“What a pleasant surprise.” Rarity stated. “What brings you to Canterlot?”
Starlight chuckled nervously. “Well, Twilight came here to visit an old friend, so Spike and I tagged along. We’ve been seeing the sights, and in the process I ran into my friend, Trixie. Speaking of her, she ripped her cape! Could you fix it?”
Rarity trotted over to Trixie. “May I see the cape?”
Trixie nodded. Rarity used her magic to levitate the purple garment in front of her. She carefully examined the rip.
Spike crossed his arms. Figures. I try to take Starlight out on a practice date and I get stuck with a third wheel and then have to see Rarity. Why is it so hard to contain my feelings around you? Wait a minute…
“Oh, this won’t be hard at all.” Rarity said. “Just wait here, I’ll be back with a fully restored cape.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Trixie said, grateful to know her beloved cape would be OK.
Rarity started trotting to her work area, where a sewing machine awaited. Spike started following her. “Hey, Rarity? Could I talk with you about something? In private?”
The fashionista stopped in her tracks. “Oh? Umm…sure thing Spike.”
Starlight looked concerned. “Let me borrow him quick.” She said, as she dragged Spike to a dressing room for privacy. Trixie grinned.
Once inside, Starlight asked. “Spike, what are you doing?”
Spike smirked with confidence. “I’m facing my problems head on.”
“…What?”
Spike sighed. “I still feel awkward around Rarity, especially since she doesn’t know that I know she doesn’t love me. I have to tell her how I feel.”
The pink unicorn didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
“I don’t know either,” Spike responded, “but this is something I need to get off my chest.”
The young dragon exited the dressing room and followed Rarity to her sewing area. Starlight rejoined her friend and sighed.
“Are you all right?” Trixie asked.
“I’m fine.” Starlight responded. “It’s Spike I’m worried about. The whole reason Twilight brought him to Canterlot was so he could avoid Rarity and maybe feel less…..gloomy. “
“….Do you like him?”
Starlight turned to her friend and said “I already told you, we aren’t a couple!”
“That’s not what I’m asking.” Trixie responded. “I’m simply asking if you like Spike.”
The pink unicorn thought about her question. Well he is a great friend. Still, that type of relationship would never happen between us.
Starlight eventually answered Trixie with “He’s just a good friend.”
The magician raised an eyebrow slightly before smiling. “That’s a shame, because I think he likes you.”
“Huh?”
“Well, as hard as he tries to hide it, Spike obviously is annoyed at me, and I think it’s because he wanted to spend time with you. Without anypony else around.”
“You’re reading into things too much.” Starlight insisted. “There’s no way Spike would be interested in me in that way.”
Trixie frowned slightly, before smirking. “Too bad, considering he is kinda cute for a dragon.”
Awkward silence ensued. At least until it was broken by Sassy Saddles causally asking “How’s the weather today?”
Starlight nearly jumped. “Almost forgot you were in the room….. uh….”
“I haven’t introduced myself have I?” Sassy realized. “I’m Sassy Saddles, manager of this boutique.”
Rarity started sewing up Trixie’s cape. “So darling, what did you wish to talk about?”
Spike briefly looked down to the floor, trying to gather up as much courage as possible. He shut his eyes and said “Rarity, I….I love you.”
This caused the fashionista to abruptly stop sewing. “Spike….I….I…”
“Let me finish.” Spike interrupted. “Rarity, I love you, but I know you will never love me back. At least, not in the same way.”
Rarity’s eyes widened. “Huh!? How?! How did you know that?”
“Twilight told me.” Spike explained.
The white unicorn sighed. “Spike, dear…I…I know I should’ve told you…”
“Don’t worry about that.” Spike responded. “I don’t want to make you feel guility. I want to apologize.”
“Apologize to me?”
“Yes, you!” Spike responded. “Twilight told me how all that attention I was giving you was making you feel! I’m sorry that I came on too strong! Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rarity sighed. “Spike…you’re my friend. I may not be interested in a romantic relationship with you, but I do care about you. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Well, you did.” Spike responded. “You hurt me more by not telling me. It made me feel like perhaps you didn’t trust me. It would’ve hurt a lot less if you had told me yourself instead of finding out from Twilight.”
The fashionista looked guilty. “I’m sorry for not being open with you Spike. You’ve always been so honest with me….I should’ve been more honest with you.”
