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Heart’s Desire
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Spike walked into his and Twilights room, happy to have some time to be alone.
Spike reached under Twilights bed and pulled out a box that contained the flower he had earlier taken from Zecora.
Twilight had left the house so she could go assist in the cleanup of Ponyville, so he would have plenty of time to himself.
Pulling a book out from under his pillow, Spike turned to the page he had bookmarked, and continued reading up on this flower.
So far, he had learned that Hearts Desire was a very powerful flower on its own, even when it wasn’t used in potions.
Apparently, if someone were to wish for something hard enough, the flower would activate itself, and grant the wish. However, this actually happening was extremely rare, as the wish would have to be so powerful, that the flower was able to see it.
So, when a few ponies decided that they wanted to control the flower, so they could have power over others, they started to experiment with Hearts Desire in potions. Unfortunately for them, the flower played tricks on them instead of actually granting their wishes. Which, well, ended badly for them.
So, years later, Princess Celestia put the best potion brewers in Canterlot on unlocking the secrets of the flower. And, eventually, they did. However, it seemed that potion would only grant the wish of somepony who truly deserved it.
It wouldn’t grant a selfish wish that somepony tried to get through the flower. It would only grant a truly pure heart’s desire.
Which made Spike start to worry.
Could his desire really be considered to be that way pure? Somehow, he didn’t think so.
He had continued reading in hopes of finding another way of using the flower. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be another one. He was starting to feel a bit put out over it.
Still, for now, he was going to finish up this book, and hope for something to come up.
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Rarity stood in her front lawn, collecting all the bits of debris that had been left by the parasprites. She silently mulled over the events of yesterday in her head… However, as crazy as the whole Parasprite situation had been, that wasn’t what she was thinking about…
She couldn’t seem to get Spike off her mind.
After he had saved her store yesterday, she had been looking at him in an entirely different light.
Sure, she knew that Spike had a crush on her. And she had always thought it rather cute. But, now she was starting to return those feelings.
Was that wrong?
She knew that Spike was years more mature than his size would lead one to think… And he wasn’t really a baby anymore. He was just a baby by dragon standards.
Rarity bit her lip. What would the repercussions be, if she were to just ignore the norm, and pursue a relationship with him?
Obviously that was out of the question, which is exactly why she was going to have to keep her distance from him for a while. These feelings were dangerous, and she knew nothing good would come of them.
So, she was going to stay away from him for the next few weeks, until she could get these feelings under control.
“Hey, Rarity!” A voice said, causing her to look up.
“Spike?” Rarity said, surprised. “W-what are you doing here?”
“Well, I was alone in the library, so I decided to head over here and see if you needed any help cleaning up!” Spike said with a smile.
Rarity remained silent. How could she turn him away now? He had come all the way over here just to help her out.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather be somewhere else?” Rarity asked, hoping he’d say yes, but secretly wanting him to say no. “I’d rather you be off enjoying yourself, than being stuck here cleaning up with me.”
“But I will enjoy myself!” Spike explained, “There isn’t anything I’d rather be doing today!”
Rarity blushed lightly, “Well, that means a lot to me Spike… Thank you.”
“No problem!” Spike said.
“Well, I suppose we should get to work, since this yard is in such a state of disarray.” Rarity said.
“Sure!” Spike said as he started gathering up bits and around the lawn.
Rarity stood and watched the baby dragon start to work. She could feel herself starting to tear up. Why did he have to be so perfect? Why did he have to be this way toward her? Why… Why couldn’t he have been born a pony?
“Um… Rarity?” Spike asked, noticing her stare.
“Oh… F-Forgive me” Rarity stammered. “Why don’t I go grab us some refreshments?”
“Sure!” Spike said smiling.
“Alright,” Rarity said, trying her best to smile normally, “What would you like?”
“Whatever you get me will be great!” Spike said, resuming his cleaning.
Hearing this, Rarity quickly turned and headed into her house.
