Mutual Terms
“How’s he doing?” Pinkie asked.
“Not good, he won't leave the guest room, and I can't recall the last time he ate,” Fluttershy answered.
“Wowee, it's that bad huh? Did she kick him out?”
“No, she spoke with him in private and by the time they were done the poor little guy ran out of the library crying.” Pinkie quizzically stroked her chin.
“Sounds like he needs a whole heap of happy. Good thing doctor Pinkie is always ready!” She pulled out a stethoscope made of red rope candy and super sized mints. “Come on Nurseshy!” she speedily dragged Fluttershy upstairs.
“So that's Rarity and Twilight down…” Spike groaned. “Why can't there be another dragon like me? She’d probably reject me anyways…” he buried his face in the bed sheets. “Why does the world hate me…?” The more he thought about it, the more his questions stung. Why couldn't he find another dragon like him. Garble and his gang may have left a forever sour taste in his mouth, but not all dragons are alike. Just the dumb hormonal teenage ones.
And why did it seem like his only place in life is to be screwed with? Are baby dragons less than a pony? Is that why he’s a doormat?
“Doctor Pinkie is in the house, ready to turn that sour dim frown into a smile brighter than a hot Pink blouse!”
“Ahh!!” Spike jumped.
“Hey there Spikey, Fluttershy told me you were all sad and mopey and no fun. Luckily for you, you have the best merrymaker around.”
“Pinkie, you almost gave me a heart attack!” Spike gasped with his claw to his chest.
“Hehe I have that effect on ponies, oop. And dragons too,” she giggled. Spike wasn't too amused, but she did manage to get a smirk out of him. “So, what's gotcha down?”
“Everything…” he sighed.
“Then let’s do everything so you can counter that sadness,” Pinkie beamed.
“Pinkie, I appreciate that you want to help but I'm not going to feel better because of candy balloons and cake… Honestly, I don’t know what will help right now…” Pinkie looked back to Fluttershy, then back to Spike.
“Then it's time for drastic measures,” Pinkie announced.
“Look, I-” The next thing he knew he was surrounded by pink fur. “Pinkie…”
“Nope, no anything. You are in desperate need of hugs,” she held him closer. “Fluttershy join in, we need all of the hugs we can get!” Fluttershy climbed up on the bed and wrapped her arms around Pinkie. Spike was stuck in between two mares, not the worst place to be, for some. Really he just wanted to be left alone so he could ease his troubled mind in solitude. But hugs are always nice, especially if they're from Fluttershy.
“Is that better?” Fluttershy asked.
“A little,” Spike said, muffled by Pinkie’s fur.
“See, everyone needs a hug every once in awhile,” Pinkie cooed as she snuggled Spike. Hugs from anypony are nice, and as much as he hated to admit it, they were working.
“Uh oh…” Pinkie squealed. “Too much lemonade!” she dashed away causing Fluttershy to fall on Spike. They looked each other directly in the eye, snouts inches from each other. Fluttershy was having a mini panic attack while Spike was mentally cursing Pinkie’s tiny bladder. He wanted to move but she froze on top of him. “ Note to self, don't drink five jars of lemonade in one go.” She saw them on the bed. “Ooh, you could have told me that you two wanted some alone time.”
“Nonono! When you ran off to the bathroom she fell on me, honest!” Spike said in defense.
“Riiiight,” she said slyly.
“Fluttershy?” Spike shook her. “Fluttershy!” she snapped out of her trance.
“Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I lost my balance after Pinkie left! I didn't mean to fall on you!”
“Don't worry Fluttershy, I'd you wanted to cheer him up all by yourself you could have just told me,” Pinkie said with a smile.
“It wasn't like that at all.”
“Okay okay, I'll stop teasing. But look, mission accomplished!” Pinkie said with a fanfare backing her.
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.
“He may not be smiling, but I know a happy blush when I see it.” Spike was feeling much more better, and now he was embarrassed to admit that she was right. “As long as me and Fluttershy are around, you’ll never frown, hehe.”
