Sad Day Struggles
Twilight frowned, peaking over the top of her book to eye her number one assistant for what must have been the twentieth time in the past hour. Lying there, Spike was curled up into a tight ball, napping yet again. The concept of the dragon taking a nap wasn't an unusual one, especially if he tuckered himself out from some sort of strenuous activity. However, since Twilight's little conversation with Rarity, she had lightened the work load on her favorite dragon to give him more time to enjoy himself... and every day, after he finished his chores, he went straight to napping.
She had tried to speak with Spike the other day about it, to get him to open up on it, but he gave some sort of excuse about just feeling naturally tired, attributing it to himself being just a baby dragon after all, followed up with a smile. How desperately she wanted to try and call him on the lie, but some part of her just said she shouldn't. That whatever he was going through, it wasn't going to help by hounding him with questions and forcing the answer out of him. Even though she knew it wasn't healthy for him to bottle up whatever it was he was feeling, it would be better if he willingly came to her with his problem, much as Rarity had. Still, it wasn't healthy for the Spike to be lying around inside all day, and if he wasn't going to take an active stance, then Twilight was.
"Spike." Twilight called out, lowering the book to give him her full attention.
There was a slight stirring from the almost cute ball of dragon before he lifted his head, looking over his shoulder at her. "Yes Twi?"
"I'm sorry to bother you while you're napping, but I'm in the middle of some really important research and suddenly felt famished. Would you mind heading out and picking me up some food?" Twilight asked, partially telling the truth as she hadn't had much to eat that day at the very least.
Stretching his arms and legs out, Spike gave off a little grunt before rising to his feet. "Are you sure you don't just want me to make something for you here? I can make you a sandwich or a salad or a-"
"N-no, that's fine. I just wanted, um... something really sweet. I was hoping you could go to Sugarcube Corner and get me a... really nice cupcake." Twilight urged, needing any reason to get him to go, even if it meant having a dessert she didn't really need, or want for that matter.
"Oh... well, I guess I can go then." Spike replied in a somewhat lackluster way, rubbing one of his still sleepy eyes with a hand.
Smiling, Twilight levitated a small bag of bits over to Spike and added "Make sure you get yourself a treat as well, you've earned it."
Spike merely nodded and turned away from the princess, mumbling something about why they had to pay for anything if Twilight was a princess. As he passed through the precipice of her doorway, Twilight returned to her work, feeling confident she'd be able to do anything if Spike was at least willing to get out of the house. But slowly, the book she lifted up went back down again as a thought dawned on the Princess of Friendship.
"Why do I have to pay out of my own pocket for food?"
Spike slowly trudged through the streets of Ponyville, making his way to Sugarcube Corner to pick up a cupcake for Twilight. It had crossed his mind that she hadn't specified what sort of cupcake she wanted, and with Pinkie Pie being the likely sales associate, there were going to be many options. However, he knew that she had only assigned him the task to get him up and about. The fact his depression over Rarity's revelation of their relationship was starting to affect his friends' views of him only made him feel worse. The last thing he needed was to drag everypony else down with him.
Shaking his head, Spike lifted his gaze so he was actually focused on where he was going and not just the ground before him. As much as he just wanted to slink into the dirt and let anypony walk over him, he had to try and put up a brave front. Even if he was hurting inside, he needed to make others feel good. It was one of the important things to him, seeing his friends smile, even if he couldn't. With a reluctant sigh, Spike took in a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and continued on with his head held high.
... or at least, that's what he wanted to do. As soon as he corrected his posture so he wasn't slouched over, Spike found himself suddenly struck in the face with a water balloon. Except instead of being filled with water, the purple dragon discovered a lot of his scales and spikes were now pink. Thankfully his eyes had been at least shut as he gathered his focus, but now his shoulders drooped in near defeat as he wondered what the hay was going on.
"Oh shoot! Sorry Spike, Ah didn' mean ta hit ya!" a familiar country accent drawled out. Looking for its origin, Spike saw the trio of young fillies that had been there when he was listening in on Twilight and Rarity's conversation, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Although this time, they now had such an unusual mixture of color on their coats and manes that someone could mistake them for Rainbow Dash's mane.
"Wh-why... did you throw that at me? Why do you have water balloons filled with paint!?" Spike unintentionally shouted, his anger at being made pink of all colors tapping into the wellspring of emotions he had been dealing with already.
