"See yah later, Twilight," Spike said with a cocky voice and toothy grin, "Don't expect me to be home anytime soon."

"Bye Spike!" Twilight waved goodbye, not glancing up from the book as she silently wished him luck in his endeavors.

Spike was on his way to carousel boutique, determined to finally ask out Rarity for the first time. He was no longer the baby dragon everypony once knew. In only two years he had grown three feet, standing just above the height of the average pony. His physical build changed as well. His arms almost reached his knees when relaxed. His muscle became more prominent and his strength nearly tripled. He could easily lift a tree and throw it a few dozen yards if he wanted to. And along with this sudden growth spurt came an increase in maturity. His snide remarks and sarcastic comebacks were hardly ever heard anymore. He would help out whenever Twilight and her friends would need it, and not make even one sound of complaint.

'I'm not going to chicken out this time, I'm gonna do it.' Spike had a sheer look of determination on his face. I'm going to ask Rarity out! His face contorted so much he looked constipated. He was so concentrated on psyching himself up that he tripped on a large stone of the road. "Gah!" Spike yelped as he slammed face first into the cobblestone.

"Are you okay Spike?" an elegant voice shouted in concern. Spike's vision was a little blurry from the hard impact. He slowly got up into a crawling position, and shook his head to clear the fuzziness from the sudden impact.

"I'm fine, just lost... in... thought," Spike slowed and quieted his words realizing who the mare was that called out. He quickly stood up and brushed himself off. "H-Hi Rarity." He closed his eyes, giving her an awkward smile, and chuckling nervously.

"What brings you here today Spike?" Rarity asked in her usual friendly tone, giving him a sweet smile. She had her red rimmed glasses on her forehead, though he noticed the usual measuring tape that accompanied them wasn't around her neck.

"I just came to see if you needed help with anything," Spike replied.

"Actually I finished all my work for the week yesterday, so I've been working on some new designs. Would you like to come in?" Rarity stepped aside, holding the door open for Spike. He stumbled into the house, almost tripping again. "You aren't going to fall again are you?" Rarity teased, giggling softly at her own quip.

"Nah I'm fine," Spike said half sarcastically half nervously, putting his hand behind his neck, again. He reassured himself, 'Easy right?'

***

Spike and Rarity sat at the table drinking tea. They'd been catching up on the events of the week.

Spike was rolling his cup back and forth in between his claws in contemplation. "So, uh...Rarity?" Spike started nervously. He began to sweat nervously, fidgeting with his feet.

"Yes darling?" Rarity was quick to respond. She had her head tilted slightly, her eyes closed, and had a cute smile plastered on her face.

"Well, I...uh...wanted to ask you if...um...you would like to go on a date with me?" As Spike finished the question and everything around them stopped. All Spike knew was that Rarity was in front of him, and he was awaiting an answer.

Rarity's smile receded into a sad frown. "I'm sorry Spike, I...I...can’t" Rarity said nervously then let out a long sigh.

Spike's heart nearly stopped at these words. "Wait, you can’t?! Why? Did I do something wrong?" Spike said, shock filling him from the blatant rejection. He slumped back in his chair just enough to hide his face in the darkness to hide the visual sadness.

"I'm sorry Spike, I've known about your feelings for me for a long time," Rarity began, holding back tears herself, "I just don't feel the same way about you, but I didn't want to break your heart." Spike's eyes were red and watering, but his expression stayed firm. He slumped further in his chair. "I'm sorry Spike. You're a really good friend, you truly are...but...I don't have the same attraction to you as you have for me." Rarity's voice was cracking from her sorrow for the poor drake, tears starting to silently flow. "I was hoping that it would pass over as a simple crush and it wouldn't have to come to this, but you never seemed to give up, persistent as you are."

"But...but..." he tried to keep as steady a tone as he could. Rarity noticed the continuous trail of tears trailing down his cheek. His eyes shown red and puffy as the moonlight revealed his face.

"I'm so sorry Spike," Rarity said shakily, "I never thought it would hurt you this much," Rarity was on the verge of breaking down herself as her own tears were shed. It pained her to see the heartbreak in his eyes.

Spike sat still in his chair. He was silent as the tears flowed freely down his face. He slowly got up and opened the front door with a shaky claw, bolting as fast as he could back to the library. A couple ponies saw Spike run by, asking him what was wrong, but he gave no responses.

Rarity collapsed as the door remained open, softly crying to herself as she shakily closed it with her magic.

***

Spike entered hastily, slamming the door shut, throwing himself onto the couch. He began to cry his eyes out as he hunched over in a ball. Twilight had dropped her book, startled from his sudden violent entry.

She went over to him, “Spike? Spike what happened?” She sat next to him and put a hoof on his back for comfort as he convulsed.

“I...I don't want to talk about it,” Spike mumbled through the couch cushion. He looked up at her his eyes bloodshot from his crying. He hunched over, claws holding his forehead as his body convulsed with each sob. Twilight said nothing, instead leaning over Spike and giving him a hug. He threw his arms around her, returning the embrace and calming down as she rubbed his back with a hoof.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Twilight asked softly. She pulled him back so she could look at his face. She saw the weakness and heartbreak in his eyes and knew what was coming.

“R-Rarity, sh-she..." He leaned back into her chest trying to hide from the truth. Twilight had a few tears rolling down her cheeks in empathy.

Twilight tried to find a way to calm him down. "Could you tell me what happened?" She continued to rub his back comfortingly.

Spike finally calmed down enough to stop hiccuping. "I finally got the nerve to ask her to go out with me, but...but..." He felt the urge to sob again.

"But what?" Twilight bit her lower lip, preparing for the worst. She was on the verge of crying herself, seeing her best friend this upset.

