//------------------------------// // Spike's Heartbreak // Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S6 // by Banshee531 //------------------------------// It was another beautiful day in Ponyville. All the damage that had recently been done by the screebit's 'attack' had been repaired, and the ponies were once again living their normal everyday lives. This also included one member of the populace that wasn't a pony. Young Spike T. Dragon was making his way through town on one of his precious days off, one without any work needing to be done for Twilight or chores inside the castle. As such, he was free to do one of his favorite things, paying Rarity a visit. And when Carousel Boutique came into view, he smiled before spitting into his hands and smoothing down the green scales on his head. He then noticed a lone flower on the ground and picked it up before going up to the front door and knocking it...only to get no answer. Raising an eyebrow at this, he checked it to see if was locked. "Huh?" he whispered as he found himself able to open the door. "That's weird." He peeked his head in, "Hello? Rarity?" He began to tiptoe inside, eyes darting around before hearing a noise above him. Looking up, he started to hear another sound, making go wide-eyed before turning to the stairs. Worry now on his face, he jogged up the stairs, quickly getting to the second floor. It was here he saw a table at the landing of the stairs, the vase on it on the side, strange since Rarity usually had it perfectly placed in the center. The sight made him realize that somepony had knocked the vase off before lazily putting it back on. Spike's attention was then pulled away from the vase by another sound, this one coming from the room at the end of the hallway: Rarity's bedroom. The drake began to tiptoe, now hearing more noise before the sound of a pony's voice caught his attention. And it was one he knew better than any other. "Rarity?" He was about to knock, only to hear Rarity cry out. "No! Not that!" She screamed, Spike's overactive imagination going into overdrive at the sound as he now feared his precious Rarity was in danger. All thoughts of knocking flew from his mind as he grabbed the door handle and twisted it. It a burst of motion, he shot through the door and slid into Rarity's room. This got a cry of surprise from the pony he had come to save, allowing him to locate her and turn toward the bed....only for his heart to come to a stop. Rarity was laying on her back with somepony on top of her. It was Lightning Blitz, who's head jerked up from Rarity's neck as the two stared at him. "Spike?!" Rarity yelped, both frozen in their positions. "What are you doing here?" Spike barely heard her, instead focused squarely on Lightning. Rage, the likes of which he had never felt, surged through his body and caused it to shake. "GET OFF OF HER!" He suddenly roared before leaping at Lightning, the unicorn unable to react as he found himself instantly pushed off the bed. "Whoa!" "SPIKE!" Rarity screamed as she saw the young drake clawing at Lightning, the unicorn trying to push the dragon off. The mare quickly lit her horn next, encasing Spike in her magic before pulling him off Lightning, the dragon now floating in the air while wildly flailing his arms and legs around. Lightning coughed as he picked himself up, "What is wrong with you?" "I can't believe I thought you'd changed!" Spike cried before breathing fire at Lightning, the unicorn quickly making a small shield, "But to do...this! Forcing Rarity to do...that! YOU WILL PAY!" "SPIKE!" Rarity turned him towards her, "Stop it!" This statement made Spike go wide-eyed as she then said, "Lightning wasn't forcing me to do anything." "What?" Rarity sighed and put him down, her horn still glowing as she replied, "Spike, I didn't want you to find out this way...but I guess we have no choice." She got down off her bed, and moved over to the stallion. "First off, Lightning wasn't doing anything terrible to me. In fact, I invited him up here." "What? What do you mean he...he..." Spike's mind slowly began to put the pieces together, his gaze shifted from one unicorn to the other until the last gear clicked, "You two are...together." Rarity sighed again, "That's right darling. I'm sorry you found out like this, but I guess it was inevitable." Rarity continued to speak, but Spike didn't hear her. His head was spinning, a pain now appearing in his chest as it began to surge more and more. The world around him seemed to vanish, the feeling of being sick embracing his stomach as the thought of Rarity being with Lightning entered his brain. "Spike?" He then turned to Rarity as she walked up to him, "Are you alright?" It was here that she noticed tears appearing in Spike's eyes, only for the drake to suddenly spin and run out of the room. "SPIKE!" She yelled before she began to give chase, "Come back!" However, she and Lightning found themselves surprised at how fast the dragon was running, almost instantly out of the building before running toward a certain castle. At the Castle of Friendship... Most of its inhabitants of the castle were currently in the library as this was happening. Flash was standing in his Shining Guardian armor while Twilight placed a rubber ball on a table between them. Starlight, Heart, Soul and even Springer were sitting off to the side. "You ready Flash?" "As I'll ever be," Flash gulped before closing his eyes. "Let's do this." "Alright," Twilight nodded. "The first step is to focus on the object." Flash opened his eyes and focused on the rubber ball. "Now imagine that object floating in the air. If it helps, try to visualize a hand holding the ball." "Psst," Starlight whispered as she leaned over to Soul, "What's a hand?" "Twilight says its like a paw," Soul pointed to Springer as he held it up. "But they're thinner and they don't have fur." "Isn't that just a claw?" Starlight replied with a raised eyebrow. Heart just shrugged at her, "I asked the same thing, but Flash says they're called hands." They all then turned back to Flash, the defender grunting as he tried to imagine the ball being picked up by an invisible hand. The horn on his helmet started to glow at this, showing off an orange light. That same light soon wrapped around the ball, slowly beginning to float off the table. "Oh, come on!" Soul yelled, breaking Flash's concentration and making him drop the ball. They all turned to glare at Soul as the ball rolled toward her. "What?!" She pointed to her horn, "I've had this thing for months, and I've only just started learning the same thing Flash just mastered on the first try!" Everypony opened their mouths to respond, only for a loud banging sound to suddenly echo throughout the castle. "What was that?" Starlight