Crushes

by James Pwyll

First published

What if Spike grew fond of somepony other than Rarity when he came to Ponyville?

When Twilight first arrived in Ponyville, her faithful assistant Spike fell head over heels for the glamorous Rarity. But what if it hadn't been her that the little dragon had grown a fondness for? After all, Rarity wasn't the only mare he'd met that day.

Pinkie Pie

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"Maybe the ponies in Ponyville have interesting things to talk about!" Spike declared, mere moments after he and Twilight had stepped off their chariot. And it just so happened that one of the ponies in question, a pink earth pony mare, was happily trotting right towards them. Once she was close enough, the young dragon gestured to her while looking back to Twilight. "Come on, Twilight, just try!" he urged her.

Twilight, as always, was hesitant, but with Spike right there and looking to her with those big eyes of his, she soon found herself relenting. Putting on a small smile, she looked to this pink mare before her. "Um...hello?"

The other mare immediately leapt into the air, gasping as if she'd just witnessed the most shocking thing in the world. Turns out the thing that had shocked her was Spike, as she darted forward, whisking him into her hooves and looking to him with utter adoration. "Oh...my...GOODNESS!!!"

"Wait, what?" Twilight said, looking to the side where this strange mare had carried her assistant.

As for Spike, he was naturally taken aback by this sudden attention, but said nothing as the mare kept on talking rapid-fire to him. "You are just the sweetest little dragon I've ever seen! Actually, I've never seen a dragon before, so you're the first! Oh! I'm Pinkie Pie by the way! Nice to meet you! Are you staying long? Where'd you come from? Do you need help getting around town?"

Spike was at a loss for words, but the way this mare was holding him, practically in a hug, was a lot for him, and he soon found himself blushing to it all. "Erm...I...er..."

Twilight, after rolling her eyes, stepped forward. "I'm terribly sorry to interrupt, but we're on urgent business. I don't suppose you'd know where we can find an Applejack around here, do you? I think she's in charge of catering."

Pinkie giggled, setting Spike down. "Sure, silly! She lives right over there!" She pointed behind Twilight, to a direction where they could all make out a farm of some sort. Smiling, Twilight nodded to her, heading in that direction. "Thank you. Come on, Spike." But after a few moments, she realized he wasn't following, and looked back, seeing him stare at Pinkie in an utterly love-struck way, with Pinkie not even noticing of course. Groaning, Twilight lit up her horn, levitating him over to sit on her back. "Okay, Casanova, you can talk with her again later."

Pinkie, happy to have helped, waved enthusiastically to them both. "Bye-bye, new friends!"

Spike, finally shaking himself out of that, waved back, then looked down to Twilight. "So...she was friendly, right?"

Applejack

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"YEEEEEEHAW!!!" Twilight and Spike were definitely taken aback by the sudden call, and having only just taken a step inside the fence of Sweet Apple Acres, the two turned to see an orange earth pony mare galloping at full speed towards the nearest apple tree. She bucked it hard, causing every single one of those delicious fruits to fall into pre-placed baskets.

Proud of her action, the mare smiled to her efforts, but Twilight was not so enthused, as evidenced by her sigh. "Let's get this over with." She and Spike walked up to this other mare, catching her attention by speaking up. "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and..."

Unfortunately for Twilight, she didn't get the chance to finish, as the other mare took her by the hoof and gave it a vigorous shake. "Well, howdy-do Miss Twilight! Pleasure making yer acquaintance!" Letting her go, and seeing her recover slightly, she continued. "Always a pleasure makin' new friends. Name's Applejack!"

Twilight, finally getting out of her dizziness, put on a smile for her. "A pleasure to meet you too. This is Spike."

Applejack looked down to the small dragon accompanying Twilight, and the latter gave her a friendly wave, much to her delight. "Well ah'll be darned. Yer a dragon, ain't ya?"

Spike nodded proudly. "Yep. Pretty impressive, eh?"

Twilight rolled her eyes to that, but said nothing as Applejack chuckled. "Mah family would be pleased as much ta meet ya, Spike. We're jus' bout ready fer the big family lunch!"

Spike's eyes widened hungrily. "Did you say lunch?"

Applejack gave him a quick wink. "Sure did! Here..." She wandered over to a nearby table, where a number of apple-based treats had already been laid out. Taking one, she offered it to the hungry dragon. "Try this one fer size."

Taking it, Spike grinned happily as he munched down. Instantly, his eyes widened, as if having entered a realm of deliciousness he'd never known before. "That...is the best thing I've ever tasted!"

Applejack chortled. "Well, we Apples sure know how ta make em! We've got apple pie, apple fritters, apple tarts, apple dumplings, apple crisps, apple crumblers, and apple Brown Betty. Uh, the dessert, not my auntie. What do you say there, friend?"

Spike was salivating at this point. "...Will you marry me?" Realising what he'd said, and after hearing the chuckle Applejack gave in response, Spike shook himself out of it. "I mean...er...I think we're here to check on catering, right, Twilight?"

