• Published 25th Jun 2012
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The Sweetest Gem - The Rarispy



(The Gems Trilogy: Episode 1) Sweetie Belle attempts to deal with the realization that she's developed a crush on Spike.

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Spike's Choice

The Second Day

"Sorry again about your studio, Miss Scratch. I guess our special talent isn’t being all loud with the recording equipment," said an apologetic Apple Bloom.

"Aww, it’s no sweat, girls," Vinyl Scratch reassured as she led the duo out of her studio. "Color me crazy, but… I didn’t think you were gonna cut it either. It’s not that you two don’t got talent, it’s just… it’s just…" she said, scratching her vibrant blue mane. “Y’know, I can’t really think of a good way to put this.”

“We stink. That’s how you can put it,” said Scootaloo. “Are you sure you’re not mad about your studio?”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” said Vinyl, glancing back at her mess of a studio inside. “Actually, it kinda looks like it does after I’ve had my awesome Saturday night JAM SESSIONS! …Well, minus the short-circuiting synthesizers.” A loud BZZT and CRACKLE sounded from inside. “And some of the shattered windows. … And the broken cello. Ooh, ‘Tavi’s gonna kill me for that one…”

She turned back to the worried-looking girls again. “Don’t worry! I’ll have this all cleaned up in a jiff! Just go on and… do whatever it is you guys usually do around here.”

“Okay,” said Apple Bloom as they both started to walk off. “Bye, Miss Scratch!”

“See ya later!” called Scootaloo.

“Catch ya ‘round!” Vinyl called back, slipping on her tinted sunglasses. “Feel free to come back anytime. Just, please don’t crank anything up to 11 anymore…” And with that, she closed the door.

"Well, ya know what? Who would want a Cutie Mark in music anyway," Apple Bloom stated proudly. "Right, Scootaloo?”

“Yeah, sure,” replied Scootaloo. “Or at least a singing Cutie Mark. The more I think about it, a special talent in singing just sounds boring.”


A little while later, the two Crusaders laid down on a grassy field in the outskirts of Ponyville, watching the sky.

“I know! We could always try hang-gliding! Hang-gliding could be fun!” Apple Bloom suggested.

Scootaloo just shook her head. “No, we tried paragliding last week, and that’s pretty much the same thing.”

“Oh.”

“Got any ideas, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked, with a raised eyebrow, looking at the nothingness to her right. They sighed heavily. “Forget it. Maybe we should just do the construction idea.”

Just then, several bouquets of flowers landed in-between them, making them both sit up in surprise.

“Fear not, Crusaders! Because today’s the day that we’re going to get our Cutie Marks in making FLOWER-COPTERS!” The filly’s voice cracked on the last word, emitting a happy gasp from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo.

They turned around to see their fellow purple-maned Crusader, standing over them with a determined look on her face and a hoof raised proudly in the air.

“SWEETIE BELLE!”


Something about the Canterlot Sculpture Garden felt even creepier when no one else was around, Spike noticed. Just looking at some of the tall and intimidating statues of ponies both brave and fierce sent chills up his spines.

But he had still come here for a reason.

Canterlot is such a big city. Ponies are busy on every street and in every place. And with Twilight and her parents still talking it up in our room, this garden is the only place where I can be alone… to think.

Looking to his right, he saw that they were still hard at work rebuilding the palace labyrinth, which had been previously reduced to a rut by a certain malevolent spirit of chaos and disharmony.

The same malevolent spirit that now stood as the centerpiece of the Garden, frozen in a form of pure stone by the Elements of Harmony. His arms both jutted out and his head was twisted to the right, his face a permanent expression of pure shock and disbelief.

Discord’s statue loomed over Spike as he found a bench to sit on. Having found the perfect place to start contemplating, he pulled out two drawings. They were the same two drawings that helped Spike realize the nature of his feelings the night before.

Rarity. … Sweetie Belle.

How did this happen? I’ve had all my love going to Rarity ever since I first met her in Ponyville. But… I’ve never felt the same thing for Sweetie Belle. So why am I only now starting to see her in a different way?

My dreams have always been about Rarity. But the dreams I’ve been having lately... both Rarity and Sweetie Belle are in them. They’re both the ‘fair princess’ I’m trying to save. Especially… in last night’s dream.


A dark red teenage dragon is seen falling into a volcano, a pool of lava waiting for him down below.

“I’ll get you yet, Spike Wong!” he yelled as he descended.

