Strange Yet Wonderful

by Bionic Slime

Ch. 3 Chance Encounters

Chapter 3: Chance Encounters

Quick author's note before we begin, I just want to say THANK YOU to any and all who have favorited, reviewed or followed this story. Every bit helps and counts so for all those sticking by this story, you deserve a thunderous round of applause. Now for the chapter; this ended up being longer than I expected but I felt it was important to keep the "party" stuff all together in one chapter. I tried really hard to get Applejack's accent and Pinkie Pie's behavior right. I'd love to know from you guys if I got them right or not. I'm really hopeful this chapter came together as nicely as I think it did. All characters, references and content related to MLP: FIM belongs to Hasbro, I claim no ownership over any of the Pony cast except MY pony OC's. Well enough of my blabbering, enjoy! And if you like anything, let me know, if you don't like anything, let me know, got any questions? concerns? thoughts? feelings? Please let me know!

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Spike awoke from his bed with a loud yawn; spewing out a few flames before closing his mouth. The purple dragon hopped out of bed and lazily scratched his gut. “Man I must have been really tired last night, I don’t even remember getting into bed” Spike said; smacking his lips softly.

It was at this time Spike realized he was WAY late in getting up and performing his daily chores, and yet, Twilight hadn’t woken him up yet. The purple alicorn was so anal retentive on being thorough and getting everything done in an orderly and timely manner, that the last thing she would do is let Spike oversleep. The dragon peeked around the corner. Spike pressed his ear towards the staircase, waiting and listening for the inevitable screaming of his name from his motherly pony friend but instead heard nothing but silence.

“Huh…I could have sworn Twilight would have been all my over my tail by now.” The dragon shrugged and smiled, his scaly feet stepping towards the staircase. “Oh well, don’t want to tempt fate by taking any longer. Soon as I get my chores done I can get back to-” Spike suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He scratched his small chin as his green eyes squinted. Wait was I…working on something last night or was that just a dream? Spike turned around and looked at the small desk he was working on last night; there was no sign of any parchment paper or quills. I remember going to write a letter to Princess Celestia, I remember it being very important too; like I had to get it done that night. But if I woke up in my bed then…where’s the letter?

The little dragon knew that the only other one around who would have seen the letter was Twilight, and maybe Owlicious. Of course, Spike had been feeling so down and sleepy that night that it’s possible he dreamed the whole letter thing. Spike headed down to the library to get some answers. Twilight was already up of course, using her magic to continue her studies while simultaneously levitating breakfast into her mouth. Twilight smiled and greeted her scaly assistant with a “good morning”, still locking her violet eyes on her floating study books.

“Sorry I’m so late Twilight. I was just super tired last night and I had the weirdest dream, it was so real.” Spike scratched the side of his head, still debating on whether or not he dreamed that letter. “Just wish I could remember for sure.”

“Don’t worry Spike, it really seemed like you needed the sleep,” Twilight levitated a new book in front of her eyes and began flipping through the pages. “I made sure Owlicious didn’t do any of your chores so you didn’t miss anything.” The alicorn checked off some marks in one book and floated a biscuit into her mouth and then biting into it. “Just be sure you get all of it done before Pinkie’s big get-together tonight, there are a lot of new ponies to meet and greet and were all expected to be there.”

Spike nodded in agreement; bouncing the little green fin scales on his head. The purple dragon prepared to check off the chores on his check-list, but he couldn’t start until he got this nagging suspicion in his mind cleared up. Writing that letter seemed more realistic than any dream he’s ever had and if that really was a dream of his, why wasn’t Rarity in it?!? Something felt funny about this whole situation. Spike turned his gaze back towards Twilight who was sipping some orange juice through a straw.

“Hey Twilight, this may sound like a silly question but you didn’t happen to find a letter I was writing to send to Princess Celestia did you?”

“GUURK” Twilight gagged on her orange juice; practically spitting it out of her purple lips. Spike stared at his female friend with much confusion. Twilight’s reaction was quite extreme for such a simple question; the curious dragon raised an eyebrow. Twilight laughed nervously and wiped her mouth clean with her hoof. “Heh, heh, heh…a letter? What would I know about some random l-l-letter?” The princess fumbled her nervous hooves behind her winged back. “I’m sure a good friend like me would have told you if I came across an l-l-letter or n-n-not.”

Spike crossed his arms across his chest, “Twilight you seem to have trouble saying the word ‘letter’ for some reason.” The deeper Spike looked at his friend, the more Twilight seemed to look away; her fur was slowly building up mounds of dripping sweat. He unfolded his arms and rested them on his hips. “Look you don’t have to make a big deal out of this, I’m just trying to find out if you’ve seen a letter I was writing or not. I may have been dreaming it so I just wanted to know if you ever saw me writing anything last night.”

Twilight panicked nervously and Spike knew what it looked like Twilight was breaking down into a panicky mess; this is definitely one of those times. “Nope, nope, nope and nope! Totally must have been a dream, yeah, that’s EXACTLY what it was.” Twilight leaned in towards Spike with that crazed, nervous look in her eye. The pony princess poked Spike’s nose, “You should totally ask Princess Luna about that totally-fake-not-at-all-realistic dream next time you see her.” Twilight used her wings to flip Spike in the opposite direction and began pushing him with her wings. “Now you really need to catch up on your chores; that checklist won’t check itself, bye now!”

SLAM!

Spike blinked in confusion, now he was standing outside his home with a rolled up chore checklist parchment in his claws. “Well…okay then…guess it was just a dream” Spike shrugged and took Twilight’s weird behavior as just that: plain weirdness. “Better get some more quills from that sofa clerk before he runs out again.” The little dragon shook the whole ‘dream conversation’ out of his mind and headed off into town to complete his chores.

