//------------------------------//
// Rarity 
// Story: Spike Snuggles Everypony 
// by B_25 
//------------------------------//


~ Rarity ~


The streets were quiet. The sky was dark. A baby dragon stood before a very large door.

"You can do it, Spike," he said to himself, lifting a claw to the alabaster door. "Just go in, commission the order, and see what happens from there." His knuckles grazed the wood, retreating immediately upon the faintest touch. "And if things go well, so what? You're just gonna spend the rest of the evening with the most beautiful unicorn alive."

Instead of knocking on the door, his claw fell to his side, and he hung his head in shame. "It's hopeless."

"Most certainty with that attitude," a voice said from above, causing him to raise his head. He blushed at his proximity to the alabaster unicorn, who had opened the door without him noticing, and wore a knowing smile upon her lips. "Do you have a request for me or just here to pay me compliments?"

"Buh."

"Either reason will net you an invitation inside."

Spike felt his heart ready to explode as all his blood rushed to his cheeks, which stung every-time he moves his lips, trying to usher out words only to utter strained gasps. Rarity tilted her head in confusion, but her ever-growing smile spoke of just how familiar she'd grown to the drake's bizarreness.

"But choose quickly," she said, nudging his shoulder with a hoof, "or else we're both stuck in the cold."

Spike snapped out of his daze from that, reaching into the pouch tied to his hip, and pulling out a small scroll. He held it up, the winds taking it within its cold grasp before a blue aurora manifested around it, unrolling it and presenting it before its owner's eyes.

Spike stood silently as the mare began to read his drawing. For the moment, he couldn't stop shaking in fear of possible rejection, or worse, mockery at his art. He rubbed his claws together, both to keep warm and exhaust his nervous energy.

"You want an order done?" she said, head popping from the right of the floating scroll.

"Two actually," he replied, exerting his willpower just to look up into her shimmering blue eyes. Was he asking for too much? "One for me and one for Twilight."

She gazed at him curiously, before rolling the scroll back up, and floating it alongside her as she stepped inside the boutique. "Come along then, darling, we've much to discuss."

Spike gulped, looking over his shoulder one last time to the moonlit sky. He then followed her inside.




"I must confess my admiration for your prowess in illustrations," Rarity said, eyes scanning the scroll laid on the table between the two, before looking up to the drake. "Just where did you learn to draw like this, Spikey?"

"To be honest,' Spike said from the couch, holding a cup of tea with both his claws, "I picked it up from working with you. I may have also stolen some drawing from you trash bin—but only because I wanted to learn from them!"

"I see." She levitated her glass, swirling the red liquid within before taking a few timely sips. Then, she spoke. "I hope you don't mind my saying this, Spike, but it seems that a dragon of your ability should be able to invent outfits not as cliche as the ones present."

"I wouldn't say that," Spike said, immediately regretting doing so, as a voice spoke up from inside him.

'Stop selling yourself short!' Dash's echoed. 'And get on with telling her what you came here to do!'

"But the outfits are supposed to be like that," Spike quickly added, placing his cup on the table while looking deeply into Rarity's eyes; an act that was less scary when he had a reason other than admiration. "It's taken from a book Twilight and I used to read. It was about this Princess stuck in a tower, and a knight has to defeat a dragon in order to save her."

Rarity scrunched up her muzzle. "And you want to draw inspiration from such a thing?"

"Not exactly," the words tumbled out of his mouth, a blush gracing his cheeks. "Look, I'm about to tell you something that I've never told anypony else before—you have to promise not to laugh or tell anypony else!"

"My my," Rarity said, levitating her glass back to the stand. "Of course! What are friends for but to keep each other secrets?"

Spike smiled at the subtle mention of the two being friends, a lesson he had already learned days priors, but still enjoyed relearning. He leaned forward, keeping his voice hushed as he spoke. "When Twilight and I were extremely young, I always had it in my head that she was a Princess as well—no matter how many times she told me otherwise."

"Oh? I see."

"She got used to it after a while, but then, one day, she read me that book," he closed his eyes at the memory, chuckling painfully at it. "I bawd my eyes out by the time she finished it. For whatever reason, I thought I was the dragon in the book, keeping Twilight locked in the same room with me, holding her back from making friends and going out into the world."

"Oh Spike," Rarity said, her tone of concern, "you know such thinking is absurd, right?"

