Spike paced back and forth in the halls of the School of Friendship, he peeked around the corner and spotted Rarity, the light of the midmorning sun made her white coat glow and purple mane shine with an almost surreal beauty. Geez how can somepony be so perfect? Spike thought to himself. He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and marched around the corner, Ok Spike, you got this! This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, now go and seize it! Spike was mere feet away from the mare of his dreams, the distance growing shorter and shorter, but Spike’s resolve pushed the butterflies down. Finally he was standing face to face with her, she wore a warm smile, her sapphire eyes lighting up.
“Good morning Spike,” Rarity said in a sweet voice.
“Good morning Rarity. Hey, I want to ask you something.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Rarity, if I’m being completely honest, I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Heck I’ve wanted to do this for years, so I was wondering, would you like to go have lunch with me?”
Rarity smiled even wider than before, “Oh Spike, I’d love to! In fact, I have a confession to make. You see I too have been wanting to say something for some time.”
Spike was taken aback, “R-really? Well, um, what is it?”
“Oh Spike, dearest Spike! I can’t hide this any longer! When I was in Canterlot the only thing I could think of was you! I just couldn’t get you out of my mind,” Rarity’s face inched closer to Spike’s.
“Well… while you were gone, all I could think about is you,” Spike replied as he moved his own face closer.
“Spike, darling. I confess. I think I…”
“Yes?”
“I…”
Their lips were mere centimeters apart. Spike could feel the warmth of her breath, “Yes?”
“I love…”
“Yes?” Spike closed his eyes as he felt her lips brush against his.
BRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNG!!!!!!
The sound of a small brass hammer rapidly striking a bell woke Spike up from his blissful slumber. He groggily reached for the alarm clock and silenced it with an annoyed smack. Darn it, I was so close, Spike mentally and verbally groaned. Spike rolled out of the comfy warmth of his bed and gazed out the window. Celestia’s sun was barely crossing the horizon, the only ponies that’d be up at this hour would be the Apples. Normally the little dragon would want a few more minutes or hours of sleep, especially while healing from flaming rubber projectile injuries, but not today. Today was too important to sleep away. Rarity came back from her trip to Canterlot and Spike was determined to go through with his plan and no amount of sore wings or lack of sleep was going to deter him.
Spike started with his morning routine, making his bed, brushing his teeth and doing some stretches. Next he carefully unwrapped the bandages on his wings, they were still a little swollen and discolored, but they were looking better than before, Spike would have to remember to thank Zecora again for the ointment. He applied the salve to his wings, it had a cool yet warming feeling to it, and wrapped them up in fresh bandages. He looked at his clock, I still have enough time, he thought as he made his way over to his desk and with quill in claw began writing parchment after parchment, remembering to tie them up in color coded ribbon after each completed draft. After finishing the last of the multitude of scrolls he looked up at the clock, perfect timing, he thought as he gathered up the scrolls and placed them in a bag. He made his way downstairs to the castle’s kitchen and began making breakfast for himself, Twilight and Starlight.
A big day needs a big breakfast her concluded and began grabbing all the things he needed for a lavish pancake spread with berries and gems. He started mixing the eggs and flour as the pan heated up, Today’s finally the day! No more chickening out, no more excuses and no more weak knees. This dragon is finally going to get his lady. With his mix thoroughly whipped he started adding his batter to the pan and flipping when necessary, the smell of sweet, sweet pancakes wafting in the air and into the rest of the castle. So when should I ask her? Before classes or after classes? I’m sure she has a busy day ahead of her, I’ll just say I have to ask her something after classes. Bingo! Spike the Dragon, you got this in the bag! He concluded.
“My goodness, somepony is certainly in a good mood, what’s the occasion?” the sound of Twilight Sparkle brought Spike out of his daydreams as he finished off the last of the pancake batter.
“What do you mean Twi?”
“Fancy breakfast, a smile brighter than the sun, if I didn’t know any better I’d think there was something special happening today,” she said with a smirk.
“What this? Nah, this is nothing special, I just thought we could use a nice breakfast is all,” Spike responded.
A loud yawn cut through the room as Starlight took her seat at the table, “Whoa, that looks great Spike! I’m guessing you’re happy Rarity is back in town, huh?”
“W-what? Rarity? I-I just thought we could use a nice energizing breakfast,” Spike hid his blush behind a stack of pancakes.
“Of course you did,” Starlight rolled her eyes.
Magic auras started to glow around patches of pancakes and scoops of berries as Twilight and Starlight helped themselves to breakfast. What followed were some very satisfying sounds coming from both mares.
“Ooh Spike, these are delicious! Perfectly golden, fluffy and is that cinnamon I taste?” Twilight said when she paused to breathe.
“Sure is, I’m trying a new recipe I got from Applejack. It also called for an apple compote, but I didn’t have enough time to make that.”
“Doesn’t matter-“ Starlight took another bite, hummed with delight and swallowed “– these pancakes are out of this world! You’ve really outdone yourself this time Spike.”
“Well when you’ve been cooking for a princess as long as I have, you need to know your way around a kitchen,” Spike said as he popped a bite of pancakes and gems.
“Well it definitely shows, this is one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in a long time,” Twilight said after another serving.
“I’m glad you two like them so much. Hey Twilight can I ask a favor?”
“Sure thing Spike, what’s up?”
“I was wondering if I could have the afternoon off?”
Twilight paused eating, “Spike you know that I wanted your help going over the studying and testing schedule for the students today.”
