While Rarity's Away, Spike Will Play
While Rarity's Away, Spike Will Play
Though his mind was still focused on Rarity, Spike still knew that he had a promise to keep and he was going to make sure that he kept it. Racing over to Sweet Apple Acres as fast as his short legs could carry him, he found the farming mare just as busy as ever. Though this time it is was all about sorting the harvest, picking out the bad apples from the good ones. Spike already knew their schedule and the tomorrow was market day for the Apple family so it was no surprise that they were doing such a tedious task.
“Applejack!” Spike called out as he ran up the farm house.
“Well you’re lookin’ a hay of a lot better, Spike!” Applejack replied, leaving her post alongside Granny Smith and Appl ebloom.
“Yup!” the young dragon said with a smile. “Twilight said that you brought me back home when I was supposed to stay at the library…”
“Anytime, Spike,” the blond farmer said. “Couldn’t just leave ya there.”
“But… you left me gems too, Twilight told they were from you,” Spike continued. He knew that gems did not come cheap and there were a few decently sized gems that could have been worth a pretty bit had she sold them instead.
“‘Twas nothin’, just some shiny rocks that Big Mac digs up now and then. We were saving them for a rainy day but I thought you deserved them,” Applejack said as she rubbed his head with her hoof. “But there ain’t much to do around here, just getting ready to go into town tomorrow. This sortin’ will just bore ya to death.”
“I don’t mind, I promised to help you and I will. Anyways, all I do at the library is stuff like this for Twilight,” the dragon assistant said before he began to mimic Twilight. “‘Put these friendship letter copies away, Spike; No, that’s the daily journals, Spike, those go in the weekly journals drawer; Spike! What is my “History of Canterlot” doing in the Magic Section?’”
“If he wants to, he can take my spot!!! Me and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were all plannin’ on gettin’ our Cutie Marks by building an amusement park!” Applebloom nearly squealed with excitement as hopped on to her hooves.
“Didn’t you guys already try to be carpenters… and fail?” Spike asked.
“Well, whatever you fillies do, stay away from the Everfree Forest,” Applejack warned her sister. “You know we’ve been hearin’ Timberwolves from the edge of the forest.”
“Alright, Applejack, we’ll be careful…” the red-headed filly lazily promised her sister, then quickly rushing off to get her two fellow Crusaders.
“Looks like a spot just opened up,” the farmer mare said, tapping her hoof on an empty spot next to her. Spike eagerly took the spot and began picking the good apples, though not too adeptly at first, as Applejack had to sort through his picks to insure that they kept with the Apple family’s standard. However as the day continued, the dragon was able to get the hang of it and also provided his services as a dispose-all, with his iron stomach it was easy for him to eat all the low quality (and/or rotten) apples.
“Oh, Spike, you’re home!” Twilight said, caught off guard while turning the library inside out. Unable to find an excuse as to why she needed her Canterlot logs, the unicorn had taken her assistant’s time away to find them herself.
“Uh… You need help finding something, Twilight?” Spike asked, looking at Twilight’s disheveled self.
“Oh no… It’s nothing too important,” Twilight said with a nervous laugh as she began picking up her mess.
“Uh-huh…” her assistant replied, obviously not believing her, beginning to help her to adjust the library back to its normal state. “Are you sure you don’t need any help finding something?”
“No, no. I’m sure you’re tired after helping Rarity all day anyways,” the purple unicorn answered.
“Actually, Rarity wasn’t looking to good and so I left her alone,” Spike said, a little guilt lingering in his voice. “So I helped Applejack instead, she asked me to keep her company tomorrow at the market. Is that okay, Twilight? I know I should’ve asked you first…”
“It’s… ok,” Twilight responded, though pangs of jealousy still hit her heart hard. “Am I jealous of Applejack too?”
“Huh?” her assistant asked.
“Oh! Nothing…” Twilight said, not realizing she had her last question out loud.
“Ok, well… I’m going to bed. Are you sure you don’t need my help with something?” Spike said as he began up the stairs.
“Actually…” the studious unicorn forced herself to say. “Do you know where my Canterlot journals are?”
