The Heart of a Dragon (2019)
The Heart Of A Dragon
Originally Completed On 6-2-13, And Re-Written On 11-12-19
It was a nice day in Ponyville. This was the first day in a while that it wasn't raining non-stop. Everypony was out and about, enjoying the beautiful sunlight brought forth by Equestria's own Princess Celestia. The little purple and green dragon known as Spike was taking a stroll around Ponyville, having finished his chores, and earning the rest of the day off.
When Spike took a walk by himself, it was usually because he had something on his mind. Sometimes, he would talk to his closest friend, Twilight Sparkle. That wouldn't work this time, though. Twilight WAS his problem and source of confusion. Spike had stopped chasing Rarity a few months ago, tired of being ignored most of the time. He just wasn't feeling it. Whatever love felt like, that certainly wasn't it.
Spike concluded that it must have been lust. Spike had read a few books that he accidentally stumbled across in the Library (In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have read them) that described the emotion he was feeling exactly. Recently, he had begun to get these strange feelings around Twilight. It was probably about a month ago that they had first appeared, and they had been just about the only thing that he could think about since. They were the main source of his current confusion.
Today was Friday, and Spike figured that it was as good a day as any to get to the bottom of why he felt this way. The feelings were very similar to the ones that he had felt for Rarity, but somehow different. The baby dragon and unicorn had been living together since as far back as he could remember. I mean, she was practically his mother! They were best friends, but Spike felt that they should become something more. What was he saying?!
"Wait! That's it! Maybe this new emotion is love! That's the only explanation that seems to make sense." Spike pictured his solution. He'd walk right into the Library and tell her that he loved her! "Something tells me that that wouldn't work out so well. This is a big decision! It'll change our relationship forever. I need to investigate."
Spike decided to learn more about love before rushing into things. The dragon realized that the best place to start would be asking his friends. Most of his friends had been around longer than he had, so they were bound to know some valuable info about his predicament.
"Detective Spike to the rescue!" Spike's stomach voiced its disapproval with a loud growl.
He looked down at it, before glancing up at the sun briefly. He gasped. While he had been walking lost in his thoughts, the orb had silently risen, now floating lazily in the center of the sky. No wonder he was hungry! It was lunchtime!
"But first, I'll get some donuts."
Spike went on his way, headed towards a small building with a round metal donut sign beside it, promoting Pony Joe's donut store. Pony Joe had recently opened a new shop in Ponyville to add to the other store in Canterlot. As expected, Spike was his number one customer. After he had left, a mare rose up out of the shadows and bush that she had been hiding in.
"So, Spike has a love problem does he? This could be interesting..." The pony faded back into the shadows stealthily, her curly pink mane waving in the breeze, as she resumed her pursuit of him.
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"Hey, Spike. How's it goin'?" The owner of the store answered as the bell above the door rang, announcing the arrival of the dragon.
Spike's feet slapped against the black and white checkered floor, as he traveled over to the counter and took a seat on one of the barstools.
"Sup', Joe. I'm good, I guess."
Joe's expression changed to one of concern, curious about his regular customer's strange attitude. "You don't sound good. Is something on your mind?"
"I guess, you could say that. I have a little bit of a problem."
"Care to tell me about it?"
Joe tried to pick his words carefully. From Spike's expression, he could tell that whatever was troubling him made him uncomfortable. The stallion waited patiently for the dragon's reply; Spike would tell him when he was ready. The pony left and returned with a plate of donuts topped with extra sprinkles, just the way that Spike liked them. He sensed that this might take awhile.
Spike took a deep breath and exhaled a loud sigh. He was more stressed than he realized. Spike would probably need to visit Lotus and Aloe's spa once this was all over. The dragon looked up from fiddling with his claws (a habit from being nervous) and his gaze fell on the plate of delectable treats in front of him. He reached out and grabbed one in his hand, then took a bite out of it. This seemed to help him relax a bit, giving him the strength to continue. To be honest, the little dragon was slightly embarrassed.
"Well, basically I have a girl problem."
Joe's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Oh, really? I didn't know that you had a girlfriend, Spike!"
"I don't. I've never really had one..." Spike trailed off. This, THIS is what made him embarrassed.
"Oh. Is that your problem? Or do you have your eyes set on somepony?"
"I...uh, kind of think that I like somepony. But, I don't know much about love or how to even tell her." The dragon finished his donut. "Listen, I was wondering er...you've been around longer than I have, and I was thinking that surely you'd know something about love."
"I don't know how to put this, but I don't know much about this love business either. I have been in quite a few relationships over the years, but I'm afraid I can't help you. Thing is, love isn't something you can define, you just feel it. I'm not sure that anypony knows much about it. I think that you're best bet, is to talk to someone more on the feminine side."
Joe glanced apologetically at Spike.
"Thanks anyway, Pony Joe. How much do I owe ya'?" Spike reached to pull out some bits, but Pony Joe raised a hoof to stop him.
"It's on the house. Good luck Spike, I hope you find what you're looking for!" He called, as the dragon exited the establishment.
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As soon as the doors closed behind him, the dragon was pulled into the shadows beside the building. Spike turned to his assailant. He noticed her as one of his close friends.
"Pinkie Pie?!"
There was no mistaking her. The pink mare was wearing her detective outfit from when she solved the mystery of what had become of the cake she was guarding. Pinkie debated on the best way to tell someone that you had been stalking them all morning, and decided to just go with a simple greeting.
"Hi, Spike!" Pinkie greeted, as cheerful as ever with a wide grin.
"Hi, Pinkie. Uh, why did you pull me into the shadows with you?" Spike was slightly aggravated, as he had his own problems to deal with.
"So we could talk in private, silly!" Pinkie explained, acting as if it was obvious.
"Uh, okay. What's so important?"
"It's you!"
