> The five stages of being turned down
>  by Charzoid
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Stage 0-Ouch!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

RING RIIIINNG RIIIINNNGG!

The alarm blared loud as another day in Ponyville's newest castle began for princess Twilight Sparkle and her number one assistant Spike. Usually a day like now would be a great day to hang out with her friends and maybe enjoy a picnic but yesterday's events killed the thought for Twilight.

It was hard to believe that only four years ago they were living in a large city like Canterlot and lived a dull life of study. Now not only had they saved the world multiple times but they discovered the joys of being friends with ponies outside of just their family. If anypony were to ask Twilight to name just one thing she would want to change she could hardly think of anything.
One thing though might be a little more wall space in the room her and spike shared.

Spike's obsession over rarity had gotten to a creepier level last year to where he'd take pictures of her when she wasn't looking. She had given him a 20 minute lecture on invading other ponies space, trespassing,and rarity's right to eventually sue him for sexual harassment when she found out he'd been hiding in her bathroom hamper.He promised to stop, but begged that she would at least let him keep his top five favorite pictures of her. Five small photos wouldn't of been so bad but he just had to get the kind that were extra extra large family portrait sized.These were the kind that could almost take up an entire wall of the old library.
Some were of questionable areas in Rarity's home like her bedroom or her exiting the bathroom. 

Twilight put an illusion spell on them so only spike could tell they were of Rarity while everyone else just saw something cute like a hamster upside down eating popcorn on a piano or dancing badgers. Pinkie pie once claimed she could see a hidden snake in it but no pony else could. 

Since coming to Ponyville Spike had grown a few inches. He was now nose to chin height to most other ponies.Although that wasn't very big it was normal for dragons who didn't grow off of there hoarding greed.According to a book on dragons made by griffons that is.

When Twilight and her counsel of friends made a closer relationship grow with the griffon kingdom,the griffons shared knowledge that ponies either didn't know or were to scared to explore.Yesterday, both twilight and Spike were extremely happy to finally discover a lot more on dragons until they got to one page on a island where kid dragons like Spike would be left to socialize.
This happened for a couple of moons before they either returned home or started making their own cave with or without a mate.

"You know spike----"Twilight began before getting cut off.

"Not a chance twilight." Spike replied.  He knew exactly where she was going with this. She had tried this conversation with him in the past but he wasn't changing his mind.
Twilight just frowned and rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. 
"I know the last time you tried bonding with your own kind it didn't work out but maybe by going to this island you can meet some dragons your own age.

She paused a few seconds before grinning."Maybe even some dragon females?"
"We've gone over this a dozen times Twilight and you can't change my mind! Rarity and I are meant to be and today I'm gonna prove it."Spike declared.
"Prove it how?"Asked Twilight, even though she had a feeling on what his next words would be.
"I'm gonna ask Rarity out of course!  Just like the guy in the book from Roneo and Starlet, by climbing her balcony and telling her how I feel in poem."Said Spike with confidence.

"Didn't they die at the end of that story?"Twilight asked.

Spike raised a claw to object but then looked off to the side in thought as he realized that was true,still he wasn't going to let Twilight kill his moment none the less. He gave her a slight glare in response and took his exit. 

Twilight sighed as he made his leave while thinking about what spike was about to do.He was like a second brother to Twilight and she wanted to see him happy. She'd never want to lose him and at the same time she wanted him to one day have a cave of hatchlings of his own, now that he was starting to mature more. She never told him but even though she didn't have friends growing up, she did once have a crush much like his on Rarity. It was for a stallion friend of her brother's named 8-bit.After a while she eventually grew out of it. 

He came back a couple hours later that day with an almost emotionless expression on. Twilight had seen this face before on her schoolmates, so she knew this must of meant something pretty painful must of happened. She'd seen him down from failed wooing attempts before, but this time he looked like he was about to pass out.Despite having a feeling on what he was gonna say,she decided to ask what happened anyway after giving him a hug.When he calmed down enough to talk he explained everything to that happened after he had left.

At rarity's 2 hours ago
Spike walked confidently towards Rarity's house with the poem he had come up with and practiced on in his claws. Sure it might be a little obvious to rarity that he just took an already known poem and changed a few words, but it was the thought that would count. Even if it didn't win her over,Rarity always showed him appreciation and gratitude for things he did for her. It was one of the things he was starting to appreciate about  her besides looks. He knew at one point the only thing he really liked about her was her looks, but he felt like now he'd grown out of that phase. Now he was starting to appreciate the other things that made her great.Things like how she wasn't afraid to get a bit messy when the time called for it and even though she could be a bit dramatic she was going places with her career.  Just a few a weeks ago her work had made the cover for Equestria Vogue magazine. 

Sure sometimes it worried him that with her fame she'd be flooded with possible famous suitors that would take her away.He didn't worry about it to much though.Famous popular stallions never really lasted long with her. It was just then with his thoughts on that matter as he approached Carousel Boutique that he noticed something he hadn't seen in a while in front of the shop. 

It was a sapphire blue chariot with black wheels, and two chauffeur ponies in stylish black jackets waiting beside it.For some odd reason they were wearing equally stylish earmuffs. He recognized it as the chariot of Fancy Pants who'd occasionally come by Ponyville to meet rarity about the next big fashion event. In the years he off and on meet the stallion he seemed nothing but refreshingly nice, compared to the usual rich ponies of Canterlot that had their noses so high up they could get a flock of bird stuck in there.The guy even once made him a jewel cake for his last birthday, just because rarity mentioned to him it was coming up.

The weird thing about seeing him here now though was because a few months ago the news paper said he was going on a year long expedition. So why was he here at Rarity's house?

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 

The unmistakable scream of Rarity suddenly rang out and the reason for the earmuffs were made clear for the unfortunate ponies walking by without any. Spike could never picture Fancy Pants as the evil type,nor a pony he'd want to harm, but if his Rarity was in trouble he would do what had to be done.  He got on all fours, and aimed himself for the nearest open window to jump through only to get his head stuck between the window panel. More or less he was in enough to get a good view of the situation. A situation that was entirely different then the horror scene he expected to see. 

On one knee,a bend in left foreleg, and outstretch right foreleg with a dazzling diamond ring in a box was Fancy Pants dressed in a new looking suit. In front of him was a rarity in what looked like a fancy pink dress she made the first time he came into town if he recalled right. She had tears welling up in her eyes but at the same time she was smiling wider and happier then he had ever seen her do before.

Suddenly they embraced,twirling around into a the kind of loving kiss he'd seen in movies, and was hoping to one day have with Rarity himself at some point.Rarity then separated them a little seeming to try to catch her breath and started to mutter something while fanning herself until it became more audible for both to hear her words.

"Y-Y-Yes! I can't believe this happening. I can't wait to tell every pony about this!"she exclaimed.

Realizing what he had just witnessed,Spike freed his head from the window and just stared at it for a while letting everything sink in. He knew in his heart that rarity might one day end of up with some pony that wasn't him but he'd always assumed that she would just wait for him.He wandered aimlessly for a while until he somehow reached home. 

It felt like someone hit him in the heart with a sledgehammer and then stomped on the pieces.A part of him wanted to run back into the boutique and tell rarity not to marry him. That after all that the things they'd gone through together over the years it was him and her that were meant to be together forever. He felt mad,sad,and confused all at once. He didn't understand why things had to happen this way instead of how he planned them.Here he was all these years of trying again and again to muster his strength for her and having if not in words,his actions in defend her when she needed it,to be not even an after thought.  
End of flashback
Now Twilight looked over at Spike curled up in his small bed instead of up early like he usually was and wishing she could do something to comfort him about it. She eventually outgrew her crush on 8-bit but recalled how the fillies and colts behaved when their long time crushes crushed them either intentionally or not. Everything had its steps and even though she had learned now that books aren't always the same as real life,from what she both read plus seen the thing it was healthiest for him to go through this type of thing on his own. The most she could do was make sure he didn't do anything to rash while he was doing it.





> Stage 1- Denial
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time seemed to fly as it was already the day of the wedding for Rarity and Fancy Pants.

Spike agreed into being the ring bearer at the wedding with the best happy face on for Rarity he could muster. The couple was getting married in front of a large white gazebo with gold accents on its edges and corners, walking up to an pearly white stone gazebo, with 2 rings on a purple pillow in his claws. There were song birds sitting on top of the roof that were singing a soft melody, almost like a lullaby in the background. A small well-dressed crowd surrounded them consisting of half of ponyville, plus his closest friends included.  Even he himself for some weird reason was dressed up in a small green tuxedo that he didn't remember wearing a few seconds ago. 

Standing at the center of the gazebo were none other than Fancy Pants and Rarity. Both dressed in the latest outfits from Rarity's wedding dress line. She was in a beautiful white dress with sequins on the sleeves and a long train to it. He was in an off grey tux with black buttons on the sleeves. Neither, really seeming to be paying much attention to the officiant until he asked for the rings. 
Just then as all eyes were on spike to present the rings, Fancy Pants suddenly started to snarl and shake violently. His eyes turned from light blue to yellow. The sound of the stallion's bones cracking could be heard as he stood on his hind legs and began to morph his hooves into paws. Then his fur turned from white to grey while his snout formed that of a dog's with pointy teeth. Before the eyes of everyone the once gentle stallion was now a big diamond dog that was about to attack the bride. Only one thing came to mind for Spike at that moment. 

