//------------------------------// // "Spike's First Date" // Story: Spike's Family Chronicles // by frenettek314 //------------------------------// Rarity, being the ever so talented mare she was, had many different facets of interest. Besides running a growing fashion empire and making herself known as a highly successful seamstress, the unicorn possessed many hidden passions - a love for charities and benefits (being the generous spirit she was), an enticing fan of classic detective novels, but one pursuit that the often-labeled 'dramatic' pony self-prided herself in - she was an absolute sucker for romance. Despite the wide variety of cheesy romance stories currently kept stashed away in her room, Rarity more so preferred to hear about the real-life theatrics and rumors spread around Ponyville and beyond. Being quite the gossiper herself, the social unicorn loved nothing more than hearing about potential new couples, secret crushes, upcoming weddings, anything that involved the concept of love. From eavesdropping on spa visits to engaging in exciting banter with any of her clients, the mare practically swooned at the idea of two creatures falling head over heels in romantic bliss. Sometimes she wasn't even sure why she was captivated by the idea of romance. It was practically adorable to see others find their soulmates, but what made the unicorn so intrigued by it? Perhaps it was because she herself often had trouble finding ponies. She was an independent working mare with an occupied social life and a bustling career; as much as she loved her friends and her stores, she had to admit that they left her little to no room for the dating scene - a fact that while not fully comfortable with, grew more accepting as the years went by; plus, there was the fact of the matter that her previous crushes ended up being a forcible blow to her face rather than an elegant caressing - stallions like Blueblood and Trenderhoof still left a rather unpleasant taste in her mouth. No matter what the specific reason(s), Rarity, still yearning for the day the love of her life would come knocking on her door, decided that seeing and hearing about others' romantic conquests would be an appropriate substitute to fill the small void in her heart. It wasn't a complete fix, but it was a fine replacement all the same. Love would always be a topic of interest for her - when she'd be reading or whenever one of her friends confided a secret crush to her - and that was good enough for her. The romantic spirit she contained would always squeal in delight whenever she discovered a new pairing or a new leap into the field of pining hearts. Or so she figured anyways. "Thanks for helping me come up with new designs for new school curtains, Rarity!" Twilight appreciatively commented as the alicorn and unicorn were currently walking through the main foyer of the castle. "Oh, think nothing of it, darling." the generous mare said. "These students deserve only the brightest and best materials around. I'd hate to think about learning in a place so drab and tasteless." A shudder went down her spine though as she noticed Twilight's inquisitive look. "N-not that the school's interior was drab before, far from it! I was just..." she hastily stumbled, Twilight merely smiled with a knowing roll of her eyes. Just as the two reached the main entrance of the castle, the two stopped as they noticed a pair of creatures engaged in conversation - one of which looked surprisingly dapper in a tuxedo with a cute little bow-tie to boot. "Think she'll like this?" asked the dragon as he admired his formal attire with a slight hint of anxiousness. "Spike, for the tenth time you look great! Don't worry so much about this - you've known her for a while and you're both new to this sort of thing. It'll be fine." assured Starlight with a slight amused raising of the eyebrows as she couldn't help but find his Twilight-like worries cute. Both Twilight and Rarity took a moment or two to marvel at the spiffed up appearance - Twilight with awe-impressed admiration while Rarity simply gaped in a mixture of shock and confusion. "You look great, Spike!" Twilight complimented as she trotted over to her little dragon with a quick hug. "Thanks, Twi. I hope so. Hope this goes well." he blushed a bit. "I know it will. Oooo this is so exciting! You're growing up!" Twilight cooed as she felt her eyes water in delight. Starlight gave a fond smile as well as she patted her brother's back with a hoof. Meanwhile, a momentarily forgotten white unicorn made her presence known. "What's exciting? What's going on?" Rarity questioned as the trio immediately relented from their touching moment. Everyone proceeded to look at the unicorn with dazed looks - well, Spike actually appeared more nervous. "You know what tonight is, right?" Twilight asked, only