Spike was used to the party pony's randomness by now, but that didn't mean that he would understand her, anytime soon. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Pinkie decided to treat this situation like removing a Band-Aid, and get it over with as quickly as possible. "I've been following you all morning and couldn't help but notice, that you seem to have a love problem!" She blurted out, quickly covering her mouth with a hoof.
"Wait. You've been stalking me?!" Spike was horrified.
"Don't worry! I do that to everypony!"
"Uh...that's really creepy," Spike shuddered, and took a step away from Pinkie.
"If you want to know about love, it's a warm fuzzy feeling! For example, I can tell that you love Twilight!" Pinkie revealed.
"What? I mean, of course, I love Twilight. She's like family to me!" Spike was sweating profusely; he knew he was fighting a battle that he couldn't win.
"I meant as more than that." Pinkie winked, "Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!"
Spike slumped in defeat. "All right, you got me. Go ahead and laugh."
"I'm not going to laugh at you! I just want to help you! Here's some advice: Tell her! It's not like she'll be mad at you!"
"Thanks Pinkie, you're right!"
Spike looked up, but she was gone. The dragon could never figure out how she disappeared so fast. It's like she was teleporting.
Even though he was pretty sure that Pinkie's advice was suitable for his purposes, he knew that advice that worked for one pony wouldn't always work for another. It might do him some good to speak with each of his other friends, just to make sure that he was ready. He was thankful more than ever that most of his friends were mares, since he really needed to see things from their feminine perspective.
Spike had already spoken to Pinkie, so that left Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. He was also good friends with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but asking them for help simply wasn't an option, for reasons that were obvious to anypony who knew them personally. Although they meant well, their attempts to assist ponies usually ended in disaster. Especially, when it came to anything even remotely involving romance.
He wasn't about to trust them with a matter of the heart that was so important to him, not after the Hearts and Hooves Day incident with Cheerilee and Big Mac. Besides, they were younger than him, so he doubted that they knew anything more than he did about love, despite the fact that they were also girls.
He was planning to go visit Rarity, since he was already in the center of town and she was the closest, but it wasn't meant to be. At least not yet, anyway. As luck would have it, a multi-colored object crashed into him with all the force of a train, knocking him off of his feet and slamming both him and the assailant's body into the wall of a nearby building.
With the kind of luck he was usually graced with, this kind of outcome shouldn't have come as a surprise. He had been right outside the Boutique when this incident had happened, too. His vision was unfocused, stars circling around his head in a daze.
Rainbow Dash managed to get off of him, wincing as she attempted to stretch out her left wing. "Oh, man. It looks like I've done it again. I REALLY have to work on my landings. Unfortunately, my wing is sprained, so I won't be doing any more flying for a while." She gasped, her eyes widening in panic, as she heard a groan and looked down, seeming to notice the baby dragon for the first time. "Uh-oh."
She shook Spike by the shoulders gently, trying to get him to snap out of it. "Spike, are you okay? Answer me! Please, I need you to be okay! If you aren't, then Twilight will kill me!" To her dismay, he wasn't responding to her pleas.
She sighed, giving up for the time being. As unappealing as the thought of it was, Rainbow knew that the best course of action would be to take him back to the Library. Twilight's knowledge of spells, both useful and less so, was vast enough that she should be able to find out what was wrong with him and fix it.
With that thought in mind, she slung him over her back and began walking towards the giant tree.
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"Oh my gosh! What happened to him?" Twilight exclaimed, obviously quite concerned about this turn of events.
The pegasus currently carrying him across her back, rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "About that, Twilight…It was KINDA my fault."
Twilight sighed, fighting the urge to slam her hoof into her face in annoyance. This was a common occurrence, when it came to her athletic friend and her reckless ways. "All right, just bring him inside. You can explain it to me, while you're doing that."
Once she had opened the door wide enough, Rainbow Dash stepped past her, as the front door was closed.
"You can put him in my bed upstairs, for now. I need to check him for any injuries he sustained during your crash landing." Twilight said, as she made her way over to the staircase.
Rainbow nodded. "I'm on it." She followed the lavender unicorn up to the second floor of the Library, placing the young dragon exactly where Twilight had instructed her to.
Seeing him lying there like that really drove home just how badly she had messed up. She wanted to help fix this in any way she could, even if that meant staying here with him until he got better. The rainbow-maned pegasus normally hated staying in one place for long periods of time, so the fact that she was even considering doing so, meant that she was serious about this.
Twilight got to work scanning his body to find out what was wrong, while Rainbow stood awkwardly behind her, looking over her shoulder. After a few minutes of her friend breathing down her neck, Twilight exploded, not able to take it anymore.
"Argh! Rainbow, would you just…I would really appreciate it if you gave me some space. This spell is complicated, and I can't concentrate like this!"
Rainbow nodded, backing away from her. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to bother you, Twilight. It's just that I want to make things better, since this was my fault and all. I may not have super awesome magic powers like you do, but if there's anything I can do to help, then let me know."
After a moment of silence had passed between them as she finished the spell, Twilight's horn lit up even brighter, making Spike's body glow a bright green in response.
"There. That should do it. Luckily, he only had minor bruises all over his body and a mild concussion. The spell I just cast on him will jumpstart the healing process, and by the end of the day he should be fully healed." Twilight sighed, turning to face Rainbow.
Twilight wanted to be mad at her, but she forced herself to remain calm, knowing that worrying about Spike's wellbeing was more important at the moment. Nothing would be accomplished by being angry, so she did her best to remain civil.
"Now that that's over, how exactly did this happen?" Twilight inquired.
"There's really not much to tell, Twilight. I was practicing my flying for the Wonderbolts, but I haven't really worked out my landing yet. I crashed into Spike in a similar way to when we first met, and as you can see, I sprained my wing in the process while also hurting Spike." Rainbow attempted to spread out her appendage for emphasis, unable to keep from wincing as she did so.