“Funny you should say that Twilight-“ Spike stood up from his seat and dropped his large bag of parchments next to Twilight “- I already worked it out. I even got it color coded for the beginner classes, intermediate and advanced classes, as well as the times each professor can use for both reviewing and testing.”
Both Twilight and Starlight looked at Spike’s hard work with slack jaws and wide eyes. Twilight sifted through the bag and started inspecting the scrolls with a critical eye. Testing days for Applejack’s honesty honors course, review dates for Fluttershy’s empathy seminar, Rarity’s quilting test (Twilight noticed the little heart dotting the ‘i’ in her name), and even time slots where Starlight could meet with overly stressed students. Twilight looked over each scroll meticulously and came to the only conclusion she could, “It’s…prefect.”
“Soooo? Does that mean I’m off the hook?” Spike asked hopefully.
Twilight sighed, ”Yes Spike, you’re off the hook for the afternoon. But we still have a lot of work to do during school hours so no slacking off till later, deal?”
“Deal!” Spike went back to eating his meal with a renewed vigor, not noticing the two mares whispering to each other about a certain baby dragon and a certain unicorn.
After breakfast Twilight and Starlight headed off to the School of Friendship while Spike finished cleaning up the kitchen. After taking a minute or two to make sure he was clean and presentable he made his way out of the castle doors and towards school. He could barely keep his excitement in check as he skipped down the path, laughing and talking to himself as he went. What was he going to say when he saw her? What was she going to say to him? The images of last night’s dream came flooding back. Images of Rarity in all her glory, a perfectly coiffed mane that shined like amethyst, her coat as white and pristine as freshly fallen snow, and her eyes, oh boy, those eyes like the most incredible, bluest sapphires Spike’s ever seen in his whole life and as deep as the deepest ocean. And her lips, they looked so warm. So warm and-
“Ugh, am I interrupting something?” a voice said from out of thin air. Spike’s face turned an impressive shade of pink as he looked up to see an annoyed Discord looking down at him.
“Honestly I thought jellyfish, chickening out Spike was bad, now that I’m seeing love-struck Spike, ugh, gag me with a spoon,” Discord emphasized his annoyance by coughing up a silver spoon.
“W-what are you doing here Discord?” Spike asked trying his best to get rid of his blush.
“Dearest Fluttershy asked me to help teach her classes today. You know, to show how far a simple act of kindness etc. etc. and all that jazz”- Discord waved his claw dismissively- “and here I foolishly thought I was going to have a nice morning stroll to school. Instead I see a love-sick dragon practically radiating mushy feelings, caught in a daydream about a certain pony.”
“Discord! Not so loud! I-I was just thinking about what I’m going to say to Rarity when I see her,” Spike quickly looked around to see if any of the students overheard anything Discord said.
“My point is, if you’re going to daydream about Rarity can you at least do it in a way that doesn’t make me dry heave? Honestly I’m hoping you become less….this, when you finally ask her out on a date.”
Spike’s blush came back in full force, “IT’S NOT A DATE!” he clapped his claws over his lips as a few students stared from the outburst. Spike just chuckled awkwardly and picked up his pace, Discord close on his heels with a toothy grin.
“I just want to spend some time with her. I haven’t seen her in a while and I want to know what she’s been up to. What happened at Manehattan fashion week, her next clothing line, what she was doing in Canterlot and when our next gem-hunting trip will be.”
“Sounds like a date to me. I wonder how Twilight feels about her wittle dwagon going on his first big date?-” a wig that looked hyper realistically similar to Twilight’s appeared on Discord’s head “-Oh my stars! My Spike is growing up so fast! It seems like only yesterday I was giving him his first bath and he spoke his first words!” he said in his best mock Twilight before dropping the wig on a passing student.
“Cut it out Discord! I don’t need everypony in Ponyville to hear that,” Spike was praying to Celestia that something, anything, would happen to get the Lord of Chaos off his back as they both passed the doors into the school and through the student’s gossip circles.
“Listen can you do me a huge favor? Can you cut down on the chaos today? I don’t want anything ruining my chance at getting to spend time with Rarity.”
“My, my, my, aren’t we being a bit presumptuous? What makes you think I’d have time for chaos with a full day of helping Fluttershy? I’ll be so busy I’ll be lucky if I can turn gravity off for my lunch break,” Discord poofed a thick black book titled “Daily Planner” into his claw and opened it to today’s date showing his entire day was marked with “Helping Flutters with classes,” a little ways after that was “Tea party for two.”
“Also don’t tell anypony about me asking out Rarity. I want it to be a surprise.”
“Spike I think the only 'surprise' ponies will be talking about is the fact that you’re actually going through with this,” Discord said as he rolled his eyes.
“Discord!” a bright voice called out, the next thing either of them knew, Fluttershy made a beeline to Discord and gave him a big hug. Of course Discord gave her a big hug back.
“Oh I’m so glad you agreed to help teach my class, the students have been asking about you all week and you’re a perfect example how important kindness is in helping others,” Fluttershy said excitedly as she hovered around Discord.
“Yes, yes, Fluttershy, we’ve been over this before. Kindness, reformation, friendship is magic, etc., etc., let’s get this show on the road,” to any other pony Discord’s dismissive attitude would seem rude, but not to Fluttershy. She just giggled as he had his little huff over 'sappy crud' as he called it; she enjoyed getting a rise out of the trickster god. “Well I suppose this is where we part ways Spike, cheerio and remember not to overthink things,” and with that both Discord and Fluttershy vanished in a flash.
With what little time he had left, Spike continued his search for Rarity. What did Discord mean by “not to overthink things?” was it Discord being Discord i.e. be super vague to teach him a lesson or was he just giving good advice? Spike thought of the irony of overthinking about Discord’s parting words as he passed by more students and their idle gossip.