Closing the door behind her, Rarity sat down and rested her back against it, as her tears started to flow freely.
Rarity sat in silence for a few minutes, letting all of her emotion out. She had forgotten all about the drinks she had gone to get. At this point, all she wanted was for him to come inside and hold her.
But, at the same time, she knew he couldn’t.
So, standing herself up, Rarity tried her best to wipe the tears away from her face.
Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough time to fix herself before Spike entered the house.
“Rarity?” Spike asked, looking at the mare who was facing away from him. “Is something wrong?”
Rarity remained silent, not daring look at him.
“Rarity?” Spike asked, approaching her. “Have you been crying?”
“You—you’ll have to forgive me.” Rarity stammered, turning to face Spike, “I was just thinking about… somepony.”
“Oh… Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?” Spike asked, concerned.
Of course he would ask that.
“Oh… No thank you, Spike.” Rarity said, starting to compose herself.
“Well, would you like me to finish the work outside?” Spike asked, “You probably want to go fix yourself up, huh?”
Rarity quickly looked at her hoof that she had just been rubbing her tears with. Seeing the stain on her coat, she figured that her makeup must have been running.
“Maybe we should cut this a bit short…” Rarity said, knowing that she had to take this opportunity, whether she wanted to or not. “I fear I’ll need a bit of time to make myself presentable again…”
“Oh…” Spike said dejectedly, “I-If you want.”
“I’m very sorry Spike…” Rarity said, knowing full well this was hurting his feelings.
“Don’t worry about it,” Spike said, only wanting what was best for her, “I hope you’re feeling better soon!”
Rarity smiled, “Thank you Spike… I appreciate that.”
Spike headed back toward the front door. “Let me know when you’re feeling better! We can get right back to this!”
“Of course,” Rarity said. “I’ll see you soon.”
Rarity closed the door and immediately felt the tears start to flow again. She decided to go lie down for a bit. She could finish cleaning up when she calmed down. But… what was she supposed to do about seeing Spike soon? Well… She’d just have to put it off. She had too.
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A few days later
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Spike opened his eyes slowly. He didn’t want to get out of bed. His body was completely sore after all the cleaning he had been doing for the town.
But, yesterday they had officially finished fixing up the town. So, Spike had earned a little time to rest. Unfortunately, as he closed his eyes, his mind immediately started to wander to thoughts of Rarity. These thoughts persisted, and ruined his attempt to get back to sleep.
Spike sighed, giving up on sleep, and climbed out of bed.
He hadn’t heard a word from Rarity for days. In fact, almost nopony had even seen her. Her store had just been completely closed.
He was going to ask Alex to go over there with him today, but Twilight took him out on some kind of training session in the Everfree forest, that she had planned last night. So, he was on his own.
Turning his thoughts back to Rarity, he sure hoped that she was starting to feel better.
It was obvious that she had been upset by something. Spike had no idea what it was, but… he just wanted to cheer her up.
Spike walked over to Twilight’s bed and grabbed the Heart’s Desire out of its usual hiding spot.
“I don’t suppose you’d be able to grant that wish for me, huh?” Spike said to the flower.
And, as he expected, he didn’t receive a response.
Inspecting the flower, Spike couldn’t help but notice how nice it was. The way the pink petals curved up from the stem and met each other in the shape of a heart was beautiful. And it would always look this way too.
At first, he had been surprised that the flower hadn’t withered. However, after his extensive reading on the plant, he learned that it would only shrivel when it had granted a wish.
Looking the flower over, Spike knew that it was no longer the solution he originally thought it to be.
The plant would never grant his wish to become a pony, nor would it grant the wish for Rarity to be happy gain. He knew that now… So, the flower was now… Just a flower.
Then it hit him. Maybe it could help him!
What could he do with a beautiful flower? Maybe he could give it Rarity to cheer her up!
Very happy with his idea, Spike ran out the door, and headed for The Carousel Boutique. This may not cheer her up completely, but hopefully it would make her a bit happier.