“Why do you need those old things?” Spike asked the very question that Twilight feared.
“Umm… I want to… organize them…?” Twilight told him a horrifyingly obvious lie. Fortunately for her, it seemed that the dragon believed her, shrugging as he walked to another room in the library. To him, it was not too much of a stretch that the OCD afflicted unicorn wanted to sort everything she could.
“Here you go,” the little dragon said, leading the unicorn to a drawer that held journals to the very brim. “I think that’s all of them…”
It might as well have been gold that Spike had led her to by the way Twilight eyed the logs.
“Thank you, Spike!!! What would I ever do without you?!” the purple mare asked as she squeezed her assistant.
“Have fun… I’m going to bed,” Spike yawned.
“What would I do without you?” Twilight asked herself. She knew she loved her longtime assistant and friend but she also knew that his feelings belonged to Rarity. If the dress designer were to ever reveal her feelings, she might just lose him forever. She could easily bar him from seeing her but she knew it was not right, despite how she felt. Her ears drooped at the thought of losing her best friend.
“Got to say, Applejack, this isn’t the most exciting thing in the world,” Spike commented about them waiting for customers. “I can see why you wanted company…”
“I appreciate it, Spike,” Applejack said. It was always slow during the early morning of market day and, with Applebloom’s impatience and Big Macintosh’s quiet nature, neither was cut out to be a salespony.
“Ah! There you are, Spike!” a familiar voice said, behind the sitting dragon.
“Rarity?” the dragon asked as he saw the unicorn approach them.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you too, Applejack,” Rarity addressed her earth pony friend, though she still felt a bit of hostility behind the farmer’s gaze.
“You’re looking better,” Spike remarked on Rarity returning to her normal appearance, compared to when he last saw her.
“First of all, I wanted to say… I’m sorry, Applejack,” the fashionista apologized. “I should have known that you wouldn’t say anything if you didn’t believe it was true. I should’ve have listen to you rather than lashed back. I realized that maybe you were right and I’m trying to make it right and prevent it happening in the future.”
“That’s mighty big of ya, Rarity,” Applejack replied as her look softened. “Glad to hear it.”
“And Spike, I’ll be going on a trip to give demonstration of a dress to a customer in Canterlot and then I’ll be going to the Crystal Empire to pick up some special material,” Rarity told the dragon. “I wanted to tell you, Spike, so you would not wonder where I went to.”
“Do you…” Spike began only to be silence by a white hoof to the mouth.
“It’s better that you stay here, Spike. I’ll be gone for a week or longer, it would be too much to ask,” the dress maker said. “I’ll be fine.”
“If you think so…” the young dragon said, though it obviously saddened him.
“Don’t worry, Spike, we can spend some time together when I get back. After I finish the Gala dresses, of course,” Rarity told him as she headed back to her boutique.
“Let’s see, let’s see,” Twilight said, quickly skimming through her entries from her days of study in Canterlot. “‘I read “Bestiary of Equestria”, today. It was very enlightening, I’ll write to Princess Celestia about what I learned…’ blah blah blah. This is kind of boring, who wrote this… oh, right. I did.”
Continuing to rapidly read every page, Twilight found no evidence of her feelings in any of the journals. All she wrote were facts and events that happened during the day rather than her feelings. She was never very good at expressing herself, whether through words or other mediums. She tried her hoof at painting once, only to give up once she realized everything she drew looked like something one would find at a magic kindergarten.
Thinking back on it, Spike was the only one in Canterlot that she ever really allowed to see her emotions. On some of her worst days, he would sit there and her rant about how she could not perform her spell no matter how hard she tried. Or he put up with her bad moods when she was overworked and under pressure. Even when she would criticize him for taking long to find her the right book or when he would accidentally bring her the wrong book, her little assistant stood by her side, through thick and thin.
Realizing that she allowed her mind to drift off, Twilight returned to reading her Canterlot journals, holding on to some shred of hope that she wrote something hinting that her feelings developed for the young dragon.