Twilight peered out her front door window, waiting anxiously until Spike finally left. The princess let loose a deep sigh and slowly blinked. “That was a close one; I don’t know how much longer I could have kept lying to Spike.” The alicorn princess nodded to her pet owl, he returned the nod and released a rolled up parchment scroll from one of his talons. Twilight sighed looking upon the scroll laid out across her desk; “But I still don’t know what to do with this letter.” Owlicious shrugged in equal confusion. “I feel awful for taking this letter and lying to Spike about it but…this…worries me, I had no idea he’s been thinking these kinds of things all this time.” Twilight used her horn to magically pack the scroll into a small green bag and placed the bag behind her bed pillows. “I need to talk to the princess about this in person. I could always ask Spike to send it anyway and not tell him what it is, but I think pony to pony is the best way to address this.” Twilight’s violet orbs looked to Owlicious once again, “I just hope she can help me help Spike get the answers were both hoping for.”

Meanwhile at Sweet Apple Acres…

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Applejack approached the barn, a wheeled cart full of apples being tugged along. The orange pony ceased tugging and paused to wipe sweat from her golden mane. “Whew doggy; sure glad ah got all mah chores dun in time. Pinkie’s party is just round the corner” AJ smiled as she spotted her friends approaching, arriving right on time to head to Sugar cube corner for the party alongside her. “Speaking of what’s round the corner” Applejack said with a smirk. Her freckled face twisted into a sour frown once she saw Rarity. The orange mare shook her head “What in tar nation is that mare thinkin? Ah told her NOT to bring that!”

The irritating item in question was draped over Rarity’s back: a beautiful sea foam green dress for the party; or as AJ preferred to call it “fancy clothes.” In fact it was the dress Applejack wore to intentionally frustrate Rarity when she was ‘going country’ over Trenderhoof.

“Ah perfect timing! We got here with just enough time to get you washed and cleaned up for the party tonight.” Rarity smiled and levitated the dress to Applejack; the orange mare reluctantly accepted it. “Come now darling; let’s wash all that-” Rarity shuddered at the mention of the word, “Sweat off of you; everyone expects us to be fabulous and I shant disappoint them!” Applejack remained still as stone, the frown she wore remained planted on her face. Rarity leaned close to AJ and raised her eyebrows “I’ve selected something quite fetching for you.” The unicorn elbowed AJ and grinned “I just know you’ll look simply divine in this.”

Applejack tossed the dress back to Rarity and snorted angrily. “Rarity ah told ya once ah told ya a thousan times, ah ain’t wearin no fru-fru fancy duds to some meet n’greet.” Rarity gasped, genuinely disappointed Applejack would refuse to wear such a beautiful gown. “Parties are fun n’all but this ain’t that big a deal that ah need to get dolled up for.”

Rarity gasped. “Not that big a deal?!? Making a gorgeously grand first impression is ALWAYS a big deal Applejack. These ponies have come here because of us!” She stood on a tree stump and raised her hooves to the air, as if acting out a play. “They’ve heard of our stunning exploits and come to our quaint little town; just to see the ones who vanquished the terribly tempered…and poorly dressed, Tirek.” The unicorn hopped down and placed the dress over her back once more.

“Ah know they came here for us but why does that mean we gotta dress fancy for it?” Applejack pushed the apple cart towards the side of the barn. “Yeah we sure whooped that Tirek feller but that don’ mean we gotta get praised for it.” Applejack looked up to the top of the barn curiously; thinking she heard something. The orange mare shook it off and returned her attention to Rarity.

“The praise is more like a perk, like you said it’s more of a meet and greet. Twilight thought it would be best to convince Pinkie having one big party and welcome every pony instead of doing it one pony at a time.” Rarity’s diamond blue eyes rolled annoyingly, “Need I remind you of her charming little stalk and singing routine with Cranky?”

Applejack shook her head. “Nah ah remember all too well; it would be nice to meet some new friendly faces round these parts.” Rarity giggled with excitement. She once again hovered the dress in front of Applejack. The orange mare frowned and pushed it aside “But ah still ain’t wearing that dress,” Rarity frowned and huffed her nose up in a snooty manner. “Ya’ll can dress as frilly and fancy as ya like just leave me out of it.”

Rarity smirked “Suit yourself; I still say it’s a wasted opportunity. More potential customers for me.”

“Ah take it you’ll be takin that new colt you went out with last night as yer date? What was his name?”

The mention of Rarity’s date caused the white unicorn’s face to turn beat red. Applejack blinked in confusion, she could see steam screaming out of Rarity’s ears like she was a boiling tea kettle. Rarity screamed into the sky and went cross eyed; she looked exactly like she did when she was being ‘covered in mud’ during Trenderhoof’s visit.

Applejack gulped “Uh…somethin ah said?”

“Slick Charmer…and he is the MOST repulsive, loathsome, despicable, uncivilized pony I ever had the miserable misfortune of knowing!” Rarity breathed heavily with fumes snorting from her nostrils. “To think I wasted my good chopsticks on him!” Applejack scratched her head at that remark.

“Calm down sugar cube; just tell me what happened.”

“UGH where do I even begin? T-t-that….swine kept checking out the filly who was serving us, he trivialized my career; said making dresses was typical for a mare like me, and worst of all: he grabbed my flank on our way out of the restaurant.” Applejack gasped; thoroughly shocked and disgusted. “I swear on Celestia”, Rarity levitated an apple from an apple tree and placed it between her hooves. “If I ever see that obnoxious, filthy pervert again I’LL-”

SPLAT!

