//------------------------------//
// Why I shouldn't be so persistent 
// Story: Everypony Hates Spike 
// by Pony-Berserker 
//------------------------------//

	“Are you there, Pinkie? I, I need your help...” I asked uncertainly. I was afraid to enter the room. I really hate that when she appears out of nowhere.

Even though I was touching a wall with my back, she appeared jumping from behind me. That was weird. I sighed and let a waterfall of words go out of her mouth. She thought I was playing hide-and-seek and decided to use her room as my shelter. I grinned nervously and then told her it wasn’t the case.

“So, why are you there?” she asked, giving me a confused look.

“Y’know Pinkie. I need your help,” I said nervously. I wasn’t afraid of her now but I couldn’t stop thinking that I should have stayed out of her room.

“Oh, I always help my friends in need!” she exclaimed happily.

That was what I expected anyway – Pinkie always help her friends even when she is not capable of that. I explained to her my problem with Rarity.

“So, you don’t like Rarity? That’s weird. I thought you have a crush on her!” Pinkie seemed to be puzzled.

“Um, I do like Rarity! I just don’t want to love her!” I nearly shouted. Pinkie’s habit of taking everything too literally was driving me mad.

Pinkie hesitated for a moment and then began jumping around me, a puzzled look was still on her face. “Why would you want to not love somepony you love?” Pinkie was trying to comprehend my situation. 

I sat down resignedly on her bed. “Pinkie, I don’t want to love her because she doesn’t love me. And this makes me sad. You don’t want me to be sad, right?” I decided to explain the matter to her in the easiest possible way.

She suddenly stopped bouncing around the room. She saddened. “No, Spike. I hate it when my friends are sad.” She seemed to be one the edge of cry. In a minute she changed from an overjoyed pony, through a confused one into a broken mare. Her mood seemed to be contagious because I became upset as well.

I told Pinkie that I had decided to follow her advice to start dating other mares but it was impossible because of Rarity.

“Um, I see...” she gave me a suspicious look. “I know what to do!” she exclaimed as she rushed out of the room. After a while she returned, holding a cupcake in her hooves.

“A cupcake?” I had predicted that something random might happen. Well, it was Pinkie Pie after all.

“Yeah! A cupcake! If you want to stop loving Rarity, you need to love something else!” Pinkie explained excitedly, giving me a wide smile.

“And what’s with the cupcake?” I asked, completely puzzled.

“I’m sure you’ll just LOVE this cupcake! It’s a strawberry one. It’s deeeeeeelicious!” she said, giving me the cupcake. “This way, you’re gonna forget about Rarity!”

I sighed. Well, I hadn’t seen that coming. I ate the cupcake in a few bites and then expressed my doubts about the idea.

“You still love Rarity?” Pinkie sounded honestly surprised by this fact.

“And your cupcakes as well,” I murmured. This was going nowhere. Pinkie obviously had the best intentions to help me but seeking help from her seemed both desperate and useless.

“I know, I know!” she suddenly shouted excitedly and began jumping around me again. “If you can love two things at the same time, you can most likely love three, or even more things! You don’t need to un-love Rarity! Just go find any mare and date her!”

The pink tornado around me was making me want to puke. Without giving it much thought, I jumped at Pinkie, pinning her to the floor.

“Oh, Spike!” she giggled. “I think you should find another mare!”

I blushed. That was awkward, indeed. I tried to stutter some apologies but she interrupted me, assuring that wasn’t a problem.

“Well, if you like pink,” she snickered, “maybe you should go for Fluttershy?”

That was an answer that I both wanted to hear and hoped she wouldn’t say. I’d thought about that before. I couldn’t really find anything against the idea but still, Rarity. I seemed to be in a real conundrum.

“But what about Rarity?” I asked.

Pinkie frowned. Most probably, she already forgot about her. “Well, you can pretend that Fluttershy is Rarity. Just imagine that her mane is shorter, more curly and purple! And that her coat is white. And that she has a horn not wings! Easy-peasy!” she said, happy to find the solution.

I had certain doubts about this plan. Maybe Pinkie was able to see Rarity instead of Fluttershy but I wasn’t able to think like her. That probably was her inside-the-chimney thinking. I mean, Fluttershy covered with chimney soot could actually look like Rarity. Or any other mare for that matter.

Moreover, I knew that ‘Plans A’ never really work out, so I suggested to move to ‘Plan B’.

“Well, I have ‘Plan B’ and I like it much more than ‘Plan A’!” she jumped up to her bed and then took a scroll from under the pillow. “I have my ‘Plan B’ stashed under my pillow in case I need ‘Plan B’ in my room!” She smiled at me and unrolled the scroll.

I returned her an uneasy grin. Did she have a universal ‘Plan B’ for any given ‘Plan A’?

“Plan B requires a party cannon, balloons, a bottle of apple cider, two big tables, one cello, a pile of hay, a pillow and a lot of calcium carbide!” she said, looking at the parchment.

Yep, she had a universal ‘Plan B’.

After giving it some thought, I had decided to follow ‘Plan A’ and went to Fluttershy’s cottage. I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing. Actually, I had no idea what I was going to do.