asked. "The front door," Twilight replied before sparking her horn, soon teleporting the group to the entryway. When they arrived, Flash and Heart were almost knocked down by a running Spike, both taking to the air before he collided into them. "Spike?" Twilight called out, only for the drake to rush past them and up the stairs without saying a word. "What's up with him?" Heart asked, Soul turning to her brother. "He looked upset." "It's worse than that," Springer added while shaking his head, "When he ran by, I got an overwhelming sense of sorrow coming off of him. Like...some great tragedy had just befallen him." The others exchanged glances, frowns on every face before Rarity and Lightning suddenly ran up to the door. "Oh! Everypony!" They all turned to Rarity, "Have you seen Spike?!" "Yeah," Flash pointed to the stairs, "He just ran by. Like, really fast." "What happened?" Twilight asked next, "Springer said he's feeling really sad." Rarity grimaced at her words, sighing as she replied, "It's...a long story." She turned to Lightning, "I guess we'll have to come clean." "Looks like it," he added with a nod. "Come clean about what?" Rarity's eyes looked away from everypony for a second before saying, "Well...if you don't mind Twilight, I would prefer to wait until everypony important is here. I'm sure they will have questions, and..." she turned to Lightning, getting another nod from him. "It'd be best to answer everything at once." Twilight blinked at this response, only for her horn to spark as she responded, "Oookay. Give me a minute." One minute of teleporting around town later... "YOU'RE DATING?!" Everypony yelled as almost every jaw in the room dropped. "Yes, we are." Rarity replied while sitting on her throne. A slight blush was on her face as she slightly looked away, "And well...Spike walked in on us...expressing ourselves." More blushes appeared in the room as Flash commented, "I'm not even gonna ask what that's supposed to mean." Twilight smacked him with her tail as Grand spoke up next, "So...no offense, but how long has this been going on?" "Yeah!" Pinkie and Wild asked in unison before Pinkie went on, "When did you two get together?!" Lightning twiddled his hooves at this, "Well uh...remember that time when the girls joined us in our training?" Everypony else searched their memories before Flash replied, "Seriously? That was months ago." "You've been dating that long?!" Rainbow yelped, "And you kept it from us?! What gives?!" "First off, Miss Dash," Rarity hissed as she pointed at her. "You weren't exactly truthful about your relationship with Soarin from the very start." Rainbow blushed and looked away, "And secondly, we've only just recently made it official." Lightning nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Before, we were just going on dates and seeing how things turned out. We didn't tell anypony so that if things didn't work out, we could just go back to normal and everything would be fine." "But clearly things did work out," Twilight added. "Oh yes," Rarity responded before rolling her eyes, "I'll admit I was a little...skeptical at first, but it turns out Lightning and I have quite a few things in common. We like similar types of music, a lot of the same foods and a few other things." "Well, we're happy for ya'll," Applejack chimed in, showing a big smile as the others all nodded in agreement. "I always thought you'd make a cute couple." Fluttershy said next, "I just didn't want to say anything in case you didn't like the idea." "That's fine darling," Rarity replied with a wave of a hoof, only to sigh, "I just wish Spike hadn't found out the way he did." This made the others grimace, Twilight looking up at the ceiling in the direction of Spike's room before turning back to Rarity. "You know, Spike's had a crush on you for a long time-" "That's an understatement," Rainbow interrupted. "Yeah." Flash added, "Its been like that since day one. Even before he actually knew you. He took one look at you, and his heart was beating out of his chest." "Anyways..." Twilight growled while glaring at them before turning back to Rarity. "You need to do something about this. The problem won't just fix itself. You need to go up and tell Spike the truth." Rarity sighed again, "I know. I just...well, its not easy." "Stuff like this rarely is," Grand chimed in. "And even if you go up there and tell him, things won't just magically repair itself. Heartbreak isn't something that just vanishes overnight. But it'll take a lot longer if you don't address the issue now." Rarity and Lightning shared a glance, the mare's ears folding as she got off her throne, "I hate to say it...but you're right. No time like the present, as they say." "Want me to go with you?" Lightning asked, Rarity shaking her head. "No, I think it's best if it's just me. Don't want him to lash out on you again if I accidentally say the wrong thing." Lightning nodded in agreement before Rarity turned to head out of the throne room, everypony watching her leave as she prepared to make things right with their favorite dragon. In his room, Spike was curled up in his bed with his blanket wrapped around him. Both bed and blanket were soaking wet from his tears, the drake only slightly calming down as he stared at a picture of his heartache's source. "Why? Why Rarity?" He asked, sniffing loudly as he wiped his eyes. It was here he heard a knock at the door, "Spike?" The dragon froze at the voice, "Can I come in?" He wanted to tell her to go away, but his voice had completely vanished. Rarity seemed to take the lack of response as an okay, slowly creaking the door open to peek inside, "Oh Spike," she whispered when she saw him, the mare trotting into the room as Spike pulling his head and the picture of the unicorn into the blanket cocoon. "I'm sorry about what happened. I never wanted you to find out like this." She waited for a response, but Spike stayed quiet. "I know what you discovered must have come as a bit of a shock, but please talk to me." Again, there was no reply. "I just want to make sure everything was alright. You have to understand, I never really expected this to happen. When Lightning and I started dating-" That word sent another stabbing pain through Spike's heart, "I didn't think anything would come from it. I thought we would go on a few dates, have a bit of fun, and then move on with our lives. I just...I didn't expect anything more would develop." This seemed to resonate with Spike, his face slowly shifting out of the cocoon with his eyes staring at her. "You...you didn't?" "No," Rarity responded while shaking her head, only for a small smile to appear on her face, "I'll admit I was attracted to him at the time, but...but it wasn't until we actually started