Heartmender
The next day Spike was woken from his sleep by a knock. He groggily sat up and rubbed at his eyes. "Who is it?"
"Twilight," the voice on the other side called, and it did sound like Twilight to his surprise. The only pony who knocked was Starlight. Spike briefly wondered why she wasn't just barging in like she normally did, before he remembered what happened yesterday and blushed.
He looked to where the adult magazine rested on his bookshelf and shook his head. It was embarrassing for Twilight to be thinking he'd be doing that at any point and time, especially since he hadn't yet. But Spike supposed it wasn't a total loss if it meant Twilight started knocking.
"Come in," he grumbled, and the door opened.
Twilight was shaking her head as she did so, a plate of hay fries in her magic. She set it down on the bed before sitting next to the bed.
"I've never had to wake you up before. Well, besides yesterday, but still. Are you feeling okay? Y'know, besides the whole 'I'm suddenly two feet taller' thing," she chuckled a little.
Spike nodded and rubbed at his eyes again. "Yeah, it's just that I'm feeling so tired lately and I'm not sure why. I'm not feeling sick or anything, if that's what you're wondering," he picked up the plate and started eating.
"Hmm," Twilight hummed. "Well, at any rate, I'll be buying you an alarm clock since I'm pretty sure two bits won't get you one," she shook her head.
"I can't believe the Comic Book and Magazine Store let you buy that thing. That's why I was so sure you had stolen it. You'd think there'd be an age verification step or something. But I digress. Alarm. I can't have you being a slug now. You gotta work for that allowance, remember? Plus, your friends will miss you," her smile softened. "I'll miss you."
Spike nodded again. "Of course, Twi. As good as sleeping in feels, I'll probably miss all the hours in the day if I do."
Twilight nodded. "Excellent. Get a move on, then. Morning chores are yours, and I'll pretend to see if there's anything I need to do before pawning off mopping on you."
Spike's eyes widened, then narrowed. "Hey!"
She giggled. "Just kidding. I seriously do need to see if there are a few letters Celestia or anypony else sent me before anything though, so don't just leave when you're done."
Spike sighed and nodded. "Alright. Don't worry about the mopping either way, then. I'll take care of it."
Twilight tilted her head. "You sure?"
Spike put on a smile and got up from the bed, now empty plate in hand. "Yeah. I know you have a lot to do."
Twilight leaned in and hugged him, and his smile became a genuine one, no longer caring about the increased workload he volunteered for. "Thanks, big guy. I'll see you around dinner then."
She left the room.Spike cracked his back and claws, getting ready to start his day.
"Welp. Number One Assistant Spike, go!"
~*~*~*~*~
Trash came first, which he hefted outside to place in the larger dumpster behind the castle. Waving to a few ponies he knew as he walked back inside, he started on the mopping, as it was the most laborious task on his list.
He finished the first floor in good time, and made even better on the higher floors. The higher they went, the more flooring became covered in carpet rather than crystal and the less ground floor in general. He finished after about two hours of work, heading down to the kitchens.
He looked at the stack of plates in the sink and decided he'd do them after dinner to be most efficient. Spike made sure they had enough for lunch and wrote a quick note to Twilight on his reasoning and placed it in front of the sink.
He then went to the library of the castle and began putting books back into their proper places, marking them off a "Checked Out" list as he did so, and marking the ones that weren't here but on the list as "Late" if the date next to the names were past a certain date.
All in all, by the time he had finished for the day, it was about 2 P.M. He observed the time based on the sun’s position in the sky, and decided he'd go and thank Rarity while he had nothing else to do, if Twilight didn't need him for anything else.
He climbed multiple staircases to Twilight's room and knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" came Twilight's muffled voice from the other side. He took this as confirmation to enter, and came face to face with Twilight touching herself.
She prodded at the patch of green fur on her forehoof, a test tube filled with a liquid of the same color inside her magical aura. She was wearing safety goggles and sat in front of a wooden desk, lined with all manners of magical concoctions just like the one she held.
He didn't want to know, so he didn't ask. "I'm done. Do you need anything, or can I go hang at Rarity's?"
She looked up at him and thought for a moment. "A sandwich if you wouldn't mind making one. Actually, no, I'll get it myself. I've been at this for too long anyways."
Standing, she placed the test tube on the desk even as the fur on her hoof was burning away. Spike pointed a claw at Twilight's hoof wincing. "Uhhh, Twilight, your hoof."