Twilight shook her head. "I really wish that you wouldn't be so reckless sometimes, but I understand that it's part of what makes you who you are. Rushing headlong into danger is an art that you've certainly perfected, and I must admit that there have been many times where that aspect of your personality has saved us." She moved closer, intending to examine her wing. "Here, let me have a look. I can heal your wing the very same way that I healed Spike."
To her surprise, Rainbow shook her head in refusal. "No thanks, Twilight. I appreciate the offer, but this is what I deserve. Most of what I do involves flying, so it won't hurt me to take a breather from it for a while." She grinned widely. "Besides, this is the perfect chance for me to catch up on my reading. The latest 'Daring Do' book came out not long ago, and I haven't had a chance to read it yet due to my training."
Twilight chuckled. "I see. So THAT'S why. I was wondering why you would give up your ability to fly so easily, since that's not like you, but now it makes sense." She turned in the direction of the stairs. "If you're so determined to help, then would you mind keeping an eye on Spike for me while I go get some ice?"
Rainbow waved a hoof. "Go ahead. I've got this!"
Once she had heard her friend's reply, the unicorn trotted down the stairs, heading for the lower level of the Library. This left Rainbow alone with Spike, and it ended up being more awkward than she thought it would be. Just as she approached his side after debating with herself for a few minutes, he began to stir, opening his eyes slightly.
"Ugh…Rainbow…What happened?" The baby dragon groaned, rubbing his head in confusion.
The guilty pegasus rubbed the back of her neck with one hoof and sighed. "Well, I crashed into you by accident during my training. I REALLY need to work on my landings. Anyway, you got hurt, so I took you to Twilight, and here we are." She bowed her head. "Sorry, Spike. I hope you can forgive me. If there's any way I can make it up to you, then please let me know."
He surprised her by wrapping his arms around her neck and pulling her into a hug. "It's okay, Rainbow. I forgive you. I know that you wouldn't do something like this on purpose. As for how you can help me…" Spike trailed off, thinking of all the ways he could have fun with this.
If she was willing to do anything, then he could make her wear a top hat and dance down the street or something equally embarrassing. With that much power over her, he could…No, this wasn't right. Before he had the chance to go mad with power, he shook his head and cleared his thoughts. There WAS one thing that she could do for him, though. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it was the only thing he could think of for her to help him with.
"Well, there IS one thing that you could do for me. If you do this, then you can forget about making it up to me."
Rainbow pulled away from the hug after hugging him back. Her eyes widened. "Really? What is it? I'll do anything!"
"Uh…Well…Rainbow, what do you know about love?" Spike asked, looking away from her awkwardly.
"L-Love? W-What are you talking about?" Rainbow's face was completely red, her cheeks infused with scarlet.
"Man, I knew that this was going to be awkward. Sorry for bringing this up out of the blue, but it's important." Spike told her, his scaly face having taken on the same hue as Rainbow's.
"Well, you know that this isn't really my playing field, but I guess I could try to help you out. I've only had a few crushes in my lifetime, and only one or two of those turned into relationships. None of it was really serious, though. Let me put it this way.
Love is like a game of hoofball. You and the pony you're interested in are on opposing teams, but you both want the same thing. You have to figure out whether you're all in or not. You obviously both want to win, but if it ends in a tie, then you won't really be upset, since you get to be together." Rainbow cringed at her own words.
This was one of those times where it had sounded better in her head. She wasn't the best at expressing her feelings, so giving advice like this wasn't one of her strong suits.
"You know what? Just forget what I said. Sorry that I couldn't help you, Spike." Rainbow sighed.
"It's okay, Rainbow. To be honest, I wasn't exactly expecting much from you, anyway. I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask." Spike couldn't deny that he was disappointed, having hoped that the rainbow-maned pegasus had some secret knowledge that she could bestow upon him.
Now that she had overcome her initial embarrassment, Rainbow grinned mischievously. "So…who is she, Spike? Who's the lucky mare that managed to catch the eye of Ponyville's resident, 'Dragon Dude'?"
Spike fidgeted nervously, unprepared for such a question. He should have known that his friend's curiosity would get the better of her if he brought up such a juicy subject. He wasn't even going to ask about the 'Dragon Dude' part.
"If you promise not to tell anypony, then I guess I can tell you. It's uh, Twilight." Spike revealed.
"Tw-Twilight?! It would have to be the 'Egghead', wouldn't it? Bwahahaha!" Rainbow Dash fell to the floor, rolling around with her legs up in the air as she chortled.
"Come on, Rainbow! What's so funny? Is there something wrong with me liking Twilight?" Spike pouted, not amused by her laughter at something he considered to be a very serious matter.
After a few minutes, Rainbow recovered from her laughing fit, wiping tears out of her eyes. "Nothing's wrong with it, but I always thought that you and Twilight had a mother-son thing going on. I wasn't expecting it, that's all. Besides, I was pretty sure that you were still in love with Rarity." Rainbow admitted.
"What?! How did you find out about that? I never told anypony!" Spike failed to hide his shock that somepony knew about his secret crush.
The pegasus standing next to him rolled her eyes. "Dude. You weren't exactly subtle about it. I mean, your eyes turned into hearts every time you were around her! That's like the cliché thing they always use in cartoons to show you that a character is head over heels in love with somepony!"
"Well, whatever. It doesn't matter now. I realized that while I was attracted to her looks, it wasn't true love, and she didn't feel the same, anyway. Recently, I began to see Twilight in a different light and it feels different somehow, in a way that I'm not capable of explaining. I think that it's true love this time, but since I've never had a real relationship before other than in my dreams, I wanted to ask each of my friends to make sure. You all are girls, so I figured that you would automatically know more about this sort of thing than I do." Spike explained, thoroughly.
"Oh, I get it now. You seem serious about this, but all I can do is wish you good luck. I guess I'd better get going, since you're awake now and all. See you later, Spike." Rainbow said.