“Hey, did you hear the rumors about what’s going down in Canterlot?” said one student.
“Those protesters right? The ones who want Cozy Glow freed from Tartarus?” said another.
“Yeah apparently their leader…uh… Fuzzy Feeling! Yeah that’s her name, got another huge stack of signatures and even more volunteers to help her campaign and are planning a HUGE rally.”
“Ugh, don’t they know that Cozy Glow nearly erased all of the magic in Equestria and tried to overthrow Headmare Twilight? I think Tartarus is too good a place for somepony like her.”
“I don’t know,” chimed a third, “Tartarus is really harsh. I mean that’s where monsters like Tirek and hydras are locked up. You really think Cozy deserved that kind of punishment?”
Spike just rolled his eyes; he had better things to do than think about ridiculous rumors about a megalomaniacal pegasus filly that almost toppled the country in three days. Things like finally spotting Rarity having a conversation with Applejack! Spike hustled over to the fashonista and farmer as fast as he could without crashing into a student, “Rarity!” he called out, her ear swiveled a bit, not entirely sure she heard anything, “Rarity!” he called out again, this time Rarity turned her head, smiled and waved her hoof. Seeing her smile always put Spike in a great mood, how can anypony be as perfect as her?
“Good morning Rarity!”
“Good morning Spike, how are- oh dear! Spike, what in the world happened to your wings?” Rarity gasped.
Spike glanced at one of his bandaged wings, “Eh, rogue buckball accident, no biggie. Hey Rarity, I was wondering i-if it’s not too much trouble would you-“ Spike was cut off by the sound of the first bell, students began rushing around towards their respective classes as did Rarity and Applejack.
“Hold that thought darling, classes are starting. We can talk later!” Rarity waved to Spike as she turned a corner
“Stupid bell,” Spike grumbled. All of a sudden he was wrapped in a violet aura and placed on Twilight’s back.
“There you are Spike, I was looking everywhere for you! Remember I said no slacking off till after classes right? Now come on, history of friendship lessons won’t teach themselves,” as Twilight trotted off towards class Spike glanced back at the corner Rarity went passed. He’ll just have to wait and try again later.
The history of friendship class was one of the more popular courses one could take while attending the school of friendship, it’s mostly a class dedicated to “story time.” Each of the professors would teach it and add their own spin to each topic, which was mostly just recalling one of their adventures they had to save Equestria. Spike found himself on slide projector duty as Twilight told the story of King Sombra and his defeat at the Crystal Empire. Many of the students “oohs” and “aahs” could be heard with each new illustration shown.
“And then I had to make a difficult decision, I had to either spend however much longer trying to figure another way for me to obtain the crystal heart, or allow my faithful assistant to get it. I was so concerned with failing the assignment that Princess Celestia had given me, I almost lost sight of the real problem at hoof, saving the Crystal Empire and stopping Sombra’s return.
“In the end, I gave Spike the responsibility of handling the crystal heart and with the help of Princess Cadence managed to defeat King Sombra and save all the crystal ponies, the Crystal Empire and all of Equestria. And if I didn’t look past my own ego and trusted this to my best friend, we may not be here right now-“ Twilight’s horn glowed and turned the lights back on “- Now are there any questions?“- a sky blue hoof raised up, -“Yes, Ocellus?”
“Um, Headmare Twilight, was Sombra really such a bad guy? Cause I thought he turned good and helped save the Crystal Empire?”
“Right as usual Ocellus. Yes it’s true that King Sombra had a change of heart, but it was all thanks to his best friend Radiant Hope. She helped Sombra realize that his fate wasn’t tied to being a creature of fear and hate, and with Hope’s love, she convinced him to stop the Umbra’s return and was saved from the darkness. She saw the good in him when nopony did and ever since then, Sombra swore to help right all the wrongs he’s done with Radiant Hope right by his side.”
“Oh wow! So, like, true love conquered all? That is soooo romantic! I LOVE this story!” Silverstream exclaimed while placing her clasped claws over her heart.
“I couldn’t have put it any better myself, now will everycreature kindly turn your textbooks to page“- Twilight was cut off by the sound of the bell, -“uh, I guess that’ll be all class, be sure to read chapters five and six by tomorrow and get a jumpstart on your studies for midterms!” Twilight called out as her students filed out of the room.
“Wow, time just flew by didn’t it?” Spike asked.
A perplexed Twilight was nose deep in a scroll, her eyes quickly scanned the scroll from top to bottom once, twice, three times and so on, as if she were studying every individual character. “I could’ve sworn I timed this lesson out perfectly. Roll call, go over chapter four, the story about Sombra, basics of trust building, then the end of class. Did I…miscalculate?”
“Uh Twilight? You ok?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I guess I just got a little carried away and lost rack of time, heh-heh,” Twilight took a deep breath to settle her nerves and rolled up the scroll. “Alright Spike, let’s head to the track and field. We got “helping Rainbow Dash with her relay race” next.”
Twilight and Spike left the room and hustled down the halls. Along the way Twilight glanced at a clock on the wall, she sighed in relief and felt a weight lifted from her mind when the clock displayed the correct time and concluded that she got a little too carried away in her story time. But if Twilight had looked a bit longer she’d have noticed the minute hand moving slightly faster than normal.
The sun was shining bright on the track field as the students watched their professors and Spike demonstrate the fundamentals of a relay race. Or to be specific, watching Twilight demonstrating said fundamentals as most of the students’ eyes began to glaze over.