Rarity squashed the apple between her hooves; splattering juice and apple chunks over Applejack’s face. The unicorn giggled in embarrassment and offered to wipe it off. Applejack stuck her tongue out and licked her face clean, swallowing down the apple chunks and groaning in approval of the delicious taste.

“Mmmm mmm! Now that is one tasty apple,” Rarity twisted her lips in visible disgust at AJ’s ‘cleaning’ method. “Now don’t get yer tail in a twirl Rarity; that creep ain’t worth a lick of yer time.” The orange mare placed a hoof around Rarity’s back and smiled sweetly to her. “What’s say you and ah get washed up and meet up with the others?”

Rarity nodded and smiled back, “Sounds like a marvelous idea. Thanks for listening Applejack, you always tell me exactly what I need to hear and it really is a big help.” The unicorn headed inside with a skip in her step; the sight made Applejack’s smile grow even wider. “Now let’s get ready to dazzle every pony with our stunning selves!” Rarity turned back to AJ and beamed. “Who knows? My REAL prince charming may be there already;” Rarity giggled loudly. “I can’t wait!”

Applejack laughed and shook her head at her friend’s reaction. “That pony I swear…,” Applejack looked back to her cart of apples by the barn. The mare had to make sure to tell Big Mac about them so he could empty them out. The Earth pony called out to Rarity, “Ya’ll get ready without me; first ah need to tell Big Mac about-”

The orange mare turned around to see the cart was now completely empty; every single apple had vanished. Applejack approached the cart and ran her green eyes over every inch of the cart. All the apples were gone and there wasn’t a single clue as to where they went or how they vanished, it was a total mystery.

“What in tar nation is goin on here?”

“Applejack! Hurry up; I refuse to be fashionably late UNLESS I am fashion ready.”

The orange mare swore there were apples in this cart but maybe the stress of work was getting to her and she just imagined there was a full cart here. AJ brushed it off for the moment and headed inside to join Rarity. Little did Applejack know a shadowy pony figure was sitting inside her barn’s attic. The shadowy figure was softly munching apples, sounds of chewing and juices splattering could be faintly be heard. The weak glow of Moonstruck’s horn could be made out but it soon dissipated along with the munching sounds.

“That was a close one”, Moonstruck stuck his head out to make sure Applejack was gone. The dark purple unicorn sighed and returned into the darkness of the barn. “I’ve got to be more careful when grabbing food.”

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Rainbow Dash groaned from behind Fluttershy, the cyan Pegasus shoved, pushed and plowed her body into Flutteryshy. The butter colored Pegasus was fearfully resisting Rainbow at every turn. The rainbow flyer dug her mane under Fluttershy’s rump and tried lifting her back end to force her forward.
“Come on Fluttershy; were going to be late for the party and I HATE being late!”

Fluttershy squeaked nervously. “B-b-b-but I told you, I really don’t feel like going to this party,” she dug her hooves into the ground in a vain attempt to halt Rainbow’s shoving. “All those new ponies looking at me, staring at me, asking me questions and paying attention to me…EEK!” The panicky Pegasus buried her head under her fore hooves.

Rainbow sighed heavily. She ceased pushing and rubbed her temples, “Seriously? It’s not like were being interrogated by dragons or something. They just want to talk about how awesome we are and make new friends.” Fluttershy cautiously lifted her head back up. Rainbow smiled and flew above her friend’s pink mane, beaming proudly. “But mostly talk how awesome I-” Rainbow stopped when she saw Fluttershy giving her a sarcastic look. The cyan Pegasus chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head, “I mean how awesome we are…of course.”

The nature loving pony knew that defeat was inevitable. Rainbow had this special knack for getting ponies excited about things; even things you didn’t actually care about or wanted to attend. Fluttershy actually does want to attend the party, it was written all over her face. The mousy Pegasus still hasn’t gotten over her fear of receiving attention; even after all the improvements she’s made while singing with the Pony tones. But lately Fluttershy has been fearing that the only company she’d have over at her cottage would be her animals…and no pony else. As much as she refused to admit it, Fluttershy wanted to socialize more and enjoy the company of more ponies; besides her 5 best friends of course.

“All right then; let’s go” Rainbow blinked at Fluttershy’s sudden change. The yellow Pegasus smiled sweetly and watched as her cyan friend floated to the ground. “You’re right Dash, it would do me good to meet some new ponies and besides; Pinkie always throws the best parties.” Rainbow and Fluttershy began walking towards Sugar cube corner. “I’d hate to hear I missed out on all the fun.”

“That’s great news Fluttershy; I’m totally digging this new attitude. I just know it’s going to be all kinds of awesome!”

“Y’all mind waiting up? Some of us take longer to git ready than others.”

The two Pegasi turn to the familiar southern sound of Applejack’s voice, the orange mare was approaching from behind. Rarity was directly behind Applejack. The unicorn wore a light purple gown with rows of shimmering pink train lining the trim and center of the dress; each pink train was adorned with yellow and purple beads. Rarity’s neck was covered by a golden necklace with a purple diamond at its centerpiece. Each fore leg had a brief shoulder cover; purple and pink just like her dress. The 3 ponies blinked watching Rarity adjust her neck against the bright pink, flower like collar.

Rarity raised a curious eyebrow at everyone’s stares, “What? Is this not enough? I knew I should have brought my earrings.”

Rainbow groaned; “I can’t believe you think this is NOT enough. We’re not going to the Grand Galloping Gala you know.”

“Of course I know that! That’s why I didn’t bring the hat that goes with this.”

Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy stared flatly at Rarity. None of the 3 ponies had a response for Rarity so they decided it would be best to say nothing and just head to the party. Once the 4 friends arrived, they spotted Pinkie at the door; smiling and ushering everyone in with her usual, infectious charm and spirit. The 4 friends looked around the sweets shop, their eyes widening at the abundance of colorful festivities, treats and friendly new faces.

“Hey guys, it’s about time you all got here.”

The friends turned to see Twilight at the punch bowl, levitating a full cup to her lips and sipping it. The girls joined their princess friend and immediately felt at ease despite all the new faces surrounding them. Spike popped up from behind Twilight, a jewel encrusted cookie munching between his puffy purple cheeks.

Pinkie popped up between her gathered friends. “I am soooooo glad you guys could make it, a party’s not a party without a super duper party pony’s party pals!” The pink mare hugged everyone in a tight bear hug, every pony’s face started turning red from being suffocated by the hug. Spike was practically choking on his cookie under Pinkie’s grip. “This is gonna be so much fun. There’s so many new faces here, which means new friends and new smiles and best of all-”, Pinkie released her friends from her iron grip hug. “New diving helmets,” Pinkie proudly beamed and shoved the large, clunky, metal diving helmet over her head.

Twilight and the others just stared at their friend in silence.

Pinkie whipped off the helmet and tossed it aside. She bounced on her tail mane like a pogo stick and loudly cheered, “Enough politics! It’s time to paaaaaaartaaaaaay.”

For the first time that night, Pinkie Pie said something that everyone could understand and agree with. The party was filled with faces; both familiar and foreign to the mane 6 ponies. Twilight and her friends were honored with many compliments and words of praise from dozens of ponies for all they have done for Ponyville and Equestria. Two ponies in particular seemed to have a stronger than usual interest in the Mane 6. One was a somewhat tall dark grey Earth pony with a whitish, light grey mane and faint crystal blue eyes. He had a cutie mark of a golden arrow with the arrowhead pointed towards his tail mane. The other pony was a bright red Pegasus with hot pink eyes, black hair and a small orange bow tie secured towards the bottom of his tail mane. The Pegasus’s cutie mark resembled a golden heart, two hooves holding each side of the heart and topped off with a golden crown. The Pegasus was shorter than the grey Earth pony and the Earth pony’s hooves were a bit more scuffed than the red Pegasus’s hooves.

Rarity giggled, “Don’t look now girls but it seems we’ve caught the attention of a pair of stallions.” Twilight and Pinkie giggled while Fluttershy and Applejack nervously tried to look away. Rainbow smirked and rubbed her nose confidently; taking pride in the admirers gaze. “Aren’t they just divine looking? I wonder which one of us they’re looking at” Rarity rubbed her chin curiously, “With all 6 of us together it does make it quite the charming little mystery doesn’t it?”

Twilight smiled “Well if it’s me then I’m flattered but frankly; I think I’ll pass.” The white unicorn pouted in disappointment, she was hoping Twilight would have indulged in some flirtatious fun. “I’m just too busy with my studies and princess duties to worry about going out with guys.” Twilight took another sip from her punch, “Besides; being an alicorn isn’t exactly an experience a lot of ponies can relate to. Where am I gonna find someone like that?”

“Come now Twilight, not every stallion has to be exactly like you in every way. Sometimes trying something new can be quite the daring adventure.” Rarity batted her eyelashes at Twilight playfully, “Ever since I found those diamonds in that rock that lead to me getting my cutie mark; I’ve learned that wonderful things can come from the strangest of places.” Spike curiously stood behind Twilight, partially hiding himself behind her tail mane. “Or in this case; the strangest of ponies,” Spike smiled brightly at Rarity’s words. The little dragon’s heart beat just a little bit faster after hearing what Rarity said; he could feel hope and optimism refueling his passionate crush for the fashionista. It wasn’t much but the love struck dragon would take it.

Rainbow Dash moved between Twilight and Rarity, “Rarity’s right, you could meet some pony who is totally awesome and totally understands what it feels like to be a boring egghead; just like you” The alicorn princess groaned loudly at being referred to an egghead…again. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to regale one of those ponies with tales of my amazingly cool adventures.” The cyan Pegasus lightly elbowed Rarity, “Namely that sweet looking red Pegasus.”

“Well then partner,” Applejack took off her hat and bowed it in an inviting manner. “Y’all talked the talk now walk the walk, let’s see ya in action speedy.” The orange mare put her hat back on and winked to her blue winged friend. Rainbow flashed a shimmering smile to Applejack and nodded. The cyan Pegasus slowly began trotting towards the two colts.

The red Pegasus looked to the grey Earth pony nervously, he began chewing his hooves and glancing in every direction. “Oh crud this isn’t good; no, no this isn’t good at all! This is happening way too fast.” The red flyer inhaled and exhaled rapidly but it failed to calm his nerves. “I thought I had more time to plan this out,” the Pegasus looked to the tall gray colt for some kind of advice or plan of action. “What do I do?” the red pony grabbed the grey colt and shook him frantically before he could reply. “WHAT DO I DO?!?”

The grey colt shook himself free from the Pegasus. “First off…breathe,” he placed his hoof against the red pony’s chest. “No pony’s gonna want to spend 5 minutes talking to you all wigged out like that.” The red pony breathed deeper and longer, slowly calming himself down. The grey colt smiled once he saw the red pony finally calmed himself down. “Now I don’t know about you; but I plan on walking up to her, act like my natural self and well…see where the night takes us.”