"I do now," Spike replied, opening his eyes to focus back on her, "but I didn't back then. My crying got so bad that Twilight had to make a few...adjustments to the story."

"How so?"

It was Spike's turn to smile. "She re-wrote so that the Princess possessed these special powers, something which evil knights and ponies alike wanted to steal her for, but the dragon protected her from them all. Not only that, but since it was these two against the world, the dragon and the Princess eventually became best friends."

Rarity kept silent, a smile once again on her lips, growing in size as she saw what this was leading to.

"The dragon would look after the Princess, cleaning up her messes and listening to her lectures, playing games and talking all night," he said, feeling his eyes beginning to water. "One day, she dubbed him with a role, one he would always uphold till the day he died. It required only two things of his: to protect her, and always be there for her."

Rarity waited patiently for the drake to continue, who was rubbing his eyes.

"The Princess dubbed the dragon as her number-one assistant," Spike said, his voice cracking as he could no longer hold back the damn, "and t-they lived happily ever after." Then Spike began to cry, not meaning to get so caught up in the memories of the past, but only by examining them once again did he realize how precious they were to his heart.

"Oh, Spike." Rarity was quick to leave her seat, even quicker to cut the distance between her and the couch, not wasting a precious second to lift this poor creature in her magic and float him towards her. Once he was close, she ceased her magic, letting him fall to her chest, as she took his weight and laid back on the couch, wrapping her hooves around the spines on his back. "It's alright. Everything's going to be alright."

"How can you be so sure?!" Spike cried, burring his face onto the white fur of her chest, his sobs muffled by her coat. "It's all I've been thinking about! I...I've been so worried about losing her that I went out to become a better dragon, only for me to fail in being there for her!"

"Hush now, Spike, I promise you it's not like that." She felt her become moist with his tears, but did not mind whatsoever as she raised a hoof to his head, softly stroking his head spines. "We may not have known each other for very long, but I can very well see the connection you share. It's so fundamental to who you are, to who she is, that few ponies will ever know the depth of the trust you have for one another."

"I...I just miss her so much," he said, his sobs beginning to die down. "It's only been a few days, but it's the longest we've ever been away from each other. I want to see Twilight again; I just want to make everything right again."

"And we will, my darling." Rarity brought her lips to his forehead, peppering it with light kisses as she spoke. "We'll make those outfits by the end of tonight, and when we're done, she'll be in for the most wonderful surprise. You can say everything you need to say to her then."

His snout brushed just under her throat, his eyes traveling up the warm features of her face, coming to lock with her eyes as he posed his innocent question. "A-And you think it'll work out in the end?" he wiped his eyes, feeling all of the sudden tired. "That w-we'll all live happily ever after?"

"Without a doubt," she said, smiling. "Without a doubt."

He smiled back, sniffling. He then looked over at the clock, frowning at the time. "Guess we s-should probably get to work then?"

If he was honest, something he'd learned to be while on the farm, Spike wanted nothing more than to stay like this for just a few moments longer. Rarity's embrace was divine, her warmth quelling his sadness, the soft rise and fall of her chest paving an easy route to the dreamscape. Hugging Rarity was like hugging perfection itself, but of course, there was still work that had to be done before the drake could have his happy ending with Twilight.

It seemed he wasn't the only who felt this way, for, a hoof wrapped around his neck and pulled him against her body, as the shadow of a blanket came over them both.

"A long night before us, Spike," Rarity said, her horn ignited in a blue glow, as the blanket fell upon the duo. "So we might as well gather whatever rest we can before we begin to work, wouldn't you agree, darling?"

She received no response, other than claws wrapping around her barrel, as the drake pressed his face fully again her chest. Rarity indulged in the sensation of his smooth scales, hearing light snores but a few moments later. She stayed awake for quite some time, just stroking the fins of the little dragon, wondering how such a creature could ever become so adorable.

"Never change," she whispered into his ear, knowing it to be in vain, but proceeding anyway. "Ponies may become afraid of you, dragons may call you a wimp, but your heart is filled with a gold that neither of them could ever hope to obtain—never lose your innocence, Spike, never forget who you are."

She felt the drake grip her tighter.

"I promise," he mumbled in his sleep.

Rarity embraced him with both her hooves, squeezing him as lightly as she could, as she whispered one last thing into his ear.



"Thank you, Spike."