The Days Passed

by SilverEyedWolf

Breakfast, on the First Day Back

Spike watched Fluttershy leave, some little feeling in the back of his mind bothering him. Frowning, he shook it from his head before looking over at Rarity. Tapping a claw for her attention, he cleared his throat.

"So, potential list for the day; we'll decide what things of mine I'll need to bring to the Carousel, then bring them over; check for any orders that have come in from your other boutiques; check up on Fluttershy, see if she needs any help, maybe have lunch with her; then check in with Twilight? How does that sound?"

Rarity took a sip from her cup as she thought. "It depends on my orders, and we should probably also do some shopping in the market after seeing Twilight."

Her stomach spoke quietly into the room, and she blushed.

"Maybe some breakfast on the way home?" she said, looking into her cup until she stopped blushing. She glanced up at Spike and the blush returned upon seeing his smirk. "Perhaps a doughnut from Pinkie's?"

Spike snorted. "We can grab a box and some coffee first if you like?"

She opened her mouth to demure before her stomach interjected with some insistence.

"Very well," she pouted as he chuckled over her, downing the rest of the dregs of her tea before standing. "Come on then Giggles, let's hurry before that happens again."

Spike made a show of standing slowly, stretching languidly before he received a used tea bag to the snout. He raised an eyebrow towards her, staring at her obstinate expression as the bag slowly gave in to gravity and fell from his nose to splat on the floor.

He gazed coolly at her, slowly raising an eyebrow as he watched a bead of sweat appear on her forehead.

"That was a mistake, dear," she attempted, stopping when Spike smiled.

"How very perceptive of you," he said, slowly standing to his full height and taking a single step towards her. His smile widened when she took a step away, and taking another when he once again moved forward.

"Now Spike, you don't need to do this," Rarity said, her knees starting to shake. "We can talk this out-"

"Oh no, dear," he said, taking another ponderous step forward. "It is quite too late for that."

She froze when she felt something flat press into her flanks, and spared a glance behind her at the cupboard she was pressed in to. Her gaze shot forward, the dragon standing before her still moving forward, slow but unstoppable.

"Very well then," she said, her ears flicking back as she gazed up at him. "Do your worst."

He came to stand before her, with her neck stretched to look up at him. Reaching out in front of his chest, he laced his fingers together and tensed his arms, giving a series of sharp cracks that made her wince. Then, he lowered his hands to her head, her ears betraying her as they pointed up and forward, quivering gently as he touched their tips softly.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Ditzy was trotting past her own house, skipping it to deliver a couple of letters to Donny, the strange pony beside her that always seemed to be at the local bowling alley. She dipped into her saddlebags, making sure there wasn't any mail for her new draconian neighbor, before she started to move on down the road.

She paused, her ears upright and flicking, when a strange, warbling noise sounded through the air. She listened as the noise started to fade away, only to rekindle in a lower pitch.

Slowly, she made her way up to the door to Spike's house, raising a hoof before faltering as the sound renewed once again.

Biting her lip and blushing for a reason she could not discern, she slowly stood on her back hooves, pressing her front hooves to the wood wall as she peeked into the window beside the door. Between a crack in the curtains, she was barely able to take in the scene on the kitchen floor, where Spike was... wrestling? With Lady Rarity? The motions weren't right for, well, making foals, but Ditzy couldn't come up with any other reason for the two of them to be squirming together on the floor.

Trotting rapidly away, she whispered, "Definitely a sex thing," as she attempted to control her tail's side to side motions.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

A bit later, the front door opened, and Rarity drug herself out onto the stoop, panting and red, her ears twitching and flicking randomly.

"When did... you become... such a, such a brute," she asked between gulps for air.

She shivered when a shadow passed over her, looking up as Spike offered her his paw. He had the largest, most toothsome grin she'd ever seen from him, and his eyes glinted mischievously.

