see ponies streaming out, chattering away at how awesome the panel had been. He sunk down to sit on the floor again, just watching as they left, not really feeling like going back in the exhibit floor. Honestly, Spike didn’t feel much like doing anything at all.

He sat for a long time, staring ahead. And then he noticed something funny. A pale yellow unicorn had walked out of the panel room far later than the rest. He had a cutie mark that seemed weirdly familiar – a quill inscribed in a red triangle. Spike only got a glimpse before the stallion trotted off, but something about that cutie mark stuck in his head.

When it clicked and Spike pieced together where he had seen the symbol before, he scrambled up and took off running in pursuit, his body moving on its own. That mark— that was the personal signoff of Scribble Scratch, the writer of Power Ponies! That meant that was him in the flesh!

Spike had to hustle to keep up, as Scribble Scratch moved through the crowds with purpose and a lot of practice. Thankfully, he wasn’t going too far, but Spike almost missed it as the pony turned abruptly to push through an unmarked door at the side of the hall. Spike took a deep breath and followed.

It turned out to just lead to the back side of the convention center, which was nothing but grey boxy concrete, several empty loading docks waiting for carts. Scribble Scratch looked surprised to have someone else appear. A cigarette floated in his magical aura, and a frown crossed his face. “Beat it,” he said. “No autographs.”

“Oh, uh, no,” Spike said. “I just wanted to uh… Hey, you need a light?”

Scribble’s eyes narrowed warily. “Sure.”

The cigarette floated over to Spike and he blew out a thin column of flame to ignite the end. Scribble floated it back and took a long drag.

“I’m Spike,” he said cautiously. “I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your work.”

“Thanks.” Scribble blew out a ring of smoke as a moment of silence stretched out between them. He looked over, and a hint of a smile crossed his lips. “Sorry. I get a lot of crazy fans. Nice Humdrum.”

Spike couldn’t help but grin. “Thanks!”

“You know,” Scribble said, rubbing his chin with a hoof. “Humdrum was originally an idea from my editors. I thought it was stupid.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But it turns out they were right. That’s what the series needed, a more normal pony around so that the Power Ponies could really show off what makes them super. And he’s great for filling in as comic relief.”

Spike felt his smile fading. “Ah.”

“We’ve even let him save the day a few times, it’s great for laughs. Kind of a wake-up call to the rest of the Power Ponies to get their shit together.” Scribble glanced over at Spike appraisingly. “He’s got his fans too though. Let me guess, something with Humdrum, that’s your big idea? I never meet a fan who doesn’t have some grand plot figured out for a future story.”

“What makes you think I don’t just want to be friendly?”

Scribble smirked. “So there’s really nothing you wanted to suggest?”

Spike twiddled his claws. “Well…”

“Exactly. C’mon, I don’t mind.”

Spike took a deep breath. “Well, there’s Sergeant Scales, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Now there’s a strong villain right there. One of my best.”

“Exactly. I just was thinking…” Spike frowned. “Well, there was that one arc where the Mane-iac experimented with some chemicals and gave herself amnesia and turned good for a while.”

“Ponies went nuts for that, yeah.”

“What if the Power Ponies were to team up with Sergeant Scales? Like there’s a big threat in Maretropolis that puts the dragon population in danger, and Sergeant Scales agrees to work with them, and they’re uncertain if they trust him or not.”

Scribble took a puff on his cigarette. “Not bad. Divided loyalties, putting faith in another, get to play around with some new kinds of hero/villain interactions. Kind of a classic setup, but it’s called a classic for a reason. I like it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Though… I don’t know that Scales is the right villain for the piece. It’s really more of a Pharoah Phetlock thing, I think.”

“But Pharoah Phetlock isn’t… well, isn’t a dragon.”

Scribble glanced at him. “Yeah. That’s what I mean. Dragons set things on fire and hoard gold and all sorts of great villain bits. That’s what the readers are looking for.”

“But if you gave a dragon a bit more of a central role, maybe you’d get a lot more readers?”

“Kid.” Scribble exhaled. “Dragons don’t read comic books. Ponies do.”

“I read comic books,” Spike muttered.

Scribble nodded. “And I appreciate that you do, but you’re hardly a normal dragon, am I right? It’s nothing personal. This is just how things are. I mean, there was that one time Humdrum was a dragon. Isn’t that good enough?”

“I— I see.”

“Hey, tell you what. Maybe I’ll bend the rules a little for you. One autograph, free of charge.”

Spike gave him a wavery grin, and took out his copy of Power Ponies #231. Scribble floated it over and scrawled something on the inside.

“I gotta get back to the convention. Thanks for the idea, it’s a good one. The Pholly of the Pharoah maybe? Hmm.”

Scribble pushed back through the door, muttering to himself. Spike found his mouth twisting in a frown. He looked down at the comic book in his claws, and flipped it open.

