//------------------------------//
// Of Dreams and Fears 
// Story: The Wonders of Time 
// by Pia-chan 
//------------------------------//

	“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Rarity repeated to herself like a mantra as she made her way for Rainbow Dash’s abode at the outskirts of town. 
“It’s nothing to worry about. Not as if it’s a big deal or anything.” She let a loose a laugh reminiscent of a crow suffering from schizophrenia. “You’re just curious about what they’re up to. After all, a friend checking up on other friends who are also friends is nothing untoward. Indeed, just friends doing what friends do... ”
But what if they weren’t just friends? What would they be doing then? Rarity was already apprehensive about how she had been distant towards Spike and feared that perhaps she had chased him away, and now thoughts of Spike and Rainbow spending time together made her feel hugely uneasy. What if… what if he had moved on? And how would sordid affair between them even play out?
“Oh boy, this sidra is going straight to my head,” Rainbow would say with a tiddley laugh as she and Spike were lounging around next to the fire with a bottle of the bubbly drink between them. “Have to say, you sure know how to treat a gal.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice with my ex, unfortunately,” Spike would reply bitterly, lifting a few of Rainbow’s colourful locks away from her face, exposing her prurient gaze. “But who cares? She never loved me anyway. Besides, what does it matter when you’re here? You’re way better than she’ll ever be, not to mention way sexier...”
“And I would never treat you coldly or tease you. Here, Rainbow would be unequivocal with her intentions as she smirked. ”Well, at least only in the way that matters…”
“Aaah!” Rarity screamed aloud, startling a nearby chipmunk and causing it to drop its hard earned pinecone. She didn’t have the ease of mind to take notice of her surroundings, though, being focussed on trying regain both rationality and her breath. 
Maybe now wasn’t the best time to go and confront them. There was always later…  “Dressmaking! I have some orders I need to fill out, and some fabrics to sort. Yes, I have far too much to do.”
Convinced of her prioritizations and wary of any further off-kilter imagination, she turned tail and scurried back to her boutique.
“I’ll talk to them tomorrow,” Rarity mumbled. “I’m sure they’re not doing anything more than perhaps exercising together…”
“Spike! Make love to me right here by the fire! Do me like Rarity never let you!”
“Shut up, Rainbow!” Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs. And as an afterthought, added, “And stop acting so out of character!”
She flushed immediately afterwards, realizing that in addition to the forest critters there were several ponies staring at her as well. All she could do was plaster on a unnatural smile and veer off into a nearby alleyway. 
“Keep it together, Darling, you’re losing your mind over this. Rainbow is not in a relationship with Spike. Well, we can’t be certain of that yet, and well… even if they are, as long as they’re happy together, then it’s not my place to question or intrude upon them. I had my chance, after all...” 
She sulked on the rest of the way home. No tears, darling. No tears… she thought to herself even as her eyes grew hot and moist and it was becoming difficult to see. She had a lot of work to do, and hopefully that would help drive away the dispiriting thoughts… at least for a little while. 



Spike grumbled as he made his way through the hallway, his stomach growling. Rainbow was a great friend and a be a good friend, but she was rather negligent in being a hostess. Just before he turned the corner into the kitchen, he heard a voice call his name.
He looked behind him, finding Twilight frowning at him. “Oh, it’s just you, Twi.”
“Well, duh. Who else lives here?” She followed him into the kitchen. ”I called out to make sure it was you for like three times without getting any response. I was starting to think we had a break and enter.”
“Oh, sorry,” Spike replied, scratching his head. “I guess I just didn’t hear you over the sound of my grumbling stomach. I’m taking care of that problem now, though.” He pulled open the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of milk, drinking it all directly from its bottle.
“Ugh, Spike,” Twilight complained, blanching. “I’m not Rarity, but please, you should at least have the manners not to drink straight from the bottle!” Spike’s eyes went wide as he started to cough roughly. “Whoa, are you okay?”
Spike coughed a couple more times before the fit abated. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m okay, the milk just went down the wrong pipe, I think.”
Twilight crossed her arms. “I’m not surprised with the way you were chugging it down.” She studied him for a moment. “So... what were you doing at Rainbow’s?”
Spike gave her a sidelong glance as he finished the rest of the milk. “Nothing,” he eventually answered. “Just hanged out for a bit.”