Spike started as soon as he was calm again. "She told me that she knew about my crush, but she thought it would die off. She also said she never wanted to reject me like that. She explained that we were just friends, and it was never meant to be anything more." Spike began sobbing again.

They sat there, Spike crying into Twilight's shoulder. Spike slowly shifted from his crying to a soft slumber. Twilight followed close behind from their shared emotional exhaustion as they both drifted off to sleep.

***

Twilight woke up and stretched, but stopped moving when she realized Spike was still asleep next to her. She noticed he was facing her. His face inches away from her own, heat rising in her face. She got up slowly, as to not wake up Spike, and went to make some breakfast.

"Unngg... Twilight," Spike mumbled in his sleep. Twilight's ear flicked at her name causing her to stop and listen. "Wha... what are you doing Twilight?" she heard him mumble. She went back to the living area to listen in. "GAH!" Spike yelped as he awoke from his agitated slumber.

"Ahhh!" Twilight screamed as she fell to the floor. She got up noticing Spike's heavy breathing, as if scared by something. Twilight sat down next to Spike and wrapped a hoof around him in a half hug. "Spike, are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah I'm fine, just a n-nightmare," Spike answered quickly before letting out a huge yawn.

*Growl*

"Somepony sounds hungry," she pointed out with a giggle. "How about some blueberry pancakes?" Twilight started for the kitchen, already knowing the answer.

"Sure, and how about some of that special syrup recipe of yours?" Spike got up and fixed the couch. "I'll just do my morning chores, and I promise I won't peek to see your recipe."

"Oh Spike," she playfully batted a hoof in the air, "You know that everypony knows my recipe just calls for a little of each major brand syrup with some brown-sugar and a pinch of cinnamon." She went into the kitchen to start breakfast, as Spike began cleaning the living room.

***

Spike chewed on the last bit of pancake in his mouth. He and Twilight were eating at the small table they had in the kitchen. Twilight had finished her pancakes and had begun washing the dishes. "You certainly must've been hungry, you ate 9 whole pancakes, but I still can't comprehend how you tolerate eating that slow."

Spike laughed at the comment. "You know I like to enjoy my food, especially when a culinary master like you prepares it for me." Spike began to sit back and put his arms behind his head.

"Oh, you're just being nice." Twilight blushed as she put the last of the dishes she was washing away. She went over to spike and gathered his dish and utensils. "Spike?" Twilight took on a serious expression.

"Yeah?" Spike snapped out of his daze. returning to a sitting position. He leaned forward onto the table with a somewhat serious expression on his face.

"What were you dreaming about this morning that caused you to jump?" Twilight asked nonchalantly. Spike began to fidget with his hands shyly, not wanting to answer.

"Spike?" Twilight turned around to look him in the eye. Her expression showed she had every intention of finding out about his dream.

Spike contemplated telling her, but he felt it would be too awkward. "I...you were..." Spike was cut off by Twilight.

"Let me guess, I was lecturing you again." Twilight smirked and giggled remembering the last few times he had that dream. She chuckled at the memory of the time he had nightmares about trigonometry.

"Yeah... you were." Spike chuckled half-heartedly. 'You were "lecturing" me alright'

Twilight felt a sudden stirring in her stomach, but it was pleasant. It was warm and fuzzy, and she couldn't explain why. "Well how about you get the rest of your chores done. I've got some things to do." Her face held a rather nervous-looking smile.

Spike went to the lobby to finish his chores while Twilight went up to her room.

***

'Where's that damn notch?' Twilight dug through her bottom desk drawer. "Aha! There it is." Twilight pulled a small hidden notch in her bottom desk drawer, revealing a very dusty book. She picked up the book holding it up to her mouth to blow the dust off.

Personal Journal was written in neat cursive on the front. It was a simple brown leather bound book. She opened it up to the first page. Twilight Sparkle's Personal Journal was written in neat, purple cursive. Twilight never liked the idea of calling it a diary because she felt they were often depicted generically as gushy and thoughtless. She prefered to call it a journal because she wrote many factual statements about her days and not mushy gushy thoughts about her day or drama like that.

She hadn't written in that book for over a week. She turned it to her most recent entry.

Journal Entry 800
Today was a typical spring day. Not too hot, not too cold. Spike did his chores before noon and spent the rest of his day reading. I went to restock on ink and quills and I also got rid of books that were no longer being read to make way for new ones. Today was uneventful, but I happened to notice myself staring at Spike. I wonder what came over me, or if it was just coincidental that I just so happened to phase out when my gaze fell upon him.
~Twilight Sparkle

'I've been staring at Spike during the past week!' Twilight was confused. 'Do I... Do I...Like Spike?' She realized she needed to go to the one pony she could ask for advice advice on the subject, Rarity. She heard a loud thump against the ground. She had dropped her book.

"Twilight are you okay?" Spike called from the lobby, "I heard a loud noise."

"Yeah, I'm just fine," She called back, "I just dropped something." She hesitated before continuing, "Spike, I'm going to go out and run an errand." She glanced at the clock, it read nine-thirty. "I'll be back, by noon probably."

"Okay Twilight," Spike's voice was muffled again as he entered another room, "I'll finish my chores then I'll just..." His voice became too muffled to hear as he entered the next room.

'If anypony can help me with this, it's Rarity'Twilight grunted at the thought of seeing her about this after what happened last night. She took her journal and put it in her saddlebags and left to go out.

"Bye Twilight!" Spike said as he passed through the lobby.

"Bye Spike," Twilight said back, "See you later."

With that, Twilight was off.

Author's Note

as of 7/6/2016
THIS CHAPTER IS IREDEMABLY BONKERS IN TERRABADNESS