//------------------------------// // Apologies // Story: Role Reversal // by JaketheGinger //------------------------------// Spike, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie were walking merrily together through Ponyville. They actually had no particular idea where they were heading; they just enjoyed walking with each other. But two ponies were absent from the group and that didn’t escape from Spike’s mind. There was one in particular that he desperately wanted to see. He started to squirm uncomfortably, which Twilight caught notice of. “Are you okay Spike?” she asked, looking up at him. “Erm, yes!” he lied. Twilight could see through it easily and kept staring at him. The other two started to peer at him two, wondering what was wrong. “Ok ok! I er, just want to see how Rarity is doing because of...y’know...” he mumbled at the end. “I, um, was just about to suggest the same idea.” Fluttershy said. “Well, consider it settled then!” Applejack led the way to Rarity’s boutique. “Wait wait wait.” Spike said. The others stopped walking. “What if she hates me?” He began to look nervous at the prospect of talking to her again. “If yer apologise and are sincere about it, she’ll forgive ya.” Applejack gave the dragon a reassuring smile. "She can't be all sad and grumpy forever!" Pinkie added. “I suppose you’re right.” Spike sighed and the group started moving again. “But if I become a nervous wreck, you guys are helping me okay?” Twilight giggled lightly. “Of course we will Spike.” “Thanks.” He smiled at Twilight. As they headed towards Carousel Boutique (it was their best guess as to where Rarity was), each stepped intensified Spike’s nervousness. What if she never wanted to see him again? What if she still upset? He couldn’t bear to see her teary face... Twilight could spot this building up in Spike. “It’ll be okay Spike.” she said softly. “I know that. Well...I don’t but I hope it will be. My body just won’t stop piling on the nerves though!” he gritted his teeth. “Ya just gotta go in there and do what ya gotta do. We’ll be right behind ya every step of the way.” Applejack said. As they arrived, the once elegant building appeared to be extremely daunting for Spike. Probably because it held his inevitable fate. His friends looked at him with hopeful gazes. They wouldn’t be the ones to open the door first. That was up to Spike and him only. He reluctantly walked up to the door and with a trembling claw, rapped on it softly. Silence. “Maybe she’s not in?” Fluttershy pondered. "No worries, I'll get her!" Pinkie chirped, preparing to set off. “No no.” Spike said with a wavering sigh. “I’ll try again.” He knocked on the door again with slightly more gusto. There was another silence but eventually the door swung open, revealing Rarity. Her mouth hung agape slightly as she saw the dragon but she said nothing. Spike cleared his throat. It was now or never. “Hi Rarity. I just...I just want to apologise for all the...y’know...” he waved his claw around in the air, hoping she would get what he was hinting at. “But I really am sorry!” he said more seriously. “It wasn’t right of me to lie to you...” he wanted to look away but his eyes were fixed onto the unicorn. She walked away, deeper into her abode. Everyone outside was stunned at her action. Was it an invitation, or a rejection? Yet they all stood there, waiting for confirmation. Eventually she returned. Thankfully, she had a small smile on her face. She then levitated a piece of paper in front of the group. Her picture was not yet finished but it was evidently clear what she was drawing. Spike didn’t have time to look at it though, for it floated past him and closer to the others. Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie (who in particular was very vocal about her praise of the drawing) took a gander at it but Twilight remained focused on Spike and Rarity. Spike looked at the picture as it levitated past him, which meant that he was caught off guard by a sudden hug from Rarity. Admittedly, he did not expect this reaction although he secretly hoped for it. He eagerly returned the embrace but had to hold back some of his strength; he didn't want to crush her. He found himself speechless but luckily, Rarity was the one to speak first. “And I’m sorry for the way I reacted, Spike.. I must admit...sometimes I can be a bit of a drama queen.” she said. Applejack looked to Fluttershy, who put a hoof to her mouth, subtly telling her to be quiet. “I’m more sorry.” Spike spoke. “Yes, I know. But I’m sorry too. Okay?” she smirked slightly as she released her hold over him. He smiled lightly in return. Rarity then gave Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie her attention. “It’s not finished yet but when I do complete it, I will show you. It shall be fabulous!” she chimed. She then floated the artwork to Spike. It was a perfect representation of that happy day. However, one pony was missing. “Rarity?” Spike said to grab the mare’s attention. “Yes Spike?” she asked sweetly. “Do you think you could add Twilight in the drawing?” Rarity peered at the said filly. The small unicorn was positively beaming at the mention of Spike’s request. The sight made Rarity’s heart melt. “How could I not add her? She’s simply adorable!” she then levitated the drawing back inside, putting it on the table. “Thanks Rarity. It’ll mean a lot to me. And Twilight, of course.” “It’s no problem at all Spike.” Rarity fell back into the Boutique, inviting the others inside. “Would you like to come in?” “I would but...” All of the group’s eyes focused on Spike. “There’s one more mare I have to see first.” Applejack smiled proudly. “Like ah said Spike: do what ya gotta do.” “Do you want us to come with you?” Fluttershy queried. “No...this is something I should do on my own.” “Just because you ‘should’ doesn’t mean you have to.” Twilight stated. Spike blinked. Twilight always had a knack for making good points that often made his own redundant. “I know Twilight but...” he wanted to do this on his own yet he knew Twilight wouldn’t give up so easily. “Rarity needs you around so she can draw you well!” Twilight looked at Spike, then at Rarity. She sighed in defeat. “Fine.” she walked dejectedly into the Boutique. “I’ll be back soon. So stop your moaning!” he scolded in the manner of an old mare. Twilight couldn’t help but snicker at his