to be met with a shake of a head and a raised eyebrow. Suddenly, the alicorn refocused her attention to the now sweating dragon as they both spoke in nervous, harsh (yet audible) whispers. "You didn't tell her?" "I was going to but... you know how she gets!" "You told all the others though!" "Yes, because I knew they'd take it better." Rarity finally had enough as she cleared her throat to bring everyone's attention back. "Tell me what? What exactly is going on here?!" she asked, an accusatory look in her eyes. Spike sighed, knowing he was forced to come clean - though this didn't make the reveal any easier in his mind. "I-I'm... I'm going on a date..." he finally relented. The white mare simply froze in place with a struck expression on her face, staring off into nothingness in the distance as the others in the room simply glanced at each other with slight fear. Spike wasn't sure how Rarity was going to take this news, but he saw a lot of negative possibilities - he saw anger, he saw fear, he saw sadness, but one result he definitely wasn't expecting came to fruition once the unicorn came to. Laughter. Rarity very suddenly began howling with laughter as she wiped tears in her eyes. Twilight and Spike stared at each other in bewilderment - unsure how to react - while Starlight proceeded to continue gawking at the pony like she had gone insane. Actually, insanity wasn't a far off possibility for the drama queen, Spike should've considered it. "G-good one Spike." Rarity breathed out as she began laughing. "You got me good. I believed you for a second there." A lavender alicorn flew over to her hysterical friend as she draped a soft wing over her back to grab her attention. "That wasn't a joke, Rarity. Spike's actually going on a date." "First date, actually." Spike added in helpfully with a weak smile. And just like that, the laughter and the chuckling immediately vanished as her eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks, her coat turning even more white if possible. This could only mean one reaction was imminent. "WHAT?!" A shriek echoed throughout the halls of the crystalline castle. Starlight was pretty sure she heard a window shatter somewhere in one of the far-off rooms, but she prayed it wasn't her room and decided she would check on it later - preferably when a certain voice-shattering pony wasn't around. The dragon gulped as he became the subject of an irrational and ballistic tidal wave rapidly drilling questions into his skull. "Who? When? Why? Where? How? Leave no details! This is a matter of life or death!" "Okayyyyy." Twilight nervously drawled, stepping in between the panicking mare and the shell-shocked dragon. "I know I'm not one to lecture others on freakouts, but I think you need to settle down." Starlight and Spike frantically nodded their heads in agreement. The unicorn took a moment to catch her breath, letting out an airy sigh as she approached the others in a much more subdued state. "I'm so sorry. I suppose I overreacted just a smidge..." "A smidge?" Starlight's eyebrow rose. "Ok, a lot, but still, this is a lot for me to take in. I mean - how did Spike end up getting a date in the first place?" The others seemed to calm down significantly as well as they all carried on smiling with much more relaxed postures. "Well, you remember Gabby the Griffon from when she hung out with the CMC?" Twilight asked, receiving a nod in confirmation. "Well soon after, Twilight and her sent letters back and forth discussing griffon culture and cutie marks and such..." Spike continued. "...but then, I sent a few letters of my own to her and we began writing back and forth. Soon we became pen pals, then we started hanging out whenever her job made her do deliveries in Ponyville, and after a while we just became...close" he finished with a slight blush. "So naturally seeing how close the two were to each other, I suggested he ask her out on a date to test and see how things would go, and she told him yes." Twilight excitedly squealed with glee. "The love story of the year." Starlight playfully quipped. Rarity processed this new information in begrudgingly before her brows furrowed slightly at a certain alicorn. "Wait, wait, wait! Beg your pardon darling, but let's get things straight. You of all ponies are ok with this?" Twilight's head awkwardly leaned back, feeling slightly offended at the accusation. "Yeeeah... why wouldn't I be?" "Well, no offense sweetheart, but you usually freak out over the smallest things, so seeing something big like this..." Rarity motioned her hoof in a continued formation. "Hey! I do not 'freak out'." the princess defended, her wings popping out slightly. "You freaked out this morning when you found 'Elements of Harmony' listed before 'Efficient Filing Systems'." Starlight rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Because 