"Yeah, I'm more serious about this than anything! Thanks for trying, Rainbow. See ya!" Spike waved at her as she left.
Rainbow passed Twilight, who was coming up the stairs, on the way out.
"Where are you going? What happened to wanting to watch over Spike until he gets better?" Twilight wondered, a bag of ice floating in her telekinetic grip.
"Yeah, about that, Twilight…My work here is done, so I'm leaving." Rainbow exited the Library without another word, leaving Twilight to stare at the spot where she was once standing in confusion.
The lavender unicorn continued to her destination, gently laying the bag of ice on Spike's forehead. "Here, Spike. This should help with any lingering soreness that you may be feeling. You should be fully healed within an hour or two, but don't overdo it, all right?"
"Thanks, Twilight. You didn't have to do all of this for me."
"I know, Spike, but I wanted to. You're my number one assistant, after all. You mean a lot to me, and I know that if our positions were swapped, you would do everything you could to make me feel better." Twilight shrugged it off, thinking of it as no big deal.
"Your number one assistant…Is that really all you think of me as, Twilight? I wish I knew for sure, but there's no way I could unless I asked her directly. That's simply not an option at the moment. I need to hear everypony else's opinions, first." Spike thought.
"Okay. I'll be downstairs if you need anything. Try not to move unless you absolutely have to, though." Twilight said, turning and making her way back down to the lower level of the tree.
Spike was left alone with his thoughts for a while, and he was frustrated that he couldn't go speak with the others, since he was stuck in bed. Although he couldn't see what time it was from his spot, it had to have at least been about an hour later when there was a knock on the door. He didn't hear Twilight walking over to answer the door or the sound of her voice, so it was safe to assume that she was probably absorbed in a book.
Whoever it was knocked three or four times, then opened the door. It wasn't long before the sound of hooves traveling up the staircase reached his ears, leading him to the conclusion that he would meet the mysterious visitor soon. As they neared the top, he saw their mane and instantly knew the identity of the pony before he even had a chance to see their face. He knew this pony well, considering the fact that he used to spend pretty much every waking moment admiring her.
"Rarity! What are you doing here?" Spike asked. The fact that he was surprised to see her was an understatement.
She approached the side of his bed and smiled gently. "Hello, my little Spikey-wikey. Rainbow has informed me about your recent injury, as well as another entirely unrelated matter. Mainly, that you have a problem of the romantic variety. And that simply won't do, Darling."
"Oh, I see. Well, thank you for coming, Rarity." Spike smiled in gratitude.
This was working out better than he could have ever imagined, since he was about to go see her when the accident happened.
"It's no problem at all, Spike. If you require advice on how to deal with matters of the heart, then I'm your mare!" Rarity declared, brimming with confidence.
If anypony could help him with his problems, she was confident that it was her. She had more experience in this field than any of their friends, and a lot of other ponies besides, which led her to believe that if she couldn't help him, nopony else would be able to, either.
"In that case, I could really use some advice. I've tried asking other ponies, but they haven't been much help so far. Pony Joe didn't know much about it in the first place, Pinkie Pie told me to just tell her directly, and Rainbow tried to compare it to sports in a way that didn't make much sense at all! It's SO frustrating that nopony seems to know how to explain a word that should be so simple. I mean, isn't the definition of it written in the dictionary?" Spike ranted.
Rarity laid a hoof on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. She chuckled, unable to help herself in the face of his admittedly adorable naivete. " Haha. Oh, Spike. The reason that nopony has an answer for you, is because love is a concept that is anything but simple. There are many ways to describe it, so it is very difficult for anypony to choose only one explanation. Love isn't simply an emotion, Darling, no, it's much more than that." She raised her hoof into the air, as if she was performing the lead role in a particularly dramatic play.
"Love is something that you feel with every fiber of your being! It's an experience! Not only that, but it's one that is incomparable to anything else. It reaches into the depths of your heart, and it has the power to make you feel better than you ever have. Alas, it is also a double-edged sword. Unfortunately, it has the power to bring you terrible pain, making you feel like you will never be happy again. However, in spite of all that, it is worth the risk of temporary heartache for the chance of spending a lifetime with the pony that you hold dear." Rarity cleared her throat.
"In short, that is only one way of defining love. As I told you previously, there is no true definition. In the end, you have to come up with your own way of seeing it, since everypony has their own unique perspective."
Spike laughed at her over the top display, knowing that such a scene was true to her personality. The alabaster unicorn had always had a flair for the dramatic.
Her snowy cheeks were suffused with the color of cherry blossoms, embarrassed by his reaction to her passionate speech. "I realize that I tend to get carried away, but it wasn't that bad, was it? What's so funny?"
"No, no. Your explanation for what love is was WAY better than anypony else's. The only reason I laughed was because I love that part of you. As a friend, of course." Spike was quick to clarify.
"I see. Now, if we are to continue any further, I simply MUST know who the special mare you are trying to woo is. If it is somepony that I know, it will help me come up with a plan that is suited to them specifically." Rarity explained, fighting to keep the side of her that loved to gossip from rearing its ugly head.
"You mean, you don't know? I assumed that Rainbow told you who it was already." Spike was surprised that the pegasus had kept it a secret, since he figured that she had already spread the word to all of their friends by now.
"I asked her, but she wouldn't tell me. I'm as surprised as you are, but she said that it wasn't for her to say, and that you should be the one to tell me yourself. So, who is it?" Rarity urged, desperately wanting him to 'spill the beans', so to speak.
Spike had already had to repeat it several times now, so he wasn't as embarrassed when he told Rarity. "It's Twilight."
"Tw-Twilight?" Rarity couldn't believe it. Out of all the ponies she thought that it might be, Fluttershy was a more likely candidate than his bookworm caretaker. "But…you've lived with her for so long! Pardon my rudeness, but how has this not come up before?"