Spike let a tiny smile appear on his face. “I forgive you Rarity. Can we still be friends?”
“Why of course darling!” Rarity responded. “I know our relationship didn’t turn out the way you wanted, but you will always be a close friend Spike.”
Rarity then pulled Spike in for a platonic hug. The young dragon smiled; he no longer carried the burden of guilt, or doubts about his friendship with Rarity.
Five minutes passed and Rarity was done patching up Trixie’s cape. The white unicorn and the young dragon went back to the store area of the Boutique to find Starlight and Sassy in the middle of a conversation. Trixie was browsing through some dresses.
“Pleats and pin-cushions Starlight!” The manager of the store exclaimed. “You like Oolong tea as well?”
“Yeah, it’s my favorite beverage!” Starlight responded. “I don’t get to drink it that often though, since it’s hard to find in Equestria.”
“Oh, I know exactly what you mean.” Said Sassy. She then noticed that Rarity and Spike were back. “Oh, Miss Lulamoon, I believe Rarity is done repairing your cape.”
Trixie stopped examining the dresses on display and galloped towards the white unicorn. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! Trixie is so relieved!”
The magician used her magic to grab the garment from Rarity and drape it over herself once more. “How much does the Great and Powerful Trixie owe you for repairing Trixie’s glorious costume?”
“Oh, no need to pay me darling.” Rarity said waving her hoof. “I have no problem fixing clothes for a friend’s friend free of charge.”
Starlight glanced over at a clock in the boutique. “Wait, it’s five o’ clock already? Dang, Spike and I have to head back to the train station now.”
The pink unicorn turned to her new friend. “It was nice meeting you Sassy. Trixie, it’s been wonderful catching up with you.”
“When can we hang out again?” Trixie asked. “I’ve been wanting to do more tricks that I can only pull off with my number one assistant.”
Starlight thought for a moment. “Well, between helping my friends plan a festival and my friendship lessons I’ve been busy. I’ll send you a letter when I have more free time and we can schedule a time to meet up.”
Trixie gave her friend a good-bye hug. “Sounds like a plan.”
Spike turned to Rarity. “Well, I’ll see you when you get back to Ponyville.”
The fashionista pulled in the young dragon for a friendly hug. “See ya. Thank you for being honest with me Spike.”
Spike blushed slightly. “Heh, no problem.”
Spike and Starlight left the boutique and started making their way to the train station. Trixie then turned to Rarity and said “Trixie noticed a most glorious lavender dress.”
“Oh, you must be talking about ‘The Power of Periwinkle.’ It’s my latest dress design, and it’s actually the reason why I’m here in Canterlot. Are you interested in purchasing it?”
“Perhaps.” Trixie responded. “Could I order a custom version, with a crescent moon on it?”
“You most certainly can darling.”
Spike and Starlight arrived at the train station and sat down on a bench to wait for Twilight. A few moments later, Twilight arrived, still chatting with Moondancer. “So what did you think about the latest Daring Do book?”
“I’m halfway done reading it.” Moondancer responded. “It’s good so far, but I find it weird that Ahuizotl is trying so hard to get a rubber chicken. I mean, how powerful can a silly child’s toy be?”
“Well, I’ve seen a rubber chicken help open a magical box.” Twilight answered. “If it wasn’t for that rubber chicken, I wouldn’t have a castle.”
Moondancer’s glasses slid down her snout slightly. “You lead the strangest life Twilight.”
The Princess of Friendship chuckled. “Well, it comes naturally in my profession. You see all kinds of things saving the world. Oh, Starlight! Spike!”
The duo got off the bench and greeted Twilight. The purple alicorn asked “How was your time in Canterlot?”
“I had a really fun time!” Starlight said excitedly.
Spike smiled. “I had a much better time here than I was expecting.”
Twilight wanted to hear more from Spike and Starlight but before she could ask, she heard a train whistle. “The train is getting ready to leave!” Twilight said farewell to Moondancer and then joined Spike and Starlight in hurrying over to the train.
Luckily, the trio managed to board the train just before it left. Twilight managed to find a free seat and Starlight sat next to her. Spike sat down on a seat across from Twilight and Starlight. The princess of friendship cleared her throat before speaking. “So what happened earlier today?”
