//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A generous gift // Story: Love Anchor // by Pia-chan //------------------------------// Love Anchor Chapter 1: Generous Gift          “Okay, so that's why this variable was showing up as negative. Of course that wouldn't have made any sense, now would it?" Twilight said aloud, despite nopony was around to hear, as she crossed out an entire sheet of parchment filled with complex mathematical formulae. She used her magic to crumple the paper and then threw it at the nearest bin, which was by now almost overflowing with paper. Of course, she didn’t care to check if it got inside or simply fell with the others, scattered all over the floor. Not like she was going to clean it up later, anyway.                 A knock on the library door made her groan in complaint. Why did ponies always interrupt her when she was working? Couldn't they see that her calculations were extremely important to the future of Equestria? The librarian sighed and got off her rump. It seemed that the answer would have to wait.                 “Hello~! Is there anypony home?”  a sing-song voice called from the library’s doorstep.                 Twilight’s purple aura unhitched the lock, before another bluish one swung the door open.                 “Hi, Rarity! How are you doing?” greeted the purple unicorn, already resigned to the interruption and smiled at her friend while the white unicorn stepped into the library.                 “I’m doing well, thank you for asking, Twilight,” Rarity said, smiling politely. “And what about you, darling?” the white unicorn asked in a distracted way, while taking a few glances around.                 "I’m doing fine,” the librarian responded, her eyes narrowed. Rarity was searching around with such an uneasy glance; just coming for a casual visit was not her friend’s goal, that was for sure. “So tell me, what brought you here today?"         The fashionista now turned her look to Twilight, fluttering her eyelashes. “I say, dearest, is Spikey-Wikey home?”          “Sure, he’s upstairs in his bedroom,” said Twilight, before walking closer to the stairway. “Spike! You have visitors!” she shouted, raising her head up.                 “Coming…” The dragon’s footsteps could be heard going downstairs. His heart jumped in joy when he arrived at the bottom, Rarity's familiar figure clear as crystal against the dark wooden walls.                 Rarity smiled warmly at the dragon, and subconsciously batted her eyelashes. “Hello, Spike, darling.”         “H-Hi,” Spike stammered, blushing like mad. The poor dragon was just lost in the unicorn’s azure eyes. Only once he was able to break from her eyes, did he notice the saddlebags she was carrying. “Need any help with those? They look awfully heavy.”                  “Awww thank you, Spikey-wikey. You’re always such a sweet gentledragon,” Rarity said, smiling appreciatively at him. She lifted the heavy saddlebags off her back with her magic and placed them next to the dragon. “It’s not necessary, though. Even if I am a lady, I’m not as weak as I may seem.”         “Huh? N-no, that’s not what I m-meant...!”  Spike stammered, scratching his nape in embarrassment.                 Rarity giggled. “There’s no need to fret about it, darling. I appreciate your chivalry, it’s such a nice quality to find in a colt, or a dragon, in this case.”                 Now the purple dragon reddened even more, the blush clearly visible even through his thick scales. Poor Spike felt like his body was melting, as if he would end up forming a puddle on the library floor. Though knowing Twilight, she’d just put Spike back together to make him clean himself up.                 Rarity chuckled, gently covering her mouth with a hoof, amused by the teenage dragon's reaction to her compliment.         “Ahem! If you guys don’t mind… I’m here too!” said Twilight with a wry smirk, in an attempt to defuse the awkward situation. Moments like this were a common occurrence between the fashionista and her number one assistant, and even though Twilight didn’t mind, she really wanted to get back to her reading as soon as possible.                 “So, why are you here, Rarity? And what’s in your saddlebags?” Twilight couldn’t help but to be a little curious to know what brought her friend to her home, and more importantly, what did it have to do with her little brother Spike.                 “Darling, no need to be impatient. Remember that a lady should never lose her composure.” Rarity lectured, much to Twilight’s chagrin, before she turned back towards Spike. “I have a little gift for you, Spikey-Wikey. Please feel free to  take it from my saddlebags anytime.”                 “A gift… for me?” the dragon asked, his eyes going wide.                 “Yes, dear. A gift from me to you.”  