Previous Chapters Next
Close
Chapter 14,061 words
Chapter 23,311 words
Chapter 33,627 words
Chapter 44,325 words
Chapter 54,383 words

Chapter 3

"Are you sure you can handle it, Spike? This is the first time I've sent you out like this alone..."

"Oh, lighten up, Twi. Remember, I'm a big dragon now and it's just shopping around Ponyville. I can handle something simple like this."

"I know...but sometimes, groceries can be tricky. You have to make sure things aren't bruised and that fruits and vegetables are fresh and not any color they shouldn't be..."

"Twi?..."

"And you have to make sure to put the bread on top of everything in the sacks so things don't smash it. And be sure you get the ice cream last; we don't want it to melt before you get back..."

"Twilight."

"Oh, and please be sure to--"

"Twilight!" She stopped talking and looked at the annoyed (yet sympathetic) look on his face. "I told you, I'm not a baby anymore. I'll make sure to get everything and make sure it's in the exact same condition as when it was on the shelves. Just trust me, I've got it. Will ya please let me go before the sun goes down?"

Twilight lifted a pouch of coins with her magic and held it over Spike's hand. "I'm sorry. It's just you're growing up so fast now. I have a hard time letting you do things on your own when it comes to responsibilities. I know you say you can handle it, but what if something happens out there and you need my help?"

"Twilight, I'll be fine. I can take care of myself. Stealing has never been a problem before, so you don't have to worry about that. And I always go with you when you go shopping; just this time, I won't be checking things off. I know everything you want me to get by heart, so you shouldn't have to worry about me forgetting. I'm fine, promise. Now can I have the bit pouch so I can go?" Twilight looked into his eyes. They were firm. He knew what he was doing, and she knew it. She stopped her magic and allowed the pouch to fall into his hand. "Thanks, Twi. I'll be back in an hour and a half, okay? Try to read something; that always calms your nerves, right?"

"Yeah...It shouldn't take too long, right? You'll be straight home when you're done?"

"Of course. And when I get back, you can inspect everything when you put the groceries away. Okay?"

"...Deal." She watched as he tied the pouch to his arm and stepped outside to leave. She couldn't have more pride and confidence in the little dragon as he hugged her and left the library. But she couldn't stop herself from sticking her head out of the window and giving him some last-minute reminders. "Be sure to only spend twenty-five bits! I know you might only need fifteen, but--"

"I will, Twilight!" He continued to walk away He was right; it was all fine. He knew what he was doing. But still...

"Make sure the bananas aren't green! They need to be ripe when you buy them!"

"Sure thing!" He was almost out of earshot. It's fine. It'll all be--

"Be sure to lightly shake the melons before you just pick one! If you hear a--"

"Bye mom!" He began to walk at a faster pace and went into the now buzzing streets of Ponyville out of her sight.

She felt sick to her stomach letting Spike go on his own. But he was right; he was a big dragon, and she couldn't baby him forever. She had to let him go out on his own eventually. But why did this day have to come so soon? She looked at her sundial, which was perched on the side of the window that she stuck her head out of. About twelve-thirty. That means he should be back at around two. That is, if something didn't happen to--no! She wasn't going to think like that! He'd be back at two. No sooner, no later than that. In the meantime, she had her books to keep her company. She walked to her shelves and thought about what she would want to read. Maybe a bit of John Steinbuck...she thought. She went to the shelves and picked a book of his at random: The Red Pony. She climbed the stairs to her bed and curled up with the book expecting to read until Spike got back. She opened the book and tried to read...

...tried but failed. For the first time in her life, she did not want to read. She used her magic to lay the book on the floor before laying on her side and staring out of her window. It was another bright and shiny day in Ponyville, as usual. Many different types of ponies were seen through the streets: Carrot Top was out watering her garden, Berry Punch was out walking with her daughter, and Ditzy Doo was flying low to the ground to keep up with that strange, brown pony. Something must be going on for him to move that fast...what was his name, again? Doctor something...anyway, Ponyville was definitely busy today. Almost everypony had something to--

"Yoohoooo!~ Anypony home?" Twilight rolled over and looked over her perch to greet who had entered her library. "Twilight, darling, why are you still in bed? Shouldn't you be outside enjoying this simply marvelous weather we're having?"

"Rarity?" She climbed out of bed and began her walk down the stairs.

"Why, of course! Who else?"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well I tried talking to you yesterday about something, but Applejack told me you didn't want to be bothered by anypony. Was something wrong? Care to talk about it?"