Twilight looked down at it even as the goop on her skin became visible. "Oh, no worries. If this works it should regrow." Twilight beamed. "I could be the first pony to cure hair loss!"
He snickered. "You'll need it by this time next year. I think I can already see some gray hairs."
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Now shoo before I find a way to get this to work on scales.
Spike shook his head good-naturedly and left for Rarity's.
~*~*~*~*~
Spike made good time on the way to Rarity's, and seeing the open sign walked right in.
Rarity looked up at the sound of a store bell, looking to see who entered the display room, and smiled at the sight of her favorite dragon. "Ah, Spike! Come in dear, come in!" She was drawing a rather elaborate looking dress in ink. She looked down at it as he approached and frowned, using magic to remove some of the ink before redrawing that spot.
A few feet to her left, Sweetie shared the table with Rarity, drawing her own picture with a quill in her magic. It wasn't nearly as good as Rarity's, but she tried her best anyways. When Sweetie Belle looked up and saw Spike, she blushed and immediately looked back down, drawing harder into the paper until it ripped, at which point she panicked and bolted from the room.
Spike watched her strangely for a moment before turning back to Rarity, who addressed him, looking up and getting an actually good look at him. "Did you need something, deAR CELESTIA!" eyes widening to unprecedented levels, she looked him up and down. "When Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle told me you grew, they didn't mention how big you'd gotten! Why Spike, you look so dashing!"
Her eyes took a hungry, almost predatory gaze as they trailed over him, dressing as they went. Her mouth watered at just the thought of all the clothing she could make for him. "Just think of what kind of clothes I could make you now... That tuxedo will have to be modified. Or maybe a new one. A new one in white this time... Yes, you'll look absolutely stunning!"
Blinking, Rarity went back to smiling at Spike. "Oh, yes, um, did you need something, darling?"
He shook his head. "I just wanted to thank you for this," he pulled out the bag with 2 bits still left in it.
Rarity put down the pen and got a big grin on her face. "Oh, Twilight finally gave it to you, did she? She had me make it for you the other day when you were asleep. I believe the same day she was asking for your allowance?" she looked at it lovingly.
"I've never made a bit bag before, but for a first attempt I think it came out stunningly, don't you?" Rarity said, beaming at him.
He blushed and nodded, grin on his face. "Anything that you make is amazing, Rarity."
Her smile only fell slightly at his blush and compliment, before returning full force. "Oh, Spike, you are such a charmer. I'll have to make more for other ponies then.
Spike scratched the back of his head. "So, uh... Do you need help with anything?"
Rarity looked back down at the drawing and started working on it again. "Afraid not, dear. I'm in the 'drawing and designing' phase for my next line, not the 'creating' phase as it were. Thank you, though. I will let you know if I am in need of an assistant."
"Oh," Spike said, a little disappointed. On top of really liking Rarity, she was also his only plan on spending the day, "Are you sure? There must be something you need done," he said, rather insistent on spending the day with his crush.
Rarity looked up at his pleading expression, sighed, and dropped the quill.
He wouldn't be asking to help any of our other friends this much. She thought, I... I can't keep letting this go on, can I? It is not fair to him or me. Plus... He can handle it now, can't he?
"Spike... Sit down for a moment, would you?" and so he did.
"SWEETIE BELLE!" Rarity called upstairs. A few moments passed before the filly in question bounded down a few steps at a time. Sweetie Belle managed to avoid Spike's alluring eyes as she answered Rarity.
"Yeah, Sis?"
Rarity passed her a bag of bits. "I need to talk with Spike privately for a bit. How about you go play at the arcade and get some snacks or something?"
Sweetie blinked, looking between her sister and her friend, a bad gut feeling passing through her. "Is Spike okay?" she asked worriedly.
Rarity faked a smile. "Of course dear. Just go play, please?"
It was at this point that Spike had a bad feeling that he knew what this was about.
"Uh, okay," she took the bag in a green aura and left, closing the door behind her.
Rarity breathed in through her nose, preparing herself for the unpleasant conversation she was about to have. "Spike, dear. You know I love you, just as much as any of our friends," she spoke, putting more emphasis onto the second sentence.
Spike winced, but kept the wide smile on his face. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening...
"I love you too, Rarity. You're one of my best friends too. Just... A best friend."
