“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Spike! Happy birthday to you!” Cheering followed the short song for Spike inside Twilight’s home as all the ponies jumped up and down in joy for the now 18 dragon. Rarity walked up to Spike, wearing her jewel encrusted gown for the birthday party and kissed him on the cheek.
“Happy birthday Spike.” she said with a smile. The dragon blushed a bit and then turned to the pony, caressing her pelt as he pulled her forward and suddenly kissed her. Many ponies cheered once again, even Rainbow Dash yelled out
“You go, Spike!” followed by some whistling. Rarity was unsure of what to do at this point, but to be sure not to embarrass him on his special day, she went along with it and kissed him back, closing her eyes to give it the full effect. After a few seconds, she pulled away and smiled, Spike stood there nearly dumbfounded by the fact he was able to do that and that Rarity had no objections.
“Rarity...” he stood there, staring at her while Rarity had winked and then walked off back into the party.
For the rest of the evening Rarity and Spike didn’t talk to each other at all. Every now
he’d steal a glance of her, but that was about it. Soon enough night had fallen over PonyVille and many ponies had gone home. By about midnight, only Apple Jack, Twilight, Rarity, and Spike were left at Twilight’s home. Rarity had yawned and looked over at the door.
“Well, I should probably head home, Sweetie Belle is probably wondering where I am.” As she turned around, Twilight spoke up in her cheery voice.
“Why don’t you stay the night here with Apple Jack and I?” The purple maned pony’s eyes widened as she turned around.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea...and trust me, it’s not because of you, Apple Jack, dear.” AJ nodded and kept a smile going.
“I just need to get home to take care of Sweetie Belle, she’s sick.” Twilight nodded and walked over to Rarity, leaving behind Spike and Apple Jack.
“Well, I hope she get’s better.” She opened the door for Rarity. “Bye Rarity!” Spike waved to Rarity as the pony walked out of the house. He grinned and crossed his arms across his scaly chest and smirked.
“I’ve got her under my scales.” Twilight rose an eyebrow and looked back at him.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Apple Jack shared the same skepticism.
“Well...” he walked over to one of the snack tables, picking up a rainbow cupcake and plopping it into his mouth. “she kissed me, for starters. She obviously didn’t want to stay here for the night because she was afraid of being overwhelmed of her feelings for me and doing something about it.” Apple Jack tried her best not to burst out laughing to save herself for the dragon.
“And...uh...maybe, she kissed you because it’s your birthday, shug.” Spike let out a loud sarcastic laugh.
“Oh, she’s dying for me. Now that I’m of age, she can finally have me.” Twilight walked over to him.
“And when do you think she’ll express her...er...feelings?”
“Tomorrow when I go to pick her up for a date.” This caught both of the ponies off guard as their eyes widened.
“Does Rarity know about this?” Asked Twi, biting her lip, not wanting to break his spirits, it was still his birthday.
“Nope. Well...she must be hoping for it, but when I go to pick her up tomorrow she’ll be ecstatic. We're gonna make history.”
The next day the day was as bright as ever. The sky was a sparkling blue as Rainbow Dash had just finished her cloud clearing for the day and was lounging in a tree, overlooking Pony Ville. Apple Jack just left Twilight’s home for Sweet Apple Acres as Twi and Spike were just finishing up breakfast. Spike popped his claws and stood up tall, heading over to the door. “Well, here I go to go get Rarity. I’ll see you later today, Twilight. Don’t be surprised if I bring Rarity back.” The purple mare trotted over to Spike and stood in front of him.
“Whoa whoa there, lover boy. Are you sure this is a good idea? Rarity might be busy...or-”
“It’s fine, Twi. Trust me, I got this.” And out he walked over the door, closing it gingerly behind him. Twilight sat down in front of the door and sighed, holding her head down.
“Don’t get yourself hurt, Spike...”
Rarity was inside her boutique, just cleaning up after their late breakfast as Sweetie Belle was jumping around the whole place, full of excitement for her next crusade with her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.
"Sweetie Belle, please, calm down. I'm trying to clean here a little bit." Belle stopped and looked at her, trying her best to contain herself.
"Can't I just leave now?! I'll be out of your mane!" Rarity sighed and looked over at her little sister in mid-spell.
"For your crusade today of sky-diving? You are not to leave until Rainbow Dash get's here to escort you. You need to stay safe, darling." Once she finished her sentence, there was a knock on the door. The little filly quickly turned to the door and squealed, hurrying over to open it, but her excitement was quickly extinguished when she noticed Rainbow Dash wasn't at the door.
"Spike...? What're you doing here?" Her voice cracked slightly as she ended her sentence, opening the door a little wider. Rarity walked over to the door and stood next to her sister.