"Don't worry Rarity I'll save you!" Spike shouted, then proceeded to shoot a fireball at the beast. The fireball didn't seem to do much other then make Fancy Pants laugh at the young dragon's attempt to attack.

"I say small drake, was that weak flame really suppose to hurt me?" The former unicorn Fancy Pants chuckled evilly. He then pounced at spike who to his credit was just fast enough to jump out of the way in time. Using his tail like a whip when Fancy Pants missed on the second attack, Spike whipped Fancy Pants hard with his tail at his ankles which knocked him over some. The momentary feeling of success in landing a blow to him was short lived however when he was hit from behind  
Someone had thrown the pillow he was caring a few seconds ago to hit him hard in his ear.  He turned to see the last pony he thought would be helping this beast.

"Spikey wikey, don't you dare hit my husband!"

It was Rarity who for the most part seemed oddly still and silent throughout this point. Only the thing was now, where the unicorn Rarity once stood was what looked like the diamond dog equivalent of her. As he gazed at what use to be his Rarity a thought suddenly occurred to him. Why was everyone being so quiet throughout this? Even with occasional chaos with discord around becoming nothing new for ponyville at this point something like this should be warranting at least some amount of panic from those watching. With that thought in mind he turned around to discover that now the entire crowd had somehow transformed as well into ugly diamond dog versions of his friends.

The crowd, Fancy Pants, and even Rarity all started to advance on him with cold eyes and snarling muzzles. He was outnumbered and didn't know what to do other then run as fast as his legs could carry him to the nearest building. Luckily sugarcube corner wasn't that far. He quickly got inside and started locking the door. The howls and clawing of his attackers could be heard from the other side of the door.  How all this was happening he still wasn't sure. After a while the clawing and howling stopped. Everything seemed quiet for a few minutes. Spike decided to take look out the window but just before his claw could touch the curtain he felt the whole building start to shake. He now had a bad feeling on what he was about to see out the window.

Looking out the window he saw nothing but miles of open space and no diamond dogs to be seen. He felt the house suddenly lurch as if being turned around which he realized it was. Holding the house her now giant palms, was the diamond dog Rarity. Either both the house and him shrank or she grew giant and was now holding the house with him in it. Spike was so horrified and confused by all this he didn't know what to do other than stare at her in fear. Fear was the last thing he thought he'd ever feel when he looked at Rarity. 

She looked down at him for a brief moment and he thought he saw the same adoring look she gave him when he was given a gem as a present by her for the first time. The look lasted a moment but then was replaced by a mischievous grin and her raising the house above her head and opening her mouth. It clicked in his mind to slowly on what was about to happen. She then tilted it and shook the house just enough to send him flying out the window then into her mouth. Spike tried to grab her uvula but it was too slippery and he fell into the dark pink abyss that was her throat. 

He then woke up holding himself in his basket bed and checking he was all in one piece. The nightmare was just so weird and yet felt real at the same time. Should he take it as a sign that maybe something was bad about Fancy Pants? Twilight did tell him once that she read about how some weird dreams could hold meanings like that. Briefly the thought of it meaning he was to weak for Rarity since she was on the side of his attacker ran through his mind but he brushed it off. He had done plenty for her over the years to let her know how strong she was and she always complimented him when he did good.  Sure he had some moments where he let greed for things like gems get the better of his judgment but that couldn't mean anything serious.  It looked like morning right now so it was a good time to test the idea.

"Maybe it was a sign! I should keep a closer eye on Fancy Pants to see if he's truly the gentlecolt he is in public events."Spike thought this as he made his way to the door. He failed to notice that Twilight was watching him.

"Spike? Where are you going?"

Even though they had a guard to make them breakfast now and keep them company for it, spike usually stuck around in the morning to eat with them. He just got his heart broken yesterday and she was worried he would do something reckless in response. The fact that he was now walking out so early in the morning while dressed in the costume he wore when she caught him trying to frame owlowiscious didn't help matters.

"Oh! Morning Twilight,I was just heading out early to.....help Rarity with the wedding plans."
It was the first excuse to come to his mind.

"Then what's with the outfit?" She asked.

"Just thought I'd try out a different look today is all. You know how Rarity says its almost a crime to not change your look up every once in a while."

"Are you sure you're not still upset about Rarity and Fancy Pants? I understand if you still are, everypony knew how much you cared about her and all.

"No, no, I thought it over last night and I'm totally fine with her being with somepony other then me. All I care about is seeing her happy. Now if you'll excuse me I gotta get to Rarity's before Fancy Pants. You know to congratulate him and help with stuff."

All while he was talking he was backing up hastily to the door. He wasn't sure how much of what he was saying that she was buying. Before she could reply he exited the castle just as the guard that usually joined them for breakfast came into the room. Balanced on one of his orange wings were three plates. He looked at the door curiously and then to his princess. His expression was telling her that he'd been eavesdropping on their chat just then.

"Your grass pancakes with toast are ready Princess Twilight but if you want to skip breakfast and check on him, I wouldn't blame you." he said

"Thank you Flash Sentry and you're right I do need to check on him. Stay here and tell anyone who comes by to see me that I'll be out for a little while please." Twilight asked

"Will do Princess Twilight.” Flash replied with a small salute as he watched his princess gallop through the door.

Spike at this point had already found the town's hot air balloon to get to Rarity's house faster. What he told Twilight wasn't completely a lie since he did wanna help Rarity while keeping an eye on Fancy Pants at the same time. Under his top hat he had brought some binoculars to make sure Fancy Pants didn't beat him to Rarity's house. He wanted to test just how loyal to Rarity he really was. He was gonna trick Fancy Pants into a few really dumb tasks that any other stallion would refuse and see how fast he refuse then see how fast he gives up. After all no other guy could be as loyal to Rarity at her most extreme requests like he was.

He eventually spotted his target not to far down the street and approaching Rarity's so he kicked the balloon into full speed and made it just before Fancy got close enough to the house.

"Hey there Fancy Pants, Rarity asked me to tell you about some things she'd like you to pick up for her today. If you don't mind that is." Spike said

"Oh no problem at all good drake. What tasks does she need done?” Fancy Pants replied with a smile.

"First she needs wool from the ewes in the crystal empire, then a few roses from the Everfree forest, and last a few diamonds from a cave also in the Forest.” Spike listed.

"Well, it should be most interesting to see what she makes with all of those.” The stallion said cheerily before turning around to start his quest.

What he didn't know though was that spike was following him from a distance.

At the Crystal Empire

The train ride to the crystal kingdom was an uneventful but relaxing one. As Fancy Pants got off the train to the Crystal Empire he couldn't help but marvel at the city's beauty. Even though he had seen it a few times before the Equestria games it was still a great sight to behold. As he walked to the where he remembered seeing the sheep farm on his first time tour of the place he couldn't help but be curious as to what Rarity would need these random items from such random places. The wool he could understand since it was a bit out of the way but the other items could be easily bought around her own town. On top of that Spike had an oddly strained smile on his face when he told him the list of items. He had been around many phony ponies and usually a face like the one he received was usually used when lying. What would Spike have to lie about though? Unlike Canterlot ponies the residents of ponyville never needed a reason to be insincere for the most part and he never thought he gave Spike a reason to be. 

When he first met Rarity she wasn't completely honest with him on her friends but when she told him the truth he was more then happy to get to know the heroines of equestria. They were a very random mishmash bunch of mares that he was kind of surprised at how well they got along. Even though he himself tried to get along with ponies of all walks of life, he found most liked sticking to one clique of sorts or another. Some for reasons of feeling more secure and comfy with like-minded individuals or the more juvenile reasons of feeling one breed or species as being to good for the other. It made him happy that ponyville wasn't such a place and that Rarity wasn't such a pony. Spike seemed to be an equally friendly character like most that lived there and even though they didn't speak often he thought of them as friends. Even if Rarity hadn't actually sent him out here for these items and this was some sort of prank on the little dragon's part he wouldn't hold it against him. He needed the exercise anyway and then maybe grab a few tasty corn on the cobs for the ride back.