spending more time with one another, getting to know one another that I...I started developing real feelings for him." This sent another shot of pain through Spike's heart as he squeaked out, "Feelings?" "Yes." Rarity could see the look of pain in his eyes, but kept going, "Spike, I'm sorry." This made the dragon wide-eyed as she continued, "I won't apologize for having feelings for somepony else, that's my right. But I am apologizing for not talking to you about this stuff earlier." She walked around the bed and sat down, now noticing it was soaked through. "Oh dear..." she ignored it for a moment, only to wrap a hoof around Spike and pull him up to her. "Spike, you have to understand that nothing could ever truly happen between us." This made him freeze up. "I mean, we're not even the same species. Who knows what could happen if we were together. Not to mention, you're still a child. It'll be another decade before you're truly ready to be in a relationship." "I'm really mature for my age," he tried to argue. The mare shook her head, "Spike...please don't do this." She looked down at him, forcing the drake to look up at her. "I know this is hard, but you have to accept it. I'm with Lightning and I'm happy. And one day, when you're older, you'll find yourself somepony, er...some...dragon to be with, and you'll be more happy than you could ever be with me." Spike stayed silent and looked away, Rarity letting him go and hopping off the bed. "I'm sorry this had to happen like this. But then again...maybe it's for the best." She patted his head before turning away, "I'm sorry Spike." With that, she walked out of the room, not looking back as she stepped outside. As she did this, Spike curled up again as the tears began to well up again. Rarity shut the door with a long sigh, soon going down the hallway and to the stairs. And when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she found all her friends staring at her, "Well?" Twilight asked, pure worry on her face, "How'd it go?" "I...I don't know. I think I got through to him," Rarity replied, sighing while shaking her head, "But like Grand said, this will take time for him to really heal." "So what do we do?" Pinkie asked. "Nothing," Grand instantly responded, "This is something he has to work through himself. Leave him alone for the rest of the day and see how he's doing tomorrow, then try to keep his mind off it. In time, he'll be okay." "But...should we be trying to help him?" Twilight said as she turned back to the stairs leading up to Spike's room. "I mean, he shouldn't just be alone. If I know Spike, he'll take this hard. He's never had to feel something like this." Flash then wrapped a wing around the alicorn as he added, "I agree. The little guy has never been the strongest. Though..." he stared at the stairs now, "Maybe we should give him some time..." The next day... Spike was still in his room. He hadn't left since yesterday, his stomach growling at him. However, his heart was responding more, telling his gut to be quiet as the little dragon refused to get off his bed, instead simply staring at the ceiling while his blanket was bunched up on the floor. The drake barely registered a knock that came from the door before it opened, Twilight and Flash looking into the room. "Hey buddy," Flash said in a calmest tone he could give, "How we doing today?" Spike's reply was an unintelligent grumble. "We thought you might be hungry," Twilight added as she held up a large bowl of gems. Usually, the rattle of the crystal rocks would have Spike's face inside the bowl within seconds...but instead, he remained silent, just staring at the ceiling. "I'll just...put it down so you can have it when you're ready." "We've also got ice cream," Flash chuckled as he held the tub over Spike so he could get a whiff. "Your favorite flavor." Again, Spike said and did nothing. "Alright. Well, it'll be in the fridge if you want it." The two then headed for the door, both glancing back at Spike as Twilight whispered, "I wish there was something we could do." "We can't force him to get over it," Flash reminded her, Twilight sighing in agreement as they walked away, leaving Spike to wallow in self pity. Hours passed without him even noticing, only for the door to open again. "Hey Spike." Starlight said as she tiphoofed into the room, the drake letting out a grumble. "I thought I'd let you know that I'll be doing your chores today, so you can just lay back and enjoy yourself." She floated something over to his bed, "Maybe enjoy this brand new Power Ponies comic I got for you." She dropped the comic and it landed on his chest, Starlight expecting him to react...only for nothing to happen. The sight made the mare frown as she slowly pulled her head out of the room, "Um...alright then. I'll see you later." She shut the door, time instantly passing again without Spike even noticing. The comic remained exactly where it was, indicating the lack of movement from the dragon. Eventually, the door opened again as Heart, Soul and Scootaloo trotted in. "Hey Spike!" Heart flew up and hovered right above him, looking into the young dragon's eyes. "We're heading over to Button's for a video game tournament. You want in?" Spike's half-dead stare was all the reply he got, making him glare at the drake, "Come on Spike, you can't spend the rest of your life moping like this. So the mare you like is with somepony else, who cares? Dragon up already!" This finally seemed to get a response from Spike, who glared at the colt before breathing fire. The flames touched the colt, unfazed since he was completely immune to fire. "You don't need to be so snippy about it," Heart grumbled as he flew away. "Come on Spike," Soul added as she moved up to him. "We hate seeing you like this." "Just go away," Spike spoke, the first words in twenty four hours. "I wanna be left alone." "Being left alone is the last thing you need right now!" Scootaloo barked back, "You need to get out of this room! Get some fresh air! Do something!" "What's the point," Spike moaned, "Nothing matters anymore." The three young ponies all sighed as he continued, "I just don't get it." They now saw even more tears appear in his eyes. "Why him and not me? What does he have that I don't?" Heart chimed in first, "Well for one thing, he's actually old enough to date her without getting her arrested." "And Rarity said they have a lot in common," Soul continued. "And he's a pony," Scootaloo finished, "Not that there's anything wrong with being a dragon, but is it even possible for the two species to mix. I mean, ponies give birth and dragons lay eggs...at least, I think that's what Twilight told us." Spike let out a small groan, "Aw...why couldn't I have been born a..." He stopped, his eyes going wide