A Dragon's Heart

by NightShadow-z


Chapter 1

“What?!” A certain white unicorn shouted in disgust.

Spike stared at Rarity. The pearly white unicorn had been the object of his affection ever since he moved to Ponyville with his surrogate sister/best friend Twilight Sparkle. Her white coat looked like freshly fallen snow, her purple mane and tail reminded him of the purest purple diamonds. Her blue eyes were like radiant sapphires. And her smile could melt both his brain and his heart. But, today, her smile was replaced with a look of absolute disgust.

“I- I said I love you, Rarity. And I always have.” Spike told her. They were the only two inside her boutique, and the look on Rarity’s face made his heart twist and ache so painfully, it felt like an army of dragons were waging war against an army of Windegoes inside of it. He was afraid this would happen, but he still had to face it, instead of running away from it, like he did for so long.

“But, Spike,” Rarity started, causing him to wince at the tone in her voice. “I’m a pony. And you're a dragon. It’s… it’s just not natural for a dragon to love a pony.” Spike was sure the Windegoes were beating the dragons now. “I mean… ponies should love ponies. And dragons should love dragons. It’s only natural that way.” She nodded to herself as if everyone thought that way. And the Windegoes were doing a victory dance in his heart.

Spike stared at Rarity, feeling the cold numbness in his chest start to ache as if his heart were shattering with the Windegoes’ icey dance. Hoping to distract from the pain, he looked around the boutique, all the mannequins had either a suit or a dress, whether finished or unfinished, of the newest clothing line she was working on. Several rolls of fabric lay by her sewing desk, showing that she was either planning on using those or forgot to put them away when he came over to visit.

He continued to trace the back wall, leading to the supply closet that held all her rare jewels that they found together. He quickly moved his eyes away from it, the memories being bittersweet. A little further along the wall showed the stairs leading up to Rarity’s room and studio, the bathroom, and Sweetie Belle’s room, who was now in Canterlot, studying musical theory. Along the left wall were the kitchen and washroom entries, the aroma of cake coming from the former, causing him to wish that his birthday was later than next week.

Looking back at Rarity, Spike was surprised to see a softer look on her face, her red glasses balancing on the bridge of her muzzle. “Are you alright, Spike?” She asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“Y-yeah..” He lied, faking a soft smile. “I just remembered that I had to pick up a few new quills and ink pots for Twilight. She’s busy writing a checklist for the upcoming party.”

He felt bad for lying to her, but he had to clear his head for a bit. He was afraid of his own feelings suddenly and didn’t want to face them just yet.

“I understand. Do tell Twilight hello for me, and remind her not to work too hard.” Rarity requested, acting as if their conversation didn’t happen. He wondered how she got her strength but decided not to dwell on it.

Giving her a friendly nod, he turned back towards the purple and blue diamond patterned door to leave. “I will. Tell me how the new designs go.” He replied, trying to keep his voice from cracking as he opened the door, and stepped out.

*****
As Spiked walked through Ponyville, his thoughts and heart were tearing at him, threatening to consume him with sadness and fear. The warm dirt beneath his feet felt cold to him suddenly, as if everything around became icy along with his thoughts. The town hall and Sugar Cube Corner passed by him in a blur, or maybe he just distracted with more somber things. He looked up at the cloudless sky, as if expecting to see a rain cloud over his head, or suddenly block out the sun, but he knew that Rainbow Dash and the weather team were on break today and weren’t scheduling any rainstorms until that Friday.

He was so distracted in his self-musings that he barely noticed a confused looking Applejack before jumping out of the way so he didn’t fall on or squish her, as he was as tall as Luna now, having a growth spurt about a couple months ago. He looked over at the orange farm mare with a sheepish smile.

“Well, land sakes, Spike,” She said, staring at him with a somewhat confused, somewhat concerned look. “Y’all flopped away faster than a freshly caught fish in tha middle o’ a heat wave.” She then trotted over to him and offered her forehoof to him.

“Heh… Sorry, AJ,” Spike apologized, grabbing her hoof and letting her help pull him up to a sitting position. “I guess I’m just a bit distracted.”

She gave him a deadpan stare, telling him that she didn’t buy his lie for a second. Well, they didn’t call her the living lie detector for nothing.

“Ah’d say yer a bit more than distracted. Seeing as you probably came from Rarity’s place, and were heading back to Twi’s castle, Ah’m guessin’ somethin’ happened while you were there to put you in a foul mood.” She deduced easily, walking back to her apple stand. “Let me guess. She was in tha middle o’ a date with a stallion when Y'all got there.”

Spike chuckled sadly. “I wish it was something as easy to deal with as that.” He replied.

Not giving her a chance to ask what he meant, Spike relayed what happened at Rarity’s boutique.

*****

It took about forty-five minutes for Spike to relay what happened to Applejack, mostly because there were still ponies walking up to buy some apples, as it was a busy market day. Now, however, he sat there with a crestfallen expression, staring at his claws and feet, while Applejack silently stewed over it all.

“Ah just can’t believe Rarity would just say somethin’ like that…” She finally muttered, sounding pretty mad about the whole ordeal. “Ah mean, it’s not like her to not take your own feelings into account.”

Spike simply sighed before standing up again. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it right now. I’m just going to head back to the castle before I break down out here.” He told her.

“That’s probably a good idea. Tell Twi what’s goin’ on and see if she has any advice fer ya.” The farm mare replied with a reassuring smile. “Ah’ll see if I can talk to Rarity ‘bout all this.”

Spike nodded before continuing his walk back to the glistening blue sparkle shaped castle, wanting to just crawl into bed and cry for a few hours, but he knew that he should also talk to Twilight about what happened, too. Little did he know, that the day was just about to get more complicated and a lot longer.