“And so, when your partner passes you the baton-“ Spike jogged up to Twilight and gave her the baton which she grabbed with her magic “- you’ll then run as fast as you can to your next partner, who will then run it to the next partner and so on and so on. A great exercise, not just physically, but in strengthening your bonds of trust and camaraderie with each other and learn how to play to your own strengths, further more-“
“UGH, they get it Twilight! Run the baton to the next racer and keep doing that until they win!” a very bored Rainbow Dash cried atop her cloud bed. She rolled off onto the ground and landed in front of Twilight blowing her whistle. “All right everycreature! We’ll be splitting up into three teams! From there decide who’ll be running where! Take a few minutes to talk it out and then take your positions when you’re ready!” Rainbow Dash quickly divided the teams and the students began to decide their placements amongst themselves.
After a few minutes each student took their positions on the track and Spike passed out the batons to the starting racers, Rainbow Dash hovered next to Twilight and took a deep breath. “I love the smell of competition in the morning. It smells like, victory.”
“And sweat,” Twilight commented.
“All right everycreature, remember the rules! No flying and you can only use magic to grab the baton when your partner is close enough to pass it! Ready! Set!”- Rainbow Dash motioned to Twilight who lit her horn and shot out a small ball of energy that then exploded with a loud bang – “GO!”
The starting racers took off; it was a yak a unicorn and an earth pony with the earth pony in the lead followed by the unicorn and the yak trailing last, each with their teammates cheering them on. The earth pony made it to the next racer in record time and passed the baton to a griffon that wasn’t as fast as the earth pony but with the lead he was given it hardly mattered. Next was the unicorn that passed the baton to a pegasus who grasped it with their wing before charging forward and gaining considerable ground, closing he distance and passing the griffon. The yak passed their baton to another unicorn that took off to make up for lost time.
The unicorn caught up with the griffon and was neck and neck with each other as the pegasus passed their baton to a hippogriff and after a few short seconds the unicorn and the griffon passed their batons to a dragon and changeling respectively. The changeling transformed into a cheetah and bolted into second place. The dragon leaned his body forward and sprinted dragging his arms behind him using a smaller wind resistance to their advantage and caught up with the other two racers. All three were giving it their all, as they came closer and closer to the finish line. The dragon was in the lead by a hair until the changeling passed and then the hippogriff. Closer and closer still, the racers kept running; it was going to be a real photo finish, neither one holding back with the end in sight, and then- BRRRRRRRRRIIIIIINNNGGG!!!!!- the school’s bell rang out, the hippogriff flung their wings out in surprise, smacking both the changeling and the dragon in the face, sending all three to the ground and tumbling across the finish line.
Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Spike rushed over to see if they were all right, but aside from a case of dizziness were unharmed. Rainbow blew her whistle, “Alright everycreature! I guess that’s the end of class! Tomorrow’s lesson will be done with obstacle courses so come stretched and raring to go!” the students made their way back to school leaving behind a baffled Twilight and an annoyed Rainbow Dash.
“I-I don’t get it. I was sure to follow my schedule to the letter this time. Where did I mess up?” Twilight asked.
“Maybe around the time you started your whole egghead routine. Dang, I was SO looking forward to seeing the end of that race too. Ugh, guess I’ll just try a relay race again some other time,” still in a huff, Rainbow dashed back to school.
Spike tugged on Twilight’s wing, “C’mon Twilight, we got baking class with Pinkie Pie next so let’s… uh Twi?”
Twilight was just staring at her schedule, unblinking, sweat building up across her brow, mumbling something along the lines of, “Sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour, each class is forty five minutes which is 2,700 seconds, but there’s no way we even made it to the 1,200 seconds mark when Rainbow Dash started the race…”
Spike snapped his claws a few times, “It’s ok Twilight, we’re going to be baking now, nice and simple baking,” he gently started leading Twilight back to the school.
“Will we measure the ingredients?” Twilight asked in a daze.
“Of course we will, in fact they’ll be perfect measurements. You know who loves perfect measurements?”
“Me?”
“That’s right Twilight, you love perfect measurements!”
To say things were tense in Pinkie’s kitchen would be an understatement. It was hard for the class to focus on their fun loving, bouncy, energetic teacher with their anxious, frazzled and stressed out Headmare in the same room. Twilight’s hoof was nervously tapping as she shifted her gaze between her schedule, the loudspeaker and Pinkie going over the recipe for her “super triple chocolate triple cherry super airy cherry bomb cupcakes.” Pinkie bounced around the kitchen happily chirping, “And so we measure our flour, remember to get it as close to the recipe as you can, it doesn’t have to be-“
A measuring cup levitated to the bag or flour and scooped up the first ingredient and dropped it in a bowl. “Perfect! It’s perfectly measured, NEXT!” Twilight announced slightly twitching.
Pinkie raised a brow but shrugged it off, “Next we add our baking powder, salt, softened butter, sugar and eggs.”
“Done, done, done, done and done, NEXT!”
“Uh Twilight are you ok? You seem kindaaaa… edgy.”
Twilight started laughing, “Ha, ha, ha! Oh Pinkie Pie, you’re so funny! 'edgy' because we’re in a kitchen with knives and knives are sharp, aren’t her jokes just the best?” the class began to awkwardly and nervously laugh in hope of appeasing their high strung Headmare.
Pinkie leaned next to Spike, “Is something bothering Twilight?” she whispered.
“You could say that,” Spike answered flatly.
“Alright enough jokes, let’s get back to baking!” Twilight cried.