'L' does not come before 'F'!" she retaliated as if her retort was the most obvious statement in the world. "Yes, well..." Rarity interrupted, ending the bickering between the two. "...whether you do or you don't, I would've expected a bigger reaction from his main caretaker." "Oh trust me, there was." Spike smirked. Twilight blushed. "Ok, so maybe I panicked for a brief moment..." Spike didn't consider three tubs of vanilla ice cream and the digging out of Spike's baby pictures to be a 'brief moment', but he knew she had a point and elected not to object. "...but I realized Spike's growing up and I can't hold onto him forever. He needs to go out and explore life, and a relationship is an important part." she concluded with a growing smile as Spike nodded his head in appreciation. Rarity froze in shock at Twilight's confession for a moment before she gave a slight, dignified pout. "Yes, well, I don't believe dear Spikey-Wikey is ready for the world of romance." her reply came out with a bit of fancy diction at the end for emphasis. "And that's exactly why I didn't tell you." Spike agreed with a knowing sigh. "Beg your pardon?" she turned her head towards him with a light glare. "He means you're overdramatic." Starlight nonchalantly clarified. "I most certainly am not!" she harrumphed. All three creatures at this point gave Rarity unamused glares, clearly not believing in the theatrical pony's denial. "What?! All I'm trying to do is protect him." "Protect him?" Twilight's eyes narrowed in skepticism. "Yes, of course. I've seen it in so many novels. A young one's first ever crush - they go on the date of their lives after several years of pining for their sweetheart. But then, the date ends up being a failure, the crush says that they're not interested before their ex shows up and they embrace in a passionate kiss, effectively breaking their poor, fragile heart. Depressed, they return home, not eating or moving for weeks - sure they eventually move on, but the pain remains deeply embedded forever, preventing them from ever finding true love again as they seal themselves away under a layer of false optimism and a growing feeling of isolation." Rarity concludes, falling back onto a seemingly spontaneously appearing fainting couch. The three stood there and gaped at her. "Yeah... no offense, but I don't think that's happening." Spike replied. "Gabby and Spike don't even have ex's." Twilight pointed out. "I think you're projecting, Rarity." Starlight simply said. "Ok..." Rarity began as she lifted her head up from a lying position. "But what if she's only using him to try and find a missing piece of her life only to discover that she doesn't feel the same way. She's forced to lie through marriage to avoid hurting the one who cares for her, but she soon discovers her childhood best friend who she's lost contact with after many years. They get together in secret on occasions, discovering he was the missing piece all along, before the husband discovers the truth and leaves utterly heartbroken in the cold, pouring rain?" Once again, a series of gapes met her. "What the... what are you even talking about?!" Spike indignantly asked. "What kind of romance novels are you reading?!" spoke Twilight. "Did something happen that you want to talk about?" curiously regarded Starlight. "Why do you care so much about this date, anyways?" began Spike. "You're not just jealous of the fact that I'm hanging out with someone else and as such can't spend time doing services and chores for you, right?" Rarity's head immediately rose up as she looked at the young dragon with a flabbergasted expression. "What?! Absolutely not! That would be a terrible thing for me to do! I would never, ever get jealous just because you wouldn't be offering your assistance! I can't even imagine someone actually writing that as an episode..." "...of our lives!" randomly exclaimed Pinkie Pie, her head appearing over Rarity's shoulder before quickly disappearing. "...yes yes, of our lives, thank you Pinkie. The point is is that I'm your sister and I don't want your heart to end up broken." she turned her head abruptly to stop a few stray tears from becoming visible. Spike's eyes softened at that as he felt his tension drop. "Look, I appreciate your concerns Rarity, but this is something I need to do. If it works out, that's great. If it doesn't, yeah it may sting for quite a while and I may get my heart broken, but I'll get through it - especially with you girls here." Twilight nodded in agreement. "Well said Spike. Life is all about risks and chances. Again, not the best pony to say this probably, but even I admit that you need to take chances." Rarity sighed in defeat, looking back at the others again with trepidation written on her face. "None of the others are worried?" "Twilight had her