Rarity smiled sadly at him. "That's not true, is it Spike? I'm not blind and I'm sure everypony in town knows. In fact, before when we were falling to our untimely demise, you were about to tell me—" she prompted him to finish the sentence with a hoof.
Spike dropped all pretenses that he didn't know what's going on, just like he dropped his smile. "That I have a... a c-crush on you."
Rarity nodded, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "I'm proud of you for being so brave to say it, but I want to know that you understand why... Why we can't be together."
Spike's eyes filled with tears as she told him the words he never wanted to hear. "It's... It's because I'm not what you're looking for," he lowered his head as he tried to keep them inside and his dignity intact.
Rarity's heart was breaking just as surely as she was breaking his. She never wanted this to happen, but she couldn't just keep leading him on. Though she wasn't sure if he helped her as an assistant so much because he was a good friend, or if he was expecting her to return his feelings, he couldn't let him believe it would be the second, even if it was true.
His comment only further hammered the nail that was obviously pushing through her heart, as only that could explain why she felt so much pain.
"No, Spike! You mustn't think that for a moment! You're kind, loyal, loving, charming, and every bit the polite gentlestallion of my romance novels! You would be the perfect special somepony."
Pause.
Spike blinked away tears and met her gaze again. "T-then w-why?"
She moved the hoof from his shoulder to his other one, leaning in and embracing him in a hug as she did so.
"Because you're too young, Spike. I love you, more than I'd care to admit to anyone, but... I'm an adult. And only just very recently, you've turned from a child into something more. But I still couldn't call you an adult now. Even if dragons age different physically, You're still the same mentally. I'm twenty-one and you're twelve. I can’t be with you. It... It just wouldn't be proper."
She smiled softly as he embraced her back, him still struggling to save face in spite of this horrible situation. She wasn't fairing much better as her own eyes started to fill. "And please don't ask me to try anyways, Spike. I might just do it, and I could go to Tartarus for doing so. So please, try to understand Spike. Try to understand that we can't be together, and try to understand why you can't ask that we do."
Try to understand that while I don't want a relationship with you at the moment, I still love you, and want for us to stay friends."
Rarity leaned in, mascara flowing from her eyes just as surely as her tears. She kissed his tears away as he crumpled and cried himself.
They sat there for only Celestia knows how long in each others embrace. Days seemed to pass as they shared the warmth of embrace and the cold of heartache, resulting into what felt like a void of nothingness. Time itself fell prey to the melancholy of the moment.
Eventually, Spike's waterworks reduced to nothing as he left her embrace a little unwillingly. Rarity herself burnt out about a minute before. He chuckled sadly to himself.
"This is the second time I've cried in the past two days. Maybe I really am still a child," he shook his head.
Rarity put a hoof on his mouth sternly. "You mustn't think that either. It's okay to cry Spike. It's always okay to cry," she used the hoof to draw attention to her own eyes, where obvious black streaks ran under them. "Sometimes we just can't help it."
Seeing her mascara lines, he realized how hard this was on her too. He just got his heart broken, but she had to break one of her best friends’ hearts in the process. All in all, he felt a lot more sorry for her than he did himself.
Spike managed a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Then... T-then don't feel bad about hurting me, o-okay? I know you d-didn't want to."
She smiled back, already feeling a lot better. "Then Spike, I need to tell you and have you promise one more thing for me, okay?"
Spike grabbed her hoof and held it with both of his claws. "Anything."
Rarity chuckled weakly at the affection and continued. "If, by the time you're eighteen, you still want to try it, and neither of us has found a Special Somepony by then, We will give it a chance."
Seeing the light in his eyes, she hastily continued. "But you must promise me, Spike, that you won't wait specifically for me. I won't allow it. You must try and find somepony before then, Spike. Somepony near your own age. I cannot let you be lonely only for you to find I found somepony myself when the six years are up. I won't be a part of you throwing all that time away, understand? Promise me Spike."
Spike hesitated. A moment ago he was so sure that he'd wait forever for Rarity. Now? When she said it like that... What would happen if he waited all that time and she was with someone else? He couldn't let his heart get stomped like that. But... She was basically asking him to fall out of love with her. That would be a lesson in futility, right?
But he had to think of Rarity here, not himself. That was why he liked her at all in the first place, right? She was so generous and giving that she oft forgot to keep for herself. So he would give her what she needed. A fire ruby. A friend. An assistant. One day, he hoped, a love. But for now it would have to be a source of stability, not another source of pain and sorrow. He would not be selfish like that. He would not be Blueblood She needed her friend Spike.
