Gridlocked

by The Young and Free Dragon

Pinkie Pie Surprise

Thanks for all the kind comments guys. Check my blog for information on any mistakes (not grammatical).

GRIDLOCKED
BY THE YOUNG AND FREE DRAGON

This is my curse
(The longing)
This is my curse
(The yearning)
This my curse

-My Curse by Killswitch Engage

CHAPTER ONE: PINKIE PIE SURPRISE

“And then he said; 'Whoa Twilight... are we about to begin?'!” Twilight said, through her gasps for air. She'd been hyperventilating for the past thirty minutes.
“Whoa now! Spike said that?” AppleJack asked, surprise crossing her face.
“Yes! Who have I been talking about?!” Twilight snapped. “What do I do?!”
“Well,” AJ said, drawn back by her friend's harsh tone but ignoring it. “If it's my opinion you're wantin', I'd suggest a swift kick in the hindquarters.”
Twilight had considered that. But it wouldn't be the right thing to do. “No that's not quite it...”
She had begun to think AJ was the wrong person to come to about this. But it would have been extremely awkward to go to FlutterShy (even though she might have already dealt with this). AJ was the only one Twilight could think of that she could get an honest opinion out of, but AppleJack's opinion wasn't very helpful.
“Well, what did you do after he said that... that strange thing?” AJ asked.
“I... well...” Twilight wasn't sure how to put it.

It was hard for her to say that she had screamed and kicked him in the stomach, pushing him across the floor and charging out of the door. He had followed, and Twilight was ashamed to admit she had hidden from him, but she couldn't help. She was overwhelmed by what he had said, what he had... implied.
“I pushed him away and ran away.” She said finally.
“That's all?” AppleJack cried, and put a foreleg over Twilight's shoulders. “Sugar Cube, that ain't gonna be enough. You gotta put him in his place. Show 'em who's boss.”
“Who's boss?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Right.” AJ nodded. “He ain't got no place sayin' such things to you.”
“Well... he was a bit confused I think... I mean he had just gotten strangled on a gemstone and...” Twilight trailed off.

The gemstone. It was in the shape of a heart. Maybe it had something to do with it? Perhaps it had cast some spell over him that caused him to fall in love with her on sight? It was a long shot and she had never heard of anything like it but she also knew no bounds to magic, so why not?
“And?” AJ prompted, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts.
“I think I might know why he said that. He might have been under a spell of some sort.”
“Are you sure?” Apple Jack asked, tilting her head. “He is growin' into a teenager.”
“Of course, it's clear to me now.” Twilight nodded, though her face gave away that she obviously was completely lost as to if her idea was right.
“Alright, hun.” AJ said, shrugging and sitting back. “But you let me know if I need to kick the boy.”
“I will, thanks for talking with me.” Twilight nodded and raced off.

She didn't feel safe going back home, at least not armed with a little more knowledge (and maybe AppleJack). But she lived in the library, how was she to gather any? Her only idea was to try and find out who sent the gem. She decided to start with Rarity. She was almost completely sure that the stylist wouldn't have sent that stone to Spike, but it would be one step closer to solving the problem if she went ahead and confirmed her suspicions. She knocked at Rarity's door and waited. It wasn't long before the pony opened the door.
“Oh, hello Twilight. What can I do for you, dear?” She asked, inviting her friend in.
“Well, I just came to ask. Have... you... er...” Twilight trailed off.

How exactly could she ask this? Rarity would most likely deny it without any proper reason to believe that her 'plan' didn't work. Of course there was close to no chance that she would have sent the gem but it was a possibility however slim.
“Have I?” Rarity prompted.
“Oh I'm sorry, Rarity.” Twilight said. “I... I seem to have forgotten what I was going to ask.”
“Ah, well maybe some tea will jog your memory.” Rarity said. “I'll make some.”
She invited Twilight to sit at the kitchen table as she put a tea pot to boil.

Twilight finally found a way word her question as Rarity rambled on about nothing in particular and the warm water was poured into her tea cup with the tea bag and the scent of the tea wafted up to Twilight's nose.
“How has searching for your Prince Charming gone?” The purple unicorn asked.
“Oh... it's gone I suppose you could say. Not much progress, but it's hard to find the proper stallion around here. And there's only one, you know.”
“Yes... have you considered someone other than a stallion?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.
“Other than a stallion...?” Rarity asked, confused before blushing and looking away. “Oh Twilight! Dear, I love you to pieces, but not-...”
“Oh no, no!” Twilight cried, blushing as well. “I meant like someone other than a pony.”
“A Pegasus is always in season.” Rarity shrugged.
“Something non-equine.”
“We don't have much around here other than drag-... Twilight, did Spike put you up to this? Did he ask you to vouch for him?”
“No, why do you ask?” Twilight asked, playing dumb.
“Well, I would have thought he would have told you, but he's made... advances towards me.”
“What sorts of advances?”
“Nothing too strong, I assure you. But he does try and flirt with me.”
“So... are you accepting his... advances?” Twilight asked.
“What?!” Rarity cried, and turned her nose up. “No! Absolutely not! He's just a boy!”
“A teenager now.” Twilight corrected.
“That still doesn't change anything. Spike is sweet but I'm looking into stallions, not dragons that are years younger than me.”
“Alright, alright.” Twilight nodded. “I get it. But then would you do anything... to you know try to keep his confidence up? I mean you must not want to hurt his feelings, right?”
“But of course, I'm not stone cold Twilight.” Rarity replied. “I've accepted his gifts and complimented his appearance.”
“Anything else? Maybe like an anonymous present. To try and draw his attention away from you?”
“Not at all.” Rarity replied and then put a hoof to her chin. “But that actually sounds like a good idea.”
“Eh, you don't have to worry about it. Somepony is already taking care of it.” Twilight said, convinced now Rarity had no part in the gift.
“I don't understand.” Rarity said, tilting her head.