tone of voice. “Hehe, okay.” “Good. I’ll see you all soon.” he said, giving the group a final wave before setting off. For his conscience to be clear, he needed to apologise to Rainbow Dash. This would be the hardest of them all but if he could do it alone, then he could prove that he was a stronger dragon for making the wish. As he walked, he looked up at the sky for a telltale lone cloud. Unfortunately, more clouds were in the sky (rain was needed soon) which made the task more difficult. He didn’t want to shout for her either since that may aggravate her. His longer legs made getting around a lot faster and easier with less effort, which was something at least. After circling around Ponyville, he found no sign of the daredevil pegasus so he decided to wander the outskirts of the town. A light breeze had now developed that was quite refreshing as the Sun began making its descent to make way for the night. Even at the outskirts though, there was no sign of her. He was about to give up, when he heard a grunt nearby. Turning around, he found Scootaloo lying on her stomach. She didn’t appear to be injured but she did seem quite annoyed. She grumbled something about her wings and slowly stood up. “Geez, are you alright?” he looked down at her, inspecting the filly for any bruises. “Yeah I’m fine...” she grumbled. “Rainbow Dash is teaching me to fly.” the disgruntled filly added. “Rainbow Dash?” Spike looked up, meeting with the gaze of the rainbow maned pegasus, standing on a cloud floating close to the ground. “Hey.” she uttered. “Uh...hey?” Spike replied. Rainbow’s nonchalant greeting threw him off guard. However, it did mean that he could afford to be casual with his apology. “Look, Rainbow, I’m sorry for--” “It’s cool.” she interrupted. She seemed to be focusing more on Scootaloo than Spike. Rainbow lowered her cloud, allowing Scootaloo to climb up. Once the filly was ready, she raised the cloud and allowed her to try again. Scootaloo took a deep breath and began to flutter her wings. She then leapt off the cloud, desperately trying to keep aflight. Despite this effort, she fell to the ground again. However, she fell more slowly than an pony who didn’t bother trying to fly would. “Oof.” the trainee grunted. Spike ignored her (she didn’t seem to be in pain) and kept conversing with Rainbow. “It doesn’t seem ‘cool’.” “Well it is, okay?” Rainbow responded. “...really doesn’t seem like it.” Spike said, a little disgruntled at Rainbow’s attitude. He folded his arm, becoming a little more serious than before. Rainbow snorted. “I’m kinda busy here, can’t you see that!” She pointed at her student, who had backed down from the conversation. “Ok! Fine, I’ll leave you alone.” Spike raised his arms up defensively, then began to walk away. “I’ll see you later...I guess.” “Yeah, see ya.” Rainbow muttered, putting her full focus back on Scootaloo. “What was that about?” the filly asked. “It’s nothing.” she looked into Scootaloo’s eyes. The young pegasus practically begged for an answer. Rainbow sighed in defeat. “You’re not going to stop asking unless I spill the beans, right? Well, he lied to me about something big.” “So that’s why you don’t like him?” Scootaloo clambered back onto the cloud. “I still like him, he’s my friend after all. It’s just...better that I don’t see him at the moment.” “So...you’re cooling your jets?” Rainbow smirked at Scootaloo’s use of language. “Something like that.” The actual truth was that Rainbow didn’t want to explode in anger again and ruin the situation further. Besides, she couldn’t just abandon her teaching. “Right, now try again.” she commanded and her student complied. Spike, meanwhile, was well away from the ongoing lesson. He couldn’t tell if Rainbow still harbored a grudge towards him or if she was in a bad mood generally. Either way, he couldn’t say that he didn’t try to patch things up. He headed back to the Boutique and began to reflect on his time here. All in all, he thought he had done a pretty good job. Especially with Twilight. Just a couple days ago, she would’ve flinched at the mere mention of going outside. Now, she was in someone else’s house with more friends than ever before! He had set things back on course again. And that presented a problem. He was now conflicted more than ever before about whether to go back to his real home or not. In the old world, he had less responsibility upon his shoulders. All things considered, life was pretty good. In the wish world, he was taller, stronger, could control his fire and was directly involved with the others. This was both a positive and negative thing. Friendships are always rewarding but they can often be difficult; Rainbow was proof of that at times. And now that he was at the direct center of a whole group of friends, it became a whole lot tougher but also a lot more rewarding. And then there was Twilight. Whilst he may of brought her out of her shell here, he made one big mistake: He had become deeply attached to her. She was his best friend but also a daughter like figure to her. Out of all the reasons tying him down to this realm, she was the number one. But it still stuck in his mind that the old Twilight had a much better life than the filly Twilight did. In this world, she had no friends of her own age. For Spike, this was a major problem. Sure, he’s very young in comparison to the rest of the gang but...he was a dragon, so it didn’t really matter. He was more conflicted than ever about leaving. And it snuck up on him. A powerful gust of wind soon broke his thought process. It battered his form, although it was far from sending him to the ground. And then powerful gust disappeared as quickly as it arrived. Spike peered about searchingly. There was no breeze in the air but nearby ponies were looking at him in complete awe. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at himself. He seemed to be perfectly fine. Then a big shadow came over him. He realized the other ponies weren’t looking at him at all. Clenching his teeth, he turned around slowly. The sight that his eyes gazed upon nearly gave him a heart attack. Standing there in front of him was a being of infinite wisdom and power. A being so kind and yet so just as the same time. A being at old as Equestria itself. Then the being spoke four simple words that rocked Spike to his core: “Ah, my faithful student.”