"I don't know HOW I didn't see it before, when it was right in front of me all this time. I guess, I must have been blinded by my admiration of you. Ever since we first moved to Ponyville, I've been following you around like…well, a lovesick puppy. I haven't exactly tried to hide the fact that I've always adored you, either. Surely, you must have noticed. Right?" Spike's face was downcast, his expression unreadable. It didn't need to be, though, for the unicorn beside him to understand how he felt.
This was a touchy subject for him, as he had only recently come to accept the fact that she would never see him the way that he saw her. Their viewpoints were too different, never meant to be one. Rarity was truly one of a kind, just like her namesake implied. For a pony so special, it would take somepony who was equally as rare to attract her attention. Spike wondered what kind of stallion it would take, what sort of traits he would have to have to impress her.
He had been staring into those beautiful, icy blue orbs for several years now, but he could never seem to catch her eye. Even though he had pretty much come to terms with it, he would never fully receive the closure he so desperately needed if he didn't lay it all out there for her to see.
The graceful, pure white unicorn bowed her head, ashamed of her actions. Although in this case, it was related to her inaction.
"You have my sincerest apologies, Spike. I truly am sorry that I treated you the way I did, even though I'm certain that I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. Of course, I knew that you had those feelings for me, but I simply let things continue as they were, becoming used to your company.
I treasured the time we spent together, and I knew that it was much easier to allow you to believe that you still had a chance with me than to set you straight and watch you go after somepony else. You deserve to be with somepony who you can be happy with, somepony that actually returns your feelings. If that mare is Twilight, then so be it."
"Rarity…" Spike had only wanted to get this off of his chest, not make her feel bad. When he looked up and saw her still staring at the floor, he sighed. "I understand, Rarity. To tell you the truth, I had already accepted that this was the way it was going to be before our conversation. I've already forgiven you, so there's nothing for you to worry about. I'd like to still be friends if that's okay with you, and while it may not be as often, I'll still visit you from time to time and help out. What do you say?"
The smile that spread across Rarity's face as she raised her head to look at him was stunning. So much so, that he almost fell in love with her again, almost. He wouldn't allow himself to fall into that trap more than once.
She started to reach out and hug him, but she paused, not sure if it was appropriate or not. Spike chuckled, seeing that she really wanted to do so, but was holding back for his sake. He didn't see anything wrong with it, in his experience, good friends hugged all the time.
"I don't mind if you want to hug me, Rarity. Go ahead."
After receiving his permission, she threw her hooves around him and squeezed him tightly. "Oh, thank you, Spike! You have no idea how much this means to me, Darling! I didn't want things to change between us either, so I'm delighted to know that you feel the same." She pulled away after a moment, clearing her throat. "Now that the matter has been resolved, let's get down to business. I believe that I was in the process of devising a plan for you to win over Twilight with…"
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What neither of them realized, was that Twilight had been coming up the stairs to check on Spike when she overheard their conversation. Although she knew that it wasn't the right thing to do, she couldn't resist eavesdropping on them. She was shocked to learn that Spike had feelings for her! She had never even considered such a possibility before, since he was still hung up on Rarity the last time she had checked. Her mind had shifted into maximum overdrive, as she attempted to process this information, quietly going back downstairs.
Twilight trotted over to a nearby blackboard that she sometimes wrote things on, which was already filled with evidence of her last research session, and flipped it over to the other side that was blank. Being the nerd that she was, she began using a piece of chalk to scrawl some complicated equations across the board's surface. None of this scenario made sense, according to her knowledge of science.
"I just don't understand it. Spike can't be in love with me, there's no way that it's true! He knows that I'm not really the type to be worried about that sort of thing." While initially she couldn't comprehend the idea, in the minutes since her eavesdropping, she was beginning to see how it could be possible. "Spike, why now? Why me?"
If she had known more about love than she did, she would have realized that the reason it didn't make sense was because one couldn't explain love scientifically, no matter how vast their knowledge of the subject was.
Although she didn't know where to even begin, Twilight continued trying to solve the mystery of love in her own way, and although her efforts would ultimately be fruitless, she would be up all night puzzling it out, regardless.
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Rarity's plans turned out to be useless. If they had been dealing with any other pony, she could have come up with an elaborate, over-the-top plan to take them on a date among other romantic endeavors, but in this case, that wouldn't work. Even Rarity knew that Twilight wasn't the romantic type, so that approach wouldn't work on her. In her opinion, the best thing to do was tell her directly, since she would never pick up on all the signs or hints that Spike threw at her, otherwise.
Spike was disappointed that she couldn't really tell him anything that he hadn't already heard, but he understood and thanked her for her help, anyway. After all of that, Rarity decided that she had stayed long enough and wished him good luck, before taking her leave.
By the time she was gone, the baby dragon was fully healed, so his mission to ask the rest of his friends for advice was back on. The only ones left were Applejack and Fluttershy, and since there was still several hours left before it got dark, he should be able to finish his quest by the end of the day. If all went well, then he would be back to confess to Twilight before bedtime.
As he headed downstairs moving towards the front door, Twilight quickly flipped the board back to the other side, making sure that he wouldn't see her 'love calculations'.
"Hey, Twilight. Thanks for fixing me up with that spell of yours." Spike told her, raising an eyebrow at her strange behavior. "What have you been doing?"
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and attempted to act as normally as possible. "Oh, you know, just some research and stuff." She laughed nervously.
Spike was used to her acting awkward at times due to her usually being surrounded by books, so he didn't think much about it after that. Besides, he had more important things to worry about at the moment.
"Okay. Well, I'll leave you to it. I'm going out for a bit, but don't worry, I should be back before TOO long." Spike informed her.
"All right. In that case, I'll see you in a bit." Twilight said, trying her best to sound nonchalant about it.
In her mind, she was secretly happy that he was leaving, so that she could have time to sort through her feelings some more without the danger of him discovering her 'research'.