Starlight spoke up first. “Well I ran into Trixie at the donut shop. So we were able to hang out and catch up!”
Twilight smiled. “That’s wonderful to hear. Spike, what did you do?”
“Nothing too much.” Spike answered nonchalantly. “I grabbed some donuts with Starlight, we saw the sights with Trixie, and ran into Rarity.”
The purple alicorn nodded. “Well, that sounds like a-RARITY!?”
“Yeah. Trixie ripped her cape and we needed help in fixing it. So we ended up at Rarity’s boutique. It was my first time visiting her Canterlot shop actually.”
Shoot, Twilight thought to herself, I should’ve checked with Rarity to see if she was visiting her boutique!
“I wasn’t thrilled running into Rarity at first.” Spike confessed. “But I’m glad I saw her. I was able to apologize to her for coming on far too strong, and now I don’t feel super guilty. Thanks for bringing me to Canterlot Twilight.”
Twilight smiled nervously. “Oh! Heh, he. No problem Spike!”
The purple alicorn turned to the window. Thank Celestia things turned out good! I mean, Spike didn’t get to avoid Rarity, but maybe confronting her directly is what he really needed to move on.
The train arrived in Ponyville at ten o’ clock. As the three of them made their way back to the castle Twilight yawned. “Wow, I’m tired! I’m heading straight for bed.”
Starlight noticed lights on at the castle and raised an eyebrow slightly. “That could be difficult considering the loud music coming from the castle.”
“Huh?!” The purple alicorn noticed what Starlight was talking about and abruptly teleported to her castle to figure out what was going on.
The pink unicorn held onto Spike and also teleported.
Twilight, Starlight, and Spike found themselves in the throne room of the castle. There were snacks laid all over the table and a large boom box blasting music. In the center was a giant slime monster swaying back and forth to the music and a strange creature composed of several different animal parts that was dancing wildly and singing at the top of his lungs.
“We’re Apples forever! Apples together! We’re family but so much moooooooooooore!” Discord stopped singing when he noticed who had returned. “Twilight!”
“What!?” Twilight responded, clearly annoyed.
“It’s a pomegranate!” The draconequus responded in a giddy tone.
“Don’t distract me with your non sequiturs Discord!” Twilight yelled. “Why are you and the Smooze here in my castle?”
“I am so glad you asked!” Discord responded as he snapped his fingers. All of a sudden the draconequus appeared to be on a large leather chair while wearing glasses, smoking a bubble pipe, and holding a large book. Discord opened the book and started reading it.
“You see, earlier today the Smooze and I were hanging out at my place. And I told my friend, ‘You know what Smoozy? We’re always spending time in the chaos dimension. Let’s mix things up by partying in Ponyville!”
The draconequus paused to sip some champagne that suddenly appeared in his paw. He then turned the page of the book to continue. “So I traveled to this wonderful town with my dear friend and I asked Applejack if the Smooze and I could party at her farm, but she said that she didn’t want the Smooze to get slime all over her precious apples. I heard similar things from Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Get to the point.”
“I just was.” Discord answered, as he turned to the last page of the book he was supposedly reading from. “So then the Smoozinator and I arrived at your castle. I knocked at your door, but no pony or dragon answered. Thus, I decided to go inside. I realized that no pony was here, which meant it would be the perfect place for the Smooze-man and I to get down with our bad selves!”
Discord snapped his talon and caused the chair, glasses, and pipe to disappear. He snapped his talon again and caused a disco ball to descend from nowhere. He was also now wearing a leisure suit. The draconequus started dancing as he concluded his little recap. “And so we spent the last five hours boogieing in your castle. The end.”
Twilight Sparkle was not amused. “Discord, next time you want to party in my house ask for my permission! That giant blob is getting slime all over the Cutie Map!”
Discord snapped his talons and all of the slime in the room vanished. “Better?”
“Yes.” Twilight said with a sigh. “Discord, I don’t mind if you want to spend some time with your friends here, just give me a heads up next time. Also, I need to get some sleep so….”
“Say no more Twilight.” Discord interjected. “I won’t bug you for the rest of the night.”
The draconequus snapped his talon causing the Smooze to vanish. “Ta-ta!” he said right before vanishing himself.
“Wow.” Starlight said. “You told me that Discord could do strange stuff but that was just….crazy!”
