//------------------------------// // The Chosen One // Story: The Sweetest Gem // by The Rarispy //------------------------------// Why is this happening? I’ve never blushed around Spike like this before! What’s wrong with me? Is this what ‘love’ is supposed to feel like?   Sweetie’s running slowed the further she got from the Carousel Boutique. When she finally made it to the park, she stopped at a tree, very much out of breath. Although her body began to calm down, her mind was running rampant.   So… it’s true, then. It really is true. I thought that I had a crush on Spike, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know I could fall in love! I thought I was too young to like somepony like that, but… Rarity says I do, and nopony else would know better than her. I guess I knew it all along. The way I looked at him. I wouldn’t gaze at anypony else like that. Wow. I didn’t even know a pony could like a dragon. I always thought I’d have a crush on a colt… like everypony else.   What do I do now? Should I actually do something about it? Do I really want him to know that I have a crush on him? Do I want anyone to know I have a crush on Spike? What if it’s really weird for a pony to like a dragon?   And even worse, what if Spike doesn’t lo— like me back? I’m a pony who likes a dragon, but what if dragons can’t have a crush on ponies? What If they only like other dragons? I’ve already become really good friends with Spike, and if I told him that I like him, then maybe he, he’ll think I’m just a sick freak and he won’t even want to be my friend anymore!   Tears welling up in her eyes, she buried her head in the thick trunk. What? What do I do next?   "Oh, dear! Are you okay?" Sweetie’s glistening eyes looked up to see a timid yellow pegasus looking down at her with a deeply concerned face.   "I-I'm fine, Fluttershy. Nothing's wrong," she replied.   "Are you sure? You looked upset. Is everything alright?" asked Fluttershy.   "Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m happier than a buzzing bee,” she stated, putting on a false grin and breaking into a trot.   "Um, okay,” said Fluttershy, shyly shuffling her hooves. “But you know, Sweetie Belle, if you ever need to talk to somepony, you can always come by my cottage. I'd be more than happy to talk."   "Thanks, Fluttershy. But I’m fine, honestly.”   The sun had almost completely set as Sweetie Belle walked up to her bedroom. When she came home, Rarity had already finished her important dress and Spike had gone home. Sweetie mostly isolated herself in her room for the rest of the day, thinking about her situation.   I can’t tell Fluttershy or Rarity, because they might think I’m weird for liking a dragon. I guess… I just have to keep these feelings to myself and not tell anyone.   When she walked into her room, her older sister was tidying up her bed for her.   “Hello Sweetie,” said Rarity. “Don’t mind me. I just decided to straighten up your bed for you tonight. You seem like you’ve had a long day.”   “Thanks Rarity,” said Sweetie Belle as she climbed into bed. “I guess I’ve had a pretty weird day.” Rarity was going to say good night, but she sighed and decided she needed to confront her younger sister.   “Sweetie Belle deary, you simply must tell me if something is wrong. You barely even had a scrap of your supper, and you’ve been acting, well… very out of sorts as of late. Is something troubling you? Anything at all?”   “Nothing’s wrong,” Sweetie replied. “I’m just exhausted. We were out crusading all day and… it’s just been crazy. But I’m fine, really.”   “You’re overwhelmed. Don’t worry, I know the feeling. Good night, Sweetums. Let’s hope you feel better tomorrow.”   “Yeah. Good night, Rarity.” Rarity gave her sister a gentle kiss on the horn and almost left the room, but after a minute, she turned around again.   “Sweetie Belle? I just wanted to tell you, you’re my little sister, and I care for you a lot. If you ever had a problem and didn’t know who to turn to, I’ll always be there to help. Do you understand?”   Sweetie nodded. When Rarity went back downstairs however, she clearly had a look of disappointment on her face.   “Oh, Sweetie Belle… why won’t you just tell me that you’re in love?”   He was surrounded in all directions by fearsome ninja ponies. They closed in on him. Being ambushed on the roof of a zeppelin, the tall and handsome young dragon was running out of options.   “Looks like I’ve got no other choice. If you don’t all get out of my way, you’re going to PAY!”   “Just try and stop us,” the lead ninja retorted. “If you so much as make a single move, you’ll never see her again!”   “Very well, then.”   The bold and hunky dragon took a deep inhale. He then unleashed a great storm of fire breath, spewing it at his enemies. The ninja ponies were so frightened that they all jumped off the zeppelin, deploying their parachutes as they descended.   “Not a single move,” he proudly stated.   “YAAAAHHHH!” The lead ninja, the only one left, drew his Wakizashi and charged at the great firebreather of purple and green.   But the young, heroic dragon was exceptionally crafty. He quickly took a side-step, leading the ninja to instead fall right off of the edge of the zeppelin.   “You haven’t seen the last of us, Spike the Chosen One!” he yelled as he deployed his own parachute.   