The meaning of Friendship is one thing. But what about the meaning of love?
After many years of knowing each other, Spike finally decides to tell Rarity of his true feelings for her. But it doesn't go as planned. Can Rarity fix the mistake she has made? Or will she have to live with her decision for the rest of her life, knowing it may well kill Spike? (Story on hiatus until further notice)
"W-what?" A white unicorn mare with a curly purple mane and tail gasped in shock as she leaned against the gazebo railing for support, staring at the purple and green adult dragon in front of her.
"Rarity," The dragon anxiously repeated the words he had just spoken moments ago, twiddling his long draconic fingers. "I love you. I've always loved you. Ever since that first day when I arrived in Ponyville, when I first laid eyes upon you. I love you Rarity."
"Spike...... Oh my dear, spikey-wikey." Rarity moaned, on the verge of tears. She looked away, ashamed of herself. Rarity had never seen Spike as anything more than a good friend. Maybe even as a little brother. But now.... Now it was different. Now she actually saw how Spike felt about her. "I..... I don't know what to say." She leaned against the railing, frozen in place from shock, embarrassment and shame.
"Rarity?" Spike slowly approached her, not knowing what she would do next. "Rarity, please tell me you're ok." He said quietly as he stood next to her, scared for her because of how she was currently acting.
"I'm sorry Spike. I can't." Rarity groaned as she looked out at the pond where the gazebo was located. She had started to sniffle and her eyes were very wet.
"What?" Spike asked, not understanding what she was saying. His heart raced with fright and anxiety.
"I can't...... I just can't be with you. I'm sorry." She was visibly crying now, unable to hide it. The grey clouds gave a thunderous clap and a flash of lightning shot across the sky. A downpour of rain gradually but also quickly began to fall.
Spike took a few involuntary steps away from her. He had expected her to say as much, but it still hurt all the same. "Rarity, please. Tell me you don't mean it." He was now close to crying as well. "Please tell me that's not true."
"Spike..... Please." Rarity had now buried her face in her scarf to hide herself from him. "Leave me. Please." She collapsed to the ground against the rail and cried into the scarf.
Spike was close to crying, but he held himself together as long as he could. Fumbling in the pouch at his side, Spike pulled out a small diamond shaped locket and set it down next to Rarity, who didn't seem to notice. He then stepped out from the cover of the gazebo and into the rain. Unfurling his wings, Spike took off, soaring into the rainy and thunderous clouds. Not long after, a loud, agony filled roar could be heard through the stormy night sky but was soon drowned out by a clap of thunder.
Still sniffling but mostly done crying, Rarity uncovered her now red and wet face from the scarf. She looked around for any sight of Spike, but saw none. Instead she saw the locket sitting next to her. Shakily, Rarity opened the locket and looked at what was inside.
Sitting in a small slot of the locket was a picture that Rarity recognized instantly. It was a picture of her and Spike, her laying on top of him and the two laughing and smiling happily. Seeing the picture, Rarity dropped her scarf and the locket, got up from the ground of the gazebo, and ran out of the cover into the rain. She stared up at the sky to look for Spike, but he was too far gone.
"SPIKE!" She yelled as loud as she could, tears streaming down her face. "SPIKE!" Rarity collapsed onto the soaking wet ground. "Spike.... I'm so sorry. Please, come back." She moaned in agony, realizing she had made the biggest mistake of all.
Eventually, Rarity got up from the ground and returned to the gazebo. She grabbed her scarf and the locket, wrapping the scarf around her neck and stashing the locket into the scarf. Rarity then left the cover of the Gazebo and started the cold and miserable walk home.
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A wild torrent of wind and rain pelted down against Spike, but he didn't notice. It was mostly because he was a dragon, and his hard scales and internal temperature were great to fend off this weather. But the other reason was all because Spike was in so much agony that he was numb to the world around him.
'Why?' Spike thought to himself as he flew through the sky at a high speed. 'Why doesn't she like me? I've always been there for her. Doesn't that mean anything!' Rage filled him up but eventually died down to be replaced by agony. 'Maybe she likes somepony else. Maybe there's a stallion in her life that she has a romantic interest in.' The thoughts dug into his brain, eating away at his conscience.