The Crusaders flinched a bit at the shouting, but gave apologetic smiles and approached the dragon. "W-we didn't mean to. We were trying to earn our cutie marks in painting today." Scootaloo spoke up, looking like she was trying to intentionally smear some of the paint on her coat into her mane so she'd look like Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, but then we discovered it was really, really booooring. That's when Apple Bloom had an idea." Sweetie Belle chipped in while flashing a weak smile, showing that some of the paint had gotten in her mouth, each of her teeth a different color.
"Fill up water balloons with paint an' we got ourselves some fun while paintin' houses!" Apple Bloom declared proudly. Then, she looked down a bit, chuckling a bit nervously as she added "'cept, we ended up wantin' ta throw the balloons at each other, cause they're water balloons an' all, ya know?"
"I was aiming for Sweetie Belle when she ducked and, well... you sorta know the results." Scootaloo admitted, grinding a hoof into the ground.
Spike's claws dug into his palm, fighting off the desire to yell at them. They were innocent little fillies who meant no harm and, while not exactly the greatest thing to attribute to somepony, had been there with him when he learned Rarity's concern over any possibility of them being together. So instead, he just took another deep breath, then snorted out some smoke.
"It's... okay." he muttered, making the fillies brighten up. Each of them threw their hooves around Spike, mixing some of the paint together.
"Thanks for not gettin' mad Spike!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. The three stepped back, then realized the mistake of making more of a mess and smiled sheepishly.
"Why don't we all head back to my house and get cleaned up?" Sweetie Belle offered. As much as Spike wanted to get cleaned up immediately, the thought of following Sweetie Belle anywhere that Rarity might be left him... less than enthusiastic about the idea all of a sudden.
Waving a hand dismissively at the offer, Spike replied "Thanks, but I need to go get Twi a cupcake, so I'll just clean off at home." Before the trio of fillies had any chance to argue otherwise, Spike slipped past them, now making his way toward Sugarcube Corner in a brisk walk. Given his energetic strut and colorful appearance earned him a few looks, he just took in deep breaths through his nose and continued forward, even as he felt some warmth at the corners of his eyes. He didn't cry when he overheard Rarity's concerns about the two of them, he wasn't going to get upset over something as simple as this. Just get in, get the cupcake, get out.
Perhaps further in Spike's unfortunate luck, he had forgotten that Sugarcube Corner was both the home and place of employment for Ponyville's most excitable pony. As he stepped inside, Spike was immediately wrapped up in streamers, then jerked forward so he was being dragged across the floor. Squirming about in an attempt to break free, Spike prepared to yell, only to get a face full of Pinkie Pie's face.
"Hiiii Spike! Sorry about that! I was just trying out my new invention." Pinkie apologized in her usual cheery manner. It didn't take long for the party pony to take a single streamer between her teeth, giving it a slight tug and causing the entire thing to unravel.
Rubbing the back of his head to make sure no lumps were forming, Spike looked at Pinkie through a winced eye and said "Invention? I didn't really take you as the inventing type."
"I'm not!" Pinkie chirped, not taking any sort of offense at the potential implications of the statement. "But I've been making a few party favors and stuff lately, and that leads to me making a mess, and that leads to the Cakes helping me clean up the mess cause it's their house and business, and that led to them telling me to find an easier way to clean up!" the Element of Laughter explained, already getting to work sweeping the streamers, along with confetti, banners, and other assorted party supplies, into one neat pile. "So I made a Super Duper Party Scooper! Pulls all the party supplies back together, but I've still got some work to do on it." She then turned her attention back to Spike with a smile, although it got disrupted by a look of confusion, then an even larger smile.
Realizing just what it was that had suddenly garnered such a reaction from the pony, Spike held a hand out to keep her from speaking. "I know, I know. I'm covered in paint and look like Rainbow Dash's mane. It was the Cutie Mark Cru-"
"Actually, you're mostly pink, so I was going to say you looked like my coat and that we're like twins! But now that you mention the other colors, it's like if Rainbow Dash and I had a baby somehow, but that baby somehow ended up being a dragon. Would that mean you still came from an egg? I wonder if it's painful for a pony to lay an egg. I hope Rainbow Dash would be the mommy then. I mean, she's blue and I'm pink, so those are usually colt and filly colors respectively, but I think I look way better with a mustache!" Pinkie started rambling, somehow producing a fake, yet very realistic, mustache that now lay across her upper lip.
