//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 - The Revelation of the Diamonds, Stars and Hearts // Story: Always Together Besides Me and Forever Inside My Heart // by Turtleboy76 //------------------------------// The eavesdropping lilac mare was shocked from what she had heard from her ivory friend, her jaw had dropped so far towards the ground that it could have detached. "Wh- what is happening? What do I do?" Twilight's breathing intensified, panicking due to the situation and not knowing the correct answer as to deal with it, nothing she read could have prepared her for a problem such as this one. Spike and Rarity...it seems almost ironic now. Twilight tried her best to calm down and stabilize her breathing; what right do I have to stop them? But, Spike said that he lov- Twilight put her hoof on her head, trying to comprehend what was happening was making her head hot from pain. Meanwhile as Twilight's head was beginning to cause a migraine, a very confused dragon was almost shaking all of his scales off; after the former mare of his dreams verbally restrained him with a seductive tone of voice. "Ra- Rarity, what aren't you done with exactly?" Spike nervously asked out of a mixture of fear and curiosity. Rarity slowed moved her head back and stood adamantly in front of the shaky dragon, keeping a constant eye contact as she did. "Well my little Spikey-Wikey you seem to have forgotten how much you were into me while I was away touring." Spike's eye's widened from her words, "you knew?" "Oh why yes Spike, who didn't notice?" The mare said letting off a smirk on her face. The dragon's arm clenched his chest, trying to deal with an internal growing pain, "then why didn't you ever mention anything if you knew." "Spike I never meant to be cruel, honestly, but at the time you were young and probably didn't know what you wanted, and I was just far too busy with work to even consider being in a relationship. Although I will admit to being infatuated with stallions in the past, however that was then and this is now, and since then I have come to realize certain things." "What things?" One month earlier "Okay, these dresses should be fine on display tomorrow, don't you agree Spi-" the unicorn stopped mid-sentence as she looked behind her in a room filled with only dresses and a heavy feeling of isolation. "Sigh, I guess you really don't know what you'll miss until it is gone." Rarity finished readying her set of dresses to be displayed to the public presentation tomorrow morning, after the preparations the unicorn moved onto open balcony connected to her room. The ivory mare sat down looking at the lights of a nocturnally active city, "funny, almost seems like déjà vu," she said followed by an exhausting sigh. The light glow emitted from her horn as a glass in the room was encased in a magical hold, hovering slowly towards the mare's mouth. "Still one more month to go, I miss my friends...among other things." She gazed upon the illuminating lights radiating forth from the bustling metropolis; however whether it was her eye's playing tricks on her or the disillusion of a tired mind, the face of a familiar dragon kept appearing in the lights. "I...I think I need to talk with my little Spikey-Wikey when I return, I really haven't appreciated all that he does for me," the mare slowly retreated back in the room and retired onto the bed, falling like a lifeless puppet. As she began to drift off, one mere thought circulated throughout her mind; I miss being with you most of all Spike. "What things you ask darling? Well that's simple; you see while I was gone on my trip, with all the time I had to myself I grew rather lonesome." Rarity said as she began moving her front hooves, almost as if she was acting in some play. "But in saying that, it gives a pony some time to think about certain things you see." Spike leaned in nervously, but the curiosity of Rarity's story had him intrigued as he wanted to hear more. "You see darling, although I always did, I will be the first to admit that I might not have been open about showing my appreciation towards you for all the time you spent around me in my Boutique, I truly did enjoy your company and talking to you and just spending time together. Being isolated and alone for those three months has made me realized that and more you see." The dragon stood up and walked towards the unicorn as she continued to tell her story. "The longer my tour went for, the longer I knew that I wanted you to be with me there. When the three months were finally over, I wanted you only you, all the time Spike, no matter what. So now that I'm back I don't want no for an ans-" The ivory mare was cut off; a pair of scaly arms reaching around her neck, leaving a warm radiating embrace that now surrounding her, she began to smile which only grew the longer the hug lasted. "Oh my little Spikey-Wikey, I knew everything would work out, I was only natural." "I'm sorry, Rarity." Rarity's eyes and jaw opened wide from what she had heard, "Wha- what are you saying Spike? What's the problem?" Spike's hold around her neck loosened as he looked into her enlarged and shaky pupils, showing off his reflection. "Rarity, you know and pretty much everypony else knew of how much I liked you, heck I might as well have gone into the center of town and preached it to the masses. But if there is one thing these past three months