• Published 24th Dec 2014
  • 10,226 Views, 382 Comments

Mistletrapped - Titanium Dragon



Spike’s attempt at getting a kiss from Rarity with a sprig of mistletoe backfires when he gets kissed by Sweetie Belle instead. Meanwhile, Rarity thinks Twilight set it up to try and win a kiss from one of their friends. Where did it all go wrong?

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Chapter 1: Hearths and Hearts

“So, who is it?” Rarity asked as she folded her legs underneath her body and laid down on one of the cushions set up in front of the fireplace.

“Who is who?” Twilight tilted her head, taking a seat beside her friend.

“Your crush, of course!”

“Ugh. I thought we stopped talking about this.”

“I’m just curious, that’s all.”

“For the last time, Rarity, I don’t have a crush!”

Rarity opened her mouth to reply.

“And I’m not infatuated with anypony, either!” Twilight thumped her hoof into her sitting cushion for emphasis. “I don’t even know where you got the idea!”

Rarity smiled, rising back up from her cushion to walk over and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Twilight, dear, no offense, but you are not exactly being subtle.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s obvious. Your nerves. The expression on your face when you answered the door. The decorations!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “The decorations?”

“Yes, of course. Did you think I didn’t notice?”

“I don’t see how decorations tell you that I have a crush on somepony. I mean, they seem like perfectly normal Hearth’s Warming decorations to me.” Twilight paused. “Don’t they?”

“Twilight, the display at the door screamed that you wanted a kiss.”

“Really?” Twilight peered over at the doorway in question, where Spike was busily adjusting the décor from his stepladder. “I didn’t notice anything strange about it.”

“There’s no point in denying it. Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.”

“Right,” Twilight said flatly.

“Now, who is it? At least give me a hint.”

“Rarity, if I did have a secret crush on somepony – which I don’t – and I wouldn’t tell you about it – which I haven’t… why would I give you a hint? Wouldn’t that make it kind of obvious?”

“Maybe I could help.” Rarity said, settling down on the cushion next to her friend. “I know! I could make you a new dress, to draw their eyes to all the right places… hm. Well, if it’s Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash, you probably want to draw attention to your wings…”

Twilight groaned, pressing her face down into the embroidered cushion and covering her head with her hooves.

“Sheesh, what’s up with her?” Spike asked as he trundled over to the pair, playing with the mistletoe he was holding in his claws.

“Oh, Spike, just the dragon I wanted to see.” Rarity beamed at the little dragon, Spike nearly fumbling the mistletoe out of his nerveless claws.

“R-really?”

“Of course! We were just discussing Twilight’s love life.”

Twilight made a muffled sound through the cushion.

“Well, that doesn’t sound good. Still upset over the Flash thing?”

“No.” Rarity sighed. “But she refuses to tell me who it is she has a crush on.”

“Oh, I am not gonna go there.” Spike made a hacking motion with his claw through the air.

“But Spi-ike,” Rarity wheedled, leaning forward and pouting, “If she refuses to tell me who it is, how will she ever find true love?”

Spike fidgeted, one of the leaves falling from the mistletoe as he rubbed it in between his claws. “Uhh…”

Twilight lifted her hooves from her face to glare up at Spike from the floor.

“Heh, how about I get you two some hot cocoa?” The little dragon gave the pair a too-wide grin before running off towards the kitchen, shedding several more leaves in his wake.

Twilight sighed. “That did nothing to help my case, did it?”

“Not at all.” Rarity said, giving the alicorn a pat on the back.

“Ugh.” Twilight sat back on her haunches. “Why is this so interesting to you anyway?”

“Well, believe it or not, I want all of my friends to be happy.”

“But it doesn’t work that way.” Twilight shook her head. “I mean, you might like somepony, but you know it is totally inappropriate and it would never work out anyway. Or you might like somepony you know isn’t right for you. Just because you have a crush on somepony doesn’t mean that doing something about it would make you happy. I mean, you remember how it was with Prince Blueblood, right?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“See?”

“But that’s different! I didn’t know him.”

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean it’s any better.” Twilight leaned back, looking up at the ceiling, her eyes following one of the strands of garland across the wall. “I mean, what if the pony you had a crush on drove you crazy? Or would be mortified if you said that you liked them?”

“You don’t have a crush on Pinkie Pie,” Rarity said firmly. Her eyes flicked over to her friend. “Do you?”

Twilight snapped her head back towards Rarity. “Of course I don’t have a crush on Pinkie Pie! I don’t have a crush on anypony! I keep telling you that! I was just… argh.” Twilight drug her hoof through her mane. “I mean, what if I had a crush on you? That would be really awkward, right?”

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, then froze, her eyes wide.

“Right?”