as an idea popped into his head. "That's it!" "What's it?" Heart asked, only for Spike to hop off his bed and run right past them. "Gotta go, bye!" The three followed him, leaning out the doorway as the drake ran down the hallway. "Well...he's up and out of his room." Heart turned to the others, "That's gotta be an improvement, right?" "I guess?" Soul responded while tilting her head, "But what did we say that made him leave his room?" "Please!" Spike asked as he clutched Twilight's tail, the pony rolling her eyes as she trotted through the library and dragged the dragon along the floor. "I'm begging you." "Spike!" Twilight gripped her tail in her magic and pulled it free from his grip, "I'm not turning you into a pony." "You did it before!" Spike whined, "Back when you changed yourself and the others into breezies! You even turned a frog into an orange!" "That first time was only because it was an emergency, and the other was an accident. I'm not changing you into anything, so forget it." "But it's my only chance!" Spike added. "If I'm a pony, then Rarity might realize we're perfect together." Twilight let out a sigh at this, shaking her head, "Spike, that's enough." She turned back to him. "I know you're upset about what happened, but you're being childish. If Rarity wanted to be with you, it wouldn't matter if you were a pony or a dragon. Just accept her choice and move on." With that, she spun around and walked away, leaving Spike as she stared at the alicorn. He looked down at the floor, his body shaking before he clenched his fists, the dragon now showing a scowl on his face. "I'm not gonna lose that easily." The next next day... The defenders, minus Springer, were now gathered in the center of town, all talking to Mayor Mare and Derpy. "Are you sure this is what you saw?" Grand showed Derpy a book with many creatures inside, pointing to one that looked like a blue furball with light blue skin on its revealed face and paws. "That's right," Derpy nodded. "But the one I saw was pink. I was making my delivery and I saw one running through the street. When it noticed me, it shot a bunch of pins at me." She then showed them a package, which was covered in sharp pink needles. "It's a pukwudgie," Iron replied while sighing, "They're pretty short tempered, but not super hard to deal with." "You've been spending way too much time with Fluttershy," Flash laughed. Iron rolled his eyes, "I'd just like to know what it was doing here. They're supposed to stay in the Everfree Forest." "Just tell us the truth," Mayor Mare asked while eyeing the highly pricked box, "Are they...dangerous?" "One or two of them shouldn't be an issue," Grand assured her. "If there's more though, then we might have a problem." "We'll be sure to keep an eye out for them," Flash added, "If it looks like it'll be a problem, we'll let you know." Mayor Mare nodded and walked back into Town Hall while Derpy flew off to deliver the prickly package. Once they were gone, Flash turned to the others. "Alright, I'm open to suggestions." "This would be so much easier if Springer wasn't on maternity leave," Lightning sighed. "I didn't even know we actually had that...and he's male!" "Stop complaining about that Lightning." Flash replied while crossing his hooves, "Those eggs are important to him. We can figure out a way to find these creatures without him." Grand nodded in agreement. "He's right. For all we know, that one pukwudgie was alone and has already returned to the forest. But, we should still act like there's more here." "I'll go see what Fluttershy knows," Iron chimed in, "She might know what kind of food they like, then we'll know the best place to look for 'em." "And we might be able to lure them into a trap," Lightning suggested. "Then it's just a matter of releasing them somewhere far from town." "Alright defenders," Flash took to the air. "Let's roll out!" They all nodded before going in separate directions. Once they were far enough away, a bush they had been standing next to suddenly sprouted purple legs and started walking down the street following Lightning. After a few seconds, Spike's head popped out as he glared at the unicorn. "Alright lover boy, show me your secrets. What is it that allowed you to steal her from me?!" He continued to follow Lightning as the unicorn marched through town, not really doing anything of note. "Come on...do something!" Then, Lightning stopped and began staring at a table located in front of a shop. Spike saw he was looking at the table's leg, the dragon pulling out a pair of binoculars to watch. He didn't know what Lightning was so fascinated by, only for the owner of the store to come out and the unicorn pointed at the leg, Spike focusing on that spot to see a crack in the woodwork. The owner thanked Lightning and headed inside to find some superglue, the unicorn then walking away. Spike continued after him, pulling out a notepad at the same time. "Okay...so he's observant. I guess I can see why Rarity would be impressed by that. But I can be just as obser-WHOA!" He yelped, tripping over a rock he hadn't seen. The loud cry seemed to catch Lightning's attention, Spike just managing to pull his legs into the bush as he looked around. And after a few seconds, he shrugged and continued onward. At the same time, Spike peeked out of the bush, growling as he continued to follow again. It wasn't long till the chasing stopped, Lightning now at Sugarcube Corner. Spike quickly left his bush, now going over to a window and glancing inside to see Lightning snacking on a muffin he had just bought. Wild was also there, the two chatting until Pinkie walked in with Mr. Cake holding his back. "What happened?" His wife asked as Mr. Cake sat down. "Did you throw your back out again?" "I'm fine," he assured her while trying to stand back up, only to cry out a silent scream, the others pushing him back down. "The delivery cart was just a bit too heavy, that's all." "You need to rest," Wild responded. "Yeah!" Pinkie added with a nod, "I'll do the deliveries." "But what about that big order?" Mr. Cake replied, "There's no way Mrs. Cake can do it alone, even if Wild watched the twins." The others frowned at this, only to slowly turn to Lightning. The unicorn shrugged back, "Sure, wouldn't be the first time." With that, they headed outside as Lightning was hooked up to the cart. Pinkie looked in the back and was surprised by the number of pies and cakes stuffed inside. "Wow, he wasn't kidding. This must be the most deliveries we've ever had." She turned to Lightning, "You sure you can pull all of these?" "I'm gonna give it a try," he said before pulling the cart. He grunted and groaned for a few seconds, but the cart was moving. And once it started rolling, the effort appeared less