"Oh, hi Spike. Is there something you need...?" She asked, her voice level and layered with a bit of confusion. The dragon smiled and puffed out his chest slightly, standing proud and tall.
"You and me are gonna go on a date today. Ready?" Rarity's eyes widened at this notion and then smiled, feeling really embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed red as she laughed a little.
"Oh...Spike, I think we need to have a talk. You can come in." She walked away from the door to let him in as he did so and looked around. Rarity turned to her little sister. "Sweetie Belle, can you wait out here in the kitchen? I need to talk to Spike in my inspiration room. Sweetie Belle nodded and went over to the window and looked out, waiting for her escort and friends Rarity headed over to her inspiration room as Spike followed her.
Inside the place was just as a mess as she had last left it, her pony-quins covered in awkward garments that looked like someone had half finished them but never quite fully, her desks were cluttered with needles and pins and pieces of fabric, and her floor was a complete disaster, but that was just as she liked it. She faced Spike and did her best to remain serious, she had to let him down as gently as possible.
"Spike...about yesterday night-" He held up a hand and interrupted Rarity.
"No need to worry about that, that's why I came here. Now that I'm 18, we can finally be together! But I wouldn't like to rush into things, I was thinking a date today..."
"Spike..."
"and in a week or so we go on a really romantic dinner..."
"Spike, I-"
"and then finally we can officially be together, and-"
"Spike!" The raise in her voice had quieted him down to finally listening instead of speaking. She sighed and did her best to be sincere. "Look, last night was simply for show. I did not kiss you because I had any feelings, Spike. I had kissed you because it was your birthday and I didn't want to make you seem like a fool in front of all the other ponies. If you hadn't kissed me, that would've never happened." The color drained from his face as he instantly hit denial.
"You're just saying that because you don't want to move too fast. That's okay, I understand, we can start later on when you feel more comfortable." The mare walked up to Spike and looked him straight in the eye.
"No, Spike. We are not starting at all. There is no us, and there won't be. I'm sorry, Spike, but I don't have any feelings for you." Spike took a few steps back, his eyes wide in bewilderment.
"But...but you...and I thought..." He crouched down on the ground and held onto his head, growling quietly. Rarity looked at him with a hint of fear across her face. She had never seen a dragon get angry before, and now she's about to. Or maybe he wasn't angry, but perhaps, so distraught with pain that it looked like anger.
"S-Spike...?" No answer. He simply got up and walked out of her inspiration room, leaving the mare standing there already feeling guilty for what she had said. Although she didn't necessarily say a bad thing and in a bad way, but she had to voice herself so that Spike could move on. After all, he had no future with her, and he needed to understand that. He'd get over it soon enough and be back on his feet. She sighed and walked out to go finish cleaning the kitchen.
The door of Twilight's house opened and in walked the fuming dragon. Twilight looked up from a book of her's and at Spike. "Oh, hey Spike. So, how'd it go?" He ignored his best friend and just went up the stairs to their 'bedroom'. Twi looked over and walked away from her book, following Spike. Once she got to the top of the stairs, she stopped there to give Spike a bit of room.
"Spike...? Are you okay?" He sat down on his bed, still holding onto his head tight, his face was hidden behind the purple scales on his arms. His silence worried the colleague. "Spike...?" His voice was muffled as he spoke darkly.
"Go away, Twilight." This left her in pure confusion as she took a step forward.
"Spike, I'm-"
"Go AWAY." The tone of his voice drowned out through the whole house, leaving a bad taste in Twilight's mouth. She quickly stepped back and hurried down the stairs and out of the house, frightened by Spike's behavior. The door slammed as she went quickly to Rarity's home. Out of all the ponies she knew, she knew that Rarity was going to be the one who would know what happened to Spike.
"Gee, I really hope she didn't hurt his feelings too much..." she said to herself as she got to the entrance of Rarity's boutique. Walking inside without knocking, she yelled out for her. "Rarity!" A mare with a purple mane walked out of her inspiration room and out into the dining room.
"Oh, hi there, Twilight. I'm assuming Spike is quite hurt, isn't he..." Twilight sighed and then sat down next to her.
"Well, he was upset, that much I know. I didn't quite bother with much else, I'm going to let him simmer down for a while before I actually try and help him out." Rarity seemed to agree with this notion, though she remained silent. Twi looked around the inside of the house and back to Rarity. "Where's Sweetie Belle?"
"Oh..." she started "Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom came to get her. They're going to do another dangerous crusade, so I asked Rainbow dear to watch over them." The purple mare nodded.
"I see. Well, I think I'm going to leave Spike to the house so he can have some alone time. Sorry for interrupting your work, I'll come by later!" And with that, she walked out of the boutique.
A few hours had passed and soon enough it was the evening. Word had gotten to Rarity that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were having a sleepover at Fluttershy's house so she had the home to herself for the night.