Even as he was thinking, Spike realized that he was more mature than he used to be. He was sure that few days ago, he probably would have disregarded her words and just kept waiting for the day they could be together.
But now he knew that he couldn't let her feel like she broke his heart again.
He had to try for her sake.
He still loved her so much, but... If she was asking him, nay, begging him to try somepony else before then... Well, he would. For her sake. "I... I Promise, Rarity."
She beamed and stroked his face with a hoof sadly. "That's all I ask."
They sat for a few moments as Spike released her hoof. Rarity sighed and picked the quill up again. "I better get back to work, Spikey. If you need something to do, Sweetie is probably still free. Why not go, uh, 'hang', is that the term you kids use these days?" she chuckled to herself. "With her. She said that her friends couldn't play today, so she's probably pretty bored."
Spike shrugged, feeling pretty good for just getting his heart shattered. He still felt pretty numb and unhappy, but he wasn't depressed like he thought he would be. "I guess. Thanks, Rarity. For everything."
"No problem, darling. And... For what it's worth, I am sorry."
Spike walked outside and closed the door. Looking up, it was still only about 2:30. Strange, it seemed like what happened inside took an eternity. Seeing that he had a whole half a day left to kill, Spike decided to follow Rarity's advice and set off to where Rarity told her sister to be.
~*~*~*~*~
It wasn't the resolution he was hoping or asking for, but it was a resolution that was better than expected all things told. He always knew Rarity was a little old for him, but even so he couldn't have helped but hang onto that childish hope that Rarity and him could be together forever.
Spike slowly walked to where the Ponyville arcade was, kicking a rock as he did so. A metaphorical rain cloud hovered overhead, but at least it wasn't raining or thundering.
Spike was unhappy, but all things told, could be much worse off right now.
As he reached the outdoor arcade, he heard the giggles of fillies and colts all playing against each other or themselves on any of the various primitive video game systems that dotted the area. It hadn't rained recently, so the tarp and poles that kept the area dry were off to the side, unused.
Spike wandered through the games, watching as any and all pony races and genders of children tried their best to get the high scores on a number of games, or just have fun. He found Sweetie Belle on a two pony Prance Prance Revolution playing against Button Mash, a brown colt with a beanie hat, an ever spinning propeller included on top.
He was the resident gamer colt, so he held the high score on nearly all the games at the arcade. It also explained the decent point difference between him and Sweetie as he seemed to fly across the buttons with a blinding speed, earning perfect after perfect.
On Sweetie's side, she wasn't doing as well as Button, but she was still holding her own. Sweetie and Button hung out at the arcade quite a bit from what he could tell, and while she didn't have the natural talent of Button, she still had plenty of practice. A lot of perfects lit her screen, spread with Greats and goods, and rarely misses.
When eventually Button Mash beat Sweetie Belle, he cheered and held a hoof out to her to bump, which she did good naturedly. "Well, I better get home. Good playing with you, Sweetie. See you later! Hey, Spike!" he said as he passed the purple dragon, who responded with a smile he didn't quite feel and a nod. The two brohooved as they passed each other.
Sweetie Belle was waving after Button with a smile, until she realized what he said and looked at who he just passed, at which point Sweetie squeaked and dropped the hoof in startlement, before raising it again with a nervous grin. "H-hey, Spike! What are you doing here?"
Spike approached the machines and shrugged. "Rarity said you were bored and she was busy, so I should come hang with you."
Her face lit up like a Hearthswarming tree, in the color more reminiscent of strawberries.
Spike came to hang out... Just with me? Oh wow... Oh Jeeze, I'm sweaty, aren't I? And my mane is a mess, and... and... he's looking at me, oh feather. Say something, dang it!
Sweetie grinned and pointed to the machine. "Wanna play then? It's on me!" she shook the still nearly full bag of bits.
Spike shrugged, not exactly looking forward to the coming hours but not hating them either.
Who knows, he thought. Maybe this'll get my mind off Rarity...
"Sure, why not?" he stepped onto the PPR and selected the bipedal option.
~*~*~*~*~
All things told, Spike wasn't doing too terribly for his first time. It was mostly goods sprinkled with a few greats and misses. But it didn't measure up to the score Sweetie was belting out.