Twilight sighed. She didn't want to hide anything from her friend, especially if she had no hoof in the matter. But she did not want to detail what exactly had happened. So she took the easy approach.
“Spike received some sort of gift that has... changed his attention to another.” Twilight said.
Rarity perked up at the idea. “Really? Do you know who?”
Twilight paused for a moment. “...Yes.”
“Who?” Rarity prompted.
“They... er... wanted to remain anonymous for the sake of their own feelings for Spike.” Twilight lied, biting her tongue in half afterward. It felt so bad to lie to her friend, but she had no idea exactly how far this problem stretched out before her, and she didn't want to give away too much information about it.
“Ah, well I'm glad to hear someone has it for Spike.” Rarity said. “As I said, he's a sweet boy, but that's what he is... just a boy.”
“Mmm...” Twilight said, looking down for a moment before looking up. “Well I have to go Rarity. Thanks for chatting with me.”
“So soon dear?”
“Yes, I have some studies to catch up on.”
“Alright.” Rarity shrugged. “Good luck.”

[][][]

Twilight was quiet and discreet as she crept toward the library. It was eleven and almost every pony had gone to sleep or tucked into their homes. She had asked several ponies if they had seen or talked to Spike today. None had so far. That could be good or bad. Judging from the way he had raced after her, calling her name in a love struck voice, and not even mentioning the kick she gave him. It was all so unlike him. And if nobody had seen him, that meant he was in the library, still searching (and hadn't thought of the obvious way to find her; ask the other ponies), or was up to something. She kept glancing over her shoulder and checking around for Spike.

She was so sure she would see Spike as soon as she opened her front door, that she screamed when Pinkie Pie appeared right in front of her face as the lights came on and party balloons flew up to the ceiling, confetti danced in the air, and everyone yelled; “Surprise!”.
“Are you surprised? Are you?” Pinkie asked, bouncing up and down.
“I... S-Sure...” Twilight gasped, taking deep breaths and holding a hoof to her racing heart.
“Yay! I knew she would be! I told you she would be surprised! I told you!” She said to Rarity who was standing nearby.
“Yes,” Rarity simply agreed and pulled Twilight inside. “Come on dear. Enjoy the party.”
“What's... it... for?” Twilight gasped.
“Oh, I can answer that!” Pinkie said as she bounced along beside them. “I threw it because it's the anniversary of when you moved here and we all became friends. You remember that, don't you?”
“Oh... oh yeah. I remembered.” Twilight said.

She really hadn't thought a thing about it. Ever since returning early this morning from practicing a new spell, she hadn't had time to think about anything because of this whole new mess.
“Where does the time go?” Rarity asked.
“I'm pretty sure there's a spell I can use to bring time back.” Twilight said, regaining her breath and trying to play along.
“Nah,” Apple Jack said, approaching them. “Friends only get better with age.”
Twilight was pretty sure Rarity wouldn't mind turning back a few years for the very few wrinkles she had, but she wasn't given time to express this opinion.
“I agree.” Said a familiar dragon, pushing through the crowd and smiling at Twilight.
As she looked into his eyes, she noticed they were still light pink. As she glanced around the room nervously, she noticed chunks of red gemstone lying on the stairs and she heard not a growl from Spike's stomach, though he usually snacked close to midnight if he was awake.
“Do you want to dance?” He asked Twilight.
“How would you manage that with a pony-...” AppleJack began, trying to protect her friend, but Pinkie Pie cut her off, hopping up to Spike.
“Absolutely! Let's go!” She shouted, grabbing Spike and pulling him into the midst of the crowd.
Twilight sighed. This was one of the few times she was happy for Pinkie's not listening.

Comments

[Alanthewhite]

You need to actually SHOW Spike's interaction with Twilight, not just skip over them and vaguely mention them.

[The Young and Free Dragon]

206904

Well the story isn't done yet, actually only in the first chapter. I can't see how I could possibly fit any of that in later on. I suppose it's doomed.

[Cryogenical]

I have to agree with Alan.

[TheBlazenOne]

I like the pace of this story keep it up.

[The Dragon Warlock]

This is getting interesting.