Pinkie came back to her mixing bowl, trying her best not to make eye contact with the precarious princess. “And then we add our chocolate and our cherries, mix it all up”- the mixing bowl began to glow purple as the contents were mixed at high speed – “…Ok… then we add the batter to the cupcake tins and after pre-heating the oven to-“
“No time!“- Twilight shouted and with a blast of magic turned the batter in the tins into fully baked cupcakes – “Now class what did this lesson teach you about friend-“ – the blaring of the school bell cut Twilight off – “AHA! I knew it!” Twilight dashed out of the classroom. Spike gave a weary sigh and chased after her leaving a bewildered Pinkie with a tray of cupcakes. She sniffed them cautiously, stuck her tongue into one of them and then popped it in her mouth.
“Hmm, not bad.”
After checking the library, courtyard and the school lab, Spike finally tracked Twilight to her office and found her going through the plethora of books she keeps for reference. Some flew off the shelves others were levitated to her desk.
“Uh, Twilight. What are you doing?” Spike asked warily.
“I was counting the seconds in Pinkie’s class, we only made it up to 1,990 seconds, we still had 710 seconds to go to finish up the forty-five minutes needed and that’s when I knew that time was speeding up and messing up my carefully planned schedule!” Twilight shouted from atop her office library, a certain kind of manic on her face.
“Aw come one Twilight, I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for this.”
“Perhaps we’re stuck in a wormhole that’s accelerating the time flow, or maybe somepony got their hooves on the Chronodial! Or worse! I have to figure this out before a terrible snowball effect destroys all of Equestria!” Twilight started searching more frantically . Spike could do nothing other than sigh, faceclaw and wonder how he’s supposed to calm Twilight down.
“Twilight going a little bonkers again?” Starlight Glimmer asked as she entered the office, even though she already knew the answer.
“Yep, she sure is,” Spike replied.
“Does this have anything to do with the bells going off earlier than usual?”
“It might.”
“She does know that it’s not the time stream out of whack right? The system is just broken.”
“How do you know?”
Starlight magicked a pocket watch out and popped it open; it confirmed that the school was quite a few hours ahead of schedule.
“Well I guess that’s one problem solved. Now what are we supposed to do with Twilight?” Spike asked.
“Tell you what, why don’t you break for lunch and in the meantime I’ll see if I can’t talk her off the ceiling and get somepony to fix the clocks and bell.”
“Well I am hungry. Thanks Starlight, I’ll come back and help out afterwards,” Spike walked out of the room and towards the teacher’s lounge. Spike had a feeling he knew who was behind this whole school bell problem, but he was focused on getting something in his stomach first. He still had a few slices of gem pizza in the icebox and wanted nothing more than to kick back, relax and enjoy his lunch and as he stepped through the threshold of the door to the lounge the thought of food made him feel like he was flying. Or rather floating in the air. “Whoa, whoa, what the hay?”
“Oh yeah, watch that first step, it’s a doozy,” said a voice above the airborne dragon. Spike twisted himself as much as he could and spotted Discord at a floating table with Fluttershy. The two had a nice assortment of sandwiches, scones and tea, suspended in the middle of the lounge with all of the other furniture, books and what not floating about for what Spike would only assume to be for ambience.
“Hello Spike, care for some tea?” Fluttershy asked nursing her teacup.
“I highly recommend it, I find that food and tea taste so much better in zero gravity,” Discord added eating a sandwich crust as a sentient teapot poured him another cup.
“Great, first a Twily freak out and now this?” asked a vexed Spike.
“Oooh our illustrious Headmare is going through another meltdown? Are there still seats available to the show or is it standing room only?” Discord asked in amusement.
“Discord! That’s not nice, you shouldn’t laugh at somepony having a rough day,” Fluttershy scolded.
“Dearest Fluttershy, 45% of my enjoyment in life is watching ponies go banana bread nuts, and I’m not planning on changing that anytime soon,” Discord said in a matter of fact way.
“What’s the matter with Twilight, Spike?” Fluttershy asked with concern.
“Can we turn the gravity back on first?” Spike asked while doing a barrel roll.
“Of course, Discord can you please turn the room back to normal?”
“Oh poo, I finally have time for some no gravity lunch and it gets cut short,” with a snap of his fingers Discord set the room straight with all the furniture in its proper place and with the gravity turned back on Spike found himself groaning after belly flopping onto the floor.
“Now, what seems to be troubling our dear Headmare?” Discord asked drumming his fingers together.
Spike stood and dusted himself off, “Alright Discord cut the act, why are you messing with the school’s schedule?”
“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Really? The school’s schedule was fine until today when you just so happened to show up. And all of a sudden the clocks speed up and I have to keep Twilight from imploding and you’re saying you don’t have anything to do with it?”
“Now Spike, I know Discord can be a bit mischievous, but he hasn’t been causing trouble, he’s been with me all day,” Fluttershy interjected.
“Exactly! Now just fix this and- wait, what?” Spike asked.
“It’s true, I’ve been helping Fluttershy with her classes all day like I told you this morning. Sure I used my magic to conjure a cotton candy cloud here and a monster beaver there, but I set things back to normal right afterwards. Scout’s honor,” he said in a Filly scout uniform.
“Oh… well, sorry for jumping to conclusions Discord,” Spike sheepishly scratched the back of his head.
“No worries, it does sound like something I’d do after all,” Discord sipped his tea.
“So Twilight’s panicking because the school’s time is messed up?” Fluttershy asked.