But he pushed on. Sweetie's encouragement and praise for doing well helped. He slowly forgot about Rarity as his competitive mode kicked in.
Game after game they played, whittling down the bits until the bag was empty. At the end, Spike was doing much, much better, Perfects and greats lined the screen, and while it wasn't at the accuracy Sweetie was going, it was still a quite smaller gap.
They finished, and Spike and Sweetie walked away from the arcade, sweating and panting. Sweetie grinned genuinely at Spike. "Wow, Spike! I've never seen anypony improve at PPR that fast!"
Spike chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. He was feeling a lot better. "Well, what can I say? I had a good teacher."
Sweetie Belle blushed and beamed blithely.
Spike noticed his sweat, and the beat of the sun as they walked, and looked over to Sweetie, who was also quite sweaty and flushed. She caught his gaze before she quickly lowered it, flushing evermore.
"Hey, you doing okay? I know it's hot out today. C'mon, let's go to Sugarcube Corner for a milkshake."
Sweetie looked up again at him, before glancing at the empty bag that hung from her saddlebags. "But I'm out of bits..."
Spike shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm paying."
Wow, that's pretty generous of him. Though I suppose I did just waste a sack load of bits on games with him...
"Well, I..."
"SWEETIE BELLE!"
She turned and smiled as her two bestest friends in the whole world skidded to a stop in front of them, glancing at Spike as they did so. Scootaloo was carrying a bow and a quiver full of arrows on her back, getting concerned glances from ponies who passed who really, really hoped they were blunt-edge arrows.
"What are y'all doin'?" Applebloom asked, curiosity etched on their face.
Sweetie blushed and tried to force out a response, but Spike managed for her. "Oh, you know, just hanging out. Why, what are you two doing?"
Scootaloo raised a forehoof in excitement. "We were gonna ask Sw—"
Applebloom harshly elbowed her in the ribs.
"Ow! Hey, what was that—"
Applebloom quickly whispered in her ear, "Don'tcha see? They might not even need our help. We can Crusade with Sweetie Belle later. Let's let them be, right?"
Scootaloo's face dawned with recognition and nodded. "Nevermind, it's not important. We gotta go, Sweetie. Have fun!"
She and Applebloom immediately turned tail and ran before either Spike or Sweetie Belle could ask what was going on. They looked at each other.
"That was weird," Spike said.
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed.
"Sooo... Milkshakes?”
"Yeah!"
~*~*~*~*~
The duo sat at a table inside of Sugarcube Corner after ordering a couple of milkshakes, much to the delight of Pinkie Pie for some reason.
They hadn't said much since their entrance a few minutes ago. Just Spike asking her what flavor of shake she wanted. Vanilla, she had said. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure whether the silence was a comfortable one or awkward. She also wasn't sure what to say at risk of making it awkward.
Wait a second... I'm acting Silly. I've never wondered if I should talk with friends before, and Spike is definitely a friend. This isn't even a date or anything...
That in mind, Sweetie Belle cleared her throat, causing Spike to look up from his chocolatey drink. "So... How does it feel to be that tall?"
Spike grinned as his mouth let go of the straw. "Pretty cool. I can look most ponies in the eye now without craning my neck. I can see further and see on top of things pretty well now too. Like, at the Comic Book and Magazine Store... Uh, well... Nevermind that example. But it's still an upgrade."
Sweetie Smiled at his discription before pouting. "You're lucky," she looked down at her diminutive form. "I gotta grow normally. I swear I'll always be this small..."
Sweetie Belle was a little self conscious about her size. Both Applebloom and Scootaloo had some girth to them. Applebloom from working on a farm and doing various strenuous chores, and Scootaloo was just under her. Sleek yet firm, muscles obvious under the fur to anyone who payed enough attention. She was well on the fast track to becoming an athlete like Rainbow Dash, and her skill on a scooter proved it.
Sweetie Belle however, while not that different at first glance, was obviously a lot slimmer if you payed enough attention. That wasn't to say she was anorexic — She had the appropriate amount of protective fat for her age — but she just wasn't built like her two friends were. Of the three, she weighed the least. She was pretty sure that without her horn she'd be the shortest, too. It didn't help that very recently they seemed to be getting even bigger at an alarming rate.
It was so stupid. She was a year older than them! Why wasn't she bigger?!