“W-well, I… you are a very attractive mare, Twilight, but… and you are a princess… and very nice… but I’m afraid—”

Twilight slapped her hoof into her face. “Rarity, I don’t have a crush on you.”

Rarity sagged. “Oh, what a relief!”

Twilight arched an eyebrow.

“Er, what I mean to say is that I entirely understand how awkward it might be to have a crush on one of your friends.” Rarity cleared her throat, pointing with her hoof. “Oh, look, there’s Spike with the cocoa.”

“And not a moment too soon.” Twilight rose from her sitting cushion with a grin, purple magic wrapping around the steaming mugs in the dragon’s claws, pulling them over to the mares.

“Two cups of hot cocoa, as requested,” Spike said, twirling one claw in front of his chest as he took a bow.

“Thanks, Spike.” Twilight breathed in deeply, shivering as the steamy heat filled her lungs. “This smells delicious.”

“I must agree with Twilight; this is positively divine.”

Spike puffed out his chest. “I used milk with the chocolate, and added just a bit of whipped cream, just the way you like it.”

Twilight lifted the mug to her lips, sipping noisily. “Mmm.”

“You’ve got a little something right there,” Spike said, pointing with his claw towards foam clinging to the tip of Twilight’s snout.

Twilight crossed her eyes and giggled. “So I do,” she said, flicking out her tongue to lick it off.

“So, Rarity start fitting you for a wedding dress yet?” Spike asked, leaning over and nudging Twilight in the chest with his elbow.

“Ugh, don’t get her started again.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Heh, say no more.” He paused, glancing over at Rarity before standing up on his tip-toes and whispering, “You know, I’d be happy to distract her while you get away.”

Twilight laughed and wrapped a hoof around Spike’s shoulders to tug him into a hug. “Nice try, Casanova, but I think I can manage.”

“It was worth a try.”

Twilight giggled before glancing over at her other guests. The two fillies zipped away from the Hearth's Warming tree and put on their best angelic smiles, the ornament they had been playing with bobbing precariously under one of the branches. “Say, Spike, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are looking kind of bored. How about you show them around the castle while we’re waiting for everyone else to arrive?”

“Aw, do I have to? I like hanging out with you guys.”

Twilight rubbed the top of Spike’s head. “You don’t have to, but I bet they’d appreciate it. Besides, I thought you liked Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. You seemed to get along okay when they came over for Twilight Time.”

“Oh, they’re okay I guess,” Spike said, lowering his head and scuffing his foot on the floor, “but they’re just kids!”

“You’re ‘just a kid’ too, you know,” Twilight said, giggling.

Spike waved his claws in front of him. “No way! I’m way older than they are.”

“Oh really?” Rarity smiled mysteriously over her cup, not a single drop of cocoa staining her pristine white coat. “Well, then, I’m sure a mature young dragon like yourself would be more than happy to show my little sister and her best friend around the castle. You wouldn’t want a couple of fillies getting lost in the castle, would you?”

“Aw, you’re just saying that.”

“But you’re always such a big help to me. And you’re so erudite.”

Spike blinked. “Eru-what now?”

Twilight leaned forward, whispering loudly. “It means you’re well-spoken and well-educated.”

“Aw, thanks.” Spike rocked back and forth on his feet, tilting his head to the side a little before he stopped. “What, that’s it?”

Twilight laughed. “Fishing for compliments, are we?”

Spike shrugged. “Hey, I get ’em where I can.”

“Well, if you’re looking for compliments, I’m sure Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom would be happy to assist.” Rarity leaned forward. “Why, with a gentledrake like you leading them around the castle, I’m sure they will be simply gushing.”

“Twist my arm, will you?” Spike chuckled, then sighed. “Alright, alright, I’ll go give them a tour.”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” Twilight patted him on the head. “You really could use more friends your age.”

“Heh, did you decide that, or did Princess Celestia tell you to?”

Twilight smiled crookedly. “It was Cadance’s idea, actually.”

“I bet she used to tell you that when she was your babysitter.”

“Well… yes. But she was right.”

“Fat lot of good it did you.”

“Hey! I got friends. Eventually.” Twilight stepped away from Spike to hook her hoof around Rarity’s shoulder.

“Indeed you did, Twilight. And we are forever grateful for your friendship.” Rarity leaned over to rub her cheek against her friend’s.

“Oh, gag,” Spike said, opening his mouth and pointing to his tongue, though he was still grinning when he closed it. “Alright, alright. I’ll go show them around.”

“Thanks, Spike.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Twilight grinned. “So, twice then?"

Spike pointed his claws at Twilight as he walked backwards towards the two Crusaders. “At least twice. And maybe some sapphires, too.”

Twilight laughed. “Just make sure they don’t burn down the castle, okay?”