With that simple exchange out of the way, Spike departed from the Library, leaving Twilight all alone.
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He was heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, figuring that he would save Fluttershy's cottage for last. He was closer to the Apple family's orchard, anyway. He made it to the farm with no problems, arriving just in time to witness Applejack bucking some apple trees with her muscular back legs.
She smiled happily, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hoof as he approached.
"Well, howdy there, partner! What brings you to our humble little orchard, Spike?" Applejack asked, knowing that Spike didn't visit her home very often.
If he was here, then it was likely that it was for a specific reason.
"Hi, Applejack! I'm here because I have a question to ask you. This might take a while, so I understand if you don't have the time to hear me out, but this is very important!" Spike was hoping that she would agree to his request, but he would just have to accept it if she didn't.
Applejack rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around the orchard at all of the trees she had yet to harvest apples from.
"Gosh, Sugarcube, I'm a mite busy right now. There are a lot of trees left ta buck before nightfall if I want ta stay on schedule." Being the Element of Honesty, all she could do was tell it exactly how it was. But, upon seeing the look of severe disappointment on the baby dragon's face, she came up with a compromise.
"All right, I'll tell you what. You can tag along while I'm working, and I'll do my best ta listen ta what you have ta say on the way. How's that sound?"
Spike expression brightened and he nodded, agreeing to her terms without any hesitation. "Yeah! That sounds great!"
Now that they had reached an agreement, Applejack resumed working while Spike followed behind her, filling her in on everything that had happened so far.
"So, let me get this straight. You're asking ME for advice on LOVE?" Applejack erupted into a laughing fit similar to Rainbow's, wiping a tear from her eye. "If I knew anything about that, then I would already have a coltfriend!" She shook her head, helplessly. "I'm sorry, Spike, but I don't think I know anything that would help you. I'm afraid that all I can do is give you my honest opinion. It might not be what you want ta hear, but it's all I got."
Spike was getting desperate at this point, having learned nothing that he could use to capture Twilight's heart. It didn't matter what she had to say, he wanted to hear it.
"That's fine, Applejack. Go ahead and tell me." He pleaded with her.
"Okay, then. Settle down, Spike, it's not anything worth getting so excited over." The farmpony stopped what she was doing, and picked up an apple in her hoof to use for her demonstration. "See this apple?" Spike nodded. She admired it for a moment, her reflection staring back at her from the healthy shine of its exterior.
"Pretend that this delicious fruit is love. Now, if you were somepony that had never tasted an apple before, it's only natural for you to be nervous about trying one for the first time. You have no idea if it will be good or not, after all. It's the same way with love." She paused to collect her thoughts, picking up another apple in the opposite hoof.
"Now, imagine that this apple I just picked up is Twilight. For our purposes, let's just say that she also wants to eat the love apple. She's never tried one before either, and you're both eyeing the same one. You don't know if she feels the same way that you do, and if you take a bite first then offer her one, will she still want it after you've eaten some of it?" Applejack noticed that Spike was staring off into space in a daze. "Are you still with me, Sugarcube?"
"So, you want me to take a bite out of Twilight, and if she likes it, then that means we're meant to be together? That doesn't sound healthy." Spike had gotten lost somewhere around the midway point of their conversation.
Applejack slapped her face with her hoof, shaking her head in disbelief. "That's because it's not! Twilight most definitely will NOT like it if you sink your teeth into her because you mistakenly thought I told you ta do it. It was only supposed to be an example, you dummy." She sighed. "The point I was trying to make, although I confused even myself with that demonstration, was that the best way ta figure out if somepony is in love with you is ta take the honest approach and ask them directly.
It can be scary, not knowing if they'll return your feelings, but neither of you will know how the other feels unless you are willing ta take a bite of the apple and see how good it is for yourself. Just because it's something you've never tried, doesn't mean that it's a bad thing, you know?" All Applejack could do was hope that he could somehow understand what she was saying.
"I THINK I understand where you're coming from. Thanks, Applejack." Spike smiled in gratitude, truly grateful for her help, even if he lacked the ability to understand it for the most part.
"No problem, Spike. Now if that was all you needed, I need to get back to work."
"Yep, I should get going. Thanks again, Applejack!" He yelled as he ran back in the direction of town.
"Well, I doubt that my advice was all that useful, but I'm just glad that it's over now. Good luck, Spike." Applejack said, speaking to the empty air where the little dragon had been only a minute or two before.
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By the time he had finished talking with Applejack, he was left with about an hour, two at the most, before the sun went down. Fluttershy's cottage was all the way on the opposite side of town from Sweet Apple Acres, so it took him a while to reach it. He had rushed to get there as soon as possible, so when he went to knock on her door, he was out of breath.
Fluttershy opened the door to see an out of breath dragon hunched over, with his hands on his knees, sweating and breathing heavily.
"Fl-Fluttershy, do you…" Before he was able to finish his sentence he trailed off, collapsing face down onto the floor.
The butter yellow mare put a hoof to her mouth in surprise. "Oh my GOSH! Spike, what's wrong? Spike!" The normally shy pegasus switched over into full-on 'nurse' mode, scooping the baby dragon into her arms and depositing him onto a nearby couch.
She hadn't been keeping a close eye on the time, since she was too engrossed in taking care of her scaly guest, but Fluttershy estimated that at least ten minutes had passed before she saw him displaying any signs of regaining consciousness. Luckily, this had given her time to check him thoroughly to determine what was wrong with him. Through this process, his shy host had decided that it was nothing more than exhaustion that had caused him to collapse like that.
Spike's eyes began to flutter open as he stirred, blinking to clear his vision, which was still blurry from his unexpected nap. The scene he was presented with, as well as the location he had suddenly found himself in confused him. Fluttershy had been right by his side the whole time, and her worried expression reminded him of the events leading up to this point.
"Thank goodness! I was SO worried when you just collapse all of a sudden! Are you okay, Spike?" She asked, her soft and gentle voice full of concern.