strenuous. "Okay," Spike whispered as he watched him leave, "I'll admit he's willing to help out when he doesn't absolutely need to. Not as generous as Rarity, but enough to catch her eye. And I guess the strength he has is pretty noteworthy. But that can't just be the reason." He continued to follow as the unicorn trotted around town, deliverying the packages. With each delivery, the weight lessened, making Spike have to speed up as his bush zigzagged through the street. And when Lightning delivered his last pie, a loud scream caught their attention. They both ran toward the source of the scream, turning to a street filled with ponies running all over the place, all of them being chased by the spiny creatures that Iron had told him about earlier. Multiple pukwudgies of differing colors were rolling around, firing their quills around. Lightning then saw Octavia surrounded by several, being backed up against a wall. Pulling one of his daggers out of his cloak and striking it in the ground, he teleported over to Octavia and grabbed her before warping back as the pukwudgie fired at the wall. "Get out of here!" Octavia nodded and yelled back her thanks as she ran into the nearest house. The defender turned back to the pukwudgies as they glared at him, "Bring it!" The creatures hissed before spinning around and firing their quills, Lightning leaping to the side before pulling out his daggers, tossing them all over the place. Not a single one struck a pukwudgie, who kept firing at him. "Ha!" Spike laughed, "Can't even hit one tiny little hedgehog." He slowly moved closer to the nearest dagger, intending to use it to fight off the pukwudgies himself. But as he did this, the last dagger hit the ground and Lightning's horn began to spark. "This is sure to give you a jolt!" With that, he unleashed a burst of electricity that struck the nearest dagger. It bounced off the metal and split into several streams, hitting each dagger and creating a web of lightning all over the street. Once the web was created, every dagger unleashed a pulse of lightning that struck everything within two feet of them. This included the pukwudgie and sadly, Spike. "GYAAAAAH!" The little dragon cried from within his bush. The lightning soon faded, many of the pukwudgies slumping over. None of them were badly hurt, but they would be out of action for a while. Lightning smirked before spotting four of the little creatures that were still up and kicking. They quickly charged at Lightning, leaping up and spinning around to prick him. But before they could, he caught the four in his magic, only to teleport between them. The creatures straightened their spines at this, the unicorn warping again as they fired...only to hit each other. As this happened, Spike pulled himself out of the bush, moaning as smoke came off his body. He turned to see the unicorn let the pukwudgies go, the four now running away while pulling the spines out of their own backsides. It was here that the rest of the defenders and mane seven arrived, seeing the many hedgehogs littering the ground. The other townsponies came out, having watched the situation and cheering for Lightning. Spike growled at the sight, only to grimace as he saw Rarity trot over and give Lightning a kiss on the cheek. He wiped his eyes as tears appeared, running away with his eyes staring at the ground. Once he was a good distance away, he leaned against a wall and slumped down with a long sigh, "Alright...so he's keen eyed, can be generous when he wants to be, and is pretty good at fighting." Spike hissed as he let out a roar, "RAAAGH!" He then tired to kick a box, only to scream out in pain, "Ow!" He hopped on one foot while clutching the other one, only to trip and fall over. And as his head hit the ground, a click went off in his brain. "Wait..." he moaned as the memory of his first day he met Rarity appeared in his head. "Wait...Rarity was interested in Flash when she found out he was gonna be a Royal Knight. And now she's dating Lightning, who's pretty much a Royal Knight in all but name." His mind slowly put the pieces together, "THAT'S IT!" He jumped up, "Of course Rarity's attracted to a heroic kind of pony. Maybe if I show her I can be heroic, she'll realize I'm the perfect boyfriend." His mind flashed back to the time when Rarity had been captured by a bunch of Diamond Dogs. Back then, Spike had wanted to save her, but Rarity had ended up saving herself. However, the heroic image Spike had envisioned himself as still swirled around in his mind. "I just need to figure out a way to show I can be just as heroic as Lightning!" He puffed up his chest...only to slump over, "But...how do I do that?" He crossed his arms with a sigh, only for his eyes to see the Everfree Forest in the distance. "Wait...those pukwudgies went back to the forest. I bet if I get them, everypony will see me as a hero. Heck, I'll have cleaned up Lightning's screw up and stopped those things from spawning and coming back in greater number!" He turned to the castle, knowing him was gonna need some certain equipment if he wanted to catch those runaways. "Just wait Rarity! I'll show you how awesome I can be!" One hour later... "Is this the last of them?" Flash asked as he lifted a cage onto a cart filled with cages. Each had a pukwudgie in it, each having plenty of room to move when they woke up and had been enchanted with a magical barrier to keep their spines out. A few more cages could be seen on the ground, Fluttershy being the one to carefully place each into them. "It's okay little guy," she stroked the furball. "This won't be for too long." She placed it in the cage and shut it. "I already know of a good place that we can set you free, not too far from here and with lots of food and a large canyon between it and us. We won't be bothering you anymore." "You do realize they were the ones bothering us," Rainbow told her before lifting the cage onto the cart. "I'm sure they didn't mean it," Fluttershy replied before hearing a loud scream of pain coming from a pony currently getting quills pulled out of their flank. "That looks painful," Wild commented while flinching. "Yeah," Pinkie added with a nod, "I sure hope Spike didn't get pricked." "Spike?" Twilight turned to Pinkie, "What do you mean?" "Oh, didn't you know? Spike was following Lightning around all day. He was hiding in a bush." She pointed at a certain piece of foliage, "That bush actually." The others stared at the bush as Lightning asked, "Why was he following me?" Flash then walked over to the bush, only to pull something out, "What's this?" Flash opened up a notepad, now seeing a page with Spike's hoof...claw writing on it. "Keen eyes, generous when he wants to be, and is strong." He turned to Lightning, "I think he