Eventually Spike stopped thinking about it all together and just flew as far as he could go. After a good hour of flying, the storm became extremely violent around Spike. He was forced to land by the circumstances, so Spike found a cave in a nearby mountain and landed. The cave was empty, so Spike grabbed a nearby tree, cut it up, and started a campfire in the cave to stay warm and dry. Soon he fell asleep, curled up next to the fire. All that he dreamt of that night was of the pony he loved.
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Rarity was a wreck. As soon as she had gotten home, the mare broke down into more tears, sobbing a river into the carpeted floor. It was a long time before Rarity got a hold of herself. She got up off the floor and went upstairs to the bathroom where she filled the tub with hot water and soaked in it, hoping to wash away her agony.
It was no use. Rarity knew that there was nothing she could do. Nothing except to find Spike and set things straight. But she couldn't do it tonight. She had to wait for the morning, and she also needed help from a certain somepony.
Wrapped up in a towel, Rarity went to her bedroom and slipped on a warm and fuzzy bathrobe. Not having any energy to do anything else, she slipped into bed and fell asleep where she succumbed to dreams of pain and sadness.
Fresh morning sunlight shone through a crack in the curtains that covered the windows in Rarity’s bedroom. The small slice of light slid across the floor of the room, crawled up the side of Rarity’s bed, and rested upon her face. The features of her face glowed from the beam, revealing the prominent evidence of the agony she had endured the night before. The morning was silent, birds chirped outside, and a pit of anguish sat in Rarity’s stomach. There was a knock on the door, light and gentle.
“Rarity? Are you in there?” Came the sweet voice of Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle. “Rarity?”
Rarity slowly awoke to the noise that Sweetie Belle was making. However, unable to move or speak due to the pain she was feeling, Rarity laid silently in bed.
“I’m coming in.” Sweetie Belle said, opening the door to Rarity’s room. Upon seeing Rarity’s face, Sweetie Belle gasped and rushed over. “Rarity! What happened? Are you ok?”
Rarity slowly shook her head and buried her face under her thick quilt. She didn't want her sister, the filly that looked up to her as a role model, to see her like this. “I-i’m fine, Sweetie. I’m perfectly, fine. Why don’t you run along and…. and go play with your friends or something?” Rarity curled up into a ball and wrapped the quilt tightly around her shivering body.
Sweetie Belle, the reluctant filly that she was, got up onto the bed and gently began to stroke Rarity’s mane. “Rarity, you’re my big sister, and we sister’s have to take care of each other. I’ll always be there for you, just like how you've always been there for me. Now please, tell me what’s wrong.” Sweetie Belle slowly pulled the covers back and was slightly taken aback to see genuine tears in Rarity’s eyes. The white filly gently wrapped her arms around her sister and hugged her tightly.
After getting a hold of herself and managing to make herself speak straight, Rarity spoke up. “Oh Sweetie Belle. I don’t understand why I did it. I told him it wouldn't work out, but I didn't expect him to run away. I thought he would understand and just accept it, like he always has.”
“What do you mean, sis? Who are you talking about?” Sweetie Belle asked, confused about who Rarity was talking about.
“Sweetie Belle, I’m talking about Spike. Last night, he told me loved me. And he really meant it. He told me that he had loved me since the day we had met. But I pushed him away. It’s my fault. Spike’s somewhere out in the wild and it’s all because of me.” She hugged Sweetie Belle.
“You love him too, don’t you? I mean, you two have known each other for years. There’s no way you couldn't love him.”
“Sweetie, I don’t know how I think of him.” Rarity slowly got up from her bed, went over to the window, and opened the blinds. Light flooded into the room, shining on Rarity’s clean and tidy room. She went back over to the bed and sat down next to Sweetie Belle. “I have always loved him, but more in a little brother way, and he seemed to love me in a big sister sort of way. But recently, Spike seemed to be making bolder advances upon me up until last night, when he told me the truth. I guess that’s what pushed me to tell him that it wouldn't work between us. He put me in a situation that made me uncomfortable and unprepared. But now… now it’s too late.” Rarity fell back into a torrent of tears.
“Oh Rarity.” Sweetie Belle hugged Rarity closely, gently stroking her mane. “You can still fix this, big sister. I believe in you. But, we’re going to need help from somepony if we are going to get Spike back.”