Spike gave her a little salute before he spun around on his heel to walk over to the fillies, who seemed to have lost interest in sitting on their cushions and had instead gone over to more closely examine the Hearth’s Warming tree.

“Hey, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom. What are you up to?”

“Oh, howdy, Spike! You have some amazin’ ornaments here.”

“Yeah, where did you get them?” Sweetie Belle squeaked from her precarious perch on Apple Bloom’s back, the stacked fillies swaying unsteadily next to the tree.

“Canterlot, mostly. Can’t get stuff like that in Ponyville.”

“How’d they make things like that train?” Apple Bloom lifted an unsteady hoof to point at a large glass ornament; inside, a miniature version of the Friendship Express chugged around the base of Mount Canterlot, sending little puffs of smoke up to join the clouds hanging over the top of the mountain.

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, the two fillies began to topple over, Sweetie Belle yelping from her place on her friend’s back. The small dragon lunged forward, trying to steady Apple Bloom just as she overbalanced. Her shoulder collided with Spike’s chest, and a moment later the two fillies were lying in a dazed pile on top of the groaning dragon.

“Are y’all alright?” Apple Bloom asked, scrambling to get off Spike and kicking him in the jaw in the process.

“Ow!” Spike tried to sit up, only to find himself pinned beneath the weight of the other filly. “Yeah, I’m okay.” He leaned back a bit, looking at the tree from his position on the floor. “Phew. Well, at least you didn’t knock that over.”

“Sorry I fell on you,” Sweetie Belle said as she wiggled around on top of the dragon, trying to get her hooves back underneath her.

“Ahh-choo!” A gout of green flame narrowly missed the filly’s face, the tip of the nearest branch turning to ash and raining down onto the floor.

“Sorry!” Sweetie Belle said again, her voice raising at least an octave, making Spike wince.

“It’s alright.” Spike wrinkled his snout, blinking. “Are you wearing… perfume?”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened as she leaned forward over the dragon, grabbing him by the shoulders with her hooves. “Please don’t tell Rarity! I took some from her because I thought it smelled nice and I ended up using the whole thing!”

“Hey, hey, it’s alright!” Spike said, raising his claws in front of him defensively. “My lips are sealed.”

“Oh, good.” Sweetie Belle relaxed, her soft weight resting on Spike’s chest.

“Uh, Sweetie Belle?”

“Yes, Spike?” The filly turned her head slightly to face him, looking down into his eyes, her warm breath tickling his snout.

Spike’s entire face flushed as he ducked his head down towards his chest, only narrowly avoiding bumping noses. “Uhm… mind getting off?”

Sweetie Belle’s eyes flicked down to her hooves on Spike’s chest, then shot wide open. The filly launched herself backwards off the dragon, stumbling back into Apple Bloom before regaining her footing.

“Well, that’s one way to do it,” Spike said, rising slowly back to his feet. He turned his face to the side and coughed into his claw a few times before he dusted himself off. “At least the tree’s okay.” He eyed the scorched branch for a moment. “Mostly.”

Apple Bloom sighed. “Sorry about that, Spike. We were just trying to get a better look at the ornaments.”

“It’s alright.” Spike waved his claw. “If you want a better look, I can go get the stepladder.”

“Oh, I can help!” Sweetie Belle sprung forward, her horn coming to life and wrapping the delicate ornament in a green field of magic. The glass sphere first rose slightly, then floated down from the tree until it hovered in front of the filly’s face. “See?”

Apple Bloom put her hoof on the bridge of her muzzle. “Why didn’t you do that in the first place? We almost knocked over the whole tree!”

“I, uh, forgot.” Sweetie Belle reached up to rub at her mane sheepishly.

“Ugh.”

“Heh, you sound like Twilight,” Spike said as he carefully plucked the ornament out of mid-air. “Well, that’s a pretty cool ornament, but it isn’t exactly unique; there’s this old unicorn up in Canterlot who makes a whole bunch of them. Every one’s a little bit different, but they’re all little trains going around something.”

“Yeah, but how does he make ’em?” Apple Bloom asked, tilting her head.

“Eh, beats me. Probably magic or little gears or something.” Spike shrugged. “You want to see something really unique, take a look at that glass ornament up there.”

Sweetie Belle lit up her horn again. “Up where?”

“Right up there near the top, that purple one.” Spike pointed with his claw, before wincing as Sweetie Belle’s magic unceremoniously yanked the delicate ornament off the branch. It descended in a field of green light before Spike reached up to grab it as well, letting it hang from his other claw. “Now this is something you don’t see every day.”

“What is it?” The two fillies crowded forward to peer at the misshapen ornament, a stretched out piece of twisted pink-and-purple glass.

