//------------------------------//
// The Only Chapter 
// Story: Let's play together 
// by Silver Butcher 
//------------------------------//

Rarity wasn't quite sure when she first realized it had happened, but now that she knew what was happening she knew when it first began. It had been maybe two months ago when Spike had stopped visiting for a week, Rarity had figured it was because the School had just gotten into its grove and Twilight was keeping him as busy as she was keeping her. And on cue, once Twilight slowed down Spike came back, but his pattern changed from every day to every other day. and by the end of the month, it was every third day. It wasn't until today that it hit her, Spike had come by and, while talking to her, had dropped the big bomb,
"My schedule's rather full now Rarity, so I won't be able to stop by as often or for as long. If you want we can set up an hour or two once or twice a week for tea? But that's the best I can work in," Rarity's face hadn't broken in the slightest as she said it was fine and had set up a time on Tuesday for tea, Spike stayed a short while for a glass of lemonade and Rarity noticed immediately he was in a rush, he was tapping his feet and fingers as Rarity made his a drink for the road, and she spotted him glancing at the clock, he took his quick drink and, after downing it in one go, said his goodbyes and headed out. Rarity spotted his half-closed bag and that was when her suspicions were confirmed. along with a multitude of things, she spotted a small pink box with a bow on it, a box she recognized as one of Sugar Cube Corners chocolate boxes, the cheesiest gift for a date imaginable. The two waved to each other as Spike left, once the door shut Rarity placed the cup down, took a deep breath, and rapidly tapped her hooves on the floor in a mixture of glee and angry. On one hoof her little Spikey-wikey was growing up, but on the other hoof, her little Spikey-wikey was outgrowing her.
"Oh, I knew he'd get over our little game eventually," she whined "But I thought I'd have a few more years of his attention," Rarity sighed as she tried to imagine not having the little dragon around to fawn over her and help her when she needed him, Rarity lay on the chair for a few minutes before making her decision, "Alright, some creature has gained his affection, that I can live with, But I must discover the identity of this creature and make sure that Spikey-Wikey is in Good Hands, or claws, or Hooves," Rarity Jumped to her feet and Ran up to her room, passing Sweetie on the stairs. Sweetie looked back up at her sister and when she saw what her sister was wearing as she reemerged she rolled her eyes, Rarity was wearing a Fedora and a trench coat.
"Sweetie honey hold down the fort while I'm out," She called as she made her way down the stairs and to the front door "I have some investigating to do,"



Vinyl wasn't quite sure when she first realized it had happened, but now that she knew what was happening she knew when it first began. It had started about 2 months ago, Octavia had started leaving the house early and coming home late, it hadn't been anything unusual, she'd done it before for some gigs, but after 2 weeks it was still going on, Octavia barely talked to Vinyl nowadays. She spent most of her time at home in her room. Vinyl figured she'd just done something stupid and pissed her Roommate off again and went about her business expecting things to get back to normal in a few weeks, it was when the 2-month marker was closing in that Vinyl decided without a doubt that whatever was happening it had nothing to do with her, she decided to get Octavia's attention the only way she knew how, she hooked up her equipment and started up Octavia's least favorite genera of music, it only took Octavia a total of 20 seconds to get downstairs, but what she did next Vinyl hadn't been ready for.
She waved happily at Vinyl, her bag packed, and made her way out the door, no irritated look, no demanding she turned it off, no insulting her taste in music, no nothing, not a word was spoken, Vinyl sat in silence as she tried to figure out what was wrong, she'd known for a while that Octavia had a crush on her, she'd used the knowledge to get out of trouble a few times but even then it had never once gotten her out of trouble for her taste in music. It wasn't until the next day she saw it, Octavia was about to head out again and set her bag on the couch to grab a quick drink from the kitchen, the bag slumped over and Vinyl spied a Blue Box with a bow, Sugar Cube corners Donut bomb, a Giant Donut with 8 smaller ones packed inside the hole. Before she could properly react to it Octavia returned took the bag, said good morning to Vinyl, and headed out. Once she was gone Vinyl sat on the couch and shook her head.
"Holy shit," She muttered rubbing her head in shock "She's seeing somepony, that Donut proves it, you have to call ahead by like a week to get one of those made," Vinyl sat on the couch, having never once considered what she'd do if Octavia started dating somepony. "Is she gonna move out?" Vinyl muttered "It'll be so boring if she leaves," Vinyl thought for a moment before getting to her hooves. "I gotta meet the Mare, or Colt, who's stolen her heart, make sure they ain't tugging on my friend's heart!" Vinyl rushed to the front door but stopped just as she got to it.