Spike took a seat at the table with his gem stone pizza slice. “Yeah, but it’s not time that’s messed up, it’s the schools clocks and bell. Starlight is getting somepony to come by and fix it later, but until then just go about classes normally until the last bell I guess.”
“Ooh, a half-day? I like the sound of that, I’m falling behind on some chaos anyways,” Discord said as he munched his teacup.
“Wait a second. A half-day? That means we get out earlier, which means I can have even more time to spend with Rarity! YES!” Spike pumped his small fist into the air as he devoured a slice of his lunch.
“I just hope Twilight feels better soon. I hate seeing her so stressed out,” Fluttershy said worriedly.
“Aw don’t worry about Twilight. Starlight is trying to calm her down and I’ll help out when I’m through here, so I’m sure she’ll be back to normal in no time. Actually if you wouldn’t mind stopping by her office to help too that’d be great.”
“I’d be more than happy too.”
Spike finished off the last of his lunch and stood up to leave, “Well I’ll see you guys later, I got a Twilight talk off the ceiling and some classes to cover.”
“Oh Spike, one more thing. Could you perhaps do me a small favor? Can you keep an eye peeled for my favorite cotton candy cloud? I can’t seem to find him,” Discord said.
“Wait, you lost a cloud? Can’t you just make more of them?”
Discord gasped so hard that he sucked all the air out of the room, “Hold your forked tongue! He has a name, it’s Rodolfo and there may be many like him, but he’s my favorite.”- Discord poofed a milk carton into Spike’s claws showing a picture of a pink cloud with the word “missing” in big bold letters –“I’ve already asked Applejack and Rarity, but they just looked at me like I had two heads.” – Discord’s head then split into two separate heads. The sight made Spike reel back in fright. –“Yeah, that’s the face they made!” said Discords.
“Ok, well I’ll just see you all later, bye!” Spike said in one breath before washing his claws of the whole situation and leaving.
“Oh Flutters, want to bet five bits he doesn’t go through with it?” said one of the Discord heads.
Fluttershy took a sip of her tea and marveled at how the citrusy flavors blended so well with the chamomile scones. She’d have to remember these for the next tea party for sure. They were simply divine. “Make it ten bits and you got a deal.”
Thankfully the rest of the day went by with very little to no resistance. Spike and Starlight took turns covering Twilight’s classes and covering “Twilight duty” and by the end of the day had a mostly normal Headmare again. The sound of the final bell rang out as Spike found himself waiting by the door to Rarity’s last class. He watched as students began filing out and wondered how much longer he’d have to wait. Not to say he was impatient, but the wait was starting to weigh on him. He bided his time and now it’ll just be him and her for the rest of the day. But what if she declines? What if he doesn’t say the right words and she snubs him? What if Princess Celestia sends a message and he accidentally belches in Rarity’s face? What if-?
And remember not to overthink things, he heard Discord’s words from earlier that day. Spike took a deep breath and exhaled, “No, no more thinking of what could go wrong, he thought, We’re only going to think about what can go right, like catching up with Rarity, enjoying each other’s company and maybe, just maybe asking if she’d like to spend even more time together.
Oh good you’re actually listening to my advice, you’ll do just fine, Spike heard Discord’s voice again.
“Would you get lost?”
“I beg your pardon?” said a posh voice. Spike froze when he saw Rarity, her brow raised in confusion at his small outburst.
“R-Rarity! Oh- I-I wasn’t talking to you! There was a bug! Yeah, a really, really, really annoying bug kept buzzing around my ear,” he said in hopes of saving face.
Rude, came Discord’s voice in the back of his head.
“Anyways, how was your day Rarity?”
“It went well, thank you for asking. How’s Twilight? I heard she had a bit of a breakdown, is she alright?”
“She’s doing much better, Starlight and I calmed her down and we got a repair pony to fix the school’s system. And the best part is she stopped worrying about somepony copying Starlight’s time travel spell.”
“Well that’s a relief, are you on your way home now?”
“Uh, actually, I was wondering, since, you know, it’s such a nice day and I haven’t seen you in a while, I was wondering if you’d like to go and maybe grab a late lunch or something? I’d love to hear about what you’re been up to,” on the outside Spike was calm, confident and collected, but on the inside, Oh sweet Celestia! I actually said it! I actually asked her out! No going back now, just gotta wait for her answer, please say yes, please say yes, please say yes…it felt like an eternity since he asked the question that’d been in the back of his mind since he and Twilight first came to Ponyville and laid eyes on the stunning unicorn. His palms were sweating and he did his best to fight the butterflies in his stomach. He was getting more and more nervous as each second passed and the anticipation was in the red.
Rarity rubbed her chin, “Hmm, you know, that sounds like a marvelous idea darling. I am quite hungry, I had to skip lunch because of the state the teacher’s lounge was in and I do have some time on my hooves because of the half day. What do you say you stop by the boutique in about thirty minutes and we’ll go to the café?”
Spike almost lost his jaw on the floor, “Y-yeah that sounds great! I’ll see you then!”
Rarity giggled at his enthusiasm, “See you then Spiky,” and with that Rarity trotted off to the school exit, leaving Spike standing in the hall, with a grin growing wider and wider across his face, his heart was thumping wildly and his whole body was shaking. Spike finally did the one thing he’s wanted to do for years. He couldn’t stop himself from jumping high as he could a screaming, “WOOOHOOO!!!”
“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner Princess Twilight, I had some repair work at city hall and Mayor Mare wanted a thorough job,” a pegasus with a hard hat set down his tool box and started unscrewing the bolts to a panel in the school’s wall. Twilight was standing behind him sipping some empathy cocoa, with Starlight close by.
