//------------------------------// // Crushes // Story: Wanna Be My Wingpony? // by Blue Dragon //------------------------------// “Two rolls of parchment… Check. Five quills… Check. Ugh, why does Twilight always make me do errands? It’s not fair,” Spike grumbled. He rolled up the checklist and stuffed it back in his bag. The everyday bustle of Ponyville and its citizens gave life to the market around him, but he’d learned to ignore it. It was easy compared to what Canterlot sounded like at this time of day. He took a few more steps before coming to an abrupt halt. “Wait… Didn’t Twilight say something about needing a library book back from Rarity?” A smile stretched across his face. “Yeah, I think she did… not,” he chuckled before changing course to the Carousel Boutique. Twilight didn’t have to know he was stopping by Rarity’s. Besides, he deserved a break after spending the past thirty minutes of his life downtown on market day. Twilight owed him. Soon he was standing before his crush’s threshold. He’d been here too many times to count, and each visit he wished he never had to leave more than the last. He outstretched his fist and was about to knock, but something stopped him. From within he heard the song of an angel followed by a chorus of shattering glass. At first Spike was stunned. Then, the realization that Rarity was in danger set his heart ablaze and left his legs shaking. “I’m coming for you, Rarity!” He shoved the door open and ran inside, the bell ringing faintly behind him. “Where are you, Rarity? I’m gonna save you!” Spike’s chest puffed out and he imagined himself as Rarity’s knight in shining armor. The smell of victory always within his grasp, his handsome, chiseled features all but forgotten. He took long strides with quiet foot-falls, his deep voice calling out for his beloved. It was with a pounding in his heart that he searched for her. “Sweetie Belle! What did I tell you about using your magic in the house?!” Rarity screamed from the kitchen. Spike raced over and into the room, prepared to fight demons and evils the world only knew. Instead, he was caught in Rarity’s magic. “Careful, dear! There’s glass shards all over. Sweetie, just what have you done?” Rarity’s heated gaze fell upon her sister. Sweetie’s eyes filled with tears as she poked a hoof at the ground. “I’m sorry, Rarity! I didn’t mean to do it, honest! I was just practicing my magic for show and tell so I could have the best presentation on Monday…” Rarity sighed and her eyes wandered over the room. Dishes had spilled from their cabinets and littered the floor, varying in levels of ruin. Just below Spike there was a particularly sharp looking shard, and he was glad Rarity had caught him in time. The fashionista returned her attention to her little sister. “It’s quite alright, Sweetie. Just don’t do it again, okay? Go outside, and take Spike with you. I wouldn’t want either of you to get hurt.” As soon as he was released from her magic he was protesting. “I can help you clean up! Twilight doesn’t need me back for a while and—” Rarity shooed both of them out of the room and toward the door. “I can do it myself, but I appreciate the offer. I have many orders I need to fill by tonight, and many more by tomorrow… But is there anything I can help you with first?” Spike frowned, but found it impossible to lie to her. He shook his head. “...No, I was just stopping by. Are you sure you’re okay here? By yourself?” Rarity flashed an amused smile, and Spike noticed the bags under her eyes. “Nonsense, darling! I’ve been waiting for this chance all day,” she chuckled before stopping herself. “No offense of course, Sweetie Belle.” “None taken,” she said automatically. Rarity nuzzled her, and Sweetie leaned into the contact. Rarity smiled brightly before turning back into her boutique. “I shall be off, then. I have a lot of work I must attend to. You can come back later if you’d like, Spike, and I’ll see you at dinner, Sweetie.” With that, the door closed behind her, leaving the dragon alone with the filly. Spike sighed and stood back up, brushing himself off and straightening the bag at his side. “I guess I’ll go to Apple Bloom’s to see what she’s planning for show and tell... See ya later, Spike!” Sweetie Belle said as she took off. Spike glanced back at Rarity’s home and workplace. A smile soon graced his features. “She said I could come back later… Success!” He pranced down the streets on his way back to the library, managing to trip and fall only once. He couldn’t wait to see Rarity later that day. Hopefully she wouldn’t hurt herself cleaning up after Sweetie Belle’s stunt. If he was lucky, maybe he would get the chance to ask her out on a date and she’d accept and they’d have so much fun that she’d decide to finally admit her undying love for him, the fearsome fire-breathing dragon that’d saved her life on multiple occasions, and then they’d— Spike was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going. So much so, in fact, that he ended up running into someone. “Hey! Watch it!” Spike fell over with a plop. Two times, he thought as his tail was painfully pinned underneath him. He looked up and met reddish pink eyes. “Rainbow Dash?” The background around her came into focus, and Spike realized he was already back at the library. Strangely, Rainbow Dash was in a bush beside the library’s lower window when he’d run into her. Even weirder was the fact that he’d actually been so out of it that he was fixing to walk straight into a bush. “Oh, it’s just you, Spike.” Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief before her eyes widened. “Spike?!” She grabbed the dragon and pulled him into the bush with a snap. “What’re you doing?!” he yelped at once, glowering at his long-time friend. Rainbow shoved a hoof into his mouth. “Look, if you say a word about this—”Spike pushed her hoof aside. “What are you talking about?” He crossed his arms. Rainbow Dash’s wings twitched along with her eyes. “Don’t play dumb! Actually… yeah, that works. Keep doing that.” She glanced from side to side, her eyebrows coming down sharply. Spike stared at her blankly for several seconds before shaking his head. “Uh… Rainbow Dash? I think you may have a few loose screws upstairs.” She shot him a glare before smacking his head with a hoof. “Ow!” “I’m perfectly fine, thank you very much... But do you seriously mean you don’t know why I’m hiding in a bush?” “Um… because you’re practicing for the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow gave him a ‘you can’t be serious’ look. “...Yeah, I have no idea.” The bushes rustled as Rainbow Dash leaned back. Spike massaged his still aching tail. She let out a sharp breath. “Really? I thought you were going to tell Twilight…” “Tell Twilight what?” Spike’s annoyance grew with every word he spoke. He tapped his foot against the ground, his claws still wrapped around his throbbing tail. Rainbow frowned thoughtfully and a few minutes of silence reigned. Finally, she spoke up. “First you have to Pinkie Promise that you won’t say anything.” Spike nodded, but she shook her head. “All the motions and the chant, too.” He sighed. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my ey—ow!” His tail abandoned, Spike now nursed his wounded eye. Unshed tears gleamed in it. Rainbow Dash looked like she wanted to laugh, but she continued speaking. “Well… Here goes nothing…” She took a deep breath. “I have feelings for Twilight.” “WHAT?!” Spike jumped to his feet, his eyes wide and locked on his friend. Rainbow Dash shrugged. “What did you expect? Now be quiet; you’re going to give us away.” “But that means you were spying on her!” Spike accused. He glared at her and was about to turn tail and run before she grabbed a hold of him. “Hey, you promised! Besides, I wasn’t spying—I just happened to crash into this bush and caught sight of Twilight reaching up for a book on a high shelf—” “That is too spying,” he mumbled. “How can I keep this a secret? I live with her!” “If you don’t stay quiet about it I’ll tell Rarity that you like her.” Spike’s eyes widened. “How did you know I liked Rarity?!” Spike jumped to his feet, every possible scenario flying by his mind’s eye. “If Pinkie Pie and Twilight spilled—oh, I can’t believe this! How could they?!” “Calm down, no one told me!” Rainbow said, a thoughtful frown plastered on her muzzle. “Wait, were you keeping it a secret?” Spike glared at her. “Yes, I was, and I’d like to keep it that way. How did you know?” “...Just a mare’s intuition.” Rainbow waved the topic off with a hoof. “Anyway, I’ll tell Rarity if you even think about telling Twilight.”   “You wouldn’t.” “I would.” The two glared at each other, sparks flying. Finally, Spike sat back and leveled his gaze up toward the window Rainbow must’ve been spying through. “Fine.” Rainbow Dash smiled cheekily. “I knew I could count on you, Spike.” Her eyes wandered up to the same window that his had. The corners of her lips dipped down until she looked like a deer before headlights. “Oh, horseapples! She’s looking over here!” Rainbow Dash dove down so she was as close to the ground as possible. Spike didn’t do anything, and for once in his life he was glad he was short. “Do a mare a favor, will you?” Rainbow pleaded. “Get her attention off me. I’ll pay you back somehow.” Spike mulled over his choices. His thoughts wandered to Rarity and how he was going to be visiting her later that day. Then, something occurred to him. “Rainbow, I’ve got an idea I think you’ll like!” “Can we talk about it later?! If Twilight figures out I’m here, oh man, I’ll never have a chance with her!” Rainbow clasped her hooves together. “I’ll do whatever you want me to if you do this for me.” Spike’s smile widened. “Now that’s what I like to hear.” He stood up and walked over to the library’s entrance. He took a deep breath and forced a scowl on to his face as he opened the door. Twilight’s attention was now on him. “Spike? What happened to you?” He bit his tongue, forcing fresh tears to his eyes. “I fell over on the way back here and landed on a bush. You know, that one full of thorns? I hurt all over!” he whined. Twilight glanced between him and the window, her book now abandoned. “I thought I heard something… Are you okay?” Twilight stepped closer, investigating the seriousness of the wounds he’d actually accumulated on the way there. “It kinda hurts,” he admitted, “but I think I’ll be alright. Here’s all the stuff you made me go get, anyway.” Spike reached a claw down into his bag and pulled out the parchment and quills. Twilight beamed before taking them from his outstretched hands. “You’re the best,” she said, giving him a much-deserved nuzzle. His only complaint was that he hadn’t gotten it from Rarity, but he hoped he’d get one later that night. Heck, he’d be happy if Rarity so much as said his name. Hopefully Sweetie Belle wouldn’t be practicing her magic again, if things went his way. Spike blinked. “You know… There is something I wanted to ask.” Twilight’s eyes met his, her eyebrows arching. “Spike, if this is about the Fleet Foxes’ concert—” “It’s not!” Spike promised, “I just wanted to go to Rarity’s later.” His gaze strayed toward the window where he saw Rainbow Dash, her hooves thrashing wildly. She was trying to tell him something, but it was hard to tell what she was miming. “Well, I don’t see why not… What are you looking at?” When Twilight turned back toward the window for a third time, Rainbow Dash dropped back to the ground before she could be spotted. Twilight hummed before looking at Spike again. “Thanks, Twilight! I’ll be sure to clean up when I get back—and is there anything you wanted me to do now?” From the corner of his eye he could see Rainbow return to the window. She pointed toward him, then at herself, and finally up at the sky. She moved her lips as if to say “My house,” and pointed at herself again. With that, she took off with a rainbow trail blazing after her. Spike returned his focus on Twilight, hoping she hadn’t noticed his lack of attention. She smiled. “Actually, I was hoping you could put the new parchment and quill to good use. Since I just finished up that last experiment—you know, the one detailing the negative and positive effects of Poison Joke on a pony—I figured it was about time to let Princess Celestia know of my findings. It’s been a while since I last sent her a letter.” “More like yesterday,” he joked. Twilight gave him a look. “You do want to go to Rarity’s, don’t you?” Spike laughed sheepishly before grabbing hold of the quill and parchment Twilight had taken from him seconds earlier. “ ‘Dear Princess Celestia,’ right?”