“Hanged out doing what, exactly?” Twilight asked promptly. 
Spike wondered what Twilight was getting at. “I don’t know, just stuff. What’s with the interrogation? Do I need to report to you about what I was doing at Rainbow’s? I’m not a kid anymore, Twi.”
“I know, I know,” Twilight appeased, holding both hands up in gesture. “There’s no need to get defensive about it. It’s just...I was just curious because Rarity was here earlier, and she was asking about you...”
It was then that the universe had the masterful timing of cursing him with the hiccups. “Is...is that right?” he stammered between hiccups.
He frowned as he recalled their last encounter and the little fight they had. But then, his expression softened as remorse for his behavior crept in. Twilight looked at him curiously for a few moments, with some clear amusement at his sudden case of the hiccups, before  continuing with her bothersome questions.
“She was—Rarity, I mean—was acting very conspicuous today when she came over. It felt like she was hiding something. And if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re hiding something too. Did something happen? Is there anything going on with you two?”
The inquiry almost made the hiccups stop. “Wh-what are you talking about? Why would I...I mean, why would Rarity and me—” He trailed off incoherently.
Okay, calm down there, Spike, don’t lose your cool like this.
Twilight kept studying him as though she was examining a test subject. Did she know? That was highly unlikely. What happened between he and Rarity was two years ago, why would Twilight suddenly be suspicious of them now? Especially since nothing happened between them since he got back. He seemed to space off, prompting Twilight to continue questioning.
“Spike, is something going on with you and Rarity? Don’t tell me that after all this time you still have a crush on her.”
For some reason, he felt the sudden urge to tell her about everything, to just lay bare all his pent up grief and discontent for all to see. He felt like a tightly compressed spring and he just wanted to uncurl and find relief. But, no. He knew it wasn’t time, and Twilight wasn’t the one to talk to.
At least, not like this.
“No, Twi, there’s nothing going between me and Rarity,” Spike said, deceptively calm. “You’re just jumping to conclusions way too much. I have no idea why Rarity was looking for me, but I’m sure it’s nothing important. For all I know she just wanted someone to help her move stuff around the boutique.” He made a mental note to find out for sure later. “As for why I went to see Rainbow, well, she’s helping me with something… And sorry, but that’s all I’m willing to say on the matter, for now. I’m going to get something decent to eat now and hopefully these hiccups will go away in the meantime. So enough with the questions, please?”
Twilight looked at him critically, but fortunately seemed to concede, at least for now. “Alright, no more questions,” she said, then rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Uh, you wouldn’t mind making something for your equally hungry and lovable sister too, would you?”
“Sure, sure,” Spike droned with another hiccup, scanning the refrigerator again for ingredients.





Rarity found herself waking up at her work desk, with one of her sketches glued to her cheek. She grimaced at the sight of the paper now in her hands, soaked with her own saliva. Evidently, she had passed out asleep sometime last night during her attempt to drown out distracting thoughts by working non-stop. 
Her stomach made noises of protest. Evidently she also didn’t eat anything since then either, but she felt too tired to be hungry. She grabbed a napkin to clean up her face as she looked at the clock on the wall. It was barely five in the morning. She wouldn’t have to open shop for another four hours. So she headed to her bedroom, and let herself fall heavily in a decidedly unladylike manner on her bed, falling asleep instantly. 
Unfortunately, her sleep didn’t last long. There was a sudden bout of noise coming from downstairs. Before she could properly think, 	Rarity found herself already at the bottom the stairs, feeling as though she had floated down the steps. A hazy fog clouded over her senses, but she was able to clearly distinguish the laughter from the rest of the noise.
The laughter was familiar, comforting, and alluring. She knew that voice! There was no mistaking it. Through the faint sense of giddiness, her heart skipped a beat. A familiar warmth covered her entire face and her lips curled upwards. 
It’s...it’s him! He’s here! He came to see me, finally!
She started giggling like some lovestruck schoolgirl at the thought of him, already imagining his smiling face and beautiful emerald eyes staring at her lovingly. She wanted to leap over to him and hug him and ask him to forgive her for simply everything and to tell him that she never stopped loving him and that she wanted him to give her another chance—
“Bwahahaha! Spike, your tail tickles!” 
That, was definitely not Spike.