"Why, Lady Rarity," he said, affecting a deep pitch into his voice that made her skin break into goose bumps. "I have always been a brute. I merely hid it as to not insult your delicate sensibilities." His grin shrunk, slowly. "Are you alright?" he asked in his usual tone. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

She took a moment to think about it, making a show of the ordeal, before lifting a hoof and booping his snout.

"I'm okay, darling," she said, with a crooked smile. "Though next time, I may ask Fluttershy to borrow her bear. Maybe if he sits on you, I'll be able to tickle you half to death."

He snorted, sneezing lightly, before he gently grabbed her torso and lifted her to her hooves.

"Good luck, me and Harry have an agreement." He gently brushed her fur with the sides of his paws, swiping away the dirt and dust that barely stuck to her coat. He paused when he felt a trembling, and he pulled back to look her in the eyes.

She hiccuped and looked away quickly, schooling her expression, but Spike had seen it before she could. The constricted pupils, the fast heartbeat he could feel pounding through her system, her shallow breaths.

"Sorry," he said, starting to pull his paws away slowly.

He froze when she lifted a foreleg and wrapped it around his wrist, holding him to hover in between them as Rarity took another, much deeper breath.

"No, Spike, I am sorry," she said, the shake in her voice working itself out as she continued, "I should be this riled up just from you getting close to me. I-I-"

She gave him a small smile that screamed Sorry.

"I think it's because you breathed on my neck, when you leaned in?"

"Ah," he said, nodding. He gently, firmly pulled away his paw, leaving it to entwine with his other digits for a moment before he let his arms flop beside him. "To the boutique then?"

She reached out with the hoof still hovering in the air, touching his hip uncertainly. He sighed, but didn't turn her away again, just ran a claw up her leg and patting the shoulder he eventually came to, before crouching and bringing his face closer.

"Rarity, at this point it's natural for you to still be afraid of me," he said, softly, as he kept her gaze. "But it's also natural for my feelings to be hurt over it. We'll get over it, one of us sooner than the other," he smirked at her, "but it's also okay to feel these things. It's the letting go that's important, at the end."

She stared at him, her lips parted and her eyes widened.

"Why Spike, how much time exactly did you spend with Cadence?"

He snorted, smiling again. "That tidbit is from Celestia, actually," he told her, letting the paw on her shoulder fall as he righted himself. "C'mon then, the bou-"

A growling interrupted him, again, and he put a paw to his snout to hide his grin.

"Apologies! To the bakery first," he said, bowing to her as she flushed crimson and scowled up her snout at him. "I must have forgotten sometime between tickling your ears and pinning you-"

Letting out a high-pitched laugh, Rarity placed her hoof on top of Spike's paw and leaned on it, giving him a look.

Spike gazed back at her. "Rarity, I've been wrestling with a bear, a couple of alligators, and even a young manitcore that didn't want its booster shots. You could pogo on those toes, if it makes you feel better," he told her, deadpan.

She pouted at him, and he pulled a long, deep sigh before he put his forearm up to his forehead, calling out, "Oh, woe is me, T' have seen what I have seen, see what I see!"

He pulled in another breath, ready to continue, but Rarity sighed and started walking away.

"You've been hanging around Pinkie Pie too much," she said dryly, unable to help her smile when he caught up with her, grinning. "Or maybe Discord himself. Has he returned yet?"

Spike shook his head, waving at a passing pony who had waved at him. "No, he's still on his jaunt. Fluttershy keeps correspondence of course, but he's having a blast out discovering..." Spike scratched his chin. "Stuff," he finished, waving a paw in front of his muzzle dismissively.

"Pass along my..." Her muzzle screwed up for a moment. "My best wishes?"

Spike let out a couple of short laughs, before nodding. "Sure, sure," he said with a smile. "I'll even leave out the fact that we were talking about him beforehand, so he doesn't think I accidentally had to goad you into thinking about him."

Rarity sighed, before looking around and whispering to Spike, "You know, some ponies still think that talking about him too much summons him."

