Her Diamonds

by flyingcloudcakes

Twilight Is A Jerky Jerk

Spike twitched in his sleep, unknowingly throwing his blankets around him. He was having yet another dream about a certain purple-haired seamstress.

“Oh, Spike!” Rarity exclaimed as he whirled her around and around the ballroom of the Princess in Canterlot, her magenta gown twirling around their legs, her royal purple hair flowing like silk around her heart-shaped face. “I didn’t know you could dance!”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, babe.” Spike said, wrapping one muscular arm around her waist to keep her steady. Other couples danced around them, the women in long gowns and the men in black coattails, but Rarity was by far the loveliest guest at the soiree.

She giggled and fell against his chest, her cheek resting on his shoulder. He was quite a bit taller than her (this was a dream, after all), and wearing a satin bowtie.

“Oh, Spike, you’re so brave, and handsome. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize my feelings for you.” Rarity cooed. She threw her gloved arms around his neck, and was just leaning in for a kiss when—

“Spike! Spike! Wake up!”

Spike blinked open his eyes and found himself in his bed with his blankets twisted around his legs. He looked up into the face of his navy-haired mentor, Twilight Sparkle. She was wearing a purple sweater vest and had her half-moon reading glasses perched on top her head.

“I’ve been calling your name for approximately two point three minutes! You were mumbling Rarity's name in your sleep.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Were you having a sexual dream?”

“What!” Spike sat bolt upright, pushing his blankets off him. “No! What!”

Twilight Sparkle sighed and leaned against the wooden doorway of their shared bedroom as if she were planning to stay for a while. “It’s a perfectly normal occurrence when a male is going through changes in his body—“

“Get out!” Spike yelled, throwing his pillow at her.

She ducked out of the way, and the pillow sailed into the hall. She held up her hands in defeat. “Alright, alright, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I’ll be downstairs. We have a very busy day today.”

As soon as she was out of sight, Spike groaned and rolled over on his side. He missed his pillow already.

“Spike! Don’t go back to sleep! You have to get dressed. The girls are coming over for lunch, so we have a lot of work to do before they get here!” Twilight called up the stairs.

Spike groaned again in answer, but got out of bed anyway. He threw on jeans, a dark green shirt, and his favorite purple hoodie, and ran his fingers through his spiky green hair. “Good enough.” He shrugged, glancing in the mirror.

“Spike! I need you to take a note!”

“Coming!” Spike sighed and clumped down the stairs. It was going to be a long day.

Twilight Sparkle and Spike were in the library where they had been all morning, sorting the shelves. Again. They’d been sorting and unsorting and resorting and sort-sorting these damn shelves all week, and Spike was so sick of literature, like he never had been before, even after all the years he’d spent being Twilight’s helper.

He was just suppressing a yawn of boredom when the knock at the door came. He gladly jumped up from his position on the floor, surrounded by stacks of books, and ran to the front room. “I’ll get it!” He yelled, throwing open the door.

“Hey-a, Spike, boyo.” Rainbow Dash ruffled his hair and breezed past him into the library, where Twilight Sparkle was tidying up. Applejack followed soon after her, brown cowboy hat in hand.

“Howdy, Spike.” She drawled in her country accent, smiling. “Are the rest of the gals here yet?”

“Nah, just you two.” Spike told them, trying to fix his hair. “Pinkie Pie is babysitting for the Cakes today, and Fluttershy called an hour ago to say she’d be a little late. Something about a bird with a broken wing.”

“That’s Fluttershy fer ya, always tryin’ to help them little critters. Ain’t that right, Dash?” Applejack chuckled, glancing at Rainbow Dash. The rainbow-haired girl didn’t appear to be listening, seemingly engrossed in studying the names of the numerous books on the shelves.

Dash spun around very suddenly on her heel and cleared her throat loudly. “Twilight told us you had a sex dream about Rarity.” She blurted.

Spike’s eyes widened. “Twilight!” He roared, looking frantically around for his mentor. “You told them?”

Twilight flushed guiltily from across the room and came over to meet them. “Dash,” she hissed. “That wasn’t for you to share.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged, grinning. “Sorry.”

“I'm sorry, Spike.” Twilight said, looking genuinely upset. “I didn't mean to. AJ and I were talking, and it sort of slipped out." She glared at Dash. "Someone was eavesdropping on our conversation." She turned back to him. "But they're the only ones, I swear on my letters to the Princess! Fluttershy would blush harder than you, and Rarity doesn’t know, I promise, so don’t worry.”

“But it wasn’t a sex dream!” Spike protested, turning red. “It wasn’t! It was perfectly innocent! W-we might have kissed, but that’s it, I swear!”