“That is Twilight Sparkle.” Spike slowly rotated the ornament, the thing spinning slowly, legs more clearly coming into view, along with a too-pointy head and lumpy horn.

Apple Bloom gagged. “Ugh, who made something like that?”

“Uh, I did.”

Apple Bloom’s ears fell. “What I meant to say is, uhm, it’s awful nice.” She elbowed Sweetie Belle.

“Uhhhh…” Sweetie Belle squinted at the ornament. “I really like… her mane?”

“I’m not even sure it has a mane,” Apple Bloom whispered, before wincing as Sweetie Belle elbowed her back.

“Nah, it’s fine. I made it when I was like, six.”

Apple Bloom winced. “Oh, great. Now I feel really bad.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Spike started to wave his other claw before remembering the other ornament, only barely keeping ahold of the glass orb as it wobbled dangerously, the Friendship Express nearly derailing from the tracks inside. “Oops.”

“But how’d ya make it?” Sweetie Belle asked, peering at it more closely. “It’s made out of glass.”

“Watch this.” Spike carefully hung the other ornament back up on the tree before grasping the piece of twisted glass carefully between his claws. Taking a few steps away from the tree, he opened his mouth and exhaled a thin stream of green flame. Slowly, the ornament began to faintly glow as the fire licked around its shiny surface before the dragon closed his mouth.

Holding the ornament in one claw, he reached up with the other to gently pluck at the figure’s side, tugging on the molten glass. The fillies’ jaws dropped as the glass began to deform, stretching out into a flat plane as the dragon pinched it between two claws, pulling it straight out from the figurine’s side. Flipping the ornament around, he blew out another little bit of flame before repeating the process, carefully pulling on the glass with his claws until he had formed another flat sheet of glass. Gently, he pulled on first one side, then another, curving the panels, shaping them into broad wings which slowly began to regain their former coloration as the glass cooled.

“Whoa.” The two fillies glanced at each other before they began to clap on the crystal floor, the glassy sound reverberating strangely through the great hall.

“Thank you, thank you.” Spike took a bow, still carefully clutching the glass ornament in one claw as its dull glow subsided.

"That's pretty neat." Apple Bloom's smile grew as she leaned forward. "Say, you think you could teach us how to do that?"

Spike chuckled. “Sure. Just need to find a bit of glass, some forceps, and, uh…” He glanced over towards Twilight, his shoulders falling a little. “Oh, right. Twilight said no setting anything on fire inside the castle.”

“Awwwwww,” the fillies chorused.

“Sorry, no can do. She told me I’m not supposed to burn down the castle.”

“It would just be a little fire,” Apple Bloom said, raising her hoof an inch off the floor.

Spike chuckled. “That’s what I always say.”

“So, can we?” The two fillies lined up next to each other, giving Spike their very best eyes.

“Hmmm… well, I can’t help you make glass ornaments,” Spike began, turning around and setting the cooling glass on one of the inner branches, “but I can give you a tour of the castle by its coolest resident.”

“Twilight’s gonna give us a to—ouch!”

Sweetie Belle stomped on Apple Bloom's hoof, pushing in front of her friend. “We’d love for you to give us a tour!” Sweetie Belle said, smiling her sweetest smile.

“Uh, I mean, of course we’d like a tour, Spike.” Apple Bloom winced as she lifted her hoof, giving it a look before shaking it a few times.

“Alright then, just follow me.”

As Spike began leading the two fillies towards the back of the great hall, there was a loud knock on the door. The dragon turned around reflexively, beginning to rush over towards the door before Twilight called out to him.

“It’s alright, Spike, I’ve got it.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” Spike gave a little salute as he turned back around. “Now this room will really knock your socks off. Figuratively speaking, of course,” he said, as he flung open a pair of crystalline doors and led the fillies out.

Twilight smiled before returning her attention to the front doors, her horn flaring as she blinked across the room. The golden doors glowed briefly as they swung inward, revealing the smiling faces of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.

“Hey, Twilight! Happy Hearth’s Warming!” Pinkie Pie shouted, springing forward and wrapping Twilight in a hug, the gift boxes Pinkie had been carrying showering to the ground behind her.

“It’s good to see you too, Pinkie.” Twilight said, smiling as she gave her friend a squeeze. “And you as well, Fluttershy,” she said, bobbing her head.

“Are we early? Oh, I hope it’s alright; we can come back later if we’re interrupting.”

“Nah, you’re fine. Rarity has actually already been here for about fifteen minutes. Spike already finished decorating, so all we were really waiting for is you girls.” Twilight smiled proudly. “He really outdid himself this year. It looks really great.”

“I’ll say!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she sprung inside. “I’ve never seen a burning tree used as a Hearth’s Warming decoration before!”