"Where the hell did Octavia even go?"



Rarity made her way outside and looked down the street, it was rather early in the morning so it was slightly overflowing with creatures on their way to work or school. After a moment of thinking she decided the best place to start was with her only lead, Sugar Cube Corner, Spike had the box so he must have stopped there on his way to her Boutique, or had stopped by the previous day, either way, he had to have been there recently. And if there was one pony who would know where he was heading, it was Pinkie Pie. Rarity made her way towards Sugar Cube Corner, her mind racing with ideas of who Spike's mysterious new Mare Friend could be.
"It can't be any of the other girls," Rarity decided "They'd have mentioned it at least to Twilight and I imagine she'd have definitely mentioned it to me and the others, can't be Sweetie Belle or I'd have definitely noticed, maybe one of her friends?" Rarity scratched her chin before blinking "How old is Spike?" she asked aloud, having never actually pondered the question. "He's around Sweetie's age right?" Rarity thought on that for a second before continuing down the road and thinking about Spike, at current he was around the size Smolder had been when she first started going to the school of friendship so Spike had to be younger than her, but how old was Smolder? Before Rarity could really begin pondering this she made it to Sugar Cube Corner, upon entering she found it nearly empty, save a few ponies drinking coffee or eating a morning Donut with their friends.
"Rarity!" Pinkie cheered from the counter before sipping her coffee, "What can I get you?" Rarity checked to make sure none of the other patrons were listening in before whispering to Pinkie.
"I need some information on Spike,"
"Oh, I have tons of Information about Spike!" Pinkie responded happily before listing things with no particular order in mind "He's a Dragon, he hates Angel Bunny, His favorite Cupcake is any with gems added to them, He's currently Da-"
"Pinkie," Rarity said cutting the mare off "I need a very specific piece of information," Pinkie squinted at her friend before leaning in close and whispering very quietly.
"He's the one that keeps using up the town's hot water," She gave Rarity a wide eyed stare before sinking out of sight with an added whisper. "You didn't hear that from me," Pinkie sank out of sight, Rarity waited a second before tapping on the counter, causing Pinkie to pop up like a jack leaving its box. "So what else can I do for you?" she asked happily.
"I just need to know if you know where Spike has been sneaking off to, I saw he had a box of-"
"Oh that's all," Pinkie said happily "Well he came by here and picked up his chocolate box order, he had a bag with a music symbol on it, think it was from the Music spot, anyway when he picked it up I asked him who it was-"
"Ah-ha!" Rarity said cutting Pinkie off as the pink mare had just done to her "A lead, thank you Pinkie darling, now I'm one step close to finding the identity of Spike's new mare friend," with that done Rarity rushed out of the shop with Pinkie calling back to her.
"But I was just about to tell you who that is!" She complained with a huff "And ponies say I have no patience," Pinkie took another sip of her coffee just as Vinyl walked into the shop. "Vinyl!" Pinkie greeted as she waved at the DJ from the counter, "What can I get you?" Vinyl checked to make sure none of the other patrons were listening in before whispering to Pinkie.
"I need some information on Octavia," She whispered, Pinkie blinked for a second before looking at her coffee.
"whoa déjà vu," She muttered before shaking her head "But anyway I have ton's of information on Octavia, she plays the Cello, she dislikes your music, she has 13 bow ties that all look the same, She's currently Da-" 
"No, no, no," Vinyl said waving at Pinkie to stop "I need some very specific information about Octavia," Pinkie quickly glanced around to make sure no one was watching before leaning in close and whispering "She's the one who keeps leaving fliers all around town complaining about the constant shortage of hot water," Pinkie sunk slowly out of view and added with a whisper "But you didn't hear that from me," Vinyl rubbed her brow as Pinkie sunk out of sight and waited for a few seconds.
"I already knew that," She muttered, "She thinks I'm the one using up all the hot water, what I want to know is if you have any idea where she's sneaking off to all the time," Pinkie popped back up with a grin.
"Well, when I delivered her Donut bomb order this morning I overheard her complaining about waking up late and having less time than usual to do her usual shopping at the Music spot," Pinkie took a sip from her drink before continuing "But I don't think she needs to worry about that, when I got back I saw Sp-" Pinkie blinked when she realized she was alone and turned to the door just as Vinyl rushed out. "Well that was Rude," Pinkie muttered as she continued drinking her cup of joe.