Spike couldn’t help but smile even though deep down he was still broken up. They were doing their best but he knows that he’ll never be completely happy again. Then loud knocks came from downstairs. “I got it!” Pinkie gayly trotted away. Fluttershy watched until she left, and Spike watched Fluttershy. He tried to focus on something else, but all he could think about is Fluttershy. He knew what was happening, and it is exactly what got him into this mess in the first place.
He cannot jump to love immediately after getting to know somepony, it just isn't good for the heart. So, no matter how much he wanted to act on instinct, this time he needed to use his head. “Uh, Spike? Are you alright?”
“Huh?” Spike shook his head.
“Are you okay? You were staring at me.” Fluttershy reiterated.
“Oh, s-sorry. I was thinking…”
“About what?”
“Nothing important,” Spike evaded. Pinkie came back up the stairs with a serious look.
“Fluttershy, I need your help down there,” she said calmly.
“What for?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie whispered something into her ear, Spike couldn’t catch it. “Oh dear… I see. We'll be right back.” Spike watched them disappear around the corner, wondering what in the world would be able to reduce Pinkie’s smile to a near grimace.
“Well… They didn't technically tell me to say up here, they just said that they'll be back.” So he hopped off the bed and began down the stairs, he stopped when he heard voices having a quiet yet heated debate.
“Look, we're just here so she can talk to him!” one voice stated aggressively.
“I know, I know, but he isn't really in a talking mood right now…” a softer voice explained. “He was crying for three days straight, we only just lightened him up a few minutes ago.”
“Fluttershy, please let me talk to him.” a rather somber voice pleaded.
“I don't know If he’s ready to talk to you Twilight.”
Twilight?? Then he realized what was going on, he couldn't sit by and let everyone make decisions for him. He isn’t a little colt. “I'm ready to talk,” he announced as he came down the stairs. He tried to seem as serious as possible, but underneath he was sad, happy, and angry. Sad that he had to face the pony responsible for breaking his heart, happy to see said pony, and angry at what she did.
“Come on, let's give them some privacy,” Rarity said as she escorted everyone out of the room.
Spike looked up at her with a cold stare, unfortunately he knew that she could see right through it. “Spike,” she started. “I know that you probably hate me for what I did… I want to let you know why I did what I did…” Spike said nothing.
“I changed you at first because I wanted to satisfy my curiosity. Then it had been buzzing in my head for a while ‘If this spell works, what would he look like? What would it be like?’.” silence still.
“When it worked, I was so happy because I was able to pull off this spell without any problems or side effects, even when you shot that incendiary spell I was still happy.”
“That was an accident…” Spike added.
“Still I was happy… Until you mentioned Rarity…” she hid under her bangs. “I don’t know why I got so jealous. Tell you the truth I had always been jealous… I know that you look up to me, and that you think that I’m amazing with magic, and you look to me for guidance. But for a long time, I wanted you to look at me the same way you look at Rarity…”
Spike knew that her words were true and sincere, he wanted to stand as stoic and unforgiving but she softened his resolve to the point of mush. “Twilight, I did and still do…”
“So you forgive me?” Twilight asked with hope.
Spike froze, everything in him wanted to say yes, but he knew that wouldn’t fix everything that happened. He became frustrated and angry that he couldn’t let what she did go. It isn’t like Twilight wasn’t one to learn from her mistakes -well her more blatant ones- but he couldn’t. “No…” There was a loud collective gasp from the stairs followed by “I thought he would”. He could see the life drain from Twilight’s eyes.
“I… I understand…” Twilight fought to keep her composure. A dead silence fell between the two until everyone came back down the stairs. “See that wasn’t so bad now was it?” Applejack said as she nudged Twilight.
“N-no, it went okay. Looks like everything will get better from now on,” Twilight said with a forced smile. “I don’t know about all of you, but wow am I tired. I think I’m gonna head home and take a nap.” She turned towards the door.
“I’ll walk with you darling. I have to get back to the boutique anyway,” Rarity followed behind.
“Whatever, beats being here,” Rainbow said. After they were gone, all eyes fell on Spike.
“You gonna be okay li’l buddy?” Applejack asked.
“I think I will after some time… I need some fresh air…” Spike walked out the door with a heavy shuffle and a mind in a tumultuous storm of thoughts. Things will get better… hopefully...