It had been a few days since Rarity left on her trip and Spike was clearly missing her. He was feeling a bit down and his work ethic reflected it as he was lazier than usual. Twilight had not given him much to do lately, having been busy with reading all her journals, and there were been many, many, many journals which only made sense seeing how her and Spikehad spent so many years together in Canterlot. The dragon assistant knew that he should not act so needy towards his crush; he had to get out of his current funk somehow.
He had an idea but, at the same time, he was hesitant to act on it. Spike had thought of maybe going over to Sweet Apple Acres, seeing as how Applejack said he was always welcome. But a fear stopped him, he and Applejack were growing closer and closer with all the time they were spending together ever since Rarity was gone. He found himself trying to impress the farming mare by trying to push as many apple-filled carts as she could or trying to buck all the apples off a tree with a single hit just as she did. Both were complete failures: when he tried pushing anymore more than two carts, he could move them at most a mere inch before he felt like he was about pull something, and when he tried to head-butt a tree to collect its apple bounty, he only managed to knock himself unconscious. Trying to pull of these types of feats was only something he would try to do for Rarity.
The fear was that perhaps his feelings for Rarity were shifting, that the more time he spent with Applejack, the more likely he would fall for her too, or worse, she might soon replace Rarity in his heart. He truly did love Rarity and he felt like he was betraying her by falling for another mare. To him, she was the most elegant, most beautiful mare in all of Equestria, a true lady. She was a mare which no other could, or should have been able to, compete with. Of course, she had her shortcomings. She was short with him on occasion, she sometimes criticized him when he was dirty but he knew that deep down, she was very caring and generous. Yet, Applejack was somehow winning him over, something about her just called out to him but he could not name it.
The apple farmer was obviously a hard worker but there were other qualities about her Spike had just barely gotten to notice. Being a hard worker was one reason Spike felt attracted to Applejack, he liked to think that he was a hard worker too as he was always giving up his free time to help others, it was something they had in common. But as he has seen for himself, Applejack was also very considerate, with how she carried him home and giving away the pouch of gems for him to enjoy as a treat. She was very grateful for everything he did, remembering to thank him, even if it was just keeping her company as she worked, and tried avoiding giving difficult chores. “And she’s not too bad to look at…” Spike said to himself but quickly covered his mouth, realizing what he just said.
He asked himself again whether he should go and visit Applejack at the farm. He wanted to go, despite his feeling of betrayal, and he wanted to spend more time with Applejack. Spike could not deny what he wanted, even if the guilt weighed heavy on his mind. It was not betraying Rarity if their relationship was not in the romantic sense. Rarity never hinted that she returned his feeling, so it could not possibly be infidelity. “Right?” Spike asked himself out loud.
“‘Right’ what, Spike?” Twilight asked back, taking a small break from her reading.
“Oh, ‘right’ that, umm…” Spike stalled to come up with something. “‘Right’ that you don’t need me right now?”
“Are you thinking of going over to Sweet Apple Acres today?” the purple mare asked the dragon, almost as if she could read his mind.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about it,” the dragon assistant answered, though it was partly true as he still had not decided what he was going to do.
“You and Applejack have been spending a lot of time together. Maybe you should give her some time to herself,” Twilight replied. It was an attempt to keep him in the library. Ever since she admitted her feelings to herself about her little assistant, she felt jealous and a bit possessive of the little dragon. It felt wrong but Twilight could not help herself. She could feel a sharp pain in her heart whenever she knew that he was spending time with another mare.
“But Applejack said that I could visit her anytime I wanted, she said she could always use the help,” Spike said as a matter-of-fact. “So can I, Twilight?”
“Of course,” the studious unicorn replied with a bit of a struggle due to a knot forming in her throat.
“Good luck on your work, Twilight,” the young dragon bode her farewell.
“Bye, Spike…” Twilight said as her tears soaked the pages of her Canterlot journal.
“Nice to see ya again, Spike,” Applejack greeted the arriving dragon.
“Hey, Applejack!” Spike said, giving the earth pony a warm hug.
Spike’s growing feelings had not gone unnoticed by Applejack. It would have been hard for her to not to notice, what with how she constantly caught him ogling her and how he was acting so touchy-feely with her lately. She could say that the dragon was certainly helpful and that he was a kind, caring little reptile but she could not say that she returned his feelings. However, she admired his persistence and how hard he worked to gain her affections. It was certainly flattering, no stallion ever tried to court her at all and all this attention from Spike did make her feel rather special.