Rarity replied, trying to subdue the faint blush that came to her cheeks. Attempting to draw attention away from herself, she continued, “So... what are you waiting for, Spike? Those saddlebags were awfully heavy while I carried them up here.”                 That statement did it. Spike rushed toward the saddlebags and nearly ripped them open in his haste before he discovered a multitude of brilliant gemstones inside. There was a wide assortment of varying sizes, shapes and colors, and they seemed to all be really delicious. He could only stare at them, even more wide eyed if possible, open-mouthed and paralyzed.                 “Wow, Rarity, this is really generous of you. Spike, you should at least thank her.” Twilight poked him with a hoof to catch the immobilized dragon’s attention.                 Spike snapped out of it. “Oh! Uh… Th-thanks a lot… Rarity. I… don’t know what else to say or do in order to… well I just can’t thank you enough!” The dragon said, trembling and blushing heavily.                 “Awww… No needed to worry at all, Spike. I’m just happy you liked my little present… because you did, right?” She smiled, waiting expectantly for an answer.                 “Of course! Of course I did! Thanks a lot!” The dragon just couldn’t help but give her a tight hug in gratitude. She just received the gesture with pleasure. Her Spikey-Wikey had really liked her gift after all.                 “I just want to thank to you for all the hard work you’ve done for me, Spike. I really needed more free space for my gemstone stores, so I thought it would be the best to give you these gems. It is not as if we couldn’t  find more, right? If you don’t mind helping me once again, of course.”  Rarity added after they broke apart.                 “Sure I’d love to!” answered the dragon excitedly. He was used to accompanying Rarity when she went gem-hunting any time she asked him. However, asking itself had become obsolete since they had decided that it would be easier to schedule weekly trips. Spike thought of himself as his lady’s protector from the wiles of the wilderness—especially the Diamond Dogs, who seemed to always hide from their presence nowadays.                 Rarity herself had gotten used to the presence of the teenage dragon, and enjoyed his help. Sure, she could just go alone, or get anypony else to help, but she really preferred to spend the day hunting with little Spikey-wikey, who seemed to enjoy their adventures as well.                 “Well… I suppose I’ll have to head back home. I have a lot of work to do today, as usual actually.” Rarity sighed, heading towards the door. Before she crossed the threshold, she halted and turned back to say goodbye to her friends. “Have a lovely day you two!”.                 “You too. See ya later, Rarity!” Twilight responded smiling.                 “See ya…”  Spike said with a fading smile upon his face and barely waving his claw. He always hated seeing her leaving so soon. He watched her disappear in the distance through the window, sighing.                 Two days had passed since Rarity’s last visit to the library. The day before, Spike accompanied the fashionista along to a another gem-hunting mission, and they came home with hefty amount of fine quality jewels. It was now high time for Rarity to start her usual gem sorting, this time sadly without Spike’s help.                 He’s Twilight slave, really.                 It wasn’t as if Spike didn’t want to help her in their usual task; it was just that he had promised Twilight he’d help her with other issues in the library. Rarity couldn’t help but feel a little bit jealous. Just a bit.                 That Twilight, Rarity thought, She’s so lucky. She can have him around every day without having to even ask.                 Oh, please, another part of herself countered.What are you thinking about, darling. Do not forget, he IS Twilight’s official assistant after all. Besides, being jealous just doesn’t suit a lady such as you; a lady is never jealous. Even less so if the pony you’re claiming that you’re jealous of is your best friend!                 Rarity stopped arguing within herself, it was kind of moot considering she always won and besides, that last one was true. She sighed and began her tedious task.                 “Lovely. Lovely. For Spike. For Spike, Spike… Spike. Lovely…” She classified the gemstones into two piles: the first into a pile that she would use to accentuate her dresses, and the second into a pile that would go to Spike.                 The fashionista had just gotten a commission for twenty new dresses from Sapphire Shores, which the pop star needed for her Equestria-wide tour. The popular singer knew the work of the fashionista and admired the special attention the unicorn put on the little details, not to mention her avant-garde style and high quality hoofponyship.                 