“I know.” Twilight responded. “I thought that I’d get used to his chaotic nature, but he still finds ways to be completely unpredictable.” The princess of friendship yawned. “Wow, I better get to bed. Goodnight Spike. Goodnight Starlight.”
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Spike went in the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he opened the door he found a certain draconequus applying deodorant. “Gah!”
Discord chuckled. “Oh Spike, no need to overreact. Doing chaos magic can make you quite sweaty so….”
“What are you doing here?” The young dragon interrupted. “You promised not to bug us for the rest of the night!”
The bizarre creature smirked. “I made no promise of such sort. I promised that I’d leave Twilight alone, and you’re not a neurotic alicorn now are you?”
Spike rolled his eyes. “What do you want Discord?”
“No need to be so hostile Spike my boy.” Discord responded. “I just wanted to congratulate you for being able to talk to Rarity in Canterlot in a mature fashion and being able to move on.”
The young dragon’s eyes widened. “Wait! Wh-What? H-how? How did you know about that?!”
“Why I was spying on you of course!” Discord answered.
“Ok, first of all, that’s creepy! Second of all, how could you spy on me if you were here in the throne room earlier? And third, why were you spying on me?!”
All of a sudden a second Discord appeared next to Spike. “To answer your first question,” the second draconequus explained, “I can clone myself as many times as I want, which is useful for when I need to spy on you or Fluttershy.”
The first Discord continued to speak. “And to answer your second question, I’ve been spying on your for the last few days. Seeing you struggle with your feelings for Rarity and Starlight? It’s highly entertaining! You should write a book about your experiences.”
“That’s a ridiculous idea.” Spike said. “Nopony would want to read about my struggles.”
“Is that so?” the first Discord asked with a smirk.
“Then why are you writing that fan-comic based on your experiences?” the second Discord continued.
“That’s different. “ Spike responded. “I’m writing that to help me move on. It’s not meant for other ponies to read.”
“Well I’d say you’ve moved on quite a bit Spike!” Discord said as his fused with his clone. “At least with the Rarity thing. What about you and that Starlight girl?”
Spike thought for a few seconds. “I’m trying to take it slow with her. Don’t want to get hasty and make the same mistakes I made when I was perusing Rarity.”
Discord waved his talon. “Spike my boy, that’s a terrible idea. If you want to pursue somepony you need to be bold! You need to take risks! Life is too short to waste on taking things slow.”
“Twilight’s told me the average dragon life-span is around two thousand years.” Spike remarked in a deadpan tone.
The draconequus frowned. “Do you want my advice or not?”
“I never asked for your advice.”
Discord rolled his eyes. “Kids these days. So ungrateful! I’m leaving, but before I do, let me tell you this: do not be afraid of rejection Spike.”
And with a snap of a talon, Discord was gone.
Spike grabbed his toothbrush and started applying tooth paste. I should talk to Fluttershy tomorrow.
Starlight trotted through the hallway on the fourth floor. It was the next day and she was continuing her quest to label all the rooms in the castle. She opened a door and found several blankets inside of it. She wrote down ‘linen closet’ on a sticky note and used magic to place it over the doorway.
This is taking longer than I thought. Starlight thought to herself. But it will help me get around this place quicker.
Starlight moved on to the next door. She opened it and found a purple-blue room with a small bed in it. She also noticed a bowl of gems sitting on a shelf.
“This must be Spike’s room.” Starlight said, walking around in the room. “I’m surprised that I’ve never seen it until now.”
The pink unicorn then noticed a large pile of parchment sitting on a desk. “Could this be that comic that Spike was working on when he was upset?”
Starlight let her curiosity get the better of her and she started reading it. The crudely drawn comic showed Humdrum highly depressed because of the fact that Radiance didn’t love him. At least until a pink unicorn showed up in the next panel.
“Hey!” Starlight told herself. “This drawing kind of looks like me!”
She continued reading. Apparently the pink unicorn was Marely Quinn, and according to the caption next to the panel, she used to be a
villain but was now friends with the Power Ponies.
“Actually, it probably is me.” Starlight realized. “Spike must have based this scenario on the first time I comforted him.”
She kept on reading out loud, until she got to the caption that said. “At that moment, Humdrum fell in love with Marely Quinn.”
Starlight gasped. Trixie was right! Spike is in love with me!