Twilight, who was thoroughly amused by this, especially as Spike continued bushing to this new acquaintance of theirs, patted him on the head. "Yes. Let's."

Rainbow Dash

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"Oof!" Twilight exclaimed as a very fast blur suddenly crashed into her. Spike rushed to her side, seeing her in the puddle of mud she'd been forced into, and saw that the unknown object was a mare, with very distinct rainbow coloring in her mane.

This mystery pony, realising that she'd accidentally bumped into somepony, looked back and chuckled nervously. "Hehe, um...excuse me?" As Twilight grumbled, the pegasus zipped to the side, and brought back with her a rather ominous-looking raincloud. "Here! Let me help you!" She bounced right on top of the thing, casting a downpour right on top of Twilight, getting her soaking wet, which did nothing to help her mood. Seeing that, the energetic newcomer instead elected to fly around her so fast that she ended up in a veritable tornado, presumably to dry her off. Unfortunately, this too failed to solve the problem, as Twilight's mane was now even poofier than Pinkie's had been. The other mare, unable to contain herself, burst out laughing, and Spike soon joined her.

Twilight, doing her best to contain her obvious irritation, exhaled, then walked up to the mare. "I assume you're Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow smirked. "You've heard of me?"

Twilight nodded. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I was sent to check on the weather."

Rainbow, who'd taken to lounging on a nearby cloud, waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it. After I'm done practicing."

Spike looked to her with curiosity. "Practise? For what?"

Rainbow resumed her earlier smirk, then looked down to the small dragon below as she pointed to a poster on a wall that was close-by. "The Wonderbolts!"

Immediately, Spike's eyes widened, and he looked up to Rainbow, clearly impressed. "Wow! You're trying to be a Wonderbolt?! They're some of the best fliers in Equestria!"

Chuckling, Rainbow flew down. "And you're looking at the best, kiddo!" she declared, patting him on the head. Then she looked to him mischievously. "Wanna seem some of my moves?"

Twilight, who naturally wanted to get things back on track, opened her mouth to speak, only to be halted by Spike, who interrupted. "Yes please!"

Rainbow stretched a bit, then flew up higher into the sky, before doing what was, admittedly, an impressive series of aerial stunts, flips and other moves. Spike followed each and every one of them, as did Twilight, though the latter was less interested. Then Rainbow landed right next to them with such force that it sent a dust ring in every direction, before glancing up to her audience with absolute self-assuredness. "Pretty great, eh?"

Spike looked to her with utter awe. "That...was AMAZING!!!" He rushed to her like an enthusiastic fan, which he probably was at this point. "If I ever learn to fly like other dragons, could you teach me some of that?!"

Another pat on his head from Rainbow. "I see you're a kid with taste."

Of course, Twilight groaned to all this. "He's gonna be going on about her all day now, isn't he?"

Fluttershy

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"...Oooooookay, it was nice talking with you," Twilight said with some uncertainty as she slowly backed away from the timid mare before her. Fluttershy had been so quiet, and so obviously struggling with the interaction, that Twilight silently decided that it'd probably be for the best if she left her alone. Fortunately, this was the moment when Spike finally arrived onto the scene, walking out from behind a nearby bush, and so she walked over to meet with her assistant.

But Fluttershy, seeing this small figure arrive, widened her eyes to the sight, and she flew a few feet into the air, looking completely ecstatic at this sight. "A BABY DRAGON!!!" She darted forward, not even aware of the fact that she completely knocked Twilight out of the way when she landed right next to Spike. But all she really cared about right now was that an adorable little critter was in front of her, and she was sure to let him know it. "Oh, he's so cute!"

Spike, who was always willing to let his ego be stroked every now and again, cast a smug look back to Twilight. "Well, well, well!"

Fluttershy smiled enthusiastically to this unexpected moment in her life. "Oh my, he talks! I didn't know dragons could talk. That's just so incredibly wonderful I...I just don't even know what to say!" She took his claw, giving it a gentle shake. "I'm Fluttershy! What's your name?"

Spike smiled back to her. "Oh. It's Spike. But you can call me Spiky if you like."

Twilight slapped her own forehead. "Really?!"

Spike frowned to her, but was taken aback at just how interested Fluttershy was in speaking to him. "I never seen a dragon before. I never knew they could be so...so...so... oh my!" She whisked him up, cradling him and holding him like he was the most cuddly teddy bear in the world. "I've been around so many wonderful creatures in my life, but I've never been around one as wonderful as you!"

Spike, though having been hugged by several ponies in his life, had never seen this level of affection directed to him, and so started to blush in the embrace of this mare. "Er...hehe...I try."

Fluttershy giggled, responding to that by giving him a quick boop on the nose. "Aren't you just the most precious little guy?"

Spike chuckled nervously, then glanced back to Twilight. "Can we maybe stay here and talk with her a bit longer? The party can wait, right?"

Twilight hung her head, groaning. "Note to self, never underestimate ponies' ability to be taken in by cuteness."