Chapter 1
The scent of lavender in the room was overpowering. A tall, lanky drake stood in the center of the Carousel Boutique, pacing nervously as he waited. The purple scales on his hands gleamed with sweat and shook softly. He grasped a small bouquet of roses that could have easily been left on the couch behind him.
He walked from the couch to the far wall, then back to the couch. To his knowledge, he’d only been doing this for five minutes, but it felt like four times that already. He only knew this much because every time he reached the wall, he looked up at the small, elegantly designed clock, that he could barely stand to read for five seconds, before pacing back to the couch. Then back to the wall.
This time, however, he made the decision to sit himself down once he reached the couch. There was no reason to make his heart beat any faster than it already was. He sighed, setting the roses down next to him, and he buried his face in his claws. All he had to do was wait thirty minutes, until the clock struck six and a mare finished the work he was eagerly waiting for, but it already felt like the longest thirty minutes of his short life.
So he let his mind wander, hoping that it would help. He thought of what put him in this situation in the first place. He thought about her. Her laugh, the one she saved for when they were alone. The way the wrinkles around her eyes, laugh lines she’d called them, sharpened when she smiled. The way she helped him with every single one of his problems, no matter how simple, even when he’d been just a kid.
He let out a small chuckle at that; at the fact that he’d known her for over twenty years at this point. He’d grown up with her teaching him how to be a gentleman, and now it was time to put that to the test.
“Spike?”
He jumped out of his seat when he heard his name being called from the other room. The soft voice, lightly dusted with a stereotypical Canterlot accent, broke him away from his thoughts. He glanced up at the clock and saw that ten minutes had already passed.
Spike heard the soft clicking of hooves on tiles getting closer. Seconds later a mare emerged from the other room, taking precise and measured steps on every other tile as she made her way to Spike. His eyes were drawn to the hypnotic curls in her purple mane, then to her pristine white coat that gleamed in the light like the finest silk. Finally his eyes were drawn to hers, a pure and deep blue that seemed to reach out, grab him, and hold him there, every single time. .
He couldn’t help but smile as he saw her enter; she’d always managed to calm him when he was feeling nervous, “Hey, Rarity,” he said with a small wave. A thought occurred to him, and he briskly moved the roses from the seat to onto his lap.
“Thank you, darling,” she said as she took the newly vacant seat, “So I suppose that this,” she gestured to the roses, “is what you needed help with?”
“Yeah,” he muttered, looking down at the flowers he’d gotten hours ago. They were a bright and beautiful red. “I think I’ve finally gathered up the courage to do it.”
Rarity nodded, “You know that this makes the third time you’ve decided, correct?”
Spike sighed and ran his claws across his green headspines. “Yeah,” he repeated, “But I’m really feeling it. This time. I just, you know, need a little push.” He smirked at that, knowing that this would be, likewise, the third time that she’d given him the little push.
“Will this time be different?” She asked with little pause or hesitation, “I enjoy helping you, darling, I really do. I would just rather that my advice be taken seriously.” She placed a friendly hoof on his thigh, “Are you sure about this?”
Spike hesitated, looking around at everything that wasn’t the source of the question. Namely, Rarity. His eyes were drawn to the clock that told him that he had fifteen minutes left to kill.
Continuing to Stare at the clock, Spike weighed the pros and cons of telling her that 44he loved her, or just that he wanted to maybe go on a date with her at some point. Then he decided that pros and cons were never going to help him with a love-based decision. Love can’t be solved via logic, of course. Except in really weird cases.
“No,” Spike shook his head, but smiled, “But I’m going to do it anyway.”
Rarity shared his smile as she buried the sigh, and the exasperated gasp of ‘finally’ she’d been obviously expecting to give. “I knew you could do it, darling.”
“Haven’t done it yet,” he sighed, “But thanks, Rarity.”
“No problem in the least, darling.” she shifted slightly on the small couch, intending to get comfortable. It looked like her next question could take a while to answer. “So, if you don’t mind my inquiring, what’s your plan?”
“I’m going to the castle in a few minutes,” he said simply. “I’ll give her the flowers, and see where that takes me.” He scratched the back of his head, “There’s a good chance that I’ll just awkwardly stumble through my feelings, though. The usual.”
Rarity shrugged, “As long as you tell her straight, I’m sure it will be fine,” then she gestured at the bouquet of roses, “But that certainly will not do. Roses are simply overplayed, you see.”
Her horn lit up with a blue light, illuminating a book on the shelf across from them. Rarity opened the book as she brought it over to them, to a specific place that had served her well before.
“Now see here,” she said, pointing towards the pictures of flowers in the book, “Simply beautiful, and hardly ever worn,” she then pointed to a specific flower, a small purple one. “If you had happened to have one of these, you could have put it in her mane and it would have looked absolutely marvelous.”
“I, uh, I was gonna get something like that,” Spike admitted, looking closer at the picture, “But Roseluck was kind of pushy with the classics. Symbolizes true love, or something.”