There, scrawled on top of the panels on the first page:

Always follow your dreams!
-Scribble Scratch

To my friend, Mike the Dragon

---

The lights and flashiness of the exhibit hall didn’t seem quite as interesting anymore as Spike made his way through. The ponies pushing each other and rushing about didn’t seem as innocently excited as they had that morning either. His stomach growled, reminding him that he had never gotten his carrot dog. Even the thought of going to see Mina filled him with more worry than anticipation. He was sure there was something else waiting to go wrong there, too.

He sighed, trudging onwards.

Hall F was all the way at one end of the big cavernous room, through some doors, and then into a smaller area, though still bigger than any building in Ponyville. He blinked, as it was a far cry from the overload of the exhibit hall.

Sure, there were still a lot of ponies, but the crowds were thinner and more quiet. Instead of huge constructed booths, there were just rows and rows of tables, with rather normal-looking ponies sitting behind them. He strolled down the aisles as he looked for table 113, but kept getting distracted by the artwork and crafts on display.

None of it was professional, though some came quite close. But there was a lot more variety – not just superheroes but knights in armor, and spaceships, and cowponies, and all sorts of things. He even saw a little plush figurine of Humdrum in his dragon form from the Trials and Transmogrifications arc, and made a mental note to consider stopping by later.

He was surprised that when he did find table 113, Mina was sitting behind it.

“Spike!” She jumped up and ducked under the table to give him another quick hug. “You made it! I was getting worried.”

“Of course,” Spike said. “How was the costume contest?”

“It was super awesome.” She hopped in place. “I didn’t win, of course, but I think everyone liked my costume and I did my Royal Canterlot Voice just like I had practiced and I think a pony in the front row passed out. She was fine though!”

Spike grinned. “Cool. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you have to see,” she said as she grabbed ahold of his hand, dragging him over to the table. Several neat stacks of comic books covered the surface of the table.

Spike blinked, his eyes drawn to the words at the bottom: Written and Drawn by Mina the Dragon. “Wait… you wrote this?”

She grinned, a faint tinge of red darkening her cheeks. “Sure did!”

“Wow, how did you not tell me about this!”

She stuck her tongue out. “Then it wouldn’t have been a very good surprise.”

Spike glanced down and flipped through the first few pages, all done in black and white, taking in the sights of a rugged dragon in a fedora investigating crime in the shadows of Fillydelphia. “Drake Hardclaw and the Case of the Ambulatory Arsonist,” he read. “Mina, this is… this is really really good!”

Mina shrugged, glancing away. “Thanks. That— that means a lot. I’ve not any luck in selling them, so…”

“I want one!” Spike said. He slapped some bits down on the table. “No, two.”

Mina’s eyes lit up. “Red rubies! But you don’t have to pay, you’re a friend.”

“I insist,” Spike said, raising one claw to his chest. “Dragon code. And I want them signed too, so they’re worth a million bits when you get super famous.”

Mina rolled her eyes, but couldn’t keep a giddy grin off her face. She ducked back under the table, coming up on the other side with a pen in her hand, and opened one of the comics to carefully start writing in it.

Spike glanced down at the comic’s cover. He heard the scritching of Mina’s pen, and some of the rest of his day caught up to him, turning his smile a little wry. He let out a sigh.

“Hey,” Mina said, looking up at him. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Spike said.

Mina crossed her arms, frowning at him.

“Well…” Spike frowned. “I don’t know that this whole day has really what I expected. Don’t get me wrong, your stuff is amazing. But I’m not sure that I even like comic books that much anymore.”

Mina’s eyebrows flew upwards. “Don’t even joke about that!”

“I’m not.”

Mina set her pen down. “This is gonna need some explaining. Hit me.”

“It’s just that I’ve always liked comic books because they’re about heroes saving the day and defeating villains and being awesome.”

“Sure.”

“But that’s not how things really are at all. What if there’s no such thing as heroes? What if people are just mostly jerks?”

Mina shook her head. “Spike, don’t be silly. You’re a hero.”

“No, I’m not. I mean, maybe there was the Crystal Empire stuff but that’s not really being a hero. Real life is scary and hard and you just do what you have to do and hope you’re lucky and things work out. Anypony would have done the same.” He glanced down at the comic. “I mean, I still wish I could be like Drake Hardclaw here, but I’m not and I don’t think anydragon is. Heroes are fake.”

“But…” Mina’s words died away as she stared down at the comic book, a troubled frown crossing her face.

“Hey, Spike!” a voice called out from behind them. Spike turned to see Wally trotting up, his Radiance figurine out of the box and resting proudly on the top of his head. He was accompanied by several others who looked to be about his age, all dressed as Power Ponies too. The Masked Matter-horn was even a griffon, with a paper cone taped to her head. “These are my friends I was telling you about,” Wally said proudly.

“Hey guys,” Spike said, forcing a smile. “You all having fun?”

“Totally!” Filli-Second said, before making like her alterego and zipping up to the table. “Whoa, check these out, I’ve never seen a comic with a dragon before.”

“I wrote it, too,” Mina said.

Filli-Second looked up, her eyes big and round. “I have to have one!”

“Sure!” Mina said, shooting Spike a quick grin.

