//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Intermission VII (Wary Rarity) // Story: Spikes Journey // by That Drunk Pony //------------------------------// Spike felt a little tickle on his nose. He kept swiping at it, but it kept coming back. He sneezed and woke up. When he opened his eyes, the sun glared right back into them. It blinded him for a bit as he rubbed his eyes. With blurry eyes he looked around and was shocked as he saw a multicolored mane in front of him. His first thought was Rainbow Dash, but then he noticed a pure white coating and felt a different sort of presence around him. Their wasn’t a malicious intent in her eyes, but a much more soothing and pleasant feel. Seems like his nightmares may have come to an end. When his vision cleared however, he noticed no pony was there. ‘What was that weird presence.’ Spike thought as he wiped his eyes. He noticed the crusaders weren’t in the treehouse. Spike then thought to himself, ‘Well I should probably get going. I’d hate to overstay my welcome here. Heh, like this town would ever welcome me again.’ He looked out the window to judge the time and it looks like the train is probably already running. Spike got up to find himself a mirror to tidy up. When Spike looked for a mirror, something surprised him. He looked behind him and saw a beautiful heart shaped message reading, “Dear Spike, Sorry we couldn’t be here to say good morning to you, but we had to go eat breakfast. We will bring you some so wait for us ok? Don’t just go leaving us again. Love Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo. P.S. Don’t be mad at us.” Spike was confused by that last part of their message, but reading it brought a tear to his eye. He then decided, “Why not stay a little longer. Besides, I guess I promised them a story.” Spike then found himself a mirror and his face went from a happy smile to one of terror. It instantly clicked in his head what they meant by ‘Don’t be mad at us’ as he saw his face looked like a geisha from Japony. He clenched his claws, but let loose. He then began to chuckle which turned into a hearty laugh. How could he be mad at such a light-hearted prank. Spike then went to clean his face with a rag and waited patiently for the crusaders to return. Meanwhile in another part of Equestria, Twilight and her friends were already Ponyville bound. They entered the first train to Ponyville. This was their best opportunity to at least get a chance to speak to Spike. It’s sad, but they will have to somehow capture or corner him without harming him in any way or he will run again. Twilight was having mixed feelings as they were riding the train. She didn’t know what she was going to even say to Spike. Their is no amount of sorry that can cover this up. She was happy that she had a chance to set things right, but the doubt that Spike would leave still haunted her. She wished that everything would go back to the way it was before the catastrophe happened. Twilight looked around and noticed that the others were also having a rough time too. They were probably thinking the same thing. One thing that did bother Twilight was how Rarity was acting. She was cold, unmoving, and just staring out the window. Throughout this entire adventure, Rarity seemed always to be hesitant and distant. She didn’t even offer to come. Something isn’t right here. Twilight then decided to chat with the others and see if she can learn any extra info about Spike and maybe a little about Rarity. She first went to Applejack. Twilight didn’t get to learn much from yesterday and Applejack was with Rarity in Canterlot. Twilight asked, “Can I sit here?” Applejack motioned it was ok. Twilight then continued, “Applejack. I know we haven’t had much time to talk about everything, so can we just talk about this?” Applejack guessed she meant about last night, “Well other than what I told you about Spike heading for Ponyville for some reason, Braeburn talked to me about how Spike was acting. This is going to be really rough for everyone.” Twilight wondered, “What do you mean by it being rough for everyone?” “Well Braeburn described Spike as someone who was hiding under a mask. On the outside he looked happy, but he was keeping everyone distant. The only one who got close was Apple Leaves, but even still he kept a safe distance. It’s like he is acting more like a… dragon.” Those words offended Twilight. Spike isn’t like those other dragons. “Spike will never be like those other dragons! He actually cares for his friends!” Rainbow Dash stopped eavesdropping and entered the conversation, “Well we know Spike isn’t like those other dragons. He is probably scared of getting hurt again. Let’s face it. We were Spike’s closest friends and we messed up bad. I’d be surprised if he didn’t keep himself distant from others.” Pinkie and Fluttershy then joined the conversation, leaving Rarity by herself still looking out the window in deep thought. She hasn’t even noticed the chatting from behind. Fluttershy added, “When I saw Spike face to face, I wanted to say something to him, but my voice wouldn’t come out. I saw the look on his face and it was the first time I’ve ever seen anyone look at me with those eyes.” This was new to Twilight, “What do you mean?” “Spike just looked at me as if I were a monster. The look he gave flooded me with emotions. It just hurt to look him in the eyes even for the quick glance we had. It makes me scared to see him again. Everypony is probably going to go through the same feeling too.” Fluttershy warned. They all began wondering how they would face Spike. If it’s like how Fluttershy described, then it will