moments, Rainbow awkwardly tried to give me 'the talk' whatever that means..." Twilight and Starlight both cringed, remembering that moment. Thankfully, she was too embarrassed to give out any information (as revealed by Spike, telling them she just awkwardly skyrocketed away), but there was a long talk afterwards between alicorn and pegasus on what were appropriate discussion topics. "... Applejack congratulated me before she left to go to the barn (I thought I heard tears though), Pinkie's already planning our wedding party, and Fluttershy hopped in excitement and wants to know all about it next time I go over for tea." Spike listed off, fondly remembering each pony's unique responses at the mention of his date. "Besides that, I'm sure they are, but they also know when to let go." Starlight added for good measure. "What if it was Sweetie Belle going on a date?" Twilight tried to offer as a means of getting her friend to understand. The white mare visibly recoiled at the question. A past discussion of her telling her sister that she couldn't date until she was 21 played in her head. "I... I see your point." Rarity somewhat lied. Spike hopped up to Rarity on the couch, startling the unicorn slightly before he wrapped her in a tight, yet soothing hug. "I promise I'll be ok Rarity, but you need to trust me." Rarity's eyes watered as she hugged the dragon back. "Just please be careful. I... I trust you, my Spikey-Wikey." The two remaining magic users both smiled at the display before a time-punctual alicorn felt an internal alarm going off. "You need to get going though, Spike. You can't be late for your reservation!" Spike stopped the hug as he jumped off the couch. "That's right. 'The Evening Trawl'. I gotta go!" "Bye guys!" Spike quickly waved as he began taking off through the castle doors. "Good luck, be safe!" Twilight felt her lips tremble slightly, overcome with emotion at seeing her baby dragon finally ready for this moment. "You'll do great!" Rarity waved with a slight sniffle. "Have lover-bird bring you home by midnight, champ!" Starlight called out, only stopping her casual smirk when the other two ponies looked at her in slight shock and annoyance, their eyes narrowed. "What?" After a while longer of engaging in conversation with the two castle mares, Rarity decided to make her way back to the boutique before it got too late. Contemplating on whether she would partake in a relaxing evening of reading or if she'd instead attempt to indulge in a round of 'midnight creative inspiration' for a line of new dresses, she was absentmindedly making her way back through a nice sunset- lit part of town. She was so lost in concentration that she almost failed to hear the familiar sound of laughter tickling her hearing. Key word being 'almost'. The laughter rang through her ears again as she stopped mid-step. "That sound... Spike?!" The unicorn instantly began scanning around for the source of that infectious sound before she spotted them - an all too familiar dragon and a recognizable griffon seated at an outdoor table with plates of salads in between them. Rarity's eyes widened in mental disarray. What were they doing here? Then, like a faded out but not yet dim light bulb, it clicked. Of course "The Evening Trawl" just so happened to be on the way to the Boutique. It was fate making this happen, she surmised. She was about to continue her walk when the contagious sounds of delight from the restaurant's patrons made her pause. She instead started making her way over to them, before instinctively shaking her head in disapproval. "Shame on you, Rarity. You trusted Spike to do this and a lady always keeps her promise." Before she could chastise herself any further though, she noticed the two slowly started holding paws at the table. Her face contorted in thought before she noticed a bush perfectly set up near the couple. "But a lady can check on her siblings...right?" With stealth like precision, the unicorn went unnoticed as she slid into the bush, only her eyes carefully peeking out to view the actions of the two creatures. "So Gilda really put salt instead of sugar in her muffins?" Spike asked with a claw over his concealed giggles. "Yeah," the ecstatic griffon replied. "Grandpa Gruff had to clean salt out of his dentures for weeks!" And just like that, the pair erupted into a fit of chortles for a solid minute, before settling back down. "This seems innocent enough so far." Rarity thought from her hiding place. As the drake wiped the cries of laughter from his eyes, he turned to face Gabby with a soft, sheepish smile. "Hey. I just wanted to say thank you for this evening. I'm not sure if we're ready for a full-on relationship yet, but hanging out with you - it's been really great. I love spending time with you, hearing your job stories; you're an amazing