“I understand, I can’t believe I didn’t think about the possibility of this being a simple repair job and not some kind of a magical problem that could put the whole town and maybe all of Equestria at risk,” Twilight took another nervous sip of her cocoa.
“Twilight, just because something’s wrong doesn’t always mean Equestria’s in danger,” Starlight said in a calming voice.
“Well I’ll be sure to get this system running as good as new in no time flat.” – the repair pony finished unscrewing the panel and pulled it away from the wall – “Uh, hmm, can’t say I’ve ever seen a problem like this before,” he said scratching his head in bemusement.
“What do you mean?” Twilight approached the panel.
“Take a look for yourself.”
Twilight peered inside and instead of seeing the cogs, belts, and springs of the machinery, she saw a mass of something fluffy. And pink.
“What the hay is this?” Twilight carefully extended a hoof and gently poked it, it was very soft and had a very sweet aroma. After another poke the pink mass spewed a brown liquid into Twilight’s face. She reeled back in surprise and noticed that whatever she was sprayed with smelled and tasted very sweet. Actually it tasted like chocolate milk. Twilight stood ram rod stiff as her eye began to twitch, her teeth clenched and steam started shooting out of her ears.
“DISSSSSSSSSSCOOOOORRRRRRD!!!”
the Ponyville Café was a quaint little eatery where customers can enjoy the sun, some delectable sandwiches and a selection of well made drinks. A great place for dates, friendly meetings or if you just can’t be bothered with cooking; among the patrons were Spike and Rarity, enjoying some sandwiches, sharing stories and laughing.
“So then I’m flying past the open field and I hear Pinkie scream “watch out!” and the next thing I knew, WHAM, a flaming buckball smacks into my back and I crashed into the brush,” Spike finished his tale with smacking his fist into his open palm.
“My goodness that sounds terrible,” Rarity gasped.
“I’m just glad that somepony who’s fire proof got hit and not somepony else. It could’ve been way worse.”
“Are they feeling any better? Your wings I mean.”
“Yeah, Zecora gave me this ointment to help them heal faster and said I should be fine by tomorrow. Now I know how Rainbow Dash felt when she was stuck in the hospital.”
What’s it like?”
“Well it stinks, it takes me WAY longer to get anywhere and-“
“No, no, I meant, what’s it like to fly?”
“Didn’t Twilight give you wings a while ago? You were in the junior flyers competition.”
“Well yes, but they weren’t really a part of me, just some magic and dew. But your wings are a part of you, you get to feel the wind passing over them, you can move them in ways I could never understand. When I had wings, I just used them to garner attention and feed my ego, I didn’t really get to experience or appreciate flying. So I was just wondering what it’s like?”
Spike wasn’t sure how to answer this. What’s it like to fly? He closed his eyes and started thinking of all the times he soared through the skies with Smolder, going through obstacle courses with Rainbow Dash and just getting out to stretch his wings with Twilight after a lengthy re-cataloging session. “Well.. it’s really fun, I mean I see why Rainbow would rather fly than walk and it helps when Twilight needs a book from a high shelf. But I think the best way to describe it is… it’s very, freeing.”
“Freeing?” Rarity asked with her head slightly tilted.
“Well yeah, it’s such a thrill when I’m high above the town, feeling the cool wind in my face, doing flips, spins and I’m super fast now too. It actually feels really weird not being able to fly, heck Twilight had to carry me on her back so we’d be on time for classes and I never thought I’d be doing that again. Once you’ve touched the sky it’s hard to be stuck on the ground. Sorry for rambling.”
Rarity smiled, “Not at all darling, you just told me how you felt and now I know. I just wish I could have experienced it myself.”
“Whoa, so you got to be a judge during fashion week?”
“Mhmm, arrived on Monday, scoped out the competition Tuesday, premiered my latest designs Wednesday, judged some rising stars on Thursday, and gave a special tour to Pistachio on Friday,” Rarity replied to her scaly friend.
“Pistachio?”
“The colt that got Applejack’s Hearts Warming present by accident. I swear, he’s got quite the future ahead of him. Such a keen eye and he has the same awe and excitement as I did when I was his age. He’ll get far in the fashion world, mark my words.”
“Well if somepony as talented as you says so, then it must be true. You’re the best designer in all of Equestria.”
Rarity giggled, “Oh Spike you flatterer you; I’m sure I’m not the best designer.”
“How can you not be? I’ve never seen anypony get so far in the fashion world like you’ve done. You went from having a single store in Ponyville, to opening a boutique in Canterlot and Manehattan. You’ve made the cover of Cosmare magazine more than any other designer I can think of and you always blow ponies away at every competition you enter.”
“Well I’ll admit that I have done very well for myself and I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am without the hard work and creativity that I’m known for, but I see new designs everyday I never even thought possible. I may be a great designer, but I’m not the best.”
“Now you’re just being modest,” Spike smirked.
The waiter came by and dropped the bill on their table Rarity gave it a quick look before Spike put his bits on the check. “This one’s my treat Rarity.”
“Why thank you Spike. Such a gentlecolt.”
The two of them got up and began walking down the street. The two were still engaging in idle chitchat as Spike noticed a gray earth pony and her quartet warming up at the gazebo in the park and he jumped onto his next course of action. “Hey Rarity, want to go to the park? I think I see Octavia and her band.”
“Hmm, well, I do have a bit more time to kill and it would be nice to listen to some music. Yes Spike, I think a stroll through the park would be nice. Plus I get to spend some more time with my favorite dragon.”
Spike grinned from ear fin to ear fin, “Well then, let’s go get our seats. After you my lady.”