“You really think that’s going to work? You make it sound so easy.” The red Pegasus looked towards the mare in question. He swallowed down a large gulp and tried to calm himself down once more, the warmth in his cheeks and heart rising with every passing glance at the beautiful pony shining in his pink eyes. “I just….I just….don’t know for sure.”

The grey colt shrugged. “Well, only one way to find out.” The Earth pony walked past the red Pegasus, his wings flapped nervously at his realization that he was about to miss his chance.

Rainbow Dash continued to wear that proud smile while noticing both the colts were approaching her. However, the cyan pony’s ego was not prepared for what was about to happen next. Rainbow stopped to speak to the red Pegasus but found herself talking to dead air instead. The red Pegasus had walked right past Rainbow and approached the TRUE mare he was fawning over all this time: Applejack.

“Um excuse me fair maiden?” the red Pegasus said. Applejack ceased talking with her friends when she realized the colt was actually speaking to her, she looked around and pointed to herself with her hoof; checking to see if he was really addressing her. The colt nodded “F-f-f-forgive my disturbance but,” his shyness caused his cheeks to redden. “I couldn’t leave here tonight without at least getting to have the pleasure of meeting you.”

“Um…ya’ll sure ya got the right pony? I mean yer not mistakin me for some pony else, right?”

The Pegasus chuckled, “Absolutely not maiden; a beautiful face like yours is not something some pony comes across every day.” Now it was Applejack’s turn to blush. “But forgive me for not introducing myself, my name is Hopeful.” The colt extended his hoof towards AJ along with the warmest of smiles, “Hopeful Romantic and what might your name be?”

Applejack felt nervous, uncertain and frankly; flustered. Like Rainbow, Applejack was certain Hopeful was going to talk to a fellow Pegasus. “Well uh that sure is mighty nice of ya…Hopeful.” AJ looked to her friends with uncertain eyes; Twilight and Rarity smiled and waved their hooves in a “Go on” motion. AJ sighed and looked back to Hopeful, “My name’s Applejack but ya’ll can call me AJ if ya like.” The orange mare extended her hoof to Hopeful.

The red Pegasus took AJ’s hoof and instead of shaking it; bowed down to one knee and kissed it with the softest of pecks. “I wouldn’t dream of shortening such a beautiful name, it’s a true pleasure to meet you Miss Applejack.” Hopeful stood back up and smiled tenderly at the orange mare. Applejack’s freckled cheeks blushed brighter than a dragon’s fire ball, she felt so hot inside she could have sworn one was standing right behind her.

Fluttershy and Pinkie both gasped at the cute display, while Twilight and Rarity made childlike “Awwww” sounds. None of them had seen any pony have this effect on Applejack before. Trenderhoof was the only other colt who treated Applejack like this, but she didn’t even come close to having this kind of reaction to such affection.

Pinkie Pie munched loudly on some popcorn, Fluttershy looked to her and blinked in confusion as to where the pink mare got that bag of popcorn. “Such scandalous scandals! Who could have imagined such a turn of events.” Pinkie watched Applejack and Hopeful intensely, as if expecting some sort of soap opera twist ending to take place.

“Gosh, I wonder how Rainbow Dash is feeling about all this;” Fluttershy asked curiously.

The 4 ponies looked at each other and blinked. They immediately turned their attention towards the grey colt and Rainbow, Spike was now munching on some of Pinkie’s popcorn as well.

Rainbow Dash was so speechless by this realization; she didn’t realize the grey pony was standing directly in front of her. “Hi there, name’s Arrowhead and you must be the one and only Rainbow Dash”, the colt smiled and shook Rainbow’s hoof firmly. The cyan Pegasus flinched a little, actually surprised at how strong Arrowhead’s grip was. “This right here…this totally just made my day.”

“Look sorry about this but um,” Rainbow nervously scratched the back of her head. “I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. You see-”

“Did you really save the Wonderbolts and your friend, win the flight contest AND perform the sonic rainboom in one go? Anyone of those would be brag worthy but 3? Man that’s beyond impressive.”

The cyan Pegasus bashfully grinned and rubbed her chest with her hooves. “Heh I wasn’t exactly planning on doing ALL of that, but actually.” Rainbow stopped and shook her head and resumed her original point. “Back to the point at hoof here; I’m flattered and all but this isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Arrowhead blinked in confusion at Rainbow’s remark. He smiled as an idea suddenly came to him, “Oh I get it; you’d rather talk outside.” The colt stepped aside and motioned his hoof in an inviting manner, “Why didn’t you say so? Lead the way.”

“No, no, you’re really not getting it buddy. What I’m trying to say is-”

“It’s okay; I don’t mind waiting while you tell your friends.”

“I’M NOT INTERESTED; OKAY?!?”

Rainbow immediately gasped, that came out much louder than she intended to and it appeared everyone in the party seemed to drag their curious eyes towards the pair of ponies. The Pegasus could feel the ponies’ eyes on her; talk about embarrassing! Rainbow quickly flashed a glare towards everyone, visually encouraging them to go back to the party.

Arrowhead raised a curious eyebrow. “Um I’m s-s-sorry…I didn’t realize I was interrupting you so much.” The grey colt rubbed his white mane nervously; he could see Rainbow was desperate to avoid eye contact with him. “If you really want me to leave you alone; I’ll respect that.” Rainbow sighed with relief. “But I’d like to at least ask the reason why you’re not interested. Am I unattractive to you, is that it?”

The Pegasus stopped avoiding Arrowhead’s eyes; his question causing her to freeze in her hooves. Rainbow could feel her cyan colored cheeks turn bright, tomato red. What’s with this guy? I know he was probably thinking that but I never expected him to actually ask me! Who does that? Rainbow laughed nervously “N-n-no actually…now that you brought it up-” She felt her cheeks blush even brighter and harder than before; unable to keep her eyes off of the colt’s charming face. “You’re actually…um…pretty hot.”