"Yeah, I think so." Spike didn't feel any different about his body, other than being more tired than usual.
His face fell, as he thought about all the trouble that he had caused her. "I only wanted to ask her for advice and I ended up worrying her, instead."
"I'm sorry about all this, Fluttershy. I didn't mean to worry you, but it seems that I still haven't recovered all the way yet. I pushed myself too hard, I guess." Spike rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortably.
Fluttershy was quick to dismiss his worries, shaking her head. "Oh, no, you haven't caused me any trouble at all! Really, I don't mind."
"Okay, if you're sure. Thanks, Fluttershy." The warm smile that accompanied Spike's statement was enough to make her blush and look away, as she suddenly felt weak in the knees.
It was a good thing that she was already sitting on the couch next to Spike, because if she weren't, then she would most likely be on the floor right now. The mare did her best to push down her feelings, but they were becoming increasingly hard to ignore lately. This wasn't the time to be worried about such things.
"This isn't good! I have to help Spike with whatever problem he has, and this is DEFINITELY not the time to be getting sidetracked!" Fluttershy berated herself, mentally.
She ignored her feelings, forcing herself to look at the young dragon beside her. She wasn't sure when it had started exactly, but the truth was that the shy pegasus had been harboring feelings for Spike for quite some time now. This was the first major crush she had ever had on somepony or somedragon, in this case. The shy, animal-loving mare was Spike's closest friend next to Twilight and Rarity.
When Twilight didn't need his help and Rarity was busy, which was fairly often, he would visit Fluttershy. He liked helping her with the various animals that lived around her cottage, and they were good friends who simply enjoyed spending time together. That's how HE saw it, anyway. She saw things in a different light.
Fluttershy viewed him as her best friend next to Rainbow Dash, and he was very important to her. She wanted to confess her feelings to him someday, but she had always been too shy to do it. Although, she was more comfortable around him than some of their other friends, this was a whole other matter entirely.
"So, Spike, what's going on? What have you been doing that's making you so tired?" Fluttershy inquired, curiously.
Once again, Spike was forced to recap recent events, leading up to the present. He left out the part about who it was, since he was about to get to that part in a moment.
"I see. You've been through a lot today, no wonder you're so tired! Even though Twilight healed you, your body still hasn't recovered completely, and running from Applejack's farm to here must have been too much for you." Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad that it wasn't something much worse. At first, I thought that you might have been really sick!"
"Yeah, that's true. I should have been more careful, but I really wanted to speak to everypony before the end of the day." Spike said.
"You mentioned asking the others for advice, but you didn't tell me who it was. If you don't really want to, then that's fine. I can't give you advice if I don't know who it is, though."
"No, it's okay. I was getting to that part. I don't mind telling you, Fluttershy."
The shy mare was hoping that it was her, but if it was, then he wouldn't be coming to her for advice. She had known that her chances were slim in the first place, so she wasn't expecting much, but a girl could dream, couldn't she?
"You probably already guessed, since she's the only one I haven't mentioned asking for advice, but the mare I fell in love with is Twilight."
"I should have known. He does spend the most time with Twilight out of all of us. I was naïve enough to think that that meant he saw her as a mother figure or maybe a sister, but now I know that I was wrong. She's smarter than me and prettier, so it makes sense when I think about it." Fluttershy did her best to keep her thoughts from showing on her face, attempting to hide the fact that she was extremely disappointed by this development.
"Oh, well, I'm glad that you've found somepony that makes you happy, Spike." Fluttershy smiled at him, but her expression somehow failed to convey the emotion it was supposed to.
Spike felt like something was off about her response, both what she had said and how she had said it. However, he simply shrugged it off, knowing that Fluttershy could get like this sometimes and if something were really wrong, then she would tell him. They were such good friends that Fluttershy usually had no trouble or at least not as much trouble, speaking her mind around him. He was confident that if it were serious, she would let him know, so he didn't worry about it too much.
"Yeah, me too. I just wish I knew how to make sure that she feels the same way." Spike sighed. "I don't suppose that you have any ideas?"
Fluttershy didn't have any ideas, due to having exactly zero experience in this area. And honestly, although it might have been a little mean, she didn't care all that much. "I know that this isn't something you want to hear, but I think that the best way to figure out how somepony feels about you is to confess to them directly and see what they say. Even though that's not the sort of advice you probably expected from somepony as shy as me, it's the only thing I can think of."
"That's actually about what I expected you to say, judging by how this whole day has been going so far. Still…" He buried his face in his hands. "Ugh! It makes me SO frustrated! I was hoping that you all could actually give me some useful advice, since you're you know, girls, but I guess that was too much to ask!" Under the weight of all the stress he had been feeling, the baby dragon had finally snapped.
If Fluttershy had known that he would react this way to what she had said, then she would have never said anything. At the same time, not saying anything at all when he was asking her for help would have been rude, so she didn't have much of a choice.
"I'm so sorry, Spike! I know that this has been hard on you, but I don't know what to tell you." She lowered her head, sadly. She really wanted to help, but she didn't know how.
There was a period of silence that passed between them, one where Spike had time to calm down and Fluttershy was able to sort out her thoughts. It was during these few moments that she was able to come up with a reason why things had happened they way they did during his day.
"I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I shouldn't have lost control of my emotions like that. It's not you guys' fault if the only thing that you could think of that might help me was the direct approach." Spike wasn't upset anymore, having calmed down at this point.
"About that, Spike…I think that I might know of a reason why all of our friends ended up telling you pretty much the same thing in their own way. We were trying to get the message across that there wasn't any good advice for us to give you, since the same method doesn't work for everypony.
You need to find the one that's best for you and pursue Twilight in whatever way YOU want to. What I mean is that you're the only one who can decide what's right in the end. It doesn't matter what WE tell you, since the choice can only be made by you." Fluttershy finished, having said what was on her mind (other than her feelings about him, of course).