The ewe farm wasn't to much farther and Fancy Pants could see the colorful herd of little ewes getting closer. In fact you could almost say they seemed like they were coming his way now that he noticed the gap between himself and them closing rather rapidly. Squinting through his monocle he realized it wasn't his imagination and that the ewes were in fact stampeding in his direction. Not sure what to do he decided to try something he read in one of those daring doo books he read where she used a net to stop a stampede of mutant sized worms. Though he had no net on hoof at the moment, he did notice two blue mail boxes and a watermelon sales pony with a large and rather long tarp on it. It was extra hot out for watermelons so it made sense the size of the tarp and he would be sure to return it later.
"Excuse me my good sales pony but do you mind if I might borrow that tarp of yours for a moment? I promise it will only take a few minutes.” Fancy Pants asked the vendor.
"For 5 bits sure but I'm gonna want 5 more if you rip it up.” Replied the vendor to Fancy Pants.
He agreed to pay and quickly got to work setting things up with his magic. One flaw of almost everything being made of crystal in this empire was a lot of things were slippery so tying down or sitting down on some things were tricky. Fancy Pants only had time to figure out how to secure the bottom of the tarp around the bottom of the mail boxes when he noticed the ewes were now closing in on where he was. The best thing he could think of doing now was to levitate the top part of the tarp just high enough that it didn't smother the ewes and hopefully not to low that they'd just jump over.
As the ewes approached at frantic speed a good portion did stop completely when they hit the tarp shield. A few more smart ones how ever did hop over it with some surprising leg strength. A few pegasus crystal guards and a golden colored crystal earth pony soon arrived as well. The earth pony looked particularly tired from all that running and it was safe to assume from his cutie mark that this was the owner of the ewes. Once he caught his breath he began to speak.
"Hi I'm Cotton Gym and thank you so much for catching my ewes mister.” said Cotton.

"Greeting, I’m Fancy Pants and it was no trouble but I'm afraid a few out maneuvered me. They seemed exceptionally afraid of whatever it was that frightened them into this frenzy.” Fancy replied.

"That's the odd thing about this. My ewes were as relaxed as can be one minute then some kind of green ball of fire came out of no place and scared them. Odder still I know I Ieft the gate to the pin closed earlier and something opened the gate leaving claw marks. I heard there might be snow wolves roaming outside the empire but I didn't think they could open gates." Said the farmer with panic on his face.

Fancy Pants had a good guess what type of "wolf" performed such an act. He didn't think Spike would take a prank so far as to scare animals like this. The drake seemed to have a rather mean sense of humor. None the less he didn't want to get Rarity's little friend in trouble.

"Don't worry good stallion I have a feeling this was all but a harmless prank likely done by some mischievous unicorn teens. I remember some teens doing similar at a dog show I once attended. They used a re-sizing spell on a cat and had it run around after the dogs for chuckles. No one got hurt luckily." Fancy Pants said this to calm the farmer down.

"Oh, well in that case thanks again then. Is there anything I could do to repay you?" Cotton offered the nice stallion.

"Well actually yes I actually would like a few balls of your wool if you please.” Fancy Pants asked with a smile.

Not to far above from this little conversation neither noticed as a purple alicorn was flying overhead. An upset expression on her face while the small dragon she was carrying with magic had an irritated look on his own.  


> Stage 2 -Anger
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was very fortunate for Twilight's new home that unlike her old one it was a lot harder to burn down then wood with the now very grumpy young dragon inside it.

Yesterday's plans failed in more then one way for Spike.On top of getting caught by Twilight while trying to make Fancy Pants's tasks harder, he was sent to his room like a foal. She didn't accept his excuse that he was just messing around with the guy and went on about how he could of hurt other ponies or the ewes with his behavior. He had made sure the path he sent the ewes on was empty and even if a few ponies were in the way its not like they were charging rhinos.Stupid Fancy Pants stopped most of the stampede anyway so it wasn't like anyone got hurt.

As If that wasn't enough the stallion had the nerve to send him a letter about finishing the other tasks for Rarity a few hours after getting back with the wool.Apparently he ran into Fluttershy just outside the forest and when he told her about why he was going inside it,she offered him a hoof in guiding him to where they could be found. He almost stepped in some poison joke just before Fluttershy spotted him going in.Spike almost got the last laugh and yet now even his friends were helping his enemy. On the way back they found a sick and injured teen dragon who'd got bit by a star spider while flying too low, then crashed his wing into a branch. They took him to Fluttershy's to heal him up with her first aid kit. When he was feeling better he thanked them by offering some of his treasure he had recently started hoarding.

Did the guy have the world's dumbest luck spell on him or something? It made zero sense to him and the second he finished reading it he lit it on fire.He took his fury out next on the walls first by scratching at them.He accidentally burnt a few pictures he had of Rarity but was to mad to care or notice. After a while of this he did run out of juice and had to lay down but he was still upset. This week was no better now that Twilight wouldn't let him outside for the smallest thing without Flash Sentry following him around seeing as she had papers to do.

"Why is Twilight treating me like a hatchling? Its been a whole week since the incident and I haven't even done anything since then other then get irritated with this guy following me.Spike though to himself. As if reading his mind,Flash decided to speak just then.

"I know it bothers you being followed but Twilight's just doing this cause she cares you know." Flash hoped he was helping calm the young drake down. 

"I know she does but I wish she cared a little less and trusted I could do something like go to the stupid market for some groceries by myself now." Spike replied

"Think of it this way! By tomorrow I'll be out of your scales and you can do what you want."Flash said with enthusiasm. 

Before he had time to reply,a new voice entered their chat from behind them.

"Oh hi Flash and Spike, I haven't seen you two in a while."A soft voice greeted them.

Spike didn't say anything to her for a moment and pretended not to hear her while looking at some tomatoes. He didn't feel like talking to anypony right now. She got in the way of his plans and for that he felt upset to see her. Granted, he knew she didn't know anything about his current dislike of Fancy Pants,but he still didn't want to talk to the mare. A part of him knew that giving somepony the cold shoulder for something they didn't even realize they did was very unfair.

"Good morning Ms. Fluttershy,I haven't seen you for a while either. Spike has kinda been in a time out of sorts and in a bad mood but I'm keeping an eye on him." Flash said.

"Oh I had no idea! Is there anything I could do to make him feel better?" The yellow mare offered with concern in her voice.

When she noticed Spike wasn't around this week as much as usual,she just assumed he was out of town for something important. Spike wasn't very good at hiding his crush over the years and everyone close to him knew about it.When she first heard about Rarity and Fancy Pants getting married she was of course excited for them. She was also concerned though on how Spike would take it. She didn't think he'd do whatever it is he did to need a guard escort though. 
Without warning Fluttershy suddenly pulled out a large scarf from her saddle bag and wrapped it around Spike. It was large and his favorite shade of green. 
"I was planning to sell this to have a few extra bits but I know if I was grounded I'd want something  comforting like a blanket  to relax me."She said with a smile.

Finally breaking his silence, Spike turned around and started to rip the tip of the scarf unconsciously as he spoke to her.

"Do I look like I'm 4 years old to you? I don't need a dumb sympathy scarf."He said with an agitated tone in his voice. To have Twilight babying him with the guard was one thing but he didn't want anyone else to treat him like he needed watching over. Despite this however,the moment the words escaped his mouth he instantly regretted it. Fluttershy's  ears went flat and her friendly smile turned into her saddest of frowns.

"Spike! She was only being nice to you."Flash scolded his princess's assistant.

"Oh,I didn't mean to make you upset. I just know how it feels to be hovered over. My parents were really protective of me. They made me cautious of so many things to the point that I started getting a bit paranoid about a lot of things. Sometimes when I felt embarrassed by it , getting a gift made me feel a bit better. I'm sorry,I know that's probably not the same reason you're being watched.I just thought it would make you feel better." She looked at the ground as if asking both it and him for forgiveness. 
Spike knew Fluttershy was just trying to be a good friend.She had no idea why he was even grounded and here he was taking his anger out on her for no reason at all. It was Fancy Pants he was upset at but that didn't mean he needed to be upset at everyone else over it. Fluttershy didn't have a mean bone in her body so he knew she didn't mean anything mean by her gift. He then decided to put the scarf back on to show no hard feelings before replying.

"No,I'm sorry for snapping at you like that, Fluttershy.I've just been in a bad mood because of the whole being grounded thing.This scarf really is nice. Thanks for it."
Fluttershy looked a bit relieved but still a bit upset,so Spike thought of another way to apologize to her.He reached into his shopping bag on Flash's back and pulled out an extra amethyst gem that he brought for shopping.It was big enough to sell for at least 25 bits.That was likely way more than what Fluttershy would have gotten for the scarf.

"Wow, thanks Spike this is very generous of you." Fluttershy replied no longer sad.After a hug she then trotted away to sell her newly acquired gem.
After that brief encounter Spike tried a little harder to concentrate on who he was truly angry at. It was Fancy Pants's fault he was feeling this way after all. He felt like hunting the guy down and challenging him to a fight for Rarity's hoof but he knew that would likely not end well on his part. The next best thing would be one upping in something that he does for Rarity.  Something  he knew he could do better then him was help with things at the boutique.  One of the elements of harmony getting married had brought more attention to ponyville and Rarity's fashion business. She'd love it if he offered to lend a helping claw with some of her work tomorrow. 
There was no way at all he could see something like that backfiring on him. He wasn't called Twilight's number one assistant for nothing after all.

At Twilight's castle

Twilight had decided to take a little break from her papers since she was just about finished with them anyway. While she tried to concentrate on her new daring doo book she couldn't help let her mind wander to Spike. Specifically speaking she'd been thinking about his behavior recently. She had raised him since he was an egg and thought she'd taught him to be a bit more mature.  It wasn't lost on her that the day Rarity got a steady boyfriend or possibly married that Spike wouldn't take it well but still.  When she went to his room earlier after he left it looked like a horde of dragons wrecked the place.  She knew grounding him again for something like this would only anger him more so she'd only ask him to clean up his room when he got back. It would probably be good to have a talk with him about this whole thing later as well. 