Arrowhead’s formed a smile, a much wider smile than he’s shown all night. “Well thank you…heh I never thought I’d hear those words out of your mouth.” He still maintained his composure and confidence in the face of such a compliment from the pony he had been eyeing since he got to Sugar cube corner. “So then why can’t you give me a shot? I haven’t said anything about myself that would freak you out so I know that’s not it.” Arrowhead laughed softly at his attempt at humor.

Rainbow tried to explain it gently but was having difficulty, “Well gee I uh…hmmm how do I put this…you see it’s the whole, well you know?” Arrowhead looked at Rainbow as if she were speaking a completely different language; she knew she had to be more specific. “You see the thing is that” Rainbow paused and bit her lip, “You were looking for me…but I was looking more for these.” The Pegasus pointed to her wings and then pointed to Arrowhead’s backside. Slowly but surely, Arrowhead seemed to be getting the message Rainbow was sending. Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and offered a weak smile, “Does that help? Make any sense?”

That charming smile of Arrowhead’s vanished quickly; so did Rainbow’s. “Oh…I get it now; you have a problem with me not having wings.” Arrowhead pointed his hoof firmly at Hopeful who was still talking to Applejack. “You may have been checking him out but he was looking at your friend. But clearly being flightless is such a deal breaker that knowing me doesn’t even matter!”

Rainbow frantically waved her arms in protest. “No, that’s not it; well yeah it kind of is but…NO! What I mean is I don’t have a problem with you not having wings. I just-” she fumbled with her hooves against her chin, trying to find the right words to explain this. Even if Rainbow wasn’t interested in this pony, the last thing she wanted to do was offend him. “Look, I have friends who don’t have wings; It’s just when it comes to dating I have my uh…my uh what’s it called…a preference.”

Arrowhead narrowed his eyes at Rainbow, clearly not satisfied with her answer. “Right…you’re preference….it’s your preference to be prejudice.” The Pegasus face twisted in horror at Arrowhead’s remark. The colt frowned and turned from Rainbow towards the exit. “I was so wrong about you Rainbow Dash.”

“Ugh! No that’s not what I meant, wait; hold up,” Rainbow reached out to grab Arrowhead but missed his tail mane. The Pegasus bit her hooves nervously at this horrid realization. Did he really just say that? Did I really just do that? I didn’t just diss a hot guy just because I was hoping to date that Pegasus…did I? Was I really being offensive by saying that? Rainbow slapped herself and groaned. “Buck this, he’s gonna be gone by the time I finish throwing myself a pity party.”

Pinkie popped up behind Rainbow and slapped a colorful, green and yellow spotted party hat on her rainbow mane. “Oooooh a party within a party; best idea EVER,” Pinkie blew into a party favor with a loud cheer. Rainbow shoved Pinkie and the hat to the side in annoyance.

“It’s not THAT kind of party!”

Rainbow turned back to Arrowhead and noticed he had already left. The Pegasus bolted and left a rainbow blur trail behind her hind legs; she quickly landed outside the sweets shop and began looking for Arrowhead. “Hey Arrow guy, look I’m sorry for what I said. I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings or anything, I just-” Rainbow was shocked to see that Arrowhead was nowhere in sight, not even hoof prints or a sign of his shadow in the distance anywhere. “No way, how did he move that fast?” the Pegasus flew up into the air to get a better look but still couldn’t see him. “This is nuts! He was only out the door for a few seconds. I got out here as fast as I could and I can’t see him anywhere, how is that possible?”

The fact that Arrowhead had vanished so quickly despite Rainbow’s fast response time left the cyan Pegasus truly baffled. Even if the grey colt had a head start, Rainbow should have been fast enough to catch up and at least see some sign of him leaving. The speedy flyer rubbed her chin with confusion and curiosity. Perhaps there was more to this pony then she originally thought, and perhaps he was more extraordinary than extra ordinary.

“Sigh, no matter what kind of pony he is; the way I handled things was totally uncool. I’ve gotta find him and apologize.” Rainbow floated back down to the ground and brushed rainbow colored strands out of her eyes. “I just wish I had a clue on where to find him.”

Suddenly Rainbow’s contemplation was broken by the sound of a door being slammed open. The cyan pony turned to see Spike storming out of Sugar cube corner; he had a menacing scowl on his face. The little dragon looked like he was on a mission. Rainbow could see fierce determination in Spike’s eyes, just like when he went on that quest of self-discovery.

“Uhhh hey Spike are you all right? You look a little peeved.”

Spike merely grunted in response, not even looking up at Rainbow as he walked right past her.

“Does Twilight know you’re going home alone? Are you mad at me or something? Is that why you’re not answering me?” Rainbow continued to watch Spike march off without so much as a wave, a wag of his tail or any kind of verbal response. The Pegasus cupped her hooves next to her cheeks and shouted, “HEY Spike! Where are you going?”

This time; the dragon stopped.

Spike turned his head towards Rainbow; he stared right at her with an intense looking gaze. “I’ve got a pony to find,” Spike returned marching off into the night until he eventually walked out of Rainbow’s line of sight.

Well, he looked really intense or maybe he was really angry over something? I guess this pony must be real important because I’ve never seen the little guy look this serious before. Rainbow looked back at Sugar cube corner entrance. She briefly spotted the combined colors of purple and white moving around, which means Rarity was still in there. Rainbow raised a confused eyebrow to this realization. But what other pony could Spike be so focused on? Rarity is still inside and so are the rest of the girls. The pony’s concentration reverted back to Spike’s actual words: he’s got a pony to find. Rainbow sighed heavily and hanged her head, “Yeah…so do I.”

