//------------------------------//
// The Only Chapter 
// Story: Which One? 
// by AmtrakBrony 
//------------------------------//

	“Rarity?” Spike asked the white unicorn as the two of them sat on their picnic blanket on the outskirts of Ponyville. The two of them were enjoying a delicious lunch that the baby dragon himself had prepared for them, with a little help from Twilight. The sun was shining brightly over them in the mostly clear sky. “Can I ask you a question?” he continued as he set his glass of apple cider down.
The white mare swallowed a bite of her cucumber sandwich before turning to her dragon friend and smiling. “Of course you can, Spikey Wikey,” she began, “What is it?”
“Well, I don’t know why I even thought of this, but now it’s something I’m really curious about.”
“What are you curious about, darling?”
“Well,” Spike paused for a few seconds before asking Rarity his question. “If you had the choice of being a Crystal Pony or an alicorn, which would you want to be?”
Rarity froze at the question. She didn’t know how to react. She was truly caught off guard. She turned away from Spike, her face still sporting the same surprised reaction. “My goodness,” she began, “That’s a really good question, Spike. I’m not quite sure if I can answer that right now.”
“Really? Is it that difficult?”
“Well, unless I can choose both,” Rarity replied while giving Spike a coy grin.
“No, you can’t,” the young dragon continued, “That’d be too easy.”
“Oh. Well then, let me think about that.”
“I already know what you look like as a Crystal Pony, Rarity. You looked like an angel!”
“I did? Awww…why thank you, Spikey Wikey,” Rarity said as she hugged her friend. She then reminisced of the short time that she was a Crystal Pony. “That sure was a marvelous time. I still can’t believe how magnificently my body, mane, and tail gleamed! There’s a big part of me that still wishes I was Crystal Pony. I’d be the only one in Ponyville and everypony would want to see me for hours on end! I’d be the one pony everypony would be talking about! I can already see them saying so many wonderful things about my appearance! They would all want to become Crystal Ponies themselves! Who knows? Maybe that would make everypony in Equestria want to become Crystal Ponies! We’d all be glowing so brightly! We’d be the most beautiful country of all!”
“Hold on,” Spike interrupted, “If everypony was a Crystal Pony, don’t you think they’d look so wonderful that they wouldn’t need to wear any clothes? That would drive you out of business!”
“Oh my,” Rarity continued, “You’re right, Spike. I suppose I thought with a tad too much complexity. I assume this is more of how I would feel as a Crystal Pony, not anypony else.”
“That’s what I originally getting at,” Spike added, “So, how would you feel as a Crystal Pony in general? You don’t have to give me a big answer.”
Rarity gave him a short, straightforward response. “I’d feel great.”
“I’m glad you’d feel that way, Rarity. Now, how would you feel if you were an alicorn?”
“Oh, Spike, I can’t even begin to tell you how I’d feel!”
“I don’t think you need to,” Spike chuckled, “In fact, I can already picture you as one! You and I both watched Twilight go from being a unicorn to being an alicorn, and because of that, I can easily picture you with a set of wings just like hers! You’d look so gorgeous!”
“Oh, I know...” Rarity trailed off, her mind in a state of bliss.
“Just to be clear,” Spike continued, “When I said alicorn, I meant staying the same size you are now, not size of Luna or Celestia.”
“I don’t think that matters, Spike,” Rarity said as she began to picture herself as a grand, white alicorn who was the same size as her friend, Twilight. “Either way, I think having a glorious set of white wings would make me look so astounding, maybe even more than a Crystal Pony! Not only that, but just being a princess would make me feel how I’ve always wanted to feel! I’d be one of the most popular ponies in all of Equestria! I’d be known as the princess who owns a fabulous boutique, one that everypony would want to visit! Sales would just skyrocket! Plus…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Spike interrupted again, “You’re telling me that you’d want to be an alicorn just so you could boost sales?”
“Oh, of course not, Spike! I mean, there are other perks to being a princess, you know.”
“Which I do, considering I spend tons of time with one,” Spike replied in a low tone. He knew that wasn’t the best of responses, and he felt a bit upset at the thought of being rude to the one pony he adored most of all. Thankfully, Rarity didn’t seem to be taken aback by his comment.
“But at the same time,” the unicorn continued, “I’d probably have to go a whole bunch places one after another, just like Twilight. I’d have less time to work at the boutique, and that’s the one thing I’ve worked for my whole life.” She paused for about five seconds. She seemed to be deep in thought. “Spike,” she continued, “I think I can answer your question now.”
“You can?” Spike replied in anticipation and curiosity, “Well, which would you want to be?”
“Neither,” Rarity said, proudly.
“What?” Spike asked in confusion, “You seemed to like the way you would look in both cases! I was beginning to think that’s what really mattered to you!”
“Well, it originally was. However, after going through the pros and cons you and I discussed, I realized that I shouldn’t be focused solely on looks. I have to realize what else it would do to me. Quite frankly, I think me being the only Crystal Pony in town would make all the others rather jealous. I think I’d turn into a narcissist over my own body. Same goes for me being an alicorn. Even that seems like it would be more than enough for me to handle. I shouldn’t get too preoccupied with how I would look in either case, because that would steer me away from focusing on what’s on the inside rather than the outside.”
“Wow,” Spike replied, “I’m glad you see it that way. And, you’re right. What’s on the inside matters much more than what’s on the outside. Also, even though I think you’d look amazing as either one, I think you look beautiful just the way you are right now.”
Rarity said nothing. Instead, she leaned down and gave Spike a kiss on the cheek. Spike froze as his entire body tingled. Rarity then hugged him, and Spike, quickly recovering from the sudden shock, hugged back. “Thank you, Spike,” Rarity replied, warmly.
Spike then looked over and noticed that Rarity’s glass of cider was empty. “Would you like more cider?” he asked, grasping the pitcher of cider near the edge of the picnic blanket.
“Yes, please, darling,” Rarity responded. Spike then poured her a fresh glass of cider as the two of them continued their picnic, talking about other random topics, none of which were as complex as the question that almost never saw an answer.

THE END