> Stage 3-Bargaining/persuading
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike woke up the next morning feeling at least a bit better then the day prier since today he was a free dragon from his grounding.

That plus him and Twilight had a bit of a talk that made him feel even more confident in his decision to try to  one up Fancy Pants in a way that would make Rarity see him as the better choice. He cleaned his scales so they shined brighter then usually and did some shadow boxing to pump himself up all the more.  After a quick breakfast of fluffy pancakes with honey and emeralds he  was about to leave the house to help rarity at the shop. Before he could make it to the door however, he was stopped by a brief hug from behind by Twilight.

"I hope you remembered what we talked about yesterday spike. I know I've been a bit on your back lately but you know its cause I care right?" Twilight asked.

He gave her a reassuring smile in return before exiting the door fully as he replied while laughing a little.

"You've got nothing to worry about Twilight, just as you said I'm going to be there for Rarity in the most mature way possible. It'll show her just how much I care about her and this wedding." Spike said with a smile.  With that he made his way from the castle and on his way to Rarity's with a bit of a hop in his step. 
FLASHBACK

"Spike your punishment is almost up and I think Rarity would like your help  tomorrow with some of the dresses she's working on." Twilight said.

"Really?"he asked

"Yes really, and I know that her getting married is a bit upsetting for you but the best thing I can tell you to do is try and show her your mature side. Friends are suppose to support each others dreams even if they don't agree with their choices unless the decision seems like it could do harm to them or those around them. Rarity and all of us have tried to support you when you've needed it even if we weren't completely sure if we agreed with what you were doing. We've tried helping you build confidence as well as learn from mistakes. This is a time where you should be supporting Rarity in something she wants as well even if you feel its a mistake. Be the best reliable that we all know and love. " Twilight said

"So your saying that being her best helper at the shop is what makes her like me the best?" Spike questioned

"Well that and other things you help her with. Its your ability to be loyal and more reliable then most that makes you great to." she added.

"More reliable then most huh? Well I think I get what your trying to say. I'm going to really look forward to tomorrow then. Spike said

END FLASHBACK

Staying angry to long over one failure wasn't worth the time and if he couldn't make Fancy Pants look bad with false missions then the only option was to make himself look better then him in Rarity's eyes with being extra helpful at her store today. He might be able to persuade her into rethinking who she was really in love with. She rushed into love with two other stallions before and neither ended well. Granted compared to both prince blueblood and trenderhoof she actually knew Fancy Pants personally for at least a year and a half before wanting to marry. Spike still knew her longer so that definitely had to give him more of an advantage. 

At Rarity's Boutique

Rarity for what was likely the 10th time that morning looked at herself in her bedroom full length mirror while still wearing her wedding dress. It was a form fitting Ivory with lavender blush highlights along the back and swirled into the sleeves. Learning her lesson from the little fashion blunder with the breezies she added just enough sequins that it wasn't blinding or gaudy. She realized she shouldn't wear it to much at the risk of getting it dirty or tearing it but she couldn't help loving it. Like many little  fillies growing up she had a lot of big fantasies that she hoped would turn into reality one day. Some of those dreams didn't happen but many more so far had. Her mother couldn't stop crying tears of joy when she told them the news. Her father was also just as happy for her. It was surprising how carefree he was with all the guys she dated as a teen unless one of them broke her heart. His hoofball glory days might of been over but ex-boyfriends that made her cry with being controlling learned quickly not to mess with the daughter of a former famously fierce linebacker. 

" Good thing I don't have to worry about that kind of drama with Fancy Pants. As much as I usually like a little drama the last thing I need is for anything bad to happen. Oh dear, I really shouldn't even think about it. I really don't want to jinx things." she thought happily.

Life really was an unpredictable thing to her. All she wanted to be was a humble and well known dress maker. Somewhere along the line though she became a big sister, an element of harmony, a business owner of 2 stores, and soon the wife to one of Canterlots elite influential safety monitors. Soon she'd be standing at the alter with Fancy Pants, with her best friends as brides maids, sweetie belle the flower girl and possibly Spike as the ring bearer.

"I hope he accepts the offer as ring bearer. He's practically the little brother I never had and it'd be a shame for him to not be a part of this." she thought to herself.

She realized the little drake had a bit of a crush on her for a while now.  It was never really a big secret or anything from the day they met to now just about every pony knew. He could be greedy but good hearted much like herself. He could be clumsy but loyal, honest, and she wanted him to find his special someone someday, but she really could never make herself feel anything for him other then the way she'd feel for her sister.  At some point she even was about to attempt setting him up with Sweetie Belle but that backfired when she walked in on a sleep over her sister's friends plus close classmates were attending. Sweetie Belle had exited a closet blushing alongside a brown and orange earth pony colt that Rarity later learned was named Button Mash. Apparently they had crushes on each other and Sweetie's friends planned the party so they could confess with a game of seven minutes in heaven.

"I think spike is grown enough to accept what's going on maturely despite his prank. Twilight has told me of the moments where he's helped her see things clear headed where even she couldn't. It should be safe to assume the same can apply to this." Rarity thought reasonably.

She sealed her wedding dress back in its plastic wrapping to keep it from damage then pulled out the materials she needed for her next project. She was going to try making a better line of bride's maid dresses then she did for the royal wedding.  Not that she didn't think they looked fabulous but like with any designer her mind was always craving to add more details or having after thoughts of what could of been better even if the customers are satisfied. First she'd start with one that would suit Pinkie pie.  Usually she liked using different tints of pinkie and blue for her but this time around she was thinking of going with something teal on white. 

*Knock knock*

She wasn't expecting customers at this hour yet so she had a good idea who it was at the door.

"Its open darling". she called.

Spike came in looking particularly happy and she assumed he was just happy to be off punishment. Twilight told her friends about his little prank a while ago and how bad it felt to need to punish Spike like a baby because of how old he was now.  She also was going to have him apologize to Fancy Pants but he already told Rarity he found it more funny then mean so no apologizes were really needed. Rarity admired his patients and  ability to not hold grudges to long unlike she use to. She had somewhat grown past grudges herself and since this was her little Spikey wikey she didn't hold anything against him.

"Hi Rarity, I'm here to help with whatever you need at your shop today!" Spike greeted eagerly.

"Glad you could come by Spike, there are some bride's maid dresses I'd appreciate the help with." she said smiling

"Great! What do you want me to do first?" he asked.

"Go in the back room and grab some teal shades of blue from the back would you? I want start with something for Pinkie Pie's dress first and I'm thinking slate teal blue with snowball white." Rarity explained.

She started setting up some of her sketches she had already prepared the day prier. Then adjusted the lighting and ponyquin dolls in front of it in just the right way.  After a few minutes Rarity thought that Spike might of gone to the bathroom since it seemed to be taking a bit longer for him to come back then it should of. She left the roll of the fabrics she might need in plain sight of the back room labeled so she thought about going to check up on him. Just as she was about to call out to him he reappeared carrying more of the fabrics then needed in a box alongside ones she didn't need at all. She thought she even saw a few pieces of an old nightmare night outfit in the pile. 

"I got the fabrics and some extras so you don't have to worry about looking for what you might need next!" Spike said. He was straining a little from the weight.  He plopped it all down at her hooves, proud of the horde he had carried. 

"Umm, that's very thoughtful of you  darling but I'm really not going to need all of this for the dresses. A lot of those aren't even the colors I need for the wedding.  Are those my grooming sheers?" Rarity commented.

"Are they? I just threw a lot of extra stuff  I thought you'd like in the box." he said.

Before she could reply, a knock once again was heard from the door. 

"Spike could you see who that is?"Rarity commented while returning  a few of the boxes to the back room.

While she was gone Spike opened the door to discover Sassy Saddles standing in the doorway.

"Good morning! I'm here and hopefully not to late to help one of my favorite clients with her newest of dresses." Sassy said.

"I didn't know Rarity asked any pony else over for help but my plan won't work if other ponies get involved. If things end well then that should make up for a little lying." Spike thought.

"Oh well Rarity actually changed her mind and wants to do those tomorrow." he said to Sassy.

"Really? Mind if I come in and ask her why?" She asked while trying to trot around Spike.  Spike was blocking her path from fully coming inside.
"No! I mean Rarity actually isn't in right now cause she had to go out and get some fabrics she didn't have here." the drake lied.

"But what about all those fabrics behind you?" She asked while looking past him. The boxes Rarity didn't take back with her were still on display.  Spike now realized maybe he really did bring in more fabrics then needed.

"Those were just things she pulled out for the sake of inventory checking." Spike explained

"Inventory checking?" she questioned.

"Yep, that's why like I said she wants to do the dresses tomorrow cause she's busy with the whole inventory checking." he  said

"Well if your certain then okay just let her know I stopped by anyway."  Sassy said this while leaving.