10 minutes earlier…

“It’s not THAT kind of party!”

Rainbow turned back to Arrowhead and noticed he had already left. The Pegasus bolted and left a rainbow blur trail behind her hind legs. Twilight and the others looked at each other with slightly worried eyes, their attention eventually returning to the awkward yet adorable conversation between Hopeful and AJ.

“Well it’s been uh mighty nice meeting ya Hopeful,” Applejack continued to flash red; blushing cheeks to the Pegasus. “But I’ve gotta get goin now. I’ve gotta get up early so ah can get started on mah chores, lots of work to do on the farm ya know.” The orange mare lifted her cowboy hat to Hopeful and started to head towards the exit.

Hopeful had a fearful look in his pink eyes; he didn’t expect AJ would be leaving the party so soon. “Wait, Wait! Please, I wanted to ask you something,” Hopeful called out to Applejack. The orange mare stopped and turned towards Hopeful, waiting for his question. “Um this was like really, really, really nice; you know just talking to you.” The pony nervously rubbed his hooves behind his back, fidgeting behind his twitching wings. “I w-w-was just wondering if we could…you know…do it again sometime.” Hopeful looked at AJ with big old puppy eyes, she half expected him to whimper like a pup too.

Applejack bit her lip nervously. “Well gee that’s mighty nice of ya there Hopeful but the thing is,” the orange mare really was uncomfortable with this whole begging dog look of his. “I’m real busy with mah chores and all, and I just don’ think with mah busy schedule that ah got any time for doin’ this again.” That wounded puppy look on Hopeful just got a whole lot more wounded looking. “Ah don’ mean to hurt ya feelings; ah just got a lot on mah plate right now,” she offered a small smile and lifted up Hopeful’s sagging chin with her hooves; “That’s all.”

“Well what if I stopped by the farm and helped out with the chores? You’d get done a lot faster and I’m sure my wings could help make certain chores a lot easier.” Applejack wasn’t 100% sold on Hopeful’s idea, but it looked like the Pegasus wasn’t going to stop insisting until she said yes. “I promise I’ll do my best. Just give me a chance, that’s all I’m asking for.”

“Well…ah never turn down a hard worker,” Applejack nodded and finally caved in. The orange mare shook Hopeful’s hoof in agreement. “Yah got yer self a deal there partner, ah expect to see you bright an early the day after tomorrow.”

Hopeful nodded and let go of AJ’s hoof, his smile stretched from ear to ear. “Oh thank you SO much Miss Applejack, I promise you won’t regret this!”
Hopeful was so elated by Applejack’s approval; he didn’t realize he was sticking his wings out in the open at the worst possible moment. Mrs. Cake was coming out of the kitchen with a freshly frosted batch of gooey, chocolate cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles. The wings slammed into the mare’s face and plate, tossing the cupcakes into the air and splattering right back down on top of both ponies.

SPLAT!

Hopeful’s red coat was completely covered in thick, goopy cupcake frosting and sprinkles. He could see nothing but brown fudge and white frosting and could feel it dripping off his feathers like sludgy icicles. Mrs. Cake groaned while wiping her face and pink hair free from the splattered remains of her freshly baked treats. Half of the ponies laughed at the amusing accident while others groaned at the sight of seeing such delicious looking goodies gone to waste.

“Whoops! Let me help you up there Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie smiled and helped the cake covered pony back to her hooves.

Applejack helped Hopeful back to his hooves. The red Pegasus felt even more foolish looking than he already did, “Good grief….I am SO, so, so sorry Mrs. Cake. I guess I just heh got a little over excited.”

Mrs. Cake chuckled softly, “Nonsense dear; it was an honest mistake.”

Pinkie helped Mrs. Cake back to the kitchen to get cleaned up and get started on a new batch of cupcakes. Applejack helped the sticky, sulking red Pegasus back to the kitchen to clean up as well.

“What’s say we get you cleaned up before ah head on out, huh lover boy?”

“That’s awfully kind of you Miss Applejack, thank you.”

The orange mare chuckled and rubbed Hopeful’s cake splattered dark hair, mixing more white into his black mane.

“Awe shucks partner; ya’ll can just call me Applejack.”

Hopeful softly said her name out loud and felt the warmth in his heart and cheeks rise once more. AJ noticed the goofy grin forming on the pony’s face; she rolled her eyes and laughed. The two ponies vanished into the kitchen. Mr. Cake exited the kitchen shortly after, carrying a small white box on top of his head.

The yellow Earth pony approached Spike and Twilight by the punch bowl. “Looks like I missed all the messy fun, though it looks like the ladies got it all under control in there.” Mr. Cake leaned down to Spike and handed him the small white box. “Here’s that special project of yours Spike,” Mr. Cake leaned especially close to Spike and gave him a friendly wink and smile. “I think she’ll be plenty pleased big guy.”

Twilight blinked at Mr. Cake’s words, watching as he headed back to the kitchen without saying another word. “What was that all about?” The Alicorn princess turned her attention to her number one assistant, noticing how happy Spike was once he looked inside the white box. “Did the Cakes make you another special diamond covered cupcake?”

The purple dragon shook his head, “Nah, nothing like that. I noticed Rarity’s been real stressed lately so I thought I’d help cheer her up by making a special dessert just for her.” Spike looked into the box and smiled, half proud and half uncertain about his personally crafted pastry. “I just hope I did a good enough job,” he closed the box and started looking around the room for Rarity. “I just wish I knew why she was so on edge; maybe it’s from some new big order she has to fill or something.”