"Wow. I guess you're right, Fluttershy. It seems like I should have stuck with Pinkie's advice, after all. If I had, then this whole mess could have been avoided." Spike grinned, laughing at himself to help ease the embarrassment he was currently feeling at his foolishness.
"I wish that I had known it sooner, but there's no good way to rewind time, now is there? Oh, well. The only thing I can do now is go tell her how I feel before I lose my nerve." This was the conclusion he had come to after speaking with all of his friends.
"You're leaving already?" Fluttershy was disappointed that he was going back so soon, but she understood.
"Yeah, I better go. Thanks for your help, Fluttershy. See ya!" Spike had turned around to leave, but thought better of it when he saw the look on her face.
She really didn't want him to go, more than usual. Fluttershy was simply going to let him leave without saying anything, so she froze in surprise when he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. The blush on her face was so bright it could shine through the darkness, as she returned the hug, melting into his embrace.
Unfortunately, the moment of bliss was over before she knew it, ruined by the words he whispered in her ear. Tears streamed down her face, dampening her fur, as Spike lightly kissed her on the cheek. All she could do was watch his retreating back through her blurry vision, uncontrollably sobbing.
It was over. He knew what had gone unspoken between them, and although they would still be friends, it would take her a long time to get over this.
He hated to do her that way, but if he was going to be together with Twilight, he couldn't leave any unresolved issues hanging. He had let her down as gently as he could, but it was no less upsetting to her.
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In the span of the previous events, the sun was beginning to set. Spike hurried back to the Library. Twilight would be worried if he hadn't returned by nightfall. Upon entering the Library, it was as messy as usual. Whenever the lavender unicorn was studying, she would turn the whole library upside down looking for the right books and leave Spike to pick up after her.
There were books and scrolls scattered on the floor everywhere, and in the center of it all were three hefty stacks of books and a few scrolls. The tip of Twilight's horn could just barely be seen over the top of the book fort.
The little dragon maneuvered through the obstacle course, being careful not to trip over the mess. After a few minutes of this, he finally reached the desk that the librarian was sitting at. He peered around the fort at her, realizing that she was staring at a scroll, completely absorbed in her studies. She probably hadn't even noticed him.
"Hey, Twilight! I'm back."
No answer.
"I know one way to get her attention." Spike chuckled at his plan.
He tapped a round, golden container of ink with his claw, causing it to spin and about tip over. The noise caused Twilight to jump, snapping her out of her trance. She looked up, and noticed her assistant standing to the side.
"Hey, Spike. When did you come in?" Twilight's eyes were blood shot and her mane was sticking up in various places.
"I just got back."
Spike jokingly wondered if she had even eaten anything since breakfast. It was obvious that she had, since she had taken care of him during the afternoon, thus freeing her from her usual book-induced trance. Of course, she had returned to it soon after, but still.
"I'm glad that you haven't been waiting TOO long."
Spike was getting nervous, as the moment had come. It was time to tell her how he really felt about her. He never was good with this sort of thing.
"I, uh…Twilight, there's something I need to tell you."
Twilight could tell from his tone of voice that this was a serious matter. Spike was never THIS serious. She hoped nothing was wrong. At the same time, though, she had an idea of what this was about. She had been considering such a possibility all day, after all.
"Yes, Spike?"
"I...I...I love you, Twilight."
"I love you too, Spike." Twilight trotted up and hugged the baby dragon.
She was pretending not to know what he was referring to, but she did. Over the course of the day, the scientifically minded unicorn had considered the situation from all angles and had come to the conclusion that she just might have feelings for her reptilian assistant. Even if it didn't make sense according to her preferred method of study, she was aware that some things couldn't be explained logically.
Ever since moving to Ponyville, she had witnessed several things that fell under that category, including Pinkie's bizarre senses. The one thing she wasn't sure of was that she was ready to handle a relationship right now. She had never experienced anything like this.
Spike backed away a little.
"No, I meant love love you..." Spike was now fiddling with his claws, staring at the floor.
He was afraid of her reaction. He didn't know if he could handle rejection. Right now, he was acting like Fluttershy.
"No! That's enough! It's time to pony up!" Spike mentally chided himself and gained some courage.
He looked up at Twilight, who had a questioning look on her face. Spike decided to show her what he had meant. Spike approached the unicorn and Twilight seemed to know what he was doing, and leaned down towards him. Their lips met and fireworks went off in their heads. Spike was surprised that Twilight kissed back, and they parted for air.
She was equally surprised by her bold action. When it came down to it, she had ultimately decided that life was too short to be second-guessing herself, and sometimes it was worth taking a leap into the unknown. Although there was no way to determine how things would turn out down the road, she was all for taking a chance and seeing where things went.
As for Spike, he still felt a little bad for his treatment of Fluttershy and resolved to make it up to her later, but his happiness had overridden those negative feelings for the moment.
"That was amazing! So, does this mean...that we're together now?"
"What do YOU think?" Twilight replied, sarcastically.
"So, what now?"
Twilight glanced out the window and noticed the moon in the sky.
"First, I think we need to get you to bed. You ARE a baby dragon, after all. We can clean this up in the morning." Twilight grabbed Spike in her magical grip, surrounding him in a magenta aura.
She trotted upstairs, carrying the dragon with her and dropping him into her bed.
"You're sleeping with me, tonight!" Twilight explained, as she got in the bed with him. "You're my number one assistant."
Things might have been moving a little fast, but as they drifted off to sleep in each other's arms, Spike was finally stress-free and happy. Their relationship may have changed, but they both felt like it was for the best.
Spike chuckled, as he realized how wrong "sleeping with Twilight" sounded. This day had turned out way better than he ever expected it to.
Only time would tell if their relationship would stand the test of time, but there was one thing that was certain. Whatever challenges tomorrow threw their way, they would face them together.