Spike watched her chatter with the colts and fillies for a moment, but uncertainty still sat like a weight on his mind. “What’s the point of a hero if they’re all fake?” he muttered, musing to himself.

“Mmmph mmmmph mmph mmph,” a voice said next to him.

Spike jumped.

“...Mmph.” The Dark Deceiver reached up to fiddle with his mask, clumsily pulling it off. The pony underneath was brown with greying hair and thick stubble across his muzzle. “Sorry about that. Whew, that thing is hot.”

“Uh. Yes. Hello again.”

“Hi!” The pony smiled. “What I was meaning to say was: Just because something’s not real doesn’t mean it’s not important.”

“I’m sorry…?”

“Pardon, I was eavesdropping a little bit. You’re not wrong about comics being unrealistic. But what does that have to do with anything?”

Spike scratched his chin. “I don’t understand. Why read about heroes if they don’t really exist?”

The pony nodded over to the table. Spike glanced over to see Saddle Rager and Mistress Marevelous fighting over a comic book, tugging it back and forth between them as Mina flitted around, wringing her claws.

“Stop!” Wally said, stomping a hoof. “C’mon guys, don’t you remember? Friendship is the most important superpower of all.”

The two guilty parties dropped the comic book, shuffling their hooves. After an awkward hesitation, they raised their hooves to bump against one another as Wally beamed at them. With that apparently settled, the whole group dashed off to the next set of tables, laughing and playing once again.

“See, that's the thing,” the pony said. “We don't really need heroes in order to get rid of the bad guys. We need them to show the rest of us how to be good guys.”

Spike blinked. “Huh.”

“And who knows? Maybe there are some honest-to-goodness heroes out there to look up to, too." He grinned, showing a row of bright white teeth. "It wouldn't surprise me if there was one here at this very convention.”

Spike scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Maybe you’re right,” he muttered. "I mean, Twilight's here somewhere."

“It's not always about saving the world, my friend. Sometimes the bravest and most important thing someone can do is so small that hardly anyone even notices.”

Spike squared his shoulders, nodding. "I'll just have to keep trying, I guess. One of these days maybe I'll get a chance to be heroic too."

The big pony broke out into a rumbling laugh, and Spike felt a big hoof crash against his back, almost falling over in the wake of The Dark Deceiver’s friendly backslap.

“Whoops! Sorry there!”

“No problem,” Spike wheezed. After he took a moment to catch his breath, he noticed Mina staring at them. "Oh! While you're here, you should look at my friend's comic."

"Sounds great." The Dark Deceiver glanced over and trotted up to the table to leaf through the comics. His eyes narrowed as he flipped back and forth through the pages, but when he looked up again, a genuine smile crossed his face. “This is really good,” he told Mina. “I love your shading, and you're really taking full advantage of the black and white style for contrast purposes. Could I buy one?”

“Y-y-y-yes,” Mina said. Spike tilted his head at the glazed look on her face.

“Thank you, Miss,” the pony said. “I like your work and hope to see more from you in the future! The biz could use more young dragon writers.”

He struggled back into his helmet and trotted off. Mina didn't speak, still staring after him.

“You okay?” he said.

“Spike,” Mina croaked out. “Do you know who that was?”

Spike shrugged. “Yeah, The Dark Deceiver. C’mon, everypony knows Supermare.”

“No, not who he was dressed as. Who he was.”

“I dunno, I met him a little earlier. Couldn’t understand anything he was saying with that helmet though.”

Mina leaned over the table to grab him by the shoulders. “That was Shoesy Seagull, the writer of Supermare. He’s— he’s a living legend. And he said he liked my work!”

Spike’s mouth hung open. “Wait, really?”

“I don’t know how, but this is all thanks to you. Spike, you’re the best!”

“I— I don’t know about that, I just—”

And then Mina leaned over to give him a peck on the cheek. She let go of his shoulders and began twirling in a circle, shouting out to the people at the tables around her. “He liked my work! He liked my work!”

Spike kept staring at her, but his mind was suddenly occupied with other matters than famous comic book authors. One claw rose up to touch his face, a blush quickly spreading across it.

---

Several hours later, Rainbow Dash was already out like a light, snoring in her chair on the train as they made their way back towards Ponyville.

“She was paying attention the whole time,” Twilight said. “Eight straight hours of Daring Do. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her sit still in one place for that long.”

“Sounds like a good time,” Spike said, grinning.

Twilight smirked. “She’s already made me promise to get her tickets for next year. Were you okay? I still think it would have been better if I had stuck with you. I wouldn’t have minded.”

“Aw, Twilight, I was fine.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that I worry sometimes.”

Spike hopped over to give her a hug. “I know. And thank you.”

“I take it you enjoyed yourself?”

Spike sat back in his chair, tapping a claw against his chin. He thought about the lines, and the ridiculous prices for everything, and the lines, and the meaner side of the fandom, and the lines, and the cynical side of the business, and the lines.

Then he thought about Wally and his friends and Mr. Seagull.

Most of all, he thought about Mina.

“All things considered,” Spike said, “it was way better than I ever expected it to be.”