Rarity sniffled and looked up at Sweetie Belle. “And who would that be?”
“Spikes mother.” Sweetie Belle smiled and giggled slightly as she said the words.
“Huh? Who are you talking abo…” Rarity’s eyes widened and the tears stopped falling as she realized who Sweetie Belle was talking about. “Oh.”
“Spike! Spike, where are you!” Twilight shouted as she searched for the adult dragon around the library. She hadn't seem him since the night before, and he hadn't told her where he was going, so she had no idea where he could be. ‘Now that I think about it, I did happen to hear a loud roaring noise ate last night.’ She thought to herself, but soon dismissed the idea. Twilight left the library and ascended to the balcony to get some fresh air and a good view of the sky. She looked out on the horizon and beyond, but saw no sign of Spikes presence. Twilight sighed and her head dropped in defeat. “Spike, where are you?”
Suddenly the sound the front door opening and closing reached Twilight's ears. Excited, she rushed to the stairs and looked down into the library, hoping to find Spike there. “Spike! Is that you?” To Twilight’s slight disappointment, Spike wasn't there. Instead, Rarity stood in the center of the Library.
“Twilight, I need your help.” Rarity said, her heart heavy with what she was about to tell one of her closest friends. “It’s about Spike.”
“What about him?” Twilight slowly descended the stairs, her eyes locked on Rarity. “Have you seen him recently?”
“Yes. Last night.” Rarity nodded her head. She found a chair among the piles of books and sat down.
“So that’s where he went. To meet you.” Twilight conjured a chair out of thin air and sat herself down, facing towards Rarity. “Tell me where he is.”
Rarity sighed and hung her head in shame. “Twilight, I don’t know where he is. I came to you to help me find him, and to set things right.”
“What do you mean, Rarity? What did you? What did you do to Spike? Did you hurt him? What happe…”
“Spike told me he loved me.” Rarity cut off Twilight before she could finish.
The purple unicorn seemed shocked. She stared at Rarity with confusion, which turned to understanding. “Oh… So, he finally told you?”
“Wait, you knew?” Rarity looked at Twilight, utterly shocked. “For how long.”
“Ever since we arrived here at ponyville, all those years ago.” Twilight looked at Rarity with deep fear in her eyes. “Did he give it to you?”’
“What, the locket? Yes, he left it for me, before he flew away.” Rarity touched the locket that hung from her neck.
“Locket? I was talking about the… Wait what?” Twilight suddenly got up from her chair, knocking it backwards. “HE WHAT?!”
Rarity jumped as Twilight shouted. “He… he flew away. Into the mountains. I haven’t seen him since then.” She shakily got up from the chair and backed slightly away from Twilight.
“He flew away?! You’re kidding, right?” Twilight began to pace the room, stuck in deep thought. Suddenly, she stopped and turned to Rarity. “What happened? Tell me everything.”
-One hour later-
“And then he just flew away.” Rarity finished her story. She had broken out into tears many times while telling Twilight what had happened, but she finished it nonetheless. “Twilight, please tell me we can get him back.”
“Yes, we can. But you’re going to have to help me.” Twilight got up from her chair once more and proceeded to the door of the basement, motioning for Rarity to join.
“Of course I’ll help. I love him, and I want to fix my mistake.” Rarity stood next to Twilight, looking intensely at her friend.
“That’s good to hear.” Twilight smiled and reached for the key in her pouch to unlock the basement door but was interrupted by Rarity.
“Twilight, earlier you asked ‘Did he give it you’. What did you mean, darling?” Rarity looked at her, curious.
“Oh. I was going to ask you…” She turned and stared the white unicorn right in the eyes. “Did he give you the ring?”
Fire, smoke and ash. That was all that filled Spike’s vision. Flames jumped from bush to bush, setting the trunks of trees ablaze. The black smoke rose from the inferno into the sky above the forest, hanging over the mass of trees like a gigantic, threatening thunder cloud.
Spikes wings flapped in the air, holding his massive form aloft. Fire expelled from his maw, bathing the treetops and forest floor in licking flames. His powerfully flapping wings pushed the air downward into the torrent of flames, only adding oxygen to the mixture, making it bigger and bigger by the second.