was taking notes on you." Lightning raised an eyebrow, "I'll ask again. Why?" Rainbow laughed at this, "Easy! Twilight's corrupted him into being a note-taking egghead." Twilight glared at her before taking the notebook herself. The sight made her sigh before glancing over at the defender, "I think...I think he was trying to figure out why Rarity is attracted to you." "What?!" Rarity yelped, "What are you talking about?!" "Well...think about it," Twilight replied as she turned to her. "Spike found out you weren't into him, and so he wanted to see why you fell for Lightning instead. He probably thinks that if he can imitate whatever it is, you'll fall for him." "That's ridiculous," Rarity replied, rolling her eyes while waving her hoof. "Spike wouldn't do something that silly..." She then saw everypony glare at her, making her start to shrink back, "Would he?" "He's young," Grand responded, "Young ponies, and especially young dragons, have a hard time letting go of things they care about." Rarity blinked at his explanation, sighing and shaking her head, "Even if you say that, I thought I'd made it clear to him." Lightning grimaced at her, knowing what he had to say as he grabbed her shoulder, "I hate to tell you this, but this is kinda your fault." Rarity instantly turned to him with wide eyes. "Lightning! How you can say that?!" The defender sighed as he continued, "Rarity...I know you might have never encouraged his crush on you, but you didn't exactly do anything to stop it either." Rarity leaned back at this, "Honestly...it always kinda felt like you were just leading him on." "That's...not true." She turned back to her friends, "Is it?" Everypony shared a glance, all not speaking "You all don't think that too, do you? Surely that's not true." "Well..." Applejack spoke up, her mouth mumbling her words, "Kinda. You do seem to have a habit of getting him to do stuff for yah...a lot." Rarity waved a hoof at this, "Oh please. I might have asked him to do a few favors for me, but I always pay him back." This statement was followed by several glares, making Rarity blink, "What?" "Do you really pay him back? Really?" Flash chimed in, Rarity going silent this time as he pointed at her, "You know Spike would do whatever you ask of him in a heartbeat, even without a reward. The only reason he does it is because he thought it would get you to like him back." The unicorn started to backpedal as she saw the others nod in agreement, "I hate to say this Rarity, but you've been taking advantage of his feelings for you...and this is the result." The unicorn's eyes darted around, seeing confirming nods and glares. She bit her lip at this, the information sinking in. Before she knew it, memories went through her head, thinking back to the many times she had asked Spike for help and he had agreed without question. Every time he would have this puppy dog look on his face and always looking embarrassed every time she thanked him. She sighed as she now remembered all the times she had gotten up close to his face and looked him straight in the eyes, a tactic she had developed during her many years as an entrepreneur in order to get what she needed. But when she used that on other ponies, those ones were always adults, all eventually realizing what she was doing....but Spike was just a naïve lovestruck child. "Oh dear...what have I done?" She fell to her flank as tears began to fill her eyes, "I've been so cruel to him." Twilight sighed and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Rarity, I know you didn't mean to hurt Spike, but you have. And as much as I want to keep him from getting hurt more than he has, it'd be worse to let him keep thinking he has a chance with you. You need to set things straight and tell him that nothing can ever happen between you." Twilight cringed at her own next words, "And...well, you need to not be gentle, and definitely not beat around the bush. You have to be firm and tell him the truth. If you don't...he'll never accept it, and he'll never move on." "She's right," Fluttershy added with a nod, "Remember back when I was helping the breezies? It wasn't until I was firm and direct with them that I was able to truly help. Sometimes, the kinder thing to do is to not sugarcoat something and get it out there." Rarity sighed again, wiping her eyes. "You...you're right." She stood up, wiping away the tears, "I can't allow this to go on any longer. Its time to give Spike the hard truth." She then stared at the bush he had used, "Though um...where is he?" "He can't have gotten too far," Flash told her as Fluttershy and Iron lifted the last pukwudgie up onto the cart. "You two take these things to their new home. The rest of us will search for Spike." They nodded and separated, each heading off in a different direction. And as they got searching, Lightning stopped for a moment as he hummed a thought into his head. "Wait...if he's trying to be me, would he do that?" His mind went back to the four pukwudgie he had let go, only to shake his head, "No, he wouldn't be that stupid." The defender's gaze then slowly shifted to the forest, "Would he?" Meanwhile... At the edge of the forest, Spike began his walk into the forest with a fully decked out suit of armor. And by armor, it was a football helmet, knee-pads around the knees and elbows, a small pillow taped to his stomach and a large net in his claws. He checked his equipment and nodded to himself, "This is it." He clutched the net in both claws, "Time to be a hero." He raised the net high as he charged in, yelling at the top of his lungs, "FOR RARITY!" With that, he disappeared into the foliage, his little dragon legs going through the trees. He had no idea where to go, resulting in about ten minute run before his less then physically fit body to start reminding him his flaws. "Ugh..." he gasped as he slowed to a near crawl while dragging the net behind him. "For...Rarity," his legs then gave out, falling face first. "Ow!" He stayed like this for a few seconds before rolling onto his back, "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." His eyes turned to the many trees around him, "How the heck am I supposed to find those tiny things in this massive place?" It was here that a rustling sound caught his attention, making him turn to see a bush moving until something jumped out. A pink pukwudgie. Spike's eyes slowly grew wide, grinning as he slowly reached around and grabbed his net, being sure not to startle the thing. "Hey little guy," he raised it above his head. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Just...stay...STILL!" He swung the net down, but the pukwudgie jumped to the side. "Horse apples!" Feeling threatened, the pukwudgie spun around to fire its quills at Spike. But the little dragon just lowered his head, the quills bouncing off his helmet and padding. Seeing it was useless, the beast chose to retreat. "Hey! Get back here!" the drake yelled as he got up and gave chase, continuing to swing his net at the same time. The pukwudgie kept itself just out of reach as it ran, making Spike say, "Just get in the net! You can't run forever!" What followed was a hunt that felt like it went for hours, the pukwudgie easily evading Spike as the dragon kept on its tail. And when the pukwudgie leapt through a bush, Spike then jumped as high as he could while swinging the net down. "I...GOTCHA!" Now caught in the net, the pukwudgie growled as it tried to pull itself out, only for Spike to scoop the ropes off the ground. "Ha! Not so tough now, are you?" He smirked as he pulled the creature up to his face, "Now, where's your friends?" The pukwudgie hissed at him, only to suddenly stop and smile. Spike raised an eyebrow at this, but his ears soon told him something else as the sound growling entered them. Looking up, his heart stopped when he saw tons of pukwudgies in the trees. He was surrounded on all sides and they did not look happy. "Oh...there they are." Was all Spike could say before the beasts began to fire at him. Several quills struck the net, cutting through the string and freeing the captured pukwudgie. They then focused their quills on Spike, the drake now trying to defend himself. "Ow!" He cried as one pierced his toe, "Yow!" Another struck his tail, and then his butt. Some of the quills struck the straps of his pads, cutting through the tape that held his pillow shield. "STOP IT!" He screamed while randomly swinging the remains of the net, the ropes doing nothing. He began to run away, only to trip on a rock, knocking his helmet off. And as he began to pick himself up, the pukwudgies began to climb down the trees, making him do the one thing he could in this situation. Quickly jump up and sprint off while crying like a little filly, "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!!" He zipped through the foliage, the pukwudgies on his tail as he kept running. It wasn't long till he took a glance back, gulping at the sight before tripping on a root. "AUGH!" he yelped as he hit the dirt, stumbling to get back up. And as he did this, he saw the creatures surrounding him again, all pins primed at the dragon. But as he closed his eyes, preparing to get stabbed in every part, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down, hitting the ground between them. The force of the attack knocked the closest pukwudgies away while blinding the others, Spike opening his eyes to see who had saved him. "Lightning?" The electric unicorn stood between them, his horn sparking. The pukwudgie quickly recovered, all spinning around to fire pins at him. But as they did this, Lightning quickly swung his cloak, the wind just strong enough to push quills off target enough to miss him. "Gatling Spark!" He began to unload a barrage of weak lightning bolts, all hitting the many pukwudgies, pushing them back. The creatures began to climb up the trees at this, all leaping and curling up as they tried to stab Lightning with a more direct method. "Plasma Anchor!" He shot a thin stream of lightning that struck the closest pukwudgie before he flicked his head around, pulling the creature around as he began using it like a mace, slamming them into the others before throwing it at the closest group. Electricity surged everywhere, knocking down tons of pukwudgies before Lightning used this opening to build up a electric ball on the tip of his horn. "Thunder...BAZOOKA!" He fired the ball, hitting the ground before an explosion followed the impact, knocking them all flying. But despite this, more kept rolling after him as Lightning built up some more power. "Lightning...FORCE!" The electricity exploded in a single beam, passing over the pukwudgie and zapping almost the rest. And as they fell, Lightning began to slump over, panting as he saw several fallen pukwudgie getting up, making him grimace, "With this many, the fight could go on forever." He turned to Spike next, the little dragon raising an eyebrow before he felt himself grabbed by Lightning's magic, "What are you doing?" He asked as Lightning wrapped his hoof around him before sparking his horn, the two vanishing before another pukwudgie could attack. In a flash of light, Spike and Lightning appeared on the edge of the forest. As soon as Lightning let him go, Spike fell to the floor, gasping as the fear that had been flooding his body slowly faded away. He turned to see Lightning pull one of his daggers out of a tree, the unicorn now glaring at Spike. Spike growled and stood up, turning away. "I didn't need your help." "Clearly," he hissed back, "Your strategy of screaming at the top of your lungs was clearly doing wonders against those things." "I didn't ask for your help," Spike barked, "If you think you're gonna get a thank you, forget it." "I didn't do it to get some appreciation. I did it because you were in trouble. Not to mention Rarity would have been devastated if you had gotten hurt trying to impress her." That statement made Spike's glare slightly fade...only to growl again, "Oh?! But its okay for you to fight against these things to impress her?!" Lightning rolled his eyes. "Firstly, I actually know how to fight. Secondly, I don't do what I do to impress anypony. I do it because I wanna do it. Unlike you, I'm not playing hero." "Just shut up!" Spike screamed, "Everything was perfect until you showed up and stole Rarity from me!" "Stole her from you?!" Lightning yelped with a raised eyebrows, "She wasn't 'yours' to begin with. And even if I never showed up, she never would have been with you anyway!" "You don't know that!" "Oh, grow up!" Lightning barked back, "You're acting like a spoiled brat whose parents didn't get a toy for them. You really think Rarity would want to be with somepony so jealous he'd start following his competition around like a creepy stalker?!" Spike went wide-eyed at this, shrinking back as he said, "But how did you-" "You left your notepad behind." The dragon grimaced at this, "Oh...right." He turned away, "I was...I was just trying to learn how I could get Rarity to like me." Lightning let out a long sigh, shaking his head. "Spike...Rarity does like you, but not that way. She feels for you the same way Twilight feels for you, or how she feels about Sweetie Belle. You're like a brother to her, and you should be happy she likes you that way." Spike glared back at him, "But why can't she like me the other way?!" Lightning rolled his eyes at this, "You're not gonna quit, are you?" "No, I'm not!" "Listen, this isn't gonna work and..." Lightning came to a stop as a certain