“Ha! I’d like to see you try!” responded Spike, whom was now a much taller and slender dragon and bearing a black-belt karate uniform.

“AAH! Spike, help!” cried two ponies.

Upon hearing these two cries for help, Spike rushed to the volcano’s edge, but he was stunned at what he saw next.

At the edge of the volcanic cliff over the bubbling lava, there were not one but two fair maidens clinging for their lives, both desperately looking at Spike to save them.

Wha— But I can’t save both of them!

“Spike, hurry! Save me!” called Sweetie Belle.

“No, save me!” said Rarity. “I still have whole worlds to see with you, Spikey Wikey!”

“Hey, that’s not fair! You know I can’t swim, Rarity!”

“Oh, it’s completely fair, little sister,” said Rarity, sneering at her. “You’ll understand it better when you’re older.”

“But if I fall, then I’m never going to be older!” Sweetie angrily responded. “And besides, Spike loves me more!”

“That is not true! He loved me first— WHOA, WHOA!”

They were both quickly losing their grip, and Spike had to act fast. He only had time to save one of them…

But which one? How do I choose!?

After a few seconds of panicked thinking, he closed his eyes and rushed out towards the cliff, and managed to grab one hoof. As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that he was grasping one white-colored hoof, whilst a loud scream sounded from below.


Too bad Twilight had to wake me up before I could see who it was I saved in that dream. He sighed. Not like it would even matter.

Getting up off of the bench, he turned towards the statue of Discord, as if he was being magically drawn to it. He gazed up at the stone-encased Draconequus, and started scratching his head.

What is this supposed to be a statue of, again? I feel like I’ve seen that creature somewhere before…

“Hey, can I ask you something?” he asked the statue. I can’t just keep thinking to myself, and who better to talk to than a statue? After all, it can’t answer me back. “You see… I have a bit of a problem. The thing is, well… I have a crush on somepony. Actually, two crushes.”

Discord didn’t respond.

“See, there’s this one pony, right? Her name’s Rarity.” He shivered up upon mentioning her name, as if a strange chill had just emitted from the statue. “And… I’ve loved her for a really long time. Ever since I first met her. But I think… I think I’m starting to have a crush on another pony. Now here’s the funny part…” He started to break into a chuckle. “Get ready for this one. The other pony… is her little sister!”

The statue still remained silent.

“So, the thing I want to know is… what should I do? Because I mean, I still love Rarity. But because Sweetie’s her sister and lives with her, I always see them both at the same place, and she likes to talk to me a lot too. It’s just… so hard for me to know what to do and— Aww, what am I doing? I’m talking to a statue. I bet you can’t even hear me.”

He scoffed at the statue and began to walk away, until suddenly…

Now what makes you think I can’t hear you?

Spike’s eyes shot wide open.

You know, just because I’m a statue, that doesn’t mean I’m deaf, you naïve little dragon.

Spike looked in all directions, except behind him, his eyes still wide with shock. The voice sounded like an echo inside his head. Who? But… It can’t be—

That’s right; I’m talking to you, Spike.

W-What? But how does—

That is your name, isn’t it? Spike the little baby dragon. Twilight Sparkle’s faithful assistant. Oh, I know all about you, Spike. Ever-observant around the library, your eyes don’t miss anything under the right pressure. Well… except for some of the most obvious things right in front of you.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Spike asked the voice.

What do I mean? Well, you did come to ask me for advice about your decision, but… I’m not sure whether I should tell you, and spoil all the fun.

“No! Please, tell me!” he said desperately.

Very well then, but I’ll only answer you in my way…

All of a sudden, the drawings of Rarity and Sweetie Belle flew out of Spike’s hands and transformed into translucent images of the two ponies right before his eyes. They both started to spin around him rapidly, while still constantly facing him. Spike closed his eyes and grabbed his head as the dizziness of watching them spin around took in.

And as he did, the voice in his head spoke again in both Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s voices.

I have heard your lament and listened as you deeply reflected.
Your mind racks and baffles while your heart lies split in two.
You might find that to her, your heart's desire remains rejected.
But set those phasers to hug, because she shares quite the eye for you.

When Spike opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground and the projections of Rarity and Sweetie had turned back into crayon drawings. The Sculpture Garden now seemed eerily quiet.

Spike stood up, shivering now. W-What was that all about?! Was that…

He finally ate up the courage to turn around and glance at Discord’s statue. He instantly looked perplexed when he saw it. It was silent once again, but to Spike, a couple of things seemed odd about it.