“There’s not much to do around here today,” the blond farmer stated. “Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are still off on making their ‘theme park.’ How’s about I thank ya for all the help lately with a little picnic? Just you and me.”
“Just us?” the purple dragon gulped.
“Yeah! What do ya say?” Applejack asked.
“Uh… umm…” Spike stammered, finding himself once again conflicted. It was one thing to visit and help out Applejack but this seemed very close to a date to the little dragon. The purple dragon needed a moment to collect his thoughts. Turning his back to the apple farmer, he began thinking about this invitation. “It’s not like Rarity will ever finds out… but what if she does!? I could lose my chances with her forever! But Applejack… she is just wants to thank me… it’s not a date… Just two friend having a picnic, right?”
“Uh, Spike, you know you just said that out loud,” the blond earth pony told him. “It’s ok if you don’t wanna go, I understand.”
“No! I do want to go, it’ll be fun,” the little dragon answered as his stomach growled. “Hehe, it’ll be good to get something eat too.”
The two prepared their little picnic sweets and food, including some hay sandwiches and some pies. They packed up and headed out to an open field on Sweet Apple Acres Applejack knew would give them some peace and quiet. With the three Cutie Mark seeking fillies building their “theme park,” silence and serenity were scarce around the Apple’s farm. Unfortunately, they would have to pass the noisy construction site where the Crusaders were breaking ground for their first ride.
As they did, they noticed something very strange indeed. Where they thought they would hear the most noise, it was dead silent. They decided to investigate the location of the future “theme park” only to find it abandoned. Except for a few flimsy wooden boards, the dragon and earth pony found no trace of the three fillies. Then Applejack noticed something, they had not heeded her warning of staying far from the edge of the bordering forest. They, in fact, were building almost right next to the Everfree tree line.
“Ugh! I told those fillies to stay away from the forest,” the blond farmer told the dragon on her back. “We better find them, Spike.”
“Right!” Spike said as he hopped off the pony. “But the Everfree forest is HUGE!!! Where are we going to start?”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!” the duo heard a cry coming from within the forest. Soon after, a little filly Pegasus popped out of the bushes lining the forest border, pursued by a single Timberwolf. A ravenous looking Timberwolf at that. “SOMEPONY HELP ME!!!!”
As the filly ran behind Applejack, the magical animal stopped in its tracks and examined the situation before him. A full grown mare and a dragon guarded his meal, the Timberwolf gave up his prey and disappeared back into the forest.
“Scootaloo! Where’s Applebloom and Sweetie Belle!? Are they ok? What happened?” Applejack barraged the filly with questions.
“They’re in there…” Scootaloo pointed a trembling hoof in the direction of the forest.
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OOOOH DIS GONNA BE GOOD!
Spike you now in the middle of a love Parallelogram... I'm not sure if I should be envious or worried.
Excellent!! Hmm I've been saying that a lot recently? Oh well. No harm no foul. I'm confused here, Spikes' a heartbreaker wichever way you cut it, with his luck and the direction of the story I wouldn't be surprised of Rarity came back from her trip with stallion in tow. Damn just picturing the cliched drama makes to pull the feels. But that's is there and we are here, Spike and Applejack are in for the fight of their lives, no time to waste looking for the others so into the breach with Timber wolves serving as the forefront of their difficulties. OOH THE EXCITMENT!!
2085462
The answer to that is--- yes
This is getting good.
Ooooh, cliffhanger? Yes, it is.
:DDD EXECELLENT CHAP !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Later...
Applejack:
-Kiryu
Very good read. I am enjoying this story very much. My only question is.
That should? Is it meant to be should or shouldn't? Other that one confusing bit for me this is fantastically written.
2085428
Good to see people are still excited about the story. Trying to keep it lively and my readers awake.
2085462
A better question Spike should probably asking himself: Do want?