While the Spike’s flames ate away at the forest, another kind of flame at away at his heart. It was a fire of rage and denial. Deep inside, Spike was a soft and kind dragon. But having been denied by Rarity hurt him gravely, shattering the kindness that kept him from going insane. Not anymore.
Suddenly, the glazed over look of Spike’s eyes vanished, and he shook his head, clearing the fog that clouded his consciousness. Seeing the flame before him, Spike shouted out in shock.
“Oh crap! Did I do that! Crap crap crap crap! What do I do?” Spike yelled as he thought hard about how to put out the flames. The purple dragon began to flap his wigs harder, trying to douse the flames. Instead of the desired effect, the flames only grew. Shouting loudly, Spike turned around and began flying away, leaving the forest to burn. He didn't want to, but it was all he could do. “I hope Twilight doesn't hear about this.” He muttered to himself as he flew away. --------------------------------------------------------------
“Wait….. WHAT HAPPENED!?” Twilight yelled at the stallion pegasi courier whom had just delivered an urgent message to her, and now stood in the door entrance.
“Like I said, Twilight. A dragon was spotted over the birch-wood forest, burning it down. The dragon had the appearance of Spike,” He stammered, slightly shaking. “though no-pony could see clearly due to the smoke. Even the pegasi in the area had to clear out because of the danger of. I’m sorry Twilight.”
Twilight sighed and paid him the two bits for the message. “Thank you, Bolt. As usual, I’m glad you brought the message to me.”
Before leaving, Bolt grabbed Twilight by the hoof and looked her in the eye. “Twilight, if you go after him, please…. Stay safe.”
“Oh Bolt, you’re so sweet. But don’t worry. I think I can handle Spike. Besides, I’ve been raising him since he was born. I highly doubt he would hurt me.” Twilight laughed as she slipped her hoof out of Bolts. She shut the door as he left, and then leaned against the wooden portal. She sighed loudly and headed into the main room where Rarity lay, still unconscious. It probably wasn’t the best idea to mention the ring, but her friend had the right to know.
Feeling confident, Twilight went over to Rarity and woke her up with a simple spell. The white unicorn slowly sat up, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
“Huh? What happened?” She moaned quietly, not realizing she had fainted.
“You fainted. Rarity.” Twilight used her magic to lift up Rarity and set her up on her hooves. “I have some bad news. Spike is causing trouble that only we can fix.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Well…….. You’re going to want to sit down for this one.” Twilight conjured some chairs and sat in one. Rarity took the other. Feeling comfortable, Twilight continued. “Spike was spotted not long ago.”
“That’s good news, isn’t it?” A smile began to form on Rarity’s lips, but vanished at Twilight's next words.
“He was burning down a forest.” Twilight finished her sentence, wincing as she spoke the words.
Rarity looked at Twilight with a face of confusion for a few seconds before it turned into complete shock. “B… burning down….. a forest?” She asked, staring at Twilight. It looked like she was going to faint again.
“Don’t faint, Rarity. I’m going to need your help.” Twilight said, getting up and going over to Rarity. “We need to find Spike and stop him. We can fix this. You, can fix this.”
Rarity looked at Twilight and smiled slightly. It was one thing for somepony to tell Rarity that they believed in her. But it was another thing entirely for her to believe it. And she believed Twilight, here and now. “Ok,” she said, getting up from the chair. “What do I have to do?”
“Well, for one, you have to help me locate Spike. Second, you need to tell Spike how you really feel about him.” Twilight went to a closet and began pulling out some backpacks and filling them with essential survival gear. “I’ll get everything packed. You just sit there and rest.”
“Twilight. Was Spike going to propose to me?” Rarity was right behind Twilight, an expression of regret and fear on her face. “Tell me the truth, dear. I need to know.”
Twilight sighed and turned to face Rarity. “Yes, he was going to propose to you. I told him not to, that it wasn't the right time.”
Rarity sighed and turned away, heading for the door to leave. “Great. If only I’d have known. Oh well, too late for that. But maybe I can still fix it. I hope I can. Come pick me up at the boutique.” She left the library and started her walk home. Thoughts buzzed through her head, both pleasant and unpleasant.