As Pinkie rambled on, Spike's patience slowly started dwindling away. It was already irritating for anyone, pony or otherwise, to deal with the energetic and often scatter brained pony, especially when she started going on rants, but she was unintentionally bringing up some hard points. He was trying to tune it out, but words like 'child' and 'baby' seemed to ring out, making him flinch. He didn't need any reminders that he was only a baby dragon, and even if Pinkie didn't know it, she was also reminding him that as long as his friends knew him, that's all he would end up being... plus, in that childish sense that he wasn't particularly fond of right now, he was really jealous of that mustache.
Noticing Pinkie was inhaling to continue her ranting, Spike suddenly thrust a finger up to her mouth, the motion accidentally knocking off the fake mustache. "That's nice and all Pinkie, but I sorta need to get back home as soon as possible." Spike replied, gesturing to himself to draw attention back to his paint issue.
"Oh, right! Well what can I help you with? Bath? Shower? Pool pa-"
"I don't need help with that." Spike interrupted, wanting to prevent another string of sentences from the pony before it got too bad. "I just came by to buy a cupcake for Twi. She's got a bit of a sweet tooth right now."
Pinkie Pie nodded and hopped behind the counter of the bakery, pulling up a display case of different cupcakes. "Okie dokie lokie! Just take your pick! We've got Blueberry Bonanza, Sweet Strawberry Shindig, Raspberry Rave, Huckleberry Hoedown, Grape Gala, Pumpkin Pie Party, and Jam Jamboree!"
Scratching a claw to the base of one of his spikes, Spike said "I guess I'll get her the strawberry o-"
"Wait!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, cutting Spike off before he could finish. "Why would Twilight want something sweet? She's not usually a sweets person. The only explanation could be... is she pregnant!?" Pinkie shouted, making Spike choke on the mere thought of the alicorn being pregnant. "Ohmygosh! I can't believe it! I need to start planning a foal shower! Aaaagh! Oh! But who's the daddy? I didn't even know Twilight had a coltfriend! The only stallion she really seems to talk to often is Big Mac, but I can't see them going out... oh wait! There's Flash Sentry! But he's in Canterlot, unless he's been sneaking in to see her. Or maybe Princess Celestia sent some Royal Guards over now that Twilight's a princess with her own castle? Oh it's so exciting!"
Spike sighed, his shoulders drooping as he lost Pinkie once more. Not only was she too lost in the idea of Twilight being pregnant, which she most definitely was not, but now trying to figure out what to do for a foal shower and who the dad was. On the bright side, she had already taken the cupcake display case out, so all he had to do was take one of the cupcakes and leave the bits. Unfortunately, in her frenzy of moving about, Pinkie Pie had placed the display case on one of the higher shelves, outside of the dragon's short reach.
Standing under the shelf, Spike reached up as best he could, stretching his limbs to their limit while standing on his tiptoes, but found the shelf was still a full body length's reach away. It was a futile effort from the beginning, but in all of Spike's mental maturity, he still had those occasional child-like thought processes, like trying to reach an object that was clearly unobtainable.
Looking around, Spike found a stool behind the counter, usually used for whoever was manning the register to sit on. Dragging it over to the shelves, Spike crawled on top of it, then tried once more to reach the display case. He was so much closer this time, just a couple of inches from his claw being able to grab onto a part of the case. He was already straining every joint to try and reach it, but he let out a little grunt as he pressed on. Giving a slight frown, Spike decided to give a slight jump, giving him just enough air to grab the case, and for an instant he smiled in success... until he discovered his jump had pushed the stool back, leaving him with nothing between him and the floor.
Pulling the display case into his chest, Spike shut his eyes as he prepared to hit the ground. The entire day had already proven to be a major mess and thorn in his side, so now it seemed that fate had decided physical injury on top of emotional turmoil was the only proper way to top it all off. So he just focused on avoiding damaging anypony's property and didn't move to brace himself, ready to take it full on...
... and yet, the impact with the ground never came.
Cracking an eye open, Spike found himself levitating just over the floor. Blinking in surprise at the sudden turn of events, the young dragon quickly realized that he was enveloped in a rather familiar blue aura.