“Rainbow Dash?” Rarity cried out, scrambling towards the source of all the noise. And there they were, one of her best friends, Rainbow Dash, and Spike, sitting on her favorite velvet couch. “What on earth are you two doing here at this hour?” To-ge-ther.
“Oh, hey there, Rarity!” Spike greeted, while Rainbow waved. Both of them looked suspiciously happy. “Sorry for intruding, but we came here because we needed to ask a favor of you. We have a feeling you’ll love our little request, though.” He looked at Rainbow and the two of them promptly nuzzled their noses together, smiling goofily.
Rarity felt her teeth clench.
“Oh? And what is this oh so lovely request that you presume I would accept?” she ground out with a plastic smile, one eyebrow twitching violently.
Rainbow laughed. “Well, I was telling Spikey”—Rarity had the sudden urge to punch stuff at the sound of ‘Spikey’ coming from Rainbow’s mouth—“that we didn’t need to go through all the trouble, but he kept insisting. He’s old fashioned, after all. Kinda a lot like you in a way, Rare.” Both of them laughed for reasons that eluded Rarity. 
“So, what’s going on is that Dashie”—Dashie. Dashie! Rarity was sure there were forehead veins throbbing with wrath—“and I wanted to ask if you’d be willing to design our wedding attires. Rainbow keeps gunning for some kind of punk rock theme but I think that—”
Wedding? Wedding! Spike and… Rainbow! Wedding!
Rarity felt the floor under her start to creak, and soon a gaping hole formed beneath her. Before she could scream, both her and the crumbling floor began falling to the awaiting abyss. She screamed for help but she just kept falling, with a trail of tears floating above her. Violent tremors started spreading across her entire being, and strangely she heard yet another voice calling out her name. Then everything became bright.
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle shook her once again. “Are you alright? Wake up!”
Rarity blinked blearily. “Sweetie Belle?” she uttered.
“Whew!” Sweetie exclaimed. “Finally you’re awake. I was getting worried for a moment.”
Rarity sat up, lightly rubbing at her eyes. Looking around her bedroom, she noticed that morning had arrived with rays of sunlight sneaking past the curtains. 
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to enter to your room without permission but I heard you screaming. I thought you were in trouble or something!” 
Rarity gave her little sister a somewhat grumpy stare. Under normal circumstances she would have scolded her for entering her room so brazenly, but she knew the younger girl was just concerned about her wellbeing. Besides, she did save her from having to continue experiencing that dreadful nightmare.
“Thank you very much, darling,” Rarity said weakly, still feeling groggy. “It was very sweet of you to check up on me. I must ask, though, why haven’t you left for school yet? Won’t you be tardy?”
Sweetie Belle just gave her sister a strange look. “Um, it’s Saturday, we don’t have school today.” 
“Oh, right.” Rarity face-palmed herself mentally.
“By the way, Sis, I think you might have forgotten to change out of your clothes last night.“
Rarity inspected herself to find out that, yes, she had indeed slept in her day clothes. She could only imagine how horrid of a mess her hair must be right now. “Ugh, I need a bath, asap.”
Just thinking about it made her skin crawl with discomfort so she immediately got up and quickly grabbed some clothes out of her closet along with a few towels and headed for the bathroom. Before she left the room, though, she turned to her little sister and added, “And remember not to touch anything!” 
Too tired and frazzled to do anything beyond giving a feeble warning, she left Sweetie alone in her bedroom, missing the sinister little grin that crept across the girl’s lips.





After making sure Rarity started taking her bath, Sweetie Belle immediately began her search. “Wow, I didn’t expect it to be this easy. Now where would she put it…?” 
After rummaging around for a bit, she eventually found her target under the bed: the Diary. She quickly unbound the journal and started hastily scanning through the entries, flipping back and forth between the pages. In a matter of minutes she found a photo snagged near the middle of the diary. It was a photo of sixteen year old Spike, just the proof she needed! But no, a picture was not enough; she also needed to read through of the entries for understanding of context.
Leaving the door purposely open so that she would have an easier time hearing Rarity returning, Sweetie turned to the page where she had found the picture and began to read.

Dear Diary,
Today could very well be the best day of my life. 