Spike watched as her playful pout turned into an actual look of discouragement. He snapped his claws to get her attention back. "It doesn't matter if you're small. I was small once too," he gave her an encouraging smile. "You'll get there."
Sweetie Belle looked up at him, joy on her face. "You really think so?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah. In fact, I read in a health book that Ponies normally hit a growth spurt shortly after getting their Cutie Marks. It's actually supposed to coincide with their first heat, which also happens shortly after getting your cutie mark. At least, for fillies. For colts they just get the growth spurt. You'll catch up with your classmates sooner than you think. You got your Cutie Marks a week ago, right? So about another week to three for late bloomers," he chuckled to himself.
The filly herself blushed and whined. "Spiiike! You're not supposed to talk about stuff like that in public. Sis says it's impolite."
Spike just shrugged and went back to his milkshake, obviously not caring one way or another. It might have had something to do with the fact that they were the only ones inside of Sugar Cube corner at the moment besides Pinkie at the counter and a stallion and his filly standing in front of her, ordering. None of them were in earshot.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was suddenly worrying over her own puberty, which according to Spike was going to come in under a month. She shuffled in her seat.
Noticing her discomfort, Spike cleared his throat and made an effort to change the subject. Sweetie Belle beat him to the punch though, and asked, "How can you be sure everything will turn out okay?"
Spike actually paused and thought about that for a moment. "I... I'm not sure everything will turn out okay. For anything. I just hope it does... I choose to believe it does."
"I've been through a lot, Sweetie Belle. I've had to watch Mo—... Twilight time and time again face fears much larger than her. Nightmare Moon. Discord. Tirek. I even managed to help against Sombra. I was a hero. After a while, I've just learned to stop worrying about what could happen, and believe the best will happen. That's not to say I believe everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows forever, but... I think at this point, it's a waste of energy to not believe and hope for the best. I guess... You can call me an optimist."
Even now, after Rarity... Maybe it was for the best.
Sweetie Belle gaped at him. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before finding her voice again. "Wow, Spike... I never thought of it that way. That's... A really cool way of looking at things... Y'know, I read there were four main archetypes like that. Optimistic, Cynic, Realist, and Apathetic. I'm not sure which I am."
Spike nodded and chuckled. "I bet Twilight probably thinks I'm the Cynic because of how sarcastic I am, and for a time she was right. You... I had you pegged as the optimist of the group and Applebloom the realist, but now I'm not too sure. Scootaloo's obviously the cynic," they both rolled their eyes. "I guess you gotta decide for yourself what you are."
Inside Spike was surprised at how smart and engaged in the conversation she seemed. He didn't know many ponies who could tell him the four main archetypes of personal philosophy.
Sweetie Belle similarly found herself intrigued by Spike. He made her think in ways she never had before. She wondered what else he thought.
So she asked. And he told her.
They sat and joked and laugh as only two young friends truly can. Hours passed as the two bonded over anything and everything. They told stories of stories, and sang songs of old that everypony knew. As the ever-present sun drifted through the sky, so did their conversations until they had tackled nearly every topic they could think of. Sweetie Belle was drawn to Spike's words as he gave his opinions on serious subjects such as morality, life and death, and the proper way to hang the toilet paper. Over, he insisted, not under.
Spike found himself similarly listening to Sweetie Belle as she talked about hobbies and and what it was like to have an older sister. She talked about her best friends and what she did daily, and he couldn't help but be intrigued at some of the stories Sweetie Belle told him of their crusades. He thought she was actually a little immature before today, but after sitting down and talking with her at length, Spike realized just what a very intelligent and down-to-earth filly Sweetie Belle was, especially compared to her friends. Spike was friends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but he could see himself growing closer to Sweetie in ways he couldn't with the other two. Best friends?
Eventually, they were telling the cheesiest jokes they knew to finish off the day.
"... "So the lawyer says, 'I'm not in this bar to drink, I want your hardest test. I'm here to take the bar exam!' " Spike finished with a grin.
Sweetie Belle descended into fits of giggles and her sides ascended into orbit. "Okay okay, you win!"
Spike smugly took another sip of his milkshake. Thank you 1,001 Jokes for Dummies.
The two sat in companionable silence, reflecting on the long and fun day they had.
Eventually, Spike said, "You know, today started out poorly, but... All things told it was pretty fun. Thanks, Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie beamed. "You don't gotta thank me for being a friend. You made my day, too! If you didn't show up when Button left, I probably would have been pretty bored."