What could I do? Knock on the door, enter the house and then say: “Oh, hi, Fluttershy. You know, you and I know each other for some time and I really like you, so maybe let’s go out somewhere together?”

Yeah, that would be stupid.

And that was exactly what I said after entering her house.

Her cheeks began turning into bright shade of red. She said to me, smiling: “Oh, Spike. I like you too... Well, we can go out, if you want.”

It seemed that being extremely direct was a good idea after all.

“I was going to feed my chickens. You can come with me.” She gently patted me on the head and then left the house.

I couldn’t tell if she didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand what I had said. I kinda felt as if somepony hit me with a really big hammer.

I followed Fluttershy to the coop, faceclawing. That wasn’t a good start.

“You don’t come here too often, Spike,” she said softly. “Is there a specific reason of your visit?”

I decided that I should do something, even if it was going to be crazy. Rarity was still bouncing in my head but I forced myself to act as if Fluttershy was my real crush.

“I wanted to spend some time with you, Fluttershy. You know, I really like you,” I said, using all of my confidence.

Fluttershy looked at me, probably unsure of my intentions. “Well, you can come here whenever you want. My animals would enjoy some company. Usually, they see only me,” she answered softly and began feeding her chickens.

I didn’t know what to say at that moment, so I remained silent. For the rest of the evening, I was observing Fluttershy at work, talking to her about weather.

Yeah, I was a real bore. Fortunately, Fluttershy wasn’t assertive enough to make me stop talking nonsense. But  she should have done that, really.

Anyway, during that time, I observed her closely, comparing her to Rarity. Well, they were both pretty mares, that was sure but Fluttershy missed something that Rarity had. I wasn’t sure what was that, though. I tried to ignore thoughts about my beloved unicorn but that was impossible. However, I still hoped that I could solve that problem somehow. First, I was going to find a mare, then I would try to forget...

After Fluttershy had finished her work, she entered the house. I followed her.

“Um, Spike. I don’t want to be impolite but... it’s really late. I need to put my bunnies to sleep,” she said sadly, probably feeling that she was impolite anyway.

I should have said ‘bye’ and go back home. I should have acknowledged that I can’t possibly date Fluttershy. I should have known that even if she loved me, she would be too shy and too afraid to admit.

But I acted as brainlessly as I could at that very moment. “Well, but maybe we could spend some time together. It’s a nice evening, you know.” Where had I gotten such confidence? Was I so desperate?

Fluttershy hesitated for a moment and... agreed resignedly. She definitely wasn’t assertive anymore.

I entered the house and then saw a lot of bunnies hopping around the house. How can Fluttershy live with these creatures!? One of them hopped up to me and then began sniffing my leg.

“Um, what’s his name?” I asked, unsure what to do.

“His name is Angel,” she smiled to me.

“I thought Angel is white not brown,” I said, trembling as more and more bunnies were approaching me.

“Oh, all of my animals are named ‘Angel’,” she answered, grinning sheepishly. “This way I don’t have to memorize their names. I’m not as smart as Twilight is...”

That was an interesting discovery. I hopped over some bunnies and then took a sit at the table. I just wanted to take my feet off of the ground. Fluttershy, however, thought I was hungry.

“Oh, poor thing. I was feeding the animals and I forgot about you!” she squealed, dashing to the kitchen.

After a while, she brought me some hay on a plate. I really hate hay, so I instantly thought that Rarity would have brought me some gems... And then I faceclawed because I was still thinking about her.

“Here you go, Angel!” she said to me, putting the plate in front of me.

“Angel?” I asked, giving her a confused look. Actually, I shouldn’t have said anything. I could act as her animal, if it was the only way to date her. I used to work as a pincushion for Rarity, so I could be an animal for Fluttershy.

“Oh, forgive me, Spike!” She covered her mouth with her hooves. “I’m sorry! I always prepare meals for my angels and....” She shivered and then began to cry. “I’m sorry, Spike!” She ran to her room, leaving me with my jaw dropped.

I went to her room. I couldn’t have just left the house. I felt terrible for her. Why had I come to her house in the first place? Because Pinkie had told me? If she wanted me to jump off of the cliff, would I do that too?

She was crying, curled up in the corner of her room. I sighed, came up to her and then told her what was the real reason of my visit.

She looked at me, her facial features expressing uncertainty. “Oh, Spike. Um, I like you but...”

I hushed her and then left the room. Fluttershy wanted to stop me but I assured her that everything was all right.

“Oh, okay, Spike. But, maybe talk to Twilight about your love problems. She is smart and will surely know how to help you,” she said softly and then kissed me on the forehead. “I’m sure you will find some nice mare sooner or later.”

Abashed by the kiss, I staggered out of the cottage. Well, it wasn’t as I had expected but ended up pretty nice for me.

Besides, Fluttershy was right. I should have talked to Twilight in the first place! She could use magic after all. I was pretty sure that if Twilight couldn’t solve my problems with a good advice, she would use magic!”

I hurried to the library.

TO BE CONTINUED