"Are you alright darling? You almost took a nasty spill." an even more familiar voice called out, the slight accent making the pony speaking all the more apparent to Spike. Turning his head, he found himself staring directly at Rarity. The sight of her sent a mixture of feelings through his heart. Relief and happiness that she was not only there, but the one responsible for keeping him from hitting the floor. But then there was the sorrow and frustration as fresh memories from his spying on her reminded him just how hopeless a situation he was in.
"Th-thanks, Rarity." Spike finally brought himself to say, earning a sincere smile from the white unicorn as she slowly adjusted the dragon's position, then let him descend onto his own two feet.
"No thanks necessary dear, I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I were to let my little Spikey-Wikey get hurt in front of my own two eyes." Rarity declared, walking over to the dragon, her smile growing a bit with a hint of amusement as she looked him over. "At least, I assume this is my Spikey-Wikey. I hate to be rude darling, but I don't think pink is quite your color."
Spike hadn't even realized he was still covered in paint, considering all he had to deal with in the short couple of minutes since talking to Pinkie, so the fact she had so clearly brought it up made him blush hard enough that his face was now a fine red. A fact that Rarity noticed as well and couldn't help but giggle slightly at.
"Oh darling, don't worry about it. I already know it's not your fault you look like that. I saw Sweetie Belle and her friends running home on my way over here." Rarity said in that ever so sweet manner that made Spike's knees a little weak. Softening her smile back to its more sincere standard, Rarity leaned in and added "Besides, my Spikey-Wikey is rather dashing, no matter what color he is."
Spike had to gulp hard at this, then shake his head to try and regain his thoughts. As he found himself finally able to think in Rarity's presence, the thought that emerged was one of curiosity. Why was she so calm? Why was she so casual? Last time he saw her, he could tell something was going on even before he filled himself in on her concerns, but here she seemed to be totally fine. Better than fine even.
Pushing those thoughts away, Spike knew he would only cause more trouble for himself if he focused on that, and instead asked "So, um, wh-why are you here today?"
Standing straight once more, Rarity looked over to Pinkie Pie, who still seemed to dart in and out of the room as she dealt with her foal shower concerns, and replied "Well, I was hoping to treat myself to a nice scone after having finished a rather tall order for one of my clients, but it would seem that Pinkie is a bit... preoccupied at the moment."
Glancing at the pink pony, Spike had to nod in agreement. "Yeah, I just came by to pick up a cupcake for Twi, but as you can see, that... didn't work out all too well."
"Indeed... well, seeing as I won't be able to get Pinkie's attention, I think I should just go enjoy a nice lunch at the cafe. They serve scones there was well." Rarity thought aloud, turning her focus back to Spike, her gaze making him a bit uncomfortable.
"R-right, well I should... probably just leave the bits and take Twi her cupcake." Spike said, fishing a few bits out of the bag and dropping them off on the counter. As Spike opened the display case to select Twi's cupcake, Rarity walked up beside him, humming ever so slightly to draw his attention.
"Well, seeing as you have Twilight's cupcake, would you care to join me for lunch?" Rarity offered, the mere question making Spike tense up a bit.
"I-I'd love to, b-but I really should take Twi her cupcake." the young assistant to the princess, or rather a princess, stated. He meant it when he said he'd love to, it was still something that made his heart flutter, but considering what he knew about Rarity's view on their relationship, it'd hurt more to be around her than it'd be enjoyable.
"If that's what you want darling, I just felt bad about making you feel left out during our little tea party a few days ago." Rarity admitted, missing the cringe from Spike as she of all ponies had to bring up that terrible day. "As well as... well, I know that you overheard my conversation with Twilight."
Spike's eyes widened as he looked at her in amazement and a slight bit of fear. She knew? How did she know!? He hadn't said anything and... could one of the Crusaders have said something? They seemed to be so reliable during that time though, respecting his feelings. But they were just fillies, they were bound to gossip sometimes.
Of course, Spike's bewildered look did not go unnoticed by Rarity, who crouched down a bit so they were a little closer. "I can tell darling, you haven't been yourself. Twilight's mentioned that you've just been moping around the past few days since the tea party, so it didn't take much for me to figure out why that is. I think that you and I should have a talk, over lunch preferably... if you'd be willing to join me that is."