friend." Gabby gave off a slight blush before she warmly smiled back at the dragon. "I wanted to thank you too. You're one of the best friends I've ever had! No doubt I want to come and visit Ponyville more often - hanging out with you is the greatest! And... maybe we don't have to figure a relationship out right now. What if we just continue to hang out and maybe go on a few more dates, see where it takes us?" Spike rose up from his seat to approach the griffon as she stood up too, giving each other a warm, friendly hug. "I'd like that. Alot." "Awww." Rarity quietly cooed from the bushes at the adorable display, before she suddenly found a different sensation overwhelming her nostrils. "Ah...ah...ah...." "Oh no! Please for the love of color-coated fabrics not here!" she silently pleaded. But it was too late. "ACHOO!" With that, the force of the sneeze was powerful enough to send the unicorn through the remains of the bush and tumble forward into direct sight of the surprised duo. "Rarity?!?!" Spike jumped with a gasp, seeing the unicorn collide mere inches from their table. Gabby jumped a bit too, more confused than shocked. Snapping out of her sniffles, Rarity quickly rose her head up to meet the looks of an annoyed dragon and a stumped griffon. "Uh... hi." she weakly muttered with an all too wide toothy smile. Not sure whether she should be thankful or not, Gabby seemed unaware of the obvious tension that was building as she gave a nice, shiny smile as opposed to Spike's growing scowl. "Oh, hey. I remember you. You're the fashion pony! The one Spike used to have a crush on. Rarity, right?" Scratch that. That last statement made Rarity want to hurl with overwhelming guilt. "Uh, yes. Pleasure to see you again Gabby." she meekly offered as Spike continued to cast glares at her. "Gabby, could you please give us a moment?" he finally managed, not once moving his sights away from the regretful unicorn. The griffon finally seemed to notice something amiss as she nervously looked between the two. "Yeah...sure... I'll be over on that bench when you're done." Spike succeeded in taking his attention off of Rarity for a split second, smiling appreciatively and nodding at Gabby as she retreated to the nearby seat, far enough away to avoid seeing or hearing upcoming conversation. Rarity wished she could be in her spot at the moment. The unicorn picked herself off from the ground, the dragon motioning for her to take the seat at the table once belonging to his date as he sat opposite of her. The mare found it difficult to maintain eye contact with the dragon, seeing him send her nasty looks. Finally he gave a long drawn out sigh in frustration. "What are you doing here?" "Well...I was just in the neighborhood." Rarity pathetically rubbed her hooves in shame. "I saw you come out of that bush." "And what a lovely bush it was." she agreed. "Rarity!" his voice rose an octave, "You said you trusted me!" "And I do!" she countered. "Honest! I was on my way home from the castle when I saw you two talking. I was going to leave you be but... I just got curious. So... I hid in the bush... and..." she trailed off, realizing how bad this made her sound. "Sounds like you don't trust me to handle this!" he huffed, leaning on his arm that stood on the table. "It's not about trust, darling! I just wanted to make sure everything was going well." "Everything was until you showed up! I was fine on my own until you intervened!" he snarled. "Well, I'm glad it was. I'm glad you're happy." she offered, hoping this would remove some of the anger. It didn't. "So, are you going to follow us on future dates to make sure it stays that way?!" he bitterly scoffed. That scoff was enough to send Rarity into her own frustration. "Spike, don't be ridiculous! I may have overreacted..." Spike snorted, causing the unicorn's mood to sour even more. "Oh, ok! You know what?! I'm sorry I wanted to make sure my brother and best friend was in a healthy relationship! Are you satisfied, darling?!" Unfortunately, for the both of them, that last "darling" was laced with enough venom to send Spike over his breaking point. "What would you know about healthy relationships?! Every stallion you fall in love with is just a self-centered jerk!" The unicorn flinched as if she had been struck - and indeed she had been struck, though not physically. With a slight rock of her head, she felt her eyes stare longingly at the table. She bit back the tears threatening to cascade down. Spike's anger immediately vanished, only to replaced with gut-punching dread. "What have I done?" "Rarity..." he whispered, as he reached a claw over to try and comfort the unicorn. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to say that... I..." He was stopped however as she placed a delicate hoof over his claw, her gaze going back up as she delivered him a pained, yet warm smile. "Darling, it's ok. I...I never meant to make you feel like I didn't trust you." "Yeah, but I shouldn't have said that." he countered as his brows furrowed with worry. A bitter chuckle escaped Rarity's lips as she closed her eyes in thought. "And yet, I think I needed to hear it." Spike remained silent, opting for Rarity to continue her monologue. "I've always been so invested in others' relationships and crushes, and yet I never understood why. I think it's mostly because of my rather... poor experiences with love before. I felt like if I couldn't find love myself, I'd make it my mission to ensure everyone else could find theirs. I keep pushing myself into others' feelings and privacy to give them the thing I haven't been able to find." she paused as she looked up, noticing Spike's undivided attention. "Sorry if that was overdramatic, but I guess that's my explanation for everything. Still, you and everyone else have a right to their privacy. Everything won't always work out and unless I'm specifically asked or if you're in absolute danger, I need to respect that you need to find your own solutions...." "...even if I haven't found mine." "Rarity..." Spike started. "Spike, don't you dare apologize to me! I won't have it! I should be thanking you because I'm finally understanding a perspective I needed to!" But... I do owe you an apology - you and Gabby - you both deserve to be trusted enough to continue your romantic endeavors no matter where they take you." Spike leapt out of his seat for the second time that night, to again give a lady a firm hug. As he surprised her with the affection, his words bewildered her more. "If I can't apologize to you, can I at least say something?" "Y-yes..of course you can." she took a minute to find her voice. "Don't give up." She quickly raised her head up from the hug as she stared in the distance. "Wh-what?" "Don't give up." Spike reaffirmed. "Even if you feel like you can't find love, I know the perfect stallion is out there for you somewhere. Don't be afraid to try if you're ready. Yeah, it's taking a chance - but like Twilight said, 'life is full of chances'. I know you'll find someone who really loves you. We all believe in you." Rarity felt the sting of tears overwhelm her. She'd have to clean off her running mascara and makeup later but who cares? "Spikey-Wikey..." she exhaled, wrapping her hooves around her dragon brother. After awhile, the two let go as Rarity rubbed her eyes with a dainty hoof. "You're absolutely right, darling. If I can help others, I can help myself." she proclaimed. "As long as you promise not to interfere with anyones' actual dates?" Spike asked with a quip, yet a knowing smile as well. Rarity chuckled as she tapped a hoof on his shoulder. "I promise. We all need a bit of freedom to truly enjoy life after all." "Couldn't agree with you more." he complied. The dragon and unicorn soon made their way over to a patiently waiting griffon, who immediately hopped off the bench in glee. "Hey guys!" she happily chirped, "Are you two BFF's again?" Spike grinned as he walked over to his griffon pal. "You betcha. Want to go get some Ice Cream?" Gabby nodded excitedly. "That sounds great! Want to come with, Rarity?" The unicorn politely shook her head, winking at the pair. "I'd love to, but I'm afraid I must be heading home. It was lovely to see you again dear. Please stop by and visit me at the Boutique whenever you like." Gabby and Spike both looked at each other, turning back around to give Rarity cheerful grins. "We sure will. See ya!" "Bye, Rarity." Spike replied. The two waved as both groups went their own separate ways - both glistening with newfound courage and hope. As Rarity continued on her own rendezvous back to the Boutique, she couldn't help but let her mind get the better of her. "I suppose I could let Sweetie know she can date whenever she's ready. I'm sure Mom and Dad will agree." Having that score settled, she then began thinking about her own love life. She doubted she'd own more than 3 shops and she was getting settled into her teaching role; plus, it had been a long time since her last disaster when Trenderhoof came to town. "Perhaps, I'll see if I can find a stallion for my own company as well." She found herself coming to a halt however when she noticed one of her friends further down the trail. Applejack - the country pony and the pride of Sweet Apple Acres herself - was closing up shop for the day. The always hardworking orange mare proceeding to hitch up a cart to her backside as she walked ever so humbly back to the farm, yearning to retire for the evening. As Rarity continued to watch her friend travel further away from her field of sight, the unicorn let out a soft inward chuckle as she carried on her own path. "Maybe it won't even be a stallion."