He looks… different. Like, like he’s standing a different way than when I was looking at him a few seconds ago. And— wait a minute. That… crack on his arm. Has that always been there?

“Spike! Spike!” called Twilight’s voice. “Spike, are you in here?”

“AAH! I-I’m right here!” Spike called back.

“Well, come on! My parents are really anxious to talk to you!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming…” he grumbled. He picked up the drawings and started to run back, but as he did, he kept thinking, and glancing at his drawings. I still wish I had the answer... Which one?

He took off too fast to notice as the crack on Discord’s arm slowly extended for a moment. It protruded slightly further across his lion-like appendage, while a soft chuckle echoed in the field around.

Ha ha ha ha…


A long day in Ponyville was finally coming to the end, as the sun lay barely visible above the horizon. Carousel Boutique cast a large shadow as the Crusaders approached it in their wagon and scooter.

“See you in class tomorrow, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo called before they left.

“Yeah…” said Sweetie, who then stopped to yawn. “See ya tomorrow.”

Her walking was slow, as her whole body was feeling heavy now, especially her head. Her mane drooped down in front of her face, slightly disheveled from some of the antics Sweetie and her fellow Crusaders had participated in. Her squinted, baggy eyelids indicated a severe tiredness, as did her lowly hanging head, and another subsequent yawn.

Man… what a long day. They must’ve been really excited to have me back after two whole days of not being with them. But now I just can’t wait to jump into bed and go to sleep.

I sure hope Miss Cheerilee likes the big heart. We sure put a lot of effort into it. Too bad I don’t have any cards to give to anypony for Hearts and Hooves Day. Most of my classmates have a special somepony or somepony that they really like. But I don’t. Certainly not Spike…

Catching herself, she shook her head violently. But with how tired she was, this served to give her a minor headache.

Oww… No. I promised myself I wasn’t going to think about Spike anymore. I’m not in love with him. There’s no crush. I don’t have a special somepony, and I’m not going to have one until I’m older! Oww, now my head really hurts…

When she walked into the Boutique and into Rarity’s room, the first thing she noticed was how dark it was in there. Rarity had shut the blinds, blocking off any light from brightening up the room. Her room itself was in a state of disarray, as spools of thread and drapes of clothing lay around the floor.

Finally, Rarity herself was slumped over on her sewing desk next to the machine, snoozing softly as a puddle of drool coated the table around her mouth.

I guess she’s had a busy day too, Sweetie thought to herself. She then realized something. Ohh, now she’s going to give me a big fuss tomorrow morning about being out for so long tonight. …Oh, well.

She walked over to her older sister and gave her a gentle hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Good night, sis,” she whispered. “Sweet dreams.”

After she closed the door behind her, Rarity snorted and began to mutter in her sleep.

“Sweeti— Sweetie… We need… we neejuh talk…”


“Oh, my. This is indeed a most marvelous night.”

The Princess of the Night gazed upon the night sky that she had decorated a mere hour ago. The stars all twinkled in the sky as they created constellations and covered the sky in light. Her moon proudly floated in the center of the sky, casting its own special light down upon Canterlot.

“Feel free to remain at the doors,” she motioned to her guards. “I’m just going to take a lone stroll around the Royal Garden for a few minutes.”

“You got it, Princess,” one of the two guards said as they both took their positions.

By this time, most of the different animals habiting the garden were asleep, save for the bats.

“There you are, winged mammals of the night. My favorite of all animals,” said Princess Luna as she let one of the bats perch on her hoof. “All the other animals must undoubtedly be jealous. They have to sleep and fulfill their rest during this time. But you lucky things have the honor of accompanying me as I walk.”

Eventually, she was so overtaken by the sights of the garden that her walking started to break into a trot. However, she stopped cold when she spotted a figure at the fountain that centered the garden.

“Who goes there?” she shouted, scaring away the bats.

“Aah!” the figure was so startled that it fell into the fountain water.

Luna ran up to the fountain to get a closer look. One of her guards, having been alerted by Luna’s sudden cry, also ran over. After a few seconds, Spike popped up from the water, gasping for air.

“Hmm… you are Spike, is that correct?” His heart still racing, he nodded at a quick pace. “We— I mean, I recall meeting you in Ponyville on the night of Nightmare Night. You were dressed then as a small purple dragon-like creature, which is a tad redundant in itself, we must admit,” she chuckled, before whispering something to her guard. The guard ran back towards the castle. “If we— I am not mistaken, you and Twilight Sparkle are staying here at the castle for the week, are you not?”