"Will do!" Spike said while waving goodbye to the Rarity's manager.

"Spike? Who was at the door? For a moment I thought I heard Sassy Saddles's voice." Rarity called while returning to room.

"Yeah, that was her saying she had a really bad case of the flu and didn't want to whined up giving it to you so she couldn't help you today. "Spike said.

"Really? She seemed fine the last I saw her a few days ago. Oh, I really wanted her input on things. Well at least Coco can help me later today when she gets here." Rarity said.

"Coco Pommel is coming over to? How many ponies did you ask to  come help you today?" Spike asked

Rarity noted there seemed to be a bit of panic in his voice for some reason. 

"Well just those two really. Is something about more ponies coming bothering you?" She asked.

"Oh no, no problem at all. I just thought that I'd be the only one helping you and didn't know you were going to want extra help with me around". Spike commented.

"Of course I appreciate your help Spikey dear but on top of my friends I wanted to do dresses for my sister and her friends. Outfits for my parents and a few cousins of mine coming. That's a lot of work for just two to do. On top of that as helpful as you are at finding and lifting things around for me you don't really have an eye for fashion to help me make design decisions."  Rarity explained.

I didn't think she'd have that many outfits to do. She also has a point about my fashion inputs to. Rats! Maybe this could work even better then what I had in mind though. I can convince her with my helpfulness with working alongside Coco or maybe even working faster then Coco."Spike thought to himself.

"Well that's okay me, you, and Coco might be able to get things all done before the day is over." Spike said with optimism.

"I really hope your right." Rarity said.

The next 33 minutes they spent sorting out the items they did and didn't need from the pile Spike carried in.  By the time they were finished a knock once again came from the door. This time Rarity was the one to answer it and greeted her cream colored earth pony friend Coco Pommel inside.

"Wow Rarity, for you to organize this many supplies this early must of taken a while." Coco commented.

"Well I had a bit of help with Spikey here in that department darling." Rarity said 

"So what kind of dress did you have in mind first?" Coco asked.

"Well I was hoping I could start with the bridesmaid dresses for my friends here in ponyville first. I want to begin with my friend Pinkie pie first." the fashionista explained.

"Ah,I remember her from that nice little surprise birthday party she threw me last year. I'd love to help with her dress first as payback. What did you have in mind for it? Maybe something with teal?" Coco Pommel asked excitedly.

"I was thinking the same thing and maybe with a belt." Rarity replied

"That's a good idea but maybe just simple waves on the side would be better." her friend suggested.

"Hmm, your right that's true. I'm even happier to have you here now, you have both fast hooves and an eye for highlighting things." She said

As Rarity said this she gave Coco a hug and for some reason Spike felt a odd tinge of jealousy rise. He knew it was unfounded jealousy since Rarity was simply making a compliment to a friend like she does with all her friends. She even compliment him a few minutes ago so there  was really no need to feel that way. As he had promised to do for the next few hours he helped where he could with fetching items the two needed, using his flames to make them tea, and helping with fitting the clothes on Coco to model when they weren't using the ponyquins. They eventually got to the final of at least her friends dresses with Applejack. The outfit had straps on the sleeves that needed tying with decorative gems pinned into them.  

Coco Pommel and Spike hadn't really spoke throughout their working together and since he was Rarity's friend she wanted to try chatting with him more.

"So are you excited about the wedding?" Coco asked. Unlike others she didn't know about Spike's feelings for Rarity.

"Oh yeah, I'm really excited about it." Spike lied while tying Coco's arm.

"I've never met Fancy Pants personally but I hear he's a really nice guy." she commented.

"Yep, a real swell guy." He said this slightly sarcastic while pulling hard on the straps.

"Ouch, um can you not pull that tightly? These straps can't be to close when you pin the gems in." Coco said.

"Sorry." Spike replied.

"Its okay. I've never really imagined myself getting married one day but attending weddings like this. Seeing two ponies in love taking that big step always makes me a little jealous. What about you Spike?" she asked.

He really didn't want to talk about, hear about, or think about Rarity's wedding even though he was here helping for it. 

"It sure make me feel something I can't really put in words." Spike said this while finishing the knot at the end of the strap then quickly picking up 3 gem pins and shoving them in.

These types of pins had thick sharp  tipped clips that curved down in when clipped in place.He did do as she asked and kept the straps a little from her arm but his jealous irritation with the conversation made him push the pins in harder then he should have. The second he did they pierced much deeper in her arm then if he were simply not paying attention and pricked her. His dragon strength didn't make it any more pleasant. 

"AaaHHHHHH!" Coco screamed in pain.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry." Spike apologized while trying to move the straps off the mare.

"Their stuck in my skin! Don't move the straps it will make it worse." Coco said frantically.

Rarity who had been in the bathroom came galloping in as fast as possible when she heard the screaming.

"What's going on?! What happened?" the white unicorn asked.

The first thing she saw was her friend on her side while trying to push Spike off her now slightly bleeding arm. She used her magic to move Spike out of the way and checked on Coco. Coco was trying to bite back another scream as she pointed to the pins in her arm with her unpierced forearm. 

"Coco what happened? Spike you've helped attach gem pins on ponies wearing dresses before, why would you be so careless?" Rarity said.

"It was an accident! I wasn't paying attention on how hard I should of pressed them in." He tried to explain.

Rarity gave Spike a disappointed look for a moment then helped Coco up and walked her to the bathroom for first aid. They were able to cut the sleeve open, carefully removed the pins, and secure the bleeding on Coco's arm. Spike sat on one of Rarity's living room couches and waited for them to be done while feeling guilty for hurting Coco. He was trying to prove how great and fast a help he could be only to hurt somepony in the process. After a while Rarity and Coco finally came from the bathroom together. He immediately tried to apologize to Coco.

"Its okay Spike I know it was just an accident. I'll be fine and I can still help out with the rest of the outfits." Coco Pommel said.

"Nether of us are angry at you Spikey dear but I have to know what distracted you that you'd push pins in her that deeply?" Rarity asked.

"Um, I don't really know we were just having a conversation and the next thing I know I did it without thinking." Spike admitted.

"Okay then what were you two talking about?" Rarity asked.

"We were just talking about the wedding and your fiancé. I was curious on what he thought of both but I can't see how that could of been so distracting." Coco said obliviously.

"Yes, I'd like to know why that would be myself." Rarity said with a slight idea to the answer.

Before Spike could make up an answer there was knock at the door for a third time that day. None other then the very pony they were discussing poked his head in the doorway.

"Rarity dear? I'm so sorry I couldn't leave my meeting much earlier to come and help but some new groups of trainee interns got papers mixed up and I couldn't just leave them." Fancy Pants said.

He noticed the injured mare beside Rarity and then Spike sitting on the couch.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"Oh no there was just a tiny accident with my friends here but its mostly been fixed. Why are you here darling? I told you I already had friends coming over to help me with the dresses so you didn't have to cut any meetings today short to help me." Rarity questioned.

"Well while I was nearing the end of a lunch break at one of my favorite cafés I ran into your manager. Mrs. Saddles asked me if you were done with what looked like a mountain of things in your inventory you needed to sort before starting your dresses. The reason being she didn't stay was because you were out." Fancy explained.

"Did she really have to exaggerated it to a mountain? It was a slightly big hill at most." Spike thought.

"Really now? Did she by any chance look or act sickly in any way?" Rarity asked while giving Spike a sideways glance.

"Well not from what I could tell. She seemed perfectly healthy to me."  Fancy replied.

Rarity fully now looked at Spike questioningly who could only squeeze his tail while looking at the ground guilty in response.

"I see. Well then Coco could you and Fancy Pants wait outside a bit? I want to talk with Spike for a moment. You two can get to know each other since my friend Coco Pommel here was curious on what you do." Rarity suggested.

Both ponies were somewhat confused as to why they couldn't stay for whatever she was going to discuss with Spike but respecting Rarity's wishes they gave them their privacy. 

"Now then Spike which do you want to explain to me first? The real reason you lied about Sassy being sick or the real reason Coco talking about the wedding bothered you? I thought you wanted to help me with these dresses." Rarity began.

"I did want to help you with the dresses I swear and what Coco said to me only distracted me but it didn't bother me. I'd never want to ruin something this important to you."Spike pleaded. 

"Lying to ponies so they can't help me, telling me those same ponies were to sick to help, then carelessly sticking pins into a pony who is helping because of what she was talking about. All these things sound like the actions of not just someone who is possessive and who wants to control how things are done with me. The last of these also sounds like someone who doesn't approve of my wedding. Please just be honest with me Spike." Rarity said.

"I know its childish but I just wanted to prove I could be just as good as Fancy Pants or anypony else when it comes to helping you. This is a really important thing for you and I didn't want to ruin it. You know how much I love helping my friends and I especially love helping you. I've liked you from when we first met and wanted to show you my best today. I really don't have anything personal against Fancy Pants its just that.......I just don't know what else to do. I don't know how to prove myself as good enough for you." Spike said honestly.

"Why do you think you need to be better then Fancy Pants or anypony else Spike? You and him are both great in your own ways and for different reason.I know how you feel truly." Rarity said.