2085522
*claps* Congrats, the first one to point out who "The Heartbreaker" is! Anyways, I can't offer any spoilers but I can offer a virtual cookie! Going to try to get the new chapter out ASAP. I hope the wait won't be too long.
2085574
Cartoon Network? (Anyone who gets that joke, thank you for not making me look like such a nerd!)
2086272
I don't like to toot my own horn but... trust me, it'll get there!
2086490
Yup, cliifhangers give it that sense of anti---
2086744
Thank you!
2086810
LMAO I know that's how I would feel... you know, if I can get to them before the Timberwolves do.
2089027
Thank you very much for pointing that out. I sometimes type slower than I think. I fixed it. Glad you liked the story and I hope that you continue to read (and point out my derp writing moments). Thanks, for real though, really appreciate it!
2086490
---cipation!
One thing to note, I'm having some second thoughts on my cover art for this story. I'd appreciate it if you guys can visit my profile and vote in the comments section (don't really know if I can open a poll on here). There's a little note there about this "poll" so if you can, I'd appreciate your guys' opinions. Thanks in advance!
Everyone better get a damn happy ending sir.
Best wishes
2090221 Sweet.
Why do the CMC never listen? And I'll bet they get off with a scolding and learn nothing from it, continuing to ignore everyone and do dangerous shit that makes no sense and would never be their special talent, just like in the show and every single fanfic they're in.
This chapter was probably the best of the lot. Good to see improvement over time.
2090230
Hehehe... About that... *runs away*
2094799
Thanks, glad that you enjoyed it. I know that I miss a few words here and there, I might a misspelling or two too but I'll try to improve on it. Also, don't worry there will be a scene up ahead when Spike will ask her why she did what she did. I can't promise it will be pretty but hey, life's not always so beautiful.
2094835
I see where your coming from with all your comments but to tell the truth, it was probably the only way I could think of to word things. I'll probably go back to edit it later. If you feel up to it, and you have the time, it would be cool to have another pre-reader. I see that you're pretty observant and probably more experienced than me, so it would only of help if you pre-read for me. Message me if you're interested.
2094952
Well, I might need to take a second look at this chapter then. Try to iron out all the errors. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
2095028
The Twilight scenes will be a reoccurring thing for the story as she comes to terms with her feelings and how she got them As for the all-around improvement, I owe that to my pre-reader, Aburi, and my friend who also started to read the chapters before I released them. Thanks guys, but again, if you're still interested in pre-reading, I'd appreciate it.
2095131
Thanks, I took a little longer with that one, so that might explain why it came out a good bit better. Thanks for reading all the way through, in one day no less. Hope you keep reading, I'll certainly keep writing.
2095645
... Boy I'll be watching you....
2155731
I don't believe that Rarity is too vain, and to a certain point we all are, and that wasn't the problem she had that I tried to get across. I explained this before, Rarity has trouble with making a decision under pressure rather than making a decision out of trying to save face or anything like that. Even by doing that, I kind of spoiled a bit of a future chapter. I've seen this same problem with her and also opted to help her out in that department, so if you think I made her make that decision out of vanity then I would say I kind of failed but succeeded and I won't go further into that because, again, I'm spoiling a future chapter.
I would suggest that you read the rest of the story and if you still feel that I'm making her very vain throughout the story, please feel free to criticize me and lump me together with those other authors that do so. I encourage people to express their opinions about my story so thank you for that much. I also want to thank you for reading.
2165019
Well, he is still young... Little kids do get their feelings hurt pretty easily. I do encourage you to keep reading though, he'll have his moment of badass and maturity. Not revealing more than that, though.
A small tid bit to those who see this message: the next chapter will probably be out by tomorrow. Probably. You know, if I don't get lazy.
your writing has significantly improved, awesome story!
YES!!! More AppleSpike
Go for the Earth Pony, Spike, she actually notices you, but then turn around and notice your best friend loving on you. Do it Spike, do it!! Shit, this is getting serious
If you dis spike... I will be very unhappy...
3489905
haha I look forward to your comment after every chapter.
Ever say that in the human world, and ya get knocked over the head and robbed. They aren't "just some shiny rocks" in our world.
Some of these 'rocks' could make up for their whole cider season income.