//------------------------------// // Ch. 1 Give A Little Bit // Story: Fairy Tales // by Closer-To-The-Sun //------------------------------// Chapter 1: Give A Little Bit It was a sunny day in Ponyville. The sky was dotted with a few clouds, most were small and easily drifting in the wind. In the library, Twilight Sparkle was cleaning the building with her small dragon assistant, Spike. The purple unicorn used her magic to stack the books neatly next to the dragon, to which Spike placed the book on the correct shelf using his small ladder. This was their normal Sunday routine, which would end with a gem as a treat for Spike, his favorite part. However, their ritual was interrupted by a knock at the front door. "Hmm? I wonder who that could be?" Twilight asked herself as she slowly made her way to the door to open it. Behind the door was a white unicorn with a stylish purple mane. She looked a little troubled and slightly stressed, "Oh, hello there, Rarity." "Hello, Twilight," she replied, her voice seemed to be concerned. "What brings you to the library today?" the purple mare asked with a warm smile to her friend. "I'm here concerning my business and, well, to make a long story short, do you think I can borrow Spike for a while?" the white unicorn seemed to have something on her mind. Twilight was puzzled, "I guess, but may I ask you for what?" Spike, who heard his name being called, climbed down from his ladder and made his way over to the talking ponies. He didn't like not being someplace else when he was being talked about. "The thing is that Sweetie Belle kind of….quit on me," Rarity admitted. "Quit?" This made Twilight more confused. "Yes. She said something about how helping me work was not helping her get her cutie mark and she left promptly after that. I understand she wants her cutie mark, the poor dear, but I'm in the middle of quite a big project, and I certainly could use the extra help, if you don't mind Spike," Rarity spoke the last part directly to Spike, whom she spotted as he was visible behind Twilight Sparkle. "Well, I don't see any problem with it, as long as you're okay with it, Spike," the purple unicorn turned to her faithful assistant. Spike, giving a small smile, spoke energetically, "Not at all! I'll be happy to help Rarity out!" Rarity gave a sigh of relief and a smile to them both, "Oh, thank goodness. Thank you so very much, Twilight. And double to you, Spike." Twilight gave a small smile and joked, "Just don't work him too hard, it's not easy to get such a great assistant, you know." "Don't worry, dahling," Rarity started as the two began toward her shop, "I'll take good care of him." Watching the two trot away, Twilight gave a small laugh, "I just hope Spike doesn't make too much of a fool of himself." Upon arriving at the Carousel Boutique, Rarity guided Spike up the staircase to her workroom. Inside the room, ponyquins were displayed throughout with different types of outfits on them. Spike was perplexed with what the outfits were for, especially since they looked nothing like the type of clothing Rarity would ever make. They seemed simple and mundane compared to the clothing she would design. "Now then, we have a number of outfits to work on to meet the deadline on time, Spike, so we shouldn't waste too much time dilly-dallying," Rarity spoke as she used her magic to place her red glasses on her face to read the design placed on the table. "Right," Spike agreed, "but, if I may ask Rarity, what are all these dresses for? I mean, they don't seem like the clothing I see you normally make." Rarity turned to look at the dragon and then quickly to the ponyquins wear the outfits where. She gave a soft chuckle before speaking, "Oh, these aren't for a client. These are for the upcoming festival!" "Festival? What festival?" Spike was becoming more confused with each second. "Oh, you must have been in Canterlot on official business when they announced it," Rarity remembered that Spike had return to Ponyville only a few days ago, "The town is holding a festival on Saturday. Of course, there will be games, food, and all of that fun stuff. But Mayor Mare asked if I could help out by making some costumes for the colts and fillies who will be performing a few plays." "Plays? Which ones?" the dragon asked. Using her magic, Rarity was rustling through the parchment that was lying on her desk, "Let me see….ah! Here we are! They will be doing 'The Tale of the Fishercolt and the Fish', 'Looking For A Mare', and 'Rumpelstallion' as well as a few others." A light went on in Spike's mind, "Oh, I know of those fairy tales! Twilight read those to me when I was still a baby. I really liked those stories." "Excellent, you can help me make some simply smashing outfits for the plays then!" Rarity was excited to see that Spike was more than happy to aid in making the clothing, "Let's begin!" -------------- Over the period of six days, the two worked diligently on the costumes for up to eight hours total in a day. Rarity admitted to Spike that she did feel guilty for working him hard on her project and promised to make it up to him. The dragon brushed it off and casually stated it was not a big deal for him. However, he did not decline the diamond the unicorn gave him at the end of each day. It was on Friday night that the two completed the final outfit. Exhausted but satisfied, the dragon and pony went down to Rarity's common area to relax with a cup of tea. "Thank you so very much, Spike," Rarity thanked the purple and green dragon as she brought out a tray with a tea kettle and a couple of cups, "I honestly don't think I could have gotten through this week with my sanity if it wasn't for your help." Placing the tray down with her magic on the coffee table, she poured tea into the two cups. Spike grabbed one of the cups and sat back down on the couch across from Rarity, "It was no big deal, Rarity!" The unicorn took a sip of the hot tea and shook her head, "Dahling, I honestly don't think you know how much of a life saver you are! You really are quite the helper." Spike took a few drinks of his tea and smiled warmly, "It's nothing, really! I just love to help my friends out, ya know? I'm sure you would do the same for me if I needed ya!" Spike saw Rarity's white cat, Opalescence, down at the foot of the couch. She hopped up on the couch and curled up in a ball in the spot next to the dragon. "Heh heh…yeah….well, of course, Spike!" the white unicorn's words were weak and not very reassuring as she bit her lip. She noticed Spike was petting Opalescence and not looking at her. While she honestly was thankful for having Spike help her, his statement took a jab at Rarity since she felt guilty about using him so much. Finishing his tea, Spike hopped down from the couch and placed the empty cup on the tray, "I think I should get going now. I'm sure Twilight is getting a bit worried." Rarity, who had hid the guilty look she had mere moments ago, gave a smile and stood up, "Alright then, dear." She trotted with Spike to the door and opened the door for him, "I shall see you tomorrow then." "Tomorrow?" Spike titled his head. "For the festival, of course! I do want to see our work being showcased on the stage!" "Oh, right! Yeah, totally!" Spike replied enthusiastically. "Take care, dear." "Bye-bye!" the dragon waved as he walked out side. Closing the door, Rarity sighed and saw her Opalescence sitting in front of her with a slightly annoyed look. "I know, Opal, I know. I don't mean to use the poor dragon so much, but he's such a big help to me and….oh dear. I really hope no pony thinks I'm exploiting the poor dahling. Really, I don't want to make it seem like that…."