"No, you really don't know how I feel toward you. If you did you wouldn't be marrying a different guy." Spike replied while not looking at Rarity now. Rarity gently moved Spike's head with one hoof so he was looking her in the eyes.

"Yes Spike, I truly do know how you feel towards me and I care for you just as much as I would my own sister. Your strong, generous when you want to be, loyal to a fault sometimes, and bold when you need to be.  I feel a bond with you as if you were the great little brother I never had but that's as much as I can feel back. You can't force a pony to feel a certain way for you."   As Rarity said this she sat herself on the couch next to him.

"I will admit in a good amount of this is  feels  partly my fault since I never did tell you I knew or why I couldn't feel the same way back.  A part of me honestly assumed you'd eventually fall for someone else at some point after getting tired of me, that someone else might fall for you, or you'd find some new obsession that would make you forget your feelings for me.  The more I think about it now though with having you do things for me, me occasionally giving you gifts in return, I must of been giving the impression that something more could come from our friendship. If anyone should be apologizing it is me for never confronting you and from your perspective I was teasing  you with the idea that we'd eventually be more then we could be.  I hope you don't hate me to much for all this." Rarity asked.

"I...I could never hate you Rarity. I'm.....disappointed but your not the one I'm disappointed in." Spike answered while trying not to show the hurt in his voice.

Noticing his tone and his expression Rarity tried to thing carefully on what she say next.  She put what she hoped was a comforting hoof on his shoulder. 

"It was a selfish thing to think to ask you to come over for these dresses or think you'd want to be the ring bearer to this wedding.  You can go home if want and if you want to come or not to the wedding its your choice. Like I said I never meant to tease or hurt you and if you feel hurt all I can do is say I'm sorry."  she said.

"Its okay Rarity I'm not made at you or myself I'm just feeling disappointed but I'll get better." Spike said with a slightly forced smile.

Back at the Castle

Twilight decided to a little extra something for Spike in celebration of him getting off grounding and make him his favorite jewel cake. It was slightly more complicated then a regular one but she eventually was able to finish it. She was just about to put the final opal on the tip top when she Spike suddenly came in.

That's strange, I would of thought he wouldn't be done for another few hours." Twilight thought

"Oh Spike! I didn't think you'd be back this early. How did thing go at.....". She paused when she noticed the expression on his face.  It would be more accurate to say there was less of an expression and more like a blank look on his face. His eyes sunken slightly and she could tell he looked like he might of been  crying earlier. She flew over and tried to put a concerned hoof on his shoulder but he shrugged it off.

"Spike? Spike did something happen at the shop with Rarity? Are you okay?" She asked

Spike finally looked at Twilight sadly for a moment before crying into her shoulder as she hugged him. After a few minutes he calmed down enough to tell Twilight all that happened at Rarity's Boutique and what she said to him.

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that happened Spike. I hope you realize though that surely Rarity didn't say that to be purposely hurtful to you." Twilight said

"I know that Twilight. She was just being honest with me and I know none of you would hurt me on purpose but that still hurt hear. "Spike confessed.

"Do you want to talk about this more? I made some jewel cake for you but I'm not sure if you want to eat it now while talking about things." Twilight said.

"Maybe later Twi, I don't really feel hungry right now." Spike said.

He then pulled out the hug and disappeared to his room. Twilight was tempted to follow him and try making him talk more but knew he need some time to himself for right now.


 
 
























 







 
















 
> Stage 4-Depression
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the incident at Rarity's and his talk with Twilight the next few weeks went by in a blur for Spike as he mostly just stayed in his room.  He did come out for food but didn't eat much. 

Twilight at first wanted to just give him some space but was getting more concerned with how little she ever saw him outside his room.  She left his usual chores to some of the guards she asked Celestia to send over. At some point he claimed to have  headaches  so she took him to a few doctors but none of them found anything  wrong with him physically. One of them did suggest that it might be brought on by stress or a sign  of slight depression.  The first thing Twilight did when she got home was look up a book on the signs of depression and what to do about it.  According to the book she was already doing the right thing in giving him his space but she couldn't expect something like this to be magically fixed in an hour or week with whatever she followed. This however didn't mean it was impossible to make him feel better about himself. This type of thing would take some time but her friends could likely help in some ways. 

First thing she needed to do was try and get him out the house. She knew just the pony to help him take his mind off his troubles for at least a little while. 

"So that's basically the situation and I hope you've  got some ideas to lift his spirits at least a little bit." Twilight said to Pinkie pie. She had just given the party pony a brief summary of all that had happen up to this point.

"Wow poor Spike must be super duper sad after all that. I've never been in a relationship but my sister limestone pie did and she was really upset when her boyfriend broke up with her. I forget what the break up was about but she didn't talk to anypony for days. It was years ago  when we were teens and she's over it plus better now but every once in a while she'll bring him up if dad asks her when she'll feel like dating again." Pinkie replied. 

Pinkie Pie started to pace around the room in thought for a few seconds before continuing.

"Oh! For limestone  she would go out to the fields and smash rocks to relax or go galloping around the farm to keep her mind at ease. Does Spike have something he likes to do when he gets upset or just in his free time in general?" Pinkie asked.

"Well he usually either likes to cook or read his comic books whenever he can." Twilight replied.

"Hmm, I think I know how I can combine both those things. Just leave this to me Twilight. I might not be able to make him completely forget his troubles but I can at least help him relax a little more." Pinkie said with a grin.

With that Pinkie pie galloped out the door and returned 6 minutes later with a saddle backpack. She then ran up stairs to Spike's room where she found Spike with an icepack on his head. He seemed to be counting his scales in the mirror with a bored look on his face. He didn't seem to acknowledge her even as she approached him closer and put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Spike?" Pinkie pie questioned.

"Ah! Oh, I didn't see you there Pinkie. When did you get here?" Spike asked in surprise

"Oh, I've been here for a few minutes now and since I haven't seen you in a while I thought I'd drop by." Pinkie said with a smile.

"Twilight didn't send you up here did she?" Spike asked suspiciously

"Nope! I actually want to show you some fun comics I came across by the Neightendo group." Pinkie replied

"Thanks Pinkie I really appreciate it but I've already read all their comics before they stopped making them a few years ago. Besides that I really haven't been in a reading mood lately." He said with a half smile.

"What? Didn't you hear they got back into the comic business a few months ago? Since I hadn't seen you what with every pony getting busier and busier lately I wanted to share some of these with you. I thought you might like the concepts and we could read it together." She said with a sad smile.

Spike didn't think about it until Pinkie had said it but it was true that every pony was busier now. Not only Rarity with her shops and wedding but the others to. Rainbow dash was out doing tasks for the wonderbolts and Applejack's farm  was expanding with her brand of apples getting more popular. Even Fluttershy said she'd be making plans to go to college to become a certified veterinarian. This way she could help animals with bigger boo boos that couldn't be healed overnight with just flower bandages.  Pinkie pie was likely feeling lonely with all her friends doing more while nothing that big was happening for her. 

"Well I don't really know but I guess I could read a few pages at least. What's it called?" he asked.

"Its called battling banquets!Its about a world where ponies compete in cooking contests by first making regular delicious meals in one round then magically making the foods become sentient monsters to battle each other the next round. The winning dish maker is crowned champion chef!" Pinkie explained.

After hearing a description like that Spike  couldn't help but wonder if it might of been better for the Neightendo group to leave comic ideas to the companies.

"Um, I've got to be honest that sound kind of odd and a bit dumb but I guess reading a page or two wouldn't hurt." Spike finally said.
"Great!" she exclaimed.

He had to admit it was just really random and a bit slow in story at the beginning but the more he read he couldn't help but become actually interested in what was going on with the main characters. Even the ones who were there just to be annoying kind of had a bit of charm to them the more he read. Without realizing it they had finished 3 comic books. 

"Wow, I never knew they even made comics like these." Spike said

"Well that comes from them collaborating with some Ibexes from the west of Equestria called the chewsoft  organization. They have some pretty quirky ideas from time to time." Pinkie explained.

"Any other comic series by them?" Spike asked

"Well since I'm a big fan I've got a lot of different ones back at Sugar cube Corner. I don't know what other types of stories you might like by them. Why don't you come over and take a look?" Pinkie suggested happily

Spike paused for second to think about it. A part of him didn't want to go but the other was kind of sick looking at the same crystal walls all day. A slight change in scenery couldn't hurt to bad.

"Well I don't really have much else to do here and I really did like this series so sure." he accepted.

With a grin Pinkie pie led  Spike to Sugarcube corner and on the way there told him about how many different genres and subjects that Ibex made stories that covered more  then most.  He was still having a headache but it felt slightly less bad then before. By the time they got there Spike was more then ready to see these supposed game changers to the comic world. When they got near the door there was a large blur of blue running past them and out the store.  Said blue blur turned out to be Mrs. Cake.

"Oh Pinkie pie and Spike! I know this is a kind of a last minute request but could you watch the store for a bit? I need to go all the way to Canterlot just to pick up a cake decoration because it was sent to the wrong place. Carrot cake is busy buying the twin's birthday gifts so I have to go by myself." Said Mrs. Cake.