The usually purple dragon fidgeted for a moment. It was awkward. About as awkward as when he first admitted to Rarity that he had feelings for her. He wanted to say no and run off. To hide for another couple of days and pretend that he hadn't heard her. But... but there was part of him that felt some level of relief. He didn't know what she wanted to say to him, but the fact he wouldn't have to hide how he felt about the whole situation was... refreshing. So Spike gave his answer with just a small smile and slight nod of his head.
Rising back up, Rarity's grin grew once more. "Excellent darling, I'm pleased I'll be able to have this lunch date with you... but first, let's go get you washed up. I'm sure the Cakes won't mind if we use their bathroom for just a moment." the generous pony offered, getting a nervous chuckle from Spike as she led him into the back.
While Spike was busy getting cleaned up at Sugarcube Corner, the distinct sight of Canterlot's most desirable stallion, Fancy Pants, standing outside of Carousel Boutique had gone... mostly unnoticed it would seem. Of course, Fancy Pants wasn't much for drawing more attention to himself than necessary, plus not all that many citizens of Ponyville were familiar with the high society members of Canterlot unless they wore a crown.
Despite the apparent lack of recognition, Fancy Pants merely smiled and knocked one of his hooves against the door to Carousel Boutique, staring at the door expectantly. And from there, he received no answer. A couple of seconds passed and the smile on his face slowly started to disappear, realizing that the pony he had come to meet with would not be answering her door. Clicking his tongue as nearly a minute passed, he turned his back on the door and started to walk away, considering how else he would get into contact with the designer.
"Hold on a second, I'm almost there!" Pausing, Fancy Pants looked back to find the door opening, revealing none other than... Rarity. She had her work glasses on and a few pins hanging from between her teeth, although as soon as she saw who it was, they immediately dropped to the ground. "F-Fancy Pants! What are y-you doing here, I didn't even kn-know-" Rarity started to stammer, her magic instantly activating to try and make herself more presentable.
Chuckling in his usual charming manner, Fancy Pants slowly approached Rarity. "No rush Miss Rarity, I can hardly blame you for not being prepared. If anything, I must apologize to you for being a bother" he assured her.
"O-Oh no, by all means I'm pleased to see you again. It feels like it's been ages since I last saw you." Rarity chuckled nervously. A look of realization washed over her face as she stepped back. "Oh but where are my manners? Please, come in, I'll go fetch some tea."
Fancy Pants accepted her offer, passing through the front door and began looking around her abode, a bit messy with orders. "There's really no need for that Miss Rarity, but I am afraid I must bother you for something much more... satisfying, if you will." the gentlecolt stated, bringing his focus on Rarity, now looking back at him with a confused, if eager look.
"You see, I was just in Fillydelphia, attending a rather hush fashion show. Next year's lines and all that. Well, I saw what they had to offer and in all honestly was underwhelmed. It was really rather droll and cliche. The others in attendance agreed with me, but were unsure of who to turn to? The designers there were already at wits end and nopony seemed ready to step up to the challenge. Then I remembered your designs and figured if anypony was capable of providing us with a fresh, new, inspired design for the year, it would be you." the stallion explained in a rather calm manner. However, with each word he spoke, the look on Rarity's face became ever more astounded. Smiling at the look he was getting, he added "So what do you say, would you be willing to lend me a hoof?"
Regaining her train of thought, Rarity eagerly nodded her head. "Y-Yes! By all means, I'd absolutely love to help you out! Oh! I must get to work immediately, I've got nothing to present!" Rarity announced, turning to head to her workshop, but was stopped by Fancy Pants' hoof on her shoulder.
"By all means, we have no expectations of you to be ready this very instant, but we were willing to accommodate you with all the material and equipment you'd need out there. So while I wouldn't want to rush you, if you could just grab the essentials, we can be in a private pegasus chariot heading to Fillydelphia in the hour." the well groomed unicorn explained.
Receiving another fervent nod of the head, Rarity rushed off to her room. "I'll be certain to grab just what I need and nothing more! I would hate to leave anypony waiting! Oh, this is so exciting!"
As he watched the mare running off to fetch her things, Fancy Pants' simple, charming smile slowly grew into a sinister sneer. "By all means, we don't want anypony to miss you." the male unicorn muttered, his blue eyes flashing green.