With all the ninjas defeated, the young dragon climbed back into the zeppelin and charged through its halls, until he finally punched open the door that stood between him and his fair maiden, tied to a chair and about to fall off the bridge.   “EEYAAHH! Somepony save me!” she yelled. The young dragon dashed towards her as fast as he could.   “I’m coming, my fair Rarity!” And with a swift jump into the air, he grabbed one of the chair’s legs with one hand, and the rail of the bridge with the other, and set the fair maiden down. Next, he pulled out his army knife and quickly untied her.   “Oh, thank you, Spike the Chosen One!” said the fair maiden. “You’re my incredibly handsome and dashing hero!”   “It was all in a day’s work, my fair Rarity.” Her purple mane blew in the high winds. No other maiden could look so beautiful at this altitude.   They both puckered their lips and closed their eyes as they got ready to share a kiss. The young dragon eventually opened his eyes, but when he did, he didn’t see the fair maiden anymore, but rather… a much younger filly.   “Hi, Spike!”   “YAAAHHHH!”   Spike sat up in his basket. His awesome dream of rescuing Rarity had gone well until the end, when she suddenly turned into Sweetie Belle.   Oh, man. Just when I had finally gotten some sleep, too. Ugh, why does Sweetie Belle keep getting into my head? Ever since she gave me that big sapphire and suddenly ran out of Rarity’s shop, I’ve just been thinking about her all day! I still wish I knew why she ran out. She seemed really scared. Why?   Feeling restless, he gazed out the window, at Luna’s moon and all the stars twinkling in the sky. It was probably his imagination, but they seemed like they weren’t twinkling as brightly as they normally would. The only other light in the room was the shine cast by Sweetie Belle’s sapphire, which made Spike squint when he looked in its direction.   “It was probably just a bad dream,” he scoffed. “Maybe if I try sleeping again, I’ll have a much better dream… about Rarity this time, I hope.”   The next morning, Rarity woke up earlier than usual and decided to use that time to prepare a hearty breakfast for herself and Sweetie Belle. As she added the last touch of garnish, a shining light out the window told her that Princess Celestia had just finished raising the sun.   “This enriching meal should be just the thing to lift that little filly’s mood,” Rarity said to herself. “Maybe now, she’ll feel entrusted enough to fully share her feelings with me. I’ve read more than enough romance novels to see right through that persistent little wall of denial. She’s a pony in love and just can’t find the strength to tell me.” There’s also the fact that several of those novels have recently gone missing from my shelf.   Just as she finished setting the table, Sweetie Belle came into the kitchen.   “Ugh, good morning,” she said.   “Good morning, Sweetu— AAH!”   “AAH! Wh-what’s wrong?” Sweetie asked, panicking. “Is there something in my teeth?”   “Honestly honey, your teeth should be the least of your worries! You look positively awful!” Rarity exclaimed, examining Sweetie’s mane and face. "Sweet Celestia, did you have trouble falling asleep last night?"   "No. Well, maybe a little bit..." Sweetie meekly replied. “Whoa! You made breakfast early this morning.”   “Not entirely. You overslept, darling.” She levitated a comb over and started straightening out her sister’s frazzled mane. “Now, why don’t you come over and have breakfast while I ask you some questions about this friend of yours who’s in love?”   Sweetie Belle gulped. Get me out of here. Right now.   “Maybe she overslept or something, I don’t know,” said Scootaloo. She and Apple Bloom were both walking down the path to the Carousel Boutique. “Or maybe she wasn’t even paying attention when we all agreed that we were going to have a meeting at the clubhouse this morning.”   “Hey now,” scolded Apple Bloom. “That’s awful harsh, don’t ya think?”   “Well, it’s true! Haven’t you seen her lately? She keeps getting distracted and not paying attention to anything when we’re doing stuff! We tried running a paper route the other day and she kept throwing them into the ponies’ yards and windows! And you remember what she did yesterday when we were trying to be chemists…”   “Well, whatever it is, it’s probably not her fault,” said Apple Bloom. Scootaloo made an uneasy grunt before she knocked on the Boutique’s door. Sweetie Belle was the one who answered it, a look of relief on her face.   “There you are!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Apple Bloom and I were waiting for you! We were gonna hold a meeting at the clubhouse today, remember?”   “We were?” Scootaloo glared at her, and then shot Apple Bloom an annoyed expression, her theory confirmed. “Well, okay then. Sorry for being late. Um… bye, sis! I’m going out with the Crusaders now!”   “What?” replied Rarity with a surprised look on her face. “But you haven’t finished your breakfast yet! I still had more things to talk about!”   “That’s okay, I’m full anyway! I’ll see you later!” She went out the door with her friends, sighing as soon she was out. “Thank goodness,” she quietly muttered to herself.   "Oh,” said Rarity to herself. “I thought for sure I could get Sweetie Belle to admit that she’s the one with a crush, and on whom. I have to make sure that she doesn’t get hurt, like I did with that big blowhard of a prince…”   Going to close the door, she almost stumbled on Opalescence. The cat yowled at Rarity in response, angry at having been woken up from her nap.    “All right, I’ve had just about enough of this!” exclaimed Rarity, as she growled in frustration. “As soon as that filly is home again, I’ll see to it that she opens up about her love one way or another! You’d think we’ve bonded as sisters enough that she would feel comfortable enough with me, but apparently not! I have to take matters into my own hooves before— before her heart is broken.”   "And then, we're going to hit Sugarcube Corner and see if we can get our Cutie Marks in frosting cakes and cupcakes!”  Scootaloo recapped. “How does that sound?”   “Well…” said Sweetie. “That could work, I guess. Or if we aren’t good at baking sweets, we could always see how good we are at making tasty treats. I wouldn’t mind a cake-maker’s Cutie Mark like the Cakes.”   “Hmm, I guess so, but… didn’t we try baking things last week?” asked Scootaloo.   “Did we?” said Sweetie. “I don’t remember... Wait, oh yeah! We did. Oops. I’m sorry.”   “That’s alright,” said Scootaloo. “Anyways, after that, we're gonna stop by Vinyl's studio to… uh, what were we gonna do there again, Apple Bloom?"   "Well, I was just thinkin' that maybe our Cutie Marks could be music-related," explained Apple Bloom. "And Vinyl's studio would be the perfect place to test it out! Maybe she'll let us play with her microphones and those big stereo speakers..." While she continued speaking, Sweetie put her head to the floor, still in a flux about her crush.   I wish there was somepony I could talk to, but who can I trust that not call me a freak? I know I can’t tell Spike. He probably doesn’t like me back, I’m sure of it. Whatever happens, I don’t want to risk our friendship.   Why did I have to have a crush now, and on Spike of all po— Err… Why can’t I just be a filly and have fun, and worry about a crush when I’m older? And it’d be much simpler if it was a PONY that I liked!   "—and maybe we can spin some records on the turntables and play some jams!" Scootaloo jumped up in excitement. "Yeah! I bet I would make a great DJ! Just imagine the Cutie Mark! What do you think, Sweetie Belle?" After gaining only silence in reply, Scootaloo adopted a puzzled expression. "Um, Sweetie Belle? Yo! Equestria to Sweetie Belle! HELLO!"   "Huh? What?" Sweetie was awoken from her thoughts as an orange pegasus shook her shoulders, looking very annoyed.  "Oh, uh... yeah! I think that's a great idea, Scootaloo! Um, what was your idea again?"   "Ugh! Man, what is with you lately?" Scootaloo huffed. "You keep forgetting about our meetings, and you’re never focused anymore! I’m the one whose head should be in the clouds!"    “I don’t know, I guess I’ve just had some things on my mind. I don’t want to talk about it, okay?”   "What are you so caught up with that ya can't even tell us?" Apple Bloom inquired. "We're your friends, Sweetie Belle. We'd listen to any problems you had. You never know, maybe my special talent is helping other ponies’ problems!" Her fellow Crusader just growled in response to yet another reassurance card.   If I wanted to talk to anypony, then I'd talk! I don’t need everypony holding my hoof everywhere. I’m a big filly now! "It's nothing, okay! I don't need to talk to you or anypony! Not Fluttershy, not Rarity, not anypony else! I'M FINE!"   "I- I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle. I just... wanted t’a..." Apple Bloom was almost on the verge of tears. Her friends were yelling all around her. Sweetie Belle drew back, realizing what she was doing.   "No, Apple Bloom. I'm sorry." She gave Apple Bloom a gentle hug. "It's just, I can’t take it anymore. Everypony's been trying to get me to talk to them about my problems. I'm sick of it! Why can't everypony just leave me alone?" By this point, Scootaloo's anger had faded, and she started shuffling her hoof on the floor in guilt. She hadn’t meant to make Sweetie so angry.   "Look Sweetie Belle, I really don't mean anything mean by this, but you have been acting kind of weird lately. It really seems like something's bugging you, and... well, I think that maybe you should take the day off.”   "What? But I—"   "Please, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo continued. "I'm your best friend and I'm really worried about you. Please try to understand."   "But—"   Apple Bloom put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry none. If Scootaloo and I get our Cutie Marks today without you, then we won't rest until you've gotten yours too!" Sweetie was about to make a rebuttal, but she sighed in defeat. She wasn't going to get out of this.   They’re right. I know they’re right. She sadly began to walk towards the door.   "Hey, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo called.   "Yeah?"   "Listen, I know you said you're sick of everypony saying the same things, but... you know what I think? I think that maybe you should try talking to somepony instead of keeping it all a secret."   "Yeah," Apple Bloom chimed in. "Applejack told me that when you keep your problems all bottled up, it just ain't good for ya at all and if you keep it up, then eventually that bottle will explode!"   Sweetie nodded in understanding. "Thanks, guys." She waved to her friends as she exited the clubhouse.   As she walked away, she considered her options and made a decision. “Alright, I have to do this.” She gulped. “Let’s just hope Fluttershy won’t think I’m sick.”