Vinyle made her way down the street and B-lined it to the Music spot, she had just arrived at the door when Rarity came running out and the two collided face-first into one another, After re-adjusting her glasses she looked down at Rarity and offered her a hoof.
"Sorry," She said as she helped the mare up "Nice Fedora,"
"Thank you," Rarity said "And the Sorry is on my part, I was in a rush to find out who my friend has just started dating,"
"Small world," Vinyle laughed "I'm doing the same thing," The two gave a short laugh before it clicked and they looked at each other in silence for a moment "Wait a second,"



Unaware of their friend's search for them Spike and Octavia met up at the entrance of the School of Friendship.
"Hi Spike," Octavia said, trying to give the small dragon a peck on the cheek in greeting but missed and kissed his nose, making his face turn red.
"Morning dear," He said, only to start laughing "Man this is weird,"
"I known," Octavia agreed as they made their way onto the mostly empty school ground, "Never thought I'd be a Music teacher,"
"Never even considered I'd be one," He responded with a chuckle "But Starlight said she needed a teacher with hands to teach the students with hands...and I know how to play the Piano so that was good enough for her,"
"Well now you can play the Flute, and the Violin," Octavia replied happily "And pretty soon you'll be playing the Cello,"
"Well I had to learn," Spike replied merrily as they made their way into the main hall of the school " Starlight put out a signup sheet, and the only students I have are Flutist, Violinist, and one Pianists," He gave Octavia a nudge before adding "But I'm sure you didn't just coincidentally know how to play the Saxophone, Clarinet, and the Drums when you were hired right?"
"You got me there, Starlight gave me a heads up and I learned the basics, most of my students are better with them than I am, Even so, I'm still the best Cellist in the school," she said the last part with pride ", but my three cellist students are getting pretty good,"
"Only because they have a great teacher," Spike replied as they made their way into the music room, as the two walked into the room they both gave the other a side glance before reaching into their side bags and holding out their special gifts, both presented them at the same time and froze.
"Oh," Spike said when he saw the box containing the Donut bomb "How did you get that?" Octavia didn't respond and instead stared at the box of chocolates.
"You got me a box of chocolates?" She asked with a tear in her eye.
"Well I asked what was a good gift and Pinkie said-"
"I love it!" She said as she took it and traded it for the Donut "No one's ever bought me chocolates before!"
"I didn't even know this was real," Spike said as he looked at the Terduckins of Donuts "I heard that every donut is frosted differently from the one inside it," Octavia opened the box and looked at the little chocolate hearts and ate one happily, Spike however set his Donut down on a chair and pulled out the bag from the music spot.
"I also got you this," he said as he handed it to her, "You mentioned yesterday that Vinyle used your Cello rag as a napkin and ruined it, so I got you a new one,"
"Oh Spike," She said as she put the chocolates down and looked at an assortment of cleaning rags.
"They had a sale," He said with a shrug "Buy four get the fifth one free," Octavia said nothing and instead set the bag down and hugged Spike. "Happy you like it," He said as he succeeded in giving her a kiss on the cheek,"
"Oh no," She said moving him away and looking him in the eye "You're not getting away with a simple kiss on the cheek," She pulled him in and gave him a full kiss, one that was returned happily before he was set down. "Now come on Spike, we need to get ready, today's the day our classes merge and I want to start things out with a Cello Piano duet, The two made their way to the front of the class where they would be teaching from, waiting for them was Grand Piano and Octavia's Cello.
"Alright," Spike said as he looked at the pre-selected Music sheets, "Let's do set number 4," 
As the two began playing together they failed to notice the two sets of eyes watching them from the door.
"Awe," Rarity said after she silently closed the door and sniffed "How cute,"
"Credit where credit due," Vinyle agreed "I never would have bought her a box of chocolates, that's way too cliche for my liking,"
"Oh it's the definition of cliche," Rarity agreed "But some mares love cliche's, and I guess Octavia's one of them," The two started walking away from the room as they talked.
"Didn't know that was her cleaning rag," Vinyle muttered awkwardly "Kind of feel bad about that,"
"Oh, it happens darling, besides you helped create romance with your blunder,"
"Yay me," Vinyle replied sarcastically as they made it to the exit, the two waved goodbye and split up to go about their day, leaving Spike and Octavia to enjoy their time together in peace.