AN: Chapter edited.
- The Book -
“Twilight, where are you?” Spike called through a mountain of books.
The library was in a complete mess. There were books spread all over the floor, all waiting to be cleaned and re-shelved in their specific subject, volume, color and size, shelf.
“I’m right here Spike.” Twilight said, hovering a hoof among some piles of books.
Spike never enjoyed Cleaning and Re-shelving day. It wasn’t that he didn’t like to help Twilight, it was just that there was too much dust and too many books. And doing this activity almost every week was very tiring.
“Twilight, I, hum… I need your help to find a book.”
“You want a book? Why ask, Spike? You know you can get any book you want.”
“I know, but… this book is different.”
“Alright, say the name and I’ll get it for you.”
“Hum, the name is… it’s called ‘Elementary Courting for Men’.” the dragon said, a little embarrassed
Twilight glanced over a pile of books straight at Spike.
“Why do you want that book Spike?”
Spike didn’t say anything at first as his eyes wandered all over the library. He opened his mouth to give an answer, but closed it immediately, still trying to articulate a proper response. Twilight noticed Spike’s uncomfortable reaction to her question and without wasting time, she apologized.
“I am sorry, Spike, I shouldn’t have asked you that. Wait a second, and I’ll get your book.”
Twilight closed her eyes and brought a hoof to her forehead. She repeated the name of the book a few times while making circular movements with her hoof on her forehead.
“Got it, it’s right there!”
With a glowing horn, Twilight looked at a distant shelf, and from it, came a floating book covered in purple magic that landed in the dragon’s claws. The book was quite different from the others in the library. It was actually a pocket book, fitting snugly in Spike’s claws. It’s cover read “Elementary Courting for Men” revealing nothing else. The content of the book didn’t exceed over fifty pages; it was an extremely easy-to-read book.
“There you go Spike, make good use of it.” Twilight said with a small smile before turning her back on Spike to return to her cleaning.
“I… I’m going to ask Rarity out.” Spike said suddenly.
Twilight turned to face Spike.
“I know you said that you were sorry for asking me, but I needed to tell you. I can’t hide things from you, it doesn’t feel right.”
Spike was quickly involved with a purple aura, and floated towards his friend who heartily hugged him.
“Thanks for sharing that with me, Spike, and good luck! But now I need to return to my tasks.” Twilight said, levitating Spike once again and placing him where he first was.
“I’ll leave the book on my bed and come back to help.” the little dragon said, rushing upstairs.
The relationship between Spike and Rarity fell onto a mysterious pathway after Spike’s rampage through Ponyville. He remembered that as soon as he returned to his normal size, he attempted to tell her how he really felt all that time, but Rarity silenced him before he could finish. Her teary, azure eyes glistened in the sunlight, but he never understood what they meant. Were they tears of joy, or hurtful tears of pity?
After that, they had never spoken about it since. Spike avoided long conversations with Rarity, fearing that she would bring up that subject, and they would end up discussing what he was about to say, or even worse. What he feared above all things feared that she never had feelings for him, and only felt pity for his naive endeavors.
After leaving the book on his bed, Spike ran downstairs and begun arranging the books that Twilight had already cleaned.
“Alright, Spike, they’re all lined up in the manner they must be placed on the shelves. Go grab your ladder and let’s get to work.”
Spike smiled that he didn’t need to clean and organize the books, he just needed to put them on the shelves. Piece of cake.
With Spike’s help, Cleaning and Re-shelving Day came to an end sooner than Twilight expected with plenty of time left to waste. They spent the rest of the day outside, enjoying the sunny day. Most of the time they had spent was walking around Ponyville, and at the fall of the day, they returned to the library for dinner.
“… So you plan on reading the book and collect information on how to act on the first date when you ask Rarity out?”
“Yeah, that’s the idea.”
“Why do you need the book for such a thing? You don’t trust your own style?”
“I do trust myself, but I want it to be perfect. I know that what really counts is what's on the inside but since it’s Rarity I’m talking about; I know she likes this fancy stuff.”
“You have a point… So do you think she’ll agree to go out with you?”
“I really don’t know. I feel like I’m at a dead end; I can’t tell if she feels something, or even anything, for me. When we are together, I feel like she treats me differently than she did before, but it’s just the simple things that she does; she says something or do something, and right after, that she turns her back on me like nothing has happened. She doesn’t continue with what she said or did anymore.” Spike said, resting his face on one hand and eating his food with the other.
“You know that Rarity has her own way to deal with things. She goes all crazy all of a sudden, but then she returns to her normal classy type.”
“I know, and that’s what stops me. I… I’m scared I’ll ruin everything between us!”
“You won’t know that until you try.”
“Yeah, but what if she rejects me? She’ll think “Oh look, there’s the little pervert dragon” every time she looks at me. I won’t be able to look again on her eyes and feel like I am a friend of her”
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Spike, but you will only know what happens if you try, and by that, you need to be sure of the consequences, good or bad. Do you really want to do this?”
Spike took some time to think as he thought of every possibility, every move he could make and its consequences.
“Yes… yes I want to do this! I want to get free of this heavy weight of not having the courage to tell her what I feel ever since I met her. It doesn’t matter how she responds; what I feel for her will never change, and I’ll keep trying until I have her love!”
Twilight hadn’t smiled as she did in a while. The little dragon’s enthusiasm was something contagious, and Spike’s pose like a knight with his fist in the air helped her laugh.
“And when exactly do you plan to ask her out?”
“I’ll go read the book right after I finish my dinner. The sooner I learn how to behave on a first date, the sooner I’ll be ready.”
Spike devoured the rest of his meal and ran upstairs, it was only a matter of time until he was ready to face his love.