"Oh, Spike and I were just...out yesterday. It was Spike's Assistant Appreciation Day, and he wanted to spend it away from everypony." She didn't want to say anything more, for fear of saying too much.

"Ah, yes! His Assistant Apprecation Day, how splendid! Speaking of, is my little Spikey-Wikey home? I have a present to give him for his special day..."

Twilight felt a nerve pinch in her stomach when Rarity called him that pet name, though she didn't let it show. "No, he's out getting groceries. It's his first time out on his own getting things for us. He left not too long ago."

Rarity gave a little pout. "Oh, very well. Could you be a dear and give him this? I made it for him yesterday!~" She used her magic to pull a small box out of her tail. "Don't tell Spike, but I got him three large baby-blue diamonds cut to look just like my cutie mark. I thought he'd like them, considering his...um...affection for me." The box exchanged magical auras as Twilight took posession of it.

"Uh...thanks, Rarity. I'll be sure to give it to him...Is there any other reason you dropped by?"

"As a matter of fact, there was! I wanted to have a talk with you about Spike..."

Oh boy... "What about him?"

"I'm sure you've noticed how frequently our little dragon has asked me on...outings, recently."

"Yes, I have..."

"Yes, well *ahem*...could you please tell him to...oh, what's the phrase? 'Tone it down?'"

"Tone it down?"

"Yes...I don't exactly mind that he is affectionate and all, it's just the way he shows his affection is a bit...bothersome, sometimes."

Twilight involuntarily reacted to her choice of word, and Rarity noticed. "Wait, so he bothers you? What does that mean?"

"Well..." Rarity tried to pick her words carefully. "...It's just that he asks me all too much for them. It seems like he tries too hard to impress me. It gets...oh, what's the word?..."

"Annoying?" Twilight couldn't help but put a hint of anger behind the word.

"That's not exactly the word I would use, but...in a sense, yes. Annoying."

"I know he can be excited about dating sometimes, but his head and heart are in the right place, trust me. He is not annoying. He asks so much because you constantly tell him no. You shouldn't have tried to push him away so much. You don't know what could happen; he might not come back to you if you push too hard..."

"Well, I...guess you're right about that. He does try hard, but his intentions are pure. That, I've noticed. Thank you for the advice, Twilight. I certainly will put it to use. Could you please tell Spike what I said about all of the asking?"

"I'll be sure to let him know..." Twilight used her entire will to keep her talk with Spike inside of her head.

"Fabulous! Now, I wish I could stay longer, but Sweetie Belle is waiting outside. We were going out to the fields to have a picnic with Applejack, her sister, and the rest of our friends, and I was seeing if you wanted to join us, darling!"

"Uhh...Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass. I need to...study up for an upcoming test. For the Princess and all..." Twilight hoped to Celestia that Rarity would believe her and leave.

"Oh, very well. If you must." Rarity stepped outside beside the waiting Sweetie Belle. "Are you sure you can't even pop by?"

Twilight walked towrds the doorway. "I'm positive. Besides, I have to wait for Spike. He's going to be home shortly..." Twilight stole a glance at the sundial. Still another hour before two.

"If you must. Just try not to be such a stranger, Twilight. The Boutique is always open for friends..." The next thing Rarity mumbled almost made Twilight yell in protest. "...Spike knows that all too well, unfortunately..."

"...Okay, Rarity. I'll see you around..." She closed the door without waiting for a response from the fashionista outside. She gave a sigh. How dare she call Spike annoying?! Spike isn't annoying at all! He's sweet and kind and nice and anypony would be lucky to have him!

She carried Rarity's box upstairs and slid it under her bed. The nerve of that mare! She's lucky to have gotten Spike's love for this long. If I had been in her position...She shocked herself out of her anger with one simple fact: she knew what she would do, and it was against the rules. She had heard it straight from Celestia's mouth when she was a filly: do not attempt a relationship with your dragon; otherwise, she would have to intercede. Twilight feared the penalty of disobeying this one direct order more than anything else in Equestria, simply because of the fact that she didn't know the penalty. It wasn't disclosed to her by Celestia. She didn't even know if anypony else had ever done it. She was simply told not to love Spike as more than friends. And right now, she was terrified because if she continued down the path she was on with him...if she didn't stop herself...and if her mentor found out...she had no idea what could happen.