be a truly terrible experience. Rainbow Dash then sprang up and said, “No matter how painful it is, we have to do this! For both us and Spike! The pain we feel from this is nothing compared to what he felt. We aren’t going to cower now when he is just around the corner!” This gave the other ponies confidence. They all agreed in unison that they would not falter. Twilight however still wanted to talk to the others about Rarity and her odd behavior. Even now she isn’t participating in the conversation. “Hey girls, I have to ask a personal question.” All ponies were all ears for Twilight, “Have you noticed Rarity acting weird throughout this entire fiasco?” The girls then began thinking back since the beginning and realized that she has been a little odd randomly. They even noticed how she wasn’t with them even as loud as they were being. Twilight started with, “Like since the beginning of this, Rarity was really against talking about Spike. She didn’t even want to come with us to get him back.” Applejack then added, “Well Rarity was a little odd when we were walking to Fancy’s place. She avoided anything relating to Spike. She always talked about Fancy. This doesn’t sound too odd from the usual Rarity, but it’s like she used Fancy to change the topic and cover things up.” Pinkie and Fluttershy decided to defend Rarity. Pinkie started, “Come on gals. This is Rarity. She is probably just deeply hurt about Spike. She may not want to share it. When I was in Canterlot after talking to Candy Dumpling, she took me to her friend’s house, which was Fancy’s house. I didn’t want to bother anypony, but I overheard a little piece of Rarity’s talk with Fancy and it sounds like she genuinely cares about Spike.” Fluttershy also added, “Rarity wouldn’t hurt Spike after all the times Spike was there for her and how she cares for him.” This kind of quelled the group’s suspicion. Pinkie then went to Rarity just to help prove her point. “Rarity! Tell everyone how much you care for Spike!”, but Rarity didn’t respond. It was as if she was in her own world. She was murmuring stuff to herself creepily. Pinkie then overheard Rarity mumble, “If only I never found that thing… I’m so sorry Spike.” Pinkie let out an audible gasp and walked backwards back to the main group. Now even Pinkie was suspicious of Rarity. She told the group what she just heard and they all began to feel uneasy around their friend. Rarity, however, just continued sighing and thinking about past events. ----------------------------------------One month prior to the story---------------------------------------- Rarity and Spike were locating gems near the Smokey Mountain region, just northwest of Ponyville. Rarity had been getting strong responses from there using her gem detecting spell. They found a few common gems there, but never found the big one. As much as Rarity hated it, they decided to camp out near the base of the mountain. Luckily Rarity packed pretty much everything that wasn’t nailed down to the floor in her bags that Spike brought up. Spike began setting up her extravagant tent, while Rarity was looking at a map that was full of X’s for places they’ve been. Rarity thought to herself, ‘How is it this tricky to find the source of the gem. It’s almost as if it were moving by itself. The source also seems to be too strong when we get close and my spell has very little use then. We have to find it soon, I can’t stand being here another night.’ Spike then reported to Rarity holding a salute, “I finished setting up camp.” The camp was ready with a fire pit lit, her tent set up properly, and even had a cup of tea ready for her. Rarity thanked Spike and entered the tent. Spike then went to work on his own simple tent, which took no time for him to set up. Rarity thought to herself, ‘Well at least I have Spikey Wikey here to make things better.’ She then went to where Spike was setting up his tent and offered, “Spike, shall I lend you a hand?” Spike responded, “You don’t have to do that. A lady like you should just relax. It’s my honor to help you.” She knew Spike didn’t mean anything negative about treating her as just a lady who just needs rescuing. “Spike. I may be a lady, but I am more than capable of helping. I’m not just some weak mare needing to be rescued.” Spike then said, “But I already finished.” Rarity sees the completed tent and wants to say something, but what was there to say. “Well Spike, how about I make us dinner and then we can go to bed.” Spike objected, “Don’t worry Rarity I can-.”, but Spike was cut off with a hoof silencing his lips. Rarity then gave him a stern look, “I will make dinner okay? You just sit over there and wait.”, she said pointing to the chair beside the firepit. Spike just nodded and waited patiently. Spike began thinking to himself, ‘What did I do wrong?’ Rarity then brought out an fancy looking dish. Spike, feeling famished, was ready to destroy the food, but he also didn’t want to look like a pig. He restrained himself from eating quickly and ate calmly like Rarity was doing. Rarity brought up, “I’m surprised that Twilight let you come with me so easily Spike.” Spike rubbed the back of his neck nervously saying, “Well you know… a dragon’s got to grow up at some time right?” Spike then remembered, 'But you HAVE to let me go Twilight! This is a great chance for me to impress her!' Spike thought to himself, 'Thank Celestia she let me go after begging all day.' Rarity then joked, “Just don’t turn into a rampaging beast again.” Unfortunately it struck Spike a little too close to the heart. Rarity immediately noticed and apologized, “I am so sorry Spike. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Spike just put a smile on and said, “Don’t worry Rarity. I know you didn’t mean anything bad by that. Just joking around.” Rarity hates when Spike puts on a facade from his true feelings. She can always see when he does it and it truly bothers her. The rest of the meal became an awkward silence. After eating a delicious meal Spike felt very sleepy. He thanked Rarity and excused himself as he headed to bed. Rarity felt bad for Spike and felt idiotic for utter that terrible joke. When they both entered their respective tents and got ready for bed, Spike happily said to Rarity, “Good night Rarity!” Hearing that put a little smile on Rarity as she calmly replied, “Good night Spike.” Rarity was still annoyed by the source being so elusive, but maybe they’ll have better luck tomorrow. After waking up, they immediately began traverse the mountain side again. Rarity was already getting tired from the walking, but pushed on to discover this gem. Rarity then jumped onto Spike after hearing terrible crashing noise. They heard the noise come from the inside of a cave. When they entered the cave, it was pitch black. Spike had a small gas lamp with him to illuminate the place fortunately. As they walked deeper into the cave the light went out. Rarity shrieked, grabbed onto Spike, and they closed their eyes from the sudden darkness. When they both began to open them, they noticed that there were gems lined along the ceiling illuminating everything with a light blue shade. They then continued into the cave and found a room that was surrounded in gems everywhere. They had found it! They have found the one piece of treasure they were looking for. Rarity quickly marked the spot on the map where they found the treasure and started to take inventory of the gem cave. She told Spike, “Spike we found it! This is what I was detecting! I’m so happy!” Spike was happy that she was happy, but Spike also wanted to chow down a little. Rarity then hugged Spike and continued, “I couldn’t have found this without you Spike! You’re the best!” Spike pretty much melted in her grasp. Rarity then got back her composure and then asked Spike, “Spike could you be a dear and grab the cart so we can begin excavating this mine.” Spike without hesitation left immediately to grab a cart. Rarity began thinking, ‘This is going to be at least a few days, maybe even weeks of excavating to get all of this out of here.’ Rarity then noticed something. All of the gems were growing towards one direction. She began heading towards it and noticed a random horn. It looked red towards the tip, but darker towards the base. She then saw something amazing. It was generating crystals slowly. This horn was the cause of all the crystals that she sees around her. She then takes the horn, but then hears another crashing noise. She turns behind her and noticed that one of the large gems hanging on the ceiling fell off. The gem then began rising up and took the form of a beast. It became very aggressive when it saw that Rarity had the horn in her magical aura. It charged at her immediately and Rarity stowed the horn in her little pouch and took cover. The beast tried to claw at her, but couldn’t reach. She then took a deep breath to calm down as this beast tried to smash it’s way through. Rarity then began charging her horn in the direction of the beast. In a flash she disappeared. She then reappeared near the entrance of the exit. The beast then senses her and begins charging after her as she tries to exit. With the beast in pursuit of Rarity and Rarity being tired from all the walking, it began closing the gap. Unfortunately for the gem beast the exit was getting smaller and smaller. It eventually got to the point where it could not continue chasing her. In a desperate move the beast then shed a bit of itself to pursue her. It got faster because of this and closed the gap once more. It was stopped again by being too large and shed again until it was the size of a filly. When Rarity exited the cave with the gem behind her, she turned and noticed that it was now smaller than her. It tried to attack, but was held off by a simple hoof to its head. It was like a small child going versus an adult. Spike then returned with the cart and noticed the weird tiny gem beast trying to attack Rarity. He rushed to her, but then noticed how unthreatening the beast was. Spike asked, “Should I be worried about this?” Rarity responded by levitating the beast and tossing it off the cliff. “Not anymore.” She then began to tell Spike about what happened, “... After you left, that beast fell from the roof and was much larger before. It chased me out of the cave and you saw everything after that." Spike praised Rarity, "Wow! You're amazing Rarity." Rarity then proudly said, "Well I am more than just a lady after all." Spike then realized why she was a little upset last night. Rarity then added "It appeared after I took this.” Rarity showed the horn to Spike. “Doesn’t this look familiar.” Spike announced. Rarity was thinking the same thing. “So what’s so important about his horn anyways?” Rarity told Spike, “Well those gems were being made from this.” Spike was surprised, “WOW! That’s incredible!” Rarity replied, “I know right! Now all we need to do is collect the rest of those gems...” Spike and Rarity then heard a loud boom, followed by the entire cave collapsing. “Well at least we have the source of the gems and we can always make more with this.” Rarity and Spike then headed back to camp to pack things up and head home. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea what they brought back with them.