though entered his brain, "Spike, think of it like this: What if Rainbow, Applejack or even Pinkie suddenly developed feelings for you. Would you start liking them the same way?" Spike opened his mouth to reply, only for silence to be his answer, making the defender smirk, "You can't, can ya? And that's not because you don't care about them at all. They're just not the kind of pony you want to be with. And that's the same thing with Rarity." "B-b-but I could be," Spike replied quietly. "That's why I was watching you. That's why I went in there. I was trying to be what Rarity wanted." Lightning crossed his hooves, "What if Rainbow and Applejack suddenly started acting like Rarity? You wouldn't start liking them, would you?" "Well...no," Spike sighed and looked away. "I guess not." The defender took a deep breath, air coming out of his nostrils as he bent down and put his hoof on the drake's shoulder, "Spike, you shouldn't try and be somepony you're not to get somepony else's attention. Even if it got them to start liking you, it wouldn't be you they liked, it would be some fake character that you started playing. You'd be living a lie." Spike reached up to push his hoof away, only to find no strength as Lightning continued, "You need to be who you are, and hope that the pony you care about likes that version of you. And I'm sorry, but sometimes a pony won't like you like that, and...well, you simply have to accept that and move on." Spike was now staring at the ground, these words now sinking in, "I...I guess you're right. But it still hurts." "I'm sure it does." Lightning responded before looking up and seeing a certain group of friends running up, Rarity and Twilight at the front, "But you're gonna have to live with that pain. It'll go away someday, and when it does, you'll realize it was for the best." The defender smirked at this, grabbing both of Spike's shoulders, "And for the record, I think Rarity already sees you as a hero." "She...she does?" "How many times have you helped her and the others? You did save the Crystal Empire, twice. If that doesn't make you a hero, nothing would." A smile was starting to form on his face as the group reached them, "SPIKE!" Rarity and Twilight both yelled in unison. "Where have you been?!" Spike looked back up at Lightning, expecting him to talk...only for silence to be his answer. Sighing at this, he turned back to the group, "Um...nowhere." he squeaked out, "Just...taking a walk, and thinking a few things through." Rarity let out a long sigh, walking up and leaning down, "Spike, we need to talk. Really talk. I-" She stopped when Spike held up a claw. "No, it's okay. I get it now. I was just deluding myself. Nothing's ever gonna happen between us." He looked up at her, "Can you forgive me for being such an idiot?" "Oh, Spike." She pulled the dragon in for a hug, "I'm the one that should be asking you to forgive me. I'm the one whose been playing with your feelings. I see now that that was wrong of me." She pulled back and made him look her in the eye, "Can you forgive me?" The two stared at one another for several seconds before Spike hugged her again, Rarity surprised at his silent response before she reciprocated the hug. Everypony else smiled, happy this little event was behind them. They all knew Spike still had a crush on Rarity, but knew those feeling had the chance to fade and let him move on with his life. It might take time, but it would happen. Several days later... Rarity and Spike had made amends, the dragon finally staying out of his room, (And having to get new bed covers due to his tears ruining the blanket) and now he was still doing his regular routine with the unicorn. He could still feel his heart slightly hurt, but he was still happy to spend time with Rarity. "Thank you for doing this Spikey," Rarity said as the two made their way through the gem cave under Ponyville. "I promise that as soon as we're done here, I'll treat you to all the ice cream you can stomach." Spike shook his head as he carried the basket. "You don't have to do that Rarity. I'm happy just helping out." "I know," Rarity replied, "But I know now it isn't right to expect you to do everything I ask without being willing to do something in return. I know friendship shouldn't require payment, but it does require equal respect." "Oh...well, I hope you don't mind several tubs." Spike responded with a cheeky grin. Rarity leaned down with a smirk, "If you're playing that way, you'll be eating strawberry." Spike stuck out his tongue, "Ew! I don't want that! I want vanilla and chocolate!" The unicorn rolled his eyes, "Then you only get one tub." "Fine..." Spike sighed before both started to giggle. It was here that they arrived at the part of the cave they were looking for, one filled to the brim with sparkling jewels of every variety. The sight made Spike lick his lips, Rarity telling him to keep his appetite back as she walked up to the wall and took several gems out. A crumbling sound came next, both looking at the ceiling to see a large cauldron of bats. Rarity careful placed the gems into the basket, being sure to make as little noise as possible. "The last time I was here, I woke them and ended up with a mane full of bats!" She shivered at the horrible memory before smiling at her little protector. "Thanks for being my basket holder." "No problem," Spike replied, "Though can we maybe add to the name. Maybe basket holder slash bodyguard? Bet that would look great on my resume." This made Rarity laugh, needing to stifle it behind her hoof. "Of course, darling." With that, she turned back to the wall and continued pulling the jewels free. While doing so, she made sure her horn's light wasn't pointing up. Luckily, the hardhat she was wearing was blocking the light, so it only glowed in one direction. "Oh, for once I wish unicorn magic wasn't so...luminescent!" But as she said that, the cave was suddenly filled with light, causing the bats to slowly stir. Rarity turned to her helper, only to go wide-eyed as she saw the little dragon's entire body was glowing. "Spike! You'll wake the bats! Turn that off!" "Huh?!" he yelped as he looked down at his body, only to suddenly feel an itch. "Ugh...I can't!" he cried as he began to scratch, "Augh! Why am I so itchy?!" The itching began to increase, the light on his body getting brighter as Rarity looked up and saw the bats awakening and shooting off the wall. The next thing Rarity and Spike knew, a cloud of black winged rodents flew down and began to spiral around them. "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" They both screamed in terror, the beginning to sprint out of the cave in terror and confusion. And as they ran, Spike continued to glow, unable to stop as they continued to flee.