They both paused in the road, looking around uneasily, before shrugging and continuing the walk.

"Check your pastry," Spike advised. "There was a time when I bit into a doughnut and it... it..." Spike shivered, at such an intensity to almost be a convulsion. "It made some noises that were too appreciative."

She shivered, a small and ladylike gagging noise making its way out of her throat. "Indeed," she said weakly.

They walked in silence for a bit, each lost in their own horror until they reached the bright store.

The bell jingled brightly as Spike pushed the door aside, ducking to enter the shop and smiling over at the mass of pink and hair that was bouncing in place.

"Heya Spike, Rarity!" Pinkie called from the other side of the counter, their side having a line of four. "See you sooooooon~!"

Spike chuckled while Rarity smiled and waved back, before they got in line and began discussing the variety of baked goods on proud display behind glass so clean you almost couldn't see it at all. Spike even took a second to tap on it, to be sure something hadn't happened to the case.

Spike noticed a couple of questioning looks shot his way, up at his new height, but was quickly distracted when Rarity nudged his hip with her shoulder.

"Look here Spikey-" She paused when he winced, and she cleared her throat. "I mean, look here Spike, it looks like they just put out some fresh eclair doughnuts, is that too rich for breakfast?"

"Well, it is a doughnut," he pointed out with a chuckle. "I'm sure it's not as bad as Pinkie's 'Party Cannon Pudding Smash Surprise', so I'm sure you could handle it."

Rarity shivered a bit at the mention of the one-time-only surprise that Pinkie had only given her once.

"Indeed," she said, looking at the chocolate frosted pastry. "Two for me, I believe I shall need the energy today. How about you Spike, they have those little quiche you seemed to like so much," she mumbled, looking at the single serving of tiny tart.

"I liked those because they're what got the least amount of harping from you if I ordered six," he said with a smirk.

She made a face up at him before turning back to the line. Lyra stood in front of them, staring vacantly up at the ceiling, while Berry Punch seemed to be ordering enough for a small army in front of her. Pinkie was quick though, and had the two ponies off with bulging saddlebags in minutes.

"And for the happy new slash old slash recently herded up?" she asked with anoverdone wink when Rarity came to rest in front of the register.

Spike blew a raspberry while Rarity said, "I'll take two of the creamed chocolate eclair doughnuts, and a cup of Earle Grey tea please." She then politely nudged Spike in a shin with her hoof, nodding to the Pinkie.

"Can I get a couple of the egg croissants, with hay bacon and cheddar slices, a large mug of coffee, and a cinnamon roll," he ordered, flicking three digits up and counting them down as he went.

Rarity side-eyed him right until Pinkie said, "Right, the regular!" with a happy giggle.

Rarity sighed as Spike pulled out his purse with his own chuckles, placing the coins on the counter while Pinkie assembled their 'eat-in' tray. Rarity took it in her magic as Pinkie slid it on the counter, floating it over to a table as Spike followed along.

"Your regular, hmm?" Rarity asked as Spike snagged his drink from the tray.

"Oh yeah, Pinkie knows what the good stuff is," he murmured, before taking a slow pull from the steaming cup. "She also knows that Dragons eat differently than Ponies," he said pointedly.

Rarity opened her mouth to argue, before slowly closing her muzzle.

"Of course you do," she said, hey eyes and shoulders drooping as she looked him over, from his neck hovering over the table itself to the tip of his tail, wrapping around the legs of her chair to keep it out of the walkway. "I mean, you're only twice my mass, and your body uses it's muscles and organs differently, so I'm sure you process food in other ways than mine as well."

Spike snorted and raised a paw to ruffle her hair gently.

"I know you mean well," he said warmly, with a small smile. "I just don't think I have to worry about fats and cholesterol like somepony like, say, your dad would."

Rarity blushed and flapped her hooves at his arm, before carefully smoothing her hair back into place.

"Now, speaking of, how has your dad been?" he asked, taking a bite out of one of his croissant sandwiches.