"No problem Mrs.Cake! We can both watch the shop and read comics to pass the time till you get back. You don't mind do you Spike?" Pinkie asked.

Spike simply shrugged his shoulders indifferently and nodded.

Once inside the store Pinkie lets him to her room where she had a very large brown dresser cabinet that he hadn't recalled seeing the last time he was in her room for a sleepover. Her pet alligator Gummy was somehow on top of the cabinet and slumped over on its back with it's eyes half closed.

"When did you get that and is Gummy okay?" He asked.

"Oh this is the cabinet I keep the magazines organized I got recently and don't worry about gummy, he's gotten really into meditation lately. He'll snap out of it in the next hour." Pinkie answered.

Opening the cabinet he saw  drawers packed with more magazines then he'd ever seen in even the old Ponyville library. The were even labeled by genre. 
"You've really read all of these?!" the dragon asked in shock.

"Of course not silly! I won half of these in sweepstakes along with the drawer to hold them all a while back but I've only read a couple dozen of them. Some of these I don't even know what they are but just sticking a hoof in and finding something surprising is always fun.  You wanna try or want me to do it?" Pinkie said eagerly.

Now even more curious to see if all the hype Pinkie made of these comics was true, he stuck his hand in a drawer that was labeled comedy/adventure in big red letters. Out of it he pulled a comic with a green fish in a bowl wearing a red helmet and glaring at a smiling pair of identical little colts that were holding him on the cover. In bubble letters it was title  Secret Captain finny fish. It was about an alien fish and his comrades failed attempts to take over Earth after being bought as pets by a pair of twin brothers.  

"Oh that looks like a funny one, let's get started!" Pinkie pie exclaimed.

The next half hour was spend reading different volumes of both the comic Spike found and comics Pinkie pie found. Spike had to admit that hanging out with somepony after being in his room so long felt good. For a brief moment he almost forgot why he was feeling so down until he read the final page of an action, comedy, and romance comic called Dark Clover. It was about griffon assassin whom with the help of a strange mare would relearn how to respect and love the value of life again. It started pretty straight forward with some funny dark humor in it but ended on a bittersweet note when the griffon couldn't save her in the end. 

He didn't know why for whatever reason he started to compare them to himself and Rarity's situation. Rarity wasn't as childish as the griffin in the story nor demanded for compliments if not immediately given one and Spike was raised knowing about how your suppose to respect the lives of others even if you dislike them. The situation with him and her wasn't about life and death since Rarity wasn't dying but that didn't make it hurt less knowing she was going to be around even less now since a guy like Fancy Pants tended to travel. With her love of finding new inspirations and making business deals Rarity would no doubt want to go with him wherever he went.  Fancy could afford to take her out to expensive stores plus he knew how to rub elbows with the elites to get her what she wanted. Rarity might even want to have foals in the future. Fancy Pants was the same species as her so he could give her that to unlike Spike since dragons came from eggs and ponies didn't. With all this in mind he started to feel an old pit open in his stomach again.  It didn't register to him that he had been scratching unconsciously at the back of the comic until Pinkie started to shake him lightly while asking something was wrong. 

"Oh um, sorry Pinkie Pie I'm fine but do you mind if I use your bathroom for a minute?" the purple dragon suddenly asked. 

Instead of waiting for an answer he was already walking in the direction of the bakery's bathroom.

"Sure thing Spike but I hope you know you can talk to me if anything is bothering you right?" Pinkie asked.
"What would make you say that all of a sudden?" he asked.

"Its just even though I really did bring you here so we could hang out and have fun I was told about what happened with Rarity. I just thought maybe getting you outside to do something you use to like would at least make you a bit happier. Not all the way better but at least a bit more happy." Pinkie confessed.

"Oh come on pinkie, just because a guy's dream girl is marrying someone else and doesn't even give a good excuse as to why she never gave him a chance doesn't mean he'd be bothered by anything!He emphasized  this last part a little louder then he meant to before disappearing into the bathroom.

Pinkie pie visibly flinched as she heard him slam the door. Now she felt a bit guilty for even bringing it up. Since she wasn't a unicorn of any level she couldn't travel back in time to tell herself what not to have said so she was stuck on what she should do next. 

*bing bing zip*

A customer now of all times!? Pinkie thought with alarm when she heard the doorbell.

She'd have to deal with whoever it was quickly before she could go and help Spike.  Quickly shoving all the comics back into their original homes she made her way down stairs. When she opened the door it seemed like the last pony on Earth appeared in that moment. She didn't know if now was a good time for them to be here.

 In the bathroom

Spike didn't know really why he came into the bathroom or why he had yelled at Pinkie pie who was only being nice. Over the last few months he'd been doing that a lot it seemed. He wasn't a child but he was being snappish and impulsive like one to those around him. He knew that he knew better then that and yet still behaved that way. He already felt like a loser for failing at being a good assistant to Rarity and not winning her from Fancy Pants. Now here he was sitting on the blue tile of his friend's bathroom next to a clothing hamper and sulking. Was he sulking because of his outburst toward Pinkie? Was it to his outbursts toward all his friends? Was he sulking because no matter how mature he wanted to appear he just kept on doing immature things that would likely make his friends not want to be friends anymore?
The list could go on but he honestly didn't know which to pick.  He just faintly heard the knock on the bathroom door. If not for the headache coming on from it he probably wouldn't of responded.

"Pinkie pie, I didn't mean to yell but I'm really okay in here. I don't think its good for any mares to be around me at moment  though." he said to the door.

"She forgives you young drake and respects your wishes but I do hope your not excluding stallions from being nearby who'd want to talk." said a male voice that was definitely not Pinkie pie. It took a moment for him to even remember who's voice it was. His circle of male to female friends wasn't particularly large. After a few more seconds of thinking it finally hit him.

"Fancy Pants?" Spike questioned.

He walked to the door and opened it just to be sure since he had no idea of why out of all ponies that Fancy Pants would be here. He had even less of an idea on why he would want to talk to Spike of all creatures since he no doubt heard of all the things that happened up to this point.  Why would you want to talk to someone who was trying to steal you wife to be and pranked you out of jealousy?  Maybe to scold them or something of that nature?

Once he opened the door sure enough there stood the monocle wearing off white stallion with a blue mane and matching mustache.  His face didn't look like an angry pony nor did it look like he was going to swing his hooves into Spike's jaw.  Instead his face had a mix of concern and what looked like sadness for some reason. It made him think of a concerned father who just heard something bad happening at school and wanted to talk to their child about it. Spike didn't know what to do or say at the moment so he let Fancy pants in and returned to his seat next to the hamper.  Fancy moved the hamper aside so he too could sit beside him.

There was a brief pregnant silence between the pair as it seemed Fancy Pants was thinking what to say before finally speaking.

"First thing I wanted to let you know is that I'm really not upset over the whole wild goose chase a few months ago and if anything I'm sorry your going through a moment similar to mine in a past life." said the stallion.

Out of all the first things he expected to come out the older pony's mouth that was not one of them.

"What do you mean by a past life?" Spike asked.

"Its what I called my teenage years before I got my cutie mark. I wasn't always the pony I am today and your already a better character then I was at my teen years since you at least know to feel sorry for your actions. I don't know if you want to hear the whole story but you should know you've got truly loving ponies around you since none of them hold your behavior against you. They know where its coming from as do I." Fancy Pants said.

Up to this point Spike had always seen Fancy Pants as a annoyingly flawless pony and for him to say words like this made very little sense. On the other  hand he never really knew the guy's background. It didn't seem like something that he needed to know but for the fancy stallion to be sitting on a dirty bathroom floor and attempting to comfort someone he should dislike made him curious.

"What were you like before your cutie mark?" the dragon asked.

 Canterlot jr. high many years ago

I was the son of a very successful and loved politician at the time named Fancy Suit and as such I thought I could do whatever I wanted. I was a playcolt of sorts and was so impatient about my cutie mark that I wore a fake painted one because I thought I was to cool to waste time on thinking about things like special talents. All that was important was being popular and if that meant wearing a fake gaudy trophy cutie mark and buying friendships then so be it. I had recently dumped one mare for a pretty new girl named fleur. I never even gave the other poor girl a reason why I broke up with her, I just thought fleur was prettier.  One day during geography class I noticed our usual teacher was late. Usually when he was late that meant that we'd likely have a substitute coming.

"Anypony want to see me greet the new guy with a special treat?" I said to my classmates while pulling out an extra chocolate pie my butler packed me.

Of course a chorus of "Go for it Fancy!" was my reply.

One pony locked the door so we'd all know when the teacher arrived when we heard the sound of keys trying to open it. Not to long after I had made my announcement we heard the jiggling cue of keys and I leaned back in front of the door ready to pie what I assumed was a middle aged stallion. I could pay some pony to take the fall for me later if I made it to my seat in time before the teacher cleaned their face.  However I froze mid swing because instead of an old stallion there stood the most gorgeous young adult unicorn I'd ever seen. She had a figure like celestia but with lime green fur, long honey brown mane with soft curls, and white streak down her muzzle. Her gorgeous dark brown eyes looked at me questioningly.