He finally did it. Today, Spike had gathered enough courage for the both of us, and confessed. To me. I must apologize, Mister Dairy, for I won’t be transcribing his words here, not even to you. There is no need, for that moment will have a place in my memories forever. 		And yet...I can’t help but feel utterly apprehensive.
I kissed him, you see. Or perhaps he kissed me. I guess I don’t quite remember who kissed who first, and I suppose it doesn’t matter. 	Although if anyone were to be at fault, I imagine it would have to be me. You would understand if you saw him then, dear Diary. How his eyes were this complicated green, one that comes across as different for every layer of emotion he was feeling. And when he expressed those emotions with words…
I haven’t much experience with kissing, this, of course, you know very well. Even so, I must say the one Spike and I shared was electrifying. For reasons I cannot explain, I believe no one else could ever make me feel the same. And I was happy. Deliriously so. And it’s exactly because of that utter happiness that one comes to realizes how cruel and unfair the rest of the world can be. I’ll be turning twenty-one later this year, while he will be turning sixteen. In the eyes of the law, we are not meant to be. But I did not have the heart nor the courage to do what was best for both of us. I could not lie and tell him I do not reciprocate his feelings. I suppose it’s pointless to dwell on such things. My body betrayed me before my sensibilities ever had the chance anyway.
I don’t know what will happen now. How should we proceed from this point onwards? So many questions, and yet so few answers; however, what I do know, I know intimately well.
Spike loves me, and I love him. That is how it is, for good or for ill.

Sweetie Belle began sniffling as she reached the last sentence. Thinking back on the time that coincided with the date of the entry, prior events finally began to add up. This new revelation certainly put certain things into perspective about her sister and Spike. “So that’s how it was…” she muttered, rubbing away the moisture of her eyes with the back of her hand.
Before she had time to contemplate on her insightful discovery, the sound of creaking floorboards warned her of Rarity’s imminent return. 
With a squeak, Sweetie Belle willed the diary back to its original place under the bed in a flash of magical energy. After weeks spent training with Twilight Sparkle, who was naturally a splendid tutor in the magical arts, the teen had become rather adept at teleportation spells herself. The only major issue was that her magical reserves were still somewhat below average, and the sudden magick enfeeblement made her slightly light-headed and she nearly flopped to the ground in a heap of swirly eyes, just in time for Rarity to reenter the room.
Rarity, now wrapped in a bathrobe with a fresh towel around her hair, eyed her young sister suspiciously. “And just what are you up to now, young lady?”
Sweetie Belle gave her best shit-eating grin her awkward position allowed. “Um, Pilates? It’s, uh, for increasing concentration, eheh.”
Fortunately for the sweating teen, Rarity seemed to decide the matter of beauty repair to be a more urgent matter. Seating herself before the vanity mirror, she said, “I see. Well, do run along now, Sweetie. I would prefer to have some privacy for the time being.”
“Sure, okay,” Sweetie Belle responded weakly, having yet to recover. “I’ll be out of your hair soon.” She then began the arduous process of crawling out of her sister’s room.
“Sweetie,” Rarity called out, this time with amalgamated look of concern and suspicion oh her face. “Are you...quite alright? Is this part of the Pilates, too? It seems, um, peculiar.”
Sweetie laughed nervously, sounding like a croaking toad. “Uh, yeah, this one’s for, uh, abdominal strength. And stuff.”
Rarity didn’t look quite convinced. “Darling, I don’t think—”
Like an antelope desperate to escape the clutches of a sinking quicksand, Sweetie Belle summoned all the youthful vigor and flexibility she could muster and slithered out the room like a boneless pony, leaving Rarity to stare dumbfounded in the wake of her own sister’s absurd behavior.
After successfully retreating into her own room, Sweetie Belle relaxed on the floor, her face rubbing against the carpentry. In contrast to the apparent worn out state of her body, though, he eyes shone with determination. “Now that I know what happened between them all those years, ago, I can’t just sit by and watch them amount to be nothing but strangers to each other.” She gave a warrior’s huff. “I can’t do this alone, though. Hopefully Apple Bloom or Scootaloo will have an idea what to do. It’s time for some Cutie Mark Crusadin’ action.”
With her goals set, Sweetie Belle pushed up against the ground with wobbly arms and promptly lost to gravity. “...right after I take a nap.” In mere minutes, she began to snore.