Rarity sighed regretfully, falling back against the couch, “Yes, but that is exactly why they are,” she gestured to the book once again, “Just look. An aster is much more meaningful than any bunch of roses.”
Spike groaned, “So, basically, I have some useless flowers.”
“Not exactly useless, darling,” she muttered before grabbing the bouquet. She lifted them to the light in the room and turned them. “They just need a slight... finishing touch or two.”
“What kind of, uh, touch?” Spike asked. Once he did, Rarity’s horn lit up once again, wrapping around the bouquet.
Very slowly, the color of the roses turned from an eye-catching red, slightly dimmed by the blue surrounding it, to a calm, mysterious, lavender-ish color.
“Much better,” Rarity sighed in relief. “Much more, well, enchanting, don’t you think?” she handed the bouquet back over to Spike, looking pleased with herself.
“Yeah,” he looked them over with a smile, “How’d you do that? An illusion?”
“Darling, every fashionista worth a penny must know how to tweak a color every now and then,” Rarity said with a smile, “In all honesty, it was a trick my father taught me. He certainly gave my little brother and I a slew of parlor tricks to work with.”
Spike let out a small chuckle, “And here I thought he was just an ordinary sports nut,” He looked back down at his, now lavender, roses, then wrapped his long, lanky arms around Rarity, “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t start thanking me until the wedding,” She said as she wrapped her hooves around his neck, “I’m sewing all of the dresses, remember.”
Spike rolled his eyes, “Right. Don’t plan too far ahead. Good advice,” he pulled back slightly, “But, hypothetically, if we were to plan, I’d say that Tenor is gonna be my best man,” he hesitated for a second, “If she even says yes, that is.”
“Don’t worry, Spike.” Rarity said softly, laying one of her hooves on his leg again, “I know for a plain and simple fact that most mares wouldn’t say no to a big, strapping young dragon like yourself.”
“But, you said no,” Spike pointed out.
“I’m not most mares, darling,” she countered, “And you were a mere fifteen years old at the time, so I don’t feel it counts.”
Spike raised an eyebrow with a smirk, So, I’m guessing that means you’d say yes now, then?”
She considered the thought for a second, putting a hoof to her muzzle, then she shook her head, “No, but only because you have Twilight.”
“Not yet I don’t,” Spike said as he stood up from the couch. He looked over to the clock which now displayed 6:30, “And it looks like I’m a bit late. Do you think she’ll care?”
“Of course she will, darling. She’s our Twilight after all,” she followed his example and stood up as well, only coming up to his stomach in height, “But I’m sure she won’t mind once you tell her how you feel about everything.”
“I sure hope you’re right,” Spike tried to show his gratitude with a slight smile, but it fell short of the mark. “Wish me luck?”
“You shall not need luck. This is a certainty of the highest degree,” Rarity lightly pushed Spike with a single hoof, “Now go. Any longer and she’ll probably send you to your room before you get the chance to ask.” She finished with a small giggle.
“I know you’re joking, but she’d do it. A stickler for punctuality, that one is.”He walked towards the door, “I’ll try and let you know how it goes tomorrow. Thanks again for everything.”
“The only thanks I need is the juiciest of the details,” she then waved him away, “Now shoo, darling. I know we both have work to do.”
Spike nodded, “Will do.”
Spike slowly pushed open the door to the Golden Oaks Library M.K. II. He struggled against its weight; the door seemed to have grown heavier in the time he’d been gone. It almost felt like something was actively resisting him on the other side. He still managed it though, and he entered the house/main library space not long after.
The floor of the tree-shaped library was covered in small, heart-shaped boxes and flowers. They were just strewn about the floor without rhyme or reason, a very un-Twilight thing to do, and when he noticed that, he also became aware of a small (though technically everyone was getting smaller to him now) purple mare in the center of the chaos, who stared emptily up at the ceiling. She didn’t seem to have noticed him entering.
So, Spike did the most logical thing and layed down next to her, setting his lavender roses on a pile of red ones. He stared up at the ceiling for a moment, looking at the boring, blank wood that had yet to be decorated. It might have been too early to say for certain, but it looked like this was going to be one of those freakish times that logic could be romantic.
“I miss the stars,” Spike said, breaking the tense silence .
Twilight nodded slowly, “We need to get that fixed soon,” she looked over at Spike, “Do you want to do your room too, or should they just be out here?”
“Depends on the paint,” he muttered, “I kind of want the glow-in-the-dark stuff, but if we can’t get any then just put them out here I suppose.”
Twilight smirked, “I can get the paint, Spike. It’s not like it’s out of our way.”
“Yeah, but Scoots’ll probably charge us more, he shrugged. He sat up a little and looked around once again. “So I see H and H day was slow this year,” he said with a chuckle, “We can’t even fill a room with this.”