Rarity knew this was one of the most important traits her work had, what really set her apart from her competitors, and thus the reason she required more space for the special kind of gemstone she had selected for Sapphire’s order. Two baskets were on either side of her worktable—Sapphire’s gems piled on the left, and Spike’s placed on the right. Spike’s basket of was full long before Sapphire’s, as the type of gemstones she needed for the singer had to be a very specific color, size, and shape. Sighing tiredly, the unicorn continued her work, until all gems had been sorted. Night had fallen while she worked, and after yawning and stretching her spine, Rarity decided she’d get some sleep.                 Tomorrow I’ll have to go to Twilight’s house again… Spike’s basket is full once again... But wait, why tomorrow? She had enough room to store the gems for a few more days at least. She didn’t HAVE  to deliver more gems to Spike tomorrow. What was the hurry?                 Rarity bit her lower lip in embarrassment and confusion. She couldn’t grasp the reason why, but she wanted to go back to the library. In her head, she couldn’t stop replaying the sweetly astonished look on Spike’s face  when he received her present the other day, over and over again. And she couldn’t wait to see his new  reaction when he discovered his new supply of delicious gems. Rarity had always felt like this way when she gave her friends gifts, but this time it was slightly different.                   This time when she gave a friend a gift, she blushed. That blush came with a specific sensation in her stomach, as if it were full of butterflies. That specific sensation left her with a feeling that looked for any excuse to visit her dragon again.                 What are you thinking, Rarity? It is normal to want to see your friends all time you can, isn’t it? This is not different with Spike.         That was a lie. She knew it. However, she didn’t want to continue thinking about it, so to distract herself, she began preparing for her beauty sleep and decided not to go to Twilight’s tomorrow. Rarity didn’t want to acknowledge that her feelings for Spike were getting more and more intense ever since the incident that had taken place on his birthday three years ago. Her relationship with the dragon wasn’t very close before that but afterwards they had become very close friends.                 Yes, they had become close. She’d started calling him Spikey-Wikey; she hugged him and squeezed his little chubby cheeks—even if he didn’t seem to especially like that. He seemed to prefer kisses on the cheek much better though. Whenever he was in danger, she found herself holding her hoof to her heart and screaming his name, just like when he was falling to his death in the Crystal Empire. A life without Spike… She couldn’t even begin to imagine how terrible that would be. She had gotten so used to him being around.                 And barely three years ago, he had confessed his crush on her. Back then, he was so cute and sweet, but now he had grown up a little… Spike was still a little dragon compared to the adult ones she had seen before, but he was actually a bit taller than anypony in all Ponyville--almost as tall as Princess Celestia herself—and had grown wings. He was not a baby dragon anymore, more like a teenager. And by pony standards, he was a young adult…and mature…and kind of handsome…                 For Celestia’s sake, Rarity, what are you thinking? He’s a dragon! And also four or five years younger than you! How in Equestria could a dragon be handsome?         She realized that she had started thinking about the “Spike” subject again. Forcing herself to clear her mind, she sank her face into one of her numerous fluffy pillows on her enormous bed. She fell asleep quickly. After all, she was really tired.                         Early the next morning, a slightly squeaky, but familiar voice interrupted Rarity’s beauty sleep.                 “Rarity! It’s time to wake uuup! Don’t tell me you forgot. You told me we’d have a sister’s weekend last week!” Sweetie Belle yelled, roughly shaking her drowsy older sister. Rarity groaned. Even after receiving her cutie mark, Sweetie Belle was still as rambunctious as ever.                 “Oh, Sweetie Belle? What in the world are you doing here at this early hour…” Rarity asked sleepily, rubbing her eye with a hoof.                 “I’m sorry, sis. But I had to! Mom and dad are gone, and I was so hungry, but you don’t like me doing anything in your kitchen by myself… I still haven’t eaten any breakfast.” Sweetie Belle complained. Her stomach joined in, growling very audibly.                 “Oh… Of course, Sweetie Belle. It’s excellent that you are finally listening to me…” Rarity mumbled. Minutes later, the fashionista was downstairs preparing both her and Sweetie Belle’s breakfasts while her sister hummed a happy tune, obviously excited about their ‘sister’s weekend’.                 “So, how is everything going, Sweetie?” Rarity asked, using her magic to chop some carrots.                 “As usual. Nothing really interesting…” The green-eyed filly replied.  Suddenly she leaned closer to her older sister. “And what about you, Rarity? What did you dream about last night?“ Her face was curious.                 “W-what?” If Rarity had had fingers, she would had suffered an accident while chopping her carrots. “Sweetie Belle, when did you become so interested about my dreams?” She asked, a little flustered. It was not as if she remembered what in Luna’s Realm she had dreamed about last night, but something made her nervous.                 “Well, sis, you were talking in your sleep. Don’t be mad at me but it was kind of funny, ” The teenager filly giggled.                 “Oh my Celestia! What did I say? How long were you standing there?” The carrots she was chopping began to take irregular shapes, very different from her usual precise slices. Her eyes widened in horror.                 “Oh, only about a few minutes before I woke you up,” Sweetie Belle said innocently. “Well I didn’t get most of what you said. You were mumbling, and then you were kind of giggling and said something about… bushes… no, not bushes, spikes! You were talking about spikes!”         Rarity’s face went bright red. “SPIKE?!”                 Sweetie Belle, ever the curious filly, did not fail to notice her sister’s discomfort. “Oh, yeah… now you say it, it was more like you were whispering about Spike… The rest of what you were talking about was illegible, though.” The filly said, pouting slightly. Rarity felt a shiver going through her entire body. She knew what a gossip her little sister was with the rest of CMC. She might as well have yelled Spike’s name in the middle of town square at midday.                 “Illegible?” Rarity asked, after noticing the oddity on her sister's speech.                 “Oops, I meant… indecipherable. Well, whatever. What was your dream about, sis?“ Sweetie Belle insisted, now eager to finally learn about the mystery of the spikes. Rarity blushed and turned away from her ever-watchful little sister.                 “Uh- well, actually, I-I don’t usually remember what I dreamt, you know, Sweetie,” Rarity responded. Technically she wasn’t lying at all. She  remembered having a dream involving Spike, but not exactly what that dream was about. Sweetie Belle noticed that her sister had finished chopping the carrots and was now busy chopping air.                   “Um, Rarity, what are you doing?” The younger mare asked bemused, her head over Rarity’s shoulder. Embarrassed, Rarity put the knife down and blushed again. Celestia-darn-it, her face couldn’t seem to stay white today.                 “Oh dear, I was a bit distracted! Ha ha ha” Rarity giggled nervously. What in the world did I dream about… that involved Spike! And what else did I say? Or worse, what else did Sweetie Belle hear?  This subject had to end. Now. Not that she didn’t want to know the answers, but Sweetie Belle talked about everything with her CMC friends. The truth would be their subject an entire week. It wasn’t as if like they wanted other ponies to know, but they were not very good at hiding things when other ponies were around. At the very least Applejack would find out about the matter, at least.                 “Rarity, are you okay? You seem… nervous?” Sweetie Belle asked; her face showed concern.                 “I’m fine! Fine! Fine!” Rarity made a superponied effort to regain her composure. And she almost succeeded. She had to find someway to kill the topic, or her little sister would suspect something about her feelings toward Spike. Wait, not suspect, Sweetie Belle just might jump to conclusions. Although a part of Rarity’s mind wanted this awkward conversation over and done with, her curiosity was stronger. Exactly what had she said while dreaming?         “But, I’m just curious, Sweetie… I wonder if just maybe, you heard anything else? I mean, did I say anything else in my sleep?”                 “Rarity, are you sure you’re really feeling okay? Your face is…red!“ Sweetie Belle touched her older sister’s forehead with her forehoof. “Well, your forehead isn’t that hot, but maybe your cheek-” She didn’t finish that sentence, however, because Rarity quickly slapped Sweetie Belle’s hoof away.                 “Sweetie Belle, whatever are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine! Why don’t you sit down and wait for breakfast?” Rarity stated. Her sister sighed, before complying. “And I asked you a question,” the fashionista pressed.                  “Oh, well… I guess that was it important to you, huh? Ok, whatever, I don’t have anything else than what already told you. I just heard you say ‘Spike’ and then you giggled. The rest was illegi- indecipherable.” The teenaged filly was proud of catching herself.                 “Sweetie Belle…” Rarity began.                 “Yeah, I got it. I know ‘illegible’ isn’t the correct word to use…”                 “No... It’s not that, darling. I just want to say that I don’t want you to tell anypony about this subject. Everything that happened from this morning when you snuck into my shop until this very moment, I don’t want anypony to know.” Rarity frowned. She was truly serious about the matter. “Not even your best friends, I mean the crusaders…”                 “Huh? Is it that important? I don’t see why; it was just so funny…” The filly asked with a puzzled look.                 “Even worse, I, Rarity, am not just for anypony to mock!” Rarity cried, slightly annoyed.                 Sweetie Belle pouted. “But…“                   “Do you promise?” Rarity stared at her sister.                 “Oookay, I Pinkie Promise!” The younger filly said, nearly poking one of her eyes with a hoof.                 “Oh, thank you so much, Sweetie! I really appreciate your confidence. Shall we eat our breakfast now?” Rarity served the two dishes that made up their breakfast: one for her and other for Sweetie Belle, along with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.                 “Rarity…” began Sweetie Belle, after gulping the last sip of her juice. “Do you have to work today? Because I can help yo-“                 “Nooo! I mean… No, thank you! Don’t you have to go out with your little friends, Applebloom and Scootaloo today?” Rarity tried to control the nervousness in her voice.                 "Mmmm nope, not today. Applebloom is stuck at an Apple family reunion at Sweet Apple Acres, and Scootaloo is racing with her scooter. She didn’t want any of us to cheer her. I have no idea why…” Sweetie Belle said. Her voice sounded a little down.                 “What if you read a book?” Rarity asked. Even though Sweetie Belle’s “help” was always disastrous, Rarity didn’t want to see her sister spending the day around the shop, bored out of her mind.                   “A book? I’m already tired of reading your boring fashion books…” The filly said, looking at the floor.                 Then suddenly, Rarity’s face lit up, as if something really fabulous came to her mind. She was so excited about her sudden realization she even let herself giggle. Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but be puzzled; her older sister had been so weird today, more so than usual.                 “What’s going on?” The filly asked.                 “I-deeeaaa!” Rarity crooned, with an excited smile and sparkling eyes. “What if we go to the library? We could visit Twilight to ask her for a fabulous and thrilling book for you to read this weekend!” She blinked while waiting for her sister’s potentially equally excited response.                 Sweetie Belle stared at her sister with an skeptical look. That book idea was not so exciting as to match Rarity’s level of reaction to it. Personally, Sweetie Belle had thought something cooler, like picnicking or visiting Pinkie Pie. “Oh, I thought it was something more… well, fabulous, as you said” Sweetie said, disappointedly.                 “And isn’t it?” Rarity’s eyes sparkled in her little sister’s direction, thoroughly using the fatal ‘pouty face.’ What was it the urge to go back to the Library anyways? It was not like she wanted to go only to give Spike the new group of gemstones she had carefully selected for him, of course.                 “Well, I guess it doesn’t sound too bad. And perhaps, you know, when you see Spike, you could even remember what you dreamed about last night!” Sweetie Belle gave a knowingly mischievous look at her sister.                 “Sweetie Belle!! Have you already forgotten about our deal!” Rarity was horrified once again, her eyeballs almost popping out of their orbits.                 “Of course not… Sorry!” Sweetie Belle said, before she started to giggle.                 “What’s so funny?” Rarity asked now changing from horrified to slightly annoyed.                 “Oh, nothing.” The green-eyed filly covered her mouth with her hoof, trying in vain to hide her grinning face from her sister.                 “You’re not laughing at me, are you?”                 Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but burst in laughter right there and then. Rarity simply signed, shaked her head and closed her eyes with a frown. “At least you should try to hide it!” she cried.                 “I’m sorry,” apologized Sweetie Bell, holding in her chuckles.