Twilight shook her head. “Actually, I heard she’s angry because some jerk named Slick Charmer got grabby with her on their date and insulted her business.”

Spike’s scaly muscles froze in place, his eyes widened before slowly turning into a sinister glare. “What?” was all Spike could say; Twilight wasn’t aware of the seething, raw hatred in Spike’s voice.

“Yeah, Applejack said Rarity was planning on coming to this party with him before she found out what a creep he was.”

“Hold this please.”

Twilight looked down and saw Spike was handing his custom pastry treat to her. The purple pony took the box in her hooves, confused exactly why Spike wanted her to hold it for him. The little dragon began storming out the door; completely ignoring Twilight asking him about where he was going. The young dragon had a mission to complete and he wasn’t going to let any pony stop him or change his mind. Spike didn’t even realize he had forgotten that he wanted to give Rarity that pastry himself, however this “mission” seemed to dominate his mind. Spike exited left the party and walked past a confused, floating Rainbow Dash.

Present time…

A tall, good looking stallion smiled smugly at his reflection in the window of a building. He had mint green eyes, a slicked back dark brown mane, an ink blue coat and his cutie mark was a jar of hair gel.

“I know I just checked to make sure my hair looked good before I left, but when you want the ladies to notice you-” the colt paused and checked his teeth in the reflection. “You’ve got to look your best to attract the best.” A yellow mare with a light orange mane and a yellow bug for a cutie mark walked past the colt. “Hey there sweet cheeks,” the pony put on his flashiest looking smile for the mare.

Junebug stopped and turned her head towards the colt that addressed her. “Huh, you talking to me?” The stallion approached the yellow mare, his dark brown hair bouncing and shining in the moonlight. She could practically smell the hair gel the colt had drowned his mane in.

“You better believe it good looking. Name’s Slick Charmer and it is my genuine pleasure to meet you…miss?”

“Um it’s Junebug.”

“Well Junebug, might I say that is a fine looking cutie mark you got there.” Slick leaned in close to Junebug’s face; the mare smiled nervously at his intense proximity. The smug pony wiggled his eyebrows, “And might I also say I’m dying to know what it tastes like.”

SLAP!

Junebug huffed and walked away from the perverted creep after giving him the slap of his life. Slick rubbed his hoof against his cheek, half wincing and half smirking at the feistiness of the pony; despite the fact she just smacked him.

Slick shook the pain off and chuckled, “Your loss babe but more importantly; my gain.” The pony began walking towards the direction of Sugar cube corner. “There’ll be plenty of fine honeys at that party and based on the so-called stallions I’ve seen living in this dump; those mares will be ripe for the picking.”

“Excuse me.”

The pony stopped when he heard a young voice coming from below his line of sight. Slick looked down and saw a small purple dragon with green fins, green eyes and a very stern looking scowl on his snout.

“A dragon huh? Well this is certainly a first for me.”

Spike stared at Slick, his arms crossed over his scaly belly. The pony didn’t know how to react or respond to this dragon. Spike acted like he was in a staring contest with Slick and showed no emotions or signs of stopping.

“Um can I help you with something squirt?”

“Your name wouldn’t happen to be Slick Charmer would it?”

The pony’s smug smile grew twice as wide; actually pleased a pint sized dragon had heard of his reputation. “Squirt, you just hit the jackpot. I am indeed the one, the only: Slick Charmer!” Spike stared flatly at the obnoxious pony’s macho display, trying hard to keep his dinner down.

“And are you also the pony who took a white unicorn named Rarity out on a date, who also happens to be at the same party you’re heading to?”

“Ugh, that nag is at the party? Sheesh! She’s probably telling all the ladies there a bunch of crap about me that isn’t true.” Spike raised an eyebrow at that questionable statement. “Take it from me kid, if you see that pony than make tracks. She is SO high maintenance!”

Spike used all of his will power not to explode and claw this pony’s face off for what he just said. Still appearing calm and collective, Spike pulled out a hoof mirror and extended it towards Slick. “Uh huh…can you do me a favor and please hold this?”

Slick picked up the mirror and nodded. His attention momentarily getting lost in his own beauty; staring fondly at himself in the reflective surface. “Sure thing squirt, you mean like this?” Spike nodded to the pony. “Not that I don’t mind the view but what exactly is this for?”

FASCHOOM!

The little dragon engulfed Slick’s head of freshly combed and gelled hair in a blast of sizzling green flames. Slick blinked in total shock; his face frozen and unable to produce any kind of response to what just happened. The pony’s prized hair sprinkled off the top of his head in charred black cinders.

“There now,” Spike smiled and took the mirror back from Slick. “That looks MUCH better if you ask me.”

Slick screamed like a 5 year old filly, he ran his hooves along his head in a desperate attempt to find any remaining hairs. The pony ran off in the direction he came from and pathetically tried to hide his shame under his hooves.

The purple dragon sighed heavily, rubbing his claws against the sides of his chest like he was wearing suspenders. “Well then…that takes care of that!” Spike whistled to himself happily as waddled on home. “If he’s really desperate, he can always try borrowing Cranky’s wig,” Spike laughed to himself.

To be continued…

Comments

[Fluffy-Boi]

... Spike.. You are a bro! Defend your mares honor!

[Vesper Skies]

...Spike is a pure Savage

[Quiznak]

Sweet petty revenge!

[Vampire king Jonathan]

Sweet Celestia that was funny
That perverted stallion screams like a 5 year old filly
That was rich spike burned all the hair off his head
He totally deserved it for being such a pervert