“And most of it is for you this year,” Twilight said with a sigh, “I guess the royals managed to figure that I wasn’t that interested.”
“I thought you’d be happier when that happened,” Spike pointed out, “You alright, Twilight?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight sighed once again, “I was hoping that I’d find that particular someone this year. Someone who doesn’t want me for the royal status. And the castle. And the fortune.”
Spike frowned. “What about Flash? Didn’t he send you anything this year?”
“He’s back with Sunset. Both of them are.” Twilight informed Spike, “I’m happy for them, of course, but I was hoping one of them would be available.”
“You’d’ve gone for a human?”
Twilight shrugged, “Love is love, I guess.”
Spike swallowed hard, fearing the answer to his next question, “You loved him?”
“It’s... just possible,” Twilight said as she sat up, looking over the mess of the room, “I should have just shovelled all this in your room.”
“So this is all mine?” Spike asked with a small amount of disbelief, “I know the Crystal Empire loves me and all, but this? This is just ridiculous.”
“You also got something from every available mare in Ponyville,” Twilight grumbled, motioning off to her left, “I think I piled them over there. You got things from Scootaloo, Tenor, and Apple Bloom as well.”
“Awesome!,” Spike thrust his fist in the air, “I got gems to last me until next year!”
“I give you one single week,” Twilight said, cracking a small smile, “You’ll eat most of it, and the rest will go to Rarity. Just like last year.”
Spike shrugged, “Yeah, well, you can’t say I’m anything but consistent,” He thought for a second, then grabbed the lavender roses from the pile by his side, “Want a rose? I got a whole bunch here.”
“You’re a riot,” Twilight remarked sarcastically, then shook her head, not even looking toward Spike, “And no, I’m not hungry. Roses don’t taste that good anyway. Maybe an aster or something, but never a rose. They were bred for colour and scent; flavor never even got a look-in.”
Spike was torn between sighing at her obliviousness and kicking himself for listening to Roseluck, “Twilight,” he said as he massaged the bridge of his snout, “These aren’t for eating. They’re a gift. For you. From me.” He looked down at the bouquet as he blushed heavily, unable to look at Twilight directly.
Despite adopting a blush of her own, Twilight was able to work up the courage to look at her potential suitor head on. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the flowers he had tightly gripped in his claws. She appreciated the slight departure from the cliche, a different color adding a bit of flair, but she would have prefered a flower she wouldn’t have to taste twice.
But still, she smiled and it was only slightly nervously, “Thank you, Spike,” she said as she took hold of the roses with her magic, gently tugging them from Spike’s grip, “These are beautiful, but I think I’m getting some mixed signals.”
“I like you, Twilight,” Spike blurted out almost immediately. His body tensed as he stared at his claws. “I mean, I guess that like is kind of the wrong word. It’s more like…” He trailed off as he tried to cobble together an explanation, “You make me feel every single stupid romance cliche at the same time. Seriously, it’s just like a book. My heart beats faster, my mouth gets dry, butterflies in my stomach, and whatever else. It’s weird and stupid, but I guess it’s how I feel.” He let out a small sigh after he finished his spontaneous tangent.
“You guess?” was all Twilight could bring herself to ask.
“This is uncharted territory for me, Twi. I’ve never actually felt like this for anyone else,” he swallowed hard, “Rarity came close, Apple Bloom closer, but this,” he motioned between the two of them, “This is the closest I’ve gotten to…” he stopped there, hoping that Twilight would fill in the blank.
“Touching a mare?” Twilight suggested.
“You know what I mean,” Spike groaned, “The L word, Twilight.”
“Oh,” she said, nodding, “Loathe.”
“Yes Twilight, Spike sighed deeply, “I’m in loathe with you. I loathe you with all of my heart, and I have loathed you for five years now. I loathe you so much that I want to take you out to dinner soon.” He finally managed to look up at Twilight, a large blush still lighting his face, “If you’ll let me.”
Twilight stood up, “How about tomorrow?” She asked as she walked the short distance to Spike. “Every restaurant from here to Canterlot is full tonight, and I don’t feel like calling in another favor. I already have enough of a reputation for that.”
“Right,” Spike nodded, then stood up as well, “I could always make us dinner.”
Twilight groaned softly, ”You know, normally I would tell you to go ahead, but I don’t think I feel like staying up long enough,” she punctuated that sentence with a large, loud yawn, “If you couldn’t tell, I’m fairly tired.”
“This early? But...” Spike’s eyes drifted to the clock. It read 7:10, “Oh, actually that’s not as bad as I thought,” he smiled bashfully at Twilight, “Goodnight, then. I guess.”
It was then that Twilight wrapped her hooves around Spike’s neck, pulling him into a hug, Spike was confused for a moment, but he soon figured it out and wrapped his arms around her. At least he didn’t do something embarrassing, like squeak in surprise.
“I loathe you, Spike.”
“I loathe you too, Twilight.”