“Well, Twilight is,” said Spike. “I’m only here until the day after tomorrow.”

“Ahh, so we see,” she replied. “Our— uhh, my apologies for startling you,” she continued. Luna’s guard returned with a towel for Spike, which he accepted. She then returned to her position at the garden entrance.

“I wasn’t aware that you had been granted permission from my sister to roam our private garden.”

Spike looked around nervously, and motioned for her to come closer. “Um… between you and me, I didn’t ask anybody if I could come here. I actually kinda snuck in here on my own.”

“Ohhh! Fear not. Your secret is safe with us,” she whispered. Spike drooped his head down in sadness. It was at this moment that Luna noticed Spike had been grasping two flowers. “Forgive me for asking Spike, but is something troubling you?”

“Well… actually yeah, kind of.” He looked around. “Um, Princess, can you keep another secret, just between the two of us?”

“This is… quite a sizable amount of information that we must keep under wraps. From whom are we withholding this secret from? I mean, I.”

“Well… just Twilight, really.”

“Oh,” she said with a sigh of relief. “Well, that shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Okay, well…” He started twiddling his fingers, unsure of how to explain himself. “You see, I’ve had this crush on a pony that I’ve known for a really long time, since I first met her. Her name’s Rarity.”

“We are… most confused,” Luna interrupted. “You say you… crushed a pony? Why wouldst thou do such a cruel thing? Did it… hurt this Rarity?”

“Huh? Oh no, no! Not like that!” Spike hastily said, waving his hands in front of him. “What I mean is… I’ve been in love with her.”

“Oh. That sounds much less painful.”

“Yeah… like I was saying, I’ve had my heart set on her ever since I first met her. Up until now, I thought that we were soul mates and that I was destined to eventually charm her and spend the rest of my life with her, resting in my arms… Ohhh, Rarity…”

He was falling into a daydream, but he was snapped out of it by the sight of Luna staring at him.

“Anyway, but the problem is, something happened. You see, her little sister Sweetie Belle moved in with her a while ago, after their parents moved to Fillydelphia. She really likes to talk to me, not sure why, and just… I don’t know. I’ve had these weird feelings for her, ever since she gave me this really cool ocean sapphire gem. I-I think I might be in love with her now, too. And so… I don’t know what to do.”

He lied down on the fountain and gazed up at the moon. “I don’t know who I love more. How do I choose? I thought Rarity would be only love, but Sweetie is so nice and… has always been such a really great friend to me. Either way, I think I would feel really bad.”

After a minute of processing everything Spike had just told her, Luna smiled at him and broke into a giggle.

“I-I’m confused,” Spike said, sitting up and turning to her again. “What’s so funny?”

“My apologies. It’s just your dilemma makes me reminisce of an old apprentice of mine. Her name was Lilac Candescence.” She closed her eyes and smiled in remembrance. Something puzzled Spike. Is that… a tear? “She faced a problem not unlike yours. She found herself infatuated with one of the royal guards Silver Helmet, as well as the local bookkeeper, Sepia Tone.”

“What happened?” he asked.

“For a while, she was confident that her heart was set on Silver Helmet. But I theorize that she had some sort of unique encounter with Sepia Tone, because eventually, she confided in me, in this same spot, that she was having second thoughts.”

“Wow,” said Spike. “So what did you say?”

Luna gazed up to the night sky, and prompted Spike to do the same. “I told her… ‘Look into the stars, Lilac. For the stars hold the answers. Just gaze up at them… and everything will become clear.’ She started to cry. I asked if she was sad. But she wasn’t. She left the castle and I watched as she ran to Sepia Tone’s house… to tell him how she felt and to ask him to dinner.”

Spike was spellbound. He was still gazing at the stars. But now he was looking at them more intently.

“They ended up getting married shortly after that, and they were happy. Oh… I do miss that Lilac sometimes…” Luna dusted herself off and turned the other way. “I do apologize, but I should return to my quarters now. I hope I was of great help.”

“Bye, Princess!” said Spike. “And thanks for the advice.”

“Oh, and Spike?” she said, turning around.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you… for this lovely talk. I do not have the chance to relax and have a sincere talk like this with another pony very often— or dragon, in this instance.”

“You’re welcome,” said Spike.

He gazed up at the stars after she left.

Well… it took a few minutes, but… I think it’s much clearer now.