She thought on his words for a few moments longer. "What... What happened earlier today... to make it so bad? If you don't mind me asking... Was it the reason Rarity wanted to talk to you?"
Spike's smile dipped slightly, but not entirely. "I... Well... Rarity rejected me."
Sweetie Belle gasped, genuinely surprised. She knew Spike had a crush on Rarity. Everypony did. She never thought they would actually talk about their feelings, though. "That's so sad! I'm sorry, Spike," she hoped she sounded genuinely sad.
And inside she was genuine... To an extent. She was sad at the pain he had to be feeling, but she wasn't really sad that Rarity had rejected him. Really, Sweetie Belle was experiencing a range of emotions. Sadness at how he had to be feeling, anger at Rarity for turning him down and causing those feelings, pleasure that she had turned him down so that Sweetie still had a chance, guilt for the previous thought. Sweetie didn't know which to focus on.
He sighed and shrugged. "It was a long time coming, I guess. She was right. The age gap was too big."
Sweetie inwardly shivered. How big of an age gap is too big? Applebloom and Scootaloo are 10, but I'm 11, and Spike's 12... That's okay, right? It's just a year... No, this isn't about me! Spike's hurting. Comfort him.
Sweetie reached out a hoof and touched his shoulder comfortingly. "Well, she doesn't know what she's lost. You're kind, funny, generous, and, u-um..." she swallowed and blushed, "H-handsome..."
Spike looked at Sweetie with a blush of his own. Even if he took an optimistic outlook to events in life now, he was still a little self-judgemental about his personality and looks."You really think so?"
Sweetie Belle nodded firmly. "I know so."
Spike blinked. Wow. No one's really... Said anything about me like that before, besides Rarity a few hours ago, but she was trying to spare my feelings while letting me down...
Sweetie Belle looked outside at the darkening sky. She looked down at her now empty milkshake and then up to Spike. "I, uh, better get home. It's getting kinda dark out."
Spike stood and left the two bits on the table. "I'll walk you home," he started leading her to the door.
"Y-you don't have to do that." She scratched the back of her head with a hoof before following him. "It's not that far..."
Spike shrugged and opened the door, letting her go first. "I don't need to, but I want to."
And so the duo left for the Carousel Boutique, exchanging small talk all the way.
When they both got to the carousel boutique, the sun was almost below the horizon. It didn't bother Spike any. His draconian eyes meant he had excellent night vision.He still needed to get home soon, though. Dinner was his turn tonight.
Sweetie Belle on the other hand was very grateful to be inside the lit interior. She beamed up at him. "Thanks for walking me home, Spike."
Spike smiled back. "No problem. We should hang out like this again, sometime. It was a lot of fun."
Sweetie Belle giggled. "Definitely. Are you, um... Doing anything tomorrow?"
Spike frowned. "Yeah, actually. Twilight, the girls and I are having a picnic tomorrow. But I should be free the day after that. After you get home from school?"
"Sounds good. See ya Spike!" she closed the door quickly to hide the grin that grew from the smile, getting larger at a pace that outmatched Rainbow Dash's ever growing ego. Sweetie Belle squealed happily and pranced in place.
"Sweetie Belle? Are you home? Could you help me with something, please?" Rarity's voice called from upstairs.
"Yeah! Coming!"
~*~*~*~*~
Alone in the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic or Friendship or maybe even puppies — She honestly didn't know, Celestia never gave her a title — cackled like a stereotypical comic book villain. A large whiteboard that would fill the map room when she enlarged it with magic sat in front of her, filled with lists, charts, and massive paragraphs, complete even with diagrams. A magnifying glass and a miniature marker released from the flow of magic from her horn and settled onto her dresser.
"Yess.... Just a few more days, and it'll be complete. My best, my ultimate presentation..."
Twilight's eyes narrowed and she rubbed her hooves together, wicked grin in place. She looked down at the white board covering most of her bedroom floor.
Dominating the top read the words, "Spike's Talk."
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
1,032 users online
1,768,928 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I love everything about this chapter
Okay really liking this fic. Best paced Spike fic I've come across since it takes a village. keep it up!
Dear god twilight...
The ending to this chapter too, so sinister, so funny!
I thought the dialogue for this chapter was excellent! Everyone sounded like they should in my opinion, and I never grew bored.