have made me realize is that you don't really know what you want until you have lost it." The mare was trying to respond to the dragon, however she stuttered as tried to form a legible sentence, Bu- bu- but Spike, I'm here now, this is what you always wanted, you and I both know that." Rarity said putting her hooves atop his shoulders, making her presence more dominant in his eyes. "No matter what I'll always like you Rarity in a special way, nothing will ever change that, you and I will always have a special bond and we will always be friends but..." Spike stared into the flickers and twinkles of the mare's eyes, the images appearing before him reinforced what he was feeling; Spike could only see a set of stars with a larger one than the rest residing in the middle. The ivory unicorn was distort and barely able to form sentences, not fully understanding or wanting to accept what exactly was happening between her and the dragon before her. "Spike, what did I do wrong? I'm sorry Spike; surely there can be another way?" Rarity pleaded not wanting to admit defeat. Spike felt in control of the situation at hand, breathing gently and communication with the befuddled mare, he placed his hands on her shoulders and finished up their talk; "Rarity you will always be beautiful and shine as bright as diamonds and you would make anypony happy," Spike still continued to see the image of stars in her eyes. "But I'm afraid for me there is something that shines even more than diamonds, something which will never grow dimmer and will be forever bright; that is the light of stars, and the star that shines the brightest is my best friend in the world; Twilight Sparkle." For Rarity the world itself stopped moving, she could feel everything around slowing down as an imminent truth was laid in front of her. The fact of the matter is that she knew after this moment, she would have lost to Twilight. Hate or jealousy could the first feelings she'd feel towards her, but she knew deep down that this is how it was meant to be. Rarity's jaw closed, along with her eyes and took the largest breath she ever took, the oxygen leaving her body as a smile was born on her face as she looked up at the purple dragon. "A lady knows when to admit defeat darling...even if she doesn't care or want to admit it." She inched forward ever so slowly; raising her hooves and wrapping them around the dragons torso, Spike stayed silent and simply hugged her back, the pair connected in the wide open room of the Boutique, one of them not wanting it to end. Rarity released her grasp from the dragon, gazing at his head; merely smiling and silently walked away. Reaching the bottom of the staircase she stood at it's the base, "Spike, darling, I think there is somepony who has been waiting at the door for you." "Huh?" The dragon responded in a confused state, he walked across the room to the door, opening it hastily; a lilac unicorn on the other side still had her ear towards the door. Her eye headed north as she began to look up the body of the dragon before him, "Sp- Sp- Spike....I uhhh, I mean uh I-" The gibberish spluttering unicorn was stopped as Spike crouched on his knees and placed his arms around her neck. "Twi, I'm sorry, sorry for everything," Spike said releasing some tears which were streaming down his face and onto the mare. Twilight was at a loss for words and her eye's mimicked Spike's, streams of cascading tears continued to fall from her eyes. "Spike, I'm sorry too, nothing was your fault," The pair's embraced continued until they slowly pulled back until they could see each other's faces. "Uhhh Twi..." "Ye- yes Spike." "How much did you hear?" The dragon's cheeks instantly changed colour, a deep shade of crimson, covering his face. The mare also blushed, her eye's looking around, not wanting to show her flustered state, "I, I heard, everything...." "Oh, well I uh..." Spike couldn't muster a coherent sentence and merely blurted out what first came to his head. "Was it all true Spike? I still can't really believe it." Spike letting out a deep breath, "yeah, it is, it's all true. I know that you must think I'm crazy, so I'll find somewhere else to live..." "Why would you do that Spike, the library is clearly a place where crazy ponies seem to live." Spike was now utterly confused, "Twi, what are you talking about." Twilight's face was now as red as it had ever been, but this time she looked Spike deeply in the eye, "Call me crazy Spike but... I love you too." The dragon was stunned, thinking that it now must be some kind of dream, but he could feel Twilight, the mare of his dreams in front of him, he knew it was real, a pair of matching smiles appeared on their faces, these were short lived though, as the two closed their eyes and as their lips moved towards each other. No accident or misunderstanding, this warmth, this feeling, this emotion was real, both of them knew this was real and that this was right, Spike wrapped his arms around the mare, holding her closer, the embracing love continuing for what seemed like an eternity. As the newly found couple kissed a lone unicorn stood at the base of her staircase, a small grin appearing on her face as she looked at her friends together. She turned her head back and slowly retreated up the stairs. Ascending up the stairs, one thing was left behind, a single tear cascading downwards as it splashed on the ground.