"You know, it's funny you asked," she said, dropping her teabag in to the steaming cup next to her doughnuts. "He was just asking after you the other day in a letter..."

And they took their time there, catching up on the last couple of month's worth of gossip and their life's goings-on.

***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Fluttershy wiped at a bead of sweat flowing between her eyes, flicking it away as she looked gratefully up at Harry with a smile.

"I guess it's been a while since I had to move one of these bags myself," she said, before grunting and hefting the last bag of seed from up her basement and into her outdoor storage shed. Harry let her pass, three of the bags on his back as he slowly maneuvered towards the open door.

Harry grumbled and growled under his breath, and Fluttershy set her bag down and flicked her bangs out of her eyes before saying, "He's on a date right now, with-"

The bear stood upright on his hind legs, letting out a disbelieving growl as he turned towards Ponyville, pushing up on his arms as though rolling up his sleeves.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Fluttershy called, dropping her own bag and darting in front of the bear, standing on her rear legs and gently pressing her forehooves against his chest, stopping the lumbering creature in its tracks. "I know about it, whoa. It's Miss Rarity, the white unicorn? We've..."

She blushed, looking down at the grass.

"We've formed a herd with her," she muttered, her heart squirming in her chest.

She wondered if it was from jealousy, or just from the thought of her drake-friend and mare-friend. Her herd-mates? Was that a more serious label than she was ready for? How did Spike and Rarity feel-

She felt a bit of vertigo as her front legs lost their bracing, Harry gently catching her by the barrel as she fell down.

"Oh, sorry there Harry," she said, smiling and running her hoof along his jaw. "I guess I got lost woolgathering. But really, it's okay, I'm... I'm also in the relationship, with her. And him." She paused, before tacking on, "With them."

Harry made a low, keening growl in his throat, and Fluttershy burst out laughing.

"It's confusing to me, too," she said, wiping away a tear with a primary feather. With a small giggle, she kissed his nose before trotting over to the bag she'd dropped. "But we'll figure it out, together," she said firmly, picking up the bag in her mouth and tossed it over her shoulders. "Let's get the rest of this seed put away, and then we can take a nice breakfast break, okay?"

Harry grunted, looking towards the town in the distance before walking over and picking up the sacks in either arm and waddling towards the shed.

His spirits lifted a bit, though, when she pulled out a wax paper satchel that smelled of filleted fish out of the enchanted ice box as they headed into the cottage and towards the dinner table.

Author's Note:

Ooph, been a while huh? Sorry about that, got a bit bogged down in the middle and then lost my job and bluh bluh bluh. Whatever. Got a new chapter up, and broke 100,000 words! Wow! I truly never expected to take this thing more than, like, ten chapters tops, and it's grown into this whole thing

Geeze. Anyhow, thanks so much guys for reading, and again, see you next chapter

Comments

[Vinyl_Scratch-14]

As always you never seem to disappoint altho ngl your upload schedule does but glad to read another chapter from you and it was amazing keep up the good work

[lazyreader19]

See you next chapter! I hope Harry doesn't give the overprotective dad treatment when Spike comes back lol

[SilverEyedWolf]

10438085
Man, you're not the only one disappointed by the lack of a schedule. Alas, any sort of attempt at forced productivity results in a lock-up

Still, I'll keep coming back

[DarkDMan]

Another great chapter!

See, now I want to see, Spike and Harry have a talk, in a crowd. First in there most used language, than after staring eyes and curious ears from the surrounding ponies, change to bear speak until Fluttershy starts to actively listen, then have both switch to sigh language, which no non-military pony is going to know!

I don't know why I find that situation really funny, but I do. Sorry. Harry's reaction to the news of Spike on a date, and Spike and Harry, having an agreement, really got me thinking. It just sounds like another fun and unique relationship with Spike.

[Saro0fdemonz]

my only sadness is that I have reached the current end...I want moar!