The sun was beginning to set as Spike and Rarity walked back to Carousel Boutique, chatting and laughing away as their shadows stretched out and reached for Rarity’s front door. “Oh boy, I thought Octavia was going to go berserk when her cello string snapped!” Spike said, laughing between every other word.
“Octavia? Did you see Lyra? I thought for sure she was going to raze Ponyville to the ground after her lyre was damaged,” Rarity was laughing too, but at a much more controlled volume.
“Well I’m sure Derpy didn’t mean it, it’s just her, you know, usual clumsiness.”
“Well the important thing is that everything was settled in a civilized manner and no pony was hurt.”
“Agreed, and the music was really nice while it lasted too,” Spike was beaming. It was the perfect end to a perfect day. Lunch, music, feeding the ducks in the pond, sharing a bag of cinnamon nuts and just enjoying each other’s company; now all Spike would have to do is walk her to the door, say good night and ask if she’d want to do this again sometime.
As Rarity opened the door to her home, she looked over her shoulder at Spike, “Oh Spiky, would you mind coming in? I have something to show you,” a smirk on Rarity’s lips.
A strong blush rose up on Spike’s face as well as steam. Or she’ll invite me into her place! That’s fine too I guess! “Um- sure thing Rarity.”
The inside of the boutique was spotless, floors free of any dirt, mirrors free of streaks and the displays of her wonderful cloths were all dusted from head to hoof. This wasn’t the first time Spike’s been in Rarity’s home, but this felt different. Different then the times he helped her with the chores, different from the times he volunteered for pin cushion duty, right now Spike felt like a stranger in a strange land. “Now you wait right here, I’ll be back in just a moment,” Rarity ascended the stairs leaving a nervous dragon to be alone with his thoughts.
Oh geez! What could she possibly want to show me? A new dress maybe? But the way she said it, could it be something else? I really wish my heart would slow down so I don’t feel like exploding, the sound of hoofsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, which only made Spike’s heart beat faster.
“Alright Spike close your eyes, I want this to be a surprise,” Rarity called out. Spike did as he was told and closed his eyes, Oh sweet Celestia! She’s almost here! What does she want to show- oh boy her perfume smells so good, like vanilla and fresh cut lavender.
“Ok, open your eyes,” Rarity sounded excited as Spike opened his eyes to see a comic book wrapped in the soft blue light of her magic.
Spike’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, “Astro Colt number one! H-how? Where did you get this?”
“Well I had some help from a charming but rather annoying pony in Canterlot. He sent me on a wild goose chase but in the end I was able to find it. I wanted you to have this, as a token of thanks for all the work you’ve done, not just for the school or for Twilight, but for me as well,” Rarity placed the comic into Spike’s claws. Despite the very generous gift, Spike was frowning.
“Rarity, I-I can’t take this. It’s so valuable, I’d feel guilty accepting it. I mean I appreciate the offer but…” Spike was silenced when he felt a pair of hooves wrap around him in a hug; a hug from the pony that’s occupied all his thoughts, heart and love for years.
“Nonsense Spiky, as far as I’m concerned this only partially makes up for the help you’ve given. But if you still feel guilty, can you help me with one itty bitty thing and we’ll call it even?”
“Well…ok. I guess that works, so what can I help you with?”
“One moment dear,” Rarity disappeared behind one of the dividers in her shop and in a few moments stepped out. What Spike saw made his breath catch in his throat and his eyes widen. Rarity was wearing a dark blue formal dress with a ruby red bow tied around her waist. A thin strand of pearls hung around her neck, her mane tied back and only leaving a few purple strands to dangle ever so daintily by her sapphire blue eyes. “Well? What do you think?” Rarity did a twirl to show off every angle of her dress.
“Uh, um… Y-you look… Amazing Rarity,” Spike hid his blush behind his comic book.
“Oh? So you like this ensemble then? Perfect, thank you so much Spike, I knew I could count on you.”
“So what’s the dress for? Don’t tell me, Photo Finish needs you for the next issue of Cosmare.”
“I’m going on a date tonight.”
Spike’s heart stopped beating and plunged into his stomach, “A…A-a date?”
“Yes I met the most marvelous pony on the train ride home. Oh Spiky, he’s just wonderful! Smart, tall, strong and easy on the eyes. I’m so excited it feels like I’ve been walking on clouds all day,” Rarity sighed dreamily.
Spike shifted back and forth on his feet as he started studying the fibers in Rarity’s carpet. His chest felt cold, like there was a window open in the dead of winter where his heart was. The butterflies in his stomach were gone and in their place was indigestion. His head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, unable to feel or think of anything, he just said with a big smile,
“That’s great! I’m so happy for you! Good luck, I’m sure he’s just as excited as you are.”
Rarity nuzzled Spike and gave him a small hug, “Thank you so much for today Spike, now if you’ll excuse me I have to finish getting ready.”
“Of course, thanks again for the comic, I’ll see you later!” Spike waved his claw goodbye as Rarity disappeared upstairs. After a few moments Spike’s claw dropped and his ear fins drooped. He looked forlornly at one of the many mirrors in the boutique and was feeling worse by the second. He saw the baby fat in his cheeks and belly, his short scrawny arms, stubby legs and banged up wings. He wanted to look away but he couldn’t take his eyes off his reflection.
I met the most marvelous pony…
“Marvelous… pony,” Spike sighed and left the boutique, clutching the comic book to his chest, his feet dragging with every step he made. His eyes were glued to the ground as he slowly made his way back to the castle. He decided to go to bed early tonight.