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Rarity sat in front of her mirror, finishing her usual morning routine. She wasn’t exactly sure how this whole ‘get over Spike’ thing was supposed to go, but by her account, it wasn’t going well.
She had committed herself to moving past him the last few days, but she was afraid that she had made little to no progress.
She just couldn’t let him go. He worked far too hard for her affections for her to just push him aside…
Ever since that night that Trixie was in town, Rarity had seen Spike in a different light. The feelings had slowly been growing inside her, until they exploded a few days before, during the Parasprite swarm.
Now, she found herself constantly wishing that Spike would come over, so she could just talk to him. It may have made her a bit selfish, but she loved it when he would endlessly try to please her. Not because she liked having a servant or anything… She just loved being so unconditionally cared for. Her happiness was always his main objective.
And that was what put him at the front of the pack.
Rarity was no foal. She knew what the other boys really wanted from her when they volunteered to help her out… which is why she flat out refused all of their attempts at courting her. She needed a pony who would take care of her, the way Spike constantly tried too.
…Why couldn’t Spike just be a pony?
Rarity’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft knocking on the door.
She knew that somepony would have to come checking on her eventually. So, she looked herself in the mirror to ensure that she was presentable, and then went downstairs to greet her guest.
Opening the front door, Rarity was overwhelmingly happy to see that it was Spike at the door. Not one of her other friends.
“Hey Rarity… I know that you’re feeling bad…” Spike said slowly, before spitting the rest out, “So-I-brought-you-this.”
Rarity felt her heart flutter as Spike revealed a flower that he had been hiding behind his back.
Rarity levitated the flower up to her face, and couldn’t help but feel her heart melt at the heart shape of the petals.
Spike smiled. He always loved seeing her smile... But, for some reason, this was different from her usual smile…
Spike had always known her to have a small, ladylike smile on her face, making sure to never over express it. But right now, she was smiling in a way he had never seen before.
Rarity knew she should have closed the door after he gave her this, and try her best to not to let it affect her… But she couldn’t. Something was stopping her.
“Well,” Spike said awkwardly, noticing that she hadn’t said anything. “I guess I’d better go… I hope you’re feeling better Rarity.”
Rarity watched as Spike turned, and took a few steps away.
‘You know what?’ Rarity said to herself, throwing caution to the wind, ‘buck it.’
“Spike!” Rarity said running over to him, with the flower still floating behind her. “Wait!”
Turning around, Spike expected her to say something else. But, he was instead shocked when she pressed her lips against his.
Rarity closed her eyes, and enjoyed every moment of it. She was doing this with him, and nothing was going to stop her.
Spike didn’t take long to get the memo. He closed his eyes, did what felt natural, and pushed himself a little closer into her, and lifted is hand to her cheek.
Since the two were so lost in one another, neither of them noticed when the flower levitating behind Rarity withered, and then fell apart, having granted her wish.
Rarity, still with her eyes closed, was somewhat confused when she felt Spike rise up… So, she simply followed wherever his lips went. This kiss wasn’t stopping now.
After a moment, she decided that she must have been subconsciously levitating him. Because he was just above her head, as she was now looking having to look up slightly.
Then another thing struck her… Did his lips get softer?
As much as Rarity was enjoying the moment, she slowly opened her eyes to see what was going on.
And there, right in front of her face, was a purple pony, with a green mane.
Rarity gasped, and pulled away from him.
Opening his eyes, Spike was confused. “Rarity, what’s wrong?”
“W-w-what happened to you? Rarity stammered, immediately recognizing Spikes voice.
“What do you mean?” Spike said, lifting a hoof to his face. “Is there something on my- my- my...”
Spike went wide eyed. He no longer had a hand… He had a hoof!
“Spike… You’re… A-a pony!” Rarity said, still in shock.
Upon hearing those words, Spike up and fainted.
Rarity looked around, and then to the unconscious pony, and couldn’t help but feel a bit cheated. “Isn’t fainting MY job?”
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