She fell onto her bed and cried.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Are you sure, Rarity?"

"I'm positive, Applejack. She just seemed so...different. So distant."

Applejack bit into her apple. "That jus' plum don't sound like Twilight ta' me."

"Me either..." Fluttershy chimed in after a sip from her juice box. "Is she angry at you?"

"I don't believe so, darling. I couldn't imagine what for..."

"Well, when Ah talked to 'er yersterday, she seemed fine..."

Pinkie Pie rolled over next to Applejack. "Oooh, I love love love mysteries! And it looks like we've got a real life one right now!" She pulled her detective's hat from her picnic basket in front of her and placed it on her head. "Let's solve this thing! The Mysterious Case of the Mysterious Twilight Sparkle and her Mysterious-ness..."

Applejack ignored her. "Well whatever's botherin' her must've happened real recently. What connects you ta' her that happened recently, Rarity?"

Rarity thought back over the past few days. "Nothing that I can think of...Hang on! Spike asked me on another one of his dates the other night. That's definitely something, right?"

"Ooh, another piece of the ever-growing puzzle. And what did you say?"

"Well, Pinkie, I politefully declined. I didn't feel like going out that night."

"Likely story, suspect!" Pinke performed a somersault and landed directly in front of Rarity. "You're holding out on us, Rares! Talk!"

"I swear, that's all. He came to my door at around sunset, asked me out, I declined, and he walked away. What else can I say about it?"

"Hold on a spell. This was two nights ago? Cuz' Ah saw him sulkin' around in a suit that night. So that was why? Rarity, how could you?"

"A new piece of evidence!" Pinkie turned to face Applejack. "And what were you doing on the night of...well...that night?!"

Rainbow Dash finally spoke. "Uh, Pinkie Pie? Dont'cha think you're takin' this a bit seriously?"

"That's what a pony who's hiding something would say..." She cartwheeled over to the relaxing pony. "So where were you during all of this?"

Rainbow lifted her sunglasses. "...Seriously, Pinkie? I was hanging out with you. Remember, you needed help pranking back the Cake twins?"

"Oh...The logic on that alibi is sound enough."

"Ya think?" She put her sunglasses back on and returned to her relaxing.

"But that still leaves the question of where Applejack was during all this."

"Well, Ah went out fer' a few drinks with Big Mac that night. That's when Ah saw Spike. He looked purty sad about you shootin' 'im down, Rarity. Worse than usual, Ah mean..."

"I didn't mean to depress the poor dear, I simply didn't want to go on a dinner date that night! And after what I said to Twilight about him! I feel absolutely awful now!"

"Oh goodness," Fluttershy commented. "What did you say to her?"

"I told her that I thought Spike was being bothersome and annoying with his constant 'date visits'..."

Rainbow clicked her tongue from her reclined position. "Smooth move, Rarity. You had to finally break the poor guy's heart into the millionth piece, didn't you?"

"Well, I didn't mean to, Rainbow Dash! Oh, no! Twilight was right! I did push him away too hard this time!" She began to trot off towards the nearest road back into Ponyville.

"Where ya' goin', Rarity?"

"I must make something for my poor, little Spikey-Wikey to apologize for being such a brute! Please watch Sweetie Belle for me; I simply cannot have her over tonight! Oh, of all the worst things that could happen..."

Sweetie Belle looked at Applebloom. "Come on, AB! We've gotta find Scootaloo for our..." they both jumped up, "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SLEEPOVER AT SWEET APPLE ACRES! YAY!" They both zipped away to find the third in their group.

"Wait, Rarity! Ah can't--" But it was too late. Rarity had already moved both out of earshot and out of sight.

Applejack sighed and looked at the other mares seated with her. "She'd better fix this, 'nd soon. I sense a storm 'a brewin'..."

"Well, it's a good thing I packed an umbrella!" Pinkie (somehow) pulled a full-size umbrella from her basket and opened it above her head. Everypony looked at her with puzzling expressions. "What? I'm always prepared!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

The door burst open and two large, brown paper sacks walked in. "Alright, Twi! I'm home!" The bags were placed on the ground, revealing Spike behind them. He didn't hear a response from their bedroom. "Twilight? You up there?"

Twilight wiped her eyes and looked over the edge of the perch. It was hard to pretend that she wasn't crying, but she managed. "I heard you the first time, Spike. I'm...glad you're home."

"I told you nothin' was gonna happen! I got everything you asked for, too!" He rummaged through one of the bags.