"What pray tell are you planning to do with that pie young colt?" she asked in an accent I never heard. I later learned it was from the neightherlands. 

I didn't know how to reply and just stood there with the pie over my head in one hoof. I wanted to say something cool to play off the shock but my hooves were visibly shaking now and while searching for anything to say I lost my grip on the pie which landed smack dab on my face. Everyone minus the teacher started laughing and pointing at me.

"I really should send you to detention for the attempt but I can assume from how pink in the face you are that this should be punishment enough.  Go wash up in the bathroom Mr. Pink." she said with the cutest smile.

"Um, thanks but I'm Fancy Pants." I said lamely

"And I'm your new teacher for the rest of the semester, Madame Biosphere. Now do as I asked Mr. Pants and go wash up."She replied

I did as I was told and for the next week despite some genius's idea to combine the nicknames she gave me to thus dub me Mr. pink pants I didn't care.  All that mattered was getting to know Ms. Biosphere more. It didn't even matter that I still had a girlfriend either. I learned she was the daughter of a former governor in the neighterlands who retired early to let a friend take his place instead.  Learning this I thought the best way to swoon her was with my status as I had done with others.

One day as class was ending I decided to stay behind so we were alone as she graded some papers.

"Say Ms.Biosphere? Did you know my father is one of the most popular guys in politics right now? If you ask around I'm as awesome as him by association you know." I said with confidence.

She gave me a brief glance then returned to her papers but didn't look back up at me as she spoke next. 

"Yes, Mr.Pants I know he is but I kind of feel bad for him having a son that thinks just being related to someone of good character makes them better then others."  she said

"What?! I exclaimed

"In the short while I've been here I've heard a lot of gossip about you and your activates. One day your going to graduate into the real world and if you never plan to do anything but ride one the success of your father like that then no real mare will want true happiness with you.  Who do you think wants to love someone who's never accomplished anything?" she questioned

Looking back at this I think a part of me deep down did think she wouldn't be that easy to impress with status but I still wasn't expecting that response and I had no idea how to really respond back. It took me a moment for everything she just said to register but when it did I was only able to get out one question from it all.

"What do you mean never accomplish anything? My cutie mark clearly says I'm good at winning anything I put my mind to." I said this to play off the shock but it didn't work.

"Cutie mark? You mean that clearly marker traced image on your flank with a mild glamour spell on it to make it look more real? Sorry but after being around many slime ball ponies in politics and the few good ones I know fakers when I see them. "she said with a sigh.
She looked over a few more papers then finally looked up at me before speaking again.

"Look, I'm not saying that I don't think you really could be more if you put your mind to it. Heck,from what your other teachers have told me when your not pranking ponies, flirting, and being bossy you know how to do your school work wonderfully. You aren't a stupid pony and have the potential to be better but these habits of yours are going to hold you back." She said this with finality in her voice.   

No pony had ever spoken to me like that before nor seen right through my act so thoroughly.  I still didn't want that to be the end of things. I was determined to have her see me as so much more. As she made to get up with her papers I jumped in her path.

"What should I do then?  I don't want other ponies thinking I'm fake! Is there anything I can do?" I asked this a bit more whiney then I'd like to admit.

"Well, if you want ponies to see you as more then just a the figurehead son then maybe you should do some school volunteer work? Make yourself an example to others by doing work that's selfless and helps other see the good in doing the right thing by yourself. I hear that there are a lot of student school volunteer positions opening for extra credit in a few weeks. Maybe pick one and see how you like it? "Ms. Biosphere suggested.

"I promise I'll prove to you I can do it!" I vowed.

Within the next few weeks I did even more then that and practically volunteered to do half the schools volunteer positions.  It was an exhausting 3 months but in that time I started to notice some changes about the ponies around me. They were becoming nicer to the teachers and the teachers seemed less stressed to. One of my jobs was to give a fruit to each of my classroom teachers and I heard of other ponies doing the same. As embarrassing as it would be I even removed the fake cutie mark to show that I meant what I said to Ms. Biosphere about not being a fake. I broke up with fleur the day after I removed my fake mark and she hated me the rest of the semester. The fact that I  was actually influencing others in a way that made school life enjoyable felt oddly good. It was only on the day a pony I had tutored came up to me with their little sibling that something special happened. 

"Hey, that's him right there! He's the pony who showed me how to save you." said the pony

"I did what?" I asked. 

"Remember how you helped me with studying safety defense class and encouraged me to keep at it till I got that A? he asked.

"Um, yes but how did you doing that save another pony?" I questioned.

"My little sister was being mugged by some big kids and I normally freak out in emergencies but I remembered from my lessons to keep calm and what to do. If not for you showing me how to keep at it I wouldn't of remembered how to respond.  We both wanted to say thanks!" he explained.

"Wow, that's amazing! Still you should give yourself some credit to, even for some ponies who know what to they usually freeze up." I replied.

"Well we still wanted to thank you anyway." he said with a grin.

"Your very welcomed then and I'm glad I was able to help you find courage like that." I said back.

After they walked away I was on my way to the bathroom when I realized I not only was really good at bringing out other pony's good sides but also their courageous sides to. I really liked that I could do something like that and I felt a great tingle of joy down my spine at the thought. I almost didn't notice it as I walked out the bathroom until I glanced at something on my flank in the bathroom mirror. 3 crowns with purple jewels sat on my flank and unlike the trophy they were very real.  I had a feeling I knew what they meant but wasn't completely sure so I went to the library on cutie marks and symbolism. The crown  traditionally represents honor, legitimacy, victory, and righteousness.  Purple jewels mean wealth, dignity, devotion, and peace. In a nutshell it meant I was someone who could lead ponies with my wealth and righteousness to their goals but with dignity and for honorable causes.

End Flashback

Spike sat silently taking in the story he was just told. It was a lot different then he would of pictured  He still really found it hard to imagine a mean or spoiled Fancy Pants but if that was the case then love must really change people in bigger ways then he thought. For both good in Fancy's case and bad in his case. Still he felt something was being left out in the end. 

"So what ever happened to Ms. Biosphere?" he asked. 

"Well, the day after I got my cutie mark I wanted to show it to her of course as a way of proof to my word but she didn't come in due to having hay fever. When I went to the hospital after school with chocolates, flowers and a get well card I met 2 ponies I didn't quite expect.

"Who?" asked Spike.

"Well, her daughter for one and her.....wife for the second."Fany Pants answered.

"Ouch." said the dragon.

"Yes, well it was my own fault for only checking her political bio and not her personal life one. Still her wife had to leave for a meeting and drop off the daughter so they asked if I wanted to stay with her till visiting hours were over. At first due to shock I didn't know how to respond. Still I did it anyway because even if I couldn't be who she wanted in that moment I could still be the support she needed even if I didn't get what I wanted in the end. I lost many friends when I stopped being fake, found my purpose when I started acting better, and still didn't get the girl but still knew things would be fine. "  Fancy Pants said.

"How did you know things would just be fine though? Didn't you feel dejected? Didn't you feel like you lost your true love forever? " Spike questioned.

"It wasn't instant of course since even as I met other girls I still thought of her until one day I thought of how she influenced me. I might not been able to love her for what I wanted us to be but I could always look back and love what she helped made me be. Thinking of the experiences that she helped showed me a side of myself I didn't realize I had. In that sense I'm always with her in gratitude. Can you say that you've done things with Rarity that you might not of tried or learned about without knowing her?" the fancy pony asked.

Spike didn't take as long this time to reply. 

"Yeah of course, me and her have had all kinds of crazy adventures. Same goes for me and all my friends." He said with a small smile.

They sat in a now slightly more comfortable silence for a few more seconds before Spike spoke again. 

"I'm still not 100% sure how to feel but thank for telling me your story and for sitting here with me. I've got some thinking to do now but I think you helped some. I'll tell Pinkie pie she helped to." Spike said.

"Any time my good drake." said Fancy with a smile.

The stallion then gave the dragon a small hug before leaving him in the bathroom.























> Stage 5-Acceptance/epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After his encounter with Fancy Pants, Spike tried to get out more for the sake of showing his friends he was still alive and doing at least slightly better. It also helped that his headaches felt like they were lessening the more he moved about. 

Before he or anyone else knew it the big day of Rarity's wedding had arrived and it shocked everyone when Spike volunteered to be the ring bearer. 
Even if I can't be there for Rarity in the way I want I can at least be there in the way she needs me to be the most.Spike thought this to  himself as he put on his tux. He couldn't force her into a happiness that only he wanted if it wasn't her desire but he could help her with what her choice of self happiness was. 

The event played out almost entirely like Spike's dream. The obvious difference being that no one turned into diamond dogs and Rarity crying tears of joy at the after party. 

Seeing her happy face and thinking about how all his friends would eventually be making big changes in their lives didn't leave him feeling despair like he thought it would. It actually made him if anything feel anxious to some day soon find what he could make and claim as a life changing happiness for himself.