I LOVE your idea for Spike and Sweetie! To have Spike find out that Sweetie's more mature, intelligent and deep than he first thought she was...it was genius and very well done! You didn't have her be a genius, just smart for her age. I would've never thought to have them connect over long conversations to be honest, but I think that's a wonderful way to start relationships and it works so well here! I don't get all mushy over fictional relationships very often outside of my few favorite ships, but gosh darn it you really sold me on this! It's so gosh darn cute!
Excellent chapter! Bravo!
I'm suddenly worried for him. It's going to rain cringe isn't?
I can imagine a furless Twilight trying to give Spike 'the talk'
Spike and Sweeite are starting to bloom-a-loo.
Okay Twilight cackling like a villain was so OCC but sooo funny.
This is a great fic, and very unique in it's premise.
I've seen tons of stories that involve Spike having a growth spurt, or growing up, or being grown up, but most have the growth spurt be a one and done thing or set the story with him having already gone through it.
Few if any really go into him actually going through puberty and dealing with teenage problems like this and for that I say awesome job.
8339906
Honestly that's writing 101. To make a truly seem genuine it has to seem real. And in real life the way people usually fall in love is having common interests, enjoying each other's company, and and being able to have these kinds of long conversations with each other.
Someone pick up that phone...
Because I freaking CALLED IT!
Ooh~! What's Twi-Twi up to?
Uhh.....
Oh Spike.... You're never going to unhear this....
I have two things to say about this. First, I really, really want Prance Prance Revolution to be a game about the Prench Revolution but it was all just dance battles (even if it's not, it'll be canon to me from now on). Second, was (I'm not sorry for this, Logan) supposed to be there and I'm out of the loop on this joke or what?
Anyways, great story, Trenton! I expect more.
Yeaaaah, I THOUGHT there was no way Spike was going to snag a magazine like Playmare and escape getting "the talk" from Twilight forever.
8342605
Her getting excited is not OCC for her true. Her acting like a cartoon villain over giving Spike 'the talk?' Not so much... Unless she's somehow is having a mental breakdown a la Lesson Zero... which I don't see going on... I think... Unless the author is cheating using POV tricks...
8339906
Thanks so much! I'm glad everything sounded well to you. I try.
8339912
Oh you know it.
8340004
*points* Get out. jk, that got a chuckle out of me.
8340302
A lot of people either forgot or didn't go through a lot of problems most teenagers go through on a daily basis. Its a time where you change, the way people interact with you, and you're put in a lot of situations that may feel uncomfortable or general upsetting. It's also a point in time where you need to feel support from friends and family to come through without mental scarring; either from physical insecurities or some of a more emotional nature.
8340978
I meant to take that out. Thanks for pointing that out. Logan is my prereader. He doesn't watch the show, and isn't interested in the slightest, but being the amazing friend and scholar he is he fixes 99% of the grammatical errors I make. Horse puns make him face palm, so I couldn't resist Prance Prance Revolution and pointing it out to him.
Uhh, no
Spike...run
8342849 Well said.
Good chapter, but I would avoid the Mom subject. Not because I think it's a sensitive subject, but because it's not necessary to move the story along.
Spike and Twilight, are close friend, and are like family. Her being a guardian and him, her young ward is fine. Don't need to overthink this. Plus, Spike, has never so much as mutter that he would see, Twilight as his, Mom, so do so while talking to, Sweetie Belle, just seem forced and unnecessary to me. If you insist on make this a thing, it would be better to have it come out when, Spike and Twilight, are having a heart to heart, not while talking to others. Yet.
Just my two bits for thought. Still a good chapter.:twilightsmile
Oh dear stars above. Run spike, run.
My advice for Spike is to keep in as in character as he is in the show. Also I can give you loads of reason as to why Twilight is not Spike's mother but I think I'll settle with "Your not my mom." As said by Spike himself in the show, maybe an older sister but I bail out of stories fast if they go the mother/son route, gods do I hate those stories, but I'm interested so I'll keep reading, big fan of SpikeBelle after all.
"Dragons do abduct unicorn princesses and have their way with them.. that's formal dragon code, according to Ember. So it would actually be quite proper." He waggled his eyebrows. "I could even get us a proper cave for your... 'captivity'... in my greedy, seeking talons while I begin probing all your hidden treasures."
Rarity though this was totally hot.