"Thank you, Spike. I always knew I could count on you..."

"I even got you a little something with the extra bits left over. Nope, not in this one..." He reached into the other bag.

"Thanks, but...I'm not exactly in an 'eating' type of mood right now." She walked down the stairs and met up with him in the kitchen.

"Oh, Twi. I don't always think with my stomach!" He pulled out his gift for her, and she gasped. It was a bouquet of purple carnations. They were her favorite flower, and he got her a bouquet of them on his own? She felt more tears welling in her eyes...But what kind of tears were these?

"...Spike...These are absolutely beautiful. Where did you get them?"

"I stopped by Rose's house before I got back. I know you told me not to, but...they are your favorites, right?"

"Of course they are. I just don't know what to say. This is so thoughtful..." She took the bouquet from him with her magic and turned around to put them in the vase that was originally only for the rose. She turned back to him and wrapped her forelegs around him. "Thank you, Spike."

He was a bit surprised. She had never hugged him first. But he wrapped his arms around her neck anyway and embraced her. "No problem, Twi." They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity before Spike felt something sliding down his back. Then he felt two somethings hit his shoulder before he heard Twilight sob and realized that the somethings were tears. "Twilight? Are you...Are you crying?"

She didn't say anything. She just cried. She wasn't afraid to cry, not with him. Not this time. She cried and screamed and tried to talk, but couldn't. And she knew even if she could talk, what would she say? She had no idea why she was crying, or even what emotion the tears were of. She just felt...better, crying in his arms.

The tears lasted for an unknown amount of time before Twilight broke the embrace. She turned from him and, instead of explaining, began to pull boxes out of the grocery sacks and stack them in cabinets. Spike still had no idea why she had cried on him, especially since she said she was happy with her flowers. Maybe it was just one of those things grown ponies cry about...so instead of asking, he just reached for something in the bag to help in Twilight's unpacking.

"...Spike."

He stopped reaching. "Yes, Twilight?"

"Do you remember the rules Princess Celestia gave you when you became my assistant?"

"Of course. Those rules are my life. I know them all by heart."

"Did she tell you any rule about any...feelings toward your owner?"

Spike was confused. "No. What kind of feelings, Twi?"

"Well...did she ask you not to...feel anything about me?" She stacked three more packages in the pantry, trying not to let him see her face.

"I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I feel a lot of things about you. None of those feelings are wrongor bad...right?"

"Of course not. It's just..." She paused. "What do you think she would do to me if I disobeyed one of her rules?..."

Spike could not find any clarity from any question she asked. "What are you talking about? What rule are you disobeying?"

Twilight found it hard to talk all of a sudden. It was like her throat closed on purpose to keep her from saying something she truly did not want to say. "...It's...not important. It's just a dumb rule. Just answer the question, please." She felt something inside when she called her mentor's most important rule about Spike "dumb." It was like her heart skipped a beat...in a good way.

"Well, I guess if it was just a single little rule, she wouldn't care all to much. You're her prized pupil, I'm sure she could understand if you broke one little rule one little time..."

"Thank you."

"What's this all about, Twi? You know I don't like it when you're like this..."

Twilight turned back to Spike and lifted the bag of groceries using her magic toward her and began packing things in the fridge. Spike took a close look at her. She was smiling. Her tears had stopped, at least for the moment. "I just needed a second opinion from you. I was thinking about doing something for quite a long time, but I was getting held back by a few things."

"Twilight, what are you talking about?"

"It's...not important right now. I needed to hear you say that right now. Thank you." She paused as she finished with the groceries and pushed the empty bags to Spike. "Could you please throw these away?"

"Aw, yeah! Now we're talkin' my language!" He took the paper bags and crushed them into two little paper balls. This was his favorite thing to do after shopping. He took one and tossed it in a high arc dead center in the trash can. With the next one, he tossed it straight up, watched it fall, and swatted it with his tail just before it hit the ground. It sailed through the air and hit the wall before falling into the can. "Yes! Two points! Spike's on fire today! HAAAAAAH! HAAAAAAH!" He bowed to his pretend-screaming crowd.

Twilight giggled as she left the kitchen to look at her new flowers. They were still firm and blooming, and they looked beautiful sitting next to the rose; still, Twilight used her magic to place the rose in the middle of the bouquet of carnations. It was a bit of a squeeze, but every flower had its space. Perfect...

5,517 views

163

Previous Chapters Next