“Sure, Spikey-Wikey, we believe you.” Rainbow Dash smirked.

“Ah think it’s cute that Spike has a little crush.” Applejack smiled at him again, but for once it felt condescending.

"Leave him alone, girls." Twilight sighed. “Spike, I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about this. This—this crush, as AJ put it... it has got to stop. I understand that you like Rarity, and I think that's sweet, but following her around like a puppy-dog... it's just not healthy for you.”

“But I—“ Spike started.

“No, Spike.” Twilight Sparkle sighed again and took off her half-moon glasses to look at him properly. He shifted nervously under her gaze. “Spike, Rarity is twenty-one. That’s five years your elder. It’s just not appropriate for you to have feelings for her.”

“Yeah, Opal is the only pussy of Rarity’s you’ll get to see.” Rainbow Dash grinned, peering around a bookcase.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight Sparkle admonished, looking scandalized. Spike blushed scarlet and pulled his purple hoodie down over his eyes.

“What?” Dash shrugged, completely unapologetic. “It’s true.”

“It was still tasteless and crude.” Twilight scoffed. “Not to mention completely inappropriate!”

“’M not trying to sleep with ‘er,” Spike mumbled truthfully. Rarity was too good for that. “Just like ‘er. Sh-she’s pretty...”

“Oh, c’mon, Twi, lighten up.” Dash whined, throwing an arm around Twilight’s shoulder. “We’re all adults here.”

Twilight Sparkle carefully extracted herself from Rainbow’s grip and said, “No. We’re not. That’s the point.” She turned to Spike and pinned him with her best teacherly look. “Rarity can’t make it to lunch today, and it’s just as well. I think it might be best if you stayed away from her for a little while, until this whole thing blows over. She's been feeling a little... crowded.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Spike muttered, slumping into a chair in the corner of the library, and putting on his headphones to drown out the world:

Try as he might, Spike couldn’t follow Twilight Sparkle’s instructions. Everywhere he went, Rarity was there; when he ran errands in town, he passed her dress shop; when he hung out with his three friends Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, it was Rarity who eventually came to pick up her younger sister.

When Twilight and the girls got together, obviously Rarity joined them, and often he was left out from activities like he hadn’t been before. It hurt him to be excluded like that over something so seemingly small, but he didn’t say anything for fear of being reprimanded.

Weeks passed and Spike grew increasingly despondent. He stopped coming downstairs at all when Twilight’s friends came over, knowing he would just be pushed away. Instead, he sat in their shared bedroom with the blinds drawn shut and his headphones blasting the same song over and over: “Her tears like diamonds on the floor...”

This just made things worse, because it was a song he’d always associated with Rarity and her love of sparkly jewels.

Fluttershy noticed his moodiness, and tried to coax him out of his pity party, but he shrugged her off the first few times, and soon she just stopped trying. She couldn’t understand what it was like for him, he reasoned, trying to make himself feel better about rejecting her comfort.

During their studies, Spike was often short with his mentor, and Twilight could tell he was angry with her. She tried to apologize once or twice, telling him, "I just don't want you to get hurt," but this only made him angrier-- she thought he had no chance with Rarity, and maybe he didn't, but couldn't he figure it out for himself? Why did she have to interfere?

It only grew worse when Rarity herself finally cornered him.

He was walking into the town square to pick up the groceries when he saw her across the street. He pulled his purple hoodie over his eyes, spun around, and walked fast in the other direction, trying to get away from her, but it was no use. She spotted him right away.

“Oh, Spike, darling, so good to see you!” She called, crossing over. “Whatever brings you into town?”

“Shopping. F-for Twilight.” He mumbled, shoving his hands into his jean pockets and looking at the ground.

“Oh.” She said, taking off her diamond-studded sunglasses to peer at him closely. She was dressed in a strapless white sundress that flowed around her knees, and a matching sunhat. The dress had tiny purple diamonds lining the bodice, and he had to carefully extract his eyes from her plunging neckline.

“Spike,” she said suddenly. “I feel like you’ve been avoiding me. Have I done something wrong?”

“Wha—“ Spike looked up and pushed his hoodie back, surprised. “N-no! No, I- I mean... you could never do anything wrong, Rarity. You’re too perfect! Um!” He blushed. “I-I’ve just been... busy.” He finished lamely.

“I see.” She said, but her voice was a little reproachful, as though she didn’t quite believe him. “Well. I was actually just on my way to visit Twilight. I suppose I’ll see you at the house later?”

“Uh, y-yeah.” He